Beauty and the Beat of our Hearts!

So there we were, thinking we had it all figured out!

And many people would say they usually do,

I suppose you could say we learned a great deal that summer.

So I guess you could say this is the story of who we are, why we are, what we are, and what we are going to be. 

This is the story of us.... in a blog post.

So read it and weep...

But only happy tears please, we love you!

First in the picture (haha pun)...

was my dear sister Cha Cha.

She was adopted into the family freshman year of college.

I went to Columbia College of SC as an honors student for freshman year.

I was a journalism and english major. Eek!

She lived down the hall from me, saved me from certain disaster during tussles with roommates, 

suitemates, and everyone else in the college! When she found out about me and what I was about,

she was exceedingly tolerant, exceedingly understanding, and even a bit curious.

We had many situations with spirits in our building, such as "Angry Alice," the Civil War Spirits

from the battle area down the street, and some very angry 1950's "You ladies go get married" types.

Needless to say she got immersed without her consent, almost, and before you know it, 

she was living with us in Prosperity, SC!! Cha and I had our fights, our ups, and our downs, but she has been the best sister ever. We made it through everything from Divorce to being broke, to jail scares, to relationship problems. She became our grounding force in our coven of sorts and was initiated in the first Summer she lived here. 

In the midst of Hell and High water,

I moved here for college, back home with my mother.

And I chose to go to college here:

Newberry College became my new home of academia for the next 2 (and 

verging on 3 with the next semesters) years! I changed my major to History

and started picking up books that truly expanded my knowledge

exponentially! My professors introduced me to literature by such great

minds as Carlo Ginzburg so I may learn the history of religion, spirituality,

and persecution. It was here during lunch one day, I met this guy:

(And this is the actual table)

He apparently thought I looked just his brand of weird.

So we got to know each other.

The rest is history.

But I love history. So I'll tell it. ;)

He moved in, we got MM off the ground and we expanded

ourselves to a great degree. We really embraced our life as 

family. We grew a lot together. He was and still is a practicioner

of Nichiren Buddhism, but also expanded into pagan, pantheistic,

and magickal practices. He learned about drawing circles, growth 

in the magickal forum, and the idea of creation in different ways.

So then, we were a family. Inseparable. (:

Things changed, he moved out,

and we all lost touch for a little while.

Cha Cha was still living with me, but we

didn't talk to Curtis much. Wild things happened

and out of necessity, we came back together.

Because it was meant to be.

And we didn't question it. 

So yeah. That worked out. 

And here we are, being stupid, doing silly things

because they make us HAPPY. 

As well as all of those lovely spiritual things.

magickal menagerie brought us together,

 kept us together, and is giving us a legacy of good to give the world.

Our story has been kind of crazy with ups and downs, 

but we agree with Edward Sharpe.

We often tell each other

"Home is Wherever I'm With You."

 

 Even if that place is as frigid as Chicago in March.

YIKES.

So what's the plan from here on out?

Well.

Here is what we hope to do:

Move here ^

For at least 1 year.

 

Buy one of these:

 

Travel the States and take Magickal Menagerie

on tour! 

THEN!

Leave my baby at home with mom for awhile. (Butch the Parrot)

Then get our stuff together

and our funds together.....

and move

 Here.

and here.

and here.

and also here. (:

And who knows where else?

Then possibly go to graduate school after exploring ourselves!

That's most likely the plan! A PhD in History for me, and Masters of counseling for him!

Meanwhile Cha will go to school in the US and set up in a nice city and be a kick butt Psychologist!!

We will go where the world takes us.

And maybe when we are old, decrepit

and don't have the adventure left in us any more,

We will live here:

Or here.

Or maybe here.

Wherever we are, we will be happy, because

Always remember that.

You are gifted.

Never forget.

And we are here for you.

Our adventure may not be the same,

but we wish you blessings on yours.

 

And now we leave you with this picture of Curtis in Alien makeup hugging a cow.

 

Blessed be! <3

Entry 1 - From the Book of Reflections - Aether, Anaether, and Why You May Be Sluggish!

Aether, Anaether, and Why You May Be Sluggish!

The truth of the matter is, most people, as much as they speak about energy, actually have no clue what it is comprised of, how it is made, used, transmuted, transformed, transferred, or otherwise. This is an art of which many remain clueless, and that is alright. However, through much divination, we have found answers which explain a lot about the way our energy circuits work and this article is to show you right from my book (with transcribed explanations as my handwriting is wretched by candlelight), and to explain how everything works, why knowing this is important, and how you can protect that delightful but important commodity that is energy. Below I have posted some scanned images of my diagrams and notes. I will write below them what they are, what they mean, and what in the name of Gaia's green earth that chicken scratch says!

Page One:

"On the Removal and Transferrance of Soul/Spirit energy"

The first diagram is labeled "Normal Soul Energy"

The cloud surrounding is aural energy, and the points within the body that are aligned near Chakras on either side are known as Scintillae. The arteries so to speak that are the lines inside of the diagram body are known as Particularum essentia. Here are the definitions of each:

Scintillae: A healthy spirit contains at least one scintillae point per main chakra. They serve the purpose of energizing and giving life to the spirit aether. As the soul is the telescope of the spirit and is the embodiment of it on earth as the binding string between the two is taut,  these are the proverbial puppet strings, the main points where your spirit connects to your body through your soul. It also serves as a transference medium that binds us to other planes and allows us to visit them with rather speculative ease. Certain Scintillae may be linked to pieces of you that inhabit other planes. It is strange but true that we are not exactly limited to this plane and the one we come from. Many of us are diversified amongst several different places. This is why many people do travel when they dream.

Particularum Essentia:  Aligned on the chakras, this ever-shifting point is the essence of the entity. It contains all link to prior lives and other entities. It puts spiritual energy to use. It is usually carried to a new vessel by the scintillae as they emit the starter energy, so to speak, that gives life and soul to an entity.

Page Two

What is the difference between Common aether and essential aether?

Common: Mostly clear but infiltrated with bursts of energy. A forcefield of aether but not mainly used but usupatores spirituali or spiritual usurpers. This aether is put off by special entities that can protect themselves via the projection of aether (sometimes jostling a soul out of a human body for it to rubberband back in, can often make an individual feel sickly for a little while). It is also created by high energy forms such as crystals, etc. When people offer energy into imbued items, it is often common energy. Think the difference of blood versus bone marrow. Your body contains both, but one is more readily available than the other on a day to day basis.

Essential: Energized and transmutable via scintillae. Particularum is filtered out in 6-8 hours by the usurper until it has been dissolved with a spiritual solvent of some sort. Emotions and imbalances will be taken in by the usurper. The reason this is such a special type of energy is that, even after the scintillae and particularum are removed, this energy is still much stronger and much more fulfilling than any common aether you could come by. It is, indeed life sustaining. That is why Usurpers, or dark arts beings who are weak of their own soul and need to adapt the energy of others to survive opt for this variety of aether.

Page Three:

Who are Usurpers?
1. Agents of Umbra. Umbra is the companion group to Luna Fortis. These are the two groups that many spirits place themselves in. LF follows the belief of bettering yourself until you reach a point of nirvana that you can come back to being with the 'true being' or the divine. Umbra has more of a bacchanalian approach, believing that if we cave in to temptation on all fronts, and do not deny ourselves anything sexually, violently, or otherwise, we will find our way to paradise. I cannot objectively say that either side is wrong, but we all know where we fall on the spectrum, and we all, in the end hope we are right. However, through their actions and their lives, many agents of umbra have weakened and therefore have to become Usurpers. There are likely some in other sects other than Umbra, but Umbraians seem to be more likely candidates at this point, due to what we have seen.
2. Older, retention of energy is much lower. As you age, your body ages too... spirits do so as well, but the timeline is much more expansive. Most have a hard time holding energy well the older they get, and thus must become usurpers because their own energy is leaving them as well.
3. One of the ways spirits can 'vanish'. Their consumable aether is taken in and filtered when at a very weak point or during transition from one body to another or one plane to another.
4. If enough is processed, an usurper can project with high strength on every plane for an indeterminate amount of time.
5. Souls can only be retrieved within the filtration period. Depending on the time away, if it is returned, the person may "not see themself" as aspects of their P.E. were removed or altered. Amnesia like symptoms may be seen.
Taking from a subject usually only happens on this physical plane when the individual has severely depleted life energy and is about to die. It is rare that Usurpers can functionally exist on this plane, as it takes the most energy to function here, rather than anywhere else, therefore usurpers are not of much worry here in 'conscious' life.

Page Four - Anaether

What is anaether?
After a spirit has been combed through with the spiritual solvent, the usurper can use it alchemically to create something akin to an ectoplasm. It usurps spiritual energy in minute amounts. Depending on where the strongest energy lies, this anaether can pretty much put a pinpoint on you, making it easier for usurpers to find you once it's run through you. The first go won't leave you feeling much different,  a little tired and a little tingly. However, you might as well have a tracker on you at that point. Again, this isn't as much a worry to us here as to the entities and spirits that solely exist on other planes.
After it manifests, it runs in waves throughout the plane, and blast some of the energy out of whoever is 'hit' by the blast.

Page Five - Where does the energy then go?
It then manifests in a number of ways. The energy that is not taken in by psychic vampiric entities falls from plane to plane, sometimes manifesting on earth in forms of severe weather change. The energy pushed out is to weaken the spirits it hits, but many forms relish in the passage of an anaether wave, as it frees up energy for their consumption.

Page Six:

Does ursurpation happen on earth?
Not so often as on other planes. The aether manifested here is the strongest of all planes as it is strong enough to connect to a living entity and can operate that entity. It is harder for the usurper to project noticibly and effectively to this plane long enough and strong enough to create a projection of anaether strong enough to do so. Only the extremely ill would be generally effected and their aether would not be strong enough to be worth the work. This may not be the case forever, as the usurpers are stockpiling, but for now it looks like all is well on the earthly plane as long as we sheild ourselves and strongly manifest our energy. Usurpers have to weaken the outer energy by a blast and then move in for what is underneath the shell, so to speak, so it takes them much longer than they would like. Though this technique is likely changing, often, it would take awhile for them to gather enough energy to gather on this plane and do physical damage.

Introduction to Spirit Speak

Quote of the Day

"The world's a mean place. It's unfair, then it's fair. It's hateful, then it's loving. It's a very peculiar place on philosophical and metaphysical and religious levels."

-Tim Allen

Welcome to Magickal Menagerie's new Blog, Spirit Speak. We welcome you with open arms to the blog that will talk a lot about our ideas, ideals, hopes, and dreams for the world around us. You will see some of the evidence of our Paranormal and Mediumship experiences, and hopefully learn a great deal from our essays and radio.

MM has always been focused on bringing people and their spiritual counterparts together, as we are all quite interconnected. It's quite a beautiful web that we have woven simply by existing, and that is the function of Spirit Speak -- to analyze it, come in contact with everything we can, and to evaluate the experiences of every member of the beautifully functioning world around us.

Curtis and I are accomplished mediums, and yet are still in college at only 20 and 21 years of age. we work with many metaphysical experts in different fields and intend on writing a number of theses before our time is up. We believe that the interconnectivity of everyone and everything is something that should truly never be overlooked. We are all siblings on this beautiful planet and the art of talking to those of us we cannot always see is something of high value.

We hope that in the future we can bring you great experiences, joy, and knowledge through our program and through our blog, and we hope very much that you will grow with us! Thank you so much. With love, and adoration for all,

Curtis and Carmen of MM