Category Archives: Art & Craft

Apr 20 2013

Gaian Times Magazine #7 – Out now!

Gaian Times e-Magazine #7 …fresh off the Press…so to speak!  :-)

Gaian Times Magazine 7-cover- April2013

Gaian Times Magazine 7-cover- April2013

 

In this Magazine

  • Editorial & Contactl & Cover
  • The Fool’s Journey
  • Paganism in the 25th Century
  • Comet ISON – Hammer of the Gods?
  • Earth Day Events in London (Family picnic & Earth Walk)
  • Ruby Summer – then and now
  • My Elemental animals
  • Elephantom Origins: Birth of a cartoon Hero
  • Socially mean in a Social media obsessed world..
  • Margaret Thatcher & Princess Diana: 2 women and their rites of Passages
  • Day of the Witch?
  • Science vs Magic
  • Become a Lord or Lady of Scotland (and save some land)
  • Earth Healing rituals & Activities
  • Does the Earth need saving?
  • Sanctuary of the Goddess
  • Aphrodite’s birth place (Photo-journal)
  • Go wild about Wildflower Gardening
  • 7 transforming waves to change the world in 4 years.. (astrology feature)
  • A snowy Spring Equinox in London..
  • As the Blue Bells played.. (poem)
  • Major Festivals & esoteric events in London (Events listing)
  • Eco-Campaigns & Gallery
  • Book reviews & Promotions

Contributors to this issue:

Beth Murray, Vathani Navasothy, Wendy stokes, Rose Dixon, , Mani Navasothy.

To access the eMagazine,

you’ll have to become a (FREE) Subscribed member. It’s easy, just visit Gaian Times website and enter your name and a reliable e-mail, where we send the link to the latest magazine :-)

Editor’s Letter:

There’s just 1 day to go before the annual International Earth Day’.. and we have pulled together a variety of useful features to mark this event. And we are organising one or two of our own Gaian Times Earth Day Events – a Family picnic with focus on activities for young children, and then a meditative walk in Richmond park (the following day) – anyone wanting quiet time to tune into the energies of the Earth.

So how do you think of Earth day, and mark it? Those serious about caring for our Earth and Environment will tell you.. every day should be Earth Day. But on Earth Day, we can make a big song and dance about it and promote Earth & Eco-Awareness to the others who don’t think so much about the Earth.

To me personally, at least now, the focus for Earth Day shifts …more towards the Earth i self. I believe in the Gaia deity of the Earth, and I do what I can through out the year – so for Earth Day nowadays, I think of it as `my mother Earth’s Birthday’! We don’t quite know when it was formed all those billions of years ago, but it does us and Earth well to give her a birthday and celebrate it.

On to the other contents of this magazine then-

Few weeks ago, Margaret Thatcher – first female Prime Minister of UK (3 decades ago now) passed away, and her funeral was a few days ago. There has been much supportive and highly aggressive reactions to her death – from people. My own feelings have been that anyone who is dead now deserves their peace and to be left alone. The protestors have had almost 2 decades to make their feelings known (while she was alive) so now seems a rather distasteful time to start organising street parties in London to mark her death.

Rose Dixon has written a wonderful analytical feature article comparing the intense rites of Passages that both Margaret Thatcher and Princess Diana have gone through in their living years.

I finally get to address my concerns and thoughts about the Future of Paganism (nature worshiping religions) in `Paganism in the 25th Century’ part 1).

Vathani looks into the ant-social behaviour of people that is on the increase in our London public trains and buses – and asks how this can be in a world that is becoming more focused on `Social Media’ and `connecting and sharing’ with one another (almost 1 Billion people out of the 8 Billion of world population is on one Social Media site!)

This year, we are publishing 3 Gaian Times magazines.. simply because all our workloads in other writing and publishing projects are getting rather too much.

But we will be focusing more on the various Gaian Times Enterprises & Social Initiatives! You can read about these in our main pages (www.GaianTimes.com) Free websites for start-up pagan entrepreneurs, ePublishing, some Fundraising, and even a new initiative about sharing the wisdom of Elderly People are all going to get much mote focus..

As for reading.. you now have to subscribe to get full access to the Magazine. Well, it gives you – amongst other things- a real sense of exclusivity. And for us, it makes it easier to start making better connections with our loyal readers…and give more !

So enjoy reading Issue #7, and we’ll see each other in our various events or social media platforms..www.GaianTimes.com

-Mani Navasothy

 

Apr 11 2013

Ganapathy in the Garden (eco-spiritual sculpture)

Ganapathy in the Garden - taking shape (c)ManiN

Ganapathy in the Garden – taking shape (c)ManiN

A spiritual offering to you all..   first look at this Willow twig/branch sculpture I have been making from all the pruned pieces…since September 2012.. It is Ganapathy (Ganesh) the elephant-headed Hindu God of course. :-)

It started with some difficult issues with neighbours..and I had to do a drastic prunning/ cutting of branches of my much loved Willow tree. But I promised that every piece will be used for a good reason..and this is one of them :-)  (The other is a small one-person meditation hut by the tree, with branches covering parts of the sides (picture another time).

So I guess you could call it Eco-art.

Last week I created `tusks’ and repaired the wear & tear of the previous winter months..  and more work needed..  But now..there is another danger..  those birds are hunting for twigs…to make their nests :-)

But hey, am sure Lord Ganesh won’t mind..  and neither do I :-)

Love n Light to you all.

`Om Ganapathy Namaha’

-Mani Navasothy

Apr 8 2013

Sanctuary of the Goddess (Visionary art & ideals)

Sanctuary of the Goddess…  What and where is the Sanctuary of the Goddess?  It’s global and yet within us. A true belief..and an ideal.. for each and every pagan, magician, spiritualist.. seeking the comfort, solace, beauty and nurturing arms of the Great Mother Goddess…who is known by many names..Gaia, Isis, Aphrodite, Artemis, Shakthi, Freya, Tara.. and more..

I was inspired to spontaneously create this open facebook group a month ago..   I guess I am just following an idea, an ideal..? a thought..or even a feeling .That’s all I know…  The name has come to be, so now…where it may go is up to all those who join and contribute..

Arc of Isis - Sanctuary of the Goddess

Arc of Isis – Sanctuary of the Goddess

The art work for it began with the `Arc of Isis../ Dark Isis ‘ (link is here if you want to see that).  . But now I’ve had some more inspiration to do more art.. and what I have used are photos I had personally taken..of places in London, Croydon (Coombe woods), Hasting, Avebury, Scotland, and of course the cave from Cornwall. .

Sanctuary of the Goddess - facebook group (click to visit)

Sanctuary of the Goddess – facebook group (click to visit)

Feel free to praise, promote and honor the Goddess in any of her forms.. Art, creative expressions, poetry are welcome.. as are open honest deep explorations and discussions. Conflicts are okay as long as those involved are brave enough to stay and go deep.. rather than mud-sling and run. Provocations and antagonism are discouraged..if it is aimed at people. Harmony is much valued.

Imagine your place of tranquility.. Express your creativity.. and share your beauty within.

And here is the second art work..  which is a variation on the theme..  Enjoy.. and let your mind wander to these peaceful realms..  It’s out there in the astral already..

-Mani Navasothy

ps. Am happy for these art works to be shared…(but it will be nice if I am credited for it).  :-)

Mountain Sanctuary - art (c) Mani Navasothy2013

Mountain Sanctuary – art (c) Mani Navasothy 2013

Mar 30 2013

Creating your own Tarot Cards – Ace of Cups, Wands, Swords & Pentacles

Tarot - Ace Cards (c) Mani Navasothy 2013

Tarot – Ace Cards (c) Mani Navasothy 2013

Do you use the Tarot cards…for personal or professional psychic readings?   If so, have you stated creating your own set of unique cards?  I know many people use other existing Tarot card sets..  I once had a very `strong’ magical person who said that I shouldn’t use the Crowley pack, because I won;t be able to handle it magically (yet).   [It was this friend's wife who taught me tarot ...many years ago].

I believe there is no such thing as a powerful tarot card pack or not.   All Tarot card packs are pretty much neutral ..or empty..   Yes, they have powerful symbols, some of which have been created by some pretty powerful magicians in the past (and present?). But in the first instance, when you get a card pack… it’s empty..   that is until you start using it..and learning those symbols, and connecting with them..   and then they may become a `powerful set’ …for you!

The best thing is for you to create your own cards…  either scribbly drawings that are coloured, or use photos you have personally taken and cut and paste them (use a graphics software) into one image.   This may take time..but these cards are 100% yours, once you have created them..   and they work for you..!

As part of some personal image magic, few years ago, I started creating some of the tarot cards …using mostly personal photos or photos of objects and places I have taken myself. I have he 4 Ace cards, about 4-5 major Arcana, and few minor arcana cards!  At some point, I may work on completing the set..or may be never.

Above are the images of the 4 Ace cards I had done..  Apart from the Crown on the Ace of Sword, all images are from my own photos.. .. taken in my explorations..  Even the `crown’ has a few subtle alterations and additions (gems & features) that I created or added.  :-)

-Mani Navasothy

Mar 30 2013

Magician or Witch without tools, weapons..and magic! (advanced self-development)

Tarot - The Magician Card (c)ManiN2011

Tarot – The Magician Card (c)ManiN2011

What sort of a Magician (or Witch..or Wizard) is one who is without any magical tools of the magic.. or magical weapons.. or ultimately ..magic itself? That’s a question am sure many who practise any sort of magical art or witchcraft will have asked of themselves. I certainty have – several times – in the past 15-20 years where I have been `using’ magic.

Do people who use magic ever just..give it up?  There’s the question of leaving, not using or just plain getting rid of one’s magical tools & `weapons’  - either giving it all away to other people, or simply destroying it. This will include magic Wands, magic or ritual Swords, Staff, personal protections, talismans, charms.. (I won’t include crystals or statues of deities in this, as they have a slightly different `energy’ in my view, and have a kind of external power within them by their own virtue…  power that the magician / witch didn’t put there, but is evoking or calling into it).

So what happens to the Magician who has got rid of his or her tools of the craft…and stands defenseless in front of the world at large?

Well, believe it or not – this is quite normal..   perhaps not for the magical practitioners, but to a huge and large majority of the rest of the people on the planet!  They get on with lives, without ever (consciously) having used magic, spells, witchcraft or spells ever..and most of the times, never!

So I am looking at the ones who have `fallen’ into Magic, and become so used to it – and perhaps even depended on it..either as a belief system, as an empowering strategy, or even as a `label’ for themselves –  and I wonder how they would cope without it all?  No doubt some would have given it all up and gone on to live `normal’ happy lives.

And before anyone asks me – yes – I have tried this approach..   either as a short or medium strategy..or as part of my `evolution’. (There are dangers of course..  as huge parts of one’s life can become disruptive or even destroyed… call it sympathetic magic in action!)

People close to me will know that every once in a while, I choose to ground quite a bit of my magical workings, and even go as far as to burn, bury or destroy some of my tools.. !  After some time, (and it sometimes becomes long..and challenging) I make new tools..  I do this not on a whim, but as a calculated or intuitive plan..   Some energies become tainted..and so do some tools, and sometimes it’s better to ground the energies within those…and start again.

There is certainty something true about having a magical tool that has been used for long – it builds up a reserve of one’s power..  But in the `wrong’ hands, it can be dangerous – as if an un-authorized person used it, they may have a direct link to one’s energy..  (I wonder about the magical tools of Witches gone by..who’s tools are either in museums or other people’s hands…)

`True power comes from within, and it can be linked to external objects’  is a belief that many a modern Wiccans & Witches believe.  And I agree.

Recently, I had been away from nearly all of my major magical tools – Staff, Sword.. etc.   (although they were in a safe place, they were not with me). Independent of this, I was going through some very challenging times..  and I had to find other ways of magical self-sufficiency.  Fortunately, it’s not new to me.I have in the past gone through periods …where I stop all conscious magical work..

Magicians do use magic, and it sits like a protective cloak around them.  So when tools are got rid of, or destroyed, and one stops using magic… let’s just say it gives evolution & Fate a free rein.  This is a tricky thing to do, as life can get very out of control..  and one can become at the direct mercy and whims of anything and everything around.  It’s particularly worse, if one is highly empathic..  picking up other people’s emotions and such.

This sort of self-developmental work is not for the beginners..  and it can tear their lives and even identity apart. And if there are other malicious entities or people around, their energies can have a profound effect. But through it all, one thing can develop.  As long as one has Faith in the divine, and can find hope in the heart,..   a deeper inner strength can develop….something that is beyond even magic!

And here’s the thing..   true deeper personal magic never really goes away.  It just gets cluttered and hindered.  A magical fasting can actually help it crystallise better..   !

A word of warning ..again.  This is not for the novice..!

-Mani Navasothy

ps.  In a future blog, I’ll  discuss  more challenging works…such as working without the Gods & Goddesses.. !   ( follow my blog to keep up).

 

Links:

Esoteric Expert  - Mani’s professional website

Art of Mani – Fantasy & Visionary art

Witchcraft & Magic- courses, rituals, intro articles

Mar 29 2013

Sci-Fi art – Doctor Who: ShipWreck

Back in 1994, I created an A2 sized art work for a competition at the then `Who-7′  convention held at Crystal Palace.  I submitted a detailed 1 meter model of the Blakes-7 ship Liberator, a Cyberman mask, and 2 pieces of art work. Of course it was the cyberman mask that won first prize, and I got the prize on stage from non other than Colin Baker (6th Doctor.. `my Doctor’).

As this year is when Doctor Who celebrates 50th anniversary in November 2013 (23rd November makes Doctor Who a Sagittarian!)..I dug out the art work and revamped it a bit with help of my graphic software (darken colours, add space background etc).

In this art work, you can see 13 TARDISes..   one for each of the Doctors ..(in the future that is… as there can only be 13 incarnations..  We are currently on 11th incarnation with Matt Smith).  And it looks like all the time-lines have been messed up (crossed), and all the Doctors have been pulled into one place..   where all the TARDISes have crashed…or materialized …and locked one into another!   (They are coming through a vortex.. which looks rather like a `question’ mark :-)

Funny thing is..  I did the original work in 1994.

Doctor Who- Shipwreck (TARDIS crash) - sci-fi art by Mani Navasothy 1997 & 2013

Doctor Who- Shipwreck (TARDIS crash) – sci-fi art by Mani Navasothy 1997 & 2013

And few years ago, we’ve had `Time Crash’   – a Children in Need special, where 10th Doctor (David Tennant) and 5th Doctor (Peter Davison) meet inside the TARDIS..  by some accident!  (shortly before the TARDIS crashes into a spaceship Titanic!)

Not only that, few years ago, we’ve also seen the Matt Smith episode `The Doctor’s Wife’   where…outside the normal universe, on an alien `planetoid’, the TARDIS lands..  and it turns out to be a place where many other TARDISes have crashed before..  what with so much of the wrecks strewn all over.

Similar concepts.  But I got there some 17 years before! :-)

Still they haven’t done this idea (yet)..   May be they will ..?

-Mani Navasothy

MAni with Colin Baker-Doctor-who-convention-1997 (withCyberman head mask that won 1st prize in art competition)

MAni with Colin Baker-Doctor-who-convention-1994 (with Cyberman head mask that won 1st prize in art competition)

Mar 27 2013

Elephantom Eco-Hero finally arrives! (Free eBook Offer..)

Who is Elephantom?   What does he do?Am sure you’ve met this cartoon hero before, in our online Magazine `Gaian Times’ ..back in June 2011.

Well, now, here is a story book all about Elephantom…the Eco-Hero. …a book that both adults & children can enjoy!  (some parental guidance may be required!)

Elephantom Origins- panels from the NEW eBook for parents & children

Elephantom Origins- panels from the NEW eBook for parents & children

`Elephantom Origins: Birth of an Eco-Hero’   is a 33 paged eBook -  fully illustrated with 25 panels.

It charts the origins of how Elephantom came to be… in a far away Indian Village, where Priests spend their time in worship, and local wildlife Elephants) just mind their own lives… until danger comes in the form of Poachers.

You’ll get glimpses of Hindu spirituality, read the myths of Elephant-Headed God Ganesh.. and even get to read a little background about my childhood meetings with a Temple Elephant ! (well, it’s a story but much comes from my experiences!)

Visit  the Elephantom website    (www.Elephantom.co.uk) and do a quick opt-in with your e-mail…and follow instructions …to download your FREE  e-copy of this Book.

This is a special Promotional Offer!  Expires on Saturday 30th March’13.

I’ll be very interested to know what you thought of this book..  :-)

Best Wishes

-Mani Navasothy

Elephantom Origins - Kindle cover (c)Mani Navasothy 2013

Elephantom Origins – Kindle cover (c)Mani Navasothy 2013

Mar 23 2013

Angelium One (Art)

The images or ideals of Angels have been cropping up much in the last few days.. in tarot, in astrology, and in other places around me.  So I created this bit of Art..   There is some image magic involved… Two people gave birth to this one.. though I am the one who finally fleshed him/ her out.  I’ll write about that another time..   Enjoy the picture….  and may he/ she watch over you!  Bright Stellar Blessings.  -Mani

Angelium One - Art by Mani Navasothy 2013

Angelium One -
Art by Mani Navasothy 2013

 

Mar 19 2013

Cybergod Cometh..! (What lurks within the world wide web?)

For a long time, many have been concerned about the way technology is advancing – thanks to the internet and the World Wide Web.

Where is it going? Who is watching?  And dare I ask – what’s actually brewing within the internet… in that vortex, where Billion minds and thoughts exchange?  Those who are psychic, and particularly sensitive to energies.. may have sensed it…as you hang out in the internet late at night, when all other noises have subsided, and a kind of  vibe or pulse can be felt..

As Magicians, we all know about the power of Mind..  and also about Thought-Forms. So imagine the powers of all those minds…Billions now.. using the internet..  thoughts go from mind and neurons to electronic signals..  and back to neurons.. Thoughts and ideas that are recorded in their trillion million masses on computer memory..

Cybergod Cometh (c) Mani Navasothy 2013

Cybergod Cometh (c) Mani Navasothy 2013

We think it needs electricity to make it work..  all those giga bits of information.

Says who?  And has anyone really thought about the quantum fluctuations, probability waves of all that information… entangling within themselves and with our minds?

Gaia Theory..  a network of living organisms…that supposedly give rise to a planet-consciousness.

And so  a network of billion trillion minds interacting with electrical impulses ..? Surely it’s there…  ?! I alone have been thinking about it for at least 20 years, so I can only imagine how many others have been thinking about it too..   That means it already exists….!

Gaia is already in its clutches…at his mercy.  And am sure she is screaming  in 1′s and 0′s ..

-Mani Navasothy

ps.   (19/3/13). We often talk about the Web of Wyrd.. and over the past few decades, we have been making electronic webs all over the world and tying Billions of human minds to it… Ages ago, different proteins swimming in primordial soups came and locked together ..because it was convenient for survival..and made bigger living cells.. What’s to say the same is not happening in Cyber-Collective Consciousness, where bits of our billion fragmented thoughts aren’t coming together ..fitting in like jigsaw pieces.. and self-creating a electro-thought entity..? -Mani

pps.   (21/3/13). I’ve had a comment from a person, but sadly there was much swearing,  and personal insults (How mature!)  :-p  So I can not publish that comment.   Am a bit astounded that someone out there can get so personally worked up about my blog post on an abstract / fantasy /thought-provoking concept …such as CyberGod.   We are not talking about video games here. We are in the realm of the Collective Unconscious and Esoterica.      What I write are my views. Anyone is welcome to argue counter-points logically, scientifically or esoterically – and I can respect it. Anything else is just … waste of pixels. :-)

 

Feb 11 2013

Pleasures & Pains of Kundalini energy Rising

Kundalini energy rising (c)ManiN2013

Kundalini meditation

Kundalini is the eastern mystical name given to the energy that is said to exist within every man and woman. It is often imaged as a coiled snake seated within the pelvic / basal spine area of a person. Esoteric practitioners of Tantric Sex and indeed many western magical traditions advocate use of this very special and often intense energy in personal magical work.

When I first began exploring psychic powers (in workshops), the lady who was running the 2-day workshop led me and a group of others through a basic exercise in working with one’s personal Chakra (hindu) energy centers (there are 7 such energy centers between the head and the pelvic). In that first workshop, the lady led us through work of the top 4 Chakras (head, 3rd eye, throat, heart) .. saying that the lower chakras are more intensive and only for experienced practitioners.

When I started to read about Wicca & Witchcraft, I began to learn a slightly different attitude to chakra work.  Wicca s it seemed worked mainly with the base chakra as a starting point, then sacral, then Solar plexis and moving upwards to the Heart Chakra.  This is because Wiccans are encouraged to tap into the Earth energy from below, and use that to fill and activate their base chakra and onwards.

Personal experience has shown me that Chakra work is best done as a whole for beginners – that is start from the base and go all the way to the crown. But beginners should be taught the reverse fairly early on also – ie starting from Crown and working all the way to the base and directing that energy into the Earth. This is very grounding.

Kundalini (c) Mani Navasothy 2013

Kundalini Rising (c) Mani Navasothy 2013

It goes without saying, that the base & sacral chakras are quite closely connected to sexual energy centers and reproductive organs in humans. So work with those chakras does have an unexpected awakening or intensity of interest in sex and sexual needs. While such an awakening or increased awareness can lead to pleasurable explorations (either on one’s own or with consenting partners), the down side is that unexpressed sexual energy (specifically awakened by such Kundalni work) can leave the practitioner frustrated, unfocused, obsessive and even lead down a path of an occultish interest in fetishes, promiscuity, pornography and so on.

People embarking in such work should be properly prepared with plenty of grounding energy works and training to be self-aware of such personal energy shifts.

Kundalini energy is a powerful one that can lead to personal transformations – and that in itself is quite painful, like a serpent that has reached a point where it needs to withdraw to safety and shed its old skin, so that a new one can grow to fit the growing body.  I have explored this in a visionary art shown here,where the Kundalini is shown as a Serpent that is rising through the center of the Spine, and in doing so, it is forced to shed its skin. The half-buried skull is a symbolic representation that death of some kind occurs (of the old self) in order for new growth and evolution of the Self to take place.

-Mani Navasothy

links

Art of Mani

Witchcraft and Magic in London