Wahya Circle
星期四 xīng qī sì
Thursday

As We Will It: Protection

保护 Bǎohù Protection Since the beginning of the human practice of manipulating energy has a Wise One stated, "protection is not needed." When teaching the Arcane Arts, some will go above and beyond to express the necessity of it in both Matter AND Spirit. We are energy, and energy is all around us. As a standard practice, Three Circles Medicine Work general Protection for all who walk with us.

Beginning Psychic Work
Strengthening Focus

One of the biggest challenges to any goals we pursue walking with Wahya Circle is the ability to remain Focused and avoid distraction from our Paths by the Mundane. It happens. Whether that distraction is our own mind or our environment is irrelevant. We as Practitioners simply have difficulty staying Focused on completing goals. 

Are you staying Focused reading this?

Is it loud around you … or in your head?

Take a moment to release and ground and begin again.  
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Better?

Often brilliant, powerful Practitioners find themselves turning from important Craft, enjoyable daily Magick, Medicine, or seeking understanding of the secrets of the Universe by ... oooh, shiny! 

REASONS
While there are some chemical imbalances and biological wiring factors that result in different prioritization of senses and mental processing, this lack of Focus is lumped loosely as attention deficit (with or without hyperactivity) disorders. Howver, much of this lack of attention and Focus are problems because they come from habit.

Whose traits did you pick up? Which caregiver? Were they Focused? Distracted?

HABIT FORMS.

A significant majority of Practitioners in the Western Hemisphere, America specifically, are trained from years of watching television to expect a break in Focus after just EIGHT minutes. Why?

A child surpasses eight minutes of attention span by just a few years of age on average. Some believe television shortened this first. The segments designed to allow for commercial breaks tend to run about eight minutes. 

We were actually taught this interval in medical school as a point to build in some important psychotherapy.

On the contrary, long ago, it was common for people to travel into town from their homes for dinner and a show. The shows were often three to five hours in length, because if someone were going to pay for and commit to an entire evening out; it needed to fill the evening.

Today, we purposely design productions to finish within two hours... at most 2:15, to allow for a 15 min intermission between two one hour acts; and we're moving towards an 'ideal' of the 90 minute play. Social media is no better. 

We are simply, willingly, losing Focus.

WAYS TO IMPROVE FOCUS
Individual mental exercises are not mandatory to have effective energetic practice, but they sure do strengthen them. Any mental exercise, especially one that ignites both sides of the brain will yield some gains in Focus and attention, as does meditation and physical training/exercise but specified toward a certain task is usually better.

Most importantly, if we are seeking to develop our Focus, we first have to overcome our bad habit and inclination to take a break after that pesky “eight minutes”. Fortunately, many of us have moved away from entertainment/media with commercial breaks. Yes, binge watching and nature walks BOTH have positive benefits! 

To develop our attention, we first need to understand that which we focus on.

Thoughts, physical activity, and sensory input are all a sort of prioritization system. When that system works right, the priority element stays center while the mind processes in the background (possibly even subconsciously) all other things. If danger or a pre-planned condition occurs, that element's priority rises and the more Focused we are on our primary element. This forces a higher demand on other elements to reach before we will turn to them. Basically, if you are super Focused, you will stop hearing the dog next door barking. 

When someone has attention deficit disorder (ADD), their prioritization system is “off”. Even the slightest input into the non-priority element can suddenly have the same boost in demand as a life or death threat. So its not a matter of struggling with keeping their Focus, they can have enormous levels of concentration on something but the demand to switch, when it comes, is undeniable and often difficult to do. And if that's applying to the various senses (as it often does), it takes very little "oooo, shiny" to override the focus. Every shuffled footstep, every turned page, every scratch of a pencil is an assassin lining up that blade at your back. You HAVE to be aware of it. 

HYPER-FOCUSING
While its tricky to do naturally, there are those with ADHD (the version of ADD with hyperactivity) that sometimes Experience something called 'hyperfocusing', with their energetic practices. This is a sort of reverse of things. In hyperfocused state, the prioritization system pretty much shuts down. Only the current Focus is present. No sensory input or outside thought can acquire even enough importance to break Focus. (This is great for gnosis.) Often, the only way to break hyperfocus is to block / remove the object of attention or turn off the television, close the book, take away some tool or object, etc. 

But under normal circumstances, our senses and thoughts will align with our physical activity unless something else draws attention with priority. Work to your strengths! The less we are doing, the less new sensory info takes to draw attention. Of course, we've also got all sorts of things that can randomly produce erratic results from our prioritization system. An unexpected sound in a supposedly empty house gets a much higher priority for 'danger' even when we are fairly sure that its just the old house settling... or the wind. A slight carbon scent will raise concerns of fire, worry that someone will walk in and see us doing something we don't think they'll understand can skew a whole series of different sensations. Even just "I'm hungry" is a sensation that can derail an hours worth of focus in an instant.

this is why we say what we say about personal practices.

Play to your strengths.
Everyone has them.

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We will see you Moon Day!

Have a safe and magickal weekend!

If you have any questions or concerns, please email ThreeCirclesMedicine@gmail.com

Beginning Psychic Work
Exercises I and II

Exercise I

The first part of working on our attention / Focus is simply to spend time getting tuned in with those separate parts of ourselves. Giving TIME to each of the senses. Five at first, then more, if you happen to be ready to pursue para-sensory abilities. Poll through them as you work through these exercises.

Be aware of all the things in sight. All the things within hearing. All the smells. The tastes. The touch of temperatures and pressures on your skin.

Recognize, be aware, and assign these things a 'low' priority WHEN YOU SHIFT TO PARA-SENSORY. We WANT things WE CHOOSE to have a lack of memorability... instead of giving everything high priority to be aware and remember it... we want everything except our Focus to be forgettable to the Conscious mind, unimportant. 

Just as in meditation, acknowledge it, then allow the knowledge to pass by.

Similarly, set your expectations clearly. If you are someone who has a good sense of Time, in the linear measured fashion, set your internal clock to 'later'. If you are going to work for a half hour, do not plan only a half hour by your internal clock. Set that clock for an hour or to interrupt you if you will impinge on other important activities but do not lock it into a boundary of your exercise time. Doing so gives your sense of time a higher priority. Give your exercise itself the highest priority. Make sense?

BREAKING HABITS
A good way to break the 8-minute mark is to work with longer pieces of classical music. To listen to them, not remotely, or as background music, but to consciously listen to each note. Listen for the changes or the crescendo. Any music can actually work well for Focus building, but most modern music is fairly short (3-5 mins in length). If you can stay focused for an entire 13-20 minute symphony, you will quickly break down that 8 minute habit. Can you? If it helps you to have physical action to go with this, tie that mental Focus into a slow dance with the music, or tai chi, or another similar physical movement like pouring water gently between two cups.

This can be implemented with any of the exercises that will be covered in TCMed. Adding in that extra step of preparing the mind for Focus on the exercise or Craft will add an extra challenge and likely, at the same time, help you get even better yields from those other exercises for energy to your Will, Intent … magick! .

Exercise II

A good and simple (though still challenging) exercise to work purely on Focus will require the use of a deck of cards. It is recommended that you avoid using your Tarot or Oracle cards for this purpose. 

HOUSE OF CARDS
Most of you may have already done this, though probably not since you were a child, or in quite some time. Many parents might have done this with you or you may have done it with friends. The exercise…. to build with your cards.

There are two main ways to build with cards. As you do these, take your time. Your goal is Focus, not speed. Also, do not stress if the cards fall, or keep falling. The goal is FOCUS, not a completed building. The gains are in the process, not the completion.


To begin, lean two cards together, creating a triangle. Mind your breath. Many Practitioners foul up here! Next to this, do another two, and a third pair beside that. Then, take a card parallel to the table and lay it as a bridge from the peak of the first pair to the second, and a second bridging the second and third pair. Now do two more triangles atop these bridges. Add a bridge atop these second story triangles, then add one more triangle to the top... giving you a three story triangle.  You can continue expanding this as high as you have cards. It takes 26 to get four stories. You will need 57+ cards to reach six or more levels. 

When you're done, disassemble the pyramid without it collapsing. This is the trickiest part. This is where the most concentrated energy occurs. THIS is the energy you will pull from, the focus, the Intent, for your Craft. 

Another way you can do Exercise II: The cards are on their side and using right angles at their ends (or the middle in T formations), to create walls. Additional interior walls can be used for support and then cards are laid flat across the top to create flooring between layers. These buildings can be much more free form... and can be far more stable than the more elegant pyramid forms. They also can take fewer cards to reach higher levels. Although truly amazing sized buildings can be achieved with enough cards (the world record is nearly 27 feet tall, a freestanding tower of cards).

Again, when you are done, disassemble the tower/building without it collapsing.

Think About It

Did you try the exercises this week? Have they added anything to your Practice? Have they made you question or add to what you already do?

Deities of Earth 101
Preta
“Hungry Spirit”

Like people all over the world, the Chinese have special customs regarding dead people and their ghosts that are thousands of years old. The popular folk religion called Daoism includes days for dealing with errant ghosts in the land. When they visit in the seventh month of the lunar calendar, special precautions and ceremonies are necessary. The Hungry Ghost Festival is the most important festival of Hungry Ghost month.

The 7th lunar month, which begins on August 8th, is also known as the Ghost Month in many Asian communities. It is rooted in Buddhist and Taoist culture carried from Folk Traditions. This belief is where the souls of the dead are believed to roam the earth. From making offerings of food, money and entertainment to returning home early, there are plenty of dos and don'ts during the Hungry Ghost Festival.

We would be mistaken if we assumed EVERYONE in those communities celebrated for the entire month, though. Hungry Ghost Festival is a celebration for many others lasting in fact, only one day. The traditional celebration is held either on the 14th or 15th day of the lunar seventh month and is known as the Ghost Day.

What NOT to do during this time?

• Do not touch, step over or kick roadside offerings.

• Don't look under the prayer altar.

• Do not sit on or lean against the offering table.

• Do not sit in the front row at street performances.

• Avoid staying out too late.

• Don't stand under a tree or bus stop.

• Stay away from water-related activities.

Just to name a few.

Sound familiar? Sound like a time those in other Traditions, Celtic,  called Samhain? Do you also see connections to the Norse Tradition?

Read more about this ancient custom:

 HUNGRY GHOST

Thursday WA3

General - Journal - Book of Shadows

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