April 2023 Grey Matters

Grey Matters

April 2023

Table of Contents

1.) Welcome Instructor Paddock

2.) Synchronicity Waves

3.) In-Person Core Energy Practices Class

4.) New Class: Wizardry 102

5.) Monthly Class Spotlight

6.) A Review of the Wildwood Tarot

7.) Wortcunning Department Crossword

Welcome, Instructor Paddock!

By Headmaster Kingsley

Dear Grey School of Wizardry community,

We are thrilled to announce the addition of a new faculty member to our esteemed team, instructor Orresta Paddock!

Orresta Paddock is a high priest, diviner, and co-founder of the Trees of Light Grove in Upstate NY. As a devoted member of Hellenion, he has dedicated his life to the gods of Ancient Greece and Rome, seeking their guidance throughout his personal and spiritual journey.

For nearly a decade, Paddock has served as the leading minister and educator for the Trees of Light Grove, officiating rites of passage from birth to death. His deep compassion and desire to help others fuels his ongoing pursuit of knowledge and growth.

With training in various forms of energy work, Rev. Paddock is actively developing a new method of energy healing. He is also studying to recreate a reconstructionally accurate form of Roman augury, aiming to restore honor to this ancient tradition. As a member of Hellenion's Virtual Temple Council, he is dedicated to creating a historically accurate and accessible worship space for Hellenic pagans worldwide.

Paddock's expertise in both technology and religion allows him to adapt ancient wisdom to the modern world. As a student in the Pastoral Counseling and Chaplaincy department at Cherry Hill Seminary's Masters of Divinity program, he continues to explore ways to connect with others and help them find inner peace.

Having studied at the United States' only pagan and nature-centered graduate seminary, Paddock's diverse background and commitment to learning make him an invaluable asset to our community. We hope that his energy and compassion will have a positive impact here at our school.

Please join me in extending a warm welcome to Instructor Paddock as he begins his journey with us here at the Grey School of Wizardry!

Synchronicity Waves - A Deeper Look

By Headmaster Kingsley

In the quest for self-discovery and personal growth, it is essential to explore the hidden realms of our subconscious mind. Tapping into this inner world can provide invaluable insights that can transform our lives and enable us to help others more effectively. One powerful tool for accessing the messages our subconscious mind seeks to communicate is through Synchronicity Waves. These seemingly connected events and patterns can reveal crucial information about our desires, beliefs, and motivations.

In this post we shall delve into the fascinating world of Synchronicity Waves, examining their nature, origin, and significance in our lives. We will also explore the vital role our subconscious mind plays in shaping our thoughts, emotions, and behaviors, and how we can better understand these influences by recognizing and interpreting Synchronicity Waves. Furthermore, we will discuss the importance of keeping a journal as a means to document and reflect on our experiences, ultimately fostering greater self-awareness and personal growth.

By engaging with the concepts presented in this missive, you will gain a deeper understanding of your inner world, allowing you to harness your full potential as a Wizard and create a more fulfilling, authentic life experience.

I. Understanding Synchronicity Waves:

Synchronicity Waves are intricate patterns of seemingly connected events that manifest in our lives. These events, which may at first glance appear unrelated or coincidental, often hold deeper meaning and significance upon closer examination. By analyzing these patterns, we can uncover messages or insights from our subconscious mind. It is crucial to recognize that these waves are not, at least directly, messages from the universe or mysterious external forces. Rather these mystic moments are in truth reflections of our subconscious mind attempting to communicate with us.

The concept of Synchronicity Waves is rooted in the psychological theory of synchronicity, first proposed by Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung. Jung believed that meaningful coincidences were evidence of a deeper connection between the individual's psyche and the outer world. Synchronicity Waves, as applied in this context, are an extension of this idea, focusing on the relationship between our subconscious mind and the patterns that emerge in our lives. To better understand Synchronicity Waves, it is essential to recognize the different ways they can manifest. These waves can appear in various forms, such as:

Recurring themes: This could be a specific topic, symbol, or idea that consistently appears in various aspects of your life, such as conversations, dreams, or even the media you consume.
Timely guidance: Synchronicity Waves might offer timely insights or guidance when facing a challenging decision or situation. For example, encountering a quote or story that directly relates to a current dilemma.
Unexpected connections: These waves can manifest as surprising connections between seemingly unrelated people, events, or experiences. For instance, discovering that two individuals from different areas of your life share an unexpected commonality.
Serendipitous opportunities: Synchronicity Waves may present themselves as fortuitous opportunities that align with your goals or interests, seemingly "arriving" just when you need them.

In each of these cases, the key to understanding Synchronicity Waves lies in recognizing the underlying patterns and reflecting on the potential messages your subconscious mind is attempting to convey. By paying attention to these patterns and cultivating a heightened sense of awareness, you can unlock valuable insights and guidance to enrich your life and personal growth.

II. The Role of the Subconscious Mind:

The subconscious mind is an incredibly powerful aspect of our psyche that operates below the level of conscious awareness. It is responsible for processing vast amounts of information and emotions, many of which we may not consciously recognize or fully understand. This includes our memories, beliefs, fears, and desires, which can all play a role in shaping our thoughts, behaviors, and reactions to various situations. By sending us Synchronicity Waves, our subconscious mind brings attention to patterns and desires that have gone unnoticed or unacknowledged in our day-to-day lives.

These patterns can provide valuable insights into our innermost thoughts and feelings, allowing us to gain a deeper understanding of ourselves and our motivations. Acknowledging and interpreting these waves can lead to increased self-awareness, personal growth, and more informed decision-making. The role of the subconscious mind in shaping our lives can be better understood through the following points:

The subconscious mind as an information processor: Our subconscious mind is constantly processing information from our environment, even when we are not consciously aware of it. This information can be stored and later used to shape our thoughts, behaviors, and reactions in specific situations.
Emotional processing: Our subconscious mind is responsible for processing emotions, both positive and negative. By recognizing patterns in Synchronicity Waves, we can gain insight into how our emotional state may be influencing our choices and actions.
Habit formation: The subconscious mind plays a significant role in the formation of habits, as it automates repetitive actions and behaviors. Recognizing Synchronicity Waves can help us identify and change unhelpful habits that may be holding us back.
Intuition and creativity: Our subconscious mind is also a source of intuition and creativity. By tapping into the patterns revealed through Synchronicity Waves, we can access our intuitive and creative capabilities, allowing us to approach challenges and opportunities with greater insight and innovation.
Self-limiting beliefs and fears: The subconscious mind can harbor self-limiting beliefs and fears that can hold us back from reaching our full potential. By analyzing Synchronicity Waves, we can uncover these hidden beliefs and fears, allowing us to challenge and overcome them.

By actively engaging with our subconscious mind and interpreting the patterns found in Synchronicity Waves, we can gain a greater understanding of ourselves and our motivations. This self-awareness can lead to personal growth, improved decision-making, and the ability to better navigate the challenges and opportunities that life presents.

III. The Importance of Keeping a Journal:

A journal is an indispensable tool for anyone, particularly aspiring Wizards, who seek to interpret their Synchronicity Waves and gain a deeper understanding of themselves. By consistently documenting thoughts, feelings, and daily occurrences, we can later reflect on our experiences and identify patterns that reveal messages from our subconscious mind. This process enables us to better understand ourselves, recognize our desires and motivations, and act on the newfound insights we uncover.

Keeping a journal in the context of Synchronicity Waves and personal growth is essential for various reasons. For one, regular journaling encourages introspection and self-reflection, helping us become more aware of our thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. This heightened self-awareness can empower us to make conscious choices and take control of our lives. Additionally, maintaining a consistent journaling practice allows us to track patterns and recurring themes in our lives over time. This long-term perspective helps us identify the underlying messages our subconscious mind is attempting to communicate and recognize how our thoughts and emotions evolve as we grow and change. Journaling also serves as a therapeutic outlet for processing emotions and reducing stress. Expressing our feelings and thoughts on paper can help us gain a better understanding of our emotional state and identify strategies for coping with challenges and maintaining emotional well-being.

Furthermore, journaling can help us clarify our goals, intentions, and values. Writing down and reflecting on our aspirations creates a roadmap for personal growth and development, ensuring that our actions align with our true desires and motivations. Journaling can also stimulate our creativity and enhance problem-solving skills as well. By writing about our experiences, ideas, and challenges, we can access our innate creative and intuitive abilities, leading to innovative solutions and fresh perspectives. Developing self-discipline and consistency is another benefit of maintaining a regular journaling practice. Over time, these habits can spill over into other areas of our lives, fostering personal growth and the ability to achieve our goals more effectively. Finally, journaling can help improve memory and learning by reinforcing the neural pathways associated with the experiences and information we record.

This process can enhance our ability to recall and integrate past experiences, allowing us to learn from them and apply these lessons to our present lives. Keeping a journal is a vital practice for those seeking to interpret Synchronicity Waves and foster personal growth. By consistently documenting and reflecting on our thoughts, feelings, and experiences, we can gain a deeper understanding of ourselves and our subconscious mind, ultimately leading to a more fulfilling and authentic life.

IV. In Conclusion:

In understanding and interpreting Synchronicity Waves we are provided a unique opportunity to delve deeper into the workings of our subconscious mind, ultimately leading to greater self-awareness and personal growth. By recognizing the patterns and messages within these waves, we can uncover hidden desires, beliefs, and motivations that shape our lives, empowering us to make more informed decisions and navigate life's challenges with greater ease.

As aspiring Wizards, this insight not only benefits us on a personal level but also enables us to help others more effectively. By applying the wisdom gained through self-reflection and understanding our subconscious tendencies, we can offer guidance and support to those around us, fostering a more empathetic and compassionate approach to our interactions. Furthermore, the practice of keeping a journal is integral to this process, as it allows us to document and reflect on our thoughts, feelings, and experiences.

This consistent self-reflection helps us identify patterns and recurring themes, ultimately revealing the messages our subconscious mind is trying to communicate. By maintaining a regular journaling practice, we can foster personal growth, develop self-discipline, and cultivate a heightened sense of self-awareness. Ultimately, by embracing the concept of Synchronicity Waves and actively engaging with our subconscious mind, we can unlock valuable insights that enrich our lives and our relationships with others.

As Wizards, this deeper understanding of ourselves and our inner world allows us to harness our full potential, create a more fulfilling life and offer the greatest amount of experience.

In-Person Core Energy Practices Class

By Dean Meighen

We're offering an in-person version of Core Energy Practices 100 and 101 - Five Credits on June 16th-18th!

These techniques are fundamental for the wizard in training as they possess information pertaining to raising and commanding energy in a way that is safe and pleasant for the practitioner. In this class we shall discuss several these techniques and you shall be guided to practice them and keep good notes to discuss your findings in your submissions. Despite being two classes, it makes sense to treat them as two halves of the same coin given the interconnected nature of the material. In-person teaching offers the possibility for supervision and directed feedback on the actual performance of these techniques. It also offers unique opportunities for Apprentices to take advantage of the Campus and Grounds to experience various types of energies.

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE: https://www.greyschool.net/.../physical-class-list-for-2023

New Class: Wizardry 102

By Dean Meighen

Greetings, Apprentices and Magisters!

The Dean of Curriculum, in conjunction with Headmaster Nicholas Kingsley, is pleased to announce the addition of a new class to the Wizardry Department.

“Wizardry 102: Foundations of Critical Thinking” is now accepting enrollments. This class will acquaint pupils with the basic types of arguments, logical fallacies, the Socratic method, and a number of other concepts and skills with which to hone the vital skill of critical thinking.

Learn well, Wizards!

Yours in Service,

Dean Meighen

Monthly Class Spotlight: Shielding

By Prefect Fred

This article is part of a monthly series focusing on specific classes offered at Grey School of Wizardry. If you’re not sure what class to take next, or are looking for a little extra inspiration, you’ll want to pay attention to this section. Feel free to share your thoughts and insights with your fellow apprentices and magisters on the relevant department forums as you go through these classes. Collaboration leads to greater insight!

* * *

Image Credit: “Psychic Protection for Energy Healers”. Star Magic.

https://www.starmagichealing.com/psychic-protection-for-energy-healers/. Accessed 27 March 2023.

Among the first courses an apprentice takes are the two Core Energy Practices classes, going into basic concepts of centering, grounding, cleansing, shielding and meditating. Apprentices who wish to delve deeper into the art of shielding should look no further than the level two class in the Dark Arts department, Shielding. In this class, a wider array of options are presented for the apprentice to practice with, and the basic shield developed in Core Energy Practices becomes a blank canvas for the apprentice to work with.

In Shielding, the apprentice is asked to alter variables related to their shields, such as altering the distance the shield projects, the thickness of the shield, and even the material it is made out of. A wizard can even project a shield throughout themselves to “burn off” negative energy, or set a shield to filter only certain energies. Advanced shielding techniques, like the mirror shield or the conversion shield, are also explained, along with some ethical questions one may not have considered prior to this class.

Shields are very versatile, and need not only be used in heat-of-the-moment self-defense. In truth, always having access to a shield, and knowing when to use one, are critical skills any wizard should have at his or her disposal. This course delves deeply into all of these concepts, and also sets an apprentice up to continue experimenting with their shields well beyond completion of this course. As you’re going through this class, post in the Dark Arts forums to share which shields work best for you. You just might have the answer to someone else’s question about Shielding.

A Review of the Wildwood Tarot

By Apprentice Selah Nyx

A Review of The Wildwood Tarot

One of my favorite wizarding tools is the Tarot.

It’s intuitive, so it’s hard to “do it wrong,” and it’s truly a multipurpose tool, in that you can consult your deck for a variety of reasons. The most obvious is divination, and I do my fair share of that, but you can also use your deck for simple guidance - ask yes/no questions for example, or get a feel for the best time to do xyz. I’ve also recently discovered you can use a tarot deck to connect and communicate with your ancestors. (And yes, I’ll write more about that in another post!)

Because of its many uses, I have managed to accumulate multiple decks over the years, and I find that each offers its own vibration of sorts. In fact, I have different decks for different purposes, as certain decks just seem to have their own preference as to how they should be used. Quick note: this goes for Oracle decks as well, and they can be just as insightful.

One deck that I’ve recently become enamored with is the Wildwood Tarot.

This is a traditional, 78-card deck that just calls to the mystic in me. The design “draws inspiration from pre-Celtic mythology and shamanic mysteries,” and employs familiar nature-based archetypes, such as the Green Man, the Great Bear, and the Stag.

The world of Wildwood is then built upon the seasonal shifts of the Wheel of the Year, with the Green Man/Green Woman (Emperor/Empress) sitting at the Summer Solstice for example, while the Great Bear (Judgment) resides across the Wheel at the Winter Solstice.

In addition to the new faces of the major arcana, the minor arcana is populated with Bows (Wands), Arrows (Swords), Stones (Pentacles), and Vessels (Cups).

The cards are good stock, sturdy and easy to work with. They are a bit large for traditional shuffling, but I’ve found that I get a better pull when I use the overhand method or shuffling the cards from the side instead of end-to-end. The accompanying guidebook is substantial, with both plenty of keywords and in-depth descriptions, as well as a nice intro from the deck’s creators, some background on the concepts depicted in Wildwood and of course, suggestions for different spreads. There’s even some tips for using this deck as a meditative tool.

It’s all packaged in a nice, protective box to boot.

The imagery is what initially drew me to the deck, but I found it hard to connect when I bought it back in 2011. Not sure why… maybe I just wasn’t ready for the journey it would offer. I do tend to believe that things happen in their own good time. In any event, I put it away and had forgotten about it, until a separate and subsequent workbook showed up in one of my “for you” feeds (link included below).

After digging out the deck, I discovered an instant connection (“where was this all those years ago?”), and it’s become a favorite ever since. There is a depth to this deck that goes beyond common queries. If you’d like to do some soul-searching or shadow work, I highly recommend the Wildwood Tarot.

As an interesting side note, this deck is an updated “reimagining” of the Greenwood Tarot published back in 1996, now out of print.

Enjoy the images. I’ve also included links to resources below.