Example of a multi-pantheon Left-Hand ritual

I tend to think of my own spiritual practice as rather unique among other magicians/ shamans/ witches/ who cares. I work with the gods of my ancestry most primarily but I am not ignorant of the fact that all life on this planet has descended from star dust, this pretty much means that I believe on some level all life on this world is related to me. This works for me as a left-hand worker because all beliefs are based on human perception, not only the gods but all of reality are a manifestation of my own super-consciousness. I wanted to write a brief ritual for my own personal practice based on what I work with and what I believe in, I decided to post in for not only feedback but also to put the information out there for people who feel they are being forcibly pigeonholed into a belief system.

I like to set up my altar in a very nature based way mostly involving such things as feathers, pelts, and various animal skulls being used to evoke a certain totemic power. I especially make sure that each of the elements is represented (air, earth, fire, water, and spirit). The only definite things that I make sure is on my altar is someplace for an offering whether it be a burning bowl for immolation or a bowl to place offerings until they can be buried or placed outside and a large urn for incense. I prefer to make my own incense contain several plants with slightly psychotropic effects to enhance my gnosis but any incense that helps set the atmosphere will do just fine.

The first part of my personal ritual is to consecrate a ritual space, I personally prefer the Wiccan method of calling the 4 corners. As someone who works with and is descended from the rokkr and Jotuns I often call them in as my protectors and witnesses for my ritual, The entire ritual should be as tribal and primal as possible with as much drumming and dancing as you  can include . Below is an example of what I might do.

CALLING OF CORNERS

To the North, the power of Earth I call Fenris the dread wolf to come bear witness and fill me with your power

To the East, the power of Air I call Hela the corpse maiden to come bear witness and fill me with your power

To the South, the power of Fire I call Loki of the silver tongue to come bear witness and fill me with your power

To the West, the power of Water I call Jormungandr the embracer of worlds to come bear witness and fill me with your power

Aurgelmir, primal father of the oldest and mightiest of races please come and enter this space with all of your children so that all the realms may quake at out fury.

Angrboda, wolf maiden please come lend your strength to this space and bring with you my brothers and sisters of the Jarnvidr. Let the howls of our tribes shake the very roots of yggdrassil.

Surtr the lord of fire and father of Muspelheim bring with you the raw might of he eldest of realms so that we may burn all obstacle and opposition in our pathway to power.

That is an example of how I would used my practice of Jotnartru to call corners and prepare myself for the ritual. I personally prefer to use a sword rather then a hammer for obvious reasons. Now as a left hand shaman most of my ritual work honestly tends to go towards self empowerment. I learned many self empowerment techniques over my years of practice but what has honestly stuck with me the most are Hindu mantras. Not all of the Hindu gods resonate with me but the main 2 that I work with on a regular basis are Shiva and Kali who are two sides of the same coin and are actually commonly worshiped by the left hand monks of India. These two gods actually are merely male and female aspects of the greater consciousness of reality, so in other words by chanting mantras to these two with the intent of self empowerment you are securing your link to the true reality and powering up your full self. I recommend getting a string of mala beads and doing a full round of 108 mantras to each deity. Remember to keep the intent of connecting to the greater source and self empowerment in  mind while chanting.

Kali

I normally like to start with the purging mantra of Maha Kali. Maha Kali is the representation of Kali as the black totality of the universe. The incarnation of the dark mother is one of the most powerful in all of Vedic culture.

KALI mantra…..OM SRI MAHA KALIKAYEI NAMAHAH….remember to repeat this 108 times.

Shiva

After chanting to Kali who is the female power of the universe I chant to Shiva who is the male aspect of the universe. The energy created by both will feel very similar but the difference here is in the mantras themselves. The Kali mantra above is used to purge the body while the Shiva mantra that I am sharing is used to expand your consciousness. Try to think of Kali tearing you down to be rebuilt with Shiva’s energy.

SHIVA mantra…..SHIVOHAM….repeat this 108 times

Yes I know that Shivoham is only one word but it means “I am Shiva” and is a traditional mantra dating back untold millenia. The basic purpose as I already stated is to fill yourself with Shiva’s energy by literally becoming Shiva himself.

BAPHOMET meditation

This is a great image of what you are trying to manifest during the blending of energies

Now I generally like to link the energy of the masculine and feminine together in my body by meditating on Baphomet. Baphomet is the god of alchemy and the union of opposites. I do not view him as a god but rather as a sort of avatar of reality, he is all of the universe in one form. He contains all elements and all opposition forces coexisting seamlessly in one body. After chanting I like to sit cross legged and actually visualize myself as Baphomet and ask him to help blend all of these energies together and make me a living avatar of reality as he is.I also like to chant the Hindu mantra of “So Hum”. This mantra literally means “I am that”, inhale with so and exhale with hum. These exercises can all be very powerful especially with all of the chanting but try to make it through as best as you can while remaining focused, if you lose focus just recenter and continue when ready. After I am through with the Baphomet meditation I like to offer a small prayer of thanks to him/her but remember that the praise you give is to yourself so feel proud and confident in your new found strength.

The final thing I do before closing out the ritual is to place my offering on the altar, I would recommend a burned offering for these deities but you do whatever feels best to you. Just be sure you give the same respect in closing as you did in inviting them in, none of the things that you invited would take kindly to being rudely dismissed.

So that is an example of a ritual I might do and how I combine the various pantheons that I work with into one seamless ritual. Many people would be annoyed that I put 3 separate pantheons into one ritual but I would just tell them to research exactly what the definition of “left-hand path” is before they continue criticizing me.

Chakra analysis using western totemic shamanism

I recently learned of a new totem meditation combining eastern and western Shamanic practices. The theory behind the practice is to go through each of the seven major chakras individually and allow an animal to visualize representing the health and nature of the chakra. I found that the most useful way of interpreting the animals that appear was not to look them up in a book but rather to sit and think about what each animal means to you and your own subconscious. First though a little bit about each of the seven major chakras (thank you http://www.timewheel.net for the good descriptions).

1. Muladhara  (root sound is  Lam)                                                                                                                                                  Located at the end of the spine between the anus and sex organs, the first chakra or root chakra is responsible for security and survival. Known as Muladhara, the root chakra is represented by the color red. The root chakra, when unbalanced can bring feelings of fear, and insecurity. If energies are most prominent in the Muladhara, food and sleep will be the most important factors in your life. A healthy root chakra will provide initiates with a grounded state, instilling security, loyalty, and self acceptance.

2. Svadisthana (root sound is Vam)
Seated in the sexual organs and kidneys/bladder, the second chakra or Svadisthana is responsible for creativity and reproduction. Represented by the color orange, Svadisthana is the source of creative impulse, both artistically and reproductively. If the second chakra is unbalanced, initiates may be experiencing problems with sexual organs or the kidneys and may exhibit un-empathetic emotions, guilt, lack of boundaries, and irresponsible relationship habits. When balance is returned to Svadisthana, initiates may channel a healthy attitude and level of commitment towards sexual functions, relationships, and creativity. Those with energy dominant in Svadisthana will be seekers of pleasure.

3.Manipura (root sound is Ram)
The third chakra is known as the solar plexus chakra or, Manipura. Manipura governs action and balance, and is located at the navel point or solar plexus. Being represented by the hue of yellow, Manipura is the center of personal power and commitment, where the strength for inner balance, inspiration, and good health can be channeled, when the chakra is balanced. The solar plexus chakra corresponds to organs of sustainability like the liver, gall bladder, spleen, adrenal glands, pancreas, & digestive organs, the solar plexus chakra when unbalanced will manifest emotions of anger, greed, shame, or despair. Those with energy prominent in Manipura will be people of action, with a great desire to achieve.

4 .Anahata (root sound is yam)
The chakra of love and compassion is known as the heart chakra or Anahata. The heart chakra is located in the middle of the chest on the breast bone at the level of the nipples, and is represented by the color green. A healthy heart chakra will manifest itself through compassion; kindness; forgiveness; service; and love. Signs of an unbalanced heart chakra include grief, attachment, fear of rejection, helper syndrome, or heartlessness. Those with energy dominant in the Anahata will be a creator, and desire to create more than other things.

5.Vishuddha (root sound is ham)
The fifth chakra which is associated with the throat and thyroid, is the center for hearing and speaking the truth. Known as the throat chakra, Vishuddha is the center for truth, language, knowledge and the ability to communicate. The throat chakra is represented by light blue color. An unbalanced throat chakra will manifest itself in lethargy, weakness in expression, shyness, vocalization issues, insecurity, fear of others opinions and judgements. A balanced Vishuddha will bring initiates authenticity, inspiration, self expression and teaching.

6. Ajna (root sound is ohm)
Located between the eyebrows, the sixth chakra or Third Eye is the chakra of intuition, wisdom and identity and is located at the center of the brain, in the pineal gland. Represented by the color indigo, the Third Eye, when awakened and active will become the center of intuition and clairvoyance. Initiates will experience ease of concentration and determination, and will unlock powers of projection. Ones purpose will be will be revealed fully with an awakened third eye. Signs of a closed or unbalanced Third Eye include confusion, depression, and over-intellectualization.

7. Sahasrara (root sound is silence)
The seventh chakra is known as the crown chakra, or Sahasrara. Represented by the color violet, the crown chakra has been referred to as the chakra of humility and vastness. Sahasrara is located at the top of the head. Known as the seat of the soul, the crown chakra is the connection with divinity and the entry point for higher consciousness where the higher self can incarnate into the body. When the crown chakra becomes active initiates may be able to understand our multidimensional nature and communicate with multidimensional beings. Typically as people age, their crown chakra closes with the onset of ego structures and “chitta”, otherwise known as mental chatter. When kundalini energy rises from the root chakra up the spine through the crown chakra, a full awakening may take place fully awakening the spirit within the body.

So those are the seven basic chakras that this meditation will be dealing with. The first step in this meditation is to become comfortable with feeling the chakras within yourself. I would recommend either sitting cross legged or lying down and starting from the root chakra try to breathe into it. What I mean by this is imagine your breath is like a breath stoking hot coals, every deep breath causes the energy center to glow it’s respective color. I also like to chant the root sound while visualizing the energizing of my chakra. From here you can repeat the sequence slowly working upwards through your chakras and breathing the energy into each center.  Visualize them however works best for you, some people prefer to imagine them as wheels spinning faster with every breath rather then coals being heated. The major point in beginning though is to slow your breathing and begin to let distractions fade away. If you are new to meditation spend as long as you need just learning to calm your mind. In many cases you may need to work on just calming and relaxing before you even get into the chakras, there is no shame in this at all. It is better to spend some extra time to get it right after all.

The next step after you feel comfortable with where the chakras are and are able to remember such things as the colors and the root words are to begin the meditation as normal but this time spend a little bit longer in each chakra. After you feel that you have sufficiently put enough energy into each chakra ask your guides or inner self to allow a spirit animal to appear and help you in your journey. Normally an animal will appear within the chakra, a very important detail is to let your mind stay open. If you just pick the most badass animals then you aren’t really acheiving anything besides daydreaming and playing around.

After you are done with the seven chakras and come back to basic consciousness the first thing to do is right down what animals you saw and where, also any special characteristics about them such as health and size. Go and get a drink of water or something and then come back and try to realize what each animal means to you and how it relates to the chakra involved. Don’t over think it, your sub conscious doesn’t always need to make sense. Once you get done this you can draw or create your very own personal totem pole with your respective animals stacked like the chakras (badass tattoo idea).

I saw the following animals

1.Muladhara, Here in my red chakra I saw a hyena.

2. Svadisthana, here in my orange chakra I saw an opossum.

3. Manipura, in my yellow chakra I saw a large orb weaver spider.

4. Anahata, in my green Chakra I saw an octopus.

5. Vishuddha, in my blue chakra I saw a coyote.

6. Ajna, in my third eye chakra I saw a cat.

7. Sahasrara, in this chakra I saw a bison.

I hope all of you will find this experience as interesting as I did and hopefully be able to learn more about yourselves from it. I didn’t go into the meanings of each animal because for one they are personal to me and another reason is because I do not want to taint your opinion of an animal in case it shows itself to you.

A Prayer to Baphomet

A Prayer to Baphomet.

a wonderful blog post