Scrolls

Red

               Cherry demons of fear

               Pink hearts of love

               Crimson banners of hope

 Orange

               Tangerine beginnings

               Rust wearing

               Amber endings

Yellow

               Canaries and songs

               Bananas and giggles

               Lemons and lemonade

Green

               Sour pickles

               Jealous peas

               Envious pistachios

Blue

               Sweet blue berries

               Rare blue moons

               Indigo blue sorrows

 Purple

               Violet of shyness

               Amethyst of forgiveness

               Periwinkle of persistence

 Brown

               Sturdy shoes

               Climbing ivory towers,

               Tall trees with copper leaves

 Grey

               Old people

               Telling smoky tales,

               Neither black, nor white, perhaps cream

 Gold

               Bright Yellow tinged orange

               Brightness and chill

               Silver but not silver

Silver

               Soft grey tinged white

               Sorrow and sunshine

               Gold but not gold

White

               All colours

               Spirits seen and unseen

Black

               No colours

               Final ending, farewell

Red moves on black

               Beginnings again and again and again

Dancing, dancing, dancing, red holds orange holds yellow holds green

Swirling, swirling, swirling, green and blue and purple

Blinding white holds all,

Deepening black holds none.

Softening brown lets glowing gold be welcoming silver

Sparkling silver reflects all

Dancing two, one, two, one

Last week, my girl friend and I had our annual birthday dinner at a local bar and grille. When we first met at work, we discovered that we both had the same birthday. So we started our tradition of paying for each other’s birthday dinners, which has continued on for more than thirty years. 

The local bar and grille is the hot spot for university students. Across from George Mason University (GMU), this eatery decorates their rooms with victory highlights from GMU sports. In 2004, GMU achieved the impossible for a small school. They became one of the Final Four teams in basketball’s March Madness. A whole room of the restaurant is filled with clippings and basketball jerseys from that year.

On the day we ate, the bar and grille was filled, with old people eating lunch. Noisily chattering to each other, they lined up for the all-you-can-eat buffet. Since this buffet featured cheap and filling food, my girlfriend ordered that for her lunch.

Since I have stomach troubles, the smells from the buffet became nauseating to me. Fried chicken mingled with fresh green peppers and hot fudge sauce making me very queasy. Finally my hamburger arrived saving me with its wonderful meat smell.

The seasoning of the meat allowed the flavors stand out. I enjoyed the onions and mushrooms flavored by the meat’s juices. Being brave, I then decided to have a warm chocolate brownie for dessert. It came covered with vanilla ice-cream. The sweet chocolate mingled with the cool vanilla which delighted me.

Talking for a long time, my friend and I compared birthday horror stories. She had spent all her time yet again taking care of sick family members. Meanwhile, I was sick with colon and stomach problems. After awhile, my friend just melted down crying. She simply did not want to spend the rest of her life caring for others. Because I felt sad for her, I hugged her for a long time.

Coming home, I came upon a roadside memorial of a teenager who was killed in a car accident, a day before our birthdays. At the turn off to my street, teenagers dressed in black gathered in mourning. This prompted me to ponder my friend’s life and her overwhelming sadness.

Two special journals that I keep are for divination purposes. I have two journals – one for seasonal readings and the other for daily card readings. When I get a new oracle deck or want to review an old one, I use the daily journal. For the seasonal journal, I record larger spreads using old familiar decks.

My daily reading is usually a three card spread. In my journal, I note the meaning of each card and anything that else attracts my attention. Also, I write about the theme of the cards for that day. Then, I compare my impressions with those of the manual (aka “Little White Book”). At the end of each week, I review any trends that may have emerged. After every month, I record the theme for that period.

Afterwards, I compare these daily readings with my regular journal to see if they match. I examine how the divination may have foretold any trend during my day. Sometimes the oracle is accurate, and sometimes a bit obscure.

Once I drew “Stormy weather” from the Dolphin Oracle Cards. Of course, I thought in terms of emotional relationships as most divination is usually about personal matters. However, later that afternoon, I was caught in a torrential downpour!

Another use for my divination journals is to compare various decks. Although in Tarot, the meanings of the cards are fairly standard, each author chooses a different aspect to focus on. By comparing each version of the card, the meaning expands into a rich tapestry of divination. (The same holds true for the animal and other oracles too.)

For the seasonal journal, I note how each deck compares with others by using similar spreads. Later, I would examine the trends of that journal with the daily one. At the end of the year, I would review both of them. For me, the two journals act together as one reference. 

These journals are useful to me as a reference tool for divination. When I compare and contrast them with the main journal, my divination knowledge deepens. This helps me to see how divination works. In my life, this is what I consider to be magick.

In school when I learned to write, I was instructed to use only black and blue ink in my reports. Red was reserved for corrections. However, I never understood this convention of limited ink colors. Once in middle school, I handed in a report written in green ink. My teacher promptly informed me of my mistake.

After I graduated from school, felt tip pens were invented. I can still remember the old commercials for Flair Pens. The commercials had a cast of characters writing in different colors of Flair Pens. The narrator intoned, “FLAIR WRITES ANGRY. Flair writes tender.  Flair writes happy.  Express yourself with flair!”

I decided to beautify my journal with colorful felt-tip pens. Each day, I wrote in a different color to see what emerged. It was an eye opener from the usual black gel pen. Each color had a personality that took over and determined the topic of the day.

With black, I could set forth the topic. Black, the ubiquitous servant, was the tool for expressing my final thoughts. Not as sophisticated as felt-tip Black, stolid Brown was more accessible. Respectable Brown dictated moral and serious topics.

On the other hand, Yellow was insubstantial. So bright was Yellow that it was hard to read. Ephemeral Yellow was happiness and sunshine. Like these, Yellow vanished only to return off in the future. Writing in Orange was a strange experience. A color of endings and beginnings, Orange exploded across the page. Writing in Orange was an exercise in volatility for me.

Meanwhile, Red came across in my journal as strength. This color ranged from joy to anger and in-between. With Red, I wrote of things that made me strong. Blue was more than the color of the sky. Blue became a reflection of all the colors. Like water, Blue is all things, and reflected this in my journal.

Writing in Purple was unsettling. Red and Blue, fire and water, all flowed together into Purple’s jagged edges. As I jumped from topic to topic, my writing became jerky. In contrast, Teal was freeing and serene to me. Using Teal, I could write about calming subjects. Teal reminded me of quiet happiness and warm moments.

I was surprised at how each color took hold of my writing, transforming each topic. What I intended to write did not happened; instead each color dictated my writing. In my journal, the colors added a third dimension. Each made the page come alive in a dialog with me. The colors became another element to my journal. My journal spoke to me beyond time and place with color.

Works Used:

“History of Papermate”, Papermate Company, 11, September 2009, http://www.papermate.com/sanford/consumer/papermate/history_frame.jhtml?timeframe=60

“Color Theory in Action”, Color Wheel Pro, 11, September 2009, http://www.color-wheel-pro.com/color-meaning.html

Soskin, Julie, How Psychic Are You?, Penguin, New York, 2002 (contains an extensive section on color.)

Keeping a magickal journal has been difficult for me. Perhaps it is my perceptions of the word “magick”.  When I think of magic with a “k”, I conjure up spells and occult ceremonies. For me, I find wonder in everyday things such as watching the rain form a stream behind my condo. Therefore, I struggle to keep a “magickal” journal in the manner that the Grey School suggests.

Journaling, for me, is a needful thing. What I write is often raw and unfiltered. Chronically depressed, I use writing as a form of therapy. I write to process my perceptions and emotions as suggested in cognitive therapy. Then I rewrite to realign my brain processes for healthier thinking. Keeping a journal is not an enjoyable experience for me as much as a necessary one.

With my magickal journal, I enter “final” things from my scratch journals. I view this particular journal as a final record. Most of what I write in it are poems and short essays--pieces of my thoughts and experiences. The subject material is usually spiritual in nature. How “magick” manifests itself in the world I live in is something I work on.  It is how I learn to grasp the concept of magic with a “k”.

An entry for August 10, 2009

Summer: Hot. Mood: Hot. Time: 9:30AM.

Impressions on listening to Alexander Borodin’s “In the Steppes of Central Asia”.

“Music brings memories to mind. Borodin’s “Steppes of Central Asia” was music that I heard when Will was a baby. I was struggling to connect with him. We were trying to breast feed. The music came on the radio. He settled down and looked at me with his big brown eyes and black hair. We went on a mystical journey to the music. It made us whole.”

When I wrote this, I was remembering a time when my son was a month old. We were both tired and stressed. I was lying in the bed looking at him, wondering who he was. He was doing the same with me. This is what I wrote down when I heard this particular piece of music again. I suppose that this is “magick” at work – recalling mystical moments beyond ordinary reality.

From when I was young, I kept a daily journal of my life. Annually, I would review them and make observations of where I was and where I was going. When I started doing divination, I did the same thing. I have a daily journal and one of observations.

When I started my Grey School career, I began an informal journal as the school has suggested. This magickal journal contains my observations on nature and other similar subjects. I also record what I had learned in my course work. All these journals are simple memo books used in schools.

As part of the Scroll and Staff Class, I decided to start a formal journal. I wanted a special book to record my final writings. I chose one from a local store that featured a company noted for handmade books. This particular journal appealed to me because it had a tree of life drawn on the front cover. Since I think of myself as a bud on the tree, it was fitting.

Another thing that appealed to me was that it was hand stitched. Each sheaf in the journal was made with recycled cotton fabric. Because it was wood-free, the book is also “eco-friendly”. All the pages had a sensual feel of old paper waiting to receive ink.

Being a Roman Pagan, magic is something that is alien to me. However consecrating a journal for me is the same as consecrating a building or a weapon. I adopted a ritual to ask the Muses to bless the journal and inspire me in my writing. I would use the Journal for finished poems, omens, and observations of things learnt in the Grey School. 

 
“The Legend of Master Stoorworm” Dragon

Physical: Long, lived in water, ate whatever his tongue reached, had bad breath.
Behavior: Yawned a lot, ate people, had a large appetite
Type: Sea serpent
Typical European Dragon: No
Why: Had no wings, and did not breathe fire
Notes: Killed when liver was set on fire. Body formed various islands. Was typical of the “great serpents shaping the land” world myths.

“Beowulf and the Firedrake” Dragon

Physical: claws, needle teeth, breathed fire, keen sense of smell
Behavior: Guarded treasure. Did not attack until its treasure was stolen.
Type: Firedrake
Typical European Dragon: Yes
Why: Guarded treasure, breathed fire
Notes: Lived peacefully until treasure was stolen.

“St. George and the Dragon” Dragon

Physical: Large green scales, massive wings, long curly tail, many eyes on back
Behavior: Lived in swamps, ate people, terrorized everyone
Type: Lindorm
Typical European Dragon: Yes
Yes: Had the classic description, had a “damsel in distress”
Notes: Not say why dragon was angry unless Christians took over where he lived.

“St. Romain and the Gargouille” Dragon

Physical: Snaky body and neck, slender head and jaws, moonstone eyes, membrane fins, no legs
Behavior: Slithered, lived in the river, flood the countryside with water, afraid of the Cross
Type: Gargouille
Typical European Dragon: No
Why: Spouted water instead of fire
Notes: No mentioned of eating people. Only wanted the territory
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Copyright: Virginia Carper, 2009, Animal Teachers Enterprises

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