Welcome to Gaia! ::

Introduction to Ancient Echoes Magazine

Welcome to the first issue of the Ancient Echoes Magazine. This Magazine is here to provide a place for us to explore various aspects of paganism, magic, and the occult. This first issue is an experiment. This magazine is going to be highly based on member input and member written articles. Each issue is going to have different things as each issue will have articles written by different people from different perspectives.

This issue contains basic meditation, basic energy work, two rituals as well as the above topics. This issue is small as it is the first issue. I hope this first issue helps you come up with some ideas for submissions for future articles. Any way, welcome and enjoy!
~AE Staff~

Loona wynd:
Has been seeking paganism since she was 13 years old. She is currently a dedicant in the Temple Tradition and has many things she is studying.

Mercy Wild:

shadowflameguardian:

By wild Mercy:

Basic Skills for Honing Magical Skills: Energy

Basic skills give us a strong foundation to build our magical skills on. Some should be in place to help us protect ourselves from outside energies that are hazardous to our spiritual or physical health; others are intended to help us regulate our own energy fields. Then there are others that are meant to help us maximize the effectiveness of our magic.
The most essential skill, I believe, is that of grounding your energy. The reason for this is that is helps regulate your personal energy. When you are working magic you build up energy to send out to manifest your goal. If you send out to much energy, you leave yourself feeling fatigued and weak, which leave you open to inadvertently drawing from others; it lowers your immune system leaving you vulnerable to illness and fogs your mind so you are not thinking clearly. Conversely if you build up too much energy and don’t release the majority of it you end up feeling jittery and hyper, much like if you had too many cups of coffee, or are on one heck of a sugar buzz, all of which make it hard to concentrate, focus and ultimately control your faculties. There are several grounding techniques given in books and here online.
Basic awareness of energy and energy work are also invaluable skills in regards to magic. Learning to sense various levels and types of energy, being able direct it is one of the major foundations of magic. Some basic grounding and energy work exercises are:

Personalization of Grounding Technique

Step 1: Ask yourself what element you identify most with.

Step 2: What about that element do you most identify with. For example I am drawn to a combination of earth and water. I tend to be most attracted to rivers and trees. My friend Kit identifies with fire, specifically the way that flames dance.

Step 3: Think of how you could use your previous answers to help you ground energy more effectively. Develop a style that suits you. If you wish to share your new found technique and experience please do so. It just may help someone else get an idea that will work for them.

Examples: My friend Kit is very in tune with fire and flame. She has trouble visualizing trees and roots. Instead of that classic method she visualizes excess energy in a ball than sees it engulfed in flames and the ashes fall to the ground.

Another friend Sky is attracted to air, wind specifically. When she grounds she sees the energy swirling and being carried off by the wind that carries it into the clouds that send it back down to the ground with the moisture of rain/snow/hail, seeps into the ground. That is her way.

Are you a lefty or a righty?
To help you figure out which hand is more receptive and which is more projective

Start like before by rubbing the hands together now place the tip of the middle finger of the hand you write with in the center of the palm of the other.
Slowly pull them apart. It may almost feels like a thread is still connecting the hands. Take note of where you are feeling the energy strongest, is it stronger coming from your fingertip or your palm.
Take a 10 minute break
Now do it again only reversing the roles of the hands. Again take note.

Making an Energy Ball
Getting a Feel for Energy, How you personally sense it
Instructions
1. Rub your hands together like you would if you were trying to warm them in cold weather.
2. Then hold them palm to palm about an inch apart. Concentrate on the space between the hands.
3. After a second or so you can start feel the energy between the hands.
For me it feels like two magnets repelling and attracting one another, kind of pushing my hands apart. It also will often feel warm. It may not feel the same to you, but make a mental note of what you do sense during the exercise, even if it seems subtle.
4. You can now ground the energy by bring your hands together and reabsorbing it, then allowing it to drain out of you into the ground through your feet. Alternate grounding version is to visualize the energy burning, becoming ash and falling to the ground.
Try many different locations, settings, and atmosphere to get a feel for how the energy around you effects and changes the outcome., also pay attention for how a variety of different energies feel.

If the energy is strongest at the tip of the finger (to me it feels like a needle point is resting there) that is probably your projective hand. If it is in the center of the palm (again like a pin or needle point resting there) that is your receptive hand.
In my experience both hands are capable of both projecting and receiving, all this exercise does is tell you which one is more oriented for which task. It may take a few tries to discern which is which.

Energy with a Beat
Using music to evoke specific emotional energies

Pick five songs that you like, but that put you in different moods or different frames of mind, you will need access to them all.

Now sit in a quiet space as alone as you can manage, if you can’t be alone in the house or apartment or dorm try to take a head set to the park, a cemetery or if available a car.

Take a few moments to clear your mind, take some deep breaths, just focus on the air going in and expanding the lungs then let it out and focuses on the movement of the air out of you. Now start the first song of your choice. Let your mind follow the beat, just go with the music. Notice the energy it raises, how it feels, the mood it puts you in.

Now concentrate that between your hands in an energy ball, and play with it a few minutes. You can listen to the song over and over if you need to. Were you right does this song make you feel what you thought? Why?

Write down the answers. Because later when you want to charge something for a spell or raise a certain energy you are going to want to know some quick ways to put yourself in that emotional energy state.
Now take some time to clear your thoughts, and emotions, and repeat with the other four songs you have chosen.

By Shadowflame guardian:

Imbolc Ritual

I find that celebrating the Sabbats is a great way to show your appreciation to your deities and the elements around you. For our ancestors this was such an important time of year and we should do them the justice of continuing to honor the seasons.
Since Imbolc is a time of waiting and preparing for the spring, fertility comes to mind as a perfect addition to the ritual. Fertility can be applied to many different ideas as a way to grow; just as plants do in spring.


Casting the Circle
(3x clockwise with athame and 1 time with sage)
Stepping from darkness into the light,
The coming spring we celebrate here tonight.
The earth is becoming renewed,
By the fire which burns within,
By my will, which stirs the elements,
Let nothing harmful in,
So mote it be.

Calling Quarters
East
Hail guardians of the watchtower of the East,
Breath of the ancestors,
I call upon thee and the element of Air
To join me in this sacred space.
Be welcome in my rite!
(light yellow candle and offer sunflower seeds).
Blessed Be!

South
Hail guardians of the watchtower of the South,
Will of the ancestors,
I call upon thee and the element of Fire.
To join me in this sacred space.
Be welcome in my rite!
(light red candle and offer sunflower seeds)
Blessed Be!

West
Hail guardians of the watchtower of the West,
Blood of the ancestors,
I call upon thee and the element of Water.
To join me in this sacred space.
Be welcome in my rite!
(light blue candle and offer sunflower seeds)
Blessed Be!

North
Hail guardians of the watchtower of the North,
Bone of the ancestors,
I call upon thee and the element of Earth.
To join me in this sacred space.
Be welcome in my rite!
(light green candle and offer sunflower seeds)
Blessed Be!
(Turn towards the altar)
Spirit of my ancestors,
I call thy name into the night!
Come, be welcome in this my rite.
Blessed Be.
(light white candle and offer sunflower seeds)
Calling the Goddess and God
Goddess
Great Mother we call on thee tonight
By the flame that burneth bright,
O Great Mother!
I call thy name into the night!
O Great Mother!
Behold your daughter, strong and true
In thy honor, if it is thy will
Be welcome in my rite!
(light silver candle and offer sunflower seeds)
Blessed Be
God
Great Father I call on thee tonight,
By the flame that burneth bright,
O Horned One!
We call thy name into the night,
O Horned One!
Behold your daughter, strong and true
In thy honor, if it is thy will
Be welcome in my rite!
(light gold candle and offer sunflower seeds)
Blessed Be.

Grant O Spirits, Thy Protection and in Protection, Strength
And in Strength, Understanding and in Understanding Knowledge
And in knowledge, the Knowledge of Justice
And in the Knowledge of Justice, the Love of It
And in the Love of it, the Love of all Existence
And in the Love of All Existences, the Love of Spirit and All Goodness.
(Light vanilla incense)

Fertility for the Mind Spell
(light a red candle and offer sunflower seeds)

Oh great, Lord and Lady,
I implore you to fill me with ripened fruit
That may bear me knowledge.
Fill my mind with power and light.

Blessing Cake and Ale
(offering poppy seed cakes and spiced wine)
We bless these cakes in the name of the Great Mother
Who provides sustenance that we may live
(said while one holds plate up in the air)
We bless this wine in the name of the Horned God
In honor of his essence which gave us life.
(said while holding glass in the air)

Farewell to the God and Goddess
Great Mother,
By the flame that burneth bright,
O Great Mother!
Thank your for being with me tonight
O Great Mother!
Behold your daughter, strong and true
May I retain your bounty and comfort.
(extinguish candle, offer sunflower seeds to the earth)
Farewell.

God
Great Father,
By the flame that burneth bright,
O Horned One!
Thank you for being with me tonight,
O Horned One!
Behold your daughter, strong and true
May I retain your strength and bravery
(extinguish candle and offer sunflower seeds to the earth)
Farewell

Farewell to the Quarters
North
Farewell guardians of the watchtower of the North
Bone of the ancestors,
I thank thee and the element of earth
For your blessing and protecting my circle.
(extinguish candle and offer sunflower seeds to the earth)

Farewell
West
Farewell guardians of the watchtower of the West
Blood of the ancestors,
I thank thee and the element of water
For your blessing and protecting my circle.
(extinguish candle and offer sunflower seeds to the earth)

Farewell
South
Farewell guardians of the watchtower of the South,
Will of the ancestors,
I thank thee and the element of fire
For your blessing and protecting my circle.
(extinguish candle and offer sunflower seeds to the earth)

Farewell
East
Farewell guardians of the watchtower of the East,
Breath of the ancestors,
I thank thee and the element of air
For your blessing and protecting my circle.
(extinguish candle and offer sunflower seeds to the earth)

Farewell
Opening the Circle
3x with athame wider shins
May the circle be open but never broken
May the Goddess and God be ever in our hearts
Merry meet and merry part
And merry meet again.

Book Review: Living Asatru

Living Asatru by Greg(Dux) Shetler

When I ordered the book Living Asatru I expected much more than what I got for my money. I wouldn't even consider it to be a book to be honest. It's more like a hand held small reference. There was some good information in the book, but I feel it could have been expanded quite a bit more.

The book does provide the reader with a good idea of how the author interprets the way an Asatrur should live. He never says that his work is an authoritative book on the works. He merely states that the book is a reflection of how he interprets his own path. It seemed to me that the book has more potential if it was expanded into a longer book (it's only about 60 pages, if that)

One of the things that this “book” had going for it was the description of the ethical code of Asatru. Unlike other books I have read on Asatru this book actually gave sample situations with an answer for the question of is that behavior ethical. The book also included the 6 fold Goals, which the author considered more behavioral goals than ethical standards.

I did like how the author gave a brief overview of Orlog and how ones Orlog is important for the future of their kith and kin. I do wish he had elaborated a bit further on the issue of Wyrd, Orlog and the soul in general. Still his work was intended to be small, and you can't cover everything in a few pages. The book barely covered the basics.

The most disappointing thing about the book was the information on the Gods. Each God only had about a paragraph on them. Now for a book on Asatru I would have expected at least a page for each God giving examples from the Lore about that God and how they interacted together. Even then not all of the Gods were covered. So in general this book left a lot to be desired in regards to the information on the Gods.

Another disappointing area of the book was the information
regarding the holidays and how the Gods were honored. The book gives a deity for the festival, when it happens, and that was about it. No information about exactly what the rites would have included, nor does it offer any information about how to worship these Gods. While there were two samples of rituals, those rituals were written with a Gothi in mind. There was no information about how a nonmember of the clergy could worship.

All in all if this was someone's very first book on the subject they could get something out of it. If however you are familiar with Asatru your money would be better spent on books of Lore or even other books on the topic. I will not be reading this book again. I intend to sell it and hope that some one else will get more out of it than I did.

Questions? Comments?