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Post Samhain 2013: Mapping the Underworld

OK, the title alone is misleading because technically Samhain doesn’t hit until the Sun is 15 degrees in Scorpio, which is Thursday, November 7^th, 2013. But for all intents & purposes, we’re already in it. It is also misleading because Samhain is a whole season, not just a day. Sure, we mark the beginning, but it doesn’t truly end its month and a half cycle till Yule / Winter Solstice or its 3 month run at Imbolc, February 2^nd.

But since we are already knee deep in the energy of the season I have some things I want to share. Yes, I have been in & out of the Underworld a handful of times since Mabon / Autumnal Equinox. Hell, I’ve been in & out of the Underworld more times than I care to count in this life. We all have. So I want to share my Underworld Survival Guide in this post because, like any good tour guide, I have lived in, survived & served in the terrain.

Mapping the Underworld is only a so-so deal because it is so unique to each of us. The scenery changes so quickly when you are in it that it’s tricky to relate the landscape to one whom hasn’t consciously been there. But there are some features that are universal.

Spiritual Madness by Caroline Myss

Madness for example, is a common point of interest for the night tripper or for those who linger longer. I’m going to draw a fine line between Spiritual Madness & common insanity here, though insanity seems uncommon, it’s not really. We all have our moments, don’t we? 

But Spiritual Madness is one I see occasionally in myself & more often in the energies of those new to the spiritual path. Spiritual or Divine Madness is typified by a change in perception that destroys previously conceived ideas we thought were truth, but never were.

Imagine someone who has always felt victimized having a lightning bolt of “I create my own reality” whack them in the 3^rd Eye. That changes everything. Or consider someone all of a sudden feeling the life force of a tree & experiencing the pain of watching one cut down. If they try to explain what they are experiencing to someone who isn’t so aware, they appear mad. 

So it goes with Spiritual Truth. It destroys our illusions & we often go through period where we feel crazy, but really, it is spiritual madness as your system integrates higher & higher truths.

Another big hallmark of the Underworld is facing the Shadow. Whether you address the subject spiritually, psychologically or both, it has never been an easy task to face & embrace our individual, let along collective shadows. But if we don’t, we get possessed by them. They rule us like a virus in a computer. You can tell this after the fact when you say, “I don’t know what came over me.” Which really means something buried in the unconscious came up via the subconscious & up into the conscious mind. Not pretty at all, but necessary for healing.

 

I refer you to the work of Caroline Myss, especially her book Defy Gravity. In this, she defines 7 Shadow Passions that are actually updated forms of the 7 deadly sins. Thankfully she also relates the 7 corresponding Graces, which act as powers of healing for each shadow. Here is the list & yes, they correspond to the Chakras as well:

Chakra	Shadow	Grace	Sabbat
Root	Hubris/Pride	Reverence	Yule
Sacrum	Greed	Piety	Imbolc
Solar Plexus	Entitlement	Understanding	Ostara
Heart	Wrath	Fortitude	Beltane
Throat	Gluttony	Counsel	Litha
3rd Eye	Envy	Knowledge	Lughnasadh
Crown	Sloth	Wisdom	Mabon.

By tracking our shadow via the Chakras we can embrace ourselves a bit more compassionately & invoke the healing Graces. But you know, I also layer into this the 8 Sabbats of the Wheel of the Year; 1 Chakra/Shadow/Grace per Sabbat.  But, what about Samhain?

 The Wheel of the Year

At Samhain we get the opportunity to review it all & do the interior healing & maintenance needed to start fresh at Yule. This makes a lot of sense, as we die to the old we are reborn to the new, especially as the old self dies & the new self is reborn. Traversing the Underworld is tricky, but necessary for the Witch who wants to deliberately create their lives as works of art.

There are many road signs, mysteries & landmarks in the Underworld. As I said, mapping it is very personal & I could spend days illuminating the many I have found. But all of that aside I only know 1 way of healing it as you go & being elevated back into the Upper-world, as it were. That task / alchemical element is Forgiveness.

In my experience the whole process of letting go of the past isn't possible without forgiveness & the version we have been sold is faulty. Nor do I find much of a context for forgiveness in Witchcraft. No, you find more black candles & rusty nail spells than the spiritual practice of forgiveness.

That said, we can expand as magickal people into the depths of True Forgiveness, based on the quantum model of all thing being part of a unified field. This is why I turn to A course in Miracles, which presents the truth that not only are we all connected, we are all ONE in truth. In this, no matter who we appear to forgive, "All Forgiveness is Self Forgiveness."

So as I prepare myself for Yule via Samhain I will certainly withdraw my focus from this world a bit. Better that than to keep repeatedly being trap-doored into the Underworld. But should I find myself Underworld-ed, I will utilize the wisdom I have gained from previous forays there. Above all else though, I will use my alchemical power of Forgiveness to transform my interior lead to Golden Wisdom, gain the insight necessary & be reborn at Yule with my new intention for a new Wheel of the Year.

And... I will play with our new kitty.

Blessed Be & Blessed Samhain

Rev. Mark A. Lyons, President
Drawing the Circle Productions INC.
DrawingtheCircle@aol.com
631-968-8307 @ProfWitch on Twitter

 www.drawingthecircle.com

Lughnasadh 2013: Harvesting the Light

Lughnasadh 2013: Harvesting the Light

Each of us has the opportunity to see in 1 of 2 essential directions. We can see truth or we can see illusion. The choice is ours, but not so easily done. We can look at our lives & worlds through the lens of the shadow or through the lens of the light. This is an archetypal truth as all things have their shadow & light in a dualistic world.

Lugh, the Celtic God of light who’s Holy Day & following season Lughnasadh, is all about the mental choice to harvest the light/truth & gather in all of the Love, Power & Wisdom such a harvest automatically brings. Thus Lughnasadh marks the beginning of Harvest Season.

As I was laying in bed last night after watching some inspirational stuff on TV I heard this prayer to Lugh.

Brilliant Lugh, Burning Bright

Bless me; touch me with your might.

Fill my eyes with Godly light

So I may see with blessed sight.

As sweetly poetic & reminiscent to the Green Lantern oath as it is, it keyed me into a connection to Lugh, the 3 month harvest season that Lughnasadh initiates & the 3^rd Eye.

Lughnasadh is the 6^th Sabbat in the Witch’s Wheel of the Year. Each sabbat has a chakra correspondent, starting with Yule/Winter Solstice which links to the Root Chakra & on upwards. Lughnasadh being the 6^th, it correlates to the 3^rd Eye, the chakra that, let’s face it, has the best press agent.

The 3^rd Eye manages Mental Power & we are aware of how wonderful & dangerous that power can be. Many of our deeply held beliefs are based on false premises. The illusion of separation, when gradually undone dismantles racism, misogyny/sexism & even co-dependence among other shadow beliefs that control how we see the world.

So, we have the opportunity to weed the garden of our minds of these false beliefs/weeds, which sap our true sight. Yes, again, the pagan Agriculture Archetype. This leads me to a little discussion I like to have with my students about 1^st sight.

“First Sight means you can see what really is there, and Second Thoughts mean thinking about what you are thinking. And in Tiffany's case, there were sometimes Third Thoughts and Fourth Thoughts although these...sometimes led her to walk into doors.”

― Terry Pratchett, I Shall Wear Midnight

OR:

“First Sight is when you can see what’s really there, not what your head tells you ought to be there… Second sight is dull sight, it’s seeing only what you expect to see.

–Terry Pratchett, The Wee Free Men.

 

That said, Lughnasadh can highlight the very mental attitudes we carry that prevents us from experiencing & manifesting what we want in life. In our coven we see Lughnasadh as the sabbat of ‘sacrifice,’ though it’s not about slitting throats or virgins... usually. The idea is, if you haven’t yet manifested what you started casting for at Yule/Winter Solstice, then you need to make room in your mind & your life for what is trying to get in, but can’t get in due to the old or illusory that blocks it. In other words, start some late Summer Cleaning (in lieu/Lugh of spring cleaning) or better yet, weeding the garden of your mind/life.

The spell I received last night & printed above can be a good jumping off point. But keep in  mind, no sabbat is just one day. They mark first a 1 & ½ month period from sabbat to sabbat, but also mark a whole 3 month season. Lughnasadh marks the beginning of the Harvest Season that will conclude at Samhain. 

So have at it my magickally minded friends, but be gentle with yourself. No sense trying to dismantle belief systems based on false premises in one go. That leads to all sorts of psychological & spiritual crises & complications. Rather, have fun with this. Question everything & put your focus on that which really rings with a high vibrational truth. In this you ‘sacralize’/make sacred the light & truth in your life while sacrificing what was never truth, felt good or served.

Blessed Be & Blessed Lughnasadh

Rev. Mark A. Lyons, President
Drawing the Circle Productions, INC
Drawingthecircle@aol.com
www.drawingthecircle.com
631-968-8307