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Lesson 8: Health & Nutrition/Spirit Guides

As I said in lesson #6, your health is very important to your ability to work magick effectively. The better your health, the more energy you have for magick, spiritual development and life in general. The Order’s teachings focus on health repeatedly during the course. Lesson #8 is long, almost 70 pages of information. The information about health and fitness is always changing. Personal research and responsibility is vital here. You must decide for yourself what of this information to follow.

I am not a licensed healthcare provider: I am not a licensed doctor, herbalist, dietitian, nutritionist or any other professional healthcare provider. The information provided here is meant to get you looking into your own health. You must use common sense and your better judgment. The following is my opinion. It is based in years of research and practice, but I cannot underemphasize the fact that:

EVERYBODY IS DIFFERENT

AND

YOU MUST TAKE CONTROL OF YOUR HEALTH

You must look critically at the information I provide here and compare it to other information. Use your common sense. If something does not sound safe to you, do not do it. I also strongly urge you to do research into what I say and verify or dismiss what I offer for yourself.

There is no single authoritative source for health information. This field is always changing, and all information is based in some expert’s opinion. You must, absolutely must, double check any information on this topic before you try it.

Moderation is the key to good health. Let common sense be your guide.

The latest thing: The details of this topic change constantly. There is always some new buzz word, some new fad, some new diet plan or supplement, some new gimmick that is the hot topic of the health industry.

I tend to ignore these.

Some of them work, and are based on good research. Others are ineffective, and based on manipulated research. Many are flat out lies meant to sell you a product. Caution is wise when dealing with the latest trend.

I prefer to stick to tried and true methods of health promotion. One of my favorite sources for sound advice is the book The Tao of Health, Sex, & Longevity by Daniel P. Reid, 1989.

It is based in the Chinese Daoist tradition. While I do not follow everything in the book, there are a few things I would like to share.

The diet in the book is based in nature, and when I am following it, I feel great. I have more energy, and I eat less, and so spend less money on food. It seems to me that it is important to eat the right things, but you must eat them in the right combinations, and in the right way. The closer to nature the food is, the less processed, the less manmade the food, the better. Raw organic food is best. Not everything should be eaten raw. But if you want optimal health you should limit consumption of anything you have to cook.

The second things is how you go to the bathroom. Reid is a big fan of colonics, the irrigation of your colon with water. I have not tried this. I do follow his advice on how I sit when I defecate, however. He advises that you should squat on the toilet instead of sitting. I do notice a difference in the easy and volume of bowel movements when I do it that way. This is also a great time to practice deep breathing, as it stimulates your intestines. Just don’t fall off, or in.

The final bit of advice from this wonderful book is on nasal irrigation. This is the flushing of the nasal passages with a saline solution. The solution must be salted to “taste”, that is it must match the salinity of your nasal cavity. This take a little trial and error. I like to use table salt without iodine. I have tried sea salt, and did not care for it. Too much salt will give a burning sensation, too little just feels weird. The temperature of the water is also important. I like mine lukewarm, I would rather have it a little cold that too hot. You must be careful not to burn the nasal passages.

There are special pots you can get for this. There are also pre-made solutions you can get made from sterile saline water and a small amount of essential oils to help sanitize your sinus cavity. The oils also help clear out the passageways. I highly recommend nasal irrigation, also called neti nasal douching.

The procedure is simple, get the saline solution ready. Hold your head over a sink or you can do the irrigation in the tub. Take a deep breath, relax and slowly pour the water from the pot into your nostril. At first you will need to hold your breath, and will only be able to put small amounts of water in before you must blow out your nose and take another breath. I have been doing it a while and can breath through my mouth while irrigating my nasal cavity. I do not recommend trying that until you feel comfortable and have a clear stream of water flowing through your nostrils. When your sinus cavity is cleared the water will flow in one nostril and come out the other. Start off slow, do a little bit of water at a time, and stay relaxed. When you have finished with a session, sharply and forcefully blow the water out of your nose.

I do not do this daily, as that get uncomfortable. I only do it one time per day, at most once a week. You must judge for yourself how often you need to irrigate.

Nutrition and health: Nutrition is one of the most important points to good health. Along with regular exercise and proper rest, nutrition forms the backbone to a long and full life. I am not going to go into a lot of detail on nutrition. Just keep in mind that a diet full of variety will get you most of what you need. You may want to supplement with vitamins. I recommend finding natural sources of vitamins. Look at your local health food store, but avoid chain style companies. Their single goal is making money, and the employees do not know anything about the product. You might pay more for supplements and vitamins form smaller companies, but you will get better quality. Not all companies are the same so do your research!

Vegetarianism: The Order strongly recommends practicing vegetarianism. Personally, I look at food from an energetic perspective. Plants are the purest source of energy on the planed, unless you can live on sunlight and dirt. Animals eat the plants, and we eat both.

The energetic make up of plants allows for the plants materials and essence, along with it’s nutritional value to be absorbed readily by the human body. Animals are closer to us in structure, physiology and in their energetic make up. It takes out body much more work to break down animal matte than plant. Why? The animals body arranged the nutrients and energetic components into a format that it could utilize, specific to that species. As a human consuming food, we must first break down the material and energy into a form we can use. In the case of animal food sources this requires more work from our body to take the animals body and digest it back into it’s component parts before our own body can utilize it. With plants, there is less struggle in the physical break down, as they are closer to the manufacturers of the basic components of life.

Energetically, the animal flesh is filled with toxins caused by the emotions of the animals at slaughter time. These toxins lock into the flesh, along with the emotional energy of the animal. Your body must now deal with this. A plants energetic make up is different from ours. It is readily absorbed, and plants do not have emotions like we do, so that factor is eliminated completely.

You should also look into how we raise and slaughter animal. They are massed produced, cheap and efficiently. They are given chemicals, hormones, antibiotics and unnatural food sources. All in all, meat is just not natural, unless you raise it yourself.

Not everyone can be vegetarians. You must consider your needs. I do recommend limiting your meat intake. You also probably need more fiber.

I would suggest eating a large, raw salad, made with as much green organic plant matter as you can manage, everyday. Variety is the important thing here. Put whatever organic vegetables you like in it, just do the best you can. Fiber supplements are good to. You should also look into psyllium fiber supplements, and their amazing benefits.

Intoxicants: These should be avoided as best as you can. Alcohol, tobacco, drugs of any kind, none of these are good in excess. They muddle the mind, dull the spirit and waste your life force. You would do best to avoid them entirely. This includes prescription medication. Short term use of prescription medication can be beneficial, but long term always has side effects. These often lead to needing another drug. Many pharmaceutical drugs will cause long term side effects even with short term use. Some only require one usage, so please be very careful with them.

Residence: Where you live also has an effect on your health. Cities tend to have detrimental effects on your health. The stress and pollution increase as the city grows. The amount of ambient energy is also decreased due to the buildings, people and electrical networks. Rural settings are best form a magickal perspective. If you cannot live in the country, I recommend you take time to spend in nature, at least go to a park regularly.

I also recommend keeping plants in your home. You may want to get an air filter. I recommend one of the ionizing air filtration systems. As always, do your research on these, as they are not all made the same. Cost is a big factor here too.

Food origins: I also want to tell you to look into where your food comes from. Local food is more likely to be safe than imported foods which are often fumigated with poisons. Local organic will often be your best bet. Take the time to do web searches and ask questions. Growing it yourself is ideal. Make sure to read the label. Where was it made, packaged, and shipped through? What is in it? Remember that not all ingredients have to be listed on the ingredients list. Many chemicals are not listed, or listed as natural or artificial flavor. No body seems to know what the terms “natural” or “artificial” mean in terms of food product ingredients. I would also caution you about foods with the words “low fat, fat free, diet, light” or any other term used to advertise the product. They are usually trying to deceive you into purchasing their product, and do not care about your health.

Employment: The job you do will affect your health. Where your work, the environment, the labor, the pay, all have an effect on your health and wellbeing. Consider what effect your job and the people there have on you. Many jobs are simply not healthy long term. Your source of income will determine your schedule. Computer usage is also straining to the body and mind.

To summarize the above, I will include the 9 rules of good health

9 rules of good health

1) Fast: This is not recommended if you have blood sugar problems until you get them under control. I recommend fasting by drinking the juice of fresh fruits and vegetables, along with plenty of water. You need a minimum of 8 ounces of water per serving, eight times per day normally. You may want to increase this when you fast. Be sure to look into water overdose before you drink excessive amounts of water. You also want your water to be pure. Clean your fruits and veggies in a vinegar and water solution before juicing. I like to drink 8-12 ounces of liquid per hour. I alternate, one glass of fruit juice, one of water, then one of veggie juice then another water for most of the time I fast. The ideal schedule seems to be one day of fasting per week. Three days of fasting every three months. One week of fasting every six months. This will vary from person to person. Three days is the longest I have ever done. I also supplement my fasts with herbs.

2) Salad: Make one large raw salad a part of every day. You can add seeds, bee pollen, cheese, nuts, avocados, or any number of raw food sources. Try to keep it raw, but some cooked foods won’t hurt now and again. Use unrefined dressings. My favorite is extra virgin olive oil and red apple cider vinegar. You can flavor it with herbs.

3) Natural foods: Avoid processed food. Frozen fish, canned vegetables and white sugar and flour are all bad for you. Carbonated beverages are horrible. Corn syrup is no better.

If you need to sweeten your food, look into the stevia plant. Raw honey is good too. I have used honeygar, a spoonful of raw honey mixed with a spoonful of apple cider vinegar and put in a cup of hot water, for years to keep good health. Avoid anything labeled “instant” or decaffeinated. Shun pasteurized foods, lunch meats and products containing stimulants like caffeine. Commercial peanut butter, most breakfast cereals, and anything homogenized should all be avoided. Nature knows best.

4) Organic: Go green! The less chemicals your food is made with the better. If you can grow your own that is the best. Buy fresh foods, as often as possible. Remember if you are buying food to read the label, if you don’t know what it says, don’t eat it. Try to buy food with as few ingredients as possible. They do taste better, and they are better for you. Always wash your vegetables in a solution of vinegar, you can use white, but apple cider is better. Put at least one tablespoon of vinegar into a large bowl of clean water and wash your fruits and veggies in it. You also want to drink pure clean water, so I recommend getting a filtration system or buying bottled water. It is not the best, but bottled is usually better than municipal water.

5) Let nature plan your menu: Try to eat locally produced food that is in season. Do not keep foods in your refrigerator for long periods of time, as that reduces their energy. Buy fresh often. You may not be able to eat only seasonal foods, but you should be sure to include them in your menu. Remember that commercial foods are picked way before nature intended and so will reach you premature, as such the nutritional and energetic quality will be greatly reduced, even when they do finally ripen. Limit imported foods to the best of your ability.

6) Raw is better: Cooking kills the enzymes and alters the nutritional and energetic values of foods. Limit cooking as best you can. When you do cook, keep it simple. Cast iron, Pyrex or stainless steel seem to be the best for cooking. Throw out your nonstick coated aluminum cookware right now. Really, just toss it in the garbage, it absolutely kills your food and seeps into it, slowly poisoning you. I am not so sure about stainless steal long term safety. I do know that if you are processing herbs that aluminum pots and pans destroy the active ingredients in them. Cast iron is my top choice, and I almost exclusively cook on it. Oh, and avoid margarine in your cooking. It really is not good for you.

7) Limit liquids when eating: Your body must have specific conditions to properly digest food. Drinks, especially cold drinks reduce your bodies ability to digest foods when they are taken with meals. The liquid reduces the concentration of acid and enzymes in your stomach, and the cold temperature makes it harder for your stomach to function. Hot herbal teas are ok. I would also like to remind you not to drink chlorinated water. Chlorine is poison.

8) Eggs and other snacks: They are ok in moderation. I believe it is the consumption of refined sugar and chlorine that causes the build up of cholesterol in your blood vessels. Cholesterol is a natural occurrence, and is necessary to your bodies functioning. Also, pasteurized homogenized milk could be part of the problem. It is not the eggs fault! As always, look for free range, organic eggs. I prefer brown eggs to white. You can also make your own mayonnaise. Oatmeal is well know for it’s ability to clear bad cholesterol form your system.

For snacks that are good for you, you can scramble an egg or two in some wheat germ oil (I prefer butter), cook it in a double boiler. Fruits and veggies are great, carrot sticks and celery are great snacks. Granola with some certified raw milk. A handful of nuts or seeds. Fresh roasted peanuts, sliced apples or raw cheese or natural peanut butter, are all good snacks.

9) Mental health: Your mind is the biggest factor in your wellbeing. You must lift your thoughts up. Do not be concerned with others opinions of you. When you eat, turn off the TV, and listen to some quiet music or have conversations with friends and family. Limit cell phone usage, they are very stress inducing. Keep your mind on the present moment. Keep in mind that what you put into your body includes more that just what goes in your mouth. You eyes, ears and lungs all bring things into your body that effect your health. Avoid violent or foolish movies, literature or programs. Be careful what you put into your mind as well as your body. Avoid commercials. They are designed by very creative and deceptive people to brainwash you into buying their product or service. Pharmaceutical company adds are designed to make you think you are sick and need their drugs. Food company adds work to make you crave their produce. Just because an add says it is so, does not make it true. Big companies are allowed to blatantly lie in advertisements, as they have lawyers to protect them in their often deceptive campaigns.

Contacting a spirit guide: Perform the total body relaxation, laying down relax yourself completely.

Light a white candle and some incense, sandalwood if you have it.

Sit in your meditative position. Go into the rainbow trance and do some power chants. Perform the cross of power and protection.

Cast a basic circle.

Return to your meditative position, face east, and redo the rainbow trance.

Close your eyes and visualize a white cone rising form your circle and extending out to infinity. Let it reach up to the center of the universe. Draw down some of the brilliant white light from the One Source. Let it flood your circle.

Clear your mind, and focus your closed eyes on your third eye center. Request to be put in contact with your spirit guide so you may receive spiritual guidance. Keep your mind clear. You may want to chant “spiritual guidance” over and over again. You could also chant “Spirit guide come to me, and as I will so mote it be”. After a few minutes of this, visualize a doorway in front of you in the eastern part of the cone of light. In a few moments a figure, often vague will appear. It will seem clouded by mist.

It is important that you do not feel fear or anxiety, as these will prevent your receiving communication. You must let them go before you do this ritual. Remember you are completely safe inside your circle from all negative entities and energies. Only positive, higher energies and entities can enter.

Mentally invite the figure into your circle. Try to speak with it, ask it’s name, and remember it. You will use it to call them in the future.

After some time, thank the spirit guide and bid it farewell.

When the spirit has left, ground and center by doing the following. Take three deep breaths. Visualize the white light in and of the circle being absorbed by your crown center, and let the energy sink down through your spine into your feet, then into the Earth. When you feel grounded, take three more deep breaths. Give thanks to the higher powers for their protection and guidance. I recommend having a snack after you do any kind of deep or heavy meditation or magick. It will help you to ground and Earth the power.

You can do this ritual whenever you need spiritual guidance. The new moon is the best time for it.

End lesson#8