fire
Slow-Magic – Deep Elemental Harmony with all Life
“With all my body, I touch the earth.
My hands touch the earth.
My face touches the earth.
My breasts touch the earth.
My heart touches the earth.
My belly and genitals touch the earth.
My thighs and knees and toes touch the earth.
I breath deeply and my breath is united with the earth.
The whole earth breathes. Breath is everything.
I delight in the earth, its presence, its energy.
The earth is real!
Only your superficial contact with the earth is not real.” (1)
In the book Tantric Quest the yogini Lalita Devi introduces her student Daniel Odier to the magical “tattwas”. The tattwas are the basic building blocks of all of existence – its the Earth, our bodies, air, fire, water, space and ether. It is the whole living, breathing, erotic reality of all existence.
This vital link between humans and the elemental nature of life has been broken down because of the weight of the patriarchal lens of separation and gratification that has seeped into the very fabric of our living and has co-oped our senses and cut us off from the intrinsic sensuality of living gracefully and graciously in harmony with the phenomenal world.
“When was the last time you felt the deliciousness of water caress your skin?”
The soul strives to experience its erotic nature – it is its reason for being, for incarnating into the world of form. Slow-magic happens when we are committed to restoring this deeply intrinsic holy relationship with the sensual nature of the elements – uniting our being with Earth, Human and Life Divine.
To do this we have to slow way, way down. It is in our soft steps, our breath and our attention to the completely innocent moment, empty of conceptual goals that we can truly grasp this magic with its offering of beauty, of love and of grace. This is the magic that is all around us, woven into the very fabric of creation, the Mother Herself – awaiting our recognition.
It is in these sacred pauses that we can truly access this Heavenly love that is all around us. We begin to foster a deep love of the ordinary day and the living of it becomes a sacred feminine art. Each day becomes a celebration of the erotic present in the ordinary. When we restore this curiosity – this innocence, this wonder, this awe, we begin to release ourselves from the imprisonment of our jaded worldview, our senses over stimulated by “too much” and we tap into a field that is overflowing with simple abundance.
“The bliss of taste”
“The Sun and Moon and Earth
Danced together
To bring you this delight.”
We begin to truly connect to the Earth, and her vast veins of sensual magic. We become transformed, pared down to that which truly gives our soul joy. We live generously in the moment. The Mother of Life takes her place in the center of our lives, gushing forth Her Love and we having slowed down are open to receive Her.
“The art of making a cup of tea”
The priestess, wild women and mystics of old truly knew how to do this, how to live in harmony with the elemental nature of life – and it is from this matrix that they could weave their tapestry of magic. They mined each slow moment for its gifts with the alchemy of intention and attention and because of this they could heal, soothe and bring forth their wisdom and their visions. They truly lived and died with this reverence, completely satiated, overflowing with life, their soul dancing in ecstasy.
“Tasting dark chocolate,
A ripe apricot,
A luscious elixir –
Savor the expanding joy in your body.
Nature is offering herself to you.
How astonishing
To realize this world can taste so good.
When sipping some ambrosia,
Raise your glass,
Close your eyes,
Toast the universe.
The Sun and Moon and Earth
Danced together
To bring you this delight.
Receive the nectar on your tongue
As a kiss of the divine. (2)
“Slow-Magic”
The Teachings of the Scarlet Sutra is dedicated to the Red Goddess Lalita, Sophia, Mary Magdalene, the 64 Yoginis and The Red Priestesses from all Traditions throughout the Ages.
Copyright
May 2020
Resources:
(1) Tantric Quest – An Encounter with Absolute Love – Daniel Odier – Inner Traditions 1997
(2) The Radiant Sutras – Lorin Roche – Sounds True 2014
Alchemy: transmuting, transformation, blending, magic, third force, fire, chaos, base metals into gold, eternality
tapas
In the last sutra – I wrote about “The Firepit of Consciousness” – in this sutra, we explore alchemy, which is a stage of the journey where intense transformation takes place deep within and beyond the playground of duality. There is a beautiful Sanskrit word that describes “Alchemy” it is called “Tapas”
Shambhavi Lorain Chopra in her gorgeous book “Yogini” speaks about this fiery transformation – “Real tapas is more than any enforced asceticism. It is the heat that rises from a passionate form of the Divine energy seeking to transcend all limitations. Tapas is the heat of spiritual inquiry and aspiration that makes the sadhaka consume all the fleeting needs and desires in life. The fire in the soul connects with the life-fire in the body, finding expression through the heart, leading one to liberate or detach oneself from illusion, creating the way to self-realization. This is the real inner movement of tapas.”
“You are a Ruby in the Heart of Granite – how long will you try to deceive us? “- Rumi
Alchemy is the testing ground on the path of Sovereignty, Awakening and Freedom as it burns away all that does not serve the evolution of the Soul. For a moment, let me describe the three layers of the personality that I have encountered –
At the level of the first layer of the personality – we are totally hooked into the collective unconscious and our personal story. The collective unconscious – is the place where duality is most active, with its numerous distractions, pushes and pulls, stories and games. Everything is divided and separate – and “I”, “Me” and “Mine” is most important to the personality. Attachment and judgement underlies everything. There is a total identification with name, form and personal history.
The middle layer of the personality is less dense but there is still identification with name and form. This is the layer of the seeker. The personality seeks to discover the answers to the deeper questions of life. We explore who we are beyond our personality through teachers, workshops and books. This is a very tender and beautiful space but we still can get caught in the collective mindset, the values of the patriarchy and the “survival of me”
The inner layer of the personality is the most tender, vulnerable and naked space. In this space one has seen through the illusions, and the Soul has started to manifest on a conscious level in the life of the seeker who has had a glimpse of the treasure within. The Soul is now shining through the many veils and shrouds that has veiled its Luminous Presence and most importantly – the personality has chosen the Soul – also known as the “Inner Beloved”.
burning the veils of Illusion
Its at this inner layer where the process of alchemy ignites the fire of transformation and we are remade and reborn “In the Firepit of Consciousness”. We feel exposed, vulnerable and tested and it takes the courage and grit of the Spiritual Warrior to bear with the process of the heat of transformation. We are cleansed of all that is illusionary and there are whispers of the holy marriage within. Andrew Harvey speaks of this in his book – The Way of Passion – A Celebration of Rumi – “Purification is frightening, because in the fire there is a lot of spitting and black smoke, a lot of difficulty happens. Then, expansion: the fire enters the log and the Light enters, you burn in the fire and the blaze is without interference now because the impurities have been burned away.” You close your ears to the “noise” of the world and you claim your Sovereignty.
The writings of the Scarlet Sutra is dedicated to The Red Goddess – Lalita, Sophia, Mary Magdalene, The Yoginis and The Red Priestesses of all traditions throughout the ages.
References:
Andrew Harvey: The Way of Passion – A Celebration of Rumi – Frog Ltd. 1994
Shambhavi Chopra: Yogini – Wisdom Tree 2006
Copyright Prem Moodaley 2016
Samhain 31 October 2016