January 01, 2011

Happy New Year


Happy New Year and welcome to my blog.  As many of you know, writing is a painful process for me.  But I’ve decided to take up the challenge of writing in order to express my musings on all the myriad and stormy facets of the Feri Tradition.  All musings expressed here are based on my studies with Victor and Cora Anderson, some numbers of years of practice and a wandering mind.

It’s New Year Day and time for new beginnings.  Paradoxically, I am thinking of past times spent with Victor and Cora.  Through all the years, Victor had one persistent method.  After a time, he would always return to the core teachings of Feri, the very basics of this tradition.  And we would begin again.  No matter how many years you spent with them, we would return to the core.  So this year, I plan to do a series on the basic fundamental teachings of Feri.

There is nothing more fundamental to the core of Feri, nothing so necessary to the practice, and nothing so simple to do as Kala.  Kala is at once a lifelong practice and a very simple act.  Victor taught me that Kala means the light, it is luminescence, pure brightness. 

Kala works on the Fetch, to cleanse the complexes that bar the way to our Godself.   Once cleansed, then we can truly know ourselves and we are free to act upon our deepest will.  A sticky fetch with complexes will cow before the Godself and misdirect the mind.  But a fetch free of complexes can work intimately with all three selves.

Magical success hinges upon this.  No matter how hard you blow, if you are not Kala all you accomplish is to charge the fetch to run around in circles.  In my view, this is where the magic goes awry.  The desire you spent either blows itself out or bounces along a course that is damned.

A free and clear fetch is able to shoot your desire straight into the Godself.  Victor often said it was “like an insemination.”  The desire you spend shoots itself straight and clear into Godself.  And “like an insemination,” if done properly, Godself lets you know immediately.  This is key to the success for all your spells.

As simple as the Kala Ceremony is, it is not easy.  Kala is a purification of the soul, and that can be a painful process.  You cannot make Kala the thing within you that you refuse to see.  To look in that dark mirror, to cleanse those murky waters takes courage.  That is the deeper work, the work of Feri warriors.

I guess I should stop alluding to it and say it outright.  Your magic simply will not work if you do not keep Kala.  If you are a student, grill your teacher about all s/he knows about it.  Study it rigorously, and practice it diligently.  If you are an initiate even more so.  Bring it so completely into your life that making Kala is as natural as brushing your teeth, or washing your hands. 

Yes, there are other reasons a spell might not work, and I might address that in some other post.  The point I want to make here is that Kala is the very foundation of your magical success.  And that holds true for any of your workings, from a simple spell to the deepest transformation of your being.  To neglect Kala is well… magical sabotage.

 

28 comments:

  1. Well said!

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  2. yep yep. Kala first. Anytime I get off track, it's because I'm not doing and keeping Kala.

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  3. Thanks for your simple, wise clarity. Kala is like the ruler at amusement parks: You cannot ride unless you are this tall. You can't do anything else (safely and effectively) without Ha and Kala.

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  4. Thanks for the reminder, Anaar...It'll be great following your blog.

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  5. Bullshit. Magic works whether one is "kala" or not. The entire point of kala is to clear complexes within the Witch, these are ties that hold more energy, which may lead to more power. "may lead to more power", being the operative phrase. For the most part, the people who cling to kala as the end all be all of things are afraid to embrace reality, afraid to embrace the dark, and generally afraid. This is why so-called grandmasters refuse to engage the community and prefer to hide behind "proclamations." Just because you have made a "new-age/new-thought" concept from Max Freedom Long the core of your attempts to hold onto any sort of stability, doesn't mean you know Witchcraft. Try inhaling some mandrake and henbane you new age witches.

    The Feri Tradition is dead. It has become merely a form of new-age wicca and deserves no respect. The Current has moved on, infected by reclaiming, infected by greed, and infected by people such as yourself who believe all would be right if people just did more kala and twelve step programs. Take a good hard look in the mirror at what you are.

    Nothing and powerless.

    Prove us wrong.

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  6. Wow, Whatever, that comes off like somebody's been playing a bit too much Dungeons and Dragons. Pompous much, O Dark Lords 'n' Ladies Of The True Magyck? As far as refusing to engage, why not put your name on your next proclamation?

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  7. Yeah, Thorn said to just keep kala too as she kept taking our money for years and workshop after witchcamp. I wonder just how much you have to pay to get initiated into this pyramid scam wicca.

    Fed up.

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  8. "Whatever said"...said, whatever? Why would you care so much to post...ummmm...whatever you said... I inhaled Jimson Weed, and it made me sleepy, and drank it as a tea and saw San Mescalito ala Don Juan...Whatever. I think people who hide behind "Whatever Said" are the ones who are afraid, and should maybe try doing some Kala. Whatever. Try coming out of hiding, and speak your truth...Whatever that is (?) and not just flame someone elses blog.

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  9. Thanks, Anaar, for this thoughtful post. I've found this principle to be oh, so true. Blessings on your new endeavor!

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  10. I've read your statement thru one of the yahoo groups. I'm not an initiate ~ not likely to become one either due to logistics. However, I've loved Feri ever since Starhawk. That love has grown thru other Feri-related books and resources. I can't pretend to gnow what an initiate gnows, but I practice what I can on my own. You don't need me to tell you you are what you are. Someone felt strongly about passing the Wand to you ~ that you are capable and compassionate, as well as passionate. I guess what I'm trying to say is I trust your ability. I trust your unique beauty and qualities. I trust what you know about yourself and how that affects others. Stopping here. Not doing well with the words. Thank you for posting ~ it is inspirational.

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  11. Thank you for your words and reminder.

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  12. Hi Anaar,

    Thank you for this - I'm very much looking forward to hear what you have to write here, and there are many things here which fit in with (or help clarify) my own view of, well, life.

    That being said - conversations where everyone agrees aren't always the most interesting to me, and don't do much to help expand my understanding. So if you don't mind indulging me...

    What if there is something to what "Whatever" has to say? I think there is a power of a sort in what s/he speaks of, though that may depend upon your definition of power, magic, success, and the relationship between those things. There is great power in dynamite, but it doesn't work very well to use it to plug a hole in a leaky dam. Nor does killing a person to cure a cold. That's magic working against itself. Which, I think, makes "Whatever"s point of view as unbalanced as the new-age wiccan's s/he rails against.

    I think kala and alignment help a person to determine whether creation, healing, or destruction would best serve the situation, and then bring the full focus of the triple will to bear. Once kala and aligned, a true witch is able to create OR destroy without qualms or hesitation.

    Does that fit in with the view expressed by Anaar?

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  13. seagull42 said:
    "What if there is something to what "Whatever" has to say? I think there is a power of a sort in what s/he speaks of, There is great power in dynamite, but it doesn't work very well to use it to plug a hole in a leaky dam. Nor does killing a person to cure a cold. That's magic working against itself. Which, I think, makes "Whatever"s point of view as unbalanced as the new-age wiccan's s/he rails against."

    I couldn't help but think of The Fountainhead. Of course, Howard Roark blew up his own building, he didn't blow up someone else's building.

    I agree that Whatever said... might have some important and valuable things to add to any discussion. The trouble here is that s/he didn't write it in a way that I could be open to listening to him. Should s/he want to make comments in the future, I would be glad to approve it. Provided it is written in a thoughtful and intelligent manner, one that doesn't insult the forum.

    But I think what I would really like to add here is that Kala doesn't even the thought field. The fact is, we can all be perfectly Kala and and still disagree. I'll go even further, we can all be perfectly self aligned and self possessed and still not agree with each other.

    Kala isn't really about getting everyone to think the same. But it does help to clear the way, so that disagreements can come from a solid ground. One that is free of pain and fear. So when you speak your mind, it causes no pain or fear. Kala will help us to listen to each other so we can come to some sort of understanding, not necessarily agreement.

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  14. If Kala was something that made those that do the rite think the same...I'd have run from Feri a long time ago.

    Kala is flow, giving and receiving, balance (or bouyency, really). It gives a person navigation in thought, spirit and action on the sea of their life. The wind will blow where it will, but Kala is the sail and rudder that gives direction...

    Just musing...

    Blue

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  15. Anaar said...
    "I couldn't help but think of The Fountainhead. Of course, Howard Roark blew up his own building, he didn't blow up someone else's building."

    If I follow you correctly - the analogy here exhibiting how one who is not kala will have no effect on one who truly is - the apparent power of the non-kala person will dissipate, or perhaps only blow up themself? (Also thinking of the story of Victor praying for one who is praying for Victor - until the other has to give in? Though I'm forgetting the exact details right now...)

    Very much in agreement regarding non-agreement, I believe. Rewording to test my understanding - these allow us each to stand together in our own truths, without needing the other to accept our own truth, whether for validation, or...

    (Or even the ability to hold seemingly contradictory "twins" within myself - whether I can find an alternate viewpoint for them to rejoin or not?)

    BTW - in case you haven't met my seagull42 handle on LJ, this is John Mirassou, from Santa Cruz.

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  16. >Kala works on the Fetch, to cleanse the complexes that bar the way to our Godself. Once cleansed, then we can truly know ourselves and we are free to act upon our deepest will. A sticky fetch with complexes will cow before the Godself and misdirect the mind. But a fetch free of complexes can work intimately with all three selves.

    Anaar, I'd love to hear you say more about this paragraph. I've been taught by multiple Feri teachers that the communication between Fetch and Godself is always clear, and the problems tend to occur between Fetch and Talker. On the other hand, I know that Three Souls models in other systems (like kabbalah) envision their function differently, and that the various books I've read on Huna don't agree completely on the Souls' function. Here you seem to be saying that a complexed Fetch may fail to perform its role in contacting the Godself. Is that an idea from your original training, or did it evolve out of your own study or experience?

    Second, it sounds like you're talking about the stickiness of Fetch here as a bad thing, but I thought "Unihipili" literally meant "sticky one," indicating the memory and energy storing functions of that soul. Isn't a healthy Fetch still sticky?

    Looking forward to your thoughts--

    Helix

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  17. > Yeah, Thorn said to just keep kala too as she kept taking our money for years and workshop after witchcamp. I wonder just how much you have to pay to get initiated into this pyramid scam wicca.

    Re: what fedupwithferi said, I assisted in organizing a number of Thorn's events in the past and I can assure you, no one was ever turned away for lack of funds. I myself have worked very hard for my years of Feri training, but I haven't paid very much in dollars.

    I do not necessarily advocate the teaching of Feri for money, and I am definitely concerned with the way so many students expect non-initiatory training to lead to initiation. I'm coming to feel that claiming to offer non-initiatory Feri training always attracts large numbers of students who believe, no matter what the teacher says, that they will different from the rest of the students and will be initiated, and that therefore offering such training is dishonest. But not all Feri teachers who teach for money will turn away a penniless, but earnest and appropriate, student of the Craft. I think that's an important ethical distinction among those who prefer the classroom teaching style.

    Helix

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  18. seagull42 said:
    "If I follow you correctly - the analogy here exhibiting how one who is not kala will have no effect on one who truly is - the apparent power of the non-kala person will dissipate, or perhaps only blow up themself?"

    Unfortunately, no. That is only one way it could go. The other is that the energy of one who is not Kala becomes unpredictable, wiry is one of the ways I put it. And that is far more dangerous. It's like shooting wildly in the dark, rather than taking specific aim.

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  19. queenofhalves, to answer your questions.

    "Is that an idea from your original training, or did it evolve out of your own study or experience?"
    I try very hard to distinguish my personal understandings from the direct teachings of the Andersons. But in practice, I've lived with this for so long that over time it has become the same thing.
    This is not a complete article on Kala and the roles of the Three Selves. This is a subject of deep study for me and something that could occupy me for a lifetime. If I had the proper motivation, I could write a book on it. Or maybe not. ;-P But if you like, email me and I'll be happy to answer any of your questions.

    "Second, it sounds like you're talking about the stickiness of Fetch here as a bad thing, but I thought "Unihipili" literally meant "sticky one," indicating the memory and energy storing functions of that soul. Isn't a healthy Fetch still sticky?"
    Yes!!! You see, the fetch is sticky so s/he will remember everything and store all sorts of energy. S/he doesn't make the intellectual distinction between help or harm. So everything sticks. Compounding this is the fact that the more energy something has behind it, the stickier it is. There's so much more to say, but I think it deserves something beyond a comment.

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  20. good to see you doing this, anaar. even when it brings out the angry and fed-up. someone has to speak to them, too, because they didn't get that way by themselves.

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  21. Absolutely beautiful, cogent and timely, Anaar! Thank you again for creating this blog and this great first post. My students will be required to read it.

    Love and Blessings,
    Vicki

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  22. The last comment brought something important to my mind. That is, I wonder how many students realize that they too have the power to stop a training for whatever reason?

    It's always implied, often stated and still bears repeating. No student is obliged to stay with a teacher, they may freely leave a mentor with no coercion whatsoever. For whatever reason.

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  23. Um, I'm a little confused by the comment left by "fedupwithferi." Did Thorn tell you that her workshops, trainings, and witchcamp teaching would lead to Feri initiation? I'm confused as to how you came up with the thought that any of those were in any way related to initiation. As one of the students in the first two-year training, who has also attended workshops, and been to witchcamp where Thorn was teaching, I distinctly recall being told--before signing up, before paying any money, before making any commitment at all--that none of these learning opportunities were in any way related to initiation. In fact, I received written communication stating they were NOT intended to lead to, or otherwise related to, initiation. At the beginning of the training, Thorn stated out loud and in the presence of all students, that she was NOT teaching with an eye towards initiation and was not particularly interested in initiating.

    On a related, but not identical topic...

    I place a high value svadhyaya, the deep-learning kind of self-inquiry and self-examination. I place a high value on conducting myself in a way that comports with my standards. I place a high value on knowing and doing my Will.

    I don't place a high value on initiation. I don't understand why people get so gaga over it. I have had many initiations--ceremonial and ritual, semi-public, intimate and private, trial-by-fire, and other flavors--and I still do not understand the obsession. Each experience was meaningful to me because it contributed to my svadhyaya.

    What is this obsession with "I must get initiated"? Is it for status? Is it for the thrill of being a member of a perceived elite? Is it an ego-drive need for recognition? Is it an attempt to compensate for being unpopular, bullied, or different as a child? Are people viewing initiation as some kind of entitlement? Or do people see it as a contractual obligation--I pay you, I jump through the hoops, you initiate me? Maybe it is as simple as "the grass is always greener" or that which seems unattainable appearing the most attractive? Or is it that collecting up witchy stripes is of more value than svadhyaya?

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  24. Anaar replied (about the power of one who is not Kala)
    Unfortunately, no. That is only one way it could go. The other is that the energy of one who is not Kala becomes unpredictable, wiry is one of the ways I put it. And that is far more dangerous. It's like shooting wildly in the dark, rather than taking specific aim.

    Thank you. That brings my understanding of what you said closer to what you said, as well as closer to my own understanding. (That was fun to write - I hope it made sense, too).

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  25. AnonymousMay 25, 2011

    In regards to leaving a teacher -- what if there is a feeling of guilt or shame that is connected with the thought of leaving a teacher for another path, or perhaps another teacher better suited? How does one go about making that break ? And does that mean its the end of the world ?

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  26. Feelings of shame and guilt are deep seated and stem from our earliest experiences, imo. The fact that you feel this is triggered by certain actions. I think it's always best to be straight with your teachers. You need to follow your own way.

    And the rapture has come and gone already, so I reckon the world can handle one leaving a teacher or even a tradition.

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  27. AnonymousMay 28, 2011

    Thank you Anaar for your words of advice. I look forward to your next post.

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