Will Be Back to Posting Soon...

All has not been well in my world I'm afraid. Just spent a week in the hospital, and I'm on bed rest til I see the doctor on the 6th should too much movement send me into cardiac arrest... (I'm serious.)

But, as soon as my energy picks up I'll be back to doing posts and videos, I promise. Really miss you guys and this community! ♥♥♥

Just getting my etsy store back in order, starting a new workbook in a couple days, hoping to make some new products soon...Baby steps. Really wanna do a video, was planning on doing the Ritual of Gestures but then that whole "too much movement" "bed rest" thing...=/

Wish me well!

A Ritual of Gestures

I'm hoping to get a video done on this, but since that requires a little more energy than I have a this time, and my 

blog has been sadly neglected for this very reason, I thought I'd share it with you all now.

Ritual of Gestures

Stand in the ritual area.  Still your thoughts.  Breathe deeply for half a 
minute or so until composed and calm. Turn your mind to your Deities. 

Face North. Lift both hands to waist height, palms down. Press your fingers 
together,  creating two solid, flat planes. Sense solidity, foundation, 
fertility. Invoke the powers of the Earth through the gesture. 

Moments Later, turn toward the East. Raise your hands a foot higher, your palms 
facing away from you (no longer parallel with the ground), and elbows slightly 
bent. Spread your fingers and hold this position, sensing movement and 
communication. Invoke the forces  of Air through the gesture. 

Face South. Lift your hands fully above your head.  Keeping the elbows straight, 
grasp  your fingers  into tight fists. Feel force, power, creation and 
destruction. Invoke the forces  of Fire through the gesture. 

Turn to the West. Lower your hands a foot or so. Bend the elbows, turn your 
palms  upward and cup them, pressing the thumbs against the forefingers. Sense 
fluidity, the  ocean, liquidity. Invoke the forces of Water through the gesture. 

Face North again. Throw your head back and raise both hands to the sky, palms 
up, fingers spread.  Drink in the essence of The One, the unknowable, 
unapproachable ultimate source of all. Sense the mysteries within the universe. 

Lower your projective hand (your writing hand) but keep your receptive hand 
high.   Pressing the third, forth and fifth fingers against the palm, lift the 
forefinger and thumb to  create a rough crescent shape. Sense the reality of the 
Goddess. Sense Her love, Her fertility, Her compassion. Sense the powers of the 
Moon in the gesture; the force of the eternal seas - the presence of the 
Goddess.  Lower your receptive hand; lift your projective hand. Bend down the 
middle and forth fingers toward the palm, and trap them with the thumb.  Lift 
the forefinger and little finger up to the sky, creating a horned image.  Sense 
the reality of the God. Sense the power of the Sun in the gesture; the untamed  
energies of the  woodlands -  the presence of the God. 

Lower your projective hand. Lay down flat. Spread your legs and arms until 
you've created the pattern of a pentagram. Sense the powers of the elements 
running through you; merging and coalescing into your being. Sense them as 
emanations from The One, the Goddess and God. 

Meditate.  Commune.  Communicate. 
When finished, simply stand up.  Your rite of gestures is over. 

Divination Series - Part 8 - Stichomancy/Rhapsodomancy

Whose heard of Stichomancy, or its alternative, Rhapsodomancy? I sure hadn't until this Series, but amusingly enough had been engaging in this practice a good decade or so ago with my best friend of the time using a dictionary while bingeing on peanut butter oreos.

So what is Stichomancy (aka Bibliomancy), you're asking?
According to thefreedictionary.com:
Stich´o`man`cy

n.

1.

Divination by lines, or passages of books, taken at hazard.

So yeah. Pretty simple, right? We'll get to a basic "how to", but first, some more history:According to the Oxford English Dictionary the word bibliomancy - meaning “divination by books, or by verses of the Bible” – was first recorded in 1753. Sometimes this term is used synonymously with stichomancy (from sticho- “row, line, verse”) which can be defined as “divination by lines of verse in books taken at hazard”, and was first recorded ca. 1693. To make use of stichomancy, you don’t need a bible, all you need is a book or any reading material for that matter; even a magazine or newspaper can work just fine. Sometimes we are faced with decisions we just can’t find an answer to, and stichomancy can help reveal your subconscious thoughts and desires. It really works by the law of attraction: you will attract a passage in a book that you are meant to read at this point in time. Carl Jung called it synchronicity: same things happen at the same time. The book passage you will choose will be in perfect alignment with your vibration of energy. You can’t make a mistake. All forms of divination work that way. How To Bibliomancy practitioners traditionally use the bible to extract answers from. In stichomancy, any kind of any time period by any author can be used. Some psychics think that the book of choice should not be a very old book or any book that has been read by the person asking the question, because old and used books already have too much history in common with the questioner. Dog-eared books and books that always open on the same pages (those which have been read the most passionately) are perfect for others. I personally prefer books without a history. What you prefer is what may work for you. Very often, brand new books that do not have a history with the questioner but are fresh from the press, lead to astonishing and exact answers. So, how do you do this? You pick a book, preferably a new one with no history. You may take a book that has been in the possession of someone else. You ask a question with the intention of receiving an answer or a hint from the universe. You can say it aloud or to yourself. You open the book by putting a finger or finger nail anywhere you like between the pages. Then you pick a paragraph or passage without looking. Some people do this blind-folded, some don't. The Interpretation Of Book Passages Bibliomancy and stichomancy are very free techniques. They are a combination of interpreting poertry and throwing dices. This doesn't mean that they are techniques that will not be enjoyed by people who want straight answers. Sometimes they can really give you "aha!" moments by giving you astonishingly accurate book passages. Sometimes they don't. And that's when you have to contact your inner artist and ask her or him what to make of this. If you are an abstract thinker, stichomancy techniques may be thing for you.

So there you have it. Stichomancy. Who knew?