Transformation

Today's card is Death, and no, it doesn't bother me.  It just goes to show that this is a tremendous time of transformation and I need to let go of whatever no longer should be allowed to live on.  For me, primarily, it means to accept the new identity of Magician. 

And, once again, it was the first card pulled from a complete deck.  For extra bonus, yesterday's card, Judgment, was at the bottom of the deck!  I love detailing these "coinicidences"!

Extra bonus points for Trish for doing Liber Resh at noon!

As I was about to pull into my parking spot coming home from work, a Merlin falcon flew in front of my car, and perched on the power wire right to the back of my parking space, I got a good look at the bird, but when I turned around to grab my phone to take a picture, it flew away. Never seen one on the beaches of SFL. Had to google falcon/hawk images to sort out what it was.  Based on the picture below, I'm fairly confident that it was a female Merlin, which is even better - a female magician!

The falcon is associated with Ra and Horus, as these are both depicted as having the head of a falcon which I think it's pretty cool considering I'm hailing Ra every morning. It is also the Egyptian symbol for the rising sun. I looked up the meaning online, and wasn't able to find much.  Most of the posts are about falcons.  I was able to find two references.  One stated that the Marlin signifies that it's time for magical maneuverings.  That fits well with what I'm doing.

The second one is supposed to reference Ted Andrew's work on Animal Spirit Guides and it stated that the keynote for the Merlin is quick and magical maneuvers and shape-shiftings.  I like that!!  It went on to say: 

Merlins, like the mythical character, are magical birds. The Merlin is a 'pigeon hawk.' Its ability to mimic pigeons to capture prey indicates what this bird's message is. Sometimes we must appear as something we're not in order to capture what we need or want, weaving a little shape-shifting magic, creating an illusion in order to accomplish our goals.

The Merlin in falconry was a preference of noble ladies. The Merlin is easily trainable and was then often returned back to the wild after a season of hunting. Because of this, the Merlin is a reminder to weave and use a little magic for the time being. It is an indication of new and often temporary doors of learning will open. We should take advantage of these opportunities, undertake some quick training and accomplish what we need at the moment because our learning will come quickly and will serve its purpose for the time. Now is the time to shape-shift our life and ourselves a little for the greatest benefits.

It's nice for Merlin to pay a visit!

Awakening to New Life

So today's Tarot card is Judgment and I am taking it as a good sign of taking up the desire for a new way of being through resuming magickal training.  And once again, it was the first card I drew when I shuffled a full deck.  I'm not sure how this continues to happen, the odds against it must be astronomical, because each time I do the Tarot Contemplation Ritual, a Major Arcana cards turns up on top.  I guess some things are magickal...

On another note, I was reading Modern Magick last night and in one of the sidebars, the author, Donald Craig, shares his thoughts on what constitutes a good spiritual teacher:

(Click for larger image)

Can I once again say how much I LOVE this author? I so completely agree with him.  Anyone who doesn't sing, doesn't dance and/or doesn't laugh (especially at themselves) is not fit to be a spiritual teacher!

Today I have completed the Liber Resh (except the noon one), the LBRP, meditation and Tarot contemplation.  Let's see what tomorrow brings!

Wondering

So here I was, starting this new course in Magick, everything was going great and then... all hell broke loose in my life.  Not sure what to make of it.  I believe that we create our own reality, and that it's quite possible that any time we try to make any major changes to it, our subconscious resists and creates roadblocks to maintain the status quo.  Not sure if that's what happened here, or... if what I was doing was beginning to bring about situations that would ultimately move me where I needed to be as a magician.

What I do know is that I just wasn't in any sort of mind-space to be able to continue with the daily rituals and I ceased them altogether sometime on Tuesday, Aug 26th, and hence the reason I haven't posted.

Meanwhile... I do feel I want to take this up again, despite the ruckus.  Because whether it's my subconscious or the result of the practice, or just coincidence that I might be misinterpreting, I do wish to continue, I do wish to see where it might take me. 

Tonight I will (finally!) read those pages on kabbalah, and tomorrow morning begin with Liber Resh, meditation, and the LBRP again.  Let's see what happens.