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The Christian Wheel of the Year: Autumn Ember Days
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Alban Hefin


Tuesday at 5:30 AM Eastern Daylight Time was the Summer Solstice. As less than 48 hours have passed since then, the energies of the Solstice are still active, so let's have a post on it!

The name Alban Hefin, commonly used for the Spring Equinox by modern Druids, comes from the work of Iolo Morganwg. In the Barddas, his collection of Ancient Celtic Lore which emerged largely from his own extraordinary mind, Iolo writes about the "free days" associated with the Sun:


Qi Nodes

In Chinese philosophy and traditional medical practice, the pattern of shifting energies through the seasons is called jia qi or "Calendar Energy." Moments when the energy shifts in a big way are called Qi Nodes. Traditional acupuncturists, qigong teachers, and the like, have an elaborate system of practices designed to attune the energy of the individual to that of the season. This includes particular foods which are especially beneficial, qigong and meditation exercises, and modes of conduct. In the West, a similar system existed, but it's in fragments now, and part of our work is to reconstruct it; we can look to the intact energetic systems to provide some clues as to how to do that, as well as to the fragments of our own holistic system.

The Ember Fast is one of the most survivals of the Western system of energetic medicine, as it relates to the jia qi. The purpose of the fast is to re-set our energetic system. The foods of Winter are purged from our bodies, and we experience a kind of stillness and freedom from movement, from which we can begin to move again, in harmony now with the Spring Energy, rather than the Winter Energy which is passed.

Additional associations of Summer include: The element of Fire; the Zodiac sign of Cancer; culmination, intensity, and the first seed of decline; the sin of Wrath; light, joy, labor, and above all, activity. Above all, Summer is associated with activity. Fire, in the Western as well as the Chinese system of thinking, is the most yang, hot, active and masculine element. The Summer solstice is the triumph of light over darkness and of life over death; from here onward begins the long, slow, steady decline toward Winter. Human culture, reflecting the natural world, makes the Summer a time both of labor and of celebration. This is the time of life.

The primary Christian festival associated with Mid-Summer is Saint John's Day, celebrating the birth of Saint John the Baptist, which we'll discuss shortly. Recall what is said of John in the Gospel: He must diminish, that Christ may increase; notice that John, born at the Summer Solstice, is thus tied to the increase of Yin and of the Winter Power, Christ, born at the Winter Solstice, to the increase of Yang and the Summer Power.

Suggestions for Practice

If you're reading this, there is a good chance that you already have a way of celebrating the Summer Solstice, and I'd like to encourage you to stick with it! For everyone else, as with the Winter Solstice, I'm just going to make a few suggestions for practices now. Eventually, we'll have a more elaborate ritual for each point on the calendar, but it's best not to rush these things; the energies moving at this time of year are powerful and shouldn't be treated lightly.

1. Continue the invocation of St. Michael from the Spring Ember Days; we can even make the Equinox a kind of culmination of that practice, with the slog of Embertide as preparation. In meditation, you can imagine the Archangel extending a blessing which attunes you to the energy of the season.

2. A free day. As in the selection from the Barddas above, we can make this a kind of free day in our own homes. Children can be given lighter chores and freedom from other responsibilities. The idea of the "Free Day" can be tied in with the Ember Fast to create a kind of general Energetic Reset for Spring.

3. Bonfires! 

Summer conduct in general should be vigorous. The natural world is overbrimming with activity; our natural inclination is to mirror it, and we should allow this. Cook outside, eat full meals, allow yourself to work and to play. At the same time, there is a danger in excess Summer energy. In areas in which the Sun is particularly intense, this spoke of the Wheel is immediately followed by a general dying; the grass turns brown, all the Spring greenery dies away. If we overdo it at this time, we will experience the same dying within our energetic body as we exhaust ourselves. And if we greatly overdo it, the depletion that results will follow us throughout the whole year.

I haven't found a discussion of it in the Chinese material, but in my experience the power of the Sun and of the Summer Energy to harm varies according both to your constitution and to the energy of the area in which you live. While the Sun is at his most intense at this time of year everywhere in the Northern hemisphere, the further North you go, the milder that intensity becomes. I personally could not bear to be in the direct Sun for more than a few minutes at a time when I lived in Southern California; now that I live in a more Northerly (and considerably more humid) region, I can endure much more Sunlight and have come to enjoy it again. General prescriptions are models; look to your own body, energy and spirit and that of the land on which you live as an exact guide to your own conduct. 

Happy Alban Hefin, everybody!

The Resurrection of Our Lord, According to Saint Mark

A Meditation on Easter

Our story began on Christmas Eve with a census. "In those days, Caesar Augustus ordered a census of the entire world."

A census, let us recall, had a very specific meaning in ancient times; it was no mere bureaucratic exercise. At the census, which took place every year, or every four or seven years, every member of a given city would gather outside its walls to be counted by the censor. They would then make attonement to the God who ruled that city for the sins of its members.

At Christmas, we have a census of the entire world: Thus we see that the story that begins is a story of atonement to a god, and that God is the god of the entire world-- what the ancient Platonists called the "proximate Demiurgus of the Cosmos." That is to say, the creator.

Our story continues with Jesus's baptism, which is to say, his initiation into the ancient current of power carried by John the Baptist, who tells us "Repent, for the kingdom of Heaven is at hand." Or, to say it more currently: Change your nous, for the kingdom of God is within you.

Jesus, revealed as the living incarnation of the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, then begins his ministry, teaching the people of Israel the Great Way of changing the nous.

On Holy Thursday, we come to the Paschal Supper. Here several things happen. A meal is shared. The meal commemorates the passover meal, in which the door of every Jewish household is marked by the blood of a sacrificial lamb. Thus we know that we are about to encounter a sacrifice, and this will be the reverse of the previous passover: Now, the Firstborn will be sacrificed, and will be the lamb, and his blood will stain the door.

"This is my flesh," he tells his disciples, "and this is my blood," distributing bread and wine among them. "It will be poured out for you and for many for forgiveness of sins. Do this in memory of me."

In a garden, he prays. He knows what is to come. Can it be averted? If it were possible, he asks, let this cup pass from me: "But Thy will, not mine, be done."

The cup does not pass. He is arrested. Beaten, scourged, crowned with thorns. And he is sentenced to be crucified at Golgotha, the Place of the Skull.

Now, let us remember what in earlier and wiser times was known to all. The cross on which he was crucified was made from the wood of the Tree of Life itself. And the Place of the Skull is the resting place of our first parents; the skull is Adam's skull.

Now, of the three members of the soul, the nous is the highest, and its place in the subtle anatomy is in the skull. Here at the Place of the Skull, He dies upon the Tree of Life.

He descends into Hell. And there he comes in triumph; the Gate of Hell is broken, and its inmates are released.

"Take up your cross and follow me," He tells us. By sacrifice, bind yourself to the Tree of Life. Descend from the Nous in your head to the Passions burning in the hellfire of your belly, and release the energy and the will that you have bound up there in the following of earthly things. Do this, die to this world, and you will be reborn, even as He is reborn.

Thank you to everyone who has followed this blog over the last few years, and a blessed Easter to one and all!

Maundy Thursday

We have now come to the holiest time of the year. On Holy Thursday, or Maundy Thursday to give it its English name, we come finally to the Last Supper, and thus to the First Communion and the institution of the priesthood.

Many customs associated with this day. In some countries it was common for the king or queen to wash the feet of the poor, in remembrance of the same action by Christ commemorated in today's Gospel (as we'll see.) In many churches, the washing of the feet is performed by the priest, or by the faithful for one another. Very often bells are rung this day, and then silenced, and will not be heard again until Easter. In many countries, children would run through the street announcing the time for mass, in lieu of bells; the bells themselves having, it was said, gone to Rome to be absolved of their sins. Of course this often led to Trick-or-Treating, after the usual fashion, sending children door to door to ask for candy having been the usual way our ancestors had for celebrating holidays of any kind.

Practice

The days that follow are the most solemn and the most holy of the year. It is my view at this time that the Easter season should not be used for practical magic, but only for works of meditation, devotion, almsgiving and repentance. If the mass is available to you in whatever form, you should at least attend on Easter Sunday, but daily mass going during Holy Week is a fine idea. Tomorrow's Good Friday service is very long and emotionally challenging, as it ought to be, but it will reward everything you put into it.

These days it is both our blessing and our curse to have livestreamed masses available on the internet, so that you can participate to a certain degree in the ceremony of any denomination you choose, including the more obscure, Esoteric or Esoteric-friendly ones that I personally prefer. Used properly, these can be a blessing, but you also run the risk of further entangling yourself in technology.

Missa Sicca

If a mass is unavailable, an option that I would like to see more widely practiced is the missa sicca, or "dry mass." This was a form of liturgy that was practiced in the Middle Ages when a priest did not have access to bread and wine. As such, it consists of every part of the mass-- except for the Eucharist. The disadvantage is obvious, but the advantage is that it may be practiced with good effect by any person, whether ordained or otherwise, and it makes for an excellent form of private meditation.

In order to perform the missa sicca, you need the text for the day's mass. Begin with the Sign of the Cross, as usual, and make use of every tool to expand that practice that we've discussed here. Then move onto the readings.

Down the road I'm going to do a longer post on the missa sicca as a magical practice unto itself. In the meantime, you can find a good how-to for personal use here, and a set of readings for every day of the year here.

The Stripping of the AltarsAt the close of the mass on Maundy Thursday the altars are stripped, the host removed to an altar of repose, as no hosts are consecrated during the masses on Good Friday and Holy Saturday. During this time, the 21st Psalm is sung. Whatever form your devotion takes today, you should definitely consider closing with its words:

They have divided my garments among them, and for my vesture they have cast lots.

O my God, I shall cry by day, and thou wilt not hear: and by night, and it shall not be reputed as folly in me.

But thou dwellest in the holy place, the praise of Israel.

In thee have our fathers hoped: they have hoped, and thou hast delivered them.

They cried to thee, and they were saved: they trusted in thee, and were not confounded.

But I am a worm, and no man: the reproach of men, and the outcast of the people.

All they that saw me have laughed me to scorn: they have spoken with the lips, and wagged the head.

“He hoped in the Lord, let him deliver him: let him save him, seeing he delighteth in him.”

For thou art he that hast drawn me out of the womb: my hope from the breasts of my mother.

I was cast upon thee from the womb. From my mother's womb thou art my God,

Depart not from me. For tribulation is very near: for there is none to help me.

Many calves have surrounded me: fat bulls have besieged me.

They have opened their mouths against me, as a lion ravening and roaring.

I am poured out like water; and all my bones are scattered. My heart is become like wax melting in the midst of my bowels.

My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue hath cleaved to my jaws: and thou hast brought me down into the dust of death.

For many dogs have encompassed me: the council of the malignant hath besieged me. They have dug my hands and feet.

They have numbered all my bones. And they have looked and stared upon me.

They parted my garments amongst them; and upon my vesture they cast lots.

But thou, O Lord, remove not thy help to a distance from me; look towards my defense.

Deliver, O God, my soul from the sword: my only one from the hand of the dog.

Save me from the lion's mouth; and my lowness from the horns of the unicorns.

I will declare thy name to my brethren: in the midst of the church will I praise thee.

Ye that fear the Lord, praise him: all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him.

Let all the seed of Israel fear him: because he hath not slighted nor despised the supplication of the poor man. Neither hath he turned away his face form me: and when I cried to him he heard me.

With thee is my praise in a great church: I will pay my vows in the sight of them that fear him.

The poor shall eat and shall be filled: and they shall praise the Lord that seek him: their hearts shall live for ever and ever.

All the ends of the earth shall remember, and shall be converted to the Lord: And all the kindreds of the Gentiles shall adore in his sight.

For the kingdom is the Lord's; and he shall have dominion over the nations.

All the fat ones of the earth have eaten and have adored: all they that go down to the earth shall fall before him.

And to him my soul shall live: and my seed shall serve him.

There shall be declared to the Lord a generation to come: and the heavens shall shew forth his justice to a people that shall be born, which the Lord hath made.

They have divided my garments among them, and for my vesture they have cast lots

The Annunciation

March 25th is the Feast of the Annunciation, so called because on this day, the archangel Gabriel announces the birth of Christ to the Virgin Mary. Also called Lady Day in the English speaking world, this is one of the most important Marian feasts.

Origins

I could tell you where Lady Day comes from, but someone else has already done a much better job of explaining it than I could. So let's read together.
The Meaning of the Annunciation

The passage from Luke's Gospel is also the first Joyous Mystery of the Rosary, which is the beginning of the Rosary as a whole. Its prominent place in Catholic devotional practice shows its importance. Like the rest of the Bible, this Gospel will reveal much to meditation. Still, we should talk a bit about the central idea here, which is contained in Mary's words:

Mary is the New Eve. The original Eve was tempted by a demon, and said Yes to power, and was, therefore, expelled from Paradise. The New Eve is tempted by an Angel, and says Yes to humility and, ultimately, suffering; for this, she is exalted above all creatures. This reversal is at the heart of Christianity and the heart of Christian mysticism. Lucifer is a mighty seraph, but that isn't enough for him; he wants to be God Himself. In his pride he rebels against the tyranny of Heaven, and is cast down. An ordinary angel refuses mighty Lucifer, asking "Who is like God?" He is raised up made prince of the Heavenly Host, and "Who Is Like God"-- in Hebrew, Micha-El-- becomes his name. Over and over we see this; as the Magnificat tells us,

Now, Mary is the model for all Christians. We are all called to say "Behold the servant of the Lord." What this means is that we empty ourselves of attachment to worldly things, and in so doing open ourselves to Divine Grace. Mary herself is the fullness of grace, which is the meaning of Gabriel's opening words to her: Ave, gratia plena. By imitating her, we become like her, and share in the grace that is hers.

The Wheel of the Year

The Annunciation is coordinate with the Spring Equinox. Notice its 3 counterparts: Saint John's Day on June 24th; Saint Michael and All Angels on September 29th; and Christmas on December 25th. These are the four quarters of the year, and Christians have the option of celebrating them instead of the solstices and equinoxes as such, or of rolling the latter into the Christian holidays.

Notice the 4 figures that stand at the quarters of the year. We have Jesus himself at the Winter Solstice; Mary at Spring; John the Baptist at Summer; and St. Michael the Archangel at Autumn. Now, given that Jesus is not a saint, when we consider it from this point of view, it might be better to place St. John the Evangelist at the Winter quarter, opposite his counterpart, St. John the Baptist. The symbolism of these four figures-- Jesus (or John), Mary, John, Michael-- are linked in very interesting ways. Here again, I won't spoil it for you-- spend some time unlocking the symbolism in meditation.

Traditional Celebrations

In many parts of the Catholic world, the Annunciation marked the beginning of the year. In England it marked the start of the year until 1752, even after the Reformation had done away with as much that was good and interesting as possible.

Annunciation customs are often associated with Spring and the sewing of the fields. In Russia, the priests would bless bread and give it to the people. Families would share their Annunciation Bread in silence, and then take the crumbs to the fields, where they were sprinkled as a protection against, blight, hail, and frost. Similar customs prevailed in Central Europe. Here, an icon of the annunciation was placed in a barrel of grain, and a suitable prayer said, such as this one:

After this, the grain could be sown in the fields.

Suggestions for Practice

Lady Day's symbols are the annunciation itself, Mary and her mission and nature, the beginning of Spring and the sowing of the fields.

Obviously, prayer directed toward Mary is particularly appropriate today. The Angelus is a great, simple prayer which is based on the Annunciation itself.

The Angelus


A Feast of Grain

Most of us don't have grain to sow in the fields, but we can share in the symbolism of this aspect of the traditional celebration in other ways. If you bake bread, this is a good day for it. Once the loaf is ready, you can bless it, using the methods of blessing objects that I've previously given here, and share it with your family. A bit can be sit aside and placed in the yard or garden as a blessing.

Lady Day Bread

Ingredients:

3 Cups flour
12 ounces warm water
1 tsp salt
1 tsp Fleischmann's bread yeast*

*or whatever bread yeast you like. I prefer Fleischmann's because it's also good for making mead!

Step 1. Add yeast to water and let it set for a few minutes.
Step 2. Mix flour and salt in a bowl.
Step 3. Add water to flour. Mix thoroughly.

Now, every bread recipe will tell you to do things just a little bit differently at this point. I just use the wooden spoon I've been using the whole time to mix and knead the bread for a few minutes. Others will tell you to knead it by hand for seven minutes. Or you can just mix it lightly and let it set overnight. It's your call.

Step 4. Cover dough with a clean towel. and set it in a warm place to rise. Pro-tip: If it's summertime and you want your bread to rise quickly, set it in your car!
Step 5. After an hour or two, turn dough out onto a floured cutting board. Use your hands to form it into a ball, then flatten it, then ball it up again, 3 or 4 times. Then cover it.
Step 6. Cover bread and set oven to 450 degrees.
Step 7. When the oven hits 450, uncover your bread and place it on a floured pan. Yes, you can use a dutch oven or a cast iron or whathaveyou, but you can also use the same pan you use to bake cookies and your kid's chicken nuggets. (I'm telling you this because food blogs will try to make it sound complicated. It's not complicated. It's the easiest thing in the world.) Put it in the oven. Then turn the oven down to 375 degrees, and bake for 40-45 minutes.

Why do you turn the oven down? That's something I read about in John Michael Greer's book The Encyclopedia of Natural Magic. Apparently it helps form the crust. I thought that was cool, so it's how I always do it.

Step 8. Let the bread cool down for at least 30 minutes before you cut it. Then slice and eat.

A Prayer for Blessing Bread

Here is a simple prayer for the blessing of bread, from Catholic Online:

A simple practice might be to say that prayer over your bread, then serve it at dinner along with a suitable discussion of the Feast of the Annunciation, perhaps reading the relevant passage from Luke.

Annunciation Prayer and Blessing of Bread, Full Form

1. Open with the Sign of the Cross, opening prayers, holy water and incense. Have your bread for blessing on your altar or prayer table, wrapped in a cloth.

2. Pray a suitable Confiteor. Take some time to visualize your sins. Imagine God's purifying fire descending from Heaven, scouring them from your soul.

3. Read the passage from the Gospel of Luke that I shared above. Enter into meditation for some time.

4. When you feel ready, unwrap the bread and pray the Angelus. At the words, "Pour forth, we beseech Thee, O Lord, Thy grace into our hearts," bow your head, raise your hands, and visualize a column of light descending from Heaven, pouring into your heart.

5. Then bless the bread using the prayer of blessing given above. While doing so, hold your hands over it, and imagine the same light pouring forth into the bread, filling it with Divine Fire.

6. Close with a suitable prayer. The Fatima prayer, Come Holy Spirit, or Prayer of Saint Francis are always good options, but today, the Magnificat might be the best option: 
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Saint Patrick's Day

Happy Saint Patrick's Day! Saint Patrick is one of the patrons of Ireland, as you probably already know.

History of Saint Patrick's Day

In 1780, George Washington gave his troops a day off. He had been encamped through the winter at Morristown, New Jersey. It was a long, bleak winter, and the army had been hit by no fewer than 28 snow storms and, well, no one was in a very good mood at this point. Now it happened that about a quarter of Washington's army was of Irish descent, despite the Irish composing less than a tenth of the American population at the time, and a dozen of his commanders had been either born in Ireland or born in America to Irish parents. And so it occurred to him that Saint Patrick's Day would make a fine occasion for a holiday. His order reads:


And so the first Saint Patrick's Day was celebrated without the least rioting, disorder, or mingling between officers and men.

That is the history of Saint Patrick's Day in America. His feast in Ireland is, of course, much, much older.

The Irish in America, The Power of Saint Patrick

In the United States, Saint Patrick's Day seems to grow in popularity every year. And this despite the fact that Americans of Irish descent are still less than 10% of the population. Moreover, the "Irish" of America include a very large percentage of Ulster Scots, whose forebears are rooted ultimately in the Scottish borderlands. These borderers were first expelled from Scotland to Northern Ireland as part of the British colonization of that country, and then from Ireland made their way to America. Today-- in America, at least-- they're usually just called "Irish," and that's how they see themselves. It's possible to be cynical or dismissive about the Irish-Americans, and this dismissiveness is quite popular in certain circles. Among the inhabitants of Ireland themselves, well, I've read that they see St. Patrick's Day as largely an occasion to evacuate their major cities, as these will be quickly overwhelmed by drunk Americans. Still, I think that something interesting is going on here.

The earliest Saint Patrick's Day celebration in the American colonies took place in 1737, in Boston. A group of Irish residents held a celebration in honor of Saint Patrick, and formed the Charitable Irish Society, in order to help their struggling co-ethnics in the city. Note that at this time nearly all of these "Irish" were Presbyterians who had emigrated from Northern Ireland, rather than Irish Catholics; more on that later.

On March 17, 1776, the Continental Army captured the city of Boston. Legend has it that the password for American soldiers entering the city that day was "Boston," to which the reply was, "Saint Patrick." Today, "Evacuation Day" is celebrated alongside Saint Patrick's Day in Boston. And Boston is the center of Irish culture in America.

Remember that two things are never connected by accident or happentance. If Boston was taken on Saint Patrick's Day, we should see this as the intervention by the saint on behalf of a city which was placed under his patronage 40 years earlier. If Boston has become the center of Irish or "Irish" culture in America, this is no accident either. There are no accidents, but the physical world is under the government of the spiritual world. On the magical worldview, cultural currents, fads, and enthusiasms are the outward manifestation of currents of force in the Astral Plane, and the Astral is under the government of higher planes still. If people around the world, especially but not only in America and other countries with a large Irish diaspora population, find themselves swept up in a notion of Irish identity on the feast of Saint Patrick, we should see this as the activity of the saint himself.

Saint Patrick was the patron saint of Ireland. Now, in addition, he is the patron saint of the Irish in America, and insists on including under that heading nearly anyone who is willing to wear green on March 17th.

Celtic Spirituality

Over the course of the last two centuries, the ideas both of Celtic identity and of a distinctly Celtic spirituality have spread throughout the world, wherever people of Celtic descent are found, and even where they are not. I think that you see the earliest version of it not in Ireland, in fact, but in Wales, with the Druid Revival and the work of Iolo Morganwg. Later, romanticized accounts of highland Scots history became very popular, starting with the work of Sir Walter Scott in the 1800s. And then there was William Butler Yeats, of which there is too much to say to be contained in a short blog post, except that, in more a more civilized era, sacrifices would be made to his spirit every year on the occasion of his Liberation from the flesh.

In any case, we've now had a fairly complete Celtic revival, which only grows in strength year by year. Celtic Spirituality takes Christian and Pagan forms, sometimes hostile toward one another, but often coexisting quite amicably. In either pagan or Christian form, Celtic spiritualities tend to share the following themes, among others:

• Respect and reverence for the natural world and the cycles of nature
• A focus on monasticism rather than a clerical hierarchy
• A balanced relationship between men and women
• A love of art, music, and poetry
• An awareness of the nearness of the Otherworld, and of the beings which inhabit it
• A celebration specifically of the landscapes, languages, and legends of the Celtic countries of Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Cornwall and Brittany

I'd like to suggest that Saint Patrick can be seen as one of the patron saints of Celtic spirituality and the Celtic revival generally. I'd also like to suggest that, to the list of traditional Celtic countries in Europe, we ought to add those regions of the United States and other countries which received large numbers of Irish, Scots and other Celtic immigrants, and in which Celtic culture has become rooted in the land. This would include much of the Northeast-- New England, of course, but Appalachia all the more so, as much of the region's culture was laid down by Scots immigrants, and large parts of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Maryland. The Celts weren't always in Ireland, and they have been many other places besides. I'd like to think that historians in a thousand years will talk about "the traditional Celtic lands of Eastern North America."

How to Celebrate

The traditional American form of celebrating Sant Patrick's Day involves wearing green, drinking beer (preferably Guinness or a lager died green with food coloring), reminiscing about ancestors driven from Ireland by the machinations of one Englishman or another, and listening to Celtic music. (Here is a personal favorite of mine.) There's nothing wrong with any of this and you won't hear me speak a word against it.

But I think that we can, and should, incorporate the deeper aspects of Celtic spirituality into our Saint Patrick's Day celebrations. At minimum, this is a fine day to recite the Lorica of Saint Patrick:
This is a powerful prayer of protection, as it invokes the entirety of God's creation, starting from the Trinity and extending downward through the ranks of angels and saints and into the elements of the material creation, and binds the one who prays to all of these. It can be recited in honor of Saint Patrick, with a prayer that his blessing be extended to all the peoples of the Celtic diasporas, everywhere in the world, and that the Celtic spirit continue to awaken, expand, and grow.

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

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Meménto, homo, quia pulvis es, et in púlverem revertéris.

Ash Wednesday

Ash Wednesday marks the official beginning of Lent. The great tradition of Ash Wednesday is, of course, its namesake, the ashes placed on either the crown or the forehead. 

In the traditional rite, the ashes are blessed by a series of 5 prayers. The first reads as follows: 

The prayers conclude:
Ashes are then placed on the forehead or on the crown, with the words: 


or
Lenten Magic

What we have is a magic ritual of some power. First, ashes are prepared, and these are made from the palm fronds blessed on the previous palm Sunday. Thus the years are linked to one another, and the triumph that will come at Palm Sunday linked to the crucifixion that will follow it. The priest summons an angel to bless the ashes, turning them into remedies for both body and soul. The faithful are blessed by the ashes with a prayer that they specifically be given the power of self-denial in order to combat evil spirits. They are reminded that they are dust and to dust they will return.

Each component of this rite would yield a great deal to meditation. 

Let's talk a bit about dust. 

Genesis 2:7 tells us:

The Lord God formed man from the dust of the earth. He blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being.

In these two sentences we see the whole anatomy of the human being. 

We start with God, who, as we know, is Being Itself; the first term is existence.

Next comes the form, which God holds in his mind.

The form is impressed onto the dust.

And the breath enters in from God himself, bringing life.

God is being; the form is spirit; the breath is soul; the dust is matter.

Matter itself is without form and without life. Moreover, the lowest parts of us, the passions that we share with all animal life, arise from the body, and are thus closest to matter and entangle us with matter, which is merely dust. By remembering that we are dust, we remember three things:

First, our bodies are dust, and the cravings, attachments, pains, pleasures and everything we seem to "need" which arise from them are also mere dust.

Second, the dust itself, utterly formless, is still sustained in its very being by God, as is everything in the universe; underneath the dust, as it were, is God-- and so God is at the root of our being. Too often we confuse our innermost nature, seeing dust where we should see divinity; let us look past the dust to That which is beyond. In doing so, we gain the ability to do battle with the evil spirits, who use our lower nature to delude us, but have no power over higher things.

Third, even as dust, the lowliest thing, is not deprived of the presence of God; even as, remembering that we are dust, we remember that we are of God; so may we remember that by humility we will triumph, whereas by Pride we will be cast down. For
A blessed Lent to one and all.

[This post has been updated.]

Basic Principles of Magic

Most of you will have noticed that the Christian Wheel of the Year series is effectively an initiation-- or, rather, a series of initiations-- into a system of Christian magic. Of course, it doesn't have to be practiced that way-- You can use it simply as a guide to traditional customs that you might use to enhance your spiritual practice and your family life. But for those who want to make the deep-dive into traditional magic practice, I want to do a series of posts introducing and laying out the basic principles of the system of Christian magic we'll be discussing and practicing here. For many of you this will be review; for some it will be new material. 

To start, let's answer the question:

What is magic?

Magic Defined

Magic is defined as:

I've capitalized all of the important words.

Most of the readers here will already be familiar with this definition. If not, read it, read it again, and then read it a third time; it's subtler than it might appear at first. We're going to call this Definition 1. When we talk about magic here, we always mean "the art and science of causing changes in consciousness in accordance with will."

Alternate Definitions of Magic

Now, this isn't the only definition of magic. It's important to be aware of some of these other definitions-- especially if you belong to a religion that condemns magic, or have to deal with people who do. You'll usually find that when people condemn magic in general, they're using a definition other than the one quoted above, and condemning things that you haven't actually done and wouldn't do.

Catholic theology defines magic as:


Let's call this Definition 2. The first thing to note about Definition 2 is just how slippery it is. Is electricity a power other than the Divine? How about x-rays? What about the blind psychological forces used to manipulate people by advertisers? Is it "divine power" that produces life-saving medicines for humans by vivisecting live animals? The Catholic Church permits its followers to make use of all of the foregoing-- but it condemns spiritual healing practices like reiki as "sinful."

Earlier generations of Catholic writers on this topic were far more careful in their thinking than present-day ones. Leaving the ambiguity aside, though, we understand what Definition 2 is getting at-- "Magic" is here defined as seeking the aid of demons. It is condemned on that basis. It hardly needs to be said that the sort of magic we're working with here has nothing to do with demons, and so is not illicit according to Catholic theology (if that's important to you). In fact, because it doesn't involve the evocation of demons or other evil spirits or powers, it isn't actually magic according to Catholic theology!

Definition 3. In ordinary speech, "magic" or "magical" is often used to mean "wonderful and exciting," with a hint of "beyond the ordinary." Under this definition, the magic that we practice is usually magical, but sometimes it isn't! Modern ceremonial magic is based around the performance of a daily ritual intended to invoke the divine, raise the consciousness of the operator, and chase of evil and unbalancing spirits and forces. The wonder of performing a daily ritual often wears off after a few weeks-- and that's when it's most important to keep doing it. So you might say that magic is sometimes magical, and sometimes it isn't-- and the most important part of practicing magic is to keep going once the magic stops being magical!

Definition 4. Magic is
This is how Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa defines magic in his Three Books of Occult Philosophy, written in the early 16 century. You'll find similar definitions in many of the old magic books or grimoires. The old definitions are worth careful consideration, as they often dovetail with, contradict, and inform the modern definition in interesting ways.

Definition 5. Magic is a set of tricks or illusions, performed for entertainment.

As I wrote above, Definition 1 is the way we'll be defining magic on this blog. Definition 2 refers to practices in which we will never engage and which we condemn. Our magic will sometimes be magic according to Definition 3, and sometimes it won't be. Definition 4 is a helpful supplement. The type of magic described in Definition 5 is beyond the scope of this blog.

Some Implications of Definition 1

Let's conclude by talking about some of the implications of defining magic in the way that we have.

Reversibility of the Terms

The first thing to note about the definition of magic is that the terms are reversible. To practice magic is to cause or attempt to cause changes in consciousness in accordance with will. Also-- any attempt to cause changes in consciousness in accordance with will is magic.

This is of critical importance, because it means that, according to the terms we are using here, magic is being practiced all around us, all the time. And, the great majority of the time, that magic is targeting us. That is to say: It is our consciousness that is being changed, according to someone else's will.

Example 1

Some years ago-- around 2006, I guess-- I read about a study in which subjects were gathered in a room and given a questionnaire about their political views. In one of the rooms used for the study, there was an American flag; the other had no flag. It was found that subjects in the same room as the American flag were more likely to express right-wing political opinions.

Shortly after I read about this, every commentator on the right-wing Fox News channel, Republican members of Congress, and other public conservatives began wearing American flag pins on their lapels in public. Moreover, they started insisting that everyone else needed to wear  American flag pins on their shirts as well.

Like every act of magic, the American Flag Lapel Pin spell (as we might call it) was intended to produce a change in consciousness in accordance with will. The change in question was agreement with right-wing political opinions. The will was the will of the right-wing politicians in question, or, rather, their handlers; its intended goal was increased political power for the Republican Party. 



Magic is being used around you and against you all the time. And it doesn't matter if the people doing it know that it's magic
or not.

By the way-- that was nearly two decades ago. It wouldn't surprise me if the image of the American flag prompted very different political responses today, in 2022. I haven't seen any follow up study, but it's worth noting that American flag lapel pins are no longer worn. Images like the American flag are part of the Astral Plane in magical theory, which we'll be discussing later on. The constellation of images on the Astral Plane are never fixed, but always in flux.

Example 2

Another example.



Kind of awful, isn't it? I agree. And that's the first thing to notice about this one: It no longer works. That nauseated feeling you have? That's magical failure. But because it doesn't work, we can study it and see how it was intended to work.

Notice the components of the image:

The caption invokes the Family Doctor, a position of great authority. In the 1950s as well as today, for many people, the word "Doctor" produces roughly the same response that the word "priest" did for a medieval peasant. These are people who have access to secret knowledge and the means to personal salvation.

The picture shows a man leaving a woman and her daughter. The feelings invoked in a woman seeing an image like this are fear and heartache. In the era in which this image was produced, a woman on her own was in serious trouble. And notice: She's not by herself. She's with her child. The image thus invokes very deep emotions-- the protectiveness instinct of a mother toward her children. This is very common in advertising, which consists, as a whole, of low-grade sorcery of this sort. The human soul consists of multiple parts. Many of those parts are shared with other animals, the protective instinct of a mother toward her young very much included. These bestial parts of our soul are lower than the human parts, including the reason, but they are also older and much stronger. The purpose of an advertisement like this is essentially to invoke the beast within the target and lead it to overwhelm the human being. Why? Because, simply put, animals are much easier to control than people.

Finally, note the overall subject matter of the advertisement-- and my apologies for bringing this up. Simply put, it's intended to provoke anxiety in women over the state of their genitals. In other words, it draws attention to the reproductive organs, while at the same time provoking embarrassment and vulnerability. It is, in a real sense, a kind of visual rape. 

Notice that the bestial part of the soul is invoked at the exact same time as the authority of the doctor is invoked. The two work together to produce both irrationality and submissiveness on the part of the target. This is the change in consciousness. The will is the will of the advertiser, or, rather, the company who paid for the advertisement; its goal is to provoke women into purchasing unnecessary and dangerous products in order to enrich its manufacturers. 

It's easy to dismiss advertisements like this as products of a by-gone era, offensive or silly as one prefers to see them. Don't make that mistake. The science of advertising has only evolved since the 1950s. The dangerous advertisements aren't the ones that you can see through-- but the ones that you can't. Those are the magical workings that are still in operation.

Doesn't that mean magic is evil?

In each of the foregoing cases, the target of the magical operation is being influenced in such a way as to increase the power or the wealth of the operator-- the Republican Party and its donors in the first case, the Lysol corporation and its distributors in the second. These are works of evil magic, for two reasons. First, the change in consciousness being provoked degrades the target-- especially in the second case. As we will see later on, human consciousness consists of several different parts, which are arranged hierarchically. When we activate the higher parts of the consciousness, we are elevated to the level of the saints and angels; when the lower parts of ourselves are activated, we are degraded to the level of beasts. To deliberately lower the consciousness of another is to harm them, by removing them from the awareness of spiritual realities.

Second, the end goal of the magical act is not the good of the target, but the satisfaction of the appetites or desires of the operator. In the first case, the desire is for power; in the second, for money. To harm another for the sake of your own desires is more or less the definition of evil behavior. 

But does that mean there is no good magic? 

Of course not! 

Here is another magical image, one of my personal favorites:  


Take a moment to clear your mind, take a moment, and contemplate this image. What changes in consciousness does it provoke?

If you're in any way like me, it probably induces a sense of devotion to the Virgin Mary and a desire to be united with her and with Jesus. You might see the crown being placed on her head as a reminder of the crown of glory awaiting all Christians. You might feel something undescribable, a movement of an ineffable energy that brings tears to your eyes and stirs your soul with a longing for the presence of God. 

We can distinguish between good or "white" magic and evil or black magic quite simply: The aim of good magic is the good of the target, while the aim of evil magic is evil for the target. This is true whether the target is yourself, another person, or a larger system like a garden or a city. 

Of course, this raises the question: Exactly what is good? And what is evil? We'll get to that in due time.

(Dear Reader: You may have noticed that this post is a draft of the first chapter of a book. Of course, if you've been here for more than a week or so you already know how I define "good" and "evil.")

Consciousness and the Will

According to our definition, the component parts of magic are will and consciousness. As such, it will be helpful to define these terms as well.

For now, let's define will as the capacity to choose an action, and consciousness as the capacity for representation.

To choose an action means to act in a way that is unimpeded and uninfluenced by any outside force. It immediately follows that there are many forms of limitation on the will. The first limitation is simply that of capacity. I have a cat sitting here on my desk. I can write these words, but she can't. Nor can she think the thoughts that led to them, nor read them and understand them. My body and brain allow me to perform actions which are not available to her-- and never will be. On the other hand, there are certain things that she can do that I can't, like hunting mice or sleeping for 18 hours straight. The will is limited in other ways as well. My capacity to choose an action is constrained by my knowledge of the choices available, my knowledge of the consequences of my choices, and any prior knowledge that might in any way impact my choice.

Aristotle discussed the limitations that knowledge and compulsion place upon the will at some length in Book 3 of his Nichomachaean Ethics.

Consciousness is the capacity for representation. Here I'm borrowing an idea from Schopenhaeuer, not inappropriately, as his influence is very present in modern occultism. For now, though, all we mean by "representation" is the "ability to have an experience." And so "consciousness" doesn't refer to the complexity of an experience, or to modern ideas about "intelligence." The computer I'm using may be more complex than the brain of the cat sitting next to it, but it doesn't matter-- the cat is conscious, and so she can experience the simple passions of pain, hunger, thirst, and fear; higher emotions of love and loneliness; and thoughts which are rudimentary analogs of human thought. The computer does none of these things, and never will-- as far as we know.

From all of this, it follows that both the will and the consciousness admit of degrees of development. Every living being participates of will and consciousness to some degree, even if it's very simple. An ant can choose to go right or left around a rock or to crawl over the rock. It represents the rock to itself through its eyes and antennae. And that's about it. A cat's field of choices and its range of experiences are greater and more complex; those of a human being more complex still.

As magic is the art and science of causing changes in consciousness in accordance with the will, it follows that magical practice includes the expansion of the powers of both the will and the consciousness.

A being that had a totally free will with no limitations either of knowledge or power; and a capacity to represent all possible experiences in its consciousness at once, with no limitations, would be called omnipotent and omniscient. Or, to say it another way, God.

A Definition of Christian Magic

We've defined magic.We've defined will and consciousness, and we've defined good magic and evil magic.

But what about Christian magic? We should probably define it before we continue.

Christian magic is, quite simply, magic in service of Christianity. 

Or, to say it another way, a work of magic is Christian if the ultimate end of the change in consciousness it provokes is union with the Christian God, which is the ultimate end of Christianity. 

Every Christian denomination without exception practices magic, by the way. Yes, that includes Protestants of every sort. Some are better at it than others.

Note for Practice

Many of you already have a personal spiritual practice. But this series is intended a basic self-study in magical practice, and you're very welcome to follow along with that in mind. And so every one of these posts will have an assignment. For today, consider the following questions:

1. What would it mean to expand your own will and your own consciousness?

2. In what way is "expansion of the will and consciousness" identical to "union with God"? In what ways might it be different?

3. What magical workings are currently being used to influence your own consciousness, in accordance with another's will? What would it be like if you were free of them?

Let's leave it there for today. Next time we'll talk about the basic principles of magic, and then we'll go on to present a basic curriculum of Christian magic. That should take us to the beginning of Lent, when we'll put the ideas we've discussed into practice. 

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Our Lady of Lourdes

February 11th is the Feast Day of Our Lady of Lourdes. On February 11th, 1858, the Virgin Mary appeared to a young woman named Bernadette Soubirous at Lourdes, France. This was the first of a succession of apparitions. Today, Lourdes is a major pilgrimage site, featuring a number of churches and a holy spring from which healing water is drawn.

The story of the Lourdes' apparition, and of the life of Bernadette, is one that I personally find very moving. Three things that I want to note about it here:

1. The Virgin appeared to a young woman from a peasant or working class background. This is very often her habit, appearing to a child or group of children, usually simple people. If she has ever appeared to a king or a United States president, or a pope for that matter, I am unaware of it.

2. The result of the apparition was the establishment of a healing spring; you can purchase Lourdes water to this day for the purpose of aiding healing and recovery from illness. This is magic, and some of our misguided Protestant friends might view it as "paganism." They are wrong-- this is the real Christianity: not a destruction of the pagan world, but its healing and reintegration.

A Story

Some time ago my wife, Jenn, was applying for a job at an institution named for Saint Bernadette. I wanted to help her. While she was doing her job interview, I went out beside a stream, opened my mind to Saint Bernadette and Our Lady of Lourdes, and asked for their intercession. I spent the rest of the time praying the rosary, and then went online and made a large donation to the Lourdes shrine in France. At no time did I focus on wanting the job, or expecting to be rewarded with it. I simply took steps, spiritual, mental, and physical, to align my energies with those of St Bernadette and Our Lady; made a specific request; and let them take care of the rest. She got the job the next day.

It's a bit late in the day, but it's still February 1st, which means there's still time to discuss St Brigid's Day!

Saint Brigid

Saint Brigid is one of those very versatile saints with a huge range of topics under their patronage. Brigid is the patron saint of babies; blacksmiths; boatmen; cattle; chicken farmers; children whose parents are not married; dairymaids; dairy workers; fugitives; infants; Ireland; Leinster; mariners; midwives; milk maids; newborn babies; nuns; poets; poultry farmers; poultry raisers; printing presses; sailors; scholars; travellers; watermen; and, I believe, the Douglas clan of Lowland Scotland.

Above all, she is one of the patron saints of Ireland. Known as "Mary of the Gaels," she is especially revered by the Irish, the Scottish, and their wayward descendants in the USA.

Like many saints, one frequently reads that "little is known about her history." Of course this isn't true; we have many stories and legends about Brigid, and if people who teach history classes at universities don't "believe in" them, that isn't our problem, now is it?

On one occasion, a nun gave Brigid a bushel of apples from her tree. Brigid promptly gave the apples to a colony of lepers. The nun was angry, because she hadn't intended the apples to be given to lepers, after all, but to Brigid, who was an abbess at this point. Brigid cursed the nun's tree, so that it would bear no more apples. But then another nun gave her a bushel of apples, and Brigid once again gave the apples the lepers. This second, smarter nun thanked Brigid for her generosity, and Brigid blessed the nun's tree, so that it bore twice as many apples as an ordinary tree.

On another occasion, Brigid asked a king for land on which to found a convent. The king refused. Finally, Brigid got him to agree to give her as much land as her cloak could cover. Not knowing he was in a fairy tale, the king scoffed and agreed. So Brigid and 3 of her nuns took hold of the 4 corners of her cloak, and began running in each direction. The cloak, which knew what it was about, grew and expanded until it covered the entirety of the king's realm. The king turned pale, agreed to give Brigid land for a convent, and got himself baptized for good measure.

Brigid was also known for calming winds and waters, curing various diseases and-- the finest miracle of all?-- turning water into beer!

Goddess or Saint?

When researching Brigid, one often encounters the claim that she was really a pagan goddess who was "stolen" by the Christians. Of course, Christians counter that no, she was a nun of the Fifth Century who knew Saint Patrick, and the mere fact that there was a pagan goddess of similar attributes worshiped in the same country has nothing to do with anything, so shut up.

I think that both of these points of view are wrong-- or anyway, that they're probably wrong. There does seem to be good evidence that Brigid, along with a number of other saints (not "most" or "all" as Protestant and atheist detractors claim, but some) were originally pagan gods, whose stories were Christianized.

Now, one way of looking at this is, indeed, that the Christians "stole" the god from the pagans, or that they allowed "paganism" to continue under a Christian guise. But this has one major flaw-- it assumes that the god in question, or its equivalent saint, does not exist. If one is an atheist or a Protestant-- but I repeat myself-- this makes perfect sense. From the perspective we're using here, it makes no sense at all. Human cultures and institutions are themselves formed by higher powers, the angels, saints and "gods" that govern them. One of the ways that the gods make themselves understood by humans is through myths; the myth is, in a sense, the god speaking to us. Proclus wrote that mythology is one of hte methods through which we know the gods, similar to mathematics-- we no more "make up" a myth than we "make up" a mathematical theorem! Both are ways of expressing an eternal pattern that underlies our reality in a way that the human mind can understand.

So what does that have to do with Brigid? Well, this: If the foregoing is correct, what does it mean when a myth changes? If a myth, which is one of the means through which a god expresses itself to humanity, suddenly changes and becomes a story about a woman who converts to Christianity, becomes a nun, and is canonized after her death; and if that story is then handed down through the generations by people who then encounter that saint through the usual methods of visionary experiences and answered prayers, can we not say that the god itself has converted to Christianity?

Suggestions for Practice

Among the most common traditional methods of celebrating St Brigid's Day is the making of Brigid's crosses. These take a bit of planning and a bit of craftiness, which is a major reason that I haven't made one myself. They were traditionally hung over the door to the home to ward off fire and lightning, and to prevent evil spirits from entering.



This was also traditionally a day for cleaning the house, and eating special meals including colcannon and apple cakes.

As is so often the case, it was also common for people to go door to door with an effigy of the saint or a person dressed as her, and who could doubt that that person was, at that time, the saint herself? As usual, children accompanied the saint and did some trick-or-treating. In the old world of lost Christendom, nearly every day of the week was a mishmash of Christmas, Halloween, and Saint Patrick's Day.

For those of us who don't live in Ireland-- where Brigid's Day is now a national holiday once again-- how can we celebrate St Brigid's Day?

A party is always an option, and so is a craft project. The Irish and those who can tolerate it might have colcannon for dinner.

Prayer is always an appropriate method, of course. If you wish to form a relationship with any saint, the best time to do so is their feast day.

A General Method For Contacting Saints

1. Prepare a space for prayer, as previously discussed. In a pinch, you don't need any tools, but they really do help. At minimum, I suggest an altar or prayer table which should have a crucifix, a statue or icon of the saint you wish to contact, a candle, incense, and holy water. Most Catholic holy cards have an image of a saint on one side and a prayer on the other, and these are ideal for this practice; if not, you will also need to have a traditional prayer to the saint either written down or memorized.

2. Start by lightning the candle. Then make the sign of the cross, as discussed in an earlier post. Purify your space with holy water and bless it with incense, also as previously discussed.

3. Now, while looking at the image of the saint if possible, read or recite their traditional prayer. Pray slowly and deliberately, and try to mean every word. Here is an example from a prayer card for Saint Brigid:


4. The prayer is an invocation of the saint; you can know that they are now present in your space with you. Take a moment to simply be aware of their presence. Now, if you don't have a relationship with the saint in question, this is not the time to start asking for things. Saints aren't gumball machines. Instead, you can talk to the saint, and tell them why you want to have a relationship with them, or you can simply spend some time breathing slowly, and be aware of their presence.

5. Eventually, you will come to a point where it feels appropriate to end the session. Thank the Saint, and then offer one of the closing prayers that I've suggested here previously-- I like the Come Holy Spirit, the Fatima Prayer, and the Prayer of Saint Francis, but you can use another prayer that you prefer. (This part really is individual-- you could use the Saint Patrick's Breastplate, the AA Third Step Prayer, the Gorsedd Prayer or anything else that works for you.)

6. Close with the Sign of the Cross.