Magical talismans can be very useful in your Magical practice.  Our human brains often need symbols and objects to contain the ineffable quality of the universe- it helps us focus our will and energy.  It is thought that certain herbs, stones, metals, etc. correspond with planets, stars, and purposes.  When we pair or group these objects into a single object it can unite with our own will to create a magical talisman.  In "The Philosophy of Natural Magic", the author details the process of creating a magical ring:

Now, the manner of making these kinds of Magical Rings is this, viz.; When any Star ascends fortunately, with the fortunate aspect or conjunction of the Moon, we must take a stone and herb that is under that Star, and make a ring of the metal that is suitable to this Star, and in it fasten the stone, putting the herb or root under it—not omitting the inscriptions of images, names and characters, as also the proper suffumigations

 One of the dangers of buying or creating a magical ring is choosing the correspondences.  There is no definitive tomb with all magical correspondences.  You may see in some texts that silver corresponds to the moon and feminine energy.  In other texts you may read the silver actually corresponds to Saturn and aids in clear thinking and masculine energy.  Which is correct?  Unfortunately and fortunately, there is no correct answer.  Unfortunately because, as Pagans, we are woefully short in authoritative texts.  Fortunately because we then have some freedom to make our own decisions in these matters.

In the footnotes of the same text on Magical rings it warns the reader against trusting charlatans who would sell magical talismans claiming they will cure an ailment or accomplishing some task.  The true virtue in these Magical rings is that which the wearer imparts to the object:

Consult yourself, therefore, regarding a personal occult ring, selecting the metal, stone and design that you are most pleased with. Then you have made a proper start, and, in a great many cases, need go no further; thus every plain gold marriage ring becomes a magical ring... Every ring, being a circle, contains occult force and symbolizes the eternal.

 Think of those objects, stones and metals that may hold special significance for you.  Perhaps you and your partner's birth stones combined on ring to signifying the child as a union of the two of you.  Think of your future child and write down, quickly, those colors, stones and metals that come to mind.  Often the best talismans come from your instincts. Wear this ring and feed it positive energy daily, thus creating your own Magical ring.

photo credit: Caucas' via photopin cc
The Philosophy of Natural Magic, by Henry Cornelius Agrippa, L. W. de Laurence ed. [1913]

I took a bit of a break to celebrate the holidays.  It was my son's first holiday season so I wanted to be completely present and in the moment.  Although much of festivities was over his head, we all had a wonderful time.  I hope all of you had a joyful holiday as well.

Today we'll talk about Vietnamese fertility rituals.  Every culture has fertility rituals that aim to help a woman conceive a child.  A ritual will help to focus your energy and attention to the act of conception and prepare your mind and spirit for pregnancy.

As with most rituals, the Vietnamese fertility ritual begins with prayers to the Gods.  One common Goddess associated with fertility and childbirth is Lieu Hanh, one of the Four Immortals and the main figure in the mother Goddess cult called Dao Mau.

In the town of Huong Tich of Ha-dong province, now in North Vietnam, there is a grotto which has a number of vaguely human-shaped rocks called "Young Girls' and Young Boys' Rocks". After paying proper devotions, the supplicant woman chooses one of these "children of Buddha" and caresses it with exhortations to follow her home. She then goes home convinced that "Buddha's Child" is accompanying her, and in attempts to please it, she buys both sweets and toys, and will even pay double bus fare so that "it" can ride beside her.

From that day forward, a place for "it" is made at the family table, with a cradle being prepared at night until the day when the "invisible visitor" finally decides to become a member of the family. Such a child is referred to as a "prayed-for child" because he is an answer to fervent prayer and the parents tend to spoil it.

 The "Buddha's Child" could be associated with the idea that our children's spirits are waiting to be born.  Our job, as mothers, is to usher this spirit child into the physical realm.  The Vietnamese prepare their homes and their hearts for the impending arrival of their child into physical reality.

Many of us Westerners do something similar in setting up the nursery, but the Vietnamese take it one step further by assuming that the child's spirit is visiting the family until it decides to be born.

How do you feel about this ritual?  Do you believe your child's spirit accompanies you until it is born into the physical plane?  

The Religions of South Vietnam in Faith and Fact, US Navy, Bureau of Naval Personnel, Chaplains Division [1967]
photo credit: linh.ngan via photopin cc

I'm pleased to be able to offer a Pagan-themed January 2013 BBT Chart.  When I was trying to conceive I used the Basal Body Temperature chart to track my peak fertility.  I really wanted a Pagan-themed chart that allowed me to track the correspondences, lunar phases and zodiac.  The chart is made to be printed and filled out daily. 

This is the proto-type that I will be offering for sale at a fair price in the near future.  I hope you'll try it out and give me feedback to make it even better!

Thank you and happy holidays!

Download here

Tomorrow is the Winter Solstice (in the northern hemisphere) and either the first day of winter or midwinter depending on your location.  This holiday is all about light both literally and literally.  We celebrate the return of the sun after the longest night of the year and thank the Gods for the lengthening days and shortening nights.

As Pagans, we may choose to celebrate both the Winter Solstice and Christmas.  Personally, I observe the Winter Solstice religiously and Christmas as a generic family holiday.  As I'm sure we all know, Christmas itself is just the Christian solar festival and Jesus is the "coming of light".  Different trappings, but the same holiday in essence.

William Tyler Olcott in his book "Sun Lore of all Ages" discusses the origins of the word "Yule" and where we get our English word "wheel":

In many countries this festival season was known as "Yole," or "Yuul," from the word Hiaul, or Huul, which even to this day signifies "the sun" in some languages. From this we get our word "wheel," and the wheel is one of the ancient symbols of the sun, the spokes representing the sun's rays. 

 For thousands of years humanity has been celebrating this holiday.  There is, perhaps, no other holiday that is so shared by so many cultures and civilizations through time and space.  

Procopius describes how the men of Thule climbed the mountain tops at the winter solstice, to catch sight of the nearing sun after their thirty-five days of night. Then they celebrated their holiest feasts.

Plutarch, referring to the solar festivals of Egypt, says, that "about the winter solstice they lead the sacred cow seven times in procession around the temple, calling this the searching after Osiris, that season of the year standing most in need of the sun's warmth."

In China, the Great Temple of the Sun at Peking is oriented to the winter solstice, and the most important of all the State observances of China takes place there December 21st, the sacrifice of the winter solstice.

...the day was adopted in the western church where it appears to have been generally introduced by the fourth century, and whence in time it passed to the eastern church as the solemn anniversary of the Birth of Christ, Christmas Day. As a matter of history no valid or even consistent early Christian tradition vouches for it."  Many of the early dignitaries of the Church reveal in their writings the solar character of this festival. Augustus and Gregory discoursed on "the glowing light and dwindling darkness that follow the nativity," and Leo the Great denounced in a sermon the idea that Christmas Day is to be honoured, not for the birth of Christ, but for the rising of the new sun.

 One of my favorite ways to celebrate this time of year is with a beautifully decorated tree.  You may choose to call it a Christmas tree, holiday tree or Yule tree; it matters not.  

The lighting of the Christmas tree is but the light to guide the Sun-God back to life, and the festival cakes of corn and fruit, made in honour of the Sun in ancient times, and laid on the sacred altars of the Persians as an offering of gratitude to the Lord of Light and Life, find their prototype in the plum pudding that graces the board at our Christmas feasts of rejoicing. 

 If you have experienced a period of darkness in your life this is the time to welcome the light back in.  Perhaps you've been experience infertility or postpartum depression and have lost your joy.  Take time on this special day to rid yourself of this darkness.  Try this simple ritual:

Sit at your altar.  Light an offering of incense and allow the smoke to swirl around you.  Close your eyes and open your heart and mind to the voices of your Gods.  Take a small slip of paper and write down all of the darkness in your life.  As you write, imagine the ink pulling the morose out of your body and onto the paper.  When you're done, light a candle on your altar and hold the paper to the flame.  Stare into the flame and envision the rising of the glorious sun after a long, dark winter.  Feel the flame and sun burning the darkness out of your life and body.  Welcome the Sun God into your life and ask his blessing of fire and warmth.  When your paper is ash offer your gratitude to the Gods for the blessings in your life and open your heart to any messages they may have for you.  It would also be appropriate to draw a tarot card.

Happy Yule!

Sun Lore of All Ages, by William Tyler Olcott, [1914]
photo credit: Christolakis via photopin cc

Ayopechcatl (ah yoh PETCH kat uhl) is an Aztec goddess of childbirth and newborn babies.  She is mentioned in Daniel Brinton's "Rig Veda Americanus":

Cane Cana ichan, ayopechcatl cozcapantica mixiuhtoc.

Cane Cana ichan ayopechcatl cozcapantica mixiuhtoc, cane ichan chacayoticaya.

Xiualmeuayauia, xiua xiualmeuayaauiaya yancuipilla, xiualmeuaya.

Auiya xiualmeuaya, ueya, xiua, xiualmeuaya, cozcapilla xiualmeuaya.

 Themed altars are a great way to focus your energy on a goal or task.  You may choose to create a whole new and separate altar or just add a few items to your permanent altar.  There are so many crafting methods that even the most artistically challenge are sure to find something they can do!

• Felting:  Involves shaping wool into a dense, semi-harden fabric.  There are several different felting techniques.
• Needle felted rabbit tutorial
• Needle felted egg tutorial

• Knitting: Involves two or more needles and yarn to create a fabric.  Some practice and skill is required, but it's addicting once you begin!
• Knitted womb pattern
• Knitted vulva pattern

• Crocheting: Involves a hook and yarn to create a fabric.  Easier to learn than knitting and much faster to work up.
• Crocheted penis pattern
• Crocheted fish pattern (Chinese fertility symbol)

Felted Reproduction

• Drawing/Painting/Sketching.  If you prefer 2D you can add pictures to your altar
• How to draw an elephant (Indian fertility symbol)
• How to draw a lotus flower (Hindu fertility symbol)

• Objects.  If you don't want to try your hand at a craft you can also go out and gather a few objects symbolizing fertility:

• Mistletoe
• Hazelnuts
• Pomegranate

If you successfully conceive, play your fertility object in a silk or satin bag and keep it on your altar during your pregnancy.  Every morning when you do your devotional you may choose to focus and direct some energy towards the bag as a symbol of your growing womb.

Happy Crafting!



photo credit: cheekycrows3 via photopin cc
photo credit: Linda (Pane, amore e creatività) via photopin cc
photo credit: TM - the crocheteer! via photopin cc

Previously I spoke about Yoga for fertility and the benefits of using Yoga exercises to regulate your menstrual cycle.  Today I found some older text about Yoga for pregnancy and childbirth.  Specifically, the author
suggests the "Fish Pose" as a way to deeply massage and strengthen the internal muscles necessary for a successful vaginal birth:

12. HOW TO ACHIEVE PAINLESS CHILDBIRTH THROUGH YOGA

To achieve painless, or "normal," childbirth, Yoga offers exercises and postures which will foster healthful development of secreting organs, especially those located within the waist and pelvic zones, and of the muscular and nervous systems.
The Western fashion world demands that women have thin waists. Actually, a woman requires a larger waist because her liver, stomach, spleen, kidneys, pancreas and colon are in the waist zone, and are proportionately larger than these organs in the male. This is part of nature's provision for motherhood. The fashionable small waist necessarily is accompanied by displaced stomach and bowels and perhaps by a dislocated liver and a "floating" kidney.
The health of the woman's internal organs is largely dependent on proper nutrition and drainage which eliminates all physiological impurities from the body. Women's pelvic organs are often congested. In the case of abdominal displacement, the pressure of the displaced organs inhibits normal, free flow of blood which, in turn, affects the health of the abdominal viscera and the sex organs. Woman is more prone to this combination of unhealthy complications, as her sex organs are within the same cavity as the visceral organs.
Constipation is the first evidence of the lack of tonicity of this part of the body. Alleviation, according to Yoga, can come only from full stretching of the anterior and deep muscles. The woman who wants easier childbirth through Yoga, should keep in mind that these exercises are not the muscle-building type, but specific non-violent and non-fatiguing exercises.

Matsyasana, or Fish Pose

A pose especially developed to contribute to the health of the pelvic and sex organs, this exercise provides both gentle exercise and a deep internal massage. Sit with your legs fully stretched out and adjust the footlock, as directed for the Semi-Lotus Pose, by folding the legs so that the feet are against the opposite groins, with the soles turned upward. While inhaling, slowly and carefully fall back, using your arms, if necessary, to guide your fall. Next, lay supine, with your legs folded, keeping the footlock in place. For comfort in the supine position, you may fold your arms under your head as a cushion. To complete this asana, return to the starting position while exhaling. Try to repeat this exercise about five times a minute. At first work at this for about one minute. Later you can extend the time to three minutes. The exercise can be used at all times. However, it should be discontinued during advanced pregnancy.
The ethical and the Yogic points of view are that in all that concerns sex physiologically, the consummation of the ideal for woman is motherhood. It has been found in India that those women who have regularly followed Yoga exercises normally enjoy pregnancies which are free of pathological or psychological problems. Childbirth to them is devoid of any gruesome experience. The Yoga diet is the most suitable during pregnancy and the Yoga processes of cleansing and elimination, which have been dealt with in other parts of this book, supply the best anti-toxic measures. However, the principles of Yoga are in no way an antithesis to modern medicine. No woman should feel that the practice of Yoga is a substitute for prenatal and postnatal care.
Painless childbirth does not mean complete absence of pain. The term, as used medically, means an easy delivery which is quite possible for the great majority of mothers. However, it may be affected by such factors as the pelvic construction, the form of presentation, etc. Perhaps the greatest factor in easy childbirth is the tone and power of contraction of the uterine muscles and the abdominal muscles. The groundwork for painless parturition must be laid early in life, and the young girl who begins Yogic exercises soon after puberty will be certain to achieve proper development of both the external and deeper muscles. The mature woman may have to work more intensively to correct her body tone. Full results may depend on the degree to which the body has been neglected and the care with which the postures are carried out regularly.

It's so important to remember that pregnancy and childbirth in incredibly physical!  Labor and delivery stresses your body as much or more than running a marathon or competing in an Iron Man competition.  We cannot forget to prepare our bodies physically as well as nutritionally and sexually for pregnancy and childbirth. 



Did you try the Fish Pose?  Tell us how it felt in the comments!

Image: Traditional Fish Pose 
Image: Beginner's Fish Pose
Text: Relax With Yoga, by Arthur Liebers, [1960]