Wednesday, March 9, 2016

Journal Rituals

I recently read about journal rituals on Pinterest. Instead of doing a ritual, with all the setting up of candles, stones, herbs, incense, and whatever else you need, you just write what you do in your journal. It's supposed to provide more privacy using the logic that rarely does anyone interupt a person writing. Intrigued, I decided to try.

I loved it. I thought it would take a while to write out all the details but it doesn't. There was no worries about anyone walking in because if they did they would just see me with a notebook and it is far easier to close a journal than to explain a circle chalked on the floor. It also helped with visualization because writing more strongly cements an event in the mind. I have a speech impediment so every single time I have words to speak aloud in a spell I stutter. Problem avoided with writing.

I also noticed my writing was very good. I'm not sure if I was being more careful trying a new thing or if casting a circle helps to focus the mind, but I wrote neatly without spelling or grammatical errors.

Speaking of casting a circle, I tried to keep in mind that I was between the worlds. That made it more of a magickal experience for me rather than me just laying on my bed writing. The between worlds concept also helped with connecting to the Astral plane. And the journal ritual makes the ritual notes simple because every detail is recorded as it happens.

The reason I was doing this ritual was for our custody case. We went to court yesterday. The boys' biological mother didn't show. We were granted temporary custody and another court date was set in May so that she has the chance to be served and made aware of what is happening and that she understands her rights. If she doesn't show for the second court date then he's ours and we can properly take of him. Which is what we've been doing, we just won't have to omit the fact that he isn't our child. We decided not to tell him about court until the morning of. First thing he asked was could he change his last name.

In other magickal news, I've started keeping a moon phase chart for the purpose of seeing if my moods or the weather follows the moon's cycles. Yesterday was the new moon so I don't have anything to report yet. I think it will be interesting to look back and search for patterns.

I've nearly organized all my craft supplies. I've sorted thread, fabric, and yarn. I've started a quilt scrap box and today I will start my rug strip box. The floss remains stubbornly unsorted. Sigh. But more and more my shed is starting to look like a studio.

I'm reading a book about why people have so much stuff and why we consume so much. That system is failing so the question is what comes next? Personally I think we'll have a hybrid system rather than a brand new philosophy. I cook because it's healthier but there are some things it's cheaper or better to buy like macaroni and cheese. I never do get the cheese ratio right. I can make tortillas from scratch but they aren't much different from what I buy and given that my family loves burito and we all eat at least 2 apiece, making them doesn't really save much time. The same sort of thing can be seen in the lives of people who moved away from the cities but still use the Internet. We can't go back to the way things were and really, that wasn't always so great. It's nice having medicines and laws that protect our rights. I like the tiny house movement but I like some stuff too. I want a comfy couch and books. I like art on the walls and I like space around me. My idea of hell is Bruce Willis' tiny apartment in the movie "The 5th Element"

4 comments:

Jeanne said...

A great idea about the journal. :o)

Materialism is on the way out - hopefully. Nothing wrong with having stuff but when overdone....

Positive news! YEA! ♥

fluffy said...

What a completely new idea re: the journal. I am not sure how it works though because you can't experience through the other senses(not sure if that's clear). I mean you can't feel a stone or smell incense, or hear a flickering candle or whatever your ritual entails. I know words have power, but is it enough not to speak them out loud? If you get time I would really be grateful if you could elaborate a bit on what you did.

Fluffy

FreeDragon said...

Fluffy,
My main focus was being between the worlds so I did cast a circle; but it was mentally drawn so it wasn't visible. I used to put candles at each quarter which was helpful in remembering how far my space reached. I haven't called quarters in years unless I was did a very major working. I tend to keep things simple so I don't have much when I do rituals. I think the journal ritual could be combined with the regular ritual- I would have stones or a bag of herbs while writing if my spell called for them. The point is privacy not do away with all props. I started by writing why I was doing the ritual and what I hoped to achieve. Then I wrote each step, starting with the circle. I would write then pause to mentally do the activity. I visualized everything in as much detail as possible. After I did the spell part of the ritual I reread my notes to make sure I reversed the order of things. My ritual began with statement of intent, circle casting, asking deity for help, then my spell. Reversing was thanking deity, opening the circle so that energies flowed to my goal, then grounding. For me, grounding is not only centering myself, but making sure all business is finished. If I had lingering thoughts or I kept wondering about some aspect of the work that would be a sign that I needed to do another spell. All this was about 1 page in my journal. I didn't try to write every detail of visualizing. I noted that I was working on a new moon but I didn't write why that was significant to me. Later I may write notes about what happened on the same page but in a different color ink. I used a black pen but that's just what I write with. Color choices might be something to experiment with in future journal spells. So might location. Writing on the kitchen table might work better than writing on the bed. I think journal rituals could be very effective. When we read a good book we forget that we are reading. Instead we see what is happening on the page like a movie playing in our mind. We become transported into the book and we think we are there with the characters.

fluffy said...

Thank you for your detailed reply. You are so right about being transported somewhere else when reading a book. I was just thinking about this the other day. Your reply was very helpful and I can see now how this would work. Privacy is often hard come by! Love fluffy