This is volume 1 of a collection of magical poems that Taylor Ellwood has written in 2020 and 2021. In this book, Taylor shares the collection with you. It may inspire magical work on your part, or you might simply enjoy the verses written. It is a book of poems where Taylor intimately presents the experiences of his life, both the sadness and joy, mistakes and successes, in the form of poem. It is also where he shares some of his magical work with the spirits he works with. Occult Poetics is a glimpse of the weaving word magic that can be wrought with poetry, when we open ourselves to the mysteries of the universe.
How I'm using Tarot to curb my impulsiveness
One of my faults and flaws is that I tend to be an impulsive person. I sometimes make decisions on the fly, in the heat of the moment, without fully considering the ramifications of those decisions. I feel my emotions deeply, and this can be both a good and bad thing. It can be good because of the depth of emotion and the richness that depth brings with it. It can be bad, when those deep emotions take over every other consideration.
Of late, I’ve been feeling my emotions very keenly because of the life transitions I’ve been going through. Trying to find balance with those emotions has been tough, because of how deeply I’m feeling them and I’ve taken this into account by starting a new practice that I’m going to continue for the rest of my life.
Rediscovering my Identity part 4
Rediscovering your identity can be a process of trying things and discovering what works and what doesn’t work, as well as being open to the opportunities that present themselves to you. As I also share in this video, it is important to be in touch with what brings you meaning and satisfaction.
Rediscovering my Identity Part 3
I share how to be present with your identity shifts and why you need to slow down sometimes and go still in order to fully assimilate what comes with those identity shifts.
Rediscovering my Identity Part 2
Rediscovering your identity sometimes means reclaiming your identity. I share my own reclamation process and also reflect on Father’s day and how my identity has changed around fatherhood. I also share some ideas for how you can reclaim your own identity as part of rediscovering who you are.
Ragnarok and the nature of avatars
I recently binge watched seasons 1 and 2 of Ragnarok. It’s a modern retelling of the Norse myths, but what I found most interesting about the show is how they explored the giants and gods in the modern story. The giants are running the town and eternally cycling from young to old, while the gods end up end up manifesting as avatars that are woken up in order to fight the giants, but what’s interesting is that what is implied is that any person could become a god if they were activated.
It’s a pop culture rendition of the Norse myths and as always I find the pop culture retellings to be fascinating, because in a way a pop culture retelling is also an avatar of a mythology that has been activated to help perpetuate that mythology. Whether the pop culture is a TV show, video game, book, or comic, or some other form of media, when it calls attention to the original mythology, while also doing a retelling of the mythology in a different context, it perpetuates the mythology. This is part of the power of pop culture. It takes old stories and makes them new again.
How to create multi-layered magical workings
Multi-layered magical working Picture copyright Taylor Ellwood 2021
Recently I decided to create a new type of magical working, a multi-layered magical working. A multi-layered magical working is a working that is used to address multiple situations for a person in one working. It’s similar to the space/time sigil method I came up with many years ago, but the difference is that instead of creating multiple sigils and linking the manifestation of the possibilities into reality through the realization of one sigil (which pulls the other sigils into reality), the multi-layered working programs all the situations into one magical working and simultaneously addresses each of the situations through that working.
Also you can program the working with elemental, planetary and other types of specific energies you want to bring into play, and exclude other energies. This feature is inspired by the sphere of art work I’ve been doing, where one of the purposes is to create a distinct magical space that excludes unwanted energies and includes wanted energies. I’m basically creating a mobile form of the SOA that can be focused on a specific working and applied. One of the ways this is done is through the application of pentacles (like the planetary ones you see in the picture), but you could take any magical tool and use it for a similar purpose, or incorporate the concept into your working in other ways, like through the art itself. I’ll admit I chose to apply the pentacles as a way of bringing the planetary spirits into play with each of my pictures.
I’ve also set this working up so that I can integrate specific types of energies into the working. In the picture above, we see the second pentacle of the moon (for opening doors), the second pentacle of Mercury (for problem solving) and the fourth pentacle of Jupiter (for manifesting wealth). I did this particular working for a friend to help them address a few different situations, but in particular to help with the manifestation of a desired job. The planetary sigils were applied to open doors and help with the manifestation of the job, while also inspiring intuitive choices on the part of the person.
I did have to do a bit of fine tuning with this working, after it initially looked liked the results weren’t going to manifest. I did a bit of troubleshooting with the help of my spirits, and ended up bringing in Elephant to help clear some obstacles out of the way, as well as applying a bit of writing magic to the matter, to present an alternative perspective that helped open up the situation to a more organic approach. Within two days of making those changes, the desired result came through and the person got the job they wanted.
I take a generative approach to magic, where I’ll do a magical working, such as what I’ve described above, but I won’t treat the working as a static magical working, an isolated event…which is typically how a lot of magicians treat magical workings. Instead I consider the magical working to be generative, which means that I’ll make changes to the programming of the magical working as needed. These changes allow me to quickly adapt the working to whatever is actually happening, instead of having to start over again.
Drawing in picture copyright Taylor Ellwood 2021
This is another multi-layered magical working I created, specifically for me, and its a simple version of a multi-layered working. I created this working to help me draw in specific resources and allies to help me as I transitioned from being married to starting over with my life. I created this working within the first week of my life transition and it helped me manifest a friendship/business partnership with a hypnotherapist in Germany, as well as several mentors to help me with becoming a freelance writer. In addition to that I also ended up having a few job opportunities fall into my lap to do work where I’d get paid quite a bit more than what I’d previously been paid.
This is an ongoing working and what’s fascinating is that it’s continuing to attract opportunities to me that will help me achieve my short, mid, and long term financial goals and help me get my life reset, while also setting the way to manifest a long held dream of mine that I’ve been previously been unable to act upon.
Interested in getting a multi-layered magical working done for you?
Imagination made Reality Copyright Taylor Ellwood 2021
This is my latest layered working. I’ve applied the planetary pentacles I have to the painting, and treated it as an embodiment of myself, with those pentacles being applied for specific purposes that take the possibilities I’ve drawn in, via the previous working, and turning them into manifested realities because of how they become embedded in my identity.
One of those specific possibilities was the manifestation of a job for myself. I had interviewed at a company and didn’t hear back, but after this working was creating, I heard back for a third interview, got the job and found out they actually created the position for me, because they liked me and wanted to bring me on board their time. The bonus for me is that it provides a base level of financial and life stability to I can move to my next steps. There are additional situations being worked through this art magic, which I’ll provide an update on later.
The choice to embody a magical working in painting or writing or other forms of expression is a different approach to magic, because what it draws on is the realization that manifestation of any sort automatically creates a path from the desired possibility to the realization of it as a reality that becomes your life. It’s an approach to magic I’ve always preferred and when you add in layers to address different situations, it becomes a multiplicity of workings contained within and realized through the medium of creation.
I opted to create this working because I had given myself enough time to process recent life changes, and I’ve started figuring out what’s next. Creating this working is my way of saying, it’s time to make what’s next into the reality of my life and start living it. The beauty of a magical working like this is that really does become a declaration of your own readiness to embrace the opportunities that have been presented to you.
The obligation of holidays
Holidays always bring weird energy with them, the energy of obligation and familial duty, as well associated energies. How do you recognize these realities about a holiday? I offer some perspective on the topic.
How to use magic to get quick results when you need them
When your life gets turned upside down and you have to scramble to get everything in order, knowing how to use magic to get quick results can make all the difference. On my Patreon I have added a new tier where I’ll be teaching a live class and this month’s topic will be on emergency magic. The video I make today gives you a taste of what you’ll get if you choose to become my patron at the live class level.
Fear as the seed of potential in your life
When you think of the experience of fear, or feel the experience of fear, what comes to mind or feeling? I can’t speak for you, but what I’ve learned to do over the years is embrace fear. It isn’t always easy, but it is always empowering, because when I embrace my fear, I’m no longer letting it dictate my existence, but instead using it to motivate and drive me.
The depiction of fear, when it’s not horror movies, is that fear paralyzes us or causes us to run and hide from what we’re afraid of (for that matter, its the same in horror movies). But if we take a different approach to fear, one where we recognize how fear can be a useful ally and helper in our quest to deal with the circumstances that come into our lives then we can change how we handle fear.
Why I use my real name with my magical work
I associate my government issued, real name with my books and public persona and in this video I share why I do and why it’s a choice I stand by to this day, because of how it ultimately empowers my work.
When to employ magic during a life change
When you’re going through a big life change, knowing when to employ magic and when to hold off is crucial for making your magical work successful. In this video I explain my reasoning and thought processes around such work and share what I’m doing around my current life change.
How to use magic to navigate changes in your life
When changes happen in your life knowing how to employ magic to help you navigate those changes can help you get back on your feet faster and create opportunities for you. I share my own experience that I'm going through right now.
Can Spirits help you with your mental health?
I share some thoughts on whether or not spirits can help you with your mental health and why I actually don’t advise working with spirits for that purpose. I explain the potential pitfalls and also emphasize the importance of getting help from the right resources.
The answer to your question is...
Sometimes I have people approach me to ask what I think about a particular magical working. They want to know if I think their magical working will produce the result they want, hypothetically speaking. My response is always the following: The only way for you to discover if your hypothetical working will produce the hypothetical result that you want is for you to do the actual work and get the answers you seek, through your own work.
I imagine this answer is frustrating. After all, shouldn’t I as a magical practitioner and occult author KNOW the answer to your hypothetical situation? Shouldn’t I be able to tell you what will or won’t work, without you actually having to do the work? I will admit, it might save people a lot of time if I could just tell them right out the gate if something would or wouldn’t work or would or wouldn’t get results.
What does it mean to be grounded?
In an interview I did with Liz Worth, we ended up discussing the need to find balance in your life and not go overboard with your spiritual work. It got me thinking about what it really means to be grounded, especially in relationship to my recent article on recovering from spiritual burnout. I know from my own experiences and what it’s like to go overboard, because I’ve done it with magic and with being a workaholic sometimes. I’ve had to learn the necessity of achieving a better sense of groundedness in what I do through having experiences where I overdid it.
I’ve been reflecting on my own sense of balance quite a bit over the last few years, because I’ve had to make some changes in how I approach my spiritual work, my writing, and other facets of my life. I’ve realized that being grounded isn’t simply making sure you eat a bit of food after a ritual or a do a banishing. Being grounded is connecting to your life in a meaningful way that doesn’t always involve a sense of having to do something, fix something, manifest something, or otherwise deal with whatever seems to be driving you.
What does it mean to cross the abyss?
Crossing the abyss is a phrase sometimes used to describe crossing over the sphere of Daath in the Tree of Life, but in this context I discuss it in relationship to internal work and the dark night of the soul, and what it means to cross the abyss when it comes to your own journey in life and the hard times that inevitably can come your way. I share some of my own experiences in this regard and also explain why these experiences are valuable opportunities to learn and grow.
Magical Experiments podcast: Identity Magic with Julian Crane
I interview Julian Crane about his work with identity magic. He walks us through how he's used magic to change his life and shares examples of how he changed his identity with magical work in order to effect the changes he was looking for.
Check Out Julian's books:
How to recover from spiritual burnout
I have a confession to make. On occasion I feel burned out with my spiritual practice. I don’t think I’m alone in feeling this way, but confessing that you’re feeling burned out on your spiritual/magical practice can bring up a whole host of questions and doubts that makes you wonder if you’re doing it wrong or if there is something wrong with you because you’re feeling burned out. Add in a practical magic component and you may find yourself even questioning what the point is of practicing magic, especially when you don’t really seem to be feeling it.
Up until a week ago, I have felt burned out with my magical/spiritual practice. The burnout happened during the summer, when my life blew up because of a variety of both good and bad situations that occurred. Actually, scratch that…it probably started earlier, because of something we’ve all been dealing with in the last year: namely the pandemic. I think in one form or another all of us have been dealing with some form of burnout. My burnout just happened to culminate in August, shortly after I quit my job to go full time writing.
The benefits spirits get from working with us
When you work with spirits you get the benefit of their knowledge and expertise and their help with manifesting results. You might also develop an ongoing relationship with the spirit. But what do spirits get out of the relationships with us? What are the benefits they receive? I share my thoughts on this topic in the video below.
If you want to learn more about working with spirits, check out my book Walking with Spirits