Guardian spirit

The belief in guardian or guide spirits originated in tribal
cultures. The spirit, usually in an animal form, protects,
individuals, tribes, clans, or provides some sort of magical shamanic
power. The power possessed by the animal is generally believed to
represent the collective power of the entire species or genus, giving
the animal magical abilities to perform extraordinary feats, such as
the wolf with the power to fight.

These spirits usually appear in animal form, but have the ability to
assume human form too. In their animal form it is believed they can
talk to humans. This belief in animal formed spirits is derived from
a stronger belief that animals and humans were once related.

Beliefs concerning guardian spirits vary among the various tribal
cultures. Many tribes believe every male child is born with a
guardian spirit to protect him, otherwise he would never reach
adulthood. Other tribes believe not every male successfully gets a
guardian spirit; those who do not experience weakness and failure in
their lives.

Most tribes assume that it is less important for girls to acquire
guardian spirits because when reaching womanhood they do not become
hunters and warriors. Although, some tribes do have minor rites for
girls to acquire guardian spirits.

Totem guardian spirits are known among the Native North Americans,
especially among the tribes along the Northwest Coast. These totem
spirits can protect an entire tribe or clan with collective power or
the individual power of the animal. The totem animal is sacred to
that particular tribe. If, for example, a tribe's totem animal is a
bear, no member of that tribe is permitted to kill a bear, but the
tribe may eat flesh of a bear killed by another tribe.

In Shamanic cultures the shaman is required to have a guardian
spirit. He cannot be a shaman without one. The guardian spirit
empowers the shaman with its magical powers and serves as the
shaman's "animal power" or his alter ego.

Within an altered state of consciousness, in which he performs his
duties, the shaman assumes the form and power of the guardian spirit.
He sees it, converses with it, and uses it to help him achieve his
mission. The guardian is never harmful to the shaman but escorts him
through the underworld or accompanies him on his mystical ascents
into the sky.

The shaman can contact his guardian spirit regularly. This is
called "dancing the animal." Although, one guardian spirit does not
remain with the shaman throughout his life. The stays of the spirits
are temporary, and new spirits replace them.

Guardian spirits are not the same as "spirit helpers" which have
minor powers and specialized functions such as curing certain
diseases and illnesses. A shaman may use spirit helpers collectively.
And, guardian spirits are not to be confused with helper spirits.
Neither are guardian spirits to be confused with the tonal, a spirit
in animal form, which symbolizes the person's soul or birth date; nor
are they familiars.

There are several ways of acquiring guardian spirits: seeking a
solitary spirit quest or vision quest in the wilderness; spirits may
come in dreams to some persons; many tribes require the acquisition
of a guardian spirits during initiation rites into manhood. In some
rites hallucinogenic drugs are used.

One way of communicating with one's guardian spirit is during
ecstatic dancing when the person enters a trance state and assumes
the form of the animal. The Zuni, for example, call this
dance "Calling the Beasts."

From the tribal view point most Westerners still have guardian
spirits, but are not aware of them throughout their lives. This is
because of their lost contact with nature, and thus they rob
themselves of this source of greater reinforcing power. A.G.H.

Source:

Guiley, Rosemary Ellen.
Harper's Encyclopedia of Mystical and Paranormal Experience.
New York: HarperCollins, 1991
[ISBN 0-06-250366- 9]

At first I wasn't going to write about this but then I said why not? It is part of my life. May with Beltane symbolizing new beginnings I wanted to do something that I would remember, that would be a statement only I would know about as far are being visual.  After my husband died in March I was at a loss, and still am, but with my Beltane ritual came an awareness that unfortunately I had to start my life anew. I would always remember him of course but I needed something visual also. So as a symbol of my reaffirmation to the Lord and Lady I got my belly button pierced. I know, here I am 51 and doing something most kids are getting over. I don't wear short tops etc., so unless I pull up my shirt no one will ever know or see it. But I will know and it will remind me that new beginnings are not painful, just a bit scary.

Raising the Dragon

Almost every Witch has a pet cause or environmental problem they feel particularly concerned about. This could be cruelty to animals, the plight of the dolphin or an endangered species or simply the overall damage to our planet. Whilst it is not really within the power of any one Witch to cure such global problems, the work that each of us performs does make a difference. Our Magical work contributes towards reversing the trends and bringing back nature's balance. Where we direct our energy towards assisting an organization already committed to solving the problem, perhaps by working towards making their views heard, we can often find that a little Magic goes a long way.

One of the most potent ways of providing Magical assistance is often called Raising the Dragon'. In your Circle, visualize a great dragon curled up inside the planet. Take your time envisaging its appearance and, if you can color it in sympathy with your chosen cause.
Call to it with your heart and mind and empower it with your energy, wake it and when you feel that you have its attention, tell it of the problem and of the results you would like to see. Tell it also that you are asking it to contribute its own energies and that once it has worked its own Magic that it may return, with your thanks, to its home.
Then, with all your strength, get it to rise out of its lair and flying
clockwise, or Deosil, to go to the problem. Once you have released the dragon, watch it with your mind's eye and you will see it fly around the globe three times. Once it begins its descent to the land you may release the image, as your part is done.
Remember to be careful what you wish for and choose a specific problem - do not simply work for 'the good of the planet'. After all, one way of healing Mother Earth might be to remove all the people!
Do not perform this Ritual more than once a month, as it can, and should require a lot of personal energy and to do it too often will almost certainly result in you becoming drained.

amethystwicca. com

Are the Quakers Going Pagan?

When his partner died in 2004, Kevin-Douglas Olive reached a
crossroads in his faith. Even though he had been a Quaker for almost
two decades and put his trust in Jesus, he began to explore other
ways of tapping into the divine. "I had this experience of (my
partner) after death, and he spoke to me and woke me up out of my
sleep," Olive says. "It freaked me out, because I really didn't
believe in that stuff; ... my faith in God had disappeared when my
partner died." He started to explore Wicca, a nature-based pagan
religion, surrounding himself with pentacles, candles and incense.
But that didn't stick. "It seemed like more make-believe on top of
the Christian make-believe, " he says. "I was rejecting one; I didn't
want to bring in another." Even after Olive found his way back to
Jesus, he retained some elements of paganism. While he upholds the
standard traditions of his local Quaker meeting hall, he privately
incorporates pagan ritual into his prayer.

He's part of a small but growing movement of Quakers who also
identify as pagan - a trend that may or may not exist in other
Christian traditions, but certainly not in such an organized, public
fashion. Across the board, the number of Quakers is dwindling, to
roughly 100,000 in the U.S. But if Quakerism continues to catch on
among the estimated half million pagans in the U.S., those who
embrace both traditions predict that could reverse the Quakers'
downward trend. Still, some Quakers worry about losing their own
traditions through the process of accepting new ones. In the last
decade, this dual faith has sprung up around the country, including
Quaker-pagan gatherings, seminars, an extensive presence on the
Internet, and even explicitly Quaker-pagan congregations. There may
be only several hundred Quaker pagans, but among American Quakers,
their presence can be distinctly felt. "It seems that now, in most
liberal meetings at least, you can always find a few members that
identify as pagan," says Stasa Morgan-Appel of Ann Arbor, Mich., who
has facilitated a Quaker pagan interest group since 2002.

Quakers - officially the Religious Society of Friends - are divided
into four main branches, three of which are explicitly Christian.
Pagans have been generally joining the liberal fourth branch, the
Friends General Conference, which counts 30,000 members in North
America, including Morgan-Appel. Liberal Quakers are less tied to the
Christianity and instead hold established Quaker practices, such as
unprogrammed pastor-less meetings, as the basis of their faith.
Because of that flexibility, many liberal Quakers no longer see Jesus
as divine, and some don't believe in God at all. Paganism generally
refers to nature-based religions that pre-date both Christianity and
Judaism. Think witches, druids, pentacles, Wicca - but not Satanism.
Carl McColman, author of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Paganism,
defined it this way: People Adoring Goddess And Nature.

It may seem strange that pagans would join the Quakers, which began
in the 1600s with strong anti-pagan sentiment. Founder George Fox
even altered the days of the week because of their pagan roots. To
this day, Quakers refer to Sunday as First Day, Monday as Second Day
and so on. On the other hand, the two traditions share many
similarities. Both are non-hierarchical and place a strong emphasis
on internal divinity. In fact, as modern paganism rose in popularity
in the 1970s, many pagan groups looked to Quakers as a model of
survival without a nucleus of control.

See
http://www.christia nitytoday. com/ct/2008/ aprilweb- only/118- 11.0.html

Posted by: "newsletter@earthchangesmedia.com" newsletter@earthchangesmedia.com   fields_sammy

Sat Apr 26, 2008 10:42 am (PDT)

New Scientific Study Shows Solar Activity Affects Humans Physical and Mental State

by Mitch Battros - Earth Changes Media

A recent study published today in the NewScientist, indicates a direct connection between the Sun's solar storms and human biological effect. The conduit which facilitates the charged particles from the Sun to human disturbance -- is the very same conduit which steers Earth's weather ----- The Magnetic Field. Yes, animals and humans have a magnetic field which surrounds them -- in the very same way the magnetic field surrounds the Earth as a protector.

Here is what the NewScientist article says: "Many animals can sense the Earth's magnetic field, so why not people, asks Oleg Shumilov of the Institute of North Industrial Ecology Problems in Russia. Shumilov looked at activity in the Earth's geomagnetic field from 1948 to 1997 and found that it grouped into three seasonal peaks every year: one from March to May, another in July and the last in October. Surprisingly, he also found that the geomagnetism peaks matched up with peaks in the number of mood disorders i.e. depression, anxiety, bi-polar (mood swings) and even suicides in the northern Russian city of Kirovsk over the same period."

The connection between charged particles (solar flares, cme's) and its effect on animals and humans was outlined extensively back in 2003 as addressed in my book 'Solar Rain - The Earth Changes Have Begun'. This phenomenon is also captured in my published 'Equation': Sunspots => (charged particles) Solar Flares => Magnetic Field Shift => Shifting Ocean and Jet Stream Currents => Extreme Weather and Human Disruption (mitch battros) as it refers to "human disruption".

The NewScientist study goes on to state: "The most plausible explanation for the association between geomagnetic activity and depression and suicide is that geomagnetic storms can desynchronize circadian rhythms and melatonin production," says Kelly Posner, a psychiatrist at Columbia University in the US. The pineal gland, which regulates circadian rhythm and melatonin production, is sensitive to magnetic fields. "The circadian regulatory system depends upon repeated environmental cues to [synchronize] internal clocks," says Posner. "Magnetic fields may be one of these environmental cues."

The pineal gland, which regulates circadian rhythm and melatonin production, is sensitive to magnetic fields. "The circadian regulatory system depends upon repeated environmental cues to [synchronize] internal clocks," says Posner. "Magnetic fields may be one of these environmental cues."

For those of you who have been following ECM over the years noticed I have added the following statement to all my newsletters, and will discuss in greater detail at scheduled conferences:

"I have begun to note it is not just the "external" (earth changes) which is shifting, but humans as well. Remember: we too have magnetic fields which surround each of us. I think it is not unrealistic to conjecture what is happening "externally" is also happening "internally" . I believe current science will acknowledge this notion, showing the Sun's "charged particles" and its influence on Earth's magnetic field is the impetus of change. In-like, this same causal effect occurs with human magnetic fields ushering in a change or "transition" . Perhaps this is what our Mayan elders are trying to tell us---

We are coming into "cycle 24" which was predicted "live" on ECM Radio Hour by NASA stating cycle 24 will be up to 50 percent stronger than "Cycle 23" in which we witnessed the largest solar flare ever recorded. This means larger earth changing events in the way of earthquakes, volcanoes, hurricanes, and various storms. But it also means we (humans) will be bombarded with charged particles via severe geomagnetic storms from the Sun." (Mitch Battros)

You must also read my Free article titled: "Magnetic Fields, The Sun, and TMS"
http://earthchanges media.com/ publish/article- 9162513169. php