Neo Paganism

Samhain

Samhain: October 31. An ancient Celtic festival which celebrates the beginning of winter, marked by death, and the beginning of the Celtic New Year. Samhain means “end of summer.” Samhain is a sabbat universally observed, which is included among the Greater sabbats observed by neo-Pagans. The Druids, in ancient Ireland, once sacrificed to their deities by burning victims in wickerwork gages. All other fires were to be extinguished and lighted again from the sacrificial fire. This custom still continues in Ireland and Scotland, all fires in homes are extinguished and lighted again from bonfires, but without sacrificial victims. Samhain marks the third harvests and the storage of provisions for winter. The veil between the worlds of the living and dead is the thinnest during this time making communications easier. Souls of the dead can come into the land of the living. Samhain is a time for eliminating weaknesses, when pagan once slaughtered weak animals that were thought not to be able to survive the winter. This custom resulted in the modern practice by some who wanted to get rid of their weaknesses of writing them on a piece of paper and dropping them into a fire. Some baked cakes to be offered for the souls of the dead. Samhain was Christianized into All Hallow’s Eve or Halloween. The modern custom or trick-and-treating may have originated from an old Irish peasant custom of going door-to-door to collect money, breadcake, cheese, eggs, butter, nuts, apples and other foods in preparation for the festival of St. Columb Kill. Apples are included in many rites, especially as ingredients in brews. Dunking for apples may have been a divinatory practice. A.G.H.

Source: 4.

Retrocognitive Clairvoyance

A term in parapsychology for an extra-sensory correspondence between a present mental pattern of a person and a past, physical event. A.G.H.

Source: 2.

Puppet Healing

Puppet healing, or puppet magic as it is frequently called, is another form of sympathetic magic. The puppet represents the sick or injured person which the practitioner, or practitioners, wish to help or heal. The ultimate goal is to secure a complete cure for the person.

The first procedure in puppet healing is the construction of the puppet. The person for whom the puppet is being made is constantly kept in mind during the construction (see Visualization). First, two cloth outlines of the persons are cut out. The outlines are then sewn or embroidered together except for an opening which should be left at the top of the head. Next the puppet is decorated or marked with special characteristics (such as a mustache if it represents a man possessing a mustache, or long hair if it is for a woman with long hair) that resemble that person. These can be marked or embroidered on the puppet as well. Also there should be marked the person’s astrological signs, including the Sun, Moon, and rising Sun symbols. The puppet should represent the person as closely as possible. Also, since this puppet is being use for healing purposes the afflicted area can be marked. For incidence, if the person is recovering from surgery an incision can be marked on the puppet to indicate the surgery. This will attract the practitioner’s attention to the afflicted area. If the person should have an injured leg, foot, or arm, they could be marked.

Next fill the puppet with the appropriate herbs that will help the healing process and then sew up the opening at the top. When possible lay the puppet on an altar and/or in a circle. Using visualization see the circle being filled with a white light which is the goodness and love of the Goddess and the God which surrounds the puppet and it through it and the practitioner is channeled to the person.

The practitioner may perform any of the healing techniques which have been described on the puppet knowing that the person that it represents is partially or completely healed. A.G.H.

Sources: 4, 70

Psychometry Definition

Definition

The ability or faculty to perceive the characters, surroundings, and events connected with a person by holding an object belonging to that person in ones hands.

Mrs. Hester Drowden, a famous medium, defined psychometry as “a psychic power possessed by certain individuals which enables them to divine the history of, or events connected with, a material object with which they come into close contact.”

History and Etymology

It is generally speculated the faculty existed in ancient times but it was first named and discussed in the modern age by J. Rhodes Buchanan, an American scientist, in 1842. The term is derived from the Greek words ‘pschic’ (soul) and ‘metron’ (measure) and signifies “soul-measuring”, or “measurement of the human soul.”

Buchanan’s theory was based on the belief that every thought, action, and event that has ever occurred since the beginning of time has left an impression on ether. This impression will never be erased during what is considered as time. This is why many closely related the ability of psychometry to the Akashic Records . Buchanan also thought the impressions were not only left on ether but on more palpable objects such as trees and stones as well.

Many people, especially occultist, also believe that psychometry is connected to the belief of animism. They believe all objects possess an inner or psychological life which enable the objects to receive from and transmit impressions to other objects. In this way the impressions of an individual can be transmitted to an object which the person has in his possession, and the object can later transmit the same impressions to another individual holding the identical object in his hand. The object is therefore analogous to a television receiver and transmitter, in that, it receives and transmits impressions.

The late Arnold Crowther, witch and occultist, describes psychometry in “The Secrets of Ancient Witchcraft with the Witches Tarot” which he co-authored with his wife Patricia. He too held to the belief of animism, or that inanimate objects have memories of their own. This was especially true of stones, he thought.

Auras

But, Crowther also equally believed that psychometry was connected with the auras given off by all objects. He believed the success of ancient witches in healing people of their villages was due to their ability to translate these auras through touch. He tested his theory on a modern psychometrist and found evidence that it was probably true.

The connection between psychometry and auras is based on the theory that the human mind radiates an aura in all directions, and around the entire body which impresses everything within its orbit. All objects, no matter how solid they appear, are porous containing small or even minute holes. These minute crevices in the object’s surface collect minute fragments of the mental aura of the person possessing the object. Since the brain generates the aura then something worn near the head would transmit better vibrations.

Crowther further describes psychometry as akin to the mind’s eye, the “etheric eye” or the “soul’s eye”. Occultists have called it by all these names. It seems the mental faculty which receives the impressions or visions registers them in the same cerebral center where dreams are registered. The center is the area where the pineal gland is located in the middle of the brain at the level of the base of the nose. Some medical doctors have referred to this gland as the relic of the third eye which man had in the early evolutionary stages. This is why some have called psychometry “controlled daydreaming.”

Crowther believed psychometry could help in many areas of life. The recovery from knowledge of the past was important to him. He thought stones were important in such endeavors and noted a psychometrist friend who psychometrized the stone circle called the Rollright Stones, in Oxfordshire. The man gained valuable information concerning ancient religious and magical rites once performed there. Portions of such knowledge Crowther used in the book previously mentioned.

Crowther did not believe psychometry is a special ability or gift. He held this idea from spiritualist mediums. He also differed with Dr. Buchanan, previously mentioned, who stated in his book “A Manual of Psychometry” that women are better adapt at the practice than men. Crother knew many male psychometrists. He thought everyone has the ability and can learn to use it if they have the patience and the will to do so.

Psychometry is presently practiced by occultists and witches. It is done with crystals and other stones. The person with eyes shut takes a stone in her or his hand. Carefully feeling it the individual tries to visualize its shape, texture, and color. Along with these physical features the person tries to reach an intuitive connection with the stone through which feelings and impressions are received from the stones. When done within a groups these inspirations may be shared with others. A.G.H.

Sources: 9, 26. 27.

Mimpathy

T<he term expresses a sharing of feeling, not necessarily sympathy. Perhaps commonly thought to be a community of sensation. A.G.H.

Source: 2

Mental plane

Mental plane, in occult philosophy, is the plane or level of existence above the astral plane(or astral world), a realm of abstract consciousness located between the astral plane, level of concrete consciousness, and the spiritual plane, the level of primary creative being. Like all planes in occult theory, the mental is metaphorically “above” or “below” the others because they all interpret the realm of physical matter experienced by the senses.

The mental plane is a plane of meaning, pattern, and the laws of nature and mathematics; number, geometrical form, and music best communicate its nature. It resides outside of space and time. Most methods of occult meditation are attempts to raise the mind up from the concrete, quasi-sensory experiences of the astral level to the pure meanings and relationships of this mental level. A.G.H.

Source:

Greer, John Michael. The New Encyclopedia of the Occult. St. Paul. MN. Llewellyn Worldwide. 2005. p. 304