Web page blessing Invite the Quarters: Air, Fire, Water, and Earth. I Invite Spirit. Their Powers combined with Mine, I bless and protect these pages. I Ask the Goddess and Her Consort to look with favour upon this, My endeavor. That no harm come to them or to those who visit here. That all may find what they Seek, for the Good of All, According to the Free Will of All, To Honor the Lady and Lord, Bringing harm to none. Through all time and space, in all places. So mote it be... Dedication In dedication to the thousands of us who practice Earth religions, and seek both balance and unity in their lives. To those of us who see the different paths, and have chosen to pick the way carefully and follow it with dedication. To those of us who have "come out of the broom closet", and to those of us who are content to hold solitary ritual. To those that perished in the Burning Times, and to those that still fight for our religious freedom. We give you thanks. May our world-wide Circle of Faith, Love, and Dedication to the Craft bind us together as a community... as a family. O gracious Goddess; Lady of the Moon, Stars and sky. O gracious God; Lord of the Hunt, Fields and Forests. I beseech you to look upon us and join us. Grant us, your children; the Wisdom that what we seek, we shall find! O gracious Goddess of the Moonlit Waters and Gentle Breezes, O gracious God of Nature and it's Abundance, Come fold your Arms about us and share with us your enduring Warmth and Love as we harmonize with you and all living things! Look upon us with Love and Ward us as we gaze upon your endless Mysteries with eyes that have never yet seen! So Mote it Be! COMPUTER MAGICK Spell for a Smoother Internet Connection! MATERIAL COMPONENTS: none (though it doesn't hurt to get something to represent the gods Mercury and Ganesh, like pictures or herbs). If you're having trouble linking into your provider, sit back and let the program begin the connection process. Visualize a smoothly running brook and say the following: Smooth as running water flows, So this Internet connection goes. Mercury and Ganesh. Ganesh and Mercury. Lend your power. So mote it be! As you say this, visualize a colorless flow of energy between you and the machine. Usually by the time you do this two or three times, you'll end up with a smooth connection no matter how much trouble you had before. Computer Possession? Computer acting up and your virus scanner says your bug-free? Consider that you may have an infestation of another kind. I had this very same problem and couldn't figure out why installs were going bad with random errors and the top-of-the-line equipment was glitching as if it were 20 year old scrap. No viruses and everything hooked up properly, too. I was stumped until I came into my office in the dark one night to get something. I saw this large, amorphous black THING zoom past my face and vanish into the area surrounding the computer. It was then that I realized that we had a ghost in the machine so to speak. I thought about that with some skepticism at first. A few days later, a friend of mine mentioned the fact that the Internet, to which I am connected on a daily basis, is a very powerful source of innovative, diverse energies. Therefore, it makes the perfect feeding ground for discriminating negative spirit and curious positive spirit alike. So in order to solve all of our magazine's computer problems, my Assistant Editor and I decided to perform a banishing/protection ritual before attempting to set the system straight for the 5th time. We mixed every oil we had with protection, cleansing and/or banishing powers into one rather potent batch of blended oil (with jojoba as a base). We smudged the machine and all of its accessories and asked the Lord and Lady to aid us in clearing all negative forces from the tools we use to spread their wisdom. We also invoked the spirit of Armadillo (Protection) to guard the equipment and offered some tobacco. We used the oil to inscribe a pentacle on each component of the setup (careful to keep it away from the open vents and crevices). Next, we taped two pieces of parchment with warding sigils and a brief written spell to each side of the computer's tower (the parchment and sides of the tower were also anointed with oil pentacles). We offered some sandalwood incense for all other spirits who wished to aid us in our task. As a final precaution, we sealed all entries to the room and the machine (including the plate where the phone lines come in and the air conditioner) with a pentacle inscribed with the oil. So far, the plague of problems seems to have ceased and all systems are operational. Sure, it looks a little odd to visitors to have the runes and sigils hanging on the tower, but I think it adds a unique flair to our office. SPELL TO FREE ONESELF FROM EXCESSIVE COMPUTER ENCHANTMENT Many good folk have found themselves ensnared in a growing web of computer generated artifice and glamoury. While computers are sometimes a useful tool, one must take care to have a healthy relationship with them. If you have found that they seem to be draining your time and energy away, or slowly invading your soul, then this spell is for you. If you are seeing pixels, icons, and dialog boxes in your dreams, it may already be too late, but give this spell a try anyway. 0. Seat your self comfortably in front of your computer, turn it on, and start one of your favorite programs. Light a candle somewhere in plain view. Non photo blue is the best color for the candle, though any color will do. 1. Breathe deeply in sets of five breaths until you feel light headed and jumpy. (Actually other numbers than five will work. It is important that the number be greater than three and NOT a power of two (2,4,8,16... etc) since computers are ruled by powers of two. Prime numbers work best, since computers have the least power over prime numbers, a basic principle of computer cryptography.) Squirm in your seat and giggle if you feel the need to do so. 2. Visualize a vast web of connection flowing through the computer screen to all the others who are on line, especially your on line friends and relations. If appropriate, see if you can become erotically aware of any of them in this process. 3. You are now ready to employ the mantra for this working. The mantra comes from one of techno culture's wise elders and prophets, Marshall McLuhan. It is as follows: "The medium is the message." Breathe deeply five times again and begin to do things on the computer. Chant "The medium is the message.", click the mouse or type a word, and chant the mantra again, until you have repeated the mantra five times. Focus on the image of the screen independent of any assigned meaning it may have. If may be helpful to set text on the screen to a nonsense font such as Symbol or Dingbats, if possible. Lean back and let your hands fall away from the keyboard or mouse while scrying into the screen. Be open to whatever messages it has for you. 4. Breath in sets of five again, and focus your attention at the candle flame. When you are ready, chant the mantra "The medium is the message." five times at the flame, pausing to breathe three times between each repeat. Relax, and continue to focus on the flame. Be open to whatever messages it has for you. 5. If you had trouble focusing on the candle flame due to distraction from the computer screen, or if you feel that this excercise has been ridiculous and ineffectual so far, you may wish to attempt the following visualization. If you are feeling relaxed and empowered at this stage, you *should* skip to the next step. The visualization: Close your eyes and breath deeply to enter a trance state. Imagine a vast musty space such as the interior of a warehouse. Feel the air currents, smell the slightly stale air, hear the faint reverberations. You are flying through this vast space in the darkness on moth wings. Two glowing lights can be seen, and you fly toward one of them. The light is dazzling and flickering like the beating of your wings. It is colorful and dancing. You try to grow closer to this light, but a hard layer of glass holds you back. You beat against the glass desperately, seeking a way around it. Finally you fall back from it exhausted. You then see the other light again, and it is warm, sensuous, and undulating. You fly toward its friendlier glow. This new glow envelops and welcomes you until suddenly in a hot flash, it has engulfed you, and all sign of the previous flickering light is overwhelmed in a pulsating wave of ecstasy. The glowing light is all, and the heat unbearable. Then there is a sudden coolness and the light shatters into millions of stars in the blackness of space. Your ashes float through space until they start falling toward a beautiful blue green planet. You fall through its atmosphere and into the clouds. The clouds rain on the ground below and you are carried by the cool water into the rich welcoming earth where seeds sleep ready to burst forth in new growth. Realize that this earth is the same as the ground beneath you, and return to the room, opening your eyes if haven't already. Yes, if the simpler part of this spell doesn't seem to be working, really DO this visualization. Just reading it as a story will not have the same effect. If this doesn't shake your soul loose from the screen, you may wish to seek a friendly exorcist. In any case, continue to the next step. 6. Turn the computer off. A complete power down, including the monitor. Come on, you can do it. If any internal voices are telling you not to bother with this step, examine where they are coming from and what motivates them. 7. Return to the candle. Visualize a vast web of connection flowing from the candle flame to others you know, spanning across the earth. If appropriate, see if you can become erotically aware of any of these others in this process. When you feel you have extended this visualization as far as is comfortable, pull slowly back to yourself and the room you are in. 8. Relax and meditate on what you have experienced so far for about five minutes. Even if all you have experienced is amusement or boredom, take note of this, and reflect upon it. 9. Get up and stretch thoroughly. Open a window or door to the outside, even if you have to walk a long way to do this, and offer a breath to the spirit of the wind. Look up to the sky, and down toward the earth. If any energy feels excessive, wound up, or nervous, let this flow down to the earth. 10. Cleansing afterward is recommended. A white sage smudge and/or a calming bath would help accomplish this, for example. 11. If you have experienced anything noteworthy, write about this, by hand, away from your computer. 12. Rinse, repeat as needed. All rites reversed, copy this rite anywhere. To obtain the author's blessing for this, spin three times clockwise and tap a nearby piece of wood.