“1. Into my loneliness comes— 2. The sound of a flute in dim groves that haunt the uttermost hills. 3. Even from the brave river they reach to the edge of the wilderness. 4. And I behold Pan. 5. The snows are eternal above, above— 6. And their perfume smokes upward into the nostrils of the stars. 7. But what have I to do with these? 8. To me only the distant flute, the abiding vision of Pan. 9. On all sides Pan to the eye, to the ear; 10. The perfume of Pan pervading, the taste of him utterly filling my mouth, so that the tongue breaks forth into a weird and monstrous speech. 11. The embrace of him intense on every centre of pain and pleasure. 12. The sixth interior sense aflame with the inmost self of Him, 13. Myself flung down the precipice of being 14. Even to the abyss, annihilation. 15. An end to loneliness, as to all. 16. Pan! Pan! Io Pan! Io Pan!”
— “Prologue of the Unborn”. Liber Liberi vel Lapidis Lazuli (Liber VII)
Thrill with lissome lust of the light,
O man! My man!
Come careering out of the night
Of Pan! Io Pan!
Io Pan! Io Pan! Come over the sea
From Sicily and from Arcady!
Roaming as Bacchus, with fauns and pards
And nymphs and satyrs for thy guards,
On a milk-white ass, come over the sea
To me, to me,
Come with Apollo in bridal dress
(Shepherdess and pythoness)
Come with Artemis, silken shod,
And wash thy white thigh, beautiful God,
In the moon of the woods, on the marble mount,
The dimpled dawn of the amber fount!
Dip the purple of passionate prayer
In the crimson shrine, the scarlet snare,
The soul that startles in eyes of blue
To watch thy wantonness weeping through
The tangled grove, the gnarled bole
Of the living tree that is spirit and soul
And body and brain — come over the sea,
(Io Pan! Io Pan!)
Devil or god, to me, to me,
My man! my man!
Come with trumpets sounding shrill
Over the hill!
Come with drums low muttering
From the spring!
Come with flute and come with pipe!
Am I not ripe?
I, who wait and writhe and wrestle
With air that hath no boughs to nestle
My body, weary of empty clasp,
Strong as a lion and sharp as an asp —
Come, O come!
I am numb
With the lonely lust of devildom.
Thrust the sword through the galling fetter,
All-devourer, all-begetter;
Give me the sign of the Open Eye,
And the token erect of thorny thigh,
And the word of madness and mystery,
O Pan! Io Pan!
Io Pan! Io Pan Pan! Pan Pan! Pan,
I am a man:
Do as thou wilt, as a great god can,
O Pan! Io Pan!
Io Pan! Io Pan Pan! I am awake
In the grip of the snake.
The eagle slashes with beak and claw;
The gods withdraw:
The great beasts come, Io Pan! I am borne
To death on the horn
Of the Unicorn.
I am Pan! Io Pan! Io Pan Pan! Pan!
I am thy mate, I am thy man,
Goat of thy flock, I am gold, I am god,
Flesh to thy bone, flower to thy rod.
With hoofs of steel I race on the rocks
Through solstice stubborn to equinox.
And I rave; and I rape and I rip and I rend
Everlasting, world without end,
Mannikin, maiden, Maenad, man,
In the might of Pan.
Io Pan! Io Pan Pan! Pan! Io Pan!
Pherecydes the view that Chaos (Khaos) is Watery, deriving it
from kheisthai (to flow). The Primordial Chaos is
considered Watery because it is confused (mixed) and formless
(i.e., Cool and Moist). Similarly, according to the Pythagorean
Alkman (c. 600 BCE), in the beginning there was a “trackless
and featureless” waste of Waters. There is also an Orphic
theogony in which the first deities are Okeanos and Tethys,
corresponding to the Abyss (sweet subterranean water) and
Tiamat (bitter salt sea). Therefore Water (Chaos) precedes
Earth (Gaia), which gives matter its form.
As remarked in the discussion of Earth,
elemental Earth is Cool (connected) and Dry (form imposing).
Thus it is too rigid and inflexible to support life, but can be
given this flexibility by Water. Therefore Primal Mud, the
fertile loam of our Mother, is a combination of dry, crystalline
Earth with moistening Water. This is why Water, which gives to
inanimate Earth the ability to develop, transform and adapt, is
associated with the “vegetative soul” possessed by all living
things. It is also why many cosmogonies begin with Primal
Mud.
According to Pherecydes’ cosmogony,
the living Earth came into being when Zeus and
Khthoniê (She Beneath the Earth) married, and on the
third day of the wedding, the Unveiling
(Anakaluptêria), the craftsman Zeus wove an
elaborate, variegated Robe (pepoikilmenon Pharos),
which He gave to Khthoniê as a gift. It was adorned with
land and sea, with rivers and trees, with mountains and
meadows, with all of Earth and Okeanos, the Primal Ocean, and
with the Mansions of Okeanos. (These are the three great
divisions of the world: Earth, Encircling Ocean, and the Realms
beyond the Rim. Above the three is Heaven and below is the
Underworld; all together they are the Fivefold Cosmos.)
When Khthoniê, Queen of the Underworld, had
wrapped it around Her, She became Gaia, Mother Earth.
Likewise, the Orphic Poems say that the Earth is the Robe of
Persephone, of She Beneath the Earth. The Robe, after it had
been the cover of the sacred marriage bed, was hung upon the
Goddess’s Tree of Life. Thus the mantle of our world surrounds
Khthoniê’s Tree, the Tree of She Beneath the Earth.
As was explained in the Introduction,
Earth is overcome by Water, and so the result of combining
the two is more Watery than Earthy. That is, the Primal Mud is
more like chaotic elemental Water: formless (because Moist)
and confused (because Cool, and therefore mixing).
Nevertheless, the Primal Mud is both Dry and Wet,
corresponding to the elements Earth and Water, and so this
“Prime Matter,” which is the basis of the Great Art, is called the
“Dry Water” by the alchemists.
From this perspective, Water and Earth constitute the “gross
body”; Air and Fire provide the astral and radiant bodies,
respectively. In Empedocles’ terms, Earth and Water are the
body (sôma), Air is the soul
(psychê), and Fire is source of power
(kinêtikê). Alchemically, the body is the
Salt, which is joined by the Quicksilver (etheric body: Air) to the
Sulfur (radiant body: Fire). So also the Stoics say that the (Cool,
synthetic) “feminine” elements Earth and Water constitute
Hulê (Matter or Resource), whereas the (Warm,
analytic) “masculine” elements Air and Fire constitute
Logos (Word or Thought).
Earth and Water are the only tangible (touchable) elements;
Fire and Air are intangible. Since Water and Earth are both
Cool, their tendency is toward greater mixture; this is the
entropy of gross matter. They tend to the cold and dark
through the dissolution of form (because the mixture is
Watery).
The “igneous spirit” (the Heat residing in both Fire and Air)
gives motion to inert matter and makes it active. These
Elements tend to warmth and light through the generation of
energy. Thus Menstruum, the Living Mud, which
combines the Cool feminine elements Earth and Water
(represented by pubic triangles), is animated by
Semen, which combines the Warm masculine
elements Air and Fire (represented by the phallic triangles).
Therefore Warmth and Moisture are the two principles of
generation, which animate the sterile Earth and bring it to life.
In conclusion, Water is the spiritual principle of flexible
union, which permits both dissolution and transformation.
Water provides the Primordial Chaos, which combines with
Earth to yield the Primal Mud from which life is born. Water is
associated with Persephone, the agent of rebirth in the
Underworld, who brings the tears of mourning but also the
Ambrosia of immortality.
Why is this mediation necessary? In “Water,”
I said that Water + Earth constitutes the Primal
Mud, the “gross body,” which is potentially alive,
but not animate. On the other hand, Fire is the
principle of action, the efficient cause of all
motion, but it cannot act directly on Primal Mud
(for they are opposed, Primal Mud being
predominantly Watery). However, Air can mediate
between Fire and Primal Mud, because it has Warmth
(active differentiation) in common with Fire, and
Moisture (flexibility) in common with Water. Thus
Air is the active Spirit, which operates on the
passive structure of Earth and the flexibility of
Water. We may say that Air conveys the Fiery Power
and facilitates its embodiment. In general, as
mediator, Air transmits powers and influences, and
therefore Air is the vehicle of coordination and
communication
(see below, “Air, the
Governor”).
Thus the Stoics attributed to Heraclitus
(6th-5th cent. BCE) the idea that the soul is an
Exhalation or Warm Vaporization
(Anathumiasis) from bodily moisture; as we
might say, the Fiery Soul evokes the Breath Spirit
from the body’s Primal Mud to be the means by which
the two can unite.
So also, as mentioned in “Water,”
Prometheus molded human bodies from Earth and
Water, and gave Heavenly Fire to them. But they
were not complete before Athena breathed Air into
them.
Water,
for Water gives the power of growth and
development to lifeless matter (Earth), and I will
discuss the Mind with Fire;
here our concern is the Spirited Soul and its
vehicle, the aerial or spirit
body.
The Aerial Spirit’s role as a subtle, invisible
governing faculty was recognized in ancient times.
For example, Diogenes of Apollonia says, “It seems
to me that that which has intelligence is what
people call Air (Aêr), and that all
people are steered (kubernasthai) by this,
and that it has power over all things. For the
very thing seems to be a God and to reach
everywhere and to dispose all things and to be in
everything.” (It is significant that the word he
uses for “steered,” kubernasthai, is
related to kubernêtikos, meaning
“skilled in steering or guiding,” which is the
origin of our term cybernetics, referring
to the principles of intelligence and governance in
animals and machines. Air is the Cybernetic
Element.) Diogenes’ statement also suggests that
Air plays a role in the World Soul
(Psukhê tou Pantos) as well as in
individual souls, and that is our next topic.
In classical thought, the four elements Water, Air, Earth, and Fire frequently occur; sometimes including a fifth element or quintessence (after “quint” meaning “fifth”) called Aether in ancient Greece and India. The concept of the five elements formed a basis of analysis in both Hinduism and Buddhism. In Hinduism, particularly in an esoteric context, the four states-of-matter describe matter, and a fifth element describes that which was beyond the material world. Similar lists existed in ancient China and Japan. In Buddhism the four great elements, to which two others are sometimes added, are not viewed as substances, but as categories of sensory experience.
To enchant an item is to infuse it with magickal energy. This energy can come from a variety of sources, including celestial bodies, elements, crystals, herbs, or even yourself.
Some individuals use the words “enchant” and “charm” synonymously as a way to describe the process of infusing something with energy, but for the sake of this post and due to my own beliefs, you enchant something and it then becomes a charm. Alternately, a charm can be something with its own innate energy, like a crystal or herbal amulet.
Enchanting items to turn them into magickal objects involves more than just intent – you must learn to channel and manipulate energy, and direct it into that item for enchanting to be successful.
Although, the process of enchanting is extremely versatile and there are many ways to do it.
Here are a few ideas on how to enchant items, in no particular order:
Surround the item with crystals of corresponding intent
Surround the item with herbs of corresponding intent
Place the item in a jar filled with herbs that represent your intent
Place the item in front of a candle and meditate on your intent
Anoint the item with an oil, charged water, or crystal elixir of corresponding intent
Hold the item in your hand(s) and visualize it filling with the appropriate energy
Hold the item in your hand(s) and speak or sing your intent aloud
Craft a symbol to keep near the item in an envelope or sachet
Sew, stitch, or carve a symbol into the item
Write your intention on paper and keep in an envelope with the item
Pair the item with a corresponding runestone or tarot / oracle card in an envelope
Take the item and put it in a box with other
items that represent your intent such as crystals, herbs, talismans, amulets, etc.
Bury the item in soil with herbs and/or crystals that match your intent (please don’t put salt on your lawn though, unless you want dead grass)
Pass the item through incense smoke that matches your intent
Pro Tip: Time your enchantments with the appropriate planetary hour, day of the week, time of day, or lunar phase to increase your chances of creating a successful charm.
Astral projection is a spiritual, almost trance-like, state of meditation where you guide your astral body (sort of in between your physical body and your spiritual self) lifts out of your physical body. It allows you to travel through space and time, see spirits, meet up with other projectors, and even enter into people’s dreams to contact them.
It can also be dangerous if you don’t ask your guide to help protect you, or you don’t shield yourself. Here is a post I’ve made on shielding.
Below is one possible and usually effective way to projecting. It takes practice, like all meditation, so just keep trying if it doesn’t work! Or intuitively modify the method.
Choose the time best for you: Usually the morning or after a nap is the most effective, because you can wake up your mind, but your body has less sensation and is therefore easier to leave. This is something that will be different for everyone, so figure out what works for you!
Lie down in a quiet space: Make sure no one with interrupt you (such interruption will ground you right back to the physical plane). Darken the room so your eyes aren’t distracted with bright lights. Be relaxed and comfortable, trying to minimize physical sensation. Also, have a blanket over yourself so you don’t get cold. Even on a warm day this might be needed.
Shield yourself: The link is above in the description on how to. I would ward your astral body and physical body with a white light, perhaps using the blanket and imagining that it is protecting your body with light. Worst case scenario would be for a negative spirit to use your body when you leave it to project. Also ask your guide(s), even if you don’t know their names, to protect you with pure intentions and from all negativity.
Relax your body: Start by focusing on your breathing, then move through your muscle groups and imagine each place of tension disappearing. Sometime a healing light, and imagining that, will help. You can work up or down on your body. Just relax as best you know how. Breathe away any thoughts too. Notice them, then just let them go with an exhale. A few minutes of this will clear your mind. But, it is natural for some thoughts to stay, and that’s okay! It won’t stop you from projecting, it just means that you’re human.
Let your mind wander and focus on a single points in your body: A small point, like your hand, heart, a toe, etc. Focus on this one point and let the rest of your body naturally fall into a sleep like state.
Start to visualize your body and feel it’s presence: It’s possible to see or imagine yourself looking different than your physical self at this point. Just accept what you feel and look like.
Flex your body parts mentally: This means that you don’t move any part of your body, but you image it moving until you can feel it vividly. This is your astral body moving. Slowly “move” more parts of your body.
Enter your resonation/vibrational state: All spirits, atoms, particles, energies, etc vibrate with certain frequencies. Start to pay attention to your astral self and you’ll probably, by this point, be feeling a subtle vibration. Let it build until it’s incredibly powerful. If you don’t feel the vibration yet, then continue the above step until you do. Audio and visual hallucinations are common here, like extremely loud sounds or patterns that your eyes are seeing. These aren’t harmful in any way. The most difficult part of the vibration is combating fear. It is overwhelming, especially the first time, because you are transcending the physical plane. Just relax into it and let it flow over you. It will not harm you.
Leave your body: Use your mind to lift out of your body, using the vibration to increase the ability to do so. Anyone can do this, but you need to trust yourself. Don’t allow yourself to doubt your ability, just have faith even for a few moments that you can leave your body, visualize it, then look back at your physical body once you are out of it. You can practice by just lifting a leg or arm out of your body first. Don’t expect a full projection on your first try! Just practice what it feels like until you understand your own astral self and how to have it leave your body, even if just in parts.
Explore: Be careful and take a guide with you. You can go anywhere now, besides some “restricted sections” (like “Heaven,” other people’s Akashic records, the Tree of Life, etc). If you ever feel threatened then just follow a silver cord back to your body. It should be connected to you around stomach. It is always there as soon as you focus on it. You can access your Akashic records, meet up with spirits or other projectors, go back in time (like literally see historical or future events), or interact in a plane you design for yourself, like a sanctum or astral altar.
Return to your body: Just imagine yourself going back and you will. You can also let the silver cord pull you or your guides guide you back into your body. If you see your physical self, then just align yourself and fall back into your body. Then slowly wiggle toes and fingers until sensation comes back. Don’t get up until you feel fully present, because you could be dizzy or lightheaded.
If you have any questions, feel free to message me or follow me to reply to posts!
Occult Aspects 