Blue Star mini-meme

[sabrinamari]

What are *your* Blue Star Path of Power Sub-Specialties?

1. Answer this post with a brief comment noting our common foci/areas of overlapping interest
2. Copy this meme and paste into your own LJ, removing my answers
3. Substitute your own answers so that the Blue Star/pagan community can pester you for new knowledge,
advice and petition for collaborative exchanges in your areas of specialty or interest.

Herbology - Aromatics, organic container gardening with herbs

Ritual - ROPs, transformational ritual, partnering exercises for ritual officiants (Seaweed and Ocean, hand bonding exercise learned from LJ user and working partner Oaktavia)

Trance and Meditation - Channeling Spirit, Thinging, Mindfulness Meditation, Joybreath

Psychic Development - healing therapeutics and diagnostics, eg., Reiki, High Sense Perception work, pendulum work, magic

Divination - Tarot

Love - loving kindness meditation, dharma classes, developing bhodicitta, differentiation work, journaling

Music and Dance - fire circle dancing/drum dancing, trance dancing

Astral Projection - do not practice unless poked repeatedly with a sharp stick ,
or in a circle led by a Priest/ess conducting an astral projection exercise

Comments

[effloresense.livejournal.com]

Interesting... What's Joybreath? And what's bhodicitta?

[sabrinamari.livejournal.com]

Joybreath is the name given to a continuous deep breathing technique that can be used to induce trance and open the body to much larger amounts of energy than it usually channels. It's sometimes called "rebirthing". Many claims are made for the technique, but I see it primarily as a tool for working with energy.

I also think that it's misnamed. For some people, it induces a euphoric state, but for others, it results in body-wide involuntary muscle cramping that can be really frightening and painful. I'm one of these people. I still use the technique occasionally because it acts as a giant "flush," pushing blocks and solidifications stuck in my field out, at least temporarily. The long term result is good for me: I can run mich more Reiki and HSP through my body, my healing abilities are much stronger (until I start building new blocks) and I think it also makes me a more effective magical practitioner.

But it hurts like hell and it usually leaves me with a headache for at least a day afterwards.

So I use it judiciously, and usually in the comnpany of another Braided Streamer. I've taught it to other people on occasion, and there seems to be an even distribution among those who get the all clenched-up painful response and those who find it pleasant or euphoric. Now, I'm more careful, and I don't try it with anyone who hasn't spent several monthsworking with energy in some capacity a couple of times a week.

Bodhicitta is a word taken from the Tibetan that refers to the "opening up and softening of the heart and mind" or the generation of deep compassion. Tibetan Buddhists practice several different techniques to "teach" themselves to stay calm in the face of challenging interactions with others with the ultimate goal of becoming so centered and so strong in the self that they can even feel *real* compassion for those who are acting out of fear, anger and defensiveness around them. This allows them to stay centered, think clearly, and respond to defensiveness or anger in ways that defuse that anger and end up helping the angry person to calm down.

It's not easy, but it's worthwhile. It's sort of like "cultivating love even when that's not very easy".

I am just starting this practice, but already, it has helped me. I'm eager to continue, and to find new ways to bring what I learn to others who might be interested.

[oaktavia.livejournal.com]

LOL
ok I'm in the "misnamed" is an UNDERSTATEMENT group (uproarious laughter)
when it was first described to me "neither of us were uncramped enough to flip the tape over" (?!?) that I couldn't figure out why on earth anyone would WANT to *repeat* the process!

And then I tried it.
I'm definitely in the 'cramp up' group... enough so, that I was *truly* too frightened to open my eyes and look at my hands - which had cramped up enough to look as though I had osteo-arthritis! (which to an artisan was terrifying!)
and lo and behold... I'm actually looking forward to doing it again. go figure. ;-)