Kerry Shirts on the Kaballah for Latter-Day Saints.

I'm still waiting to get my computer back so I can finish my post on human spiritual potential.  In the meantime, I wanted to share a video from Kerry Shirts who, while not a Druid in name, has pioneered for me the path of bringing in material from the occult and pagan world and applying it to LDS thought.

A favorite LDS Druid song

I've been working on a major post on human spiritual potential for a while now.  Sadly, it's taking too long and probably won't be up before Beltaine.  So I don't leave you too long, I thought I would share a primary children's song that describes a big part of what Druidry means to me.

My Heavenly Father Loves Me
Whenever I hear the song of a bird



Or look at the blue, blue sky,


Whenever I feel the rain on my face


Or the wind as it rushes by,






Whenever I touch a velvet rose


Or walk by a lilac tree,


I'm glad that I live in this beautiful world


Heavenly Father created for me.






He gave me my eyes that I might see


The color of butterfly wings.


He gave me my ears that I might hear


The magical sound of things.






He gave me my life, my mind, my heart:


I thank him reverently


For all his creations, of which I'm a part.


Yes, I know Heavenly Father loves me.

Making Peace

One of the things ancient Druids were known for was their ability to make peace.  They were so respected in this role that they could walk between two opposing armies and the battle would completely stop.  


There are several groups in the world today who have no business fighting each other.  ;They have bigger problems to worry about and would be significantly better off if they could get along.  I am thinking specifically of the Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland, the Sunnis and Shiites in Iraq, and the Palestinians and Israelis in the Near East as well as many others.  


As Latter-Day Saints, we don't need to take sides in any of these conflicts,   We have reason in our traditions to support both sides and encourage them to get along.


So, it seems to me that LDS Druids could play a valuable role in stopping the pointless fighting, smacking the various parties upside their collective heads where necessary and getting them to sit down and work things out so they can get along.  

My best definitions of some magical terms.

Magic


Dion Fortune, a leader in the original Golden Dawn and one of the most important Hermetic mages of the past century defined it as "Causing change in consciousness in accordance with will." Magic typically involves manipulating the life force (what Chinese and Japanese martial artists call chi or ki and Jedi call "the Force," the Hebrew word is ruach and my Druid tradition calls it Nwyfre.) It is typically done either through imagination/visualization, physical movement (eg. dance, martial arts), or using materials that are naturally charged with certain qualities of Nwyfre (eg. Juniper bushes are said to keep thieves away and elm trees are said to attract Faeries); combined with intent. Other plants, animals and minerals have their own effects and properties.)
The effects can be enhanced by ritual, by music and by timing the work to days when the spiritus mundi or general nwyfre of the earth are strong in certain qualities. One can also enchant (literally: to put a song in something) certain objects or places to help them in their work or to have a long term effect without needing to work magic every time. One might enchant a stone in their garden to increase productivity or prepare a satchel of herbs and minerals and keep it where they practice a musical instrument to increase the rate of improvement. 
However, the one thing that must not be neglected if one wants to learn magic is regular practice, just like if one wants to be an artist, they have to practice. For this reason, many mages say that all human activities, without exception, are forms of magic.


Occult


Literally means hidden or unseen. Occult typically refers to any activity taught only to those who have been initiated. In a general sense, it includes groups like the Freemasons or Odd Fellows.


Sorcery


The only kind of magic prohibited in restoration scripture. It refers to powers derived from evil entities (eg. Satan) or evil acts (eg. involuntary human sacrifice or torture of any living being.) Much of what Alister Crowley did and virtually anything promoted by Anton LaVey qualifies.. Sorcery can also refer to claiming magical abilities, either pretend or real, in order to deceive and get money, power, etc. Goetia is a type of sorcery under the literal definition of invoking evil entities. However, it can also involve improving psychological health by dealing with ones shadow side or personal demons (ie. damaged parts of the psyche.)


Black Magic


Any act involving sorcery or magic for evil purposes. Black magic always burns it's caster. Curses always rebound. However, magic for the purpose of ensuring a criminal will be caught, for example, is not black magic unless motivations are evil. 


Hope this helps.


Yours under the theoretical oaks,
Nathair /|\ 

A wee cautionary tale about magic

f Protection ritual as described in the Druid Magic Handbook. After doing it using the general invocations/ banishings for a few weeks I lost my job. This kicked in a series of events that two years later led to me going back to the University this past May. It was a difficult two years though, barely making enough money to survive with the help of family and friends. 

Since starting School, I have finally been stable enough to start working seriously on my Druidry and Magic again, working the SoP the same way. On the first of August, I lost my apartment and the University decided to verify my income so my financial aid is delayed. 

Perhaps I am being stupidly ram-headed stubborn (I am an Aries and a Celtic Barbarian) but I have no intention of stopping. I am sure that like before, this will put me in a better place eventually. 

Magic and a Latter-day Saint worldview.

Disclaimer: nothing in this post should be taken aspostulating that every member of the Church should practice magic or thatmagical practice and theory should be taught or promoted by the Church. Rather, it falls under the principle taughtin D&C 58:27.

Definition and Theory

Christian mage Dion Fortune defined magic as “the art andscience of causing change in consciousness in accordance with will.” This definition should be read along with theprinciple that ‘every energy is an entity and every entity is an energy.”

Magic depends on the life force; called ruach by theHebrews, Ki by the Japanese, ea by the Hawaiians, prana by the Hindus and TheForce by George Lucas in his Star Wars films. This “energy,” for lack of a better English term, is as much a part ofnature and reality as gravity and electromagnetism. Anyone can learn through simple methods tosense it. Magic works by influencing thelife force, which then affects the world.

Magic can only do things that nature can do; that is: itcannot, for example, cause rain to fall out of a clear blue sky. Rather the barometric pressure drops, thewind shifts, clouds roll in and rain starts to fall. What makes it magical is that it comes inresponse to the mage’s intent expressed through ritual or other techniques.

Magical Ethics

For me, the core of magical ethics is the principle taughtin Moroni 7:16-17 and the golden rule. In other words, if you are working magic to do good or if it brings youcloser to Christ, then it is ethical. Ifyour magic drives you away from Christ or if you are working magic on anotherthat you wouldn’t want done to you, it is not ethical.

The second stage of magical ethics is the practical “strawberryjam” rule; you can’t do anything magically without getting a little onyourself. This is because magic works byyour intent. If you create a pattern ofintentionality in the life force of doing harm, you define yourself as someonewho does harm and eventually even when you are trying not to do harm, thepatterns you have created lead you to do harm anyway. The converse is also true.

Unintentional Magic.

It is quite common that someone might work magic withoutrealizing that is what s/he is doing. For example, if you repeatedly tell yourself that you are positive,intelligent, competent, etc; sooner or later, you will be. I have also on occasion seen Christian bands(who would be horrified at the idea they were working magic) quite effectivelycreate a group mind, unifying theaudience in the act of worship.

The legend of the Stone of Scone

According to Genesis, when Jacob/Israel was returning home from his in-laws', he camped one night and had a dream of a ladder to heaven with angels ascending and descending and God standing on it.  When he woke, Jacob set up the stone, anointed it and called the place Beth-el.
Legend has it that when Babylon conquered Jerusalem, Jeremiah took some of King Zedekiah's daughters and the stone to Tara Hill in Eire.  There, it may have been named the Lia Fail (some sources apply that name to a different stone at Tara).  The stone of Bethel was used in the coronation of the High Kings of Eire.  The claimant would stand on it and if it groaned, he was known to be the rightful Ard Righ (High King).
Now, we come to times a little better documented.  When Fergus MacErca sailed from Eire to Alba to become king of a united Scotland, he took the stone with him.  St Columba prophesied that wherever the stone was, a king of MacErca's line would always reign.  In Scotland, the stone was kept at Scone from whence it received the appellation "the Stone of Scone."  
During his attempt to subjugate Scotland, the dastardly Edward I (Longshanks) took a stone from Scone to London where it was installed in the English coronation chair.  He certainly believed it was the original, but some say the stones were switched and Longshanks got a fake. Whatever happened, English monarchs have been enthroned on it ever since.  There is no record of it ever groaning for any of the Sassenach (English) sovereigns, at least not that I can find.
Queen Elizabeth II (of England) and I of Great Britain, sent the stone and the chair back to Scotland with the stipulation that it be returned in time for the next coronation.
Where will it go next?  Well, use your imagination, but some have suggested that it might be used in the foundation of the future Jerusalem temple.
Yours under the royal oaks,
Nathair /|\