Heavens Within Earth

Ave, In the old African Hoodoo (and if properly practiced and studied) the Hoodoo of today, it is understood that the power of the herbs and roots we use come from Spirit. This isn't like some sort of spiritual electricity, it is sentient and living virtue; these spirits can be communed with, and propitiated to do the work for us. It's worth noting that Spirit empowers more than plants; they empower minerals, words, they can empower methods . There is precedent for this in Western Magic as well. In my own book (Kameothic Internal Alchemy) I give my small Ordo's ( the Ordo Octopi Nigri Pulveri , not the Golden Dawn) method of Solomonic-based healing magic that uses the Spirits of the Deacons/Faces (for example, the First, Second, and Third Faces of Aries all have a particular Spirit, from whom certain effects might be had)  to create cures for ailments. The methods given in the Solomonic text would be completely ineffectual without the spiritual empowerment; for exampl...

Ave, So, I've made no bones about my interest in various healing systems. The further I grow in alchemical practice, the more important the physical body has become in my Work. I don't think people discuss this enough, or understand it well; the physical body and it's state are of incredible importance to your spiritual work. An alchemical practice that includes some sort of regular relaxation/exercise/bodywork is far more effective than one that does not. Look no further than our Eastern brethren for evidence of that; their Neidan addresses the physical element in magnificent fashion (with body movements meant to relax the body and to stimulate the Internal fires). Don't think that the Western does not! I'm not at liberty to discuss what exactly the Western practices are, as this aspect of ours is still held under the Rose, but the fact of the body's importance is a public matter at this point. Alchemy that doesn't address this component is incomplete...