Brazil Nut

Bertholletia excelsa
This enormous evergreen tree often grows to heights of 150 feet or above, with branches emerging only from its top.
Its fruit, a large woody seedpod containing from 15 to 25 nuts, usually grows to the size of a large grapefruit or melon.

Kumiho

by Charles La Shure

 
Kumiho means, literally, “nine-tailed fox.” The following description appears (word for word) in both the Donga Color World Encyclopedia (Tonga wonsaek segye paekhwasajeon) and the Dusan Great World Encyclopedia (Tusan segye taebaekhwasajeon):
“A fox with nine tails that commonly appears in the oral tales of our country. It can freely transform into, among other things, a bewitching girl that seduces men. A fox that lives a thousand years is said to turn into a kumiho. There are a number of legendary tales in which the kumiho appears.” A half dozen or so of those legendary tales can be found in the encyclopedic Compendium of Korean Oral Literature (Hanguk kubimunhak taegye). A quick look at them will help supplement the brief description given above.

Beltaine Moon by Charma

Thunderstorm echoes, speaking stories across the earth..
Neath the oaks secret lovers sip golden summer wine..
Beltaine moon rises, shining silver in the evening sky..
In the circle, vibrant, firelit, the lady waits.
DreamSinger sings the songs of old, the dancers spiral turning..
Earth and water, fire and air.. on the altar candles burning.
East then South, West and North, the corner wards are called.
Raise the cup and drink…salute to she who waits..
We who stand on the edge of wonder, ask and do invoke..
Into the circle enter, enter.. love and trust your oath.
The scent of incense fills the night, carries whispers on the wind..
The horned lord bidden, here the lady waits..
Mysteries are spoken, souls and hearts, our will be done…
Passions inflamed are given reign.. freed from earthly bounds.
Renewal, fulfillment, as above.. so below.. and blessed be.
Under the beltaine moon… The lady waits no more..

Prayer for Guidance

The spirits of the mountain exist in strength.
Their roots are deep in the Earth,
their heads pierce the air and mount to the sky above.
They dance from flat to peak
and, spiraling, descend again.
Good Ones, when I come under your trees and upon your stones,
guide me.

The Black Stone – the Omphalos of the Goddess

Bob Trubshaw

Long-suffering readers of Mercian Mysteries will know of my obsession with ‘omphali’ – the sacred centres which each civilisation seems to create or adopt. Many of these involve stones – the Lia F il (Stone of Destiny) at Tara or the various ‘king stones’ (such as Kingston upon Thames) where medieval English kings were crowned. Our monarchs still sit on, or at least above, the Stone of Scone for their coronation. But some of these sacred stones have special interest – they are (or are said to be) black. Such Black Stones also tend to have the legend that they have fallen from the stars. Clearly, meteorites the size of these large boulders would explode into tiny fragments on impact, and also leave a substantial crater. The literal truth is not important; rather the symbolism of such stones being a link between this world and the heavens is an integral aspect of the Cosmic Axis which is invoked by all sacred centres.

Spiritual Shower

Copyright Ben Swett, 1999

reprinted with permission

To release emotional burdens and cleanse residual problems:

1. Go apart to a quiet place. Sit comfortably. Relax each part of your body one at a time. Imagine yourself in peaceful surroundings. Take a few minutes to enjoy this feeling.
2. Remember something that has been troubling you, but don’t get involved in it now. Just think of the general situation or relationship, and say to yourself, “There is a problem there.”
3. Call on God or Jesus [or your own concept of a higher power]. Imagine a ray of warm white light coming down to you from above. Offer the whole problem up to the light, to the Lord. Imagine your Higher Power taking it from you, accepting it and understanding it. Let the problem go, entrusting it to God.

(If you wish, return to step 2 and remember another problem.)

Air Drying:

Air-drying can be very successful with herbs, everlastings and ornamental grasses. Choose perfect plants with long stems, removing the lower leaves. Put the flowers in small bunches, fastening them together with a rubber band; then open each bunch into a fan shape. Hang the flowers head down from nails in a dry, dark place for one to three weeks until they are completely dry. The colors will usually be muted. Display your flowers in the house or store them as above. This method works with roses as well. Cut the stems off to the very bottom of the rose head, and carefully insert a 6-8″ length of wire. Hang upside down by bending the end of the wire over a hanger and place in a dark dry closet where it won’t be disturbed. One hanger can accomodate several flowers, just space them apart a bit.

2 Ritual Prayers

Copyright 1991 Anahita-Gula (pseud.).  May be reproduced with acknowledgment.

 

We clean this night our altar and our room

To build our Temple.  Here then, we have spread

The pentacle, athame and the broom,

With God and Goddess candles at the head.

So dress we now our Priestess in her Crown:

The Circle’s cut in perfect Trust and Love.

So call the Quarters, dance the Witches’ Round

And beckon down the Moon from high above.

The Path of the Shaman Then and Now

by Amber Wolfe

 
I recently heard a wonderfully simple definition of the word shaman .
It was: “A shaman is one who helps people in their dealings with the other worlds.”
These other worlds are the realms above, beyond, and deep within the experiences of our lives. These are the realms of spiritual, psychic vision and of pure, natural Earth energies. In shamanism, these worlds were traditionally represented as the upper world of the sky, or spirit levels, and the lower worlds of Earth and Nature. Humankind, along with all its symbols and traditions, was the middle world. Because of their abilities to alter their states of consciousness, the shamans were able to explore these worlds and bring back vision.

THE GREATER RITUAL OF THE PENTAGRAM

by Sir Aleister Crowley

 

Written by Sir Aleister Crowley on May, 1906 e.v. on train to India, Edited by David Cherubim, 12 January, 1990 e.v. for members of the Thelemic Order of the Golden Dawn

 

THE TRUE GREATER RITUAL OF THE PENTAGRAM
As the Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram places the Magician on the Path of Samech, so this Greater Ritual places him on the Path of Gimel above, instead of below Tiphareth.