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Finger Magic |
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Finger Magic |
Wind = Air - Right little finger: Mercury
Sea = Water - Right ring finger: Neptune
Fire = Fire - Right middle finger: Mars
Rock = Earth - Right index finger: Saturn
Sun = Spirit - Right Thumb: Sun
Heaven =Spirit - Left Thumb: Jupiter
Moon = Water - Left index finger: Moon
Trees = Air - Left middle finger: Uranus
Earth = Earth - Left ring finger: Venus
Lightening = Fire - Left little finger: Pluto
Air = Smell
Earth = Touch
Water = Taste
Fire = See
Spirit = Hear
Exercise 1 (one week)
You will use both of your hands as a cue to become aware of and magnify each of your senses. Start with your hand open and relaxed. Now, curl your right middle finger into your palm and begin to pay attention to everything that you see. Notice what you see. Human beings seem to be sight challenged in many ways. We have reasonable vision but our brain doesn't always objectively process what our eyes perceive. We only see what our brain allows us to see.
I once observed a traffic accident; what I thought I saw was a teenage boy in a black car who made a left hand turn in front of an on coming car, causing an accident in the process. Another account of the same accident was that the driver of the black car (a 35 year old mother of two - not a teenage boy) began a left hand turn at the light only to be struck by a car that had pulled out of a parking lot and entered the intersection after she had started her left hand turn. Which account was right? What I saw or what my girl friend (who was the driver of the car) saw? Most likely her version but it doesn't change what images my brain told me I saw.
Now curl you left little finger into your palm and notice how you see. Are images bright and colorful with details sharp? For those of us who aren't primarily visual this exercise might be tougher than you might think.
Do these exercise in various places and at various times during the day for one week. Record your experiences nightly. Note: If you already know something about astrology, record how you think Mars and Pluto might be influencing this exercise. In my case I have Mars in Virgo in the 7th house. I might find that I notice couples in the street, what they're wearing or how they look at each other. With Pluto in Leo in the 7th house I might see very clearly things about relationships. (Sounds good in theory, at least)
Exercise 2
Then, curl in your right thumb into your palm and pay attention to what you hear. Notice the soundscape that surrounds you on a daily basis. Lesson to music, to the wind, to the traffic and note your reactions. Curl your left thumb into your palm and notice your own inner voices. What kind of dialogue do you have with yourself?
Do these exercise in various places and at various times during the day for one week. Record your experiences nightly. Note: If you already know something about astrology, record how you think the sun and either the asteroids or the fixed starts might be influencing your hearing. In my own case Jupiter is my leading planet in the 5th house and my strongest sense is hearing. What should should be noticing by the second week is that you are starting to build a record of associations. There is no absolutely right or wrong answer, there is simply an answer that is meaningful to you.
Exercise 3
Next, curl your left middle finger into your palm and concentrate on your sense of smell. Notice the presence of new smells and the absence of familiar smells. Go into your spice cabinet and smell everything. Go to the essence display at the local health food store and find something you like the scent of. Curl your right little finger into your palm and think of scents that bring up memories from the past.
Do these exercise in various places and at various times during the day for one week. Record your experiences nightly. Notice especially how your significant other smells. Pheromones are quite real and add an interesting dimension to a relationship.
In case you doubt that anyone can be strongly oriented toward smell as a primary sense, I can only say that's because you haven't met one. My ex-husband smelled everything new that came into his hands. It was a completely unconscious gesture but he could no more have stopped it than someone else could live with their eyes closed.
Since this is a course in Air magic you'll want to get acquainted with these fingers. Is there any special power in your right pinky? Later on when you learn about the various stones of air, you might find that you'll want rings with particular stones for these fingers.
Exercise 4Now curl right ring finger into your palm and notice tastes. Tastes change all the time, with emotions and physical health as well as foods we eat. With your left index finger curled into your palm call up memories of taste sensations. What food were you eating? Under what circumstances. What would you have to do to recreate the circumstances to possibly experience that taste again?
Do these exercise in various places and at various times during the day for one week. Record your experiences nightly.
Exercise 5
Curl your right index finger into your palm and notice physical sensations. How hot or cold is it? Is the wind blowing? From what direction? If you feel the temperature, what part of your body senses it first? How tolerant are you of changes in your environment?
Next curl your left ring finger into your palm. What impact do your emotions have on the physical sensations your body experiences? When you're under stress does it hit you head, your stomach. Do your hands shake, do you get cold or start sweating?
If you find this is your strongest sense you'll notice that you tend to interact with your environment by touching things and by moving around and interacting with the space you are in. You will tend to process knowledge through bodily sensations
Do these exercise in various places and at various times during the day for one week. Record your experiences nightly.Summary
You should have pages of material in your Leabhar de Gaoth Fios. (book of the winds) after you've done these exercises and you will have begun to form a habit that will serve you very well in your future magical practice. At anytime simply by consciously placing the right digit in your palm you will be able to either improve your external observational powers or improve your recall of various past events. You should also have clearly delineated your strongest sense by this point. Most people find that they are either auditory, visual, or tactile/kinesthetic as a primary sense but don't ignore smelling and taste since they are such powerful emotional carriers of experience.