New Tarot Reader @ Magus

Jessa Huffmeyer, Magus Books newest Tarotist, is an independent student of spirituality, metaphysics, and a Tarotist. At a very young age, Jessa felt an unknown presence of something more to life that is unseen. She started to have spiritual encounters during dreams as early as age two.  Experiences of telepathic communication became prevalent as she entered kindergarten.  Even as a young child, her increased curiosity in subjects such as spirituality and science became focal points of interest for years to come. 
 

Today, Jessa’s primary areas of passion and interest lies within spirituality. She has diligently researched ancient and religious texts such as the Emerald Tablets, Enuma Elish, Epics of Gilgamesh, The Secret Doctrine, and the Gayatri to name a few.  Jessa holds a very strong love for science, philosophy, UFOs, metaphysics, holistic healing, and the life and writings of Helena Petrovna Blavatsky.   She has also studied Theosophy independently for the past 6 years. 

She has been working with the Tarot since late 2008. Also, Jessa studies the Runes, astrology, and the transparent Tarot. Jessa is currently exploring with radio broadcasting as a host on The People Speak at BBS Radio and is working on hosting her own show in the future. She looks forward to meeting all the beloved Magus customers.

Liz Johnson, Herbalist....Speaking at Summerland Spirit Festival

Liz Johnson, resident Herbalist at Magus Books, will be leading two seminars at Summerland Spirit Festival next month.

Summerland Spirit Festival is a nine-day experiential spiritual retreat for followers of an Earth-reverent spiritual path. Nestled within several square miles of wild forest, you will have the chance to heal, reconnect with nature, and make a lot of new friends. Welcome the dawn from the high peak of the hill covered with apple trees, cool off in the pristine creek that runs through the heart of the festival, dance and drum all night long in the middle of an old-growth hardwood forest, or take some time away to be alone with the abundant wildlife.

Liz will be speaking on “Herbology 101”, focusing on the magick, medicine, folklore and cooking uses for common kitchen herbs.  A sample of what this might be like is a discussion of "Our Herb" (basil), its association with scorpio (or fixed water), its use in depression that slows the psyche and body, its use in curses and protective magick...and that it is a traditional fly deterrent.

She will also be leading a nature walk later in the afternoon. This will include food, medicine, magick and folklore interwoven within it.  For example, the deliciousness of roasted burdock root, the magick of the leaf shape and its association with Jupiter, the liver’s cleansing abilities of the plant and the effect this has on skin, and the wonderful story of the burryman and how this can be related to all of the above.

For more information about the festival, check out their website: http://www.summerlandfest.com. 

The Three Basic Essentials of Alchemical Work

First and foremost let me address a common misconception about alchemy.  It is not all about turning base metals into gold.  In fact this is quite a loaded concept.  Whether or not alchemists of the past actually manufactured gold in their laboratories is not what’s important here.  What’s important is that transmutations did take place; however, they were the transmutation of the alchemist’s soul.  The great Paracelsus said, “We only transmute without, that which we have first transmuted within,” and “You will transmute nothing if you have not first transmuted yourself.”  That’s right. The key and ultimate tool for working with alchemy is self-work and maintaining an equilibrium between mind, body, and soul.  Which brings us to the 3 main essentials of alchemy, also known as the Tria Prima.

SALT
Yeah, that’s right, salt!  But we’re not just talking good ‘ol sodium chloride from off the kitchen table.  Salt is representative of the body as well as the beginning and the end of the work and is considered “the imperfect matter at the beginning of the experiment that has to be destroyed and dissolved to release its essences which are reconstituted into the more perfect form at the end of the experiment.” (1)  More simply, salt is symbolic of the material aspect of the alchemical work and acts as the mediator between the other two essentials.  For instance, outside of the self-work of the alchemist, salt is the beginning matter (the raw form of the mineral or plant in which you start with) and the ending matter after the other two essentials are separated from the original salt form.  The salt aspects of the alchemist will reflect the quality of the salt aspects of the work they are doing in their laboratory.

MERCURY
Mercury is representative of the mind or consciousness and inspiration of the alchemist and the fiery unchangeable form of the triad.  The mercury that we are referring to is not per se the element of mercury or quicksilver that you can find in thermometers.  Working with this element has its dangers and is reserved for a more advanced form of the art.  According to Paracelsus the fire in which burns within the bellows of the alchemists laboratory is the mercurial aspect of the triad as well as the hot vapors that rise from the fire.  Mercury is also the feminine or lunar aspect of this triad when compared to the third essential which will be addressed later.  Much like the Roman god Mercury it is representative of a duality of masculinity and femininity or hermaphroditism.  This does not mean that the alchemist must quite literally be of both sexes, but that there is a self-awareness of divine masculine and divine feminine balanced within her or him.  This will also of course reflect the outcome of the work.

SULFUR
Within every alchemist or magician an acknowledgment of a soul or spiritual aspect is most effective for a truly beneficial outcome in whatever work is done within the laboratory or temple space.  Therefore, sulfur is the aspect of the spirit.  Interestingly, the term “spirits” in which we use to refer to alcohol (alc-alchemy) is derived from the ancient alchemical process of distillation.  During this process, one is extracting the spirit of the plant and the ending result is the liquid of infused plant essences in which we consume later for our enjoyment.  More on this exact process in a later article though!  In regards to the Tria Prima, the part in which sulfur takes place is the act of the original matter (salt) being consumed by the mercurial (fire) and is changed in the process.  Materials that fuel the fire, wood, coal, oil, etc. are also forms of sulfur because they are added to the salt aspect in order for the mercurial process to ignite and produce an ending result.  Sulfur in relation to mercury is the masculine and solar correspondence of the triad with salt maintaining the balance between the two.  The harmonious process of the Tria Prima eliminates the soul contained within the salt-matter and liberates it.  This is also reflective of the process in which takes place within the alchemist and vice versa.  These processes must both take place within the laboratory and within the alchemist to create a most purified and true form of the Stone from the soul of the alchemist.

The concept of creating a Stone will be elaborated on in later articles as well as other essentials of alchemy. 





KYLE FORD
  
(1) Hauck, Dennis William. Sorcerer's Stone: A Beginners Guide to Alchemy. New York: Kensington Publishing Corporation, 2004.

Super Saturday Seminars

Liz Johnson, Master Herbalist, has been practicing for more than twenty years. Please join her for a monthly Saturday Seminar covering a wide variety of topics and health issues. Each seminar is $125. The day includes discussion, hands-on learning, and lunch.

Click here to register.

SCHEDULE OF DATES

August 23  - DepressionHerbs have a long history of use for melancholia, heartache, and a variety of other issues now called depression.  Dealing with these issues is never easy, but with herbs the day can become brighter.  Whether dealing with an immediate issue, like heartache, or a third bout of clinical depression, come and learn a little about why this happens and how to deal with it better.

September 27 - Fertility

Preparing for pregnancy is the beginning of a new era in a couple’s life. The excitement of expanding a family, the doubts of parenthood, the increased responsibilities of creating life, all can be a random mix of happiness and intense stress.  The causes and factors of infertility are so varied there are simply no standard herbal treatment plans. Instead, it is the goal of the practitioner to evaluate and assess the couple to create a plan that promotes overall wellness. This class will focus on both men and women.


October 18 - Menopause

Lets turn the hot flashes into power surges !!Amazing change and power takes place in our lives as we go through the stages in our lives. Menopause is a time to create , grow and find that menopause is a gift that can change the world. Lets break down some of the information out there so we can understand it from both medical and alternative practitioners. Donna will break menopause down into simple drawings and terminology that everyone can understand. You will learn about herbs that women have used throughout time to keep their bodies in balance. Hands on class time we will also learn how to make simple remedies and the recipes to take home so you can recreate these formulas to help you move through the discomforts of menopause. In ancient times women of Menopause age were considered a wealth to the community . You will leave this workshop hopeful, inspired and empowered.

November 22 - Autoimmune Disorders
Autoimmune diseases are very common, affecting more than 23.5 million Americans. Our bodies have an immune system, which is a complex network of special cells and organs that defends the body from germs and other foreign invaders. At the core of the immune system is the ability to tell the difference between self and nonself: what's you and what's foreign. A flaw can make the body unable to tell the difference between self and nonself. When this happens, the body makes autoantibodies that attack normal cells by mistake. At the same time special cells called regulatory T cells fail to do their job of keeping the immune system in line. The result is a misguided attack on your own body. This causes the damage we know as autoimmune disease. Rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, and more will be the focus of this seminar.

December 6 - Keys to Reducing Anxiety and Stress

Have you ever had a day that just wouldn't end!  Tired of being tired?  This seminar will be an introduction to herbs that can take the edge off a rough day and help you handle tomorrow!  Join us for a cup of tea and the information that makes life seem calmer and easier to handle.

The Runes, Readings and You

What Are Runes?

The runes are an old Norse writing system, and much more besides.  There are a few different Runic alphabets that have been translated, but the most widely-known one is the Elder Futhark.  If I was to spell that out for you in runes, it would look like this:  fuxark.  Now, if you're thinking to yourself, "Hey, I've seen these symbols somewhere before," don't panic, you probably have.  It's not uncommon to slap runes on something to make it seem old, strange, mysterious, or mystical.  J.R.R. Tolkein used the runes for his Dwarven alphabet in Lord of the Rings and runes have turned up in any number of other books, TV shows, and movies.  Interestingly enough, the Thor movies don't get nearly as much mileage out of the runes as they could, though there is a very cool-looking runic inscription on the top of Thor's hammer, though you can really only see it in one scene with generous use of a pause button.

Also, a lot of early alphabets have symbols very similar to, or the same as, some runic symbols.  The runes are all just various comings-together of straight lines, easy to carve into rocks, metal, and chunks of wood, which is about as far as the Viking interest in writing things down extended.  There are only so many things you can do with intersecting straight lines, so a lot of early alphabets tend to look rather similar in some ways.  Of course, there are theories about common language origins, and I in no way discount those, and the runes, in various forms, may be far older than most people suspect.  Jan Fries' excellent book Helrunnar, explores this topic a bit more in-depth, and is my addition to the Magus Books Employee Picks section.

Legend has it the runes were brought to humanity (or at least, the people of ancient Scandinavia), by Odin.  Wait, what?  "Who's Odin?"  They'll do two whole months on Greek myth in my eighth grade "Language Arts" class, but no one's heard of Odin. . . Odin, also known as the Allfather, is more or less the king of the Norse gods. 

Odin is essentially the Norse god of wisdom.  According to myth, Odin sacrificed an eye into the fountain Mimir, which granted him infinite wisdom.  To absorb the knowledge of the runes, he hung for nine days and nights from a branch of Yggdrasil, the World Tree. After doing this, Odin had absorbed the knowledge of runes and rune-lore into himself, and then turned around and just gave it to humanity.  Just gave it.  No tricks, no strings, no trials. Oh, that whole thing with Odin hanging from a tree?  Represented in the Hanged Man Tarot card, interestingly enough.

A lot of ancient societies imbued writing and the written word with mystic power.  The old Norse people were no exception.  Runic inscriptions of a person's name have been found on a lot of swords and other weapons, either to identify the owner, the maker, or to tie the owner and his weapon together into a greater whole.  Other runic inscriptions seem to be spells to keep the user safe from harm, bring about good fortune, and so on.  In short, the old Norse people believed that, because of their intrinsic connection to Odin the Allfather, the runes had a special power unto themselves, and were not shy about invoking that power. One of the things the Runes were used for is divination.  Odin was the god of Wisdom, and as such, the Runes could connect you to a portion of that wisdom.

How Does It Work?

There are 24 runes in the Elder Futhark, and each one has it's own meaning.  Moreover, as part of studying the runes, I've internalized and made my own interpretation of each Rune's meaning.  For example, the first rune of the Futhark, f, means "Wealth."  To me, I think of the idea of wealth coming from a source, and then being applied towards something.  If you have no income, you're broke.  If you have a billion dollars in a bank account. . . well, great, but what does a billion dollars actually do for you just sitting in a bank account? 

Each rune has its own meaning, and my personal interpretations of those meanings.  When I do a rune reading, I ask the client to think of a question, something they're looking for some guidance on.  The question can be as vague or specific as you like, and you don't even need to tell me in advance if you don't want to.  Then, I toss out all the runes on the table, turn over the ones that are face-down.

What's that about face-down and blank runes?  All the rune sets I've seen only have the runes on one side, leaving the other side blank.  Most rune sets come with one "blank" rune, which is sort of a metaphysical shrug.  Some people who work with runes use it, others don't.  One theory behind the reason for the creation of the blank rune I heard that actually makes a lot of sense to me is that, when Runes were starting to get popular again in the 1970s, the books that came with plastic stamped runes in the back put them on a five-by-five grid because it was cheaper, and since there are only 24 runes in the Elder Futhark, one of them was blank.  There isn't any real evidence to support this that I've found, but I like it. 

Once the runes have been scattered on the table and the face-down ones turned face-up, I delve into what the runes are trying to say.  I start by looking at runes that seem to be in some sort of pattern, and/or ones that are close together.  The unstructured nature of how I do my rune readings means that the meaning can come out in several different ways.  I've had "streams of life," where a serpentine-like chain of runes will start in a person's past, move into where they are now, then give them insight into where they're going and how to get there.  Sometimes this kind of "path" will branch in a few different directions, hinting at diverging paths the person could take, and giving insight into how their choices will affect which path they go down.  Other times I'll get small "knots" of two or three runes clustered together in various places, highlighting different areas of difficulty in the client's life.  Sometimes, almost every single rune (and even a few times, actually all of them) will bundle together in one giant mess, indicating a lot of chaos and difficulties that need to be straightened out.  The more twisted and hectic the spread of runes, the more the person needs to get things in order, as a general rule of thumb.

What the Runes don't do is give you a definitive answer about the future.  Someone once told me that the future is difficult to see because it's always in motion, and when we're doing a rune reading, a lot of that motion is dependent on you.  If you ask me if you'll win the lottery tomorrow, I really can't tell you for sure, even if the Wealth rune does come up.  What I can do is give you pieces of information, bits of wisdom, to help you make the choices that will lead you down the path you wish to go down.  But in the end, the choices are yours and yours alone, and nothing I can do is going to alter your present or your future unless you take the initiative.  Personal responsibility and personal initiative were big concepts with the Norse gods and the people who worshiped them, and the lessons of the Runes reflect that.  Teach a man to fish, and he'll still starve unless he actually goes fishing.

ERIK BJELKE

What Are Amulets and Talismans?

Although amulets and talismans are some of the most commonly used magickal items, there remains much ambiguity as to what exactly they are and how they differ. Today we will briefly explore the most common definitions, how useful they are and how they differ, in order to arrive at a clearer understanding of these staples of magickal practice.

There are three common definitions for amulets and talismans. The first, the most common dictionary definition, is that they are synonymous and refer to any item which exerts an ‘occult influence,’ such as protection or good luck.  A second definition popular among some magickal practitioners is that an amulet is used against certain influences, such as an amulet against illness, whereas a talisman is used for a specific influence, such as a talisman to attract love. Finally, a third definition favored by other practitioners is that an amulet is natural, such as a stone or herb (worn in a ‘medicine bag’ for instance), while a talisman is man-made, such as a pressed metal disc with symbols on it.

Now, since these three definitions are all in common usage, it cannot be said that one right or wrong, but it can be argued as to which is most useful. First of all, there are contradictions between the definitions; so, we cannot just accept them simultaneously and move on. A single example will illustrate this. Take the stone carnelian, which is traditionally worn for courage. According to definition one, it is both a talisman and an amulet; definition two would say that it is a talisman because it is for courage, while definition three would say that is an amulet because it is a natural stone. So, which is it?

Since practitioners (i.e. those who actually use talismans and amulets), prefer the second two definitions, we will assume that there is some reason for differentiation between the two terms and move quickly past definition one. Now, as for definition two, this definition is often contradicted in the traditional literature. For instance, the Key of Solomon, available here, and here, one of the primary texts of Renaissance talismanic magick, lists many different talismans which are explicitly used against certain influence, such as “the sixth pentacle of Jupiter” which is used against earthly dangers. Also, whether an item is for or against something is often only a matter of phrasing. For example, an “amulet” against danger could just as easily be considered as a “talisman” for protection. Given these contradictions to the source material and the issue of phrasing, the second definition is not particularly useful.

Coming now to definition three, the natural vs. man-made dichotomy, consider a rune stone, tiger’s eye, for instance, which is engraved with the rune Uruz. Is it an amulet or a talisman? Well, in that tiger’s eye is a natural material, it is an amulet, but since it is inscribed, it is also a talisman. Since all natural materials have their own magickal properties, and since all symbols, likewise, have their own properties, it is useful to be able to differentiate between the “amuletic” and “talismanic” properties of a thing. In the instance of our tiger’s eye Uruz, it has the amuletic properties of tiger’s eye, being confidence and willpower, and the talismanic properties of Uruz, being virility and power, among other things. In this case, we can say that the amuletic and talismanic properties are harmonious. This allows us great subtlety and layers of definition. It also puts amulets/talismans on a spectrum; a stone or herb is obviously an amulet and a sigil or symbol is obviously a talisman, but where they combine, we can say why it is both and how these layers may affect one another, and whether they are harmonious or discordant. Clearly, this is the most useful of the three definitions.

ADAM SCHAAB