Spiritual Coach Willowhawk

Swine the Gift of the Gods

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Mythology is fascinated with the swine. This rather interesting creature has been an obsession across all cultures for most of recorded and pre-recorded history. Today, in the USA it is called “the other white meat,” used as an advertising tool to have citizens of the US eat more pork. The great US breakfast of bacon and eggs is the staple of many individuals daily. As the USA was settled by the British, Welsh, Scottish and Irish immigrants it is not surprising that they brought their political, spiritual, economic, and dietary framework with them.

A look at the mythos of the pig shows connections in Nepalese culture, (Goddess Varahi), Tibetan Buddhism (Vajra Yogini), Hinduism, (Vajrabarahi), Egypt, (Nut), and in Classical Greek, the goddess Demeter holds these creatures sacred. In the British Isles there is much discussion on the pig as a sacred animal.

In the fourth branch of the Mabinogion, (a compendium of Welsh Myths), Math's two nephews Gwydion and Gilvaethwy when first seeing these wondrous creatures are reported to have said:

"I have heard that there have come to the South some beasts, such as were never known in this island before." "What are they called?" he asked. "Pigs, lord." "And what kind of animals are they?" "They are small animals, and their flesh is better than the flesh of oxen." "They are small, then?" "And they change their names. Swine are they now called." "Who owneth them?" "Pryderi the son of Pwyll; they were sent him from Annwvyn, by Arawn the king of Annwvyn, and still they keep that name, half hog, half pig."

Later these two nephews use the refusal of Pryderi son of Pwyll and their subsequent theft of these creatures to start a war between Pryderi and Math so as to “steal” the maiden Goewin from Math, their Uncle.

In other mythos of the Isles we see that the Celtic Mother goddess Ceridwin, who was associated with the moon, was referred to as the Old White Sow. The Celts were also among those who considered the flesh of swine the most suitable meal for the gods even after the Old Mythology was diminished into tales of the Otherworld. It was also said that Manannan, god of the sea, had magic pigs which though eaten one day, returned the next to be eaten again.

The earliest silver coin of the Corieltauvi (Coritani) in Britain, and is derived from a Roman Republican coin of Hosidius depicting the slaying of the Calydonian boar. Second only to the horse, the boar (the male pig) occupies a prominent position in Celtic iconography, and like the horse, it is on Celtic coins that we most frequently encounter him. The earliest silver coin of the Corieltauvi (Coritani) in Britain is derived from a Roman Republican coin of Hosidius depicting the slaying of the Calydonian boar.

It is important to realize that the Celts were familiar with Roman and Greek myths, and did discuss their own interpretations of them. The copying of a Roman coin type was not a haphazard incident and would not have been done unless it had some relevance to the Celtic ethos.
To find the relevant Celtic content, we must look to the Irish myths that were part of an oral tradition reaching back into antiquity from the medieval period in which they were finally penned. In the myth “Diarmait and the Boar of Benn Gulbain” we find that Finn MacCool uses magic to bring and change his recently murdered son into a black boar and later the king Aengus places a taboo on Diarmait. Suffice it to say that both the boar and Diarmait die in a later battle with each other.
An interesting association of a cross with a boar is provided by a coin of the Aulerci Eburovices, here, a wreath, or ear of grain pattern is intersected by a line terminating in a crescent. This pattern is seen on many Celtic coins, and may be most familiar on the Gallo-Belgic gold staters and their British derivatives. On this coin, however, the crescent is surmounted by a boar, its hind legs standing on a second crescent. At the intersection of both crescents and the boar's legs, there is a circle.
The association between the cross and the boar is clear on an unattributed Armorican coin, on this coin the figure of the boar forms the bar of a cross. The boar is impaled thus, a cross is formed, and each limb is a season.
The cross is a universal symbol. Meanings of this symbol contain "fourness": the four seasons; winds; elements, and the cardinal points, and also by extension: the centre; the omphalos; wholeness; continuation; addition, and resurrection. It may have a variety of forms including a plus sign, an "X" or a swastika.
Being associated with the boar by its position on these coins, we can say that the cross indicates the portal between this world and the underworld, or the yearly cycles of the sun.
So to all those pig keepers out there. You are the venerable practitioners of a noble profession. You are the herders of the most sacred and Otherworldly gift to humankind.

Shamanic Trance, DMT and You

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Shamanic Trance a definition

There is a lot of information on different ways to obtain a shamanic trance, and yet little discussion of exactly what it is. It can be defined as that state in which one obtains an altered consciousness that allows one to see, feel, hear, and/or experience another reality. In this state, the individual is able to visit alternate planes of reality, contact entities that can be defined as spirits, or guides, obtains information to assist themselves or others, retrieves souls, and make adjustments to their own reality and others.

In other words it is the process of reality shifting used by an individual who practices shamanic arts.

What about Me?

While this tool is identified with the Shaman or Shamanic Practitioner, every individual has the potential and the ability to utilize this tool to assist in their own healing process. During the course The Warrior Within I assist individuals to use this process themselves to help become more in tune with their own spirit, conscious, and subconscious reality. Some literature speaks of this as a gift that is granted to specific individuals. In my experience, anyone can achieve this state.

According to Rick Strassman in his book DMT: The Spirit Molecule the pineal gland produces melatonin, has high concentrations of serotonin, and the gland can convert serotonin into tryptamine. The unique enzymes that produce di-methyl-tryptamine, (DMT,) are also present in the pineal gland in very high concentrations. Hence, the pineal gland is indeed as he calls it the Psychedelic Pineal.The gland itself is located in the Thalamus which is located in the brain at the base of the cerebral cortex.

Therefore, since this is a naturally occurring substance in the brain, then learning to activate it's production is something that can be learned.

This is the compound that assists humans to cross into the other non physical realms.

How to Encourage the Release of DMT

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