RiverSnake

Been jammin out to some Heart and Pat Benetar lately: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gpNqB4dnT4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vy-QmgdUVTI My 2 cents, Peace

Interesting. I will definitely try this. Thanks. My 2 cents, Peace

I remember reading his book Modern Magick about a year ago. While i didn't necessarily have a connection with the path of ritualistic magic…..he came off as one of the most sincere occult authors i have ever had the pleasure to read. Will be meditating and sending a prayer tonight. My 2 cents, Peace

My experience has been the opposite. Retention IME boosts confidence and my sense of connection with others. My 2 cents, Peace

I agree wholeheartedly. Cool stuff skydog. My 2 cents, Peace

Hormones and Thought Forms My 2 cents, Peaceful

Welcome to TTB. My 2 cents, Peace

DP

Love your ego….don'f fight it. Treat it like a child, tell it everything is alright and thank it for all of its service. Fighting it only fuels conflict. My 2 cents, Peace

I think we have beaten this horse to death. I have my opinions which are at odds with yours. If you equate not being bothered by any kind of manifestation as mental fortitude then I guess I am severely lacking and need more practice. Though they are few, certain things that people say, do or write do bother/offend me......and I have no desire for them to be in my sphere....thus i remove them when I have the power to do so. My 2 cents, Peace

Was recently going back and reading an old book that got me into Shamanism and was a very powerful text for me. Personally I have been having a lot of inner conflict with the underworld and ancestral work...and have been looking for more clarity on this topic and trying to rewrite all of the internalized bad programs I picked up that have become part of our culture. I found this excerpt quite useful for me and perhaps may be illuminating for others whom face the same internal blockages. Was going to originally put it in my Ancestral Work thread but I thought it deserved its own separate focus. Enjoy. ------------------------------------------------------------ "The Underworld is the powerhouse of the three worlds. Here we draw upon our draw upon our deeper resources, our traditional inheritance, our memory. Look at the diagram on pg.49, which shows the three worlds connected by the great centre tree (picture attached). This Illustrates the way that the Underworld can be envisaged as the rich loam into which the trees roots go down. In addition, all trees have a tap root which searches out the nearest source of water, whose nurture it then channels to the rest of the tree. When we enter the Underworld, we put down our tap root and draw upon nourishment. The Underworld has a bad press in the West, since in both Classical and Christian cosmology it has been dualist ally understood as Hell. In shamanism the tree worlds are primal worlds of possibility without such dualist in connotations. The Underworld is a place of foundations and beginnings, of joy and creativity, not a place of fear and terror. For many religions, the Underworld has become a kind of toxic-waste dumping ground where the spiritual evils of the world are thought to lie ready to recrudesce. Scenarios of unending hell-fire and fantastic terror have been set up in our imagination to guard the gates of the underworld from unauthorized intrusion. Our communion with the underworld has been lost or severed by fearful religious dogmas which would prefer us to imagine a region of demons and searing flame, rather than a place of restoration and reconnective joy. The Underworld is a place of mirror images, reversal and complementarities where we perceive the physical reality of our daily lives thrown into startling subtle relief. Imagine the separation of realities as a gauze veil hanging from floor to ceiling: if you push your hand into the gauze, you cause it to push inwards away from your side: anyone standing on the other side of the gauze veil will see your hand push the gauze outwards towards them. If we bear this in mind, we will begin to understand why the Underworld journey has been discouraged by non-shamanic cultures: for here the threshold guardians assume tiny or gigantic size, here we meet the spirits that compliment realities we have neglected or ignored. Without strong and willing allies, such encounters can confuse and terrify - many genuine mystics have gone thither without preparation or ally, returning to report strange sights. Without the correct cosmological information and without a non dual framework to trace from, religions have barred the doors that lead between the worlds. The wise traditions of the primal earth drew continually upon the Underworld and are fed by it and many people now deeply regret that we have lost communion with these rich indigenous traditions. Although we may feel that such treasures can never be ours, our hearts are still gripped by the many myths and stories of the Underworld journeys of those whose seek the treasures and wisdom: the descent of Inanna to take the initiation of mortality and gain wisdom, the descent of Aeneas to meet and consult his dead father, Orpheus's descent to retrieve Eurydice, the initiatory descent of Christian Rosenkreutz into the vault, the descent of Persephone which triggers the coming agricultural wisdoms of the earth, the descent of King Arthur to bring home the Cauldron, the prototype of the Grail. All these myths speak of initiation into wisdom and the winning of empowering treasures, gained through endurance, perseverance and courage. Such heroic descents can be ours through the shamanic Underworld journey. Reconnection with the Underworld restores communication with the voices of our wise ancestors, with traditions which hallow earth, with the deep empowering teachings and treasures which remain eternally available. The beings encountered in the Underworld include ancestral teachers, clan totems, deities who initiate and empower, dwarfs, dragons and other subterranean or watery guardians of power. You may encounter ancestral councils or assemblies here. The genius of the Underworld often appears as a Lord or King of the Underworld and is sometimes horned or antlered, like the Celtic Cernunnos or the Hindu Pasupati, surrounded by many beasts. Many primal Underworld deities have the horns of power: such beings have been demonized by Christians, but they simply preserve their original non dual functions as gatekeepers and initiators. Each land has its own native Underworld guardians. Awakening and communicating with these native powers is important work. During the early 1980s with other walkers between the world, I visited many parts of Britain, specifically to effect such awakenings. As a result of our work, certain powers have become more widely available and contactable. The work of awakening the sleep is important, not to evoke atavistic and inappropriate energies, but to 'clear the ways' between our own world and the deep power of the Underworld after so many centuries of neglect and misunderstanding, so that primal wisdom of the ancestral traditions may once more flow as a corrective to our over-urban and increasingly fragmented lives." Singing the Soul Back Home, by Caitlin Mathews A Note: i have edited out some portions of the section do to length. The book itself is pretty awesome and well worth purchasing. http://www.amazon.com/Singing-Soul-Back-Home-Shamanic/dp/1859061036/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1382754073&sr=1-1&keywords=singing+the+soul+back+home

Generally speaking Psychic Self Defense is for guarding against harmful and chaotic energies that throw us from a state of homeostasis. These energies can come from ourselves (anger, hate, depression, fear) or can be external (negative thoughts of others, parasitic entities, psychic attacks, stagnant spaces…etc). There is generally a combination of external and internal circumstances that allow anything to get a foothold in our space. Its partially been my experience and the experience of many others that when you start to walk "The Path" certain Beings both benevolent and harmful take notice and will try to exercise influence over your life (for your benefit or harm). I don't mean to spook you or anything….the point of me posting this is to empower you to protect yourself from harmful influences. We tend to be least aware while were sleeping and most vulnerable and open to influence….its important that you shield yourself during the day and while your sleeping and also to do regular cleansing (Salt baths, using incense….etc) When your having dreams that having nothing to do with your day to day affairs then its worth looking into. It may be that detoxification is causing you to have nightmares, but maybe not. Either way a book on Psychic Self-Defense should be on every practitioners book shelf and its techniques used daily…....IMO. My 2 cents, Peace

Don't know why your getting personal Nungali, but whatever. After this post I am done with this thread as I don't enjoy being goaded at. I have nothing against Crowley or the Thoth deck. It's simply not the kind of deck I connected with. Some people have a connection with it, others don't. I didn't. Whether it's dark or light or brown or yellow.....if it serves the purpose of being a good vehicle for bringing insight and evolving the practitioner......then it is worth its weight. I am sure the Thoth deck has been very useful for many. The 1st reading I ever received was from the Thoth deck....although I knew immediately I didn't like the deck.....it still was a vehicle for my interest in the Tarot. My 2 cents, Peace

The style of how the images were constructed and portrayed. The vibe it put out seemed a bit dark and mechanical. It seemed to have a lot of ego behind it. It's an intuitive thing. My 2 cents, Peace

PPF = Personal Practice Forum My 2 cents, Peace

Personally I've always been a bit paranoid of teachers and the tendency of people getting sucked into the "Group-Think". As a result I decided to practice Chi-Kung off a DVD for a year before I actually went to a seminar. I felt the results and benefits of the practice without any external input and grew a lot on my own. Perhaps a similar independent approach might be of value to you in getting started on your own 2 feet. My 2 cents, Peace

One thing I wish I could go back and do with me learning the Tarot is instead of studying the intellectual definitions of each card......first just look at the pictures and describe it to yourself and what its trying to say. Get an intuitive understanding of the cards before and intellectual understanding. Psychic Tarot by Nancy Antenucci seems like a good book on the topic. My 2 cents, Peace

A good steak can help with grounding as well. My 2 cents, Peace

If your interested in a PPF...then I am sure the forum staff would happily oblige. My 2 cents, Peace

In regards to the nightmares I'd recommend you get a book on Psychic Self-Defense and start using some protection techniques: 1. Psychic Shield by Caitlin Mathews 2. Psychic Protection by William Bloom 3. Protection and Reversal Magick by Jason Miller 4. Psychic Self-Defense for Home and Office by Choa Kok Sui ......etc.....a quick amazon search will yield many other options. Best of luck in your practice. My 2 cents, Peace

If your interested in mantra work and achieving higher states of Being....you may find Mark Griffin's stuff quite profound and powerful. I have heard nothing but good things about him. Do a search on the forum and you should find some useful stuff. My 2 cents, Peace

If you do a search of the forum you will find plenty of threads on the topic. My 2 cents, Peace

What kind of deck your drawn to I think largely depends on where you are at personally. Thoth is well suited to some people...but not necessarily to others. The deck I have is more of a "Light" deck. I agree Thoth seems pretty "Dark" but that's not necessarily a bad thing....IMO some people are more drawn to that than others. My 2 cents, Peace

Rider Waite is an excellent deck. I would also recommend that you look through various decks and see if you have a strong connection with any in particular. The deck i am working with right now really called to me and pulled me in unlike any others. Best of luck…..Tarot is awesome!! My 2 cents, Peace