Magical Moot’
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WELCOME TO LIVING A LIFE OF MAGIC 5 WEEK LUNAR MAGIC COURSE Hello fellow travelers, and thanks so much for taking the leap into this exciting journey of Magic and Ritual. Before our official start on June 1st, I’d like to run through a few things that will help us all to get acquainted with our online learning system. Our first Full Moon is on June 9th, so that gives us a bit of time to trouble shoot any difficulties that you may have getting settled in. Of course, my recommendation as soon as you sign on to the course is to begin paying particular attention to the Moon and honouring her in whatever way feels good to you. That way, you will have already strengthened your rapport with her before we start our month of focused ritual. HOW THE COURSE WORKS Essentially the course works like this: 1) You make a profile for our online school 2) That profile (and a private access code) allow you to log into the course via a website called Schoology. 3) I upload each unit of teaching material at the beginning of each week, including a detailed PDF booklet, and also links, discussions around videos. 4) I upload an audio recording of a sacred ritual for each phase of the Moon (1 per week) .You can perform your own ritual while listening along, or, if you prefer, you can simply listen to the ritual recording and create your ritual in your own time. The advantage of the recording is that it includes beautiful guided meditations and musical soundscapes to deepen your experience. 5) The other important component of the course is our online forum, which we call our ‘Magical Moot’. We believe that much can be gained through being part of a community, and have therefore created an exciting way for members of Living a Life of Magic to be able to connect with each other. We can share photos and stories about our experience of living a Magical Life. No need to limit yourself just to the course topic ( that’s what the weekly lessons are for). The Moot is a place to expand, explore, connect. 6) You can access all of the course material directly from the Schoology website (eg, read the booklets, stream the videos and mp3 recordings etc), and you can also download and save the material for your own use after the course is finished. Instructions for creating your profile and joining the “Magical Moot” will follow below. If at any point you hit a hurdle, please email me at [email protected] and either Tim (who takes care of the tech side of LALOM) or I will help you. Once you get the hang of the system, it’s really easy to use. But before all the technical stuff, I’d like to share my thoughts about Magic and ritual, to give you an overview of my approach to teaching, and to my own personal ritual practice. MY THOUGHTS ON MAGIC Magic is the art of changing consciousness at will. Once you’ve changed your consciousness, you’ll learn to change reality. Dion Fortune Magic, when done properly, brings you into alignment with the powers of the sacred universe, so that they may assist you in giving form to your true purpose, your reason for being Phyllis Curot. I practice Magic and Ritual in a very intuitive, natural, and improvised way. For me, Magic is a daily practice, rather than something reserved just for the Full Moon or seasonal Sabbats. Magic is something that flows through every moment of our lives, and I like to create an environment where each person is encouraged and supported in their exploration of their own Magical essence. I think that the most important aspect of the way that we practice our spiritual path is simply in the way that we perceive and think about Life and the Universe. It’s about being open to the wonder of Life and of Nature. It’s noticing the flow and energy around events and people and the interconnectedness of all. I don’t follow any particular Wiccan path (Alexandrian, Gardnerian etc), but instead have a very eclectic and improvised approach to Magic and the Divine. I tend not to follow any particular rules, but rather draw on many different sources to aid us in our ongoing pursuit of deep spiritual connection with Nature. Magic occurs at those moments when we feel a deep connection with the Universe. Sometimes this happens spontaneously, through a profound experience such as falling in love. But for those of us who are practicing Magicians, we can choose to develop this connection through the power of our Will, and through focusing on positive outcomes. A lot of the power of Magic comes from awareness, of both your surroundings, and your own inner workings. The more we connect with the natural world, the more refined our awareness of energy becomes. Magic works with the energies of Nature, not against them. In this sense, Magic becomes easier and more effective the more aware we are of what Nature is doing. We observe, for example, whether the overall energies of Nature are moving toward increase or decrease – we flow with the waxing and the waning of the Moon, and with the changing seasons. Often Magic works in ways that may seem illogical to our rational minds. It often involves a leap of faith, a trust in the great mystery of Life and of hidden energy. Here on the Earth plane we work our Magic spells and rituals. The energy we raise vibrates and creates change on the etheric or astral realms, and that change is mirrored back to us. The more we practice Magic, the more strange and wonderful occurrences and coincidences occur to delight and inspire us. AS ABOVE, SO BELOW This wonderfully simple and well known Magical statement reminds us that everything that goes on in the Universe affects us, whether it be a Full Moon, a transit of Venus, or the endless spiraling energy of our Galaxy. Just as the Moon can pull the tides, and solar flares disrupt radio waves, we are affected by the subtle shifts of our changing sky. We feel the effects of all of Nature. As we know from our current environmental crisis, everything on Earth is affected by everything else. We are no exception. And this works the other way, too. Everything that we do, or think, or say will send a ripple out to the Universe and create an effect, either positive or negative. The more conscious we are of our own personal power, then the greater the positive impact we can create in our world. Magic is about changing ourselves, not others. Every time we utter a spell or perform ritual, we are opening ourselves up to change. The power of Magic comes in recognising our core strength, and in connecting with the limitless power of the Universe. To try to manipulate others through Magic is not only unethical, it is unwise. The practice of Magic is a creative act. We are the raw material, the clay that becomes the sculpture. Just like the Magician in the Tarot deck, we become conduits of pure energy – a pathway between Father Sky and Mother Earth. We recognise that the one energy flows through all. Our Magic becomes stronger the more we are able to focus and move beyond distraction and become totally present with the task. Lots of breathing and grounding exercises are there to help us move toward this discipline and direction. As in all crafts, we become better and better the more we practice. And our rituals are all about this - entering into sacred space, and allocating time in our busy lives for the deep and soulful work of Magic. MAGIC AND OUR 5 WEEK COURSE Over this five week period, we will follow the Moon and do one ritual per week during her cycle. We start at one point in the cycle, and end at the same point - essentially repeating the Full Moon stage twice. There are subtle changes in the Moon that take place in periods of time less than a week ( eg, the shift from Dark Moon to New Moon is just a couple of days) , but for the ease and flow of this course, we are simplifying the cycle and will be doing our rituals for the Full Moon, the Waning Moon, the Dark Moon, the Waxing Moon, and back to Full Moon. The most important thing for you to do over during this course is to connect with the Moon. The booklets and rituals are designed to help you deepen your connection to the Moon, but it’s also important to simply hang out with her - acknowledge her. Each week of the course will have a particular energetic alignment and focus. I’ll briefly outline these below, just so that you can maintain an overview of our journey: Week 1 - The Full Moon: Gratitude Week 2 - The Waning Moon: Release / Generosity Week 3 - The Dark Moon: Stillness / Planting a new seed Week 4 - The Waxing Moon: Direction / Action/ Goal setting Week 5 - The Full Moon: Fulfillment / Gratitude / Change CREATING YOUR LALOM ONLINE PROFILE This 5 Week Lunar Magic Course is part of the online school called ‘Living a Life of Magic’ (LALOM) that my husband Timothy and I have been running for the past 6 years. We use an online learning platform called ‘Schoology’ to share all of our course material and to create our online community.