The Esoteric Tymes

I am pleased to share the first issue of my bi-monthly newsletter~ The Esoteric Tymes. This project has been in the works as a lifetime of searching out knowledge, exploring multiple spiritual paths and crafting my own esoteric foundation. My thought has always been that sharing and teaching from the wisdom you gather along the way is not only a responsibility , but the natural flow of any greater insight received. So, in that spirit, my hope is that everyone will find something of interest, inspiration and perhaps even catalytic in nature within the pages of the Tymes.

If you would like to receive future issues, you may either visit my website to access the link to the current issue or request an email reminder as new issues become available. So, if you want to take a peak, please click on the link below:

The Esoteric Tymes

Evermore

Look in the mirror
What do you see?
patterns of time
woven in every line
mastery of the ages
long since past
the entirety of the Universe
in the gentle eyes looking back

Look in the dark places
the Shadow of Self
cobwebs and delusion
time passing swiftly
the pace frantic and labored
demons trapped in dungeons dark haze
keys jingling, jangling the lament
of long forgotten peace

Look in the deep pools of moonlight
for the skillfully hidden dreams
the stories of splendor and glory
the grey veils of flashing inspiration
willed into creation by muse's fiery kiss
the descent into water's depth
heats the molten core
the well spring of hope eternal
and the Raven speaks the word in silence-
"evermore"

Metamorphosis

Crackling leaves are burning
transformed from life to death
The crow calls out relentlessly
to those unseen and
The Crone's outstretched hand
pulls me tightly to her breast

The air chills at her touch
Long icy fingers tapping out
the heart beat of life's pulse within
The solemn silence of darkness
The pause of silent breath
Power and strength drawn
from the sinewy strands of time

Quartered path of gravel and stone
Flesh and blood
Moonlight and stars
The wellspring of Earth
The light of the cosmos above

I tremble within Her embrace
Form giving way to the formless
Mind swirling within the waters of insight
Sight pierces the veil, the
Road cautiously chosen
Knowledge of the unknown becomes
the heat of my desire and
The quickening spark waiting in fertile darkness
pulls me towards rebirth into a place of Light.

The Golden Thread

"Open the door", said the wise woman
"come in and sit down.
For it is she of great worth
who wears the King's crown".

I looked at the wizened face
For answers that long I had sought
deep pools of star-filled eyes returned my gaze,
And told of mysteries carefully taught

Her countenance was hypnotic
And fingers deftly moved to and fro
Her body moving in rhythm
As the web from the spinning did grow.

Darkness turned to light
And time thus stood still
And the web of eternity
The whole of my vision did fill

The chair upon which I sat
A throne of gold did become
And the sound of the cosmos filled my ears
With crystalline cadent hum
A crown of seven stars rested gently upon my head
And all Life moved through me
Entwined as though a single thread

I saw through the eyes of one
quickened with new life
and felt the weight of knowledge gained
through wisdom and sight
The aeons passed on and
radiance of Spirit justly reigned
And the seed of all creation within
the eye of the web eternally remained

A gentle voice, words spoken soft and
I was drawn back from this sacred space
The wheels of time once again in gear
Eyes opened and gaze cast upon a radiant face

For you see…
The wise woman and I were one
Dual nature hidden within
The door opened, the answer received
and across the threshold we stepped
transformed into the Golden King

Calling All Qabalists!

A Daily Walk Through the Tree of Life

Here is an exercise that may prove useful in keeping the Tree of Life close at hand on a daily basis. I like to overlay knowledge that I have and create and experiment with how those bits and pieces can be combined in a way that can be used as effective magickal practice and growth. In preparation for my tradition's (The Assembly for the Sacred Wheel) Climbing the Tree weekend I wanted to find a way to connect daily with a mini-walk experience. For seven days prior I devised a practice using the Planetary Days/Hours- the planetary correspondences of each of the spheres and an overlay of some information gathered from a Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki workshop (The Body of Light) using emersion and coloring of the astral body in a specific color to more fully connect with its energies. Now, given that all of these topics will not easily fit into a single document; in fact, decades of study would just barely reveal only a small portion of the most superficial of knowledge contained within any of these pursuits, I'll share the general correspondences and would encourage that you do some study on your own to pull the bits and pieces together before you start.

The Tree of Life is an all encompassing blueprint of mundane, spiritual and mystical form and the energies required to make manifest the cosmic principles which are the "stuff" of all our experiences through many lifetimes and points of the evolutionary process. When ascending on the Tree ; or the act of reaching towards the Higher Self, the un-manifest and pure state of being, the starting place is appropriately the sphere of Malkuth. As we move along the "paths" of the tree the energies received from the previous sphere and the energies to be accessed in the sphere ahead coalesce, blend, merge and serve as the guiding current in this upwards process. Each of the 10 spheres is given a set of correspondences to use as reference points and each resides in 4 worlds of experience concurrently and is expressed through designation of a different spectrum of color for each world. For purposes of simplicity the colors I have referenced are contained within the Briatic (Archangelic) world and are the most easily identified with in terms of making energetic connection and moving you upwards from a place of concrete reality into a Higher more refined realm. This is also the place of creative outpour, so by connecting with the vibrations of these specific colors the creative potential within each is set into motion.

The Ten Spheres, their planetary attributions and colors are:

Malkuth = Earth = A quartered sphere of black- yellow ochre-olive green and russet

Yesod = the Moon = purple

Hod = Mercury = Orange

Netzach = Venus = Green

Tiphareth = the Sun = Golden Yellow

Geburah = Mars = Red

Chesed = Jupiter = Blue

Binah = Saturn = Black

Chockmah = The Zodiac / Uranus = Gray

Kether = Neptune = Brilliant White Light

A good resource for information: http://servantsofthelight.org/QBL/Index.html

The Planetary Days are attributed as follows. I've included statements that are reflective of that day's energies and they may be used as a point of focused overlay as you move through each of the spheres:

Monday = the Moon-

A day of emotions and accessing the deep intuitive states- "what do I feel about this sphere? What emotions are stirred and what is the deeper wisdom contained?"

Tuesday = Mars

A day of action, persistence and endeavors

"How can I apply the energies of this sphere to my daily experience? "

Wednesday= Mercury

A day of mental process, analysis and information

" What do I think about the energies of this sphere?"

Thursday = Jupiter

A day of expansion and taking in the bigger picture

" How can I expand upon what I feel, think and have experienced in each of the spheres?"

Friday = Venus

A day of moving from and being guided from a place of compassion and deep relationship

" How may I bring the energy of this sphere to encompass my interactions with others in a loving, compassionate way?

Saturday = Saturn

A day of organizing, synthesizing and putting all the important keynotes of the sphere's energies into a useable structure

"How can I draw together the components pf this sphere and put them into a pattern that will have effective structure?"

Sunday = the Sun

A day of strengthening, affirming and claiming those truths you have crafted into organized form

" How can I enhance and strengthen these lessons learned- drawing from the organized energies of each sphere?

The Planetary Hours are:

1st Hour/Sunrise always begins with the planet that is ruler of what the day is:

If it is Sunday the cycle would begin with the Sun or Tiphareth, than each subsequent planetary hour would move through the same order of planets, repeating and starting all over again with the sun at the 8^th hour and so on…..

2nd Hour Venus

3rd Hour Mercury

4th Hour Moon

5th Hour Venus

6th Hour Saturn

7th Hour Mars

Using this same pattern of planets for each hour of the day and night until sunrise of the next morning. You then begin the cycle with the ruling planet of that day's energy (ie.) Monday = The Moon or 1st planetary hour - Venus the 2nd - Saturn the third- and so on through each of the planets, then repeating the cycle again when you have gone through all 7. The easiest way to get this information (although you can calculate by hand) is to use an online resource that has already done the calculations.

Planetary Day/Hour online calculators:

http://lunarium.co.uk/planetary.php (be sure to change the city for accurate info)

http://chronosxp.sourceforge.net/en/

Free planetary Hours software for Windows

So, how would you put this complex system of overlay together?

Putting It All Together:

The starting place is always within the sphere of Malkuth, although depending on the day's energies you will move to a place on the tree that is not necessarily in order of ascent. This actually brings the experience to another level of understanding as you are passing through (although at a seeming transparent level) each of the preceding spheres and at some point in the day will make connection with all but the first two (Chokmah and Kether). Since we live in manifest reality in physical form and are surrounded by the physical plane at all times, our base point is always at Malkuth – the sphere of Earth- and that energy is always the grounding and anchoring force as we move upwards, so no specific day is needed for that sphere.

Likewise we do not actively move into the spheres of Chokmah (assigned the zodiac and/or the planet Uranus) or Kether (the Absolute) as these first two spheres represent the Unmanifest All (Kether) desirous of creation pouring its energies into the Cosmos(the Zodiac) of Chokmah and charging it with the electrical fires (Uranus) needed to catalyze that movement forward in a generative process.

This interaction serves as the necessary precursor towards emanation into manifestation and are ever existent within the finer realms of being (just as Malkuth is ever present in our physical plane of existence). They are the fundamental elements used by the sphere of Binah (Saturn and the final sphere using the planetary days/hours) as the waters of the Great Mother organizes this force of energy into a place of form and finally gives birth (emanates) this transfigured energy down and through the ever increasing levels of density until it reaches its densest manifest form in Malkuth. Thus, the Higher Self is always awaiting union with the Lower (or more manifest) just as the Physical being yearns and strives towards knowledge and reunion with its Higher State.

An interesting aspect to add if you have an inclination towards sacred geometry and sigils is to start each day with a small picture of the Tree that is simple in terms of no additional labeling, etc. As you start each day's mini walk, beginning in the sphere of Malkuth, draw a line connecting the first sphere for that particular day (remember that will change over the 7 days since each day begins with a different ruling planet and thus a different sphere). Continue to draw a connecting line from each sphere as you move to the next until you have gone through all seven for the day. Use a colored pencil or highlighter to retrace the pattern. Some very interesting sigil type geometry is revealed which could serve as mental triggers at a later time.

Getting Started:

If Monday is my Start Day:….. The moon rules Monday and is placed within the sphere of Yesod. Both, by no coincidence , relate to the emotions, the intuitive self and feelings - both perceived and hidden- real and illusory. The color is purple, so I envision myself bathed in purple/violet energy. This color also deals with the spiritual truths and intuitions that connect us with our higher Selves. I find the appropriate planetary hour of the Moon at some point during the course of the day to begin. If you are an early riser and wish to start at sunrise (the beginning of that planetary day's energy), great. If not, find a time that is comfortable to begin. If you are able to do these sequentially- hour after hour- moving through the trees spheres, that's great. If not, just make sure that you do move through the seven hours (or seven spheres) during the course of the day.

End Note: This exercise takes some planning and tweaking or fine –tuning for you to get the most from the experience. If going through seven spheres in one day seems overwhelming- perhaps start with just a single sphere of focus aligned with the planetary energy of whatever day you start. You may wish to simply use the color attributions and begin with those to draw on the energies before connecting them to a specific image or thought process around the spheres of the Tree. After all, the colors assigned the spheres do directly relate to the vibratory energy surrounding that sphere, so indirectly, you are also tapping into its energy.

Are You Crazy?

Let me begin by saying that my life is full, rich and blessed by many opportunities, activities and people. Which, also means my days are full. I have a full time married life of 32-years, 5 children ages 16-21 (4 in local colleges so "needs" can be easily met and 1 still in High School), a full time job, teaching opportunities at a local adult evening school and full-time+ Spiritual vocation and practice. So when I agreed to teach ballet classes at UPENN for a ballet club- the first response from most I shared this with was – "are you crazy?"

Time is a funny thing. It seems that the more you pack into the day, despite the constant complaints of "not having enough time", space is made for those additional tasks- especially if it is something that you love or have an enthusiasm for. Ballet is one of those things for me. I was born a dancer and even during these many long years of not actively pursuing this venue, that is always my point of reference. Last night was my first class and it was both humbling and inspiring.

Walking into a room and being greeted by excited and beautiful faces eager to learn is the ideal scenario for any teacher. It is also a very humbling moment as well, because you know that you carry great influence and the results of their experience during that brief time you are within them will ripple out in unexpected ways as they move through their activities and interactions. Even in those moments when we do not overtly feel we are in a teaching capacity the energy and presence we carry with us throughout our daily interactions have that same quality of effect.

It is also awe inspiring to see what the capabilities of our marvelous bodies are; whether it be physical, as in the case of movement or mental as in the venue of academia. And always within both of these modalities is the emotional; sometimes expressed openly sometimes held very carefully within but always a strong current and driving force within us. Our interaction with the physical and mental worlds carries great potential for bringing us to a place of balance within ourselves. If the body is moving in accord with health, vitality and well being and the mind is being routinely stimulated and fed by a smorgasbord of views, outlooks and information other than our own we can more easily express our emotional self within the ever-changing and newly forming individual we are becoming.

So, the next time someone asks you to fill an already "too full" schedule with an additional responsibility, task or activity- take a moment to listen to your heart, to gauge the fires that this opportunity may fuel within you, to think on the joy and further reaches of impact you may have. And, if all of those things within you shout a resounding "yes" ~ time will work its magic and space will be made to fulfill those dreams and step into a positive place within this world…

"Where your journey begins and where your journey ends

are but cornerstones of the limitless potential

of the many paths taken between"...rcf