Welcome back to to real witches alone.
Blessed. Be I'm Oak and I'm Danny and
we're just a couple of practicing witches, seeking
initiation into a garden area and tradition of Wicca every
full moon. And new moon were discussing
things were learning and researching sharing my magical
discourse and hold space, for other witches to do the same.
We're too real witches shooting the shit and nerding out on
magical topics. So if you're into the occult the
esoteric or the otherworldly, come hang out with us liminal
space of sound. And in today's episode, go ahead
and put on your comfy clothes, sit back.
Take a deep meditative breath, and settle into the topic of
meditation with us today, we're going to work through theory and
practice as well as sharing some things that have and have it
worked for us. But before we get started, what
you up to what you up to, what's going on with you.
Yeah, well, let's see for air updates with learning.
Different classes workshops and books.
I did finish the ritual book by Damien Echols and lorri Davis,
be open it up and see. Yep, lorri Davis.
Sorry Lori. And I know you're listening.
Just give me a minute. So I finished this book am I?
You know, it was good. It has a lot of practical
meditations and rituals and different, you know, a little
blurb. Herbs, it's too easy.
You know, little book to read. I did earmark some things to try
and some things to do. I also remember that I had
previously read High Magic by Damien Echols sharing his.
Yeah, sharing his story, about some things that he was doing
and how he was approaching magic when he was incarcerated.
But then also, you know, talks a little bit about angels and
other police that he has. So that was cool.
And now, you know, kind of Going down the rabbit hole of high
magic and looking at practices like the ldrp, the Lesser
banishing, ritual of the pentagram.
So many words there. So, when looking into that, it's
all, you know, it's all kabbalistic.
It's all based on the tree of life and it's referencing a lot
of that. And I'm, you know, somewhat
verse in the Kabbalah understand, its kind of origin.
As I've been following this Pagan thought leader Jack genic
Jack Shan like so chanel-6 Anna. And so he's a super smart dude.
And he's also a garden Aryan. And he recently will over the
pandemic. He actually release this
Kabbalah for wiccans. The ceremonial magic, the Pagan
path, you know. Paula and ceremonial magic or
like super LinkedIn. So I kind of feel the need to
get more into kabbalistic practiced, understand that a
little bit more so that's probably the next Furay.
It's funny. I was watching a YouTube video
where he was talking about how a lot of his thoughts and
practices have changed since writing that book as he released
it after the just recently and he was Is writing it during the
pandemic, you know, which was years ago.
So not that the pandemic was years ago but he started writing
two years ago. Okay right.
But I'm saying, I don't you man. Yeah so yeah.
So I'm going to dive into that book and yeah want to learn a
little bit more about the quality because I have been, you
know, doing the ldrp feeling like a total, this is going.
Yeah, I'll talk about it. You're like interesting, it's
good good. I mean other than I have to
suspend my judgment of myself a little bit sometimes but how
about you? What are you reading?
So I finished up doctoring, the devil which we talked about
maybe two episodes ago and I always enjoy reading these books
about like Appalachian folk lore and folk magic because there I
think we talked before like there are just so many things
that are different depending on where you're from and so there
were so many things that were super familiar to me.
Like like, for instance, tying Red Ribbon into your shoes.
It was a very common practice for my family to like, like so
initials like right initials into your clothing, so that like
I'm sure the from a magical purpose but also just a
practical purpose. When you have five kids
sometimes your shirts and stuff, just all start to blend, you
know what I'm saying? So but my mom not being handy
with a needle ever kept that Alive by taking just a red
scharping and writing our names inside of the tags of our And
stuff. So it's just it's one of those
things where some things were so familiar, but other things are
super foreign to me because I didn't, I grew up kind of
steeped in Christianity, but not expressly practicing it and so.
So many of those things are like, use John 387, or whatever
obviously, to like, recite this three times.
And I'm like, never heard of that, or done that because that
just wasn't kind of what we did. Not that there weren't People
who practice that, but we just were not super bible-thumping.
So just really interesting stuff.
And then, the shadow work Journal is going well.
I've done about a handful of exercises out of it, and one of
the things, one of the first few pages kind of talks about like,
how to approach the journal and and what you should do, like,
when things become overwhelming, and one of those things was
vipassana meditation, which we'll talk about it kind of
lined up, really? Well with this meditation
episode. So what kind of dig into that?
To today, this is so funny, like seeing how the things were
currently reading and learning about, or like influenced how
we're approaching these topics differently, right?
She's break. Because I mean, you know, we
just keep learning and keep changing our opinion and adding
on things. So I think it makes sense for us
to have a little snapshot of, you know, what's influencing us
right now. So what that what irons in the
fire? Do you have burning with your
fire updates? I just read Pot, all of the
plants in my house, which all of our brother people, all all of
them. Every single one that needed to
be repot, which like, for the average person, I'm sure they're
like, okay, you just like repotting plants.
No, I actually also just downloaded app because I
realized it's getting out of control.
And so, I downloaded an app to remind me about, like, care
instructions, because of the memory of a goldfish.
And so, I like a struggle to remember, like, when did I last
fertilize that? Like, when did I, when did I
last repot? This?
Because I literally just repot like 20 plants, not even kidding
like 20 plants and then pulled stuff off of plants to
propagate. And so, yeah, I'm feeling really
accomplish this weekend. Just dig it in so much, dirt,
feel really good, but I think about you.
Yeah, we're really channeling, that Taurus, New Moon energy,
because same, I did not replant every plant that I have, but I
am doing some really large transitions from I'm like, you
know, the smaller plans to smaller pots to the larger pots,
which is why you repot other than vanity reasons?
But no, my biggest project right now digging in the dirt is, I
did have a new septic field laid which means that they ripped up
every piece of my front and back yard, which was great.
Honestly, because they got rid of a lot of things that I didn't
want there. And so I'm laying I Through and
had to rake up, though. You know, all of the debris from
that because they lay down. Hey.
So, I did that yesterday, and, you know, got all of the other
kind of little growing things that I wasn't wanting.
And yeah. And so I'm laying down, grass,
seed, and it's a huge. Why is grass seed so expensive?
I didn't know. So expensive and also like,
there are whole people who dedicate their lives to how to
keep your grass looking as grass.
Is like as possible. And I just grass is so abundant
that it's like wild to me that it is so, like, sought-after,
I'm not a grass person. I don't really care.
I live very much like in a very wooded rural space, but it's
also like I, if I don't put down, grass, I'm going to end up
with like potato are plants everywhere.
My Heart of Florida. Like, if you don't put down,
They know things are going to grow and they're not going to
seem normal and they're going to be invasive.
So that's my only reason for wanting that.
And also you want to make sure that things that are growing on
top of a septic system. Don't have really deep root
systems so that's Matic. Yeah.
And I mean, I'm nerding out, I'm having fun with it.
I like tested my soil to see, you know what nutrients it had
in which nutrients that didn't have and then, you know,
purchasing that localizer for that.
Yeah. So it's me.
I mean, digging around, but also feeling a little nerdy, so
that's fun. All right, so let's get into our
water updates, what's flowing through your life?
How you feeling? You know, now that there's
something about like, just knocking stuff off the to-do
list that suddenly makes me feel like I have my life under
control. Just this this pseudo feeling
not necessarily that. It's true.
But just like, I marked enough stuff off my list to feel like
an accomplished in organized human being.
So yeah, I'm just feeling like the day-to-day is still high.
Dick. But like there's a plan and
we're executing the plan every day.
So we feel like we're getting ahead and staying ahead and
staying on top of stuff as it's coming up.
So everything's feeling hectic, but like doable, you know, good
good. Yeah, I know things have been
picking up in your own, kind of maybe that the other side of
your crazy work time. Is that right?
Yeah. Well, it's kind of going to
reach a culmination up until July, but once we hit July, it's
really just about like setting standards and keeping them in.
Place. So right now is just like the
build up to that time where it's just like every day is a
challenge, but we're staying on top of the challenge.
So the wheels are moving things are continuing to keeping moving
you know and we're not falling behind so that's good.
Well so awesome I am excited about summer.
Yeah, I do a lot of paddleboarding in the local like
Springs and rivers around my area, I'm really excited about
going to the beach. Yeah, I'm just feeling summer
Vibes but recently, I had taken a kind of break from working out
because I recently not recently actually this is the problem
back in August, I had made like major ankle surgery to kind of
correct. A deformed bone that was giving
me a kill. He's tendonitis and working out
was making it worse. And so I had to have surgery
which was terrible and I really was a kind of at that point.
Been working out very religiously every morning.
You like waking up at 4:30 and doing a lot of habit stacking.
I don't know if this is something that you're familiar
with but there's whatever this kind of self-help idea that if
you just do like build all of your habits off of one thing
kind of they'll Domino into place.
So for instance if you put your shoes by the door in the morning
then it makes it easier for you to put your shoes on to the Go,
run and then, oh, yeah. Run.
You know, like that kind of thing.
Like there's like, positive, don't think.
I knew that there was a word for that but I totally do that.
Yes, 100% in the book that it's from, I think.
But it's all about like micro habits but one kind of connected
to another and I totally have that going, right?
You go to bed at whatever. I mean, I went a bit crazy
early, like, 7:30 8:00, like, had to buy blackout curtains,
because I was going to bed before the sun went down, and so
I go to bed early, and then I don't drink wine or
eatdessertfirst. Hurt because I'm going to bed so
early which is great. Right.
Then you wake up early and work out and I feel like great about
working out and then you drink a lot of water because you sweat
so much in the morning. So it's like one thing kind of
was leading to the other but you take away one came out.
Well, there goes all your good habits because you stack them on
up working out. So so I definitely was feeling a
little out of sorts in terms of like just not having that
routine in place. And yeah.
So now I'm back on my bullshit. Going to bed early working out.
I'm trying to new gym right now, and so that's always kind will
change of scenery and approach and so that's fun.
See I'm so I'm feeling good working out some dedicated, do
my thing. Let's go look at.
You just health and wealth and all these things.
How's the new gym? Is it the same kind of style Jim
you're going to before? Yeah, yeah.
Yeah. They're both like CrossFit Gyms
the one that I was going to be for was probably lesson.
Tensley CrossFit like, and so a little bit more, I don't know.
Chill about it. So they did their own
programming. They didn't follow like CrossFit
programming, but this gym is very CrossFit e and I can
already tell that they do things.
Way more intensity. And so I'm having to really hold
myself back in a lot of ways of not going as heavy or not going
as intense because they're kind of like going intense.
So it's a balancing act but yeah it's the same kind of thing.
Nice, nice. All right.
Well, getting into Earthly things are challenges our
purchases. I have come to the realization
that I have an outlandishly, huge stack of books.
And and here's the thing, the reason I didn't realize I had so
many books is because I think subconsciously somewhere I've
thought that if I put them in different Stacks at different
places of my house that they seem like less books, you know
it seems like there's a but I I went through this weekend, as I
was like, just cleaning and organizing getting things
together and I legit have 23 books.
I have not read. Yes.
Okay, that's the problem. You should have not counted
them. And so now I've decided that I
am going to hold myself to a standard that I'm not buying
another single book until I read these books like just because I
put them in four separate Stacks in different places, does not
somehow make it better but so many books.
Okay, well, let me ask you. Questions are some of them
reference books. One of them is a correspondence
book, only one. Okay, all right.
Well, I can't help you this, you're like, I can't even make
excuses for you. That is ridiculous.
Yeah, and then I mean same that I just don't count - it doesn't
seem like I have like, books that I purchased from, like
Pagan festivals. When authors are there in order
to like get them sign and also to support the author because
often they don't get paid. So I can't hold myself to that
standard of not buying books. Until I've finished reading them
all because you know, mean we're probably going to go to a, are
you? Yeah, because it's in your
neighborhood. So we're really going to go to a
pagan car On whatever. And there's gonna be authors
there, you're not going to buy books, if there's authors there,
I mean, I don't know, I need them.
Okay. Well, I don't know.
Okay. So, but listen.
See. This is how I got into this,
this pile. This is exactly what happened
was because someone would recommend a book and I'd be
like, I don't want to forget about that.
Let me go put that like in an Amazon cargo put that somewhere.
And so then before I know it, I had purchased all these books
with no plan to read them like not that I didn't want to read
them. I just they weren't Out of mine
to read them. So I kept reading the books that
I had already like, slated on my list and then before I know it,
I have like, all these books people have recommended to me at
some point that I'm just like, yeah, holding onto that are just
collecting dust and I'm like, okay, you need to get your life
together. Like, you need to again, what
does that habit? Stacking.
I need to make a plan for keeping track of these books
that I want to read but not like impulse ordering them so that I
don't forget about them. So yeah, I mean, I guess if we
go I'll see what happens, but I'm trying to hold myself to the
standard that I'm not gonna purchase any more books, it's
ridiculous. Yeah, I went to, you know, I
went to Salem for my 40th birthday and of course I had to
buy books at like Laurie Cabot spot because she had signed some
of them went to a pagan Festival headed by there and then you
know I do that same thing where you read one author.
And then you're like, well now I have to buy this book because
they reference this book and it's a vicious cycle.
Really it really, really is and I was just like, in my mind I
really was like, oh, I have like, I don't know, like men,
maybe maybe seven to ten books. I need to read and then I
counted up, and I was like, your ridiculous.
Even be. Why are you like this?
I like this. I'm not even.
I refused account. I refuse to incriminate myself.
That's okay. I Yeah, I bought two additional
like I said, I'm going to read this one by the Jack Shinnok
character and and then there's another book that I'll talk
about next time but they are both connected to, you know, the
lb r p which is corresponding to what I'm trying to focus on and
trying to get experience with. So I guess maybe that's the
thing. It's like I'm buying books that
I'm trying to learn about because I'm going to use that
information and actions so maybe I feel justified in doing that
but I also bought some supplies some crafting supplies for a
little like on hand and gifts that I want to have ready for
people and I'm not going to tell you about them because your
birthday's coming up soon to give you one of these.
Things. But it's a little craft thing
that I'm going to make as a gift for.
You know, folks. Thanks for special and yeah,
yeah. So do some crafting.
Enjoy excited about. We'll talk about unless you go.
Yeah. If Ichigo yeah, your birthday is
coming up. I know I always have this.
Looks like it's well, birthdays. I always have this very mixed
feeling about birthdays and not because I'm like super tied to
the idea of like aging is a yeah about that.
I just I've always Felt weird about like celebrating a day of
birth for myself. I don't know.
It's just always not been as important to me as I feel like
other people make it and then I feel weird about not making it a
big deal because other people do and I don't want to make them
feel like I don't want to just I've literally worked every
single one of my birthday's except for last year I think was
the first year and it wasn't even by like Choice.
Like there are days times that I had intentionally scheduled to
like be off and then something would happen.
And we're like, I needed to be there.
It was required for me to be there and be like, oh my gosh.
That's so awful. You should like plan for its out
of my gown. This is another day, I don't
know. But again it might also be the
Aging like bananas thing. I for everyone listening.
I always told Oak and other people like I'm always amazed
because they are aging so beautifully.
I was like born with forehead wrinkles.
Like I am literally aging like bananas and it like baffles me.
Because in my mind, I feel I look 45 and I'm not no 45.
So yeah, I mean I hear you about feeling weird about being maybe
it's like the center of attention kind of thing.
Maybe that's the challenge me. I have I don't feel that way but
I also have a lot of first house placements, which makes me
self-absorbed in some way. My Leo Rising is not Rising.
I needed to get it together. Yeah, what's happening?
Maybe I Think. Yeah I think you should like
have spa days and then you don't have to be the center of
attention for everyone, your life, just the center of
attention for people giving you service, right?
Like maybe a spy day is would be a way of channeling that Leo
Rising? I don't know.
Okay, okay. So are you ready to jump into
today's topics? Let's do this thing.
I'm excited. I'm really excited.
I have thoughts. We have lots of more excited
than I am. I think.
Just generally how I think we both approached meditations.
Yes. Yes.
I am like, okay. Alright, let's talk about it.
We're going to get into this in the same way that we have been
approaching or other topics. We'll talk about the are
aspects, which are going to connect to kind of knowledge and
like, mental. I don't know are stuff.
And then we're getting into fire, which is going to connect
to the types of actions that one could take around the top
according to history and feelings in the water.
Action. And finally, we'll talk about
the challenges and how we integrate these ideas into our
lives in the earth section. And so that we're all.
So, you know, we like to talk about some of the more
problematic. Maybe debates, maybe some
prickly ideas around this and maybe internal conflicts we've
had with the topic. So yeah.
So we always I like the the last part I always like being a
little salacious. I like the really good at the
end to, right. Right.
That's that's intentional. Yes, it's good.
All right. So let's get into the air
aspects before, you know, I was, I think the definitions are
always helpful place to start, which is like a cliche and
speeches, right? What there's dictionary defines
meditation. That's like a, yes, don't do
that. And your your public speaking
classes, they hate when you do that but we're going to do that.
So meditation is A tainted word I think.
Usually when we say meditation were talking about maybe the
definition around thinking deeply or focusing one's mind
for some period of time and Silence with the aid of chanting
for religious or spiritual purposes or as a method of
relaxation, right? That's one way to define it.
There's also a lot of other ways to define the tation thinking
deeply or carefully about something meditating on a
concept. That could be considered
meditation or just considering so planning mentally, that can
be considered meditation. So, we'll talk about some
different versions of that. But my intentions tricky, it's a
tricky word, and generally referring to that first part as
we are talking about today's topic.
Yeah, so then we wanted to jump into some books and so one of
the books I think that was really instrumental and me
connecting meditation to practice was six ways.
Coaches and in trees for Magical, sorry for Practical
Magic by aydin walked. ER, now this book was
recommended to me and I did not realize until I just pulled out
the other day that it's walked her wac hter because I've always
heard Watcher. Aiden Watcher.
Totally not their name. So walked her is the name.
Excuse me. I saw that.
And I was like, yeah. Watch her.
Oh yeah. No, yeah, no.
And that's totally like a in this book has been kind of
highly recommended. That it for different reasons
but because it really approaches theory behind practice and how
you should like approach practice.
And it's a really easy read and it's easy to read through.
It's a smaller book, but it is really intrumental in getting
you to, like, think about things like meditation and how to
approach those things in a very logistical way.
So, less about like the woo of it and more about the like, how
do I physically do this thing? What is the theory?
Me behind doing this thing. And I think meditation for me
was not something I approached in practice meditation was
something I approach from a wellness standpoint from like a
everyone says, meditation is good for you.
So I'm going to go do it. And it wasn't, I really read
this book that I was like, oh meditation is a way of
progressing, my practice and kind of harnessing, or working
that muscle of the mind and focusing will.
And really exploring the theory Those things.
So definitely highly recommend that book especially for
somebody who like really can't sit and read like a 400-page
book. It's a much smaller book.
It's a very easy read and it was very, very interesting to me and
kind of opened a lot of thought doors on what practice is and I
really, really enjoyed the book. Okay, I'm sold.
Don't worry the all along, okay? So but no II would like to if
you say that it's great. That I would definitely check it
out. Maybe I'll try to find it on
like an audible thing, love that.
Okay, so I was trying to think I'm like, what books were really
Paramount in my understanding of meditation.
And what was the purpose? And honestly, like just growing
up in the era that I did and we'll talk more about kind of
like historically. How meditation has like showed
up in our lives and over the time over a personal histories
but it was hard. I was like, I don't know man.
Like you I remember hearing about meditation for, like,
fucking Oprah when I was, like, nine, like it's like meditation
is always been around me, but if I had to think of like one book,
that I really that maybe opened me up to a certain way of
thinking, about things was probably Eckhart Tolle.
He's The Power of Now and his like other publication, which is
the First World of Tomorrow, Tomorrow World New Earth, I
think it's called New Earth, new world.
I don't know i-it's Helios to so everyone I think knows the power
of now and it talks a lot about staying present and that of
course sparked the whole conversation around mindfulness.
I think he was really kind of one of the poster children even
though he's an old dude but For meditation especially like you
know he was like one of Oprah's Book Club things where we would
like read different chapters and then discuss it with Oprah.
So I was totally here for it. But yeah, I think that book is
probably super influential in my practices early on and I still
go back to that book and remember the mental Tunis
practices that he has listed there.
So yeah, if I had to guess what? Try to put one.
I guess I put that one. Nice.
Yeah, I don't know. There are a lot of good.
Books out there. I mean tons of books on
meditation, but as far as like connecting it and we'll talk a
little bit about Wellness versus practice, but I think a lot of
us have approached meditation from a wellness standpoint and
maybe not so much from a witchcraft standpoint and so
that's I think something worth exploring.
Yeah, I have also I think you're going to talk about a study here
and how it can potentially Be focused on like the health
reasons. Why people do these kinds of
things because it's not just for witchcraft.
Unless I don't know, I think it's all witchcraft, right?
Like feeling million, your jeans, healing your immune
system, healing is witchcraft. So, you know, loose definitions
here, but I think a lot of times we hear the terms, like brain
waves being discussed in reference to, to meditation,
trying to reach. Each those alpha or Theta levels
and brain wave patterns. It goes out of order, right?
It's like beta Alpha Theta and Delta and a lot of times people
talk about this Alpha Brain State as being a place where you
have deep insights and deep relaxation.
And there is a lot of just like science behind meditation.
Now that there maybe wasn't in the past.
Yeah, tell me about it. So that you have found here.
Yeah. So I was kind of looking for
something more recent and preferably local to us.
So, there were some researchers at UF University of Florida, who
had through kind of their own lives, had kind of, like,
started meditative practices and wanted to know on a health
perspective like what are the actual Health implications of
this? And so what they did was they
studied 106 people who went on the Persona Style, - treat.
Tell me about that. You say that word.
Yeah, so it's the style of the Posada is essentially like
instead of this idea of like clearing the mind.
It's allowing the mind to naturally, settle and noticing,
the thoughts that come to your mind, and essentially not
addressing them in that moment. But making note of them.
So that later, you can say like these are the most front of mine
things. These are the things map.
My mind is worried about or needs to plan or needs to
organize and then Attacking those things from the
perspective that like it will help with your overall Wellness
to, like, get rid of these worries.
Or these things that are, like, kind of tripping you up or like
stumbling blocks and your mental processes.
Yeah. And so this meditation style
retreat was eight days of Silence, which this is the more
traditional style of the persona.
But it's he's like long periods days worth of Silence with at
least nine hours of meditation. Per day, so that's all.
Only nine. So totally achievable is what
I'm saying. And then what they did was, they
took blood samples from these people before this Retreat,
immediately after this Retreat, and then three months after
that. And what they found is, when
they analyze those samples, it affected the genetic activity of
the immune responses, specifically 268 genes,
including those that are involved in antivirus and
anti-cancer responses. So what they found was like on
an actual metabolic and genetic level These people were
affected, not just in the short term, like not just immediately
after. But months later, they were
still showing that these genes were impacted.
And that overall, they were helping their immune system.
Essentially, they were creating a response and then immune
system, that was keeping these people.
Well, so not just on the mental level, not on the mental,
emotional level, but actually on a physical level, it was
impacting their body and their body's processes.
You had so cool. Have you ever done like a
retreat like that? I haven't.
And I actually several months ago, came across one, a my
initial reaction was, I should send this tokens if she wants to
go, you know I would let's shut up for eight days.
Let's go. Be torture.
Can you imagine you and I they're like absolute silence
for eight days. I think I would break by day
three. I think by day three, I would
absolutely lose all sense of self but not know.
Look like Language of like nothing or something.
No, that sounds portress, which I'm here for love.
Love a good quarter for the purposes of growth.
I, that's really cool study. I I think it's probably also.
Yeah, I mean, clearly, we all agree collectively on the social
North American level, that meditation is there's lots of
different types of meditation. Meditation is great for your
mind for anxiety, depression, right?
So for, for mental fortitude, it's also great for Gene
responses, and for the actual like physiological response that
meditation has I think I think we're all kind of on that same
page that we understand the value of that.
Just because there's been so many discussions and, you know,
TED Talks or what have you on the topic I wanted to.
Also, maybe just create some Categories.
So, around meditation, I think, if I had to really boil it down
into its Essence, meditation, is defined by what you're thinking
about and what you're doing. And so we'll talk about the
doing part in our fire segment, but in the focusing on, I think
it's very related. I have heard people talk about
and I can't like give a reference because these are
things that were discussed in like a another lecture that I
was a part of so I can't give credit here for where these
ideas have come from. But there's I remember hearing
there's like three different things that you're focusing on,
right? You're either focusing.
When you meditate on many things, you're focusing, maybe
on one thing or you're focusing on no things.
So, the meditation style that you talked about where you're
trying to not focus really on your thoughts, but the whole
like observe the Observer kind of thing and just let the
thoughts go by. I think this would fall into
that, like space between thoughts idea.
But for the many things, I think, you know, guided
meditation, we hear that as a lot of type of meditation and
that's an example of focusing, on a lot of things body, scans
focusing on your toes. You're focusing on your ankles
and then you're noticing your calves.
All those good things. That's a totally focusing on
many things category. I don't know if you've heard
that like meditations book by Marcus Aurelius and he has he's
using the word meditations in the idea of considerations of
just a human experience and different philosophies.
But yeah, I mean, I've definitely had meditations where
I focus on some of those Concepts like larger Concepts
where I'm focusing on many aspects of a thing.
But the one thing focusing on one thing, I think, when you're
focusing on your breath, you're focusing on one thing.
I think a lot of times people will use focus on your breath to
then transition into focusing on nothing.
Right? Right.
But I think it's, if you're observing your breath, you're
still focusing on that one thing and you can stay there until
that's really comfortable and you feel like you can maintain
that focus and then kind of transcend into this, you know.
Space between thoughts observation, but yeah,
categorically may be focusing on many things, one thing or no
things. And that's what I'm talking
about. General methods.
So, there are so many methods out there like, so, so, so so
many methods and so many methods that have like many methods
within those methods and it's a very vast and wide umbrella, but
they're really like j7 general concepts.
I would say that like most types of meditation fall under So
within Like the three you described like many things, one
thing or know things. These are like, okay, but what
things are we focusing on or like, what is the technique that
we're using? So, there's guided meditation,
right? So the intentional focus on a
path or Adventure or personal visual visual visualization.
That's a word, but like the idea of like imagine roots coming
through your feet into the ground.
Like that's a very popular one and then there's loving,
kindness meditation. Often called Metta meditation, M
ETA. And this is the use of like
affirmations, whether those are vocal or just kind of like
mentally repeated to focus your attention on to something and
he's into a meditative state, by first focusing, those
affirmations on yourself and then typically, it's like then
turning those outward to the world.
So like I am kind, I am smart and then turning that out to the
world. Like I am going to go out to the
world and be kind. I'm going to go and then to
recognize that same thing in other people Oh and then there's
mindfulness metal meditation. So clearing of the mind, right?
No thought or no. No, Focus.
Really but the breath. So again that concept of like
we're focusing on the breath and then we're going to slip into
nothingness then there's the Persona meditation.
So this is actually paying attention just to the Natural
thought pattern, right? Get seated somewhere and a tune
out, everything else around you and just let your mind naturally
wander and make note of where it There's two again.
No, judgement pass in those like good or bad thoughts, or just
making note of those. And then later processing, kind
of what is front of Mind in addressing those things.
Transcend Transcendental Meditation.
So, a state of kind of being out of oneself.
So, transcending the physical self.
The these will be the styles of meditation where you're like,
asked to like Move Yourself outside of your physical body
and then maybe like, look down on your physical body or or move
your State of Consciousness to a place other than where you
physically. Our I would say to about
Transcendental Meditation that that's a whole like School and
practice onto itself, I lived in Denver, there's a big
transcendental, like Community there and a lot of times, I
didn't realize this, but like you're having to pay a healthy,
some to get into these classes and I don't know.
Yeah, that's outside of that. And like having a transcendental
meditation teacher, is something that is very costly.
Haven't gone down that rabbit hole but I think that we
experience that often when we do kind of like thinking about like
astral projection, astral temples that kind of stuff.
But I think when we use the word like TM Transcendental
Meditation, when you say it like that, you're actually referring
to specifically a school of meditation that like acquires
specific. So there's the transiting your
body meditation and there's Transcendental Meditation which
I think is a very specific thing.
I guess is what I'm saying. Yeah.
And I think the reason those
things are so costly raised because there's this kind of
idea that somebody has the knowledge to get you there that
it requires like an additional person.
And I think for some people it probably does.
Right. I think for maybe even the
majority of people like if you had to depend on your own
experience, to get you to this state, you probably would
naturally get there on your own. And that's where have to rely on
resources, whether it's books or people or classes or retreats to
help Kind of find that access. And then we have chakra
meditation, which is really focusing on one, but up to all
chakras within one meditative practice where you're focusing
on those individual chakras and working through, blockages in a
tuning Focus to those areas so noting where you might feel like
you're kind of stuck whether that's like throat chakra and
what that means for you and your life and then focusing.
On like removing those blockages and some meditations will take
you through all of those chakras and some will just focus on one
in particular and kind of essentially give you more
information about that chakra but also ask you to like focus
on removing things related to those blockages.
And then we have physical meditation.
And that's really the connection between the mind and the body.
So, finding the blockages that you feel physically in your body
and then removing or releasing that tension.
So, these would be your things like your yoga.
You're walking meditation, I'm kind of fall under this umbrella
of physical meditation? Yeah, great.
Thanks for that list of examples of that when we're transitioning
now into the fire segment, we kind of talking about
incorporating this. What are the options that you
take around meditation? I just wanted to kind of circle
back to that categoric. Definition of education is what
you're thinking about and it's also what you're doing so.
There's maybe two types of doing but if I again if I'm being
super productive which would be moving and like not moving.
Yes, I'm focusing on one thing. I'm focusing on nothing, I'm
focusing on many things and I'm either moving or I'm not moving,
right? So moving.
Meditations might have us walking my type of dancing.
Even like drumming to get into a meditative state may be using
like singing bowls doing. Poses and that pose could be
something like, you know, slow Yin kind of practice or like
something super active, like Kundalini Yoga.
It could also be just holding a physical like a room, right?
So if I was holding the shape of gaybo, for instance, in
focusing, on the meaning of that and how that enters my life and
trying to draw that. And that could be a form of
meditation. That is moving.
I mean, technically you're holding a pose but it certainly
is body. Eccentric, Tai Chi, chanting.
All of those things, I think would fall in the moving
category. Static, we're about static.
Maybe we would still include breath as part of a still
technique when half. Have you heard of Wim Hof this
dude, I feel like I know that term but I haven't like, I don't
know a lot about that practice. Yeah, it's like this Austrian.
I think he's Austrian dude, he developed This method of breath
work. And the thing that was like
really impressive or people point to, as a study of showing
the power of the Wim Hof method is he was infected with
essentially like food poisoning, right?
He was given botulism and I think even E.coli and that was
intentionally. Yeah, injected into his body and
through the breath through working in his breath and he was
able to fight off. Off the infection and not become
sick. And so this was like, followed
by scientist. And so, the Wim Hof method is
really about using your breath to regulate your body functions,
which is crazy and amazing. So a lot of his Retreats people
talk about, you know, jumping into ice, cold water, and
maintaining your body temperature, exposure therapy,
and that way. It's really, really cool stuff
and I am impressed by that kind of thing.
Even though Mars right, I mean the ability of being able to
give birth to a child, like Lamaze is absolutely a type of
breath work in meditation and wanted to talk about this kind
of other static meditation, which would be whatever your
body position is and maintaining that.
So whether you're replying, whether you're, you know, laying
flat down, or maybe even seated. I just wanted to point out that
my Science is with seated. Meditation are have not been
successful because I have not transcended my body and
meditative sweet. So when my ass falls asleep it's
pretty distracting. Yeah I appreciate.
So I guess you know so many people maybe have this
visualization their mind that meditation requires a seated
position and while I think that can work for me, More novice
folks in a short interims. Like, if you're doing a 30
minute or hour long meditation, if you're not able to reject the
distraction of pain then maybe it's not the best place to be.
I would love to get to a place where seated meditation was
something I could deal with, for a long period of time without
being distracted by pain. But that's not where I'm at.
So yeah. So again, you know, Something to
think about is that meditation can take the form, you know,
what are you thinking about? But also, what are you doing in
there? So many versions of What either
you are actively doing with your body or not doing with your
body? Lots of options there.
Yeah. And then we want to talk about
creating routine so I have found the easiest thing is to start
small. If you start out with like 20
minute long meditations, especially if those are like
your own guidance. Meaning you're not listening to
a guided meditation. When you are doing this on your
own, it can really burn you out. So start small find short
easier, practices online or use guided meditation videos on
YouTube. So that as slipping into these
states becomes easier, as it comes, shall we use the words
muscle memory, then you can kind of increase time and difficulty,
maybe start with breath. So, try something like box
breathing, where you breathe in 44 seconds?
Hold for four seconds. Breathe out for 4 seconds.
Hold for four seconds. And you can visualize kind of
drawing that box until again you get that muscle memory where the
breathing part becomes easier. A lot of people get really kind
of worn out with focusing on their own breath and losing
track of it. And so box, breathing was really
one of those ways for me to visualize breath and to really
focus on it and kind of build that muscle memory for it
attempt to solely focus on the breath for about five minutes
per day. Set a timer, please don't try to
keep your phone beside Adieu, and when you think five minutes
is up Peak and then realize only like 30 seconds has passed
because your life feels like it's slipping away, just set a
timer, right? Make it as easy for yourself as
possible and then try several different types of meditation.
Things won't always work for you off the bat, I figure out what
does work drop, what doesn't unless you're up for that
challenge. So if you're like, I really like
the style of meditation, I just need to kind of get the
motivation the discipline to follow it through then sure.
Go for it. But don't do something that you
hate again, consistency. Theme of my life, work on what
makes sense for. You don't try to hold on to
something that isn't working for you just because you think it
should be working for you. Figure out what does lose, what
doesn't go after the challenges, when you think you're ready for
those judges? I have a term for that.
Call it should in your pants like to trademark that don't
show the paper. Okay?
Because then it's really shitty. Both literally, We and
figuratively, Alright and then as we go into water, we want to
talk about histories and feelings, history of meditation.
I guess we talked about like what do you really Define as
meditation? If it's just like, rumination of
your thoughts that probably has gone on as long as humans have
had Consciousness, but this kind of idea of sitting with yourself
and your thoughts and to build like a higher level of
spirituality. Or to transcend your own
thoughts. So that's believed to have
originated from India around, 3500 BCE.
And those were found with drawings of people that appeared
to be sitting with their eyes closed in a meditative State
around that same time. We see a vendetta is mmm, so The
Vedas were an oral traditional practice that were later
codified into text, that had meditative practices at the core
of the spiritual practice. So these were Rest really in
verbal Mantra. So something that we might
consider today is like affirmations and then waking
meditations something today that would look more similar to
scrying. So still very different than
what I think. Most people picture meditation
to be now, but we're still kind of the original kind of thought
leaders on meditation. Yeah and I think, you know,
again any time we go over history, what we're referring to
is here are points of evidence that have been recorded in
history. That we can confirm through
these artifacts and these remains, but it doesn't mean
that that was the first time it happened.
It's just the first time that we have proof of it based on or
maybe we can create hypothesis based on artifacts that that's
what was happening. But who knows, you know, I have,
I think meditation and it's connection to like Indian
culture is really strong and a lot of people kind of Of just
instantly go to like, Guru minds and like yoga Minds for
meditation and you know, that's just not the case.
There's there's been there's there were Druids that were
thinking about how to control thoughts.
You know there are you know all kind of Asian cultures outside
of India like Chinese Japanese, you know, people who have had a
traditions of mental training and fortitude, maybe just not
calling it meditation. So it's It's to me, it's like
using trying to Define history, historically, like, weirded
meditation started. Well, number one, depends like
as you said, what is meditation to you?
And number two, how do you prove people were doing mental
exercises? I guess if you have a drawing on
a cave of some one seated, maybe you assume, that's the case.
But it's hard. It's hard to.
Yeah. When did people try to control
their thoughts? I don't know.
That's hard to Define since they had thoughts, probably right.
I think it's probably useful for us too.
To maybe just give our personal histories with meditation and
kind of like how we've thought about it over time.
Like I said, I grew up, you know, in a time where meditation
was quite popular and it was kind of everywhere, right?
Like watching Oprah, it was on Oprah so I think these are
really popular social topics over time but of course they
always appear to have his kids like a mystical implication when
I was probably a Early, teenager late, teenager started doing
yoga was really probably the first time that I was ever that
I ever did. Yo, active meditation and was in
yoga. So, I think that when I reflect
on the definitions of yoga, I think any I can have.
I found myself in sports situations being so highly
focused. And one thing that I actually
forget what the rest of my body is doing, because I'm so focused
on On a singular thing. And when you get to like really
high competitive levels of sport where you have to actually slow
down time and your mind in order to like speed up your reaction
to it. I think that that's, that's
meditation in a way. And, you know, when I got to
that really intense level with sports, it became very stressful
and so we actually had sport psychologist come in and help us
with the stress. Yes.
And also with like visualization in order to improve performance.
So I think I like replaced meditation with sports and then
Sports got stressful so that I had to meditate and then I quit
doing sports much stress and then had to meditate for the
stress is how, you know. It's just like it keeps
ping-ponging back and forth. But yeah, most recently, I think
as part of I've always Been interested in self-help,
self-help in the modern term. Generally, is around meditation
is a big staple of conversation there, but getting into magic,
certainly and Witchcraft in general.
Certainly encouraged me to return to my meditative
practices. So yeah, that's me.
Awesome. Yeah, that was a lot of
inception. There of like, stress, led me to
Sports and then Sports, let me to stress and then stress led me
to him. So I used to focus kind of on on
clearing my mind when meditating were now.
A meditation is almost always now with a purpose in mind, for
me, like I want at the end of this meditative practice feel
like I've accomplished a thing or medical or answer to question
where I think originally it was like, I just want to think less
in my brain. I want there to be Less stuff in
there. We're now I'm like, no give me
more stuff. I just want to figure out how to
manage that stuff in a more productive way.
So I kind of built a practice more around achieving those
goals. And so there's a couple
different methods that I use that I wanted to share here.
So one of those that, I mean, fairly recently probably within
the last 6 months, I started using these Palm stones are
actually up here on my altar right here.
So these Palms Stones are something I use in meditating
and I use a very similar format actually to how we format this
podcast. Again, shout out to Deb lip, for
all of the work that she has done in our lives.
But I hold these Palm Stones as I'm ruminating about a question
or something that I want to kind of sit with my ancestors in this
nice. Little chair right here and
think through a problem. And so I start with Earth.
So, like, what is the problem? What is the money?
Dean thing. What is the challenge that I'm
facing and then I move into are what do I know about this
problem? What are the facts around the
case or the issue? And then I move into holding the
Palm stone for water. So it's an aquamarine Palm Stone
around. Like, how am I feeling about
this thing? What are?
Maybe some of the blockages that I'm experiencing?
Because of my feelings, around this thing, but also history.
So this is where I pull kind of my ancestors and I think about
this problem in ways they may have faced it in their lives,
right? So if it so if it's a work
problem, like did my papa experiences like working in the
coal mines and being away from his family for such long periods
of time and trying to balance balance that quality time in the
short periods of time when he was home and supposed to be
resting up for, like the next two weeks tent, I have the kind
of that same thought, when I think of my mom all Pat and like
she was Raising several kids and for a longer period of time.
I'm doing it on her own and so trying to keep everybody fed and
clothed and, you know, generally well was probably Focus.
So that's where I kind of pull in histories as with that water.
One put a lot of energy into that one.
And then I have the fire. So the Carnelian when I sit with
and I'm like, alright, so we have like really turn this thing
over inside out all the way around.
What are we going to do about it right?
What what? Lay down some concrete actions
for like what you're going to do about this thing, so you can get
it off of. Of your mind to kind of remove
that worry. And then I like to believe that
all that energy that I'm putting in those stones that I then
leave on my ancestor altar are kind of helping build that
energy. And and something I can later
tap into more effectively and then I've also built and
continue working with those astral spaces that we've talked
about for Duty contact. But also, for just a magical
working space, just kind of a space to kind of sort through
things. And ruminate over things kind of
in a very logical way. And that I do that through
meditative practice and so it's definitely not something I like
overnight was like in. This is what I'm doing.
It's something I've spent a lot of time kind of thinking about
and crafting and in a very tangible way that I wanted to
share with you guys so that you guys can really think about like
what do I want meditation to look like and how does it
benefit me in a magical sense? Yeah, love that.
Thank you. I think that we are We also are
talking about. When we're talking about
feelings, we're really quite sure where to put this concept,
or this discourse around the appropriation of meditation in
the New Age movement, or maybe how meditation has gotten a
marketing. From the wellness environment
and how even modernly when we're talking about meditation, how
potentially were being triggered into thinking that meditation is
for the gup-e Gwyneth Paltrow followers, and it's not for
witchcraft, and that makes sense in a lot of ways.
And as we were kind of discussing this Danny
beforehand, let me know, okay. Share some of your thoughts that
you're sharing with me but I very much see this as like
meditation and mantras and all of these kinds of like
manifestation purposes and like the secret, all of those things
are just like really a kind of the Ice Berg analogy.
The really just the tip of the iceberg and it's an important
tip and it goes, much, much deeper than potentially how its
explored within a popular culture standpoint, it goes much
deeper. So but don't like throw away
those ideas just because they're being explored through other
movements and think that it's not connected to Witchcraft, I'm
not really articulating that super well but you know, I think
a lot of people here with meditation there like they don't
insulate go like oh well that's definitely the basis of old
witchcraft, right? Yeah.
And I think, you know, even just you and I having a protein
meditation From a wellness standpoint, not having
approached it from a witchcraft standpoint.
I think that that's where a lot of people are.
I mean, I was a witch before I use meditation in practice, so I
think that's where a lot of people are, is, there's this
want to separate yourself from that like wellness crowd and the
people that have really commodified wellness, and really
taken Wellness, from a place of everyone can do it.
And it is for everyone's good and well being and really like
turned it into. Like here's the latest new thing
that you can buy and use for your health and your wellness.
And so I think a lot of people do not connect with that, right?
Or it is for me I mean I can just put myself out there it is
adamantly opposed to who I am as a person and so and not wanting
to be attached to that. I have really gone the route of
well I'm just doing meditation from these, you know, very well
known. Thought leaders not from this
Wellness space that has really commodified and taken over parts
of Witchcraft right in this. Like well you can just manifest
all the things you want in your reality through meditative
practices and to some extent. Yes.
But to others? No, and not in the methods that
you're using. And so I think the Wellness
Community and I use wellness and air quotes because I think it is
very unwell. In many ways has really kind of
stolen meditation and and made it so that people often don't
feel like it is as tied to Witchcraft as it is and can be
and as as beneficial as it can be, because it really has
socially become something. So opposed to what I think most
people are or want to be. And so we wanted to just
acknowledge that because I think people here meditation they're
like what do I really need to do that?
Those are all the whoo people and I'm just not part of that
boo, boo crowd, sure. You can not identify with that
crowd at all and still take the concepts and still, you know,
phrase we often like to use throw the baby out with the
bathwater but take those Concepts and still use them and
still acknowledge that there are inherently very problematic
things with the kind of the Wellness Group.
Yeah and I think maybe in slightly older I remember when
Wellness was called a new age so there's always that easy before
that maybe was the hippies before they like the occultist.
And before that, you know, so I think it's, you know, there's
always some version of the popular, the popular crowd,
having some type of things that are quite magical, not referring
to them as magical. And then I would say for me,
it's like I feel resistance towards using those things
because I'm trying to separate myself from that space.
Yeah, but it's like again. It's an iceberg scenario,
they're dealing with kind of just the tip of the iceberg and
ideally where you have a more depth in the topic and as a
study transition you just didn't I think that this is pretty I
know we could make that topic be slightly in the feelings
category and also slightly and the integration and challenge
category so transitioning into like the Earth topic here.
I think that go to when you start to work this in Your
everyday life one can easily find this like Challenge and see
that as being a signal that they cannot meditate.
And there are going to be hurdles, it's not supposed to be
easy, your mind is not an easy place to play.
So the first thing that we would point to is that there's just so
many types of of meditations and their until you've tried them
all and every A nation of them then I think it's probably too.
It's premature to assume that you can't do something and you
can't meditate. Yeah, absolutely.
And then we want to talk about those mundane challenges like
place in space. So, you know, maybe you live
with a lot of roommates or maybe you live in a very busy
household with lots of loud people or maybe you live in a
very small space and so trying to find peace and quiet and
where you won't be bothered or where you are not in the way or
bothersome to. Someone else may not be an
option that you have in your home and it doesn't need to be
done in your home. So you can go, you know, whether
that's to a library, No, Cry. Find a little quiet space in
your local public library, or a public park again safety, which
is, maybe, you know, not after dark alone in a creepy place, a
local Trail again. Safety, if you know that you're
going to be kind of in this in-between space, make sure
you're in a safe place where there's no like risk of you.
It offers something or a wild animal you know coming to hang
out with you or anything like that.
I'm get a change of scenery so maybe you've tried, you know,
sitting on your bed meditating, it's just not working for you.
Some of my, in fact, all of my best meditations have been done
in a bathtub or outside and drizzle and Rain there,
something about water for me. I'm very much a water baby that
is very necessary from a meditative practice.
Okay. We're really are like your best
meditations. Well, I have a space in my
ritual room laying down on, like a little mat that has been
daily. The place that I go to, I often
have candles lit because while your water baby, I'm a fire,
baby. You're very kind Syrian.
And yeah. So so, for me, I mean, the most
productive, most magical, meditations.
I Had were actually in sweat lodges where it's super hot and
which is just so funny to like just suppose against your
bathtub that like your make it makes sense for me.
I've tried meditating and bathtubs and I'm like, no, no,
no, no. See I need it.
I need to feel not of self I guess like where where the lines
between your your body and the water kind of Blur and that
sensation ceases to exist, like II need that.
And sink thing. I love meditating like outside
not directly in the rain because I find that would be distracting
but just like sitting outside while it's raining under like a
covering of some kind. It's my favorite.
It's my absolute favorite. I love that like Sally Brown
sunbathing is wonderful for me. I think it's so funny when I'm
in a bathtub try to meditate I'm like who the water isn't getting
cold? I don't like like where's the
heat? Where's the fire?
How can I bring? Meanwhile, when I'm like sitting
in the sun, I'm like, I ain't going to be so sunburned.
How long have you been here? Same same.
Yeah. I mean, certainly changing.
You know, if you're struggling to meditate changing your places
totally a way of doing it. Yeah.
And then, you know, senses. So I think in today's very
modern world, it can be really hard just to find the space and
time, but then also, to tune out what's happening around you in
this very busy. World that we live in.
So just some other methods of helping you kind of integrate
that practice use headphones to kind of block out surrounding
noise. If there's like a playlist that
you know, won't be disruptive to your practice, including that.
I love Lo-Fi music. I love it.
I love just kind of harmonious music that doesn't have words
and is not really distracting. Love, just putting in some
headphones and kind of zoning out with that.
You put your the use of a veil or I'm asked to remove light, I
guess I've always had the opportunity to like turn out the
lights. I hadn't really thought about
this but I do love the idea of kind of like like closing
yourself in like creating your own your own space within like a
veil or an eye mask and then burn are spraying of a specific
smell. So some people kind of build
that muscle memory that like when I smelled the smell this
perience is going to happen and I think we have experienced that
and kind of like more ritualize settings where like the burning
of certain instances kind of. Okay resets that this is the
time and place that we are creating or the space that we
are creating and so if you want to start that practice of like
this scent or this smell, or maybe it's just something that's
very comforting a meditative to you naturally, kind of starting
that up in your space. And then we talked about feeling
right. Something we talked about
earlier with the being seated I also I cannot stand seated
meditation for me, it's the destruction of realizing that
like, my shoulders have naturally slumped and yours was
of your shoulders back and your spine straight.
And, and your, you know, coccyx bone to the floor.
And I have a very large, but so trying to get my coccyx, bone to
the floor. It's just not comfortable or
realistic. Like tilting my pelvis.
In that way. By the time my feet are numb.
I'm so over it. So fine.
Find that space or are find that that position that is going to
be not sensationally distracting to you.
Whether that's for my pain or a neuropathy kind of standpoint.
Yeah, all of those things, you know, find ways to work around
or to dull your senses in a way that will be productive to what
you're doing. Totally.
Yeah, I mean, ultimately assume that that when you Start
meditating, right? You should just assume that it's
going to be a failure. I think start up with place of
this isn't going to work and let me figure out me just at least
try this one thing. See if it doesn't work in the
move on to the next thing. There's just so many different
combinations of those things and then but also like journaling
about your experiences so that you can remember, what does
work, what doesn't work and just continue to trial and error that
through I think is super useful. Yeah, that was something you and
I I kind of threw out or court experience.
And I don't know if you did this but we had the kind of this
meditation learning and it had these different exercises.
And so I actually wrote out my experiences with those exercises
and I love to go back now. And look at them because the
settings I was in which I did take note of very much
determined its success of those practices for me.
So that was it was interesting because one of the most
successful ones that I had was Outdoors while it was Like and I
was like, wow, I really expected this to be a total fail because
it was raining and it was so great.
So I think the journaling aspect of that is can be really
important especially if you kind of coming from like the
scientific scientific method aspect want to like, verify
like, yes, this did work or know this didn't work in this maybe
is why? Yeah, I mean, I think with any
magical practice in any magical ritual, or spellcraft, And like
that, we the documentation of that thing is part of the
growth. I mean, there's everybody will
say that journaling your experience is recording, your
experiences is like, how you continue to get better and I
think it's because you can go back and reflect and take note
of those things where it's really easy to remember why it
was great or why it was not great.
And yeah, Sterling's great much as I know I'm not Just naturally
a journal or so. That's like totally something
that I have to like, force myself to do, but it is so
valuable later to go back and look at.
So, you know, if you're not a journaler, just suck it up and
do the thing, just do the thing. And then we wanted to talk about
maybe if you have kind of like a mental block to to meditating
and maybe that's for a very physiological reason so people
who maybe have like ADD ADHD or similar diagnosis, so So I'm
kind of my mind was kind of going through this things, like
maybe narcolepsy or things like restless leg syndrome, that
might make it very difficult for you, to be able to tune out,
kind of your physical body, or do not get distracted by the
things that are happening to you, both mentally and
physically. And so, in those diagnoses, that
may make it very difficult for you to have kind of undivided
attention. I think Step One is, give
yourself Grace, right? You, if you know these things
about yourself, there's no point in beating yourself up about
them. Acknowledge them find
workarounds for them, don't get so discouraged because the first
one didn't work out great. What can we do to kind of make
this so that it works for you. This practice is for you.
So let's find a way to make it work for you.
Acknowledge those intrusive thoughts and just redirect a
purpose, right? I think when you pass a lot of
judgment on your inability or maybe the struggle to like not
have intrusive thoughts that almost just makes it worse.
So it reminds me of Of things like stuttering.
For instance, the more you focus on the stutter, the worst, the
stutters going to get. So instead, let's focus on.
Yep, had that thought acknowledge it, put it away,
redirect to focus, right? If it doesn't work, if it's not
working, don't draw out the Missouri.
Step away from it, take that down in your Journal as a.
Nope didn't work. And move on find something.
Different don't just stick it through to stick it through and
be miserable and get nothing. Of it because then you're just
wasting your own time. And then you're probably not
going to give yourself that Grace.
That really is needed. Yeah, I mean, I think there's a
balance there of sticking it out versus transition to something
else. And that's, you know, you have
to know yourself well enough to know, like, have I exhausted
that experience and am I giving up?
Because it's actually not working for me?
Or am I giving up? Because I haven't, it had, it's
not easy yet. And I know that there's a lot
of, there's a lot of Conversation in magical
communities about meditation and about accepting differences in
people, you know, some people it's hard for them to read.
So them reading books doesn't make sense.
Maybe listening to books makes more sense for other.
People meditating is hard because their mind is naturally
scattered and it's hard for them to stay on one topic.
And I have a problem with that and this is super potentially
Medic, I don't suffer from ADHD as much as I do with like
dyslexia and things like that, so honestly, I need to shut the
fuck up about it, but since there is just some kind of
friction that I feel with that idea of giving up on the
practice of training your mind and having control over your
mind. I think that it's worth the
practice even if it's hard. I do.
And I've read studies where, you know, people even with ADHD
benefit from the idea of meditation, but maybe that
meditation looks different. So I don't know all the
different versions of meditation.
Even if there is a challenge that you're experiencing, the
idea of being able to control your own thoughts is magical
unto itself, is the type of work, that's I think required in
order for you to do a lot of magic, which I guess would
transitions us into kind of our final.
Please here within kind of the challenges of integration within
our Earth topic. I don't know.
Danny, what do you think, can you even do magic without
meditation / brain training? Is it possible?
Yeah. And I think that question in and
of itself is it's giving you a very yes or no.
Right. A binary.
Can you? Yes or no?
And I think this is more of like a spectrum.
It's not about, can you? But can you do it?
Well, so, if Being able to focus your intention and manipulation
of thought is very difficult for you and you aren't willing to
work on it. I would argue that you probably
will have issues with manipulating energy and
visualizing intent. And that these exercises are
really meant to like exercise that muscle.
So it's not. Can you do magic?
Of course you can, but will it be a successful as it would be
if you took this practice and really found a way to work
through it or found a way to make it work?
For you and be better for you. I think the more that you work
at this practice and the more that you get on that spectrum of
it being more successful for you, I would argue that it will
help your magic be more successful as well.
So it's not so much can you or can't?
You it's more of the spectrum of how well, can you do it?
And that's really, you know, Ben and I found to be important in
my craft is harnessing that control over My mind and more
that I can do that. The more successful my
Adventures, my The Avenues of magic will be.
Yeah. And and exerting your will to
change a reality, right? That's we're talking about,
we're talking about witchcraft. We can stand Point.
Like, how do you work with the gods without being able to
control your brain? Sure, right.
Can you work with your ancestors without having deep?
Meditative practice may be sure. Like I think that's possible but
when I think specifically were talking about The magic aspects
of Witchcraft, even within a Wiccan or non we can standpoint.
I mean, we're talking about changing your changing your
brain, a lot of ways, right? So maybe, I don't know.
Maybe this spell could be a meditation on to itself because
it's asking you to align your behaviors and your intention.
So, maybe that is a way of focusing, your brain is like,
working a spell. But if you're practicing
witchcraft for the purposes of like attaining, your personal
potential, Oil or for growth then the meditation and
meditation is part of that work, right?
There's other ways, I think to train your brain outside of
meditation. So certainly not limiting.
That something that I kind of got deep into was, in LA, in
l.a. P, which is that
neuro-linguistic programming, and this has a lot, there's a
couple of examples. I'm going to link a article
here. Tony Robbins, Tony Robbins, I
wanted to say to Tony problems because he is problematic and
and there's a lot of like not, he hasn't aged well in all of
the ways. But listen, you know, he's a
boomer what you going to do, but he has a really interesting
point here around an LP. This was something that is
really one of the Paramount aspects of his whole coaching
model. He's been very successful with
that but it's like changing how your brain thinks about Things
from, you know, imagery and like, replacing what you want
versus what you don't want mirroring incantations like that
dudes to do in witchcraft. I'm just sorry.
I'm sorry. That dude is Joe was gonna say,
is this a witch or? No, because it sounds very the
same. He's a very, very tall, which
deepest voice is funny. But something that I just want
to mention here is and I could have approached the Types of
meditation around like grounding and centering and, and all of
those things, which are combinations of practices that
are quite popular with in the Witchcraft world, where
meditation has kind of gotten a Rebrand, but the purpose of
meditation can be to train your brain.
I've also especially like it within High magic.
The a lot of the banishing rituals is about quieting your
brain getting In out energy so that you can put new energy in
and being able to develop those psychic entities is kind of part
of the magic. So, we could go on and on about,
like, can you actually do meditation?
Can you actually do magic without meditation?
And I'm not certain that defining meditation as brain
training if you can write, I'm pretty sure.
You have to train your brain in order to change your And to
change the reality. So, yeah.
Anything else on the topic that is everything that I have to
regurgitate. That's it, that's it.
I think, I think we've kind of Thoroughly kind of turned it
over, at least the, the basic thoughts and Concepts.
And I hope that we've opened up enough avenues for people to
kind of explore this topic on their own.
And finally, really speaks to them, and what makes sense to
them. And I hope that we've kind of of
given our points of view. And I really concise way that
helps kind of maybe help people get over some of those barriers,
right? Especially if you think
meditation is just a one-way practice or there's only, you
know, a handful of ways to do it.
No, there are so so many out there.
So hopefully, we kind of opened some doors for people who maybe
have felt put out by the meditative Community, kind of
felt like they don't have a place or know where their place
would be in it. Hopefully we've opened some more
Avenues of thought for you guys. Love it.
All right, guys. Well, as always, which has
blessed be and be? Well, we'll talk to you soon.