Fertility and Sex Magick

WARNING: this post contains descriptions of sex and sex magick. It also contains pictures. If you are not legally old enough in your country or find such things offensive, please check out my other posts. By continuing to read you acknowledge that you are old enough to legally view this post.



For today's post I am writing about a ritual that Heather and I did last full moon.

Every year we plant a garden in our yard. It's not very large, maybe 500 square feet. In it we plant a variety of vegetables and kitchen herbs. This year we decided to use sex magick in our seed blessing ritual. I was exited about this because I had never used sex magick before.

We began by setting up the altar. The main thing was putting all the seeds we had just purchased on the altar. We chose a time when the baby was napping so that she wouldn't interrupt the ritual.

We called the corners and the god and goddess. We work with Brigid and Cernunnos. We stated our intent for the spell, then we invited the god and goddess into our bodies. In some traditions this is called Calling Down the Sun and Moon. It's not a full possession, but I could feel the difference when Cernunnos entered me.

We had very intense sex. We channeled the energy from the sex into the blessing for the seeds. When we had finished, we thanked Brigid and Cernunnos and dismissed the corners.

The ritual and blessing were done on Thursday, March 8. We planted the seeds on Sunday, March 11. By Tuesday the 13th, we already had sprouts. A week later on the 19th our plants looked like this:

Ethics

According to Merriam-Webster.com:

"Definition of ETHIC

1 plural but sing or plural in constr : the discipline dealing with what is good and bad and with moral duty and obligation
2 a : a set of moral principles : a theory or system of moral values —often used in plural but singular or plural in construction b plural but sing or plural in constr : the principles of conduct governing an individual or a group
c : a guiding philosophy
d : a consciousness of moral importance
3 plural : a set of moral issues or aspects (as rightness) "

I once attended a meeting about ethics in shamanism. There were a variety of levels of experience represented, including students who had recently found shamanism. It was the position of the shaman holding the meeting that, among other things, ethics prevented shamans from interfering with the lives of others without their permission, even when we believe it would be in their best interests. For example, if a hurricane were headed for Haiti, it would be unethical to attempt to divert it without the request of the people of Haiti.

One of the students disagreed with the shaman. The student asked if she saw person A abusing person B, shouldn't she try to stop it? The shaman replied that she should only get involved if person B asked for help.

What are your magickal ethics? When is the use of magick, healing, curses, etc appropriate? Do you need the permission of the people involved? Is using magick to get a job, win the lottery, or find a lover cheating? If you are in a coven, does your coven have a code of ethics?

I'm interested in what you think. Leave a comment telling me about your or your coven's code of ethics. My ethical rule: don't bash other comments. If you do, your comment will be removed.

Energy Work and Shamanic Extraction

From the shamanic perspective, there are three main causes of illness: power loss, soul loss, and energy intrusions. Intrusions are harmful or misplaced energies that become stuck in already weakened energy fields.
People, places, spirits, even plants and animals, all give off psychic energies. Healthy energy fields keep out these random intrusions. There are many reasons why energy fields become weakened. Power loss, soul loss, and stress are some of the most common causes.
Sometimes intrusions are not random energies. Intrusions can be caused by hateful or jealous words or actions. "If looks could kill" is not a meaningless saying. They can also be caused by negative self image or magical attack.
The process of removing energy intrusions is called extraction. First the shaman enters a trance state. Then he or she locates the intrusion. This is a very intuitive process.
Once the intrusion is located, the shaman works with his or her guides to remove it. Two of the most common ways to remove the intrusion are pulling or sucking. The physical movements mimic the actions of the shaman on the spiritual level. Once removed, the intrusion is placed into another object, such as a stone, insect, crystal, or piece of bone. This is very important. The healer should NEVER take the energy into themselves. The energy is instead put into the object. The object is then destroyed, buried, or cleansed.
The next step is to prevent a new intrusion. Nature abhors a vacuum. With the intrusion gone, a space is left in the energy field. Once the intrusion is removed, the shaman fills the space with healing energy. Lastly, the shaman cleanses him or herself and ends the ceremony.
The ceremony may have to be repeated more than once to remove all of the intrusions.

It's Here

It's here.
Can you feel it?
I felt it today.
Birch feels it too.
Spring is coming.

Dreams

Every culture recognizes the importance of dreams. It is through dreams that the gods, spirits, ancestors, and the subconscious speak to us. It comes as no surprise that there are many books and techniques for dream work. Below are some techniques that I have tried.

Dream interpretation can be a very tricky thing. The message of the dream, if there is one, is meant for the dreamer and is best interpreted by the dreamer. The symbols in the dreams are tailored to them and attempted interpretation by others can be difficult. The presence of a squirrel in my dream can have a totally different meaning than if the same squirrel appears in your dream. This is why I don't use books on dream interpretation. The interpretations in books are based on cultural generalizations and may not reflect my personal symbology. I usually meditate or journey on my dreams to get a more intuitive read on them.

A dream journal is an excellent tool for those interested in dream work. To keep a dream journal you need to place it next to the bed so you can write down your dreams as soon as you wake before the dream slips away. I used to keep a separate journal for dreams, but now I record significant dreams in my shamanic journal. keeping a dream journal will allow you to look back at dreams later and sometimes that hindsight will give you a clearer understanding of the dream.

Lucid dreaming is the technique of taking control of the dream from the inside. Lucid dreamers are then able to reshape the dream as they see fit as in the Matrix "there is no spoon", or Dark City's "tuning".  I haven't set out to try lucid dreaming, but I have recently been able to spontaneously achieve this state. I think it may be related to my shamanic studies. Dreams and shamanic journeys are very similar and my familiarity with the state needed for journey work allows me to recognize this state in dreams and take control.

Recurring dreams usually carry an important message. I had a series of dreams that started before I began studying shamanism. The settings of the dreams were always different. What was the same was that in all the dreams I was held immobile by an outside force. My attacker appeared in various forms. in some dreams it was a ghost. In others, it was invisible. The last time I dreamed of it, it manifested as a swirling shadow. In the dreams I knew that if  I could command it to let me go, it would have to obey. However, I could not speak. So the dreams became a contest of wills between me and it.

When I began studying shamanism, I learned about the shadow. There are many different names for it, and there is a great blog post about it on Standing At The Centre. Basically, it is the parts of you that are denied and repressed. But repressing things doesn't make them go away. Instead, because you are ignoring them, they get to run amok, influencing you in ways you don't realize. I believe the dreams I had were an initiatory experience of sorts. They alerted me to the presence of my shadow, and showed me that if I did not control it, it would control me.

After I began working with my shadow, the dreams stopped. I still journey to check in with my shadow from time to time, especially if I do or feel something and I don't quite understand where it is coming from. I have made the process an important part of knowing myself.

This is by no means a complete list of dream techniques. These are only the ones that I personally have experience with. There are stones, charms, herbs, and spells for working with dreams. Working with dreams can be a big undertaking, but it can really pay off. If you want to learn more about dreams, dream interpretation, and dream magick, there are many books on the subject. I really like Christopher Penczak's book "The Temple of Shamanic Witchcraft". Among other things, it has a chapter on dreams.