Author: C. LaVielle

Another Ghost Story

Posted C. LaVielle9 CommentsPosted in Gifts from the Multiverse

I recently attended a ritual at the beach with several other women. See Ritual, Waves, and Wedding Magic. One of the incidental joys of the weekend was getting to spend time with and share a room with my niece, Becky.   On the last night Becky and I were lying in bed talking about this and that and how the ritual went and I said, “You know, when you called the powers of the west, your wording was so close to the way we call the guardians of the watchtowers* that they all came—not just the west, but every quarter.” As soon as I said that the light in the ceiling fan started to glow softly and then got brighter and brighter. Then it dimmed back, leaving the room in darkness. Becky and I stared up in disbelief. As if to reassure us that we weren’t imagining things, it did it again. Then the fan came on, sending a blast of cold air down onto… Read More »

Ritual, Waves, and Wedding Magic

Posted C. LaVielle7 CommentsPosted in Gifts from the Multiverse

RITUAL:  a sequence of activities involving gestures, words, and objects, performed in a sequestered place, and performed according to set sequence.” www.merriam-webster.com I have friends who go into conniption fits at the mere mention of the word. At its best, they say, ritual is boring and mind deadening. At its worst it is a vehicle of control and oppression. And they definitely have a point. Adolf Hitler was a master of ritual. His highly ritualistic Third Reich whipped Germany into a nationalistic frenzy that led to genocide and world war.   But I try to explain that ritual in itself is neither good nor bad. It is a tool. In fact, it is a very powerful tool. And if it gets used for a good purpose and with skill it can accomplish wonders.   Ritual: Effectively communicates with and stimulates the often under-used right brain, which is intuitive, integrative, and controls feelings and emotions. This is the part of the brain that is in constant… Read More »

All You Really Need to Know About the Tarot Major Arcana

Posted C. LaVielle7 CommentsPosted in Major arcana, Tarot, The Hero's Journey

In her definitive book, Seventy-eight Degrees of Wisdom, a Book of Tarot, Rachel Pollack begins the first chapter with this spread:   These are the four most basic tarot archetypes arranged in a perfect pattern of spiritual evolution. I call this the “everything you really need to know about the major arcana” layout.  The vertical axis is The Fool and The World. The beginning and the end. The Aleph and the Tav. The Alpha and the Omega. Most authors describe these figures as androgynous and both figures are dancing. In fact, they are the only dancers in the major arcana. Death dances in some of the decks, but Death will always dance, and who are we to say it can’t. All of the other figures are pictured in static positions, like they’re posing for a photographer—they each represent a distinct, fixed state of existence.  The Fool is dancing along a precipice high above the rest of the world and looks to be about to leap… Read More »

Magic in a Mining Town

Posted C. LaVielle9 CommentsPosted in Gifts from the Multiverse

Continued from “A Ghost Story”…..   Louis O’Neill Mellinger, my grandfather, was a magician. Not the type of magician that does sleight of hand tricks, but the sort of magician who, from beyond the grave, could materialize a human skull on the upper left corner of his oak roll top desk in such detail that I was convinced it was actually there. For decades I lived with two equally unsavory thoughts—either my whole family was lying to me when they said that skull didn’t exist, or I was delusional.  Several months ago, and for some cosmic reason that only spirits can fathom, Grandpa decided it was time to clue me in. Through Heather, a friend of mine that sees dead people, he explained that the skull was a construct, a tool that he used in his work. It existed on another plane, and so not everyone could see it. He was glad that I had seen it and that I practiced magic.  Egads! There wasn’t… Read More »

Happy Beltane!

Posted C. LaVielle4 CommentsPosted in Uncategorized, Wheel of the Year

There are actually two times in the year when the veil thins and the other worlds come within touching distance. Samhain, or Halloween is the one most folks recognize, but Beltane, its partner on the opposite side of the Wheel of the Year is the other. Ancestors and spooks visit on Samhain and Fairies, or, as Lewis Spence speculates, gods who have diminished in power through lack of attention, visit on Beltane. “At Bealltainn, or May Day, every effort was made to scare away the fairies, who were particularly dreaded at this season. In the West Highlands charms were used to avert their influence. In the Isle of Man the gorse was set alight to keep them at a distance. In some parts of Ireland the house was sprinkled with holy water to ward off fairy influence. These are only a mere handful out of the large number of references available, but they seem to me to reveal an effort to avoid the attentions of… Read More »

We’re All Special

Posted C. LaVielleLeave a commentPosted in Gifts from the Multiverse

 I once told a client a story about something otherworldly that had happened to me and how it had changed my life. Said client promptly replied, “That’s wonderful for you, but you’re Special. Things like that don’t happen to regular people.” That set me back on my heels. I’ve never thought of myself as “special”. I didn’t start out in life as psychic and I’m still not very good at it. I have led a privileged life. My parents were both well educated, sane people who loved me and treated me like a real human being, put me through college, and expected me to be successful, and I usually have been. But my successes happen because I’m fairly well adjusted, intelligent, and hard working—not because I’m brilliant or Special.  I’ve always figured that I was a regular person. Now, my client is a very practical woman whose career requires her to be a shrewd judge of people. I suspect her logic went something like this:… Read More »

Happy Spring: A Boquet for you!

Posted C. LaVielle6 CommentsPosted in Wheel of the Year

Back in the Midwest where I grew up Spring actually sprang. The earth jumped into green as if some cosmic alarm clock had slammed it awake. March was still winter. Although a bit warmer than February, it was blustery cold. Even April was iffy. Snow wasn’t all that uncommon, but it was usually just chilly and nasty. However, things were definitely waking up and there were teaser days of warm sunshine, but we knew better than to put away our winter woolies. By mid April, if I remember correctly, the crocuses had come and gone and the daffodils were trumpeting out the good news of Spring’s arrival and everything was suddenly green.  As the weather turned warmer all the tulips, hyacinths, and other spring bulbs leaped out of the ground and bloomed along with the cherry and apple trees in a frenzied froth of color. As April blossomed into May occasional hot days fried the bulb and tree blossoms, and suddenly it was early summer.… Read More »

Happy Groundhog’s Day!

Posted C. LaVielle1 CommentPosted in Uncategorized

“Away in a meadow all covered with snow The little old groundhog looks for his shadow The clouds in the sky determine our fate If winter will leave us all early or late.” Don Halley In the United States, most of us are familiar with Punxsutawney Phil and his fascination with his shadow. But in Ireland, another beastie signals the beginning of the end of winter. The Irish watch for the snake, the chthonic symbol of transformation, to slither out of her hole and bring forth spring. The Carmina Gadelica, an amazing compendium of Celtic folklore, prayers, etc., has this to say about Imbolc/St. Brigid’s Day, the Celtic Groundhog’s day. On the day of Bride of the white hills The noble queen will come from the knoll, I will not molest the noble queen, Nor will the noble queen molest me. Early on Brigid’s morn The serpent shall come from the hole, I will not molest the serpent, Nor will the serpent molest me.