DISCUSSION: Daily Practices

[Holdasown]

Baths. I also do daily offerings to my ancestors and wights.

[loona wynd]

What does LBRP stand for?

Lesser Banishing ritual of the Pentagram That is a link to a thread I started in the spells and rituals forum on the LBRP. In many cases it is thought to be the basis of most circle casting practices found in various forms of witchcraft.

[Echo_of_shadows]

I try to pay attention to the little things that can easily go unnoticed. My computer faces a window now, so I sometimes stop to look out at the trees when my eyes need a break. I work very hard at not taking things too seriously. I sometimes even laugh when I'm angry.

[Alura Noel]

Thank you Firebird and Loona! Sometimes I feel like a ditz with all the abbreviations. I don't know many.

[loona wynd]

Thank you Firebird and Loona! Sometimes I feel like a ditz with all the abbreviations. I don't know many.

No worries. If your interested in the ritual you should check out that thread link that I posted. Its a very effective and powerful ritual.

[loona wynd]

It took a lot of meditative exploration of spiritual reality before I could incorporate the experience of spiritual awareness into my everyday life.

I think that is something that takes every one effort actually. That's one of the reasons I thought this thread would be useful to those new to their spiritual paths. By seeing the different actions and activities people do every day as a part of their spiritual practices it can give them ideas on what they can do for themselves. I know I am trying to find more ways I can add my spirituality into my day to day life.

I'd set that as a goal early on, believing that awareness on that level was not only possible but desirable.

I agree. I know there are times I have to work to remind myself of the spirits of the plants in the area. Its often important for me to remember that belief and those practices given the attitude most of the world has today towards the world. Remembering that there are spirits in the plants and animals helps me to remember to be respectful of how I am walking and where my foot goes, as well as be more polite when I pick wild plants.

It started with my learning to be "in the moment", mindful of the energy around me and the way my personal energy interacted with it, and it grew from there to the consistent state of spiritual awareness that I experience in my life now. I find that taking myself into a deeper meditative state on a regular basis serves to strengthen and expand my awareness. While I neither sit in the lotus position nor chant, if those things facilitated my personal spiritual growth I'd do them in a heartbeat.

I dont sit in the lotus position when I meditate either. My knees dont like it. I have found that different positions can take me to different worlds so depending on what sort of work I am doing, depends on what position I sit in or meditate in. The only time I chant is when I am doing active rituals and spells like during my daily shower and in my weekly cleansing ritual. Other than that I dont chant though I may have a mantra I repeat like a specific place I want to go or a specific spirit I want to contact based on the working.

Taking the step toward consistent, ongoing spiritual awareness may not be the best goal for everyone; some folks simply need and want to keep their mundane and spiritual experiences separate, and that's fine too, I believe.

I don't know. I've always felt that to some extent wither it be your ethical practices and beliefs or your general outlook on the world, your spiritual path should have an influence on your day to day life. One example is the belief that the land is alive with the spirits of the dead. I'm not saying every minute of everyday should be dedicated to spiritual work, but I am saying that there should be some aspect of your day to day life that has been influenced by your spiritual practice. That can include prayers and daily offerings if that is what your path does for work. You see what I mean?

Whether one is always aware and connected or one reserves connection for the meditative state is a personal choice based on one's temperament and personal path. One isn't better than the other; they're just different.

I believe that all paths are different and that we all must find different ways to integrate our spirituality into our day to day lives. That is one of the things I am working on. I've been doing prayers but I feel that there is more I can do. So my next project is starting a meditation routine and a magical exercise routine.

Should probably add here that lately, I've been writing a number of meditations, spells, and some magickal and spiritual lessons to use with our Friday Healing Circle; we start every session with a grounding and centering exercise, and often use the first half of class time for guided group meditation. Sometimes I will from a script (something I'd prepared prior to class), but sometimes I will just wing it, leaning on intuition to guide the group through whatever was needed at the moment.

Sounds like those are effective for you and the participants. I hope that it continues to work well for you. Most of the books I have read on guiding groups in meditations say its best to have a script to read so you aren't stumbling for words. If letting your intuition seems to be working for you then I think you should go with it.

[loona wynd]

That's another thing I'm trying to do - start daily meditations / mindfulness practice. I'm usually really bad at remembering though, and I get sidetracked by other stuff that happens in the day, but I really should!

Mindfulness for me is about my therapy more than anything. For me I dont consider mindfulness to be a part of my spiritual work but a part of the maintenance of my mental health which allows me to focus on and develop my spirituality. Now when I am in ritual and in meditation it becomes a part of my spiritual practices. As a whole though I don't really have them connected like that.

[loona wynd]

I wish I could remember how long it took me to get to the point where I could incorporate the experience of spiritual and magickal awareness into my everyday life -- I can't stress how important it was for me to explore how to do this, how to keep myself on my path.

Depending on a person it can take a lifetime to build and develop a sense of spirituality in the day to day life. Its easy to say holding rituals and giving offerings are ways to engage your spiritual path. Its not always easy to find non ritual ways to have your spirituality involved in your day to day life. For some they may never find that realization.

I know for myself to really live my spiritual path it needs to be a part of my daily life and daily being. Its not just about the rituals and the worship. While those are fun and wonderful ways to engage in your spiritual path, they are not the only way. And to be honest I'm not even as good about doing rituals as I would like to be. That is something I am going to be working on though.

I know it took me less than six months to get to the point where I could do it, and it probably would have taken a lot less time if I'd have had any lessons whatsoever in the process, but then I didn't want external teachings (just guidance).

You did this all on your own without any sort of teacher? I'm impressed. What do you mean exactly when you say "just guidance"?

I started with the conclusion that if spiritual connections are truly available (and I was going on the assumption that they were), then they are available to anyone, not just a special few.

Why would spiritual connections only be limited to a "special few"? While I do believe that not every spirit is going to work with every person, I do believe that there are spirits out there for everyone to work with and learn from. I also believe that even if a person doesn't believe in them or consciously make an effort to work with them, that there is at least one guardian spirit (like a guardian angel of sorts) that watches out for and tries to help their human. Though I don't think we all make it easy for them.

From there, it was a matter of finding how to connect and become consciously aware of spiritual reality in my daily life. It really helped that I believed it was possible, that I wasn't just looking to see if it could be done, but looking for how I could do it.

I think that was the key there. You were looking to find how you could find and experience that reality for yourself. You knew it could be done, you just needed to find the ways that work for you and you alone. Not every skill or every technique is going to work for everyone. This is why we must all spend time figuring out what paths are ours and what skills will work for us.

So I experimented with different approaches to meditation, not methods suggested by others but just trying different things that made sense to me.

What are some of the methods you have explored? Did you find any methods that didn't work for you?

I found that if I started with a question or a concept to explore, the meditation would certainly begin with word-thoughts, but at some point I'd kind of come to the end of those thought processes and just will myself (intend) to listen for more information, and in that part of the meditative process I found my first connections.

Do you remember what your first connections were?

[loona wynd]

21 days to change
I have read that it take this amount of time for something to become a regular habit.

I think I remember hearing something about that in my psychology classes. It would make sense that it takes some time for something to become a habit. that's why its so difficult to get back into doing habits when you get out of them for a time.

I go to my apple tree every morning and ask the Goddess to grant me the knowledge of her will for me and the power to carry it out.

BB, Firebird

Simple and nice. Plus it gets you outside into nature. I like it. It works as both prayer and meditation at the same time.

[loona wynd]

My daily practice is banishing and grounding.

What are you banishing?

I am considering daily meditations too, ,something I should have started a long time ago.

Grouding can be a form of meditation.

I also draw a Tarot card every day, just like Xiao, it's a great idea to try and make a diary of it (which I haven't).

The diary is supossed to help a person gain deeper understanding of the cards the more they work with them.

The predictions have been quite accurate so far.

That's one of the reasons I actually stopped reading cards for a while. The accuracy of what I was seeing scared me. It still can on occasions.

[YanaKhan]

What are you banishing?

I have this little banishing ritual, which mostly banishes my excessive stress and negativity gathered from other people (if anyone is interested, I will post it in the "post a spell" section). When I do rituals, I do LBRP too.

[Isis3Anubis]

I also do the LBRP, but I have been doing my own pagan version of it for years. I use the triquetra instead of pentagrams and god names. I evoke the Egyptian goddess Nut for Kether or the Thine divine light of God and connect with the god Geb for Malkuth of earth. I don't really use the Power or the Glory of god. Instead I envision myself one with the universe as a Panentheist it isn't hard for me to picture a unified whole. I have seen other pagan LBRP but none of them have goddess godform names Iam comfortable with, so I am thinking of finding transgender deities that would balance the quarters? Anyone else have any new ideas I would love to know!
I also go through the day to see what others project back to me, what weakness do I see in their eyes to make me stronger. How can I forgive those that deserve it and how can I forget those who don't. Basically how to have balance and unity in my life with theirs as a whole for the greater good of universal harmony. I find my faults and see how I can become a better person, in meditation you separate what you see of yourself from your emotions. You let go of ego and admit what you have done wrong, or what is not appropriate behavior. I am always trying to make the world correspond to "Be the change you wish to see in the world."

[Seraphin]

Depending on a person it can take a lifetime to build and develop a sense of spirituality in the day to day life. Its easy to say holding rituals and giving offerings are ways to engage your spiritual path. Its not always easy to find non ritual ways to have your spirituality involved in your day to day life. For some they may never find that realization.

I know for myself to really live my spiritual path it needs to be a part of my daily life and daily being. Its not just about the rituals and the worship. While those are fun and wonderful ways to engage in your spiritual path, they are not the only way. And to be honest I'm not even as good about doing rituals as I would like to be. That is something I am going to be working on though.

To me, my spirituality isn't something fix forever, but a living path to be applied day by day, in the light of circumstances to my life.

As I said, I'm practicing "mindfulness" daily. I'm trying to the best of my ability to incorporate my spirituality and magick into my mundane activities. It aids in bringing about the full expression of other and completes it. In other words, if one becomes preoccupied with spiritual studies and magick and ignores normal mundane and social interactions, he's study and art does himself and society little good. But conversely, if at the main time of doing mundane activities and socializing, he ignores the spiritual and magickal things, it's a sign for me that spiritual truth and the magick itself has not penetrated deeply into the life of individual.

Well I don't believe that observance and practice of specific rituals is either necessary for practicing my magick or a sign of greater spirituality. Instead, I believe I have to develop a magickal and spiritual mode of celebrating each day for all the blessing I've been receiving, a magickal and spiritual form of worship and meditation, and lifestyle I can express both my magick and spirituality.

My spirituality is my way of life. It guides me how to live a balanced and happy life. My spiritual path covers such areas as; community, healing, diet, health, clothing, protection, morality, ceremonies, festivals, worship, relationships between family and neighbors and the list is practically endless. My path isn't just a simple road to be walked but a living way to guide, lead and direct my magickal life each day.

And unlike having a religion, my spirituality isn't meant to be a drudgery of requirements but a joy and a delight to myself and to the Nature.

You did this all on your own without any sort of teacher? I'm impressed. What do you mean exactly when you say "just guidance"?

I just don't follow teachers. While we can't deny that they have some amazing information from them who were doing their best to try to help beginners what is and what is not to believe, to practice and to study while walking in their path, still, I think no one is in the right place to define spiritual reality for other people, and I feel it's very disrespectful when folks try to define it for anyone other than themselves. This seems to be a major theme in my posts, doesn't it? Yikes!

I prefer to seek "guidance" from people and spirits who never force my hand rather than to seek "teachings" from people who have found their way to their own spiritual reality and suddenly believe themselves to have the market cornered on "Truth",and will pummel anyone who dares to disagree. I believe it's our very ability to choose that makes our spirituality and faith all the more real.

Why would spiritual connections only be limited to a "special few"? While I do believe that not every spirit is going to work with every person, I do believe that there are spirits out there for everyone to work with and learn from. I also believe that even if a person doesn't believe in them or consciously make an effort to work with them, that there is at least one guardian spirit (like a guardian angel of sorts) that watches out for and tries to help their human. Though I don't think we all make it easy for them.

That's what I believe also. Truthfully speaking, no one possesses any special kind of spiritual gift that is not possessed by everybody else. A lot of people have a wrong notion of spiritual connections -– "that you can just achieve this if you do this, if you don’t, then you can’t".

They think it's achieved only through certain specific methods and by a few so-called gifted persons. In fact, everybody has spiritual, psychic and magickal ability to a lesser or greater degree. I believe this is a natural talent, like singing or dancing. Everybody can sing or dance (even though many will deny it). But some can sing or dance better than others. The same is true with spiritual connections, abilities and skills. Everybody has it because it's a natural ability.

I also believe that there's a spiritual community assigned to everyone (even some don't believe in them). The number of spirits in his/her community depends on his/her responsibilities in society. I believe residents of our spirit community may change depending on the growth or change in the person's consciousness or need. Some of them doesn't remain the same throughout a person’s life on earth.

I think that was the key there. You were looking to find how you could find and experience that reality for yourself. You knew it could be done; you just needed to find the ways that work for you and you alone. Not every skill or every technique is going to work for everyone. This is why we must all spend time figuring out what paths are ours and what skills will work for us.

I agree. I imagine there's a similar process in developing physical perception -- when a child is born, he has no point of reference that separates what he hears from what he sees or feels; it's all so new, it's not like the child thinks, oh I'm hearing this sound; I'm seeing that color; I'm feeling this touch -- it's all, simply, perception. Once he's been around a few months, the different kinds of perception become more clear, and the child can differentiate between his senses (this is sound, this is color, this is touch), and eventually learns how to identify what's perceived, to identify people as different from objects; to differentiate between communication and ambient noise; to tell the difference between passive touch (like the surface of a chair) and being touched, etc.

What are some of the methods you have explored? Did you find any methods that didn't work for you?

I didn't try any methods. I didn't follow a step-by-step procedure, as this is a matter of individual style and preference, I believe. So I merely read and acknowledge the essential conditions or factors necessary for the development of my spiritual awareness.

Do you remember what your first connections were?

My first connection… Let's see… I believe it was when I was exploring to become more aware of the spirit presences in my surroundings. My intention there is to meet my spirit community. But at first, they scared the snot out of me, and so it wasn't possible at that time to have any direct contact with them; though, they kept their distance and guided me when they could through my intuition, which -- in that place that is beyond words -- felt, to me, like a new sense of perception rather than communication.

The difference between perception and communication can be really subtle; I think that's why it's so easy to mistake intuition and communication from spirit beings for one's own thoughts, and why it can be so difficult to distinguish intuition, which comes from one's own greater sense of awareness, from communication with other spirit beings -- intuition and communication are processed through really similar centers of perception, and when one is first becoming aware of those perception centers, they all kind of jumble together, and it's hard to differentiate between one spiritual sense of perception and another.

[AnaisStar]

Im trying to meditate every day now. My mediation practice is pretty sporadic at best.

I also started doing daily affirmations/mantras centered around gratitude as I get ready. Like thanking my guides, angels, deities for all that they do and bring to my life. As well as just be thankful for having the day, being alive etc.

I also do daily oracle card readings etc. I was trying to learn the tarot. This is the second time Ive tried to pick it up but I just have a hard time remembering all the meanings behind the cards. I just havent connected to the tarot they way I have with Oracle cards and runes. I should start doing a regular tarot card and rune draw a day, and journaling about it.

My mother just sent me the Gypsy Witch cards and I am LOVING them. I find them very easy to read and interpret. Ive been practicing by reading them for others.

[Seraphin]

I'm not saying every minute of everyday should be dedicated to spiritual work, but I am saying that there should be some aspect of your day to day life that has been influenced by your spiritual practice. That can include prayers and daily offerings if that is what your path does for work. You see what I mean?

That is one of the things I am working on. I've been doing prayers but I feel that there is more I can do. So my next project is starting a meditation routine and a magical exercise routine.

Yes I see what you mean. Since my work as a spiritual magick practitioner is concerned with the four levels of existence -- Divine, spirit, mind and body -- I start each day with this focus in mind.

I give thanks for the day and for any other good things I can think of. I light a candle or incense as a sweet aroma for my guides and Deities. My fiancee sometimes has negative tendency so I always remind her to practice gratitudes and thanksgiving as often as she can.In this way, she turn her attention to the beauty and abundance of the world rather than to its perceived disharmonies. I just acknowledge the Divine beings and spirit forces in the constant help They give everyday.

My affirmation goes like this:
Thank you for this new day; for this comfy and cozy bed; for this good night's sleep; for the sweet dreams; for my healthy mind, soul and body; for my loving partner; for the magick that will come to this day; for my pets, and for my work.

I also set my intention, just like in casting a spell, I believe an idea or a strong intent is very powerful -- capable of being a driving force behind the day. This helps to ensure that everything goes right from the start.

My intent could be:
Today I am happy, healthy and wealthy. I trust my guides and Deities that they'll keep me awake for every trick. Today I sail through my work with efficiency and enjoyment, get to and from work easily, and have lovely evening to round off a perfect day.

Clothing is also one factor. I clothe myself carefully. How I present myself for the day has a magickal and spiritual effect on me for the whole day. It depends on what I want to see manifesting in a particular day. So colour correspondence is very useful to me. Sometimes, I just go with the instinct.

And of course, my food has a lot to do with my spirituality and magick also. I feed myself carefully. I believe certain types of food that we take into our system have their own vibrations and spirit forces. They may affect our state of consciousness and level of attunement. I also normally don't recite blessings before meals (as do many Christians), but rather after I have eaten my food. I don't "bless" the food because I believe it's already a blessing, but rather acknowledge my Deities who provide for their provision and care. When I'm also eating, I visualize the table as an altar before my Deities where we partake of other sacrificed life forms with the result that we ourselves might continue in existence.