I am certain that those of you who have tried the Solar Adoration have noticed something important about it----
The sun is visible at best, half of a day. What can you do those other times?
Here's a review of the Solar Adoration, Delsarte Style:
Attaining the Silence
The first step in the process is to find the small silent places within yourself. While some can find the Silence in a rave with flashing lights and sirens blaring, most of us need quieter settings to let go of the distractions that we encounter much of the time. It is something of a misstatement to suggest that the Silence can be hold continuously. My experience is that it is an intermittant state that we drift in and out of as our consciousness shifts towards--and away from this as a focus. Find a comfortable position in a safe place with suitable lighting. You don't need any specific seated, kneeling or standing pose. Choose something that is suitable and unique to this procedure.
1. Solar Adoration
Esoteric activities are generally divided into active and passive exercises. This is certainly one of the more powerful, if passive forms. A solar adoration is basically an opportunity to think like a plant in the eye of light, the sun. You'll need to determine the times for greatest intensity of light--generally 10 am to noon. Find a place where you can stand out in the sun.
Begin with your arms at your sides, head bowed slightly. Barefoot, if safe, is preferred for this exercise, and full or partial nudity (if appropriate and legal!) can enhance the experience.
Allow the arms and head to hang down towards Earth, our mother. Ennervate the arms and torso as follows:
i. Straighten your back slowly, taking care to not thrust the hips too far forward. The head will rise with this motion without any undue effort on your part. Begin to shallowly and slowly inhale. Allow all tension to fade from the neck, cheeks and jaw. Simultaneously with straightening the back, take a shallow gliding step forward with your dominant foot. The foot glides across the ground, it does not stomp.
ii. Simultaneously with your slow, insistent breath, ennervate the arms, beginning at the shoulder sockets. Both elbows follow the natural arc created as the upper arm moves forward from the torso. Once the elbow is slightly below shoulder level, extend breath, bone and movement to the lower part of the arm. Feel the arm coming alive, responding to the warm glow of the sun, opening to receive it.
iii. Ennervate the wrists, which will rotate outwards as they slowly rise, still finishing your step. As the wrist rises higher than the shoulder, feel the fingers extend upwards, palms cupped to receive the Solar Blessing. As your non-dominant foot completes its forward glide, the final portion of your inhalation should coincide with this action.
iv. If possible, wear loose clothing or nothing at all. Feel the warmth of the light as it plays on your skin and through your half-lidded eyes--but not for too long, as the strength of the sun is also its sword. Simply breathe, and feel the light and warmth fill you. How long should this take? As long as you need.
Note----as it is hard for a number of folks to inhale and chant at the same time, I suggest finding an appropriate word or sound for each adoration, something that reminds you of the sunlight. Let the chant fill your insides from memory, the sunlight extending this inner sound entirely through your body and down into the waiting earth.
#2--The Nebular Adoration
(This was actually the first one of the series that was written, c. 1997)
IN a foggy or misty day, face the mists, look and listen for the potentialities in mist. In lots of Celtic stories the mists are the unknown, the source of all manifestations. Breathe, but inhale more than the cool air around you. Raise your arms and feel the coolness of the mists flowing into you, filling you with the potential for manifestation. The gift of the mists is the power to create, to shape matter and energy into being out of potentials that lies hidden.
#3--The Lunar Adoration
Pick a time when the light of the moon is visible to you. Traditionally the moon is full seven or nine days, so there is a range of times that you can perform this.
Face the moon, letting its light fall on you. This is the power of the sun, the most active principle, wrought into a more subtle form. It is power, yes, but the energy is that of subtle workings and mechanisms. Raise your arms to it, and feel the song of the moonlight filling you, calling to the places in you where there are things that so far are undone or unfinished. The power of the Lunar Adoration is that of subtlety--a glance, a nod or the indirect application of force. Just as in Tai Chi Chuan a force of five ounces can move a thousand pounds, so can the lunar influence manifest while folks stand around and wonder how something happened.
The Full Series of Adorations as a Day Long Ritual
Taken together, the Solar, Nebular and Lunar Adorations comprise a ritual. You can choose almost any time to start the sequence, though dawn or dusk might be preferred. Pick a day close to the full of the moon. If needed, you could split the ritual into three sections for ease of experience, should your work or other daily schedule make a single 24 hour ritual impossible.
You've already laid out the simple foods and liquids for this ritual, turned off the phones, the computer, the lights and anything else that might prove to be a distraction. Sunscreen and sunglasses are essential to this ritual as well.
Provide yourself with a cleared ritual and practical space suitable for reading, writing and meditation. Ahead of this ritual, select appropriate poetry, passages from liturgies you like, pictures, objects, or anything else that can use words, music or other associations to link you to your day(s) for the Adorations. Keep notebooks, pen, pencils and crayons to hand, should you feel inspired.
One more thing--if at all possible, don't use a clock. Hide it, cover it, whatever. The goal here is to participate as fully as possible in the timeflow of the world as you experience it. The Goddess lives everywhere, even in the heart of Manhattan or Tyler, Texas.
You don't have to perform each adoration only once--they can be repeated throughout the time their energies are manifest. Try to hold a sound, thought or feeling for each adoration as often and as long as possible throughout this day. Write down your impressions, no matter how trivial or erratic they may seem.
Let's assume you choose to begin a bit before dusk, the beginning of the Celt's "day":
Feel the force of the waning sunlight play across the landscape and your body, the light turning into a dusty red color before disappearing entirely. Listen to the differences between day and night, the evening chorus of insects, the scents of night blooming plants, the skittering of raccoons, possums and the other hunters and foragers of the night. Salute it by performing the Solar Adoration backwards--near or at the moment of local sunset, feel the last of its direct power wane and withdraw your body, contracting into beginning position as discussed in the Delsarte Lecture in my main blog.
If near full, the moon assumes prominence in the night sky, softly illuminating the tops of clouds, should any be present. In autumn the moon sometimes assumes a golden color, a "harvest moon". Tides and the length of the day are a product of the moon's influence over earth. Its subtle presence influences thousands of organisms. This is the gift of natural time with its ebb and flow regulating conceptions and life on sea and land.
Let its soft light fill you with the energy of subtle action, energies that flow as gently as rainwaters or as irresistable as the pounding of tides. The gift of the lunar adoration is the power to effect change through subtle means.
The Nebular Adoration -- just as applicable to the interstellar medium as terrestrial clouds: after all, nebulae (clouds) are the places made by the death of some stars, and worlds like our own are born from these clouds. (And what gave birth to the first cloud that birthed the first star?)
As the appearance of the stars of the night fade in the growing light of morning, the Celtic night, the direct power of the sun is too great to look upon safely without protection. While the Solar Adoration fills us with the energy that supports surface terrestrial life, in and of itself the energy is sterile and can come as easily as destroyer as provender.
Solar Adoration ---refer to Section I in its entirety for these instructions.
NB--The Adorations do not derive directly from any extant tradition: they are my creations, though it is fair to say that they have been easily synthesized and developed from the writings of Genevieve Stebbins, Elizabeth Towne, George Hackenschmidt, Ruth St. Denis, William Walker Atkinson and Joseph Greenstein. Further clarification on many points was provided by the opening of a flower, and the morning stretch of an African Grey parrot that graces my life from time to time.
Showing posts with label solar adoration. Show all posts
Showing posts with label solar adoration. Show all posts
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Monday, February 19, 2007
Tools for Druid Comrades II
As most of you noticed in my last post, I left out a critical ingredient for synthesizing mauvine--water.
Water is quite important, and this is a quck "how to" on the topic.
For most esoteric purposes, it is preferable to start with pure, clean local spring water. Failing this, you can filter and boil and let the tap water stand for 24 hours and it is usable--unless your local utility uses chloroform to treat it. In that case, use distilled water for all of your workings. You should still boil ther distilled water and let it cool before use. Whenever possible and safe, use water from your biome.
To start, you will need a way to safely collect, store and probably process water. Brown glass bottles with a shatterproof coating are preferred for storage. They are light-tight, something that will be relevant in a few posts. A glass (not plastic) funnel, new clean caps, a few labels, a large bowl made of an inert substance like glass, and a water proof marker are next on the list. Finally, you will need a small gold object. If you don't own any gold jewelry, go to a hobby and crafts store and purchase one or two sheets of real gold leaf. You might want to pick up a few bits of silver leaf too, remembering to wrap both of them individually in paper and put them away.
The first tool that you are going to make will 'riff off of the first esoteric exercise in the prior lesson--The Solar Adoration. This will show you a few things to do with that bit of work.
The Solar Adoration part II--adding sound
For this, we will add a sonic component to the Adoration. In the last lesson you were instructed to procure a standard telephone, or at least record a file of actual, old fashion telephone dial tone. This will be your standard reference for a while. Dial tone in the States is actually an "A" 440 hz sine wave. With this tool all by itself, you can tune any standard instrument, including your voice.
Repeat the vocal warm up exercises as before. This time, drop your head slightly, relax the jaw and cheek muscles, inhale slowly, and say---
"Aaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh" five or six times. Listen to the way that the sound will change. Do not fight this--allow the voice to wander as it will. Try to match the sound you are making to the dial tone. When in doubt, open your mouth wider and relax.
The simplest way to enhance the experience of chanting is to use the hood of a heavy robe with stiffening wire in the hood. This will create a sound baffle, making the experience of chanting more intimate, and will allow you to more readily feel the chant of a simple sound. Feel the warmth of the sunlight flow through you, merging with the chant.
Now let's put the Solar Adoration together with a bit of standard sympathetic work. Determine the times of greatest solar intensity for your location for the day. There are standard charts you could use, but they may not be accurate if you have lots of cloud cover. Pick the first day of the week--Sunday.
At the time of greatest light, perform the Solar Adoration with the vowel chant nine times. Using boiled/filtered water that you have already prepared, place a shred of the gold leaf or clean gold object into the bowl. Let the water stand in the sunlight as you chant. As you hold the bowl, focus on feeling the light, the ways that it dances off your body and other objects outdoors. Concentrate on this feeling for a few minutes, then pour the water out of the bowl, into the brown glass bottle with the funnel. Bring the bottle inside and set it into a space where it will not be disturbed. Label the bottle with the date, time and contents of the bottle. Please place it aside for future use.
Water is quite important, and this is a quck "how to" on the topic.
For most esoteric purposes, it is preferable to start with pure, clean local spring water. Failing this, you can filter and boil and let the tap water stand for 24 hours and it is usable--unless your local utility uses chloroform to treat it. In that case, use distilled water for all of your workings. You should still boil ther distilled water and let it cool before use. Whenever possible and safe, use water from your biome.
To start, you will need a way to safely collect, store and probably process water. Brown glass bottles with a shatterproof coating are preferred for storage. They are light-tight, something that will be relevant in a few posts. A glass (not plastic) funnel, new clean caps, a few labels, a large bowl made of an inert substance like glass, and a water proof marker are next on the list. Finally, you will need a small gold object. If you don't own any gold jewelry, go to a hobby and crafts store and purchase one or two sheets of real gold leaf. You might want to pick up a few bits of silver leaf too, remembering to wrap both of them individually in paper and put them away.
The first tool that you are going to make will 'riff off of the first esoteric exercise in the prior lesson--The Solar Adoration. This will show you a few things to do with that bit of work.
The Solar Adoration part II--adding sound
For this, we will add a sonic component to the Adoration. In the last lesson you were instructed to procure a standard telephone, or at least record a file of actual, old fashion telephone dial tone. This will be your standard reference for a while. Dial tone in the States is actually an "A" 440 hz sine wave. With this tool all by itself, you can tune any standard instrument, including your voice.
Repeat the vocal warm up exercises as before. This time, drop your head slightly, relax the jaw and cheek muscles, inhale slowly, and say---
"Aaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh" five or six times. Listen to the way that the sound will change. Do not fight this--allow the voice to wander as it will. Try to match the sound you are making to the dial tone. When in doubt, open your mouth wider and relax.
The simplest way to enhance the experience of chanting is to use the hood of a heavy robe with stiffening wire in the hood. This will create a sound baffle, making the experience of chanting more intimate, and will allow you to more readily feel the chant of a simple sound. Feel the warmth of the sunlight flow through you, merging with the chant.
Now let's put the Solar Adoration together with a bit of standard sympathetic work. Determine the times of greatest solar intensity for your location for the day. There are standard charts you could use, but they may not be accurate if you have lots of cloud cover. Pick the first day of the week--Sunday.
At the time of greatest light, perform the Solar Adoration with the vowel chant nine times. Using boiled/filtered water that you have already prepared, place a shred of the gold leaf or clean gold object into the bowl. Let the water stand in the sunlight as you chant. As you hold the bowl, focus on feeling the light, the ways that it dances off your body and other objects outdoors. Concentrate on this feeling for a few minutes, then pour the water out of the bowl, into the brown glass bottle with the funnel. Bring the bottle inside and set it into a space where it will not be disturbed. Label the bottle with the date, time and contents of the bottle. Please place it aside for future use.
Sunday, February 4, 2007
First Tools for Druid Comrades
Tools For Druid Comrades, Part I
It has been said by the Wise (or at least by press agents!) that everything important should be taught in the first lesson. It will take the student more than a little time to unpack, absorb and apply that first lesson, so additional materials need to be presented.
The Spirit Band
1. Take an afternoon or evening, preferably under a tree or amidst the living green earth, and describe on paper (or into a recorder, or whatever other means you find comfortable and suitable) how it was that you came to be present there, at that moment. And yes, I do mean that you start with the Big Bang (you can truncate the first 13.7 billion years into a few words if you wish), and then tell the story of how your parents or grandparents came to be married or meet. Have any of your relatives said "You look an awful lot like your aunt Germaine!" or something similar? That's good information to have. What were the early and possibly under-recognized influences that made you into the person that you are today, and how will you use those forces to shape yourself into the person you will work to become?
2. Acknowledging the ancestors isn's entirely some theoretical foray into fogginess-you are an incarnation of all of those folks who happened to be direct ancestors on your family tree. Your features, biochemistry and a host of other factors were subtly shaped over a very long period of time. Remember what it is to be a part of a community, one that includes the living and the deceased. Those who have passed over still speak to us, so long as memory is held within the world. It is almost certain that there were people who influenced you who have died. Remember the contributions they made to your life, and find words, dance or other methods to explicate this.
3. Find a way to honor nature wherever it is that you live. Donate a few hours to the parks commission, fund the planting of trees, donate money to an environmental cause, but do something in the here and now.
Attaining the Silence
1. The first step in the process is to find the small silent places within yourself. While some can find the Silence in a rave with flashing lights and sirens blaring, most of us need quieter settings to let go of the distractions that we encounter much of the time. It is something of a misstatement to suggest that the Silence can be hold continuously. My experience is that it is an intermittant state that we drift in and out of as our consciousness shifts towards--and away from this as a focus. Find a comfortable position in a safe place with suitable lighting. You don't need any specific seated, kneeling or standing pose. Choose something that is suitable and unique to this procedure.
Solar Adoration
Esoteric activities are generally divided into active and passive exercises. This is certainly one of the more powerful, if passive forms. A solar adoration is basically an opportunity to think like a plant in the eye of light, the sun. You'll need to determine the times for greatest intensity of light--generally 10 am to noon. Find a place where you can stand out in the sun, lifting your arms towards it, keeping your eyes partially closed. If possible, wear loose clothing. Feel the warmth of the light as it plays on your skin--but not for too long, as the strength of the sun is also its sword. Simply breathe, and feel the light fill you. Repeat as needed. Record your experiences in a journal, even if the entry is only a word or so in length.
Mauvine Synthesis Recipe
Note--(5/28)2007) The recipe given here initially turned out to be quite inaccurate after a considerably lengthy search for the synthesis recipe. Making even a small quantity requires the use of several solvents that are quite harsh and best NOT used by folks who don't have access to an organic chemist and a full industrial or University laboratory. I have therefore pulled it from this post.)
If you look at the range of bright synthetic dyes available at any good crafts or fabric store you should be able to find one color among the selection there that you find appealing. Alternatively, following the manufacturer's recommendations you could blend two or more colors to get a shade you like. For these purposes, something between blue, bright red and purple would be most suitable. It should be a dyestuff that can permanently dye silk.
Following the instructions on the dye bottle scrupulously, dye approximately two yards of raw silk with this dye, and pour the undiluted remainder into an amber bottle, label it and stopper it tightly. You will need this later for constructing an almost entirely authentic spirit mirror that was typical of the 19th century.
It has been said by the Wise (or at least by press agents!) that everything important should be taught in the first lesson. It will take the student more than a little time to unpack, absorb and apply that first lesson, so additional materials need to be presented.
The Spirit Band
1. Take an afternoon or evening, preferably under a tree or amidst the living green earth, and describe on paper (or into a recorder, or whatever other means you find comfortable and suitable) how it was that you came to be present there, at that moment. And yes, I do mean that you start with the Big Bang (you can truncate the first 13.7 billion years into a few words if you wish), and then tell the story of how your parents or grandparents came to be married or meet. Have any of your relatives said "You look an awful lot like your aunt Germaine!" or something similar? That's good information to have. What were the early and possibly under-recognized influences that made you into the person that you are today, and how will you use those forces to shape yourself into the person you will work to become?
2. Acknowledging the ancestors isn's entirely some theoretical foray into fogginess-you are an incarnation of all of those folks who happened to be direct ancestors on your family tree. Your features, biochemistry and a host of other factors were subtly shaped over a very long period of time. Remember what it is to be a part of a community, one that includes the living and the deceased. Those who have passed over still speak to us, so long as memory is held within the world. It is almost certain that there were people who influenced you who have died. Remember the contributions they made to your life, and find words, dance or other methods to explicate this.
3. Find a way to honor nature wherever it is that you live. Donate a few hours to the parks commission, fund the planting of trees, donate money to an environmental cause, but do something in the here and now.
Attaining the Silence
1. The first step in the process is to find the small silent places within yourself. While some can find the Silence in a rave with flashing lights and sirens blaring, most of us need quieter settings to let go of the distractions that we encounter much of the time. It is something of a misstatement to suggest that the Silence can be hold continuously. My experience is that it is an intermittant state that we drift in and out of as our consciousness shifts towards--and away from this as a focus. Find a comfortable position in a safe place with suitable lighting. You don't need any specific seated, kneeling or standing pose. Choose something that is suitable and unique to this procedure.
Solar Adoration
Esoteric activities are generally divided into active and passive exercises. This is certainly one of the more powerful, if passive forms. A solar adoration is basically an opportunity to think like a plant in the eye of light, the sun. You'll need to determine the times for greatest intensity of light--generally 10 am to noon. Find a place where you can stand out in the sun, lifting your arms towards it, keeping your eyes partially closed. If possible, wear loose clothing. Feel the warmth of the light as it plays on your skin--but not for too long, as the strength of the sun is also its sword. Simply breathe, and feel the light fill you. Repeat as needed. Record your experiences in a journal, even if the entry is only a word or so in length.
Mauvine Synthesis Recipe
Note--(5/28)2007) The recipe given here initially turned out to be quite inaccurate after a considerably lengthy search for the synthesis recipe. Making even a small quantity requires the use of several solvents that are quite harsh and best NOT used by folks who don't have access to an organic chemist and a full industrial or University laboratory. I have therefore pulled it from this post.)
If you look at the range of bright synthetic dyes available at any good crafts or fabric store you should be able to find one color among the selection there that you find appealing. Alternatively, following the manufacturer's recommendations you could blend two or more colors to get a shade you like. For these purposes, something between blue, bright red and purple would be most suitable. It should be a dyestuff that can permanently dye silk.
Following the instructions on the dye bottle scrupulously, dye approximately two yards of raw silk with this dye, and pour the undiluted remainder into an amber bottle, label it and stopper it tightly. You will need this later for constructing an almost entirely authentic spirit mirror that was typical of the 19th century.
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