WORKSHOPS LISTED ALPHABETICALLY
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THE DOUBLE DRAGON RITUAL
The Double Dragon Ritual first appeared in RJ Stewart’s Advanced Magical Arts, one of the foundational books for the Inner Temple Traditions Inner Convocation work. Initially worked as a private ceremony in Britain with a small group that included RJ, Gareth Knight, John and Caitlin Matthews, Marian Green, and other Western Tradition occultists, it has been revised and updated for more widespread use, including some developments for larger group use.
The Double Dragon Ritual is intended for times of potential crisis; it is a time to bring the harmonizing stellar/solar spiritual forces of Balance and Regeneration into the ceremonial group. Such forces are then mediated outward to the community and the land.
Over two days we will explore the inner content of the ritual, meditate on its spirit inner contacts in the Over and Under Worlds, envisioning the powerful telesms that it contains. On day two our group will work the ritual itself in the early afternoon, and spend time assimilating our experiences afterward. Following the weekend, group members will network with others who have done the ritual, to stay attuned to its spiritual and sacromagical forces.
THE FAERY OATH: BY OAK, ASH AND THORN (THREE-PART SERIES)
In the Faery Oath sacromagical series, we work with Oak, Ash and Thorn, the Go-Betweens, and the permeating presence of Puck. In Parts I and II we focus on building alliances and enhancing cooperative participation with the “oldest old things.” Part III centers upon two culminating group rituals. In the first ritual, each participant declares what they have determined to be their individual Faery Oath. In the second ritual, we “take seizin” of the land where we live and in so doing strengthen our ability to realize our individual oaths. Persons completing all three parts in the series will be eligible to participate in an ongoing international community connection and shared meditative work as our circle of Faery Oath seedlings take root and grow.
FAERY RITUAL MAGIC
What is Faery Ritual Magic? Most people think of the faery tradition as being a mixture of folkloric customs and beliefs, handed down from ancestral culture. While this is true, there are also magical arts hidden and implied within the folkloric faery traditions. In this workshop RJ and Anastacia will reveal methods of Faery Ritual Magic, based upon the Crossroads application of the Five Fundamental Arts. These methods are not, as we might think, folk customs, but deeper and enduring arts found within faery tradition worldwide. The methods we work with include The Faery Circle, Purification and Preparation, Shape-Shifting, Strengthening Communion with allies in ceremony, Ritual for Second Sight and Appropriate Seasonal Magic to practice year round.
THE FURTHER PATH: LIVING SACROMAGICAL FAERY TRADITION for the 21st CENTURY and ONWARD
Drawing on R.J’s forthcoming faery ritual magic book, The Further Path, this workshop takes us into new territory for new times. Here are some excerpts from the book, indicating what we will be exploring together in the workshop: “We are experiencing inevitable and irredeemable change in human society worldwide. In times of great change, our environmental magic will also change. Faery tradition is an ancient spiritual and sacromagical stream; it has always been concerned with the interaction between humanity and the spiritual forces of the land and sea, leading to a deeper interaction with planetary forces, especially the Earth Light in planetary core.
The Further Path asks us to Think Big, Act Small We will explore the wisdom tale of the Magical Wall with the Gates of Sunrise to Midnight. We will experience how to network small scale magic into large scale transformation. We will come into contact with a real-time active network of Faery Allies and powerful Co-Walkers. So if this is the kind of faery ritual magic that interests you, come and join us for this workshop, which will lead you to The Further Path.
At the Spring Equinox we, and all living creatures, sense the rebirth of vital forces no longer sleeping during Winter. Ancestral magic worked with the new year turning as essential to both physical and spiritual wellness. Today our sense of the Seasons can be disrupted by climate and weather changes; humanity’s relationship to nature and spiritual life-forces of the Seasons is often impaired and confused.
During this celebratory and rejuvenating workshop we will be using meditation vision and ceremony to connect to the Hidden Spring, the deep forces behind the turning of the Seasons. A spring is a source of water, Spring is the source of Summer, a “source” is a spring, the Hidden Spring is behind them all. The Hidden Spring of regeneration features in the medieval Merlin legends, and in many alchemical texts and methods.
A feature of this workshop is a group ceremony to prepare and potentize an essence of the Hidden Spring. All participants will be able to take this essence with them for support, nourishment, and transformation during the coming year. Join us to find and share the blessings of the Hidden Spring.
INNER CONVOCATION RITUALS
In this course we focus on skills and tools that increase our awareness of and participation in Cosmos. The course includes meditations to enhance the temples of body and home, enfolding the Elemental Chanting in two unique sacromagical ritual forms. The methods conveyed in this course have their origins in the ancient past; namely the secret of the Theatre of Memory widely practiced in Renaissance metaphysics. Learn how these techniques may be applied today in a manner suitable for contemporary Inner Temple Traditions Inner Convocation work. Woven through four Inner Temples of Life, Light, Love and Law at the foundation Creation, this workshop substantially strengthens our relationship to Cosmos.
LIVING MAGICAL ARTS: IMAGINATION AND MAGIC FOR THE 21ST CENTURY
Published in 1987, RJ’s Living Magical Arts has become a foundational sacromagical text for modern Western magicians. Today when our time and attention are in constant demand, many are struggling to separate essential magical tasks from non-essential trivia. Living Magical Arts begins by exploring the sacred imagination, its true power and modern day impact upon it. From here we learn how to improve the clarity and effect of our sacromagical endeavors by focusing on a new definition of magic and the Five Fundamental Arts that bring magic to life within us and within Cosmos. These techniques are then applied to the Four Inner Temples, Tarot Trumps and the Hermetic Tree of Life that enable our Soul’s Promise in accordance with our individual potential within the greater field of human evolution.
THE MAGIC OF THREE STICKS
All folkloric magic was founded upon the absolute life-necessity of the real and enduring partnerships between humanity and the spirits of place. Today when so much environmental and social change looms large, we can help ourselves by re-membering these life-necessity partnerships forged by our Ancestors.
The Magic of The Three Sticks is based upon traditional folkloric magic that is part of our collective ancestral heritage, reweaving the equal partnership of The Threefold Alliance (human, faery, living creature). All three partners (human, faery, living creature) occupy and are tied to the physical and metaphysical aspects of the land. Through this spiritual and magical practice, we help to reunite manifest creation and the spiritual power that informs and infuses it.
OFFICE OF THE HOLY TREE OF LIFE
In the late 1960s WG Gray set himself the task of creating an Office…a small handbook of meditations/visions and simple rituals, elucidating the Tree of Life, its Ten Spheres and Twenty-Two Paths. The project was sponsored and published by the (now dissolved) Sangreal Foundation in Dallas, Texas. During the early 1970s RJ worked extensively with the Office, discussing it and recording readings/meditations with WG Gray. Nowadays RJ and Anastacia use the Office as part of their sacromagical work together.
During our weekend workshop, we will explore the 22 Paths, presented as 22 short texts in the Office. Each Path’s language, clear and evocative, will be read aloud and invoked in ritual fashion.
We will work with these profound Path sequences as invocations, meditating and communing with harmonizing and transformative spiritual powers as they uplift us through the Three Worlds of Moon, Sun, and Stars. This simple text and rhythmic prayer/invocation/visionary method gets straight to the inner sacromagical core of each Path. The results are truly illuminating, bringing insights not only into the Tree of Life, but into many aspects of the Western Esoteric and Magical Traditions. [Note: Please bring a pair of clean white socks to use when walking upon The Tree of Life.]
THE LIVING WORLD OF FAERY II…THE WAY WE LIVE NOW!
If you believe in faeries, as your not-so-distant ancestors certainly did, and want to experience the faery realm directly, this practical intensive is for you. Based upon the methods and teaching outlined in RJ’s book The Living World of Faery such as Entering and Leaving the Faery Realm, Working respectfully with our faery allies and Seasonal working in and around our homes.
The 2016 course also includes material unique to those who are working away from their ancestral lands. Specifically, how we may co-relate to the Living World of Faery when our ancestors came from other lands. Pacts, vows, alliances and long-term shared work for faery practitioners will be explored in depth for the way we live now!
THE MYSTERIES OF DYING AND DEATH
Purifying the Imagination and Navigating the Pause Between Lives. Based in part upon RJ’s book The Arch of Heaven, published in 2013. In this workshop we explore the perennial esoteric traditions regarding dying, what may occur after death, and potential rebirth. This is an open workshop, but not suitable for beginners without some experience in meditation and visualization. The weekend includes sessions as follows: What do the esoteric traditions teach us about death, and what may or may not happen after death? How should we prepare ourselves for death and for our experiences beyond physical death? How may we relate to the so-called “dead” in a wholesome and compassionate manner appropriate for the new era of the 21st century?
RITUAL AND INITIATION
THE SPIRIT CORD
In the Faery Healing Tradition, cords were used to weave special patterns of unity and wellness. In Western sacromagical arts it is said that “the cord connects and binds all things!” The well-consecrated cord stores energies and teachings inside its fibers, helping us remember our meditations and inner contacts. It is an immensely valuable personal spiritual resource that develops and grows as we do.
All participants will take part in this long-standing tradition of The Faery & Spirit Cord. Traditional cord teachings and methods will be conveyed. Meditations and rituals that empower and consecrate our individual cords will be performed.
SPHERE OF ART SERIES, PARTS I, II, III
From RJ’s book series 2008-2016: The Sphere of Art, The Sphere of Art II: The Purifying Fire & The Sphere of Art III: The Inner Temple Traditions and the Inner Convocation. This three part sacromagical series brings together many aspects of RJ’s previous books and classes into a synthesis of Western Qabalah, Traditional Magical Arts, Faery and UnderWorld Tradition, the Four Inner Temples/Inner Convocation. The aim of the series to increasing our understanding of humanity’s unique place in Cosmos and our inter-relationship with its Creative and Destructive processes. The workshops include techniques that increase each participant’s inner potential as a universal Priest or Priestess, not limited to cultural or religious traditions. We will focus upon the true human potential on planet Earth that we must all come to mediate and share, not only with one another, but with our world, and ultimately Cosmos.
STORY BEING: The ART OF STORY
The Magical Art of Story, includes meditations, visionary work, music, ceremony and community. This is not a story-telling workshop!
Telling a story, listening to a story, is not identical to Being the Story. Every individual, group, tribe, nation, and land, is ceaselessly Being its own Story. Often the Stories are interwoven in complex beautiful patterns, sometimes they are disconnected. How may we use our skills in meditation, vision and ceremony to fully Be the Story in a connected, interwoven fashion? All participants are asked to bring a framed photograph of their choice, depicting a story moment in their lives (maximum size 4” x 6”). The retreat will feature a beautiful and powerful Autumn Equinox ceremony created by WG Gray, one of RJ’s mentors in the late 1960s and early 70s.
THE UNDERWORLD INITIATION
In 1983, RJ’s book The UnderWorld Initiation (originally circulated to friends and students in 1978 as a private manuscript) opened new ways of working, taking ancient traditions and reinstating them for modern people. The book soon became a classic and with its companion recording, Journey to the UnderWorld, has been used successfully by thousands of people worldwide.
The workshop includes: Entering and Leaving the UnderWorld, The Dark Goddess and the Earthlight, Faery Allies and Co-walkers, Speaking with Ancestors, Seven Sleepers and a special feature on ballad magic. Open to all, beginners and experienced alike.
UNDERWORLD TEMPLES & THE RING OF FIRE
In this unique workshop we bring together, in a new way, many of the themes that we have explored in previous years, as featured in RJ’s UnderWorld and Faery books. The Ring of Fire is the potent volcanic telluric zone that rules the Pacific North West and influences much of our planetary life, weather, geologic and cataclysmic forces, bringing forth creative and destructive forces from the center of the Earth.
The UnderWorld Temples are telesms, powerful images and sacromagical locations, within the body of the sacred Land and Ocean. Together we will explore and discover how to work with the Temples in the Planet to build our relationship to climate changes, volcanic and geomantic forces, and the potent spirit beings that embody the consciousness of the Earth, and the Stars Within the Earth.
This workshop includes vision work, ceremony, music, and the building of a unique UnderWorld Ring of Fire shrine, to which we will all contribute. At the end of our time together, parts of the shrine will be buried, and parts floated out to sea.