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From: tyagi@houseofkaos.abyss.com (lorax)
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Subject: Magick, Wicca and Praxis
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Date: 20 Aug 1996 10:36:51 -0700
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[from personal email, notified individual that I would be posting, no objection]

kaliyuga
49960820


#How do I close a circle after it has been cast?

many reverse the order of practical actions and utilize chanting to that 
effect ('now I close the circle down.....').  study a few varieties (I
don't use circles personally).


#What is meant by cakes & wine?

in Wiccan tradition typically any form of bread, cake or cookie and
some juice or alcoholic beverage, both utilized as receptacles for
the charge of a symbolic 'Great Rite'.  they are also symbols of
the sexual juices if you want to do the Great Rite in a literal 
and carnal sense. ;>

also connected to the body and blood of the god and goddess (don't
complain to me about the popular heterosexual focus and the 
Judeochristian parallels! ;>).


#How do I see Aura's?

some say the best way to do this is to start in dim light and
watch for small color swatches around living objects.  some say
that it is all a figment of our imagination (translation of the 
subtle receptors) and so requires we project it, intentionally.


#How do I see into the spirit realm?

look for patterns rather than particulars, shifting natural forces
rather than material objects and cause-effect thinking.  animate
the world with suspended disbelief.


#How do I protect myself from negative energies?

either actively by gathering together positive counterforce (talismans,
power-objects, etc.) or by integrating yourself such that 'negative'
energies are not harmful to you (for more on this latter see _Moonchild_
and look for the character of Simon Iff).


#How do I prepare an area before I cast a circle or build an altar?

that depends entirely on your state of mind and tradition.  lots of
Wiccans clear it of debris, cense and aspurge, some even say that
(esp. in the construction of altarspace) ritual lovemaking generates
the appropriate energetic initiation.


#What do I focus on while casting  spells?

the particular tools and actions of the spell.  your bodily experience and 
the changes you are undergoing, including feelings, thoughts, etc., and
attention to the conceptual work at hand (if any).


#How do I invoke spirits?

come to know their names and energies.  gather together their symbols
and move to a place wherein their energies are strongest.  call to them
to come into you (in voke -- call in).  have some idea how you will
deal with them when they arrive and whether you wish to dispell them
or send them away using their names and threats of binding (many like 
to do this, I don't find it valuable).


#How do I talk to them?

think to them, write to them, talk to them in the manner they talk to
you, symbols, music, various arts like dance, poetry, song, etc.  treat
them like people.  some prefer to order spirits around.  I find it to
be disrespectful (my way is not dualistic, and I don't eshew the 'negative').


#What protects me from harm from them after invocation?

your will and the power of your tools.  if you don't feel strong enough
to resist major spirits don't invoke minor ones.  build your will until
you are confident that you can withstand any opposition or coercion
which they may level (a *defensive* conditioning).  will-building can 
be effected through meditation, small magical workings, or intentionally
engaging cultish human organizations and then severing from them in a
kind of 'gravitational-slip'.

nice questions!

tyagi@houseofkaos.abyss.com
lorax