Morrigan:

are we ready then?

WISE WITCH:

let me get my notes.....

Morrigan:

shall I be your doorward WW?

WISE WITCH:

that would be great, Morrigan. Who will log the class?

Morrigan:

I am logging

Type O Demon:

{---= lays down at Morrigan's feet and waits for class to begin

Type O Demon:

{g}

truthunter:

are discussions and questions allowed?

WISE WITCH:

questions, if not too many. Discussion at the end.

let's give it one or two more minutes, Morrigan.

truthunter:

WW do folks give sources and documentation here to follow up on if desired?

WISE WITCH:

okay, with the room full we may as well start.....that depends on the teacher, hunter.....

Morrigan:

ready

WISE WITCH:

CLASS IS BEGINNING! TAKE YOUR SEATS AND Shut up.

Morrigan:

Merry Meet, and welcome to Wicca101! Tonight Wise Witch will be teaching on Vigils, and preparing for major workings.

CLASS ETIQUETTE:

1) Please keep all Blessed Be's, Merry Meet's and Merry Part's in IM until our class is completed.

2) The Doorward holds the right of EXCLUSION WITHOUT COMMENT. Should an exclusion be called, please do NOT talk to or about the excludee until class is completed.

Wise Witch, you have the floor

WISE WITCH:

okay....I'm old fashioned - I think that our relationships with the Gods and goddesses is an exchange of energy - you get back in proportion to what you give. IMO, this is why you see some religions with lots of taboos/restrictions - by infusing a consciousness of the Gods and Goddesses in every action, every minute, every day, there is great potential benefit. Judaism comes tripping to mind here, or pre-vat II Roman Catholicism, or the class I already led on Daily practice [g]

This truism is also why vigils and doing deep preparation before ANY major working pays off so well. What is a vigil, I hear you all thinking - stop thinking so loud!

Morrigan:

lol

Amoretto:

lol

WISE WITCH:

Basically, for my purposes, a vigil is an intense period of energy exchange with the Gods and Goddesses. in PaleoPagan cultures they often included life or health threatening activities. After all, their survival was more directly tied to the Gods and Goddesses than ours are now - we will survive a year of bad crops, for example. now that it is 'only' or spiritual advancement at risk, we don't' risk our lives.

Vigils may be fasting, staying up one or more nights, tending a sacred fire, running a marathon, a night alone in the woods - or , if you are into really risky activities, a night alone on the streets of the city. Some element of - if not risk - of stepping beyond the limits of self and society. of entering the world of the Sidhe. As with any magical/ritual working, you do a vigil for a clear purpose. typical ones include healing, initiation by the Gods and Goddesses, breaking out of spiritual ruts, or as part of a larger working.

any questions so far?

Amoretto:

{raises hand}

WISE WITCH:

yes, amoretto?

JitrbgPrfume:

::Raises hand, also::

WISE WITCH:

just ask, folks, don't worry about being called on [g]

Elenya:

{---sitting in back row

Morrigan:

lol

Herne1734:

yes, is the purpose of this all to produce an altered state of consciousness to increase the awareness?

Amoretto:

Would you consider someone a vigil if they would, say, trespass on land and then fight for the right to be there?

Amoretto:

Or anything like that?

WISE WITCH:

No, Herne - as part of a vigil that may be included, but the purpose is not to enter an ASC. it's more an offering of the self to the Gods.

JitrbgPrfume:

This may sound stupid, but I don't care.. lets say I spend I night in the woods for my vigil.. What do I do while I'm there.. Meditate...

PAniteowl:

Like tuning up before the performance?

truthunter:

most altered states would seem to increase the illusion of awareness through the gapage of the wish to and the real to of what is

WISE WITCH:

no, Amoretto - that is an offering of another person's energy...

We'll get to that, jitterbug.

Amoretto:

Another one, could some vigils be considered martyrs?

WISE WITCH:

I wouldn't say that, amoretto. Martyrs, in my view, suffer at the hands of another. though you may be describing my mother the martyr.

Amoretto:

Oh, okay, thank you.

PAniteowl:

Wise .. am having semantic problems .. vigil - as an act of something, or becoming a "Vigil" in and of itself

WISE WITCH:

I don't understand the question, PA.....

Potatoetoe:

vigil, waiting

Morrigan:

do you do a vigil or do you become a vigil?

PAniteowl:

thanks Morrigan

SongSpring:

you *stand* vigil

Morrigan:

:)

Herne1734:

or sit

WISE WITCH:

oh, you do/stand/work one.

PAniteowl:

got confused with the wording of Amoretto

WISE WITCH:

So, how long does one last? That depends on the type. A fast may last 1 - 6 days. A firetending or overnight one runs dusk to dawn.

SongSpring:

some last longer... some shorter I suppose WW.....

WISE WITCH:

much will depend on your purpose, and if you've done 'em before. pacing in vigils - for a fast, while you will be following the basic rules of fasting (see some of Dick Gregory's writings on that), the idea is to replace meals with devotions to the Gods and Goddesses. it's not what you are not doing that is as important as what you replace it with.

For an over night one, structure your time. not only does it give you something to do in preparation - but you need to vary things so you stay awake! And if you just sit and meditate, you'll sleep. So work in some yoga, some music, maybe dancing, certainly journaling. What ever you do, though, just keep alert for that Return of Energy!

I'm not going to go into what I've learned during vigils that were successful - 'twas always amazing, but private. So let's talk about vigils that died a miserable, lingering death....like my Yule vigil this past Yule.' The one where my son got the stomach flu. As he vomited over himself, the rugs, the beds, etc, every hour between 10 and 3 (groan). oh, I kept the sacred fire going. And I kept a log. But mostly I did laundry, calmed and cuddled a child, contemplated murdering my sleeping husband.

Potatoetoe:

a true mothers vigil

WISE WITCH:

Exactly, potatoe.

Morrigan:

agreed potatoe

CynaraMac:

LOL WW

Xori:

LOL

Morrigan:

been there

Xori:

know the feeling

PAniteowl:

done that

Herne1734:

The "path of the heart fire"

WISE WITCH:

I was not a happy pagan. I can't even say I stayed up all night doing a pagan vigil - it was just a Mom and sick child vigil with a fire and Mom making Sculpey figures - did that early on.

JitrbgPrfume:

If you are going to stay in the woods overnight. You find out a fellow solitary is planning a vigil too. Can he/she join you in the vigil.. and it still have a hope of success.

WISE WITCH:

I'm trying to convince myself that my lady was really being kind - and I know she has a sense of humor. maybe she just figured that if I was planning on being up, she'd get that stomach bug out of the way then....[g]

jitrbug, that can be fine, too. my grove did that at Yule, though I didn't go to that

Xori:

{G} - that's a way to look at it (to keep the hubby alive anyways)

WISE WITCH:

And 'retreats' are parts of many churches, synagogues, etc, today.

other questions?

Herne1734:

Do you use Super Sculpy, it's better than the regular kind

Potatoetoe:

During my vigils I practice silence

WISE WITCH:

yes, Herne.

CynaraMac:

How far in advance of a ritual do you do a vigil?

WISE WITCH:

I tend to do them as part of a ritual, not as preparation for a ritual, Cynara.

Helena:

I to use them as part of the ritual

WISE WITCH:

Other questions, before I move to preparing for major workings? flipping through notes....

okay - preparing for major workings.....

Helena:

Of course couldn't a vigil also become candle-magick

WISE WITCH:

Sure, helena. Vigils can be part of any working.

Back to the 'exchange of energy' theme - in days gone by, getting the Will and emotions ready for a ritual was easy - do it or die is a great motivator! Today, it takes more work, in my never humble opinion. in the coven I trained in, we were expected to be 'fully prepared' for any major rituals the coven did. That meant a solid week of preparations for sabbaths, etc.

Potatoetoe:

discipline

WISE WITCH:

Sure, memorizing our lines was part of that. but also included was a regime of visualizations, dietary changes, feast preparation, research, etc. And if you were on the liturgy team, you were involved at least 2 weeks in advance working on that.

VISUALIZATIONS - my old HP was deeply into these. not just during rituals, but for preparations.

JitrbgPrfume:

HP=?

WISE WITCH:

We had specific deities to visualize at each quarter - god and goddess -similarly, specific aspects of the Gods and Goddess for each holy day.

Morrigan:

high priestess

WISE WITCH:

hp = high priest / hpss - high priestess.

JitrbgPrfume:

thanks.. wasn't sure..

Morrigan:

oops

WISE WITCH:

HPMS - high priestess with pms.

Morrigan:

LOL

Elenya:

LOL

Nestor:

lol

Boudica:

LOL

Xori:

LOL

JitrbgPrfume:

lol

DethDesire:

{G}

Burningwolf:

lol

FalconsWind:

LOL

Silent Chant:

lol

WISE WITCH:

For example, for Imbolg we has not just 'the young goddess' to visualize, but 'the young Isis'. And we were to practice that visualization in the week before. likewise, we would have a geometric pattern to visualize with a mantra of one or more lines to do for 10 minutes twice a day.

And that visualization brings us to preparatory meditations. Clearly, we did those in that 10 minutes twice a day viz.. This on top of our daily workings, BTW.

Diet - we were encouraged to modify our diet for the week before, though just how was up the individual. I cut out caffeine (whimper) and red meat. Every meal should have a cue to your Divine Innermost Self that a major working is coming! Feast preparation - similar to the job of tool and robe preparation! Someone has to make the cakes, and the feast pizza. AND it should be done with Mindfulness of the magick intent

Research - the Hp and hpss did not spoon feed us info on the holy day/deities/etc. We were expected to put forth effort on our won to look more closely into the holy day/god/goddess and other related issues.

Then came the day of the ritual. Some would fast. I don't fast well, to be honest - I tend to pass out. I limit myself to eating 'live foods' the day of the ritual.

Then we were to get to the ritual site early - not Pagan Standard Time! And to do a ritual bathing before we headed out. So, by the time the ritual ended, a full week of preparation had gone down. But - is the ritual really over?

Of course not! Still had to write it up in our BOS. And ....And we're talking about major workings. The aftereffects of which are gonna reverberate through your life forever to some extent. For SURE, you will see the effects in your dreams, meditation, etc, for the next week, at least, and you need to record THAT in your BOS, too.

SongSpring:

Blessed Be

WISE WITCH:

Here we find a related point - how often can you really do a major working? From my experience, not more than once every couple of weeks. minor ones, sure, do 'em often. Work through all the things in, say, motherwit. But for major ones, if you are going to be able to see what effects came from what working, no more than two a month. In my never humble opinion, at least! [g]

And that is what I have in my notes, folks. Questions, discussions?

Nestor:

WW-- do you include any special herbs or salts in your bath before rituals?

CynaraMac:

What is motherwit?

WISE WITCH:

Yes, Nestor, always sea salt, and the herbs will vary.

Nestor:

thank you

WISE WITCH:

motherwit is a book, by Diane Mariechild, which has wonderful guided visualizations/ Pathworkings.

CynaraMac:

Thanks.

FalconsWind:

as a solitary practitioner how do I discern natural feelings from actual effects?

PAniteowl:

Is warding a part of your vigil Wise?

SongSpring:

is a part of mine PA....

WISE WITCH:

practice, practice, practice, falcons!

FalconsWind:

ok

SongSpring:

ever heard of the Green Goddess sea salts

WISE WITCH:

that will depend on the vigil, PA. Always an offering to the Outsiders, to keep them busy. But if it's a Celtic working, then warding isn't appropriate.

no, SS, not me.

SongSpring:

they are rather nice bath salts.. I love them.

WISE WITCH:

speak up, folks!

Xori:

I have a question about fasting WW - I too pass out if I don't eat (hypoglycemia) - I've kinda felt bad about not being able to do so - do you think that effects are diminished in such a case?

WISE WITCH:

not really, Xori. The idea is to cue yourself, and modifications in diet work fine for that.

Xori:

thanks

Potatoetoe:

drink water with small amounts of lemon rind

SongSpring:

you too Xori? try orange juice during fasting....

Morrigan:

you said "live foods" what specifically did you mean?

Xori:

I find that the discomfort from fasting in such a condition is distracting and takes away from a vigil (for me anyways)

WISE WITCH:

live foods =- fresh foods - fruits, veggies.

Xori:

thanks song

Morrigan:

ok...thought you meant meat and was confused

CynaraMac:

{G}

PAniteowl:

{g}

Xori:

And I suppose that the more freshly harvested the better WW?

WISE WITCH:

Sure, Xori - they even taste better that way! [g]

Xori:

thanks

FalconsWind:

during meditation not long ago I had an overwhelming feeling hit me which had nothing to do with what I was after but it did work would you say it was just my lack of understanding?

SongSpring:

well, if you can't go for that, go for the premium orange juice...

WISE WITCH:

Not lack of understanding, just unexpected, Falcons.

FalconsWind:

thanks it was unexpected

Morrigan:

so quiet

PAniteowl:

good teacher!!

Morrigan:

very!!

SongSpring:

{-is on the phone and watching at the same time

WISE WITCH:

Thanks!

CynaraMac:

Thank you WiseWitch.

Elenya:

{{{{{WW}}}}}, Thank you!

Boudica:

Very well done, WW.....thank you

melilot:

nice class WW

JitrbgPrfume:

Thank you wise..

WISE WITCH:

Now, we can have a class on 'how to prepare to teach while at an indoor playground with your child' [g]

Nestor:

Thank you very much Wise Witch

Warmuth:

Thank you WW

DethDesire:

Thankee WW

SongSpring:

{G} WW

Morrigan:

Yes Wise...very useful information, thank you!

Potatoetoe:

vigilance is wise

PAniteowl:

{g}

WISE WITCH:

you are all very welcome....

Burningwolf:

thank you WW

Elenya:

lol, WW

FalconsWind:

much love sent your way WW

SongSpring:

Thanks WW

Morrigan:

LOL Wise, I have my two year old in my lap right now so I can relate to that statement!!

WISE WITCH:

And I did it in under an hour!

Xori:

Thank you WW - a very good class

PAniteowl:

thanks so much Wise