muocution: Recocsnizincs the oiuine withi n
6 5
socred ooue oeuotionol oonce
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with a larger, deeper part of ourselves whose presence is often buried, and
it helps us to slow down. This is a difficult but very rewarding exercise and
I recommend that you make a contract with yourself to do this for ten
minutes every morning for one month to see how things begin to change
within you. You may want to renew the contract several times. This will begin to change your posture, your breathing, and your sense of sel£ It will help you to not be so easily distracted and will show you parts of yourself
you might not usually see.
The exercise will bring you into closer contact with your inner divinity
as you sit, patiently, while some of your fears, shadows, or demons appear.
You may get cranky. Sacred Dove sits in witness. You may grow insecure.
Sacred Dove sits in witness. Your back may hurt. Sacred Dove sits in witness. You may want to run out of the room. Sacred Dove sits in witness.
Keep breathing. Once you have done this a few times, you can end your
session with the Prayer for Alignment (see page 7 I ).
Doing this exercise for several years has helped me become more aware
of the stories I tell mysel£ the tangents I fly off on, or the emotional states
I am prone to spiral down into. Sacred Dove can listen to all of these as I
sit. Since I sit in the morning, I can then notice the stories as they arise
throughout the day and say: "I recognize you:' This helps me become less
controlled by my impulses and random thoughts or emotions.
Quaker friends tell me that this exercise is similar to Quaker Silence
and Listening for the Light. Those with training in zazen, Jewish meditation, or the Catholic Centering Prayer may also find this practice familiar, though the focus is slightly different. Our intention is simply to sit with
ourselves, with Sacred Dove watching and listening, as we breathe.
Let yourself settle in. Begin to breathe deeply and slowly. You may want
to light a white candle or a stick of incense. If you have bad knees, get a
chair you can sit straight up in. Make sure you can comfortably perch near
the front edge of it, so your spine is straight rather than resting against
rnvocution: Recocsnizincs the oivine within
6 7
anything. I f your knees are good, I find it best to pile up a couple of sturdy
cushions on the floor. Make sure that your pelvis is higher than your knees
and feet, otherwise you can strain your back. You may want to put a towel
under your feet to cushion the bones if you are on a wooden floor. Let
your breathing slow. It is time to begin.
Imagine your spine floating up from your pelvis and your shoulders hanging gently, as
if on a coat hanger. Adjust your head until your skull feels like it is resting directly on top
if your spine. You may need to "tuck" your chin back to make sure your head is erect and
not juttingforward. Let your hands rest comfortably on your knees, or cup your right hand
in your left, l£tting your thumbs touch siftly. Let your breathingfill your abdomen, feeling
it expand in front as well as behind, as your muscl£s open to l£t the breath in. The breath
should start low in your belly, rising up and filling your rib cage and finally your chest. Let
your inhalation be as slow and steady as you can make it, and l£t your exhalation match your
inhalation. Slow. Steady. Sit. Breathe. Let a still space open up deep inside you.
There is a still place in your belly. Breathe into that. Feel that stillness open up. Then feel
energy rising up your spine-anchored in the still place-flowing up to the back if your
skull and opening out to the globe if God Soul. Feel the link between the stillness in your
belly and the energy that fans from the back if your skull, embracing the sphere if Sacred
Dove like the hood if a cobra. Begin to sense your Sacred Dove: watching, waiting, listening. Every time chatter or worry starts, breathe, and feel your Sacred Dove. It is witness. It is the part if you that can look on all the squirming parts with compassion. Keep breathing.
the hardest things you can do, and one if the most compassionate. You are sacred. You are
loved in all your parts.
Once you have acclimated yourself to the posture of this exercise, you
should try sitting for longer periods. Twenty minutes is much easier than
ten, believe it or not, because all of the systems that are convinced they will
die if they sit still one more moment finally settle down and other, deeper
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states then have room to arise in the stillness. You may want to work your
way up to sitting for forty minutes at a time. This being said, sitting for
five minutes is more helpfUl as a foundation for your day's work than not
sitting at all.
collectiveh; nivine
I am the drop that contains the ocean. -YuNUS EMRE14
I have developed the following meditation from my work with the Sufi
concept of the "drop that became the sea;' meaning the individual soul as
joined with the larger divinity. This is reflected in the Pagan affirmation
that "thou art Goddess, thou art God:'15 This statement encompasses one
of our greatest mysteries: we hold the divine within us and can join with
others, creating a sea or tapestry of divinity. Every time you sense the
strong connection you have with other people or beings, you are tapping
into the ocean of divinity.
This is a wonderful exercise to do as a group, because you all become
"drops" that can then interact with one another, melting and melding,
pooling and puddling. I have done this in a shallow creek, where we all became the Goddess, washing one another, pouring water from our cupped hands, and singing, "I am Goddess, I am flowing water:' I have also led this
in a meditation hall, where we passed pitchers, filled one another's goblets,
and drank deeply of our divinity, giving and receiving the sacred.
Again, I recommend taping this if doing it on your own, or having one
person read it aloud slowly if you are trying this in a group. A light drum-
14From The Drop That &came the Sea: Lyric Poems of Yunus Emre, trans. Kabir Helminski and Refik Algan
(Shambala, I 999).
1�Nn1 a Feri phrast•, this originated in tlw Church nf All Worlds via writer Robert Heinlein.
mvocution: Reco<snizin<s the nivine with in
69
beat can be a helpful aid to taking people more deeply into nonordinary
consciousness. Call upon your Sacred Dove, your God Soul, and dive into
the ocean of divinity.
Take a deep breath. Drop your attention to your belly and begin to listen, deeply. /.isten to your breath, listen to the sounds around you, and listen to your blood flowing with/11
you. Listen to your breathing as it slows, deepening, each breath becoming longer and mort
full. Feel the edges of your body begin to blur and soften. All the water in your body is softeningyou,flowing out into your bone, your skin. You are becoming a drop of water. You become softer and softer, your breathing slowing and deepening. The more watery you become,
the softer and slower you are. Let the drop that is your being begin to flow out. There are
other
beings in the world; they, too, are flowing. They are water. Your soft edges bump up
against theirs. Your edges give way and you merge. Your drop and their drop become one. Out
into the world you flow, merging, buoyant and bouncing, soft with the flow of all these bodies, all these beings. Becoming one large pool of water.
On and on you flow, becoming a stream. This stream keeps growing as more and more
beings join the flow. It is a stream seeking its source. It is a stream that knows its source like
it knows the moment of its birth. It flows with ease. Its course is true. Wandering, bubbling,
this stream moves on and on until it hits ocean. Fresh water crashes into salt, in a flurry of
ecstatic force, in lust and wild joy. Feel yourself floating in this ocean, this grand sea of salt
water, this sea of love. Let yourself be cradled in this water. You are this water. This water
is you. Breathe. You will never be alone. You are this sea, the womb of Mother, you are here
with all these drops of life, merged with the divine. Swim in joy. You are buoyant in this sea
of love. All fear, shame, anger, and pain are washed away, flowing out of you. They do not
matter anymore. Not here. Here you are loved. You are one with Goddess. Open your eyes.
Look around you. See with the eyes of the Goddess. Touch with the hands of the divine.
Dance the dance of divine love in the world. You are surrounded and you are full of this
love. Pass it on. Thou art Goddess. Thou art God. This is the deepest mystery, carried in the
water held in every cell of your body. Feel it. See it. Touch it. Dance it. Breathe and flow.
Float in the wisdom of your own God nature.
Once you have swum and danced your fill, get ready to take your leave. Honor those
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you have merged with. Give your blessings and thanks to the Goddess, the great womb that
birthed us all. You carry the seeds 1 that birth. Begin to swim back, back to that stream that
flowed here. Back to where salt water and fresh meet, crashing together in lust and ecstasy.
Begin to flow, easily, back upstream. As you flow, let your edges become more and more distinct, until you can feel yourself once again bumping up against the other drops 1 water.
Flow back and back. Breathe. You are becoming more and more solid. Separate from those
other drops. You are your own drop 1 water. Breathe. You are becoming once again skin.
Once again bone. Your body becomes firm around you. Wtzter retreats to cells and blood and
spit. You are human. Breathe. Let yourself come fully back into your body. Fully human,
fully alive. Pat your legs, arms, belly, head. Take a breath from the soles 1 your feet to the
top 1 your head. Breathe some 1 this love and energy up to feed your Sacred Dove. As you
do so,Jeel your spirit flowingfully back down into your physical form. You hold in you the
drop 1 the divine. Look on the world with new ryes. Blessed be.
Ali<snin<s the Triple soul
When you have all three souls aligned, you can ask anything you want of the
Gods and get it. You just have to learn how to ask. -CORA ANDERSON
Now that you have explored the parts of your Triple Soul as separate entities, you are ready to work with yourself as a sacred, unified trinity. All three parts can work in concert, creating greater strength and wholeness
within you and also opening you up to a state both soft and fierce, ready
to act in accordance with each moment. If all of your parts are connected,
you are on your way to being more fully connected to the world. This is
how we are meant to be, whole and organized by an internal principle. Internal organization bears fruit externally, and thus helps order the world.
Invocation: Reco�nizin� the oivine within
n
PRAYER FOR ALIGNMENT
In Feri Tradition, we believe that life force, magic, and our relationship to
God Herself is available to us every time we draw breath. Life force is the
inspirer, part of the divine breath. The Prayer for Alignment is based on
our experience of breath as the great connector and enlivener.16 This
prayer trains your breath, alters your body, and strengthens your spiritual
presence. The breathing itself is the prayer, rather than the prayers of
words we are more commonly used to. The Prayer for Alignment will help
you in all things, especially when coupled with work on posture and your
keys to remembrance.
The concept of bringing the parts of our soul into alignment is not
unique to Feri Tradition, though Feri is the only Witchcraft tradition that
I know of with this focus. Hawaiian Huna teaches this, certain Kabbalistic studies show this, and some branches of ceremonial magic focus on this as well, through their work to contact one's "Holy Guardian Angel:' The
ancient Irish bards could not open to the fires of inspiration if their soul
was unaligned. I spoke about the dangers of remaining unaligned earlier in
this chapter (see "Encountering Your Triple Soul"). Now, I'd like to talk a
bit more about the power that will be made available to you when you begin a daily practice of coming into alignment within yoursel£
This prayer is important to all my works of will and intention. When
I am using it, I feel better physically, calmer emotionally, and able to think
more clearly. I believe it also makes me more openhearted and better able
to engage in necessary battles-to help others, to help the earth, to stand
up for mysel£ This is why Cora stated we could ask for anything if we are
lf'This is most often called the Ha prayer. Ha is from the Hawaiian word jour meaning a four-fold
or "square" breath used to store energy. Feri teaches the Ha prayer slightly differently than Huna
docs. hut tlw intention is similar.
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Buolutiono.fv witchua.ft
aligned. Aligned, we are fully present and not acting out of greed, fear, addiction, or any other disconnected state. We are acting from a state of pure generosity, for when we are aligned, we are in tune not only with ourselves
but also with the divinity of everything around us. In touch with my God
Soul, I am in communion with God Hersel£ My personal will can work in
harmony with the will of the sacred multiverse. That is the gift of this
working. I use the following exercise every day.
Q:tiet yo-urself inside as much as possible, knowing that more stillness will come as yo-u
engage yo-ur breath. Align your skeleton into proper posture. Breathe. Let yo-ur belly be soft.
Breathe fully, letting yo-ur back muscles move o-ut with the breath, too. Then feel the lungs
expand. Yo-ur whole torso expands with air, front, back, and sides. Let your inhalation be
full and let yo-ur exhalation match that rate. Lightly to-uch your tongue to the roof of your
mo-uth and try breathing in and o-ut through your nose, deeply in the back of yo-ur throat,
like yogis are trained to do. It may sound like the breathing of a sleeping person. This breath
stores energy very quickly in yo-ur body.
Experiment by co-unting a slow Jour on the inhalation, pause for Jo-ur, exhale for Jo-ur
co-unts, and then hold for Jour. This will help expand your lung capacity and raise the energy needed to align. Breathe in, two, three,Jour. Hold, two, three,Jour. Exhale, two, three, Jo-ur. Hold, two, three, Jour. Take one breath cycle for yo-ur physical body. Take one breath
cycle for yo-ur aetheric body, yo-ur Sticky One. Take one breath for your aura, your Shining
Body. Take one breath for yo-ur God So-ul, Sacred Dove. Keep breathing in these sets of Jour,
over and over. If you try this, make sure yo-u are "holding" in a relaxed and open state,
rather than tensing your body and closing your throat down. If holding your breath proves
too difficult at first, simply breathe in and o-ut as fully and slowly as possible. Imagine that
you are filling with life force, which is all around you.
Keep breathing until you begin to physically tingle, until you are so full, you feel you
cannot take any more. Then take in just a little more. You may feel sexually open, aroused,
and full of life. Once you are tingling and full, on your fourth breath, breathe in, then tilt
your head back, and exhale up, breathing explosively out through your mouth. Feed the Dove.
r nvocution: Reco�nizin� the nivine with i n
73
You may feel the snap 1 alignment as all three parts 1 your soul come into their proper rrlationship with one another, forming a whole. You may feel a rush 1 energy through your body as your Sacred Dove distributes the energy where it is needed. Feel this energy drop all
the way back down to your feet. lf you are in need 1 healing, ask for it now, and Sacred
Dove will rain sparks 1 blue fire around your aura, cleansing you and bringing healing.
Your prayer is complete·.
The Prayer for Alignment is a powerful tool for health, self-awareness,
and integration. I recommend you make it part of your daily practice. As
you become more adept at this technique, you can simply breathe up excess energy to align your Triple Soul and say, "All three souls are one,"
which is what I do throughout the day, while keeping the formal practice
above for my morning work. You can breathe up energy after running, or
dance class, after orgasm, or at a rock concert, or when you are full of joy.
This will help keep you in alignment and keep you from feeling overwhelmed by energy, actually expanding your ability to manage large quantities of life force. It is also helpful to do this during ritual, after singing and dancing for a long time or raising a cone of power for the group's intention. Feed your Sacred Dove and align yourself. Then, if you have energy to spare, you can offer some back to Mother Earth in thanks or feed some to the Guardians or Deities who have helped your working.