Tea, Dreams, and Studies

Dear Neophyte,

I've been drinking my sister's ADHD medication.  That is, I've been drinking the tea she was given by her naturopath to help with her ADHD.  It's just fancy blends of herbs and flowers that help the adrenal glands and whatnot. 

Originally they were supposed to be coupled with shamanistic works of deposession in order to calm oneself and get rid of whatever might be hyping you up.  That's why I love naturopaths: They work WITH you as a whole instead of against your body.

She decided that since the teas are supposed to be drunk without sugar that she won't drink them at all.  Well, they do taste pretty much like hot leaf juice in equally hot water if you do it that way.  But, hey, they aren't my prescriptions so I'm drinking them with at least enough sugar to float the actual flavors of the tea. 

The actual flavors are light enough to keep me interested and warm enough to keep me calm. 

I've noticed that I have more energy at work, sleep longer and better, and when I come home I'm typically not all over the place goofing off.  I'm usually goofing off in just one place.  That is after I do my energetic exercises. 

So I looked this tea up online since the prescription didn't include a list of ingredients and it's clearly like 10 different things in each of the two teas ("Adrenal" and "Serenity").  The one that I found on the Teavana website had a whole host of people saying it gave them vivid nightmares. 

Well.  Duh.  I'm pretty sure that herbs have properties that will loosen people's demons from their sources and set them loose.  Uncontrolled entities will either wreck havoc or leave.  It seems to me like the herbal energies are unleashing people's traumas so they have to deal with them.  It's called SERENITY for a reason!  You can't be serene if you're troubled with anxiety, PTSD, and a case of the jitters. 

You have to work through your trauma in order to get serenity.  Tea alone won't do that for you, but herb power of the herbs just might.  Especially if they haven't been overly molested by humanity in their process of becoming a neatly stored and overpriced item on the shelf of a mall kiosk.

That being said: I had another zombie dream on night two of drinking these teas.  It had no zombies in it.  I wasn't all that scared.  I had friends with me who weren't zombies or too awfully terrified.  We just ran around avoiding areas with zombies in order to gather supplies.  I remember keyly trying to o'rperch a wall that was either draped or painted white. I hope this means I'm getting around the 'zombies' in my waking life.

No, I'm not saying that anything that's happening to me is because of the tea.  On the waning parts of the moon, I sleep better due to low energy.  Sleeping better gives me more energy at work.  So does the good coffee I bought for the mornings.  So does eating far better as I tend to do when I watch cooking shows and make blackened tuna, followed by cordon bleu, followed by the perfect mushroom and goat cheese omelet, then onigiri. 

That and some effects of tea are instantaneous.  But not this tea.  It takes about 3 weeks to kick in fully and that's only if you take the recommended amounts.  I'm not taking nearly so much.  I predict I may never get the "full benefits" of this tea at any point.  But the point is that they do help me.  They still have a cumulative effect, even if it's slower.

The lack of overly sweet tea (I AM from the South) right after work and lack of too many sweets in general as of late is probably what's helping with my restlessness.  Let's see if this holds when the moon is waxing and I'm going apeshit with too much energy.  Or the next time I cycle around to an introverted period of depression.

Also, I started a study group for wayward witchlets that includes friends and family.  I predict a good 4 meetings before it either falls apart due to scheduling conflicts or people decide they need a different type of group and vacate.  None of us has cars, so there is that too.

Lastly, I am doing my energy exercises again.  In an attempt to avoid the burn-out associated with pretty much every other time I sat down to retake my studies I am not forcing time limits or forcing note-taking (though it's clear now I need to bend that rule a bit), nor am I forcing times of the day or even daily practice.  So far, so good as it's been about a week and I've done 4 days of practices using the 4 elements for channeling work.   I really do need to take notes, as being able to recall each of the elemental energies and what they felt like is important.  Hm...

More on each of these in the future as I'd like to detail my group as well as my new personal studies.

Salutations,
Sesh

First Set of Exercises - Know Thyself

Dear Neophyte,

How can you expect to know the Divine if you don't know Yourself?  You are a part of the Divine and the Divine is part of you.  To know Them is to know Yourself and to know Yourself is to know Them.

"If though findest not withing

You will findest not without."

~ Paraphrased "Charge of the Goddess"

List of Exercises to Know Thyself

Your Good and Your Bad

List all good and bad qualities

Explain each quality, how it hurts AND helps you

Write about your life and how you can improve your life

Write a list of things you've learned and a plan to improve yourself

Questions of Faith

Think of questions you have about your religion and answer them

Define your beliefs

Personal Standards of Living

List your personal code of conduct

Read the Hopi Elder Words to Live By and write how to integrate them

Read the negative confessions- write about how you compare

Write your own negative confessions and plan to look them over regularly

Read about living in Ma'at and make a plan

Read over Random Acts of Kindness and write a list of 20

Mental Health

Why Mental Health is important when studying Magic and Religion

Anger and it's affects on magic and religion
Understanding victimization and how to let go

Starting the Day on a Positive Note

Getting What You Want

Make a list of 100 things that make you happy

Make a "green list" of 10 goals (2 lifelong, 5 intermediate and 2 immediate)

Goal achievements with affirmations

Mental Acuity

Develop a plan for developing Will and the importance of Experience

Practice Intuition

Read about releasing Karma

Practice the exercises for Getting to Know Nature

Choosing a Magical Name

Faith and Life

Read about Living Your Faith and journal the follow through

What is Sacred Hospitality and how do you practice it?

"What Women Should Have"

Define your "roots".  How can you strengthen and maintain them?  How can you put down more?

This list is not a be-all and end-all plan.  It isn't meant to be done in exactly like you see here - if mental health is more important to you then do that earlier in the list.  I started mine out by starting the list of 100 things that make me happy.  As of this writing I am on 49 and have continued further down the list; I add more as I think of them and will continue to do so even once I reach the 100 minimum.  The stiffness of creativity that comes with following lists in their exact order are what scares me off of most "101" courses.  I opted to build flexibility into mine so that I could work on this list while I worked on other parts of my studies.  That way I'm constantly working to better myself but also giving the lessons and changes time to sink in.

Salutations,

Sesh