The Tomato Harvest

[poliphilo]

Ailz was telling me more about her class in positive thinking. They've been teaching her this technique. First you form a clear idea of your desired outcome, then you visualise it happening,  then... "Hang on a minute," I say.  "This is spell-casting for beginners. You could be teaching them. "

She went out to lunch today. In her absence I cleaned the bathroom, clipped the hedge- that'll be the last time it needs doing this year- and harvested the tomatoes. We have four tomato plants in the back yard and between them they have produced two, little, hard, green fruits- one the size of a musket ball, the other much smaller. Bother. My policy of benign neglect- leaving them to be "fed and watered by God's almighty hand"- has failed to deliver the goods.

But it works for dandelions. 

Maybe next year I'll add in a little positive thinking.

Comments

[veronica-milvus.livejournal.com]

That struck me too, about a year ago when I was dabbling in Wicca. Positive thinking, visualisation etc, are techniques we have used in business training and they also appear in spellz.

They probably work.

And some positive thinking about sunshine, around next Beltane, might be useful if you still have the knack. Lousy summer again this year, lots of witches must have nodded off on May eve.

The two best summers I remember as an adult, 1995 and 2003, were ones where I observed the festival on April 30th.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Lots of what people do in business and politics and even mainstream religion is magical. They don't use the word, but that's what it is.

I haven't cast any spells for a long, long time. I was never entirely comfortable with it. I don't think we should muck around with "reality" unless we have a very good reason for doing so.

[daisytells.livejournal.com]

God has a sense of humor -- a perverse one!

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

The world's a stage- and what's playing is a (very dark) comedy.

[wyrmwwd.livejournal.com]

Do you get Oprah over there?

It never ceases to amaze me... the techniques that we call "magick" and have been using for generations, now, suddenly show up on Oprah. Only thing is, these were things that we learned from our mothers & grandmothers, and have been largely dismissed. Now, suddenly, she will have some highly paid man on their with a college degree and a best seller, and suddenly, it is the Next Big Thing.

It is very frustrating.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

We have hundreds of channels available to us now- and I'm sure Oprah is available on one- or several- of them. I've certainly watched her in the past.

Perhaps all that matters- in the long run- is that these immemorial traditions are kept alive- but- I agree- it is annoying to see people making big bucks out of them.

I was taught that there was no way you took money for teaching craft- and I tried to live by it (though I wrote a book for which I was paid- but not very much). I think money corrupts the relationship between teacher and student- master and disciple. One teaches because it is unthinkable not to pass the wisdom on.

[michaeljohngrist.com (from livejournal.com)]

I was thinking about mantras the other day- and how many Biz Seminars will be teaching people to say things like- "I rock, and will whup ass at the next meeting", and how it really helps people.

I think spells are pretty similar to this, along with this course Ailz is doing. Same as people meditating or going "Om....". I don't think there's anything mystical about it- it seems to me a kind of direct re-programming of the brain. You say the words enough, words with meaning, and the brain will re-write itself accordingly.

It's a similar thing to how we teach ourselves a new language. Repetition. If we want to think positively- just start thinking positively. Simple as. And once you're thinking positively, you're being pro-active, and the snowball starts rolling.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I remember there was a book knocking around in my youth called How to Win Friends and Influence People- and it was all about positive thinking.

Yes and before that- way back in the 20s- there was a fad for standing in front of a mirror every morning and saying to yourself "Every day, in every way, I get better and better"- or words to that effect.

Every generation puts its own spin on things- secular or religious or occult- but the techniques remain the same.