Seeking Chocolate

“YOU CREATE YOUR WORLD SIMPLY BY OBSERVING IT.  WE (AS CONSCIOUS OBSERVERS) HAVE THE FREEDOM AND CREATIVE POTENTIAL TO CHOOSE WHATEVER REALITY WE FOCUS AND ACT ON. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO LIVE IN THE SHADOWS OF THE PAST THAT YOU HAVE UNCONSCIOUSLY CREATED FOR YOURSELF.  

“For I am what I know; what I know is I. The sensation of a house across the street or of a star in outer space is no less I than an itch on the sole of my foot or an idea in my brain. In another sense, I am also what I do not know. I am not aware of my own brain as a brain. In just the same way, I am not aware of the house across the street as a thing apart from my sensation of it. I know my brain as thoughts and feelings, and I know the house as sensations. In the same way and sense that I do not know my own brain, or the house as a thing-in-itself, I do not know the private thoughts in your brain.”

A lot of this chapter confuses me (Ch.7 Wisdom of Insecurity), but specifically this part of the chapter.

WHY VISIONBOARDS DRIVE ME CRAZY 😜

Happy New Year loves! I am officially getting my mojo back and starting my own soul mapping process for the new year! So many fun things are coming to the awakened state this year. . But what I really wanted to talk about is vision boards and why they drive me crazy. . As january is Thee month for all things vision, I’m sure many people are off to set goals, intentions and get their vision board on. . Here’s why I’m often against a simple vision board from a magazine cutout. . 1. Its random AF, half the time you go do a vision board I don’t know if you’re like me but most of the time I can’t find the images that truly Express my desires so I settle - well this pic is nice and looks good 2. There is NO ROOM for clarity and crystal clear vision, it’s often chaotic so guess what its gonna manifest that way too. #realexperiences

3. Because the board feels limited in expression, we often post pics that are cool, look neat and luxe but our soul desires might be something entirely different so were pulling desires from a space of ego or other people’s dreams vs our own. 4. It never feels tangible or real, it feels like a dream board, which by default makes us feel separate from our vision vs. Embodying our vision 5. Often times when we create vision boards alone, we spent a weekend making it pretty, sit it on a shelf and forget a huge ingredient start taking ACTION towards those intentions. Instead it remains on the shelf looking pretty and we get frustrated our big lofty dreams aren’t creating any real momentum Can vision boards be used for good? Absolutely Do I think it’s the best method for intention setting and visioning Definitely not. Instead Create that vision board or pinterest board as a motivation tool. But also > > Get effing clear on what you want > > understand the feelings you desire to cultivate > >Create an aligned action plan to create change in your life > > do the inner work on what’s stopping you and telling you its impossible >> believe its already yours and act accordingly.

Neptune energy is not commonly discussed in Witchcraft. When it was discovered in 1848, it had not been used in astrological calculations before that, so it’s acceptance in the birth calculations is not always taken into account by modern astrologers. My personal opinion? These energies have always been here regardless of whether or not they were discovered before. So why not work with them? However many people are not familiar with the energies of Neptune and what this planet brings to witchcraft.

Neptune is the ruling planet of Pisces. It takes 14 years to move out of a particular sign, so it is considered to be a planet whose energies can affect an entire generation. This is why the outer planets are so significant- they bring huge changes for long periods of time and affect a significant number of people. Neptune rules over water- in particular the primal waters of the subconscious mind. It also rules over the spiritual realms, divination, dissolving of boundaries within the self, evolution of the mind, idealism, dreams, the ocean, water, darkness, mental illness, neuroses, insanity and demonic forces. It is in every way associated with the deep dark depths of the self and the subconscious- the self that we are often scared to face, the self we hide from ourselves and others.  Just like the ocean, the subconscious mind is full of deep dark depths where horrifying creatures wait for us. The ocean can be a calm and quiet place, but it is just as likely to be turbulent and dangerous, just like our emotions. Water has long been associated with emotional energies in witchcraft, but while the ocean can be a source of fear and darkness, it is also a source of life! This is something ocean deities often teach us- to take a risk and plunge in because the reward is great.  Neptune in the signs: Refer to your birth chart for more info (this is a summary only intended as a starting point) Aries: Point of illusion is your own ego. You act on psychic impulses but rarely take into account the other’s opinion.  Taurus: Imagination and spiritual energies are channeled into concrete expression. Materialistic nature will be an issue buried deep inside.  Gemini: Intuitive energies are channeled into logic. Self belief that you can take on anything will get you in trouble.  Cancer: Easily impressionable. Need to make self aware of what is reality and what is illusion. Leo: Ego may hold you hostage. Virgo: Over-analyzing of self and others, afraid to venture into the depths of self without doing this first. Libra: Misplaced idealism in what is beautiful and harmonious, will be aware of the subconscious self and will strive to act out what is beautiful unnecessarily.  Scorpio: Placement can induce drug and alcohol problems, Scorpio has a need to connect deeply to the self. But if it doesn’t like what it sees it may find unhealthy coping methods. Sagittarius: Intuition allows you to understand spiritual issues and fit them into your own truth of self.  Capricorn: Spiritual ideas are given too much of a practical structure to emerge. Allow for things to flow. Aquarius: Heightened spiritual alignment and intuition, takes on vast and innovative changes to the self.  Pisces: A vivid imagination allows you to connect to your spirituality. You risk separation from reality. 

How to use Neptune energies It can be difficult to understand the importance of Neptune energy in spell work. Many of us probably struggle to connect to the meaning of certain elements, especially water. Yet emotional energy is one of the driving forces behind some of the spells us witches choose to cast. Many of us struggle to contain emotions or in some cases we struggle with feeling them too- in a society that tells us emotions are bad and unhealthy some of us hide them deep in the self. Yet they are something each of us goes through on a daily basis. Unfortunately there is not a lot of emphasis in this society in learning how to feel and process emotions carefully. Sometimes we have parts of ourselves that are painful to face, or are controlling and negative- like a mental illness. But looking within the issue is ultimately a healing experience and not something to be afraid of. We can call on Neptune’s energies to helps us connect with our true dark self- flaws and all through shadow work, dream work, divination and working with spirits. It can also be called on to heal and calm the darkest places by allowing us to come to terms with the reality of what is there.  Deep shadow workings Shadow work is essential to becoming a better and happier person. Buddhism often tells us that happiness is within us. Working with Neptune’s energies is key to looking within ourselves and finding our own personal understanding of happiness and who we are. Tarot, divination, journaling and trance meditation are all techniques you can use with the help of Neptune to look within yourself as a form of shadow work. Neptune lends a very real and hidden aspect to shadow workings, so working with Neptune in this sense is not for the faint hearted. It will really, really, really reveal your shit.  Neptune oil

Disclaimer: Please take into account that all of this is UPG (Unverified Personal Gnosis). My experiences working with Void entities are deeply personal and might not reflect your own experiences.

Having addressed this, I will jump right into it and talk a bit about Void energy.

Many people seem to think that all Void energy is the same. Outer space and emptiness are talked about as if they are interchangeable or equivalent. In my experience, this is definitely not the case. While there might be similarities between Outer Space Void and what I call “True Void”, there are also some very evident differences. In my case, I work with True Void entities primarily, and the things I will be discussing throughout this series are relating to and can usually only be applied or generalized to True Void spirits & energy.

Where can I find it?

True Void energy is most frequently found in True Void spaces in the astral (however, it surrounds us in negligible quantities no matter where we are). It also tends to congregate in liminal spaces, in places of transition, and in areas that have been abandoned or dead for a long time.

What are its uses?

While True Void energy harnessed by a skilled energy worker can do everything from healing to serious offensive damage, the most common uses for True Void energy that I have witnessed are Void-walking (traveling from one destination to another through Void spaces) and a derivative of shadow work. (I say a derivative of shadow work because commonly, shadow work is about acceptance or working with the shadow-self. True Void Shadow Work involves the manipulation of Void energy to control darkness/shadows).

Description:

In terms of a specific description, True Void energy has a magnetizing quality to it that is difficult to put into words or understand unless you have worked with it before. This energy is incredibly adaptable. Oftentimes, it will take on the qualities of surrounding energy. For example, if Void energy is found in an astral space heavily populated by fire elementals, it might acquire the same properties as the energy they give off. It might become warmer, more volatile, and also easier to handle.

Yet, Void energy would still remain unmistakably….voidy. You’d still feel an underlying dark, cold pull towards it. It’d still be inexplicably heavy in your hands despite appearing almost insubstantial. Handling it for an extended of period of time would still leave you with the odd impression of frostbite dancing on your fingertips.

Working with it:

Working with True Void energy might leave you feeling ill or drained (especially if you are not “aligned” with it). Handling this type of energy is much more difficult for humans than handling other energy sources, due to the fact that most living things are not compatible with it.

Added to this, Void energy has the interesting property of “taking” from its non-native users (especially if they are not highly proficient at energy manipulation and knowledgeable of Void energy specifically). For an unprepared energy worker, it might replicate the effects of an energy parasite. These effects (physical, emotional, and energetic) might be felt for days after having worked with it. Think of it like a really terrible hangover.

My belief as to why True Void energy has this specific effect on things is that it tends to consume what is in its path in an effort to return it to a balanced, chaotic state. However, this does not mean that True Void energy is inherently evil. Additionally, it does not fit into the more common energy alignments of “Light” or “Dark”. Rather, it appears to have its own special classification.

Compatible alignments:

Void energy generally tends to attract parasites. From what I have seen, it doesn’t seem to have the same negative impact on parasitic entities as it does on other creatures. One explanation for this could be that parasitic entities have evolved and adapted to hide in True Void spaces to protect themselves. Alternatively, it is possible that they still experience negative effects, but are more resilient and able to endure longer exposure to True Void than other species.

Another True-Void “tolerant” energy alignment would be Death energy. Death workers like reapers and grims tend to be relatively comfortable in the presence of True Void energy.

Nature spirits, fae spirits, light-aligned spirits, and “livelier” energy-aligned beings, on the other hand, might find True Void to be repulsive. They might also feel particularly affected by its draining qualities. The nature entities that I have encountered generally tend to show a dislike for True Void energy workers.

Demonic entities (especially hellborn demonic entities) also appear to have a particular distaste for True Void. They might react aggressively or go out of their way to avoid encountering True Void entities. This seems to stem from a historical event that placed hellborn demonic spirits against True Void entities (and/or energy). While I am not privy to the details of this event at the moment, I will continue to update the series as I gain more insight into the situation.

Shadow work can feel very…vague to talk about. There’s a bad habit of just kind of handwaving things and hoping people figure it out on their own. Part of that is that it’s so intensely personal. It’s so hard to come up with things that will work for everyone. The other part is that I want people to experiment and add to what we know about shadow work so I don’t want to be too prescriptive in how I teach others to do it.

So, for this post I wanted to dig into some of the most basic skills I use in shadow work in the hopes it’ll help people no matter which methods or paths they take.

Describing Events Neutrally

I put this one first because I think it’s the most important and the more difficult. Our emotions cloud how describe events to ourselves and others. For us to look critically at actions or words, we really need to be able to describe them without intent or emotion. Now, I’m not saying to leave that out entirely, I’ll get to that next. But you have to be able to get a clear view of what was done. This is so important when working with anything that might be triggering. We are too used to describing events with the goal of justifying thoughts, feelings, and actions and in shadow work it helps to break that instinct where you can.

When you can describe events neutrally to start with, it’s easier to see whether the feelings where in line or out of line with what happened. Were you way over reactive? Maybe under reactive? It’s easier to judge that when you have a neutral account to work with.

To practice, try listing out some events as they happen neutrally. An example might be after a tense interaction with someone, listing out what was said and done. If you can, get someone who was there to look at it and someone who wasn’t there to look at it and see what they say as far as how factual and neutral the account is.

Naming Feelings

Many many people cannot tell you what they’re feeling. There’s a myriad of reasons for this but no matter where it comes from it hurts shadow work. Your mood is like an internal weather system, you need to be able to do shadow work that’s appropriate for the weather. How you dig into things if gonna be different if your reaction to feeling trapped is to give up and binge movies or to lash out in anger. Gotta know what you’re working with.

It’s absolutely vital that you practice naming your emotions in day to day life. I did a week where I had an alarm go off five times a day and I wrote down what I was feeling in a note on my phone. A lot of my entries were “I’m not sure”. The practice showed me how often I have no connection to my feelings at all and prompted me to get to know them better.

Try using a feelings wheel or a feelings chart at least once a day to get used to checking in with yourself and putting a name on it.

Defining What You Want

We live in a society that has a very complicated relationship with wants. People often say we live in a consumerist society but we don’t often talk about what that’s done to us psychologically, to be so consumptive. There’s a lot of morality around them too that we internalize. We identify strongly with what we want. We define ourselves through our ambitions and our goals. But it means what we really want gets lost in the pursuit of shaping our desires to be acceptable or admirable. We ignore our desires that don’t fit with our narratives which is such a block to shadow work. How can you work on what you won’t let yourself be conscious of?

You have to understand that you and your desires are not one in the same. Just because you really want to enact violence on someone for what they’ve done doesn’t make you a bad person or a mean person or what have you. It’s a natural human desire. That doesn’t mean that’s it’s justified just that you are not bad for having those thought or desires. This extends to other things people don’t like admitting they want – finding other people more appealing than their partner, wanting someone who’s wronged them to suffer, wanting more for yourself even if it means someone else goes without – they’re all desires we have from time to time.

Practice writing what you want out on paper. Remind yourself you don’t have to act on it and that it’s better to be aware of it so doesn’t sneak into the driver’s seat. It’s important to break the idea that we’re owed what we want or that we have to act on what we want. Desires, much like feelings, come and go. But they’re important to be aware of while they’re here.

Taking Responsibility

I still am unsure of how to describe how to do this. It’s really distress tolerance at it’s core; learning to be okay with not being okay. Because where I see people going wrong with responsibility in shadow work is that they either explain everything away with context or they go it’s all my fault and it’s so terrible I can’t do anything about it.

Part of taking responsibility is being able to answer the question “What do I owe in this situation?” If your answer is always nothing, you’re wrong. We are social creatures, we’re only here because we evolved the intelligence to work closely and creatively with other members of our species. We do owe each other things in any interaction. It’s important to practice thinking about what those things are. Equally important is thinking through what you don’t owe as well.

Practice sitting with your mistakes when they happen and trying to think what’s owed in this situation. Shadow work depends on our ability to take responsibility for the roles we play in what keeps us stuck.

Pattern Recognition

I don’t know that I have much explicit advice for this category other than it’s incredibly helpful. Seeing your patterns is really key to zeroing in on automatic behaviors or thoughts. Pattern recognition is kind of like playing Minesweeper. It gets you a little closer to what you’re trying to uncover without having to step right in it and maintain yourself to be reflective.

Journaling can be really great for this. If you see yourself writing about the same actions or feelings or thoughts again and again and again. Going back through old conversations where you’re venting might give you some clues.

Whenever you find yourself frustrated you keep doing something, take note. When are you doing these things? What does it offer you? What does it protect you from?

We don’t do things repeatedly if they don’t serve us in some way which can be hard for us to admit.

Compassionate Problem Solving

So you’ve dug up these unpleasant truths about yourself, what’s a shadow worker to do? The only way forward is compassionate problem solving. Which is best summed of for me as working with yourself, not against yourself. I’m reminded of permaculture – the problem is the solution.

An example of this in my own life was ADHD. Once I finally realized what I was dealing with was ADHD, I spent several months ignoring it completely and being shocked when I couldn’t will myself to be “normal”. I felt a lot of shame. It was only when I started accepting where I was at and then going okay what can I do that things started to shift. “Okay, if I know I’m gonna forget my keys what can I do?” I put spare house keys and car keys in my car so when I inevitably forgot them somewhere I could call AAA and I’d be able to drive home. “Okay if I’m gonna forget my papers what can I do?” I made digital backup galore so I could access them and print them off at the last minute on campus. My life got so much better with the approach.

Wherever you’re at there are things you can do to make it better going forward and it’s important to get creative and stay reasonable. Getting triggered frequently? Make sure you have a cool down list of some kind on your phone. Too scared to grab groceries by yourself? Grab a buddy or order them and pick them up. Spending too much time in bed because you’re depressed as shit? Set a 5 minute timer and do one thing to make your life better. Literally all of these are personal examples.

There’s always something you can do. Small wins are still wins. Count them. There’s no need to be cruel to yourself while doing shadow work. Practice coming up with at least three different ways to respond to issues that you face. Even if you know a solution isn’t the one you’re gonna take, get used to putting out more than one “right” answer. In shadow work, there’s always more than one path.

Conclusion

I hope this is helpful. A bit rambling, but I think I could have used a post like this when I was starting out. Shadow work gets very individualized, very quickly, but I’ve yet to talk to anyone who wasn’t using at least a few of these in their personal shadow work journey. Hope these skills and how to practice them help!

When we meditate, we inject far-reaching and long-lasting benefits into our lives: We lower our stress levels, we get to know our pain, we connect better, we improve our focus, and we’re kinder to ourselves. Let us walk you through the basics in our new mindful guide on how to meditate.

We can find many indicators of psychic abilities in the birth chart but I personally believe that we can all develop any abilities if we work hard enough.

Obviously the whole chart matters and the actions you take are incredibly important as well. These are the aspects that I’ve personally noticed and researched.

🦋 Neptune conjunct MC - This indicates a career where you’ll be using your psychic senses. There is an ability to channel and just overall a strong connection to spirituality. The tighter the conjunction, the more powerful.

🦋 8th house influence - 8th house is all about the occult, so having many planets here makes someone naturally interested in those sorts of things.

🦋 12th house influence - 12th house talks about the unconscious and spirituality, but having planets here makes the psychic gifts a bit difficult to access. The native needs to work in order to truly develop their psychic senses.

🦋 Moon in Water Signs and Water Houses - Moon is one of the most important things to look at in regards of psychic abilities. When in water signs and houses, it gives great intuition and sensitivity to the energies. 

🦋 Moon in 8th house - This house particularly makes the person very psychic.

🦋 Moon conjunct/trine/sextile Neptune - Neptune talks all about spirituality and when positively aspected to the Moon, it strengthens any psychic senses. Possible clairvoyance, clairaudience etc. The smaller the orb, the better.

🦋 Moon conjunct/trine/sextile Uranus - Gives strong intuition and healing powers.

🦋 Sun in Water signs and Water Houses - Similar to the Moon one, but less influential because Moon is more important in regards to psychic senses.

🦋 Sun conjunct/trine/sextile Neptune - Gives someone a great connection to spirituality. An opportunity to tap into your subconsciousness and inner power.

🦋 Sun conjunct/trine/sextile Uranus - Like the moon, gives strong intuition and healing abilities. These people have unique and interesting ideas.

🦋 Jupiter conjunct Neptune - This aspect makes someone naturally gifted with strong intuition and psychic senses.

🦋 Mercury conjunct/trine/sextile Uranus/Neptune - These people make choices based on their intuition and are very in tune with it!

🦋 North Node in Water signs - North Node talks about our destiny and having it in water signs indicates a spiritual path.

There are many other aspects, but basically things related to Neptune or Water signs can tell us all about psychic abilities and senses, so look into your chart and let me know which of these you have!

Chiron in Aries: I feel: defeated, I have no voice, I can not speak. I feel like having to battle everyone around me to prove me. I am not enough, authority challenges me. Am I aggressive for no reason? Am I a mindless hot head and weak in the wrong moments? Where is my idendity, who am I really? I need to prove it to everyone, especially myself. I will heal: Innerly. I am strong and I can speak without backing down, I will be brave for myself and fight for what’s right. I finally know my character. 

Chiron in Taurus: I feel: worthless, I have no worth and I don’t feel secure. I crave stability, will I find it in goods? Will I find it maybe if I don’t move and stay the same forever? I need ressurance, I am scared and can’t make any steps further. I will heal: by looking past the face, I will dare to look constructevly at my life, I will work for stability, I can feel secure in myself because I can provide for myself, so there is nothing to fear anymore. I am beautiful and good.

Chiron in Gemini: I feel: stupid and overbeared by all the impressions and informations I get. I am scaref to talk. My believes and views are challenged. I can’t make any sense of it, I am scared to speak my mind and unsure about everything. I have difficulties interacting with my fellow human beings, my mind can’t stand still, I am unable to focus. I will heal: and finally sort out my feelings and ideas. I will find confidence and ways to clean up my thoughts and will see the benefits in talking with my fellows and appreciate their opnion. Changing my mind is part of the progress in life, I feel joyous and happy when intellectually challenged or stimulated.

Chiron in Cancer: I feel: abandoned and unloved. Where is my family, where is my mother? I want a family that functions as a saving harbour but I feel left out and mistreatend. Home is hell and I am part of it. The family generational curse is out to get me. I am afraid I can not form a healthy family myself later on. What is a ‘normal’ family anyway? I will heal: with my heart. Normal is subjective and I am not part of the grudge that seems to hold my family in a tight grip. I can choose my family myself, I am loved even when I doubt it and I need to remind myself. I will transform my pain into a healing hand that touches damaged souls. 

Chiron in Leo: I feel: like a disgrace to myself and everyone else. I feel embaressed and I need to hide myself. I am too much, my love, my joy, my presence. I am shy and don’t want anyone to look at me: what if they hate me? Someone spoke too harshly with me and now I am scarred. I will heal: With my inner child by side. I am aloud to enjoy life and life out my passions. I am born to be looked at; everyone is unique in their own ways and I am too. The right people will appreciate me and I need to appreciate myself as well. I see my worth, I am glad I was born because I see the pupose of my life benefitting different situations and people.

Chiron in Virgo: I feel: exhausted. I am born to work and serve, but my body is aching. I see the negative in everything first, I am nitpicking myself and everyone else. I am not allowed to rest and enjoy. There is a mess around me, there is a mess inside me: my life is a mess, I need to clean up my whole existence. I will heal: by opening up to love and warmth. I need to feel the love vibrating in  the world I am on. I need to get in touch with my soul, my aims and pupose. I need to know the pin points of my life, everything else will solve itself later on.

Chiron in Libra: I feel: that I need to be always with someone, or do I feel alone? I give myself in into shallowness and have diffeculties forming meaningful relationships with my surroundings. I want to experience love I need to interact with someone because they need to fill the void inside of me. I see mirrors reflecting everything I give away from myself. I am not myself, I will change myself completely. I will heal: by realising that there is a connection between me and other people. I click with them and by helping them they help me. I am not shallow, the peoples are mirrors reflectig what I need, if they are wrong for me, what vibe and sensation do I give off? I can find solitude in myself as well, no one else is needed to give me the feeling of meaningfullness, relationships are an symbiosis. 

Chiron in Scorpio: I feel: cursed by the world, powerless. Since I was born someone or something is out to get me. Leave me alone. My inner being is wrong and feels like it can’t fit in, there is a deep, deep trauma that happened once that is haunting me now. I doom myself for being born, I fear losing eberyone, no one is allowed to come near me - I feel evil and wish evil. I will heal: with my whole heart and soul. Nothing is out to get me, I am not cursed, I did nothing wrong, nor in my past, this is a way of shaping who I am there is a reason behind all of this but I am not being punished. I am alright with who I am and I am not scary, nor evil, or a monster that was formed by being hurt and alone. 

Chiron in Sagittarius: I feel: lost in life and I fear having it lived meaningless. I feel pressured into finding a meaning and I want to achieve my dreams but it seems everything is getting out of hand. There are no roots holding me, I was tricked into false believes; my believes were belittled and killed. My soul feels restless and I need air to breath. I will heal: by accepting the cycle of life and realising I have the choice to create my life as I want. There is freedom and I can compromise between the rules. I will realise that there is a pupose in finding the purpose: the way is part of the destination. I have time and I don’t need to fear the future. 

Chiron in Capricorn: I feel: powerless and stoic. Nobody sees my value and my meaning, I can’t really find my place in society. I feel underappreciated and I always have to work extra hard to hear a true ‘well done’. Do I need to keep up an image? A mask I put on as soon as I leave the house? The future isn’t bright; the future is dark and meaningless. I will heal: by being my own authority and giving me the respect and recognition I deserve. I know my true self and I will align my destiny with it. I know I’ve done well and when times comes they’ll see. The future is bright because it is directed by me.

Chiron in Aquarius: I feel: Alienated and too odd. Evryone wants to be unique but I feel too eccentric to be part of society. I am left alone with my thoughts and visions, I will act as normal as possible to have friends and a loving community. I want to get close to people but i fear them nontheless. I will heal: by admiring my inner core and coming i touch with others. We will earn from each other and appreciate and love our differences; the inspire and fullfill us eventually. I will find community, I will create a place of belonging for everyone, my unique way of seeing things will benefit my community. It will please the void inside me.