| The Stonetalker |
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Meditation is a spiritual practice that is tried and tested and found in most cultures under one name or another. There are many books that have been written about the topic, from meditational journeys on the Qabala or using meditations as alternative medicine. These topics cannot be covered in depth, and this page does not presume to do so. Rather, the object here is to introduce meditation to those who may not be adept at its practice, who need a helping hand in order to get started, or who would like to explore something different to the methods they are currently using. One thing to remember though is the practice of meditation is just that, a practice. It takes time and devotion to become familiar with the way that meditation can work for you. We are all unique, an the pathways we walk on the inner planes will be as intimate to us as a lover once we familiarize ourselves with them. The White Light Meditation The White Light Meditation is a very simple one that enables you to deeply relax in order to find your center. I am going to word this as if you were someone who has never meditated or done this kind of inner work previously, and if I have over simplified it for you please forgive me. I would rather that you had too many instructions than not enough. You may find it helpful to read this onto a cassette tape in order that you can listen to it while you are journeying inwardly, as opposed to constantly having to return back to the notes all the time. At least read the paragraph several times, so that you have firmly in your mind what you are doing when you commence. I start all my meditations with this simple, white light meditation. It is a significator to the psyche of the work that is to come, as well as a relaxational tool for the body. It may help to work with a crystal as you do this. The crystal does not have to be expensive or large or in anyway extraordinary, just a small stone with which you feel comfortable. I would recommend either a rose quartz, or a small clear quartz point or tumblestone. Unplug the phone and remove yourself as much as possible from any interruptions. Sit upright and straight in a comfortable chair, with your feet flat on the floor and your hands on your lap, palms upward and fingers and wrists uncrossed. This enables the energies to travel around and through the body without hinderance. Some relaxing music in the background may or may not help; this is a matter of taste but I like working with flute music or something equally as gentle. Subtle lighting also helps, rather than direct light. Personally I like working with firelight or candles, as the flame is a living light and seems to attract the attention of the spirit realm moreso than manmade light. Also I might point out at this point that if you fall asleep doing this the first time, that is fine. The purpose of this exercise is to relax and focus the body, and if you are not used to working in this manner you may find indeed it is so relieved at being allowed to relax that it does fall asleep. Just keep trying. Like anything, with practice you will succeed. Thus prepared, we will begin. Shut your eyes [keep them closed throughout the meditation] and take three deep breaths, in through your nose and out through your mouth. As you exhale, begin to feel your body relax. Turn your attention to your head, the very top of your scalp, and let any tension you may be holding drain away through your body and out of the soles of your feet. Check your eyebrows, eyes, and ears for tension, and let it simply drain away out of the soles of your feet. Now your cheeks, your jaw, your chin, until you have checked your entire head, and let any tension drain away through the soles of your feet. Move down to your throat and neck and shoulders, check for any tension that you may be holding and let it drain away through the soles of your feet. Travel down your arms and make sure you are not holding any tension in your biceps, elbows, wrists, hands, or fingers. Return back to your armpits and check your chest area, your ribs and your back, all the while letting any tension you may be holding drain away through the soles of your feet. Your upper body should now be completely relaxed and free of any tension or stress. Turn your attentions to your lower abdomen, your stomach, hips, buttocks, pubic region, and let any tension or stress that you may be holding there just drain away out of the soles of your feet. Move on down your thighs, knees, calves and shins, and let the tension drain away. Finally check your feet themselves, your ankles, arches, heels and toes, and let all the tensions of the day drain away. Do a check on the body, and remove any tension that may have crept back, and release it, so that your whole body is relaxed and free of tension. As you sit completely relaxed, you will see a speck of white light appearing below your feet. As you focus on it, it appears, bigger and brighter, till it is touching the soles of your feet. Keep it there, keep it controlled, and just let it touch the soles of your feet with its brilliant and comforting warmth. Let it raise over the tops of your feet and hold it at ankle level, and let your feet bathe in the beautiful and pure white light. Now slowly let it swirl up around your shins and calves to your knees, and hold it there at knee level for a few moments. Gently let it engulf your thighs, and slowly rise around your buttocks and hips, till from the waist down you are surrounded in pure gentle white light. Let it rise up to your armpits, around your bosom and your ribs, and let it swirl and dance around your body. Slowly let it rise again, to swirl down each arm, covering your wrists and fingertips. Bring it up around your neck. Gently let it rise over your chin, and the nape of your neck, your mouth and nose, ears and eyes, forehead, and finally the crown of your head, so you are completely immersed in white light. Now bathe in the beautiful pure white light. Feel its energies swirling around you. Breathe in the white light. Breathe out the white light. Become the white light. You may stay here, deeply relaxed and totally safe in the pure white light until you are ready to return to the physical waking world. When you are ready, take three deep breaths again, in through your nose and out through your mouth. On the first breath you will be aware of the chair under you. On the second breath you will be aware of the room around you. And on the third breath open your eyes. Now that you are back into a waking awareness, ground yourself by getting something light to eat and drink [non-alcoholic, please]. It helps to write down your experiences in a diary or journal, so that you can look back on them in times to come and see what progress you are making. Heart Cleansing Meditation Seat yourself comfortably, in a straight backed chair, feet flat on the floor, right hand resting upwards upon your knee, left hand holding your chosen crystal over your heart [if you are left handed, place the crystal in your right hand]. Do the white light meditation in order to relax yourself from any tension and to wrap yourself in the pure white light of the Universe. Once you are in this state, become aware of your own heartbeat. Still breathing in through your nose and out through your mouth, focus on the beating of your heart. Hear its rhythm. Feel it synchronize with the heartbeat of the Mother Earth, who gave birth to the crystal with which you are now working. Feel that heartbeat as the center of your being, as if everything that you are is focused in that beat. Soon you will feel your heartbeat extending to the crystal you are holding, and you will find that it is pulsing in resonance with your heartbeat. As you become more focused on the crystal, visualize the crystal becoming larger and your body becoming smaller. Eventually the crystal will become so large that you can step inside it. Take a moment to feel the balance and perfection of being inside of it. Look around. Experience being in your crystal as if you were in a crystal room, with the sides of the crystal being the walls of the room. When you feel comfortable, start to explore the walls of the room, the facets of the crystal. You will notice that on one of the walls there is a window. Notice what kind of window it is; large or small, round or square, but in all instances it is a window that can be opened, and you open it. The whole Universe is outside that window, a realm of space and stars and possibilities. The Universe is the source of everything in our Being; every thought we have ever had has passed through the Universe, the unbalanced thoughts and beliefs as well as the balanced ones, the ones we made manifest as well as the ones we forgot we even had. Our unbalanced thoughts and feelings are ones that have taught us; they are the ones that have thrown us into learning, and growth. When we begin to bring ourselves back into harmony with the Universe, then we realize that we no longer need these thoughts. They have served their purpose. To hang onto anything beyond its use is to create clutter, to take space and block energies. So, now having had a look around inside your heart crystal, looking for anything that looks out of balance, anything that is not in harmony, anything which you have outgrown. You may see it as rubbish or litter, trash or some sort of dirt. You will find at hand whatever tools are needed for you to clean, so start cleaning!! As you clean up whatever needs cleaning, just shovel it out of the window, give it back to the Universe. You are not littering when you put these things out of your window; you are returning energy to the Universe, so the Universe can recycle it, and make it anew. Stay and clean for as long as you desire, but when you have finished cleaning, close your window and put your tools back in their proper place. When you are ready, take three deep breaths again, in through your nose and out through your mouth. On the first breath you will be aware of the chair under you. On the second breath you will be aware of the room around you. And on the third breath open your eyes. A Walk Through the Tarot Mention the word Tarot to anyone and a variety of responses will follow from recognition to positive excitement to absolute abhorrence depending on the spiritual path being followed. Whether the response is positive or negative though, the cards of the Tarot will evoke some kind of emotion within everyone. Rather than being cards, the 78 images are pages or indeed chapters in a book, each one with their own tale to tell. Meditations on the Tarot are a way of reaching past our daily lives and touching on our inner beings, our intuition. I like to view the Tarot as having five suits; Cups, Coins, Swords, Wands, and Spirit or Trump cards. It is on the Trump cards we will be concentrating for the purpose of the Tarot Meditations. To me, they are a journey, the first eleven cards traveling in an outward path, coming full circle and then starting again in an inward path, coming full circle again to make a figure 8, or the sign of infinity. The journey starts with the Fool, a baby in the world, innocent and not yet aware of our separateness. There is no number on the Fool card. Out of nothingness merges an embryonic identity, I feeling of ‘I am’. This leads to the awareness of the Magician, the realization that we can manipulate all that surrounds us. The Magician’s card is numbered 1, and he wields the tools of all he needs in order to both his limits and his purpose. When this stage of awareness is reached, we also become aware of other forces looming over us, The High Priestess [number 2], The Empress [number 3], The Emperor [number 4], The High Priest [number 5], and The Pope [number 6]. These bring to us the powerful energies of male and female sexual energy, and the awareness that things can be of spiritual and material natures. Card number 6 The Lovers carries with it a fledgling feeling of stretching the wings from the home and taking responsibility for our own choices. The Chariot [card number 7] picks up this momentum of the decisions in a vehicle of their own making. We have created an identity but where are we going? Isn’t there something more we should know? Justice [card number 8] invites us to examine things, and we begin to feel that maybe so far our growth has been a bit self-centered. We put ourselves into a position of finding our own fulfillment by examining the feelings that Justice revealed to us with The Hermit [card number 9]. Just as we set out to be a part of the physical world in finding our physical identity, we now set forth to do the same in the spiritual world. The Wheel of Fortune [card number 10] turns again, and a new voyage commences. The destination is unknown, but it is certain to take us to card number 11, Strength. Now it is possible to see ourselves clearly, and discern what we face. We understand that it is only by facing our fears can we conquer them. Thus, we place ourselves as The Hanged Man [card number 12] in a place of self sacrifice, willing to make whatever changes it takes in order to further our growth, and enter a place of Transformation [card number 13]. Here we experience our first glimpse of how our old self is fading, and there is no grief from its passing. We are on the path, we understand we are grasping the lessons, and we come to Temperance [card number 14]. Previous imbalances are beginning to be understood, and balanced once again. The challenges are not finished yet, though, for The Devil [card number 15] now enters unexpectedly to try to thwart our efforts. We enter the storm around The Tower [card number 16] and see that we must unlearn much that which we once knew, because we are learning now of the powers within us. The Tower removes the obstacles onto which we are clinging, and assures us that we are no longer wandering without direction. It leads us to The Star [card number 17], a gentle guiding light towards our destination. There is one final challenge to undertake, one final adventure to experience, and we find that in card number 18 The Moon. Attractive and deceptive, The Moon teaches us teaches us that deceptive forces must be tested and understood as part of the lesson of faith. But as sure as day follows night, The Sun [card number 19] surely follows The Moon. In the light of The Sun we see our achievements and our victories, but the still the journey continues. We must let go of all of our separateness in order to fully experience ‘oneness’, and thus The Judgment [card number 20] comes our way. We learn to appreciate all things, and can see the perfection of wholeness, oneness with The World [card number 21]. As The Wheel of Fortune turned for us previously, now The World also turns, back to the innocence of The Fool. One simple step, and the journey repeats itself in another dimension. One man’s ceiling is truly another mans floor, one man’s Kether is another man’s Malkuth…
Entering the Circle of the Dragons The hint of twilight hangs in the sky, and the air smells mossy and earthy. The ground is cool and spongy, and the grassy knoll behind which the sun is setting appears inviting. The sky is a myriad of sunset colors; wispy golden clouds draped across a background of turquoise and azure. The door in the knoll beckons you; examine it very clearly in your mind’s eye. Take your time to look at every detail, see the grain of the wood, the old knotholes, the signature of the weather through the ages. Look at the hinges, see the patterns of scaly skin molded into the ironwork, and finally see the lock with its black iron key. Let your mind’s eye take you out of your chair and over to the door, and turn the key. Listen to the sound of the door as it opens to reveal its secrets. Close the door behind you, lock it, and place the key on your person, either in your pocket or around your neck. Turn to examine the door, see it set in the wall of the knoll through which you entered. As you turn your gaze forward once more and your eyes adjust to the darkness in front of you, notice how you are dressed. See the faint path worn into the mossy earth at your feet. This is the path you must travel. As you lift your gaze forward once more and your eyes adjust to the dusky light, you notice a pillar in the distance in front of you. You follow the path towards it, another appears out of the mist, then another, then another. These pillars stand before you in a grand circle of ancient columns. Examine their texture, their color. See their majesty. In the midst of the columns is a small pool, reflecting the golden light of the sunset. You can hear the water burbling. You can hear large wings flapping in the far distance, and the sound of other creatures preparing either for nighttime activity or the slumber of dusk. The smell of the earth is old, musty, sweet. For those new to the practice of pathworking we will stop here and return to our chairs, having carefully locked the door behind us and left the key in the lock until next time. I recommend that this part of the exercise be done on several occasions prior to going further into the meditation. Ensure that you are fully back in the present, in your own room and in your own time. Make a conscious effort to notice the chair upon which you are sitting, and feel the floor underneath your feet. Walk around your room for a few minutes, and get something light to eat and drink [nothing alcoholic please].
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