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SOME NOTES ON PROTECTIONS FOR WORKING SOOTHSAYERS
*** Part Two: More Practical Advice ***
By Baroness Tamar the Gypsy, Deputy Guildmistress
Paraphernalia such as a special tablecloth can be made of materials
which engage your belief in their purity and naturalness - pure silk is
impressive, and, like wool, was once part of a mobile living thing, but
pure cotton (or linen, ramie, hemp, etc.) will do. Some extreme
vegetarian belief systems would favor cotton, though sheep drop their wool
naturally anyway and there is a kind of silk that is harvested after the
worms have hatched.
The choice of color is very likely to be affected by cultural symbolism.
On the whole, I feel that blue is best, but white and yellow can be
extremely effective. Pragmatically, they are harder to keep clean, and a
dirty white cloth can cause a psychological backlash. It's said that
purple can be too powerful for a beginner. Muddy colors can lead
to a muddy reading, if only by association of thoughts.
When sealing a new area, remember all that stuff they do in the occult
novels. Sprinkle the salt in the magic circle, draw the pentacle, and mark
the doors and windowsills with holy water in your choice of symbol. Call
on powerful spirits, if you sure that you have the name right and know
precisely what they are good for. Trace your favorite religious symbol in
the air with a candle at the four cardinal points. These and other ways
are just fine. However, there are less obvious methods, useful for those
who are setting up to read at a fair, for instance. A powerful symbol may
be used mentally, with no outward indication that anything has been done -
trace it with your eyes, while visualizing a candle flame. This has the
advantage of not letting anyone know what symbols you use; it is also less
upsetting to the casual bystander who only knows the esoteric arts from
what he saw in the latest Stephen King movie.
Salt is a good link to Earth. Running water from the tap is a grounding
earth connection as well as the element Water. Candles are a good focus
and energy image for Fire. Incense, though somewhat Fire-y, will
represent Air. Horseshoes whether new or used, as iron bear the
associations iron's elemental strength and historical association as a
protection from black magic. The potential for symbolic use of horseshoes
is huge. They can be a link to the Celtic goddess Epona, the crescent
crown of Isis, the horns of the bull Apis, the Greek Omega, the womb and
the void. Some people hang them with the points up, to hold in good luck
(or represent Isis); others swear that the points must go down, to hold
down the Devil (or represent Omega). It's all according to your personal
belief system. The downside of course is that some cultural variants hold
that putting a horse the "wrong" way up is a symbol of evil. If you know
which version is prevalent in the local area, that may help.
If you wish to purify yourself before a ritual, avoid eating meat for a
few days. Don't drink (alcohol). Stop smoking if possible. Be
scrupulously clean in body, clothes, room and furnishings. The theory is
that the least trace of dirt or dust will assist evil. The ritual of
cleaning will, at the very least, help you focus your mind on purity.
Similarly, white robes or clothing are a psychological aid for both you
and your clients.
If you feel that someone is drawing energy from you without your
permission, feel around in your "energy body" to locate the places they
draw from. Remove the "hooks" and meditate on what opening or attachment
in you allowed them to attach such hooks. If necessary, avoid the people
responsible. If the hook comes back, repeat the procedure. They can't do
it if you don't let them.
If you feel you are being attacked, either deliberately or unconsciously,
fill yourself with the feeling of righteous anger - How Dare You! Ground
your energy body to the energy body of the Earth (a good idea anyway).
Some ways to ground easily: put your hands in running water. (A faucet is
fine.) Take a shower. Find a structural member of the building you are in
and visualize your energy body connected to it, and through it, to the
Earth. Visualize yourself in the center of an oval of intense blue light,
streaming around you. Harden the outside of the oval; make it a one-way
mirror, with the mirror side to the outside.
Or, alternatively, you can ground and pull energy from the Earth up
through and around you, so that it creates a continual gentle outflow,
deflecting any inroads by others while not interfering with your ability
to perceive and work with others.
More traditional methods are often easier for the novice. If you have
paraphernalia available, and time, draw a circle around yourself with a
knife or sword or staff, or sprinkle salt, or use chalk --whatever. Repeat
a simple prayer for protection (complex ones may confuse the issue).
Strong herbs such as garlic flowers or asafoetida resin will have a
similar effect to that of incense. If you can't manage Four Elements, the
basic elements of Alchemy are Salt and Mercury; salt in one breast pocket
and a thermometer in the other will balance elements. Holy water may be
used to seal openings, of a body or of a room (doors, windows, chimneys,
plumbing). Many books will give you precise patterns to follow when
drawing a pentacle for protection.
According to a popular occult-mystery novelist, Dennis Wheatley, an outer
circle eleven feet in diameter should be drawn, with an inner circle nine
feet in diameter, containing a pentacle. Holy water in silver cups and
white wax candles can be put at the four cardinal points on the outer
circle. More holy water and candles, and salt and horseshoes, can be put
on the points of the pentacle on the inner circle. The horseshoes should
encircle the candles with their points out. Words can be chalked around
the rim of the inner circle. Popular ones are the names of the Hebrew
letters from the Cabala, combined with Agla, Tetragrammaton, the Eye of
Horus, and various Christian prayers. The words Father, Son, and Holy
Ghost in Latin are popular now, but in the Middle Ages and Renaissance an
almost equally great power vas attached to Kaspar, Balthasar, and Melchior
--the Three Kings, or Three Wise Men.
Remember: it is relatively rare for anyone to be attacked directly. By far
the greatest number of problems can be described as accidental
attractions, or subconscious desire to make the connection.
If you wish to try astral travel, first learn to be aware when you are
dreaming. Then practice controlling what happens in your dreams. Then,
if while traveling astrally you meet a fearsome creature, you will have
the experience to know how to use your courage as a shield, and use your
determination, your will, to make it fall to pieces and crumble to dust.
If it is too strong for you, call your teacher for aid.
RECOMMENDED READING:
For how it works: Stalking the Wild Pendulum, by Itzhak Bentov
For encouragement: The Lazy Man's Guide to Enlightenment, by Thaddeus Golas
For exercises: The Spiral Dance, by Starhawk
For symbols and on general principles: Rites and Symbols of Initiation,
by Miecea Eliade
I hope that this article will not be taken as a comprehensive guide but
rather as an essay with a few hints. I hope it will draw questions and
comments from other practitioners.