The other day my friend Kelli taught a class on Daily Devotionals. What fascinated me about it was the process for coming up with a devotional and why you'd even want to. I'll admit that my approach to magic is fairly technical at times, but there's still a spiritual dimension to my practice. I have entities that I commune with each day, but what this class challenged me to was find a way to connect with a specific entity more intimately. I decided to match this work up with a problem I have sometimes, which is writer's block. I actually have recently reconnected with a Goetic Daemon I've worked with before: Ronove aka Ronwe, who, amongst other things, is proficient in language and writing.
The other day I was feeling a bit blocked with some writing I wanted to do, so I composed a devotional on the spot to Ronove, raising him and asking for his aid to inspire my writing. Right after I did that, the writing became much easier to do. The block just seemed to go away. I haven't done the devotional since, and I don't feel that Ronove is really looking for that. If anything, what I like about it is that its a devotional for a specific situation so I won't use it all the time, but I will use it when that situation occurs.
This makes me think that it might be useful to come up with devotionals for specific situations that match the skills of the entity you are working with. The impression I have from Ronove is that he'd rather have a devotional from me in a moment of genuine need than to just have one for the sake of having it. I'll have to see if I get a similar feeling off of other entities I work with, as it applies to given situations, but I like that approach. Mind you, I'm only applying this to myself, but I think when situations come up that I need help with, I'll develop devotionals for the situation. I'll change them each time as well, because I think the spontaneity of such a change is useful as well. It shows the deity I'm working with that I'm willing to make an effort on my end, which is significant in its own way because if you're going to ask for help, why not show what you can do as well?
Book Review: Aion by Jung
Aion is a continuation of Jung's work in psychology. He explores the role of symbols in archetypes and how symbols are used to creation connection with archetypes, as well as exploring different aspects of a person's sense of self. I found the book to be useful for understanding Jung's contribution to psychology and why his work has continued to be significant. If you're interested in psychology or just want to understand Jung, this is a good book to pick up.