Music, Breath, and Magic

Part of my ongoing work in magic has involved experimenting with vocal tones and vibrations via my vocal cords. In my daily Tumo practice, I've been altering the position of my tongue on the roof my mouth and have noted that moving it to different parts of the roof of the mouth alters the tone of the vocalization. This work is informed by a recognition of the following principle mentioned in the Spiritual Dimension of Music:

The ancient metaphysicians and magicians repeatedly taught that the actual physical emission of sound, particularly of selected frequencies and patterns was a reflection of an inner spiritual reality. This inner reality has the potency of transformation , both personal and impersonal.

In Tibetan Shamanic and Tantric practices as well as in specific Western mystery practices the physical emission of sound is used to trigger specific states of spiritual power. For example, in my daily practice of Tumo, I vocalize the word Hon and utilize the vibration to invoke a specific union of my energies with the energies represented in that sound. There also techniques where a person can vocalize the different names of God in order to involve the energies of those names into his/her own personal energy.

Breath also plays an important role in this work. Breath is representative of spirit and is also what is used to fuel the vocalization of a sound. There is actually a way to learn how to continue emitting a noise, while drawing in a breath, without much break in the making of the noise.

What I've found in my own work is that there is a definite triggering of a state of mind that occurs with the vocalization of sound. The experience of that state of mind can be quite useful in ritual work as it helps to set up the ritual space/time a person works in. I'm even reminded of an exercise that I and some other people did, from the Possible Human, that involved making a ZZZ sound that signified the passing from one unit of time to another unit of time. At first all of us felt self-conscious, but then we found that the noise actually triggered a shift in time, and that doing the sound with others enhanced the effect.

I suspect the same is true in general. If you make a specific noise with others, for the intent of creating a specific state of mind or metaphysical being, the combination of your sound with others enhances the overall effect. Perhaps this is also because all of the people are experiencing a shift in consciousness to a similar altered state of awareness and the actual altered state of awareness builds of one person supports and enhances that of other people as well. Perhaps its a combination of the above. I do know that the use of sound in magical work is really effective and that turning your voice into a magical tool can be useful for a variety of practices both in meditation and more practical applications of magic.

Embodied spirituality and liberation

I posted this recently via my various social media accounts:

An embodied spirituality recognizes the value of the material world and celebrates it and experiences as an inherent part of a person's spiritual evolution. When the body is discarded as dirty or something to be left behind, and desires are perceived as unacceptable or attachments that hold us back, the person loses an essential perspective that is necessary for genuine transformation. The body, desires, etc, ground us and provide a way to experience the immediacy of a situation and learn from it. The body is not a shackle...it is part of our liberation.

Recent conversations I've had around enlightenment as well as a continued practice of Tantric philosophy and spirituality prompted this observation. I genuinely believe that the body is an essential part of human spirituality and that the denial of it is a dysfunction brought about for reasons that are related to either over population or to a fixation on an ultimate reward that involves transcending the body.

A better approach would be to recognize the role of the body as a mediator of physical existence and spiritual identity. Additionally, people who take this perspective would also carefully consider the consequences their choices have on the environment and each other and thus would question consumerism and explore what it means to have enough vs what it means to live in excess.

True liberation isn't found in deprivation or excess but in a balanced perspective that celebrates the glory of life while also cultivating it for future generations. Thus tending your own garden where you grow food is a spiritual and practical activity. It teaches you the value of cultivating life, the recognition of death as a transformative agent that is also part of evolution, and the necessity of using resources wisely instead of wasting them.

Your body is part of your liberation, and the sensual experiences it provides is a part of that process, but equally as important is learning how to take care of yourself. Thus exercise is just as liberating as any other activity, and eating a healthy diet is important for cultivating your life. These activities can be just as spiritual as meditation provided we apply a mindful awareness to them.

A desire can be liberating both for the experience of it and the choice to not experience it. Longing is as much a celebration of desire as is the experience of the desire, and longing can teach patience but also liberation in terms of recognizing the true value of a given desire. The experience of desire can be a liberating experience provided we know how to enjoy it without allowing it to enslave us. Thus the need for balance and consideration of the body as a spiritual teacher which allows us to embody our desires but also uses them to teach us from experience how best to truly find liberation in our experiences and in our choices to sometimes delay having the experience to know its true value.

Divine Union

The Dance of the Day is sponsored by the song of the Night,The Twilight times are when the courts meet and share a moment of respect urging each other on in their chosen duties longing for the next moment when they meet exchanging brief pleasantries in an exhausted daze before resuming the festivities that move the natural rhythm of life.

You and I find glimpses of the divine gathering in our eyes when we look at each other in a moment of connection that is both empowering and vulnerable within you I see the secrets of the universe revealed in a moment of ecstasy that is less about doing and trying to reach an outcome and more about being just being with you without expectation without need just perfection in that moment of union and bliss

We see the coming of the day, the departure of the night the spirits of the air drifting lazily over the solid sentinels of the Earth The spirits of water splashing to touch daringly, fleetingly the sandy toes of the Earth The spirits of fire lighting up a plume of creativity and destruction promises of oblivion wrapped in promises of warmth.

In each others' eyes we see all the spirits, the fey, demons, angels, and deities parade before us, promising something that is intangible the rise of the Kundalini serpent fills us with a quiet heat spreading through every part of us in your eyes I see life and death, everything and nothing all possibilities and none

This is divine union not having, not doing being, just being.

Book Reviews

Ghost Story (affiliate Link) by Jim Butcher

The Dresden Files is one of my favorite Occult detective series. I think its the best out there and this novel continues to show why I do. Butcher crafts a story with surprising plot twists, while exploring the afterlife in a manner that reveals that even when Dresden dies, he hasn't left behind his triumphs or his follies. If you haven't read the rest of the series, start with Stormfront...otherwise pick this one up and enjoy!

Power within the Land (Affiliate Link) by R.J. Stewart

In this book, R. J. Stewart explores concepts of time as well as working with the spirits of the land and how all of that fits into the underworld tradition, and how it fits into doing work to heal the land and our connection to it. The exercises are useful for demonstrating how to work with all of these elements, but what I found even more useful was his detailed explanation of working with the spirits and how it applied to his tradition.