salt of star fire

Feb

2019

Starry Path: Circle of Descent

Recapping: The foundation has been laid, the primary god figures have been introduced, as well as some of the spirits, explanations on tapping into the general energy of Star Fire, and the creation of two of the most basic materia on the Path.

Now it is time to bring this together with some very basic magick.

There are several methods of creating sacred space on the Path, a simple method follows, more complex ones will be discussed later. Different ways of creating sacred space exist for different purposes and situations.

This method of creating sacred space is geared towards spirit communication, manifestation, rooting the energetic in the material, the descent of spirit into matter. It creates a space where the flow of Spirit Descending into matter is strengthened, allowing spirits to manifest more strongly. This is a space for this type of magick, but it is not a protective or banishing working.

To create sacred space appropriate for spirit communication you’ll need your Salt of Star Fire.

Do whatever preliminary practice you feel is necessary; meditate, pillars, ground and centre, align the three souls, whatever you feel is necessary.

Orient yourself facing north. If you do not know which direction is north while not ideal you can always just pick a direction. North is generally the direction our circles are drawn from, but sometimes another direction might make more sense. For instance different stellar spirits might be called opening the circle in another direction, or if you’re working with the spirit of a place, and they are centered on a specific point, a tree, a statue, etc., then you can start facing that direction instead. If you’re working with spirits more generally and less geographically/spatially oriented then face north. (Despite asking, I’ve not been told if the circle should be cast from the south in the southern hemisphere, or if north remains the appropriate direction. If anyone on that side of the equator wants to experiment I would love to know.)

Facing north breathe in Star Fire until you feel you have a good amount of the energy in your system. Breathe the fire out onto your Salt of Star Fire and your hands, see the white flames subtly dancing on the surface.

Take the Salt and shake, sprinkle, or toss it loosely around you in a circle, starting in the north and moving clockwise. See how the Salt grounds the Star Fire physically and makes a glowing ring of Star Fire on the ground.

When the circle is complete put down the Salt. Raise your hands straight up and breathe in Star Fire again from the Heavens. Once the energy begins to flow into you lower your arms until your hands are pointing towards the ring of Salt. Let Starfire descend around you and through you into the ring, falling like a gentle rain.

The point is not to create an energetic wall of this energy, but rather to create the flow of the energy from Above to Below. This is not so much like a protective circle, but rather a point in space where the subtle energy flows down into the physical reality. Essentially this is a space were spirits and energy can manifest a bit easier because it’s a space where Spirit is descending into Matter.

Still facing north breathe in Star Fire again and blow it onto your dominant hand. Reach your dominant hand out, wreathed in flames, fingers up and palm out, like the “Stop” gesture. Spread your fingers out as far as you comfortably can. If the circle is small enough put your hand against the boundary above the circle of Salt. If the circle is too big for that, when you extend your hand and reach as far as you can go, the flaming image of your hand continues forward until it reaches the edge of the space where it rests. Either way leave a flaming palm print in the air at the edge of the circle.

Do the same with the other directions going clockwise. Depending on how much of the energy you brought in initially and how much you sent out you might need to breathe down Star Fire again to have enough. After this is done in the four directions do the same upwards, but instead of stopping at the edge of your space the flaming hand continues upwards until it is a shining star above you. Then draw Star Fire down and place your palm on the ground to send the handprint down into the earth, it stops in the core of the planet.

Stand up, and address the spirits of the Path.

“Fires of Heaven walking the Earth,

Open the Ways of Form.

Take my hands and guide Spirit into our world.”

The hands you are referring to are not your actual hands, but the flaming handprints you’ve left in space. In this form of the circle you might get general spirits of the Path, or possibly the directional guardians who will be addressed later. They clasp your handprints and help to continue the bridging flow of Spirit into Matter.

At this point the space has been made, and you can call upon and address spirits however you see fit. I will say again though, this is not a protective circle, but a space where Spirit Descends more easily allowing spirits to manifest more clearly. The spirits of the Path around the circle are not there for protection, but are pillars or conduits. Because it’s not a protective circle this is the space where you would call upon allies, ancestors, spirits you are on good terms with, or even spirits that are neutral with you. If you are not sure of the spirit’s nature or intent, this is not the circle to use with them.

When you are done the circle is fairly easy to take down. Put your hand, palm out, in front of you, and see light from all the handprints flowing into your hand, threads of light from all the handprints. With a turning motion turn your palm in and close your fist, and the fist closes it pulls in all the energy from your handprints. Without the hands or spirits to hold the space it will fade out on its own. If you want it closed faster, you can reach your hands towards the edge of the circle and breathe the Star Fire ring back into yourself.

Depending on ability and preference you can keep that Star Fire energy within yourself, breathe it back into container of Salt of Star Fire, or tilt your head back and with a forceful breath send it back to the sky, or any other reservoir you might want to use.

Nov

2018

Starry Path: Star Fire and Star Water

After working with Zoriyah in the last post you’ve connected to Star Fire and it is easy to call with or without the Salt of Star Fire. Honestly it isn’t much different from any other energy you’ve learned to tap in your sorcerous career.

Here is a method of calling on Star Fire, it can be used in general to gather the energy for a magickal purpose, it can also be used to reconnect or strengthen your connection with the energy. Even though Zoriyah puts you in contact with the energy, it’s recommended to do this practice as well to solidify that connection.

Breathing Down Star Fire

Far above your head picture a brilliant pure white star, brighter than any star or planet in the sky (even if you cannot see the sky). If you prefer, if you’re out at night, you can focus on a specific star for this instead, but make sure you are focusing on Star Fire, many stars have their own “flavours” and traits which are useful for other magick, but for now you just want that basic primordial Star Fire.

Breathe out as much as you can. Hold your breath while your lungs are empty. Feel the empty pressure in your lungs, waiting to be filled. When you take a deep, full breath in a thin pillar of white Star Fire descends from the star above you, runs down through your body, your spine or central channel, and into the ground. The pillar is about the width of a finger, keep that energy running. Hold your breath for a moment. Breathe out fully again. If you’re performing this with Salt of Star Fire, a little bit in your palms as you rub your hands together and then place a little pinch on the crown of your head and rub that in a little bit, this helps you establish the connection easier. This is useful if you feel blocked, or out of practice. If you have trouble, you can all chant Zoriyah’s name slowly, and every few recitations say something to the effect of “Zoriyah, send to me Star Fire.”

When you breathe in this time, stop the Star Fire in the energy centre a few finger widths below your navel. It helps to stop the energy in that centre if you draw up the pelvic floor when you breathe in. (If you don’t know how to do this, go to the bathroom, and part way through stop the flow of urine, that muscle set you tightened to do that, that draws up the pelvic floor)

Once you have stopped the flow of energy at your navel, switch to Square Breathing or Fourfold Breath. If you’re unfamiliar with this technique it’s very simple, and useful in general so it’s worth learning. Essentially the process of breathing is broken down into four stages: breathing in, holding your breath, breathing out, holding your breath exhaled. With square breathing you even out these four stages, so each step takes the same amount of time. It’s helpful when learning to count it out, breathe in 1,2,3,4, hold your breath 1,2,3,4, exhale 1,2,3,4, hold your breath 1,2,3,4.

Breathe in drawing the energy into your belly, hold your breath letting the energy you breathed in merge with what is in your belly, breathe out leaving the energy in your belly. Take as many breaths as you need to fill your belly with Star Fire. When you have enough you hold your breath, and let the white pillar dissipate. Once the pillar is gone (usually a second or two) you can resume breathing normally. From here you can manipulate the Star Fire energy in the way you might any other energy. You can run it through your system, you can exhale it on the breath, send it out your eyes or your hands or through your pores. As previously mentioned Star Fire is the most “neutral” energy on the Path, so you can use it in place of most energies used generally, to cleanse, to empower, to create forms, etc.

The only thing I would not recommend is running it intentionally down channels or through blockages. It can be used for that, but I would wait until you’ve worked with it a bit more to avoid straining your energetic system.

When you are done with the energy you can either send it down into the earth with another white pillar, or gather it into the navel and leave it there. It will naturally disperse throughout your energy system from the navel over the next while, how long depends on a variety of factors, but generally several minutes to an hour.

The more you work with Star Fire, the easier it is to connect to and use. After enough practice breathing it in this way, you can fill your entire form with Star Fire in the space of a single breath, drawing the Star Fire from within and without.

While I don’t want to muddy the waters with too much at once, both breathing Star Fire and creating Star Water are short and simple so it makes more sense to group them rather than to drag out the posts.

Star Water is essentially holy water on the Starry Path, and it can be used more or less in any way you might use consecrated water. It has some specialized uses I’ll touch on later. Once the water is consecrated it can be used to enhance any working on the Path. When contacting a spirit you can anoint your throat and your third eye, so you may communicate and perceive. Anoint door frames and windows, and asperge each wall to bless and seal a home. Sprinkle around you in a circle to help create space. Cleanse items, and self purification. I’ll explain the Sea of Stars in another post.

Star Water

Required:

Salt of Star Fire
Glass jar with lid
Small mirror (small enough to fit flat on the bottom of the jar)
Purified water

Put the mirror facing up in the jar and fill with water. Take the jar outside with some salt. This can also be done inside as long as the night sky is visible and it is not a full moon, but outside is preferable.

Place the jar on the ground and sit beside it. Breathe in Star Fire. Breathe in and call up all the sensations of Star Fire, call it down from the Heavens and out from your Core. Let it fill your body, as though you’re an empty crystal container, and the fire fills you and dances on the surface of your skin. When you have flickering fire all around you breathe into the jar, and sprinkle in some Salt of Star Fire. Let Salt, and water, and Star Fire, and breath become one. The water may take upon the appearance of having many small lights drifting inside of it.

“I open up the Waters of the Way, I open up the Waters of the Heavens, I open up the Sea of Stars. May the Light of the Stars and their Fire Fall into these Waters, imbuing it with their light and power.”

Let the energy settle in the water, the Star Water. Once the water is filled with Star Fire, dip your ring finger of your non-dominant hand into the Star Water, trace a star over your third eye. Dip your finger in the water again and flick it upward, if possible perceive the water breaking up into stars that hang in space for a moment.

That is all you need do for Star Water, at this point you can seal the jar and put it somewhere safe, preferably where it won’t get direct sunlight, until you need it.

There is a semi-complicated system of when the best nights to collect Star Light in Star Water. A general guideline is the darker the night the better. The closer to the new moon, the better. A lunar eclipse is even more powerful. The most powerful is actually during the day of a Solar Eclipse. The Star Light in weakened in sunlight, so it is preferable to bring the jar inside before dawn, or at least as soon as possible. If during a Solar Eclipse only take it out during the eclipse.

There is also an astrological component, which is where it gets a bit more complicated. There are two (at least) “power positions” in the sky. The closer the new moon’s position to these spots, but before them, the better.

21 degrees of Taurus (Sidereal, or 16 degrees of Gemini for Tropical Astrology), and 20 degrees Libra (Sidereal, or 15 degrees of Virgo for Tropical Astrology). There might be other “power positions” but so far this is what I’ve been given.

Well charged Star Water only needs to be recharged once a year if it lasts that long, the last new moon before either of the locations above would be the best choice.

Next post I’ll introduce another spirit, and also include a section of the more grimoire/scripture styled writing as that spirit actually dictated/channel their history.

Oct

2018

Starry Path: Zoriyah, and Star Fire

The first of the children of Cosmos and Star Goddess I want to introduce is Zoriyah. He is not necessarily the most important or the most powerful among them, but he is the Steward of the Star Fire, and as such is the initiator of the Path and the transmitter of the power.

Zoriyah is the Steward of the Star Fire. He rejoices in bringing the Fires of Heaven to those below, but he is not interested in challenging journeys. He enjoys introducing magick, but not the long process of teaching. After lighting the Fire of Passion he often moves on. He plays other roles as the Steward, but this is the main one we need to focus on for now.

Zoriyah (צריעיה) appears as a tall lean man of African descent, but his dark skin glows with a soft golden sheen from within. He wears flowing robes and scarves of bright white with faint blue tips, they always seem to drift around him, as if they weigh almost nothing and are dancing on a gentle breeze. Star Fire is one of the most basic and versatile magickal energies on the Starry Path. As a simple and powerful energy it is something Zoriyah enjoys, for it is easy to teach enough for someone to feel magick, and then he can move on.

((To clarify, I included the name spelt in Hebrew not because these spirits are Hebrew/Jewish/Middle Eastern in any way, but as someone with a ceremonial background I do find Hebrew useful.))

Star Fire is a type of energy, a specific frequency, that is used on the Starry Path, one of several. Star Fire represents, not surprisingly, the fire of stars, which on the Starry Path is also the fire of the very spirits we work with, even if they are now (mostly) earthbound. It is also the most general or neutral of the energies on the Path, which is why it’s a great place to start. The introduction to Star Fire is also connected to the creation of the Salt of Star Fire, one of the most commonly used materia on the Starry Path.

Salt of Star Fire is an important ingredient to a lot of Starry Path work, but just as important is the process of connecting to the Star Fire. Salt of Star Fire is an Earthing of this Energy, grounding it into the physical realm. As you call it into the physical realm you experience the feel of Star Fire. The colours, the bright white yellows and wispy blue curls, the swirling flutter of movement, the gentle hiss and pop of the fire. In this process you connect with the Star Fire, which will allow you to call upon it without the use of salt or flame. I will include a working in the next post that is another way to connect to Star Fire if you feel that you need a separate refresher or a deeper connection.

Follow the ingredients as they are here, Zoriyah was adamant about natron, and a drinkable alcohol. The rest of the ingredients are more flexible. For instance if you don’t have cedar, another sweet wood works.

Below is the ritual for both connecting to Star Fire and creating Salt of Star Fire

Calling Zoriyah and Star Fire

Required:

Metal fireproof bowl with trivet (if performed inside)
Glass fireproof bowl (blue glass is preferred)
Candles (1 black Star Goddess candle, 5 white tealights)
Natron* (See how to make below the required materials)
Vodka (or another high alcoholic content drinkable alcohol)
Matchs (Either long matches or a pair of tongs is required)
Self-igniting Charcoal for incense
Incense holder
Incense (1 part myrrh, 1 part red sanders, 1 part cedar, 1 part mastic)

*Natron is a naturally forming salt mixture on the shores of saline bodies of water. It is easy enough to make your own, and I don’t know of any spirit who complains about homemade natron. Mix 1 part table salt with 1 part baking soda. Mix this up, and then add in water until you get a thick paste you can spread. (Some instructions say to boil the mixture, I’ve tried both ways and found little to no difference) Spread the mixture on a cookie sheet and put in the oven at 150C (300F) to dry it out. Once the water is evaporated you’re left with sheets of natron, you can then crumble it up and store it in containers until you need it.

The glass fireproof bowl should be small enough to fit in the metal fireproof bowl. If performed inside using both bowls and small amounts make it relatively safe (but always act with caution if working with fire indoors), if performed outside the outer metal bowl isn’t required and you can use larger amounts, just make sure you the fire isn’t near anything that could catch fire.

Light the charcoal puck, it will take some time to heat up all the way through. Have the matches on hand and know roughly where the black Star Goddess candle is. If you’re inside turn off all the lights you can, if outside this is best performed at night, even better at the New Moon and never on the Full Moon.

In darkness pray to the Star Goddess, and light the black candle. Pray for Their guidance and Their presence, pray adoration for Their Beauty, the Majesty of all reality.

Pray to the Star Goddess who birthed all, then pray to the first of Their children, the early stars. Pray for their light, their guidance and presence. Light a tealight from the Star Goddess candle. Pray to solar systems in the same way and light another tealight from the last one. Pray to galaxies in the same way and light another tealight from the last one. Pray to galactic clusters in the same way and light another tealight from the last one. Pray out to all the Cosmos and light the last tea light.

(Praying to solar systems, galaxies, and clusters might seem unusual but understand that these spirits literally identify themselves with stars, so you’re praying to spirits and legions and groups of them)

Put the incense on the charcoal. “From Resinous Earth, to Watery Melt, to Fiery Force, and Smoke filled Air, drift into the Aethyr and call down the Spirits, the first ones, the shining ones, those who descended from the heights to teach humanity.

Put two parts natron inside the glass container, add one part vodka, and mix.

Slowly chant Zoriyah’s name, calling him down. See his Seal over the container of natron. As you chant his name, see a thin tendril of white fire from the heavens flow into the container of natron. “Zoriyah, Steward of Star Fire. He who lights the fires of humanity. Torch bearer. Come here and bless this vessel with your Star Fire.”

Place one hand over the natron container, see the Seal going through the natron and your hand, and guide him to place one hand into the natron, the other reaching up towards the stars. White fire tendrils from the heavens wrapping around Zoriyah’s form down his arm into the container through your hand. As his fire begins to enter the container remove your hand, light a match and light the natron on fire. Natron, alcohol, flame, and scent or earth, water, fire, air. Pray to Zoriyah, pray that the Star Fire and alcohol fire are one, that the fire purifies the natron. This physical fire becomes the embodiment of the magickal Star Fire. The Natron is the Earthing of Star Fire, the physical receptical. As such it lies between the worlds, and can be used to open the ways.

When the fire goes out mix up the natron again, and try lighting on fire, there is usually a little more alcohol to burn. Feel the sensation of Star Fire flowing through Zoriyah, feel the Fire in the container. Learn the feel of this fire, the sights and smells, and sounds and sensations. Using these you can now call on the Star Fire yourself when needed. It might not be as physically oriented as the Salt will be, but it will be a powerful and dynamic energy to work with.

When the fire goes out thank Zoriyah for giving you the Salt of Star Fire. You can use this for a variety of things on the Starry Path, but the first and perhaps most important is the Star Water, used for protection, cleaning, and most crucially spiritual sight and flight. I’ll discuss the Star Water in another post soon.

salt of star fire

Starry Path: Circle of Descent

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