S T O N E S

Power:

Control over others or natural ability. Which one would you choose?

Is this what you seek? Or is this what you have? Which is which? Which do you seek? The former? Or would you rather possess the latter? Or perhaps both? Or perhaps neither? Ruminate.

I post this message not to lecture anyone about power nor to berate.

I post it in hope that those who seek it might gain some useful perspective and insight upon their thoughts.

Many seek the first type of power, to control. It gives them a sense of domination, supremeness, power, even ecstasy. But how many actually have such a control?

How many are just given an illusion of control that never was there in the first place? Just because you have a position nominated by you in any particular body does not make you powerful except in that body.

It's easy to see how power can go to the head and turn an individual into a monster. We have all seen the corrupt politician holding power and abuse it, or the demanding executives who hold a high position in the company and makes life hell for all their underlings...the list is endless. Yet, when stripped of their title, who are they? Just
another human? Like the janitor who cleans the latrines they use? What differentiates them?

How many actually hone the second type of power? To develop the powers within? How many are given chances each day but turn them away as signs that life is putting them down? How many have uttered that common "life sucks!" how many have just groaned and sighed in despair over life yet did they take any measures to overcome and ride upon this chance?

It's easy to give up.

Do you have to be a Wiccan just to have power? No. Do you have follow the occult path to gain such power? No. These are only a means to a way but they are not the only way.

You don't have to have phenomenal powers or supernatural abilities to be powerful. Power isn't about casting fireballs from your hand. It isn't about levitating objects with your mind. Sure that gives you the rush of power but that's the egomaniacal side of you talking.

How many will seize an opportunity to change things around through their own effort? Life hurls you an obstacle and you grab it and turn it around and defeat it. That is power, the strength to go straight on and survive.

Power isn't easy to attain. You don't get it in a snap of a finger. Neither do you get it if you think just by going about a few obstacles in hope of getting that power you will achieve it. Cheating doesn't get you anywhere. True power comes when you least expect it although you're probably not going to see glowing energy swell from your hands nor will you be able to look into people's eyes and make them squirm away.

I benefit nothing from my words save for the contentment and perhaps the hope that some of you will awaken and discover your hidden power. I gain nothing. But perhaps you might.

Someday, if you wake up and discover true power perhaps you will benefit from it. Life will cease to be hell. It does not suck anymore. You will not be lost.

Every obstacle is an opportunity. You do not need to hurt others anymore to get what you want. You do not have to live in depression. You do not have to control others to get things your way but instead, you begin to mould the universe around you simply by being there.

You do this not by manipulating people into serving you and taking away their will. You do this by changing the very reality that you are in now.

Some cultures believe that life is an illusion; it is there yet it is not there. You cannot shape the illusion but you can come to perceive things differently. Reshape the nature of the illusion.

You were brought up in a world that promotes rationale thought and logic. You do not believe in illusions. Is that belief an illusion in and of itself? That is not to say you give up realism and live in fantasy. That would be foolishness. Seek balance instead.

Don't let your upbringing force you into a world where you feel helpless to do anything but to follow the flow. But don't think that going against everything will help either.

Learn to understand and comprehend the world you live in. It is a complex world but if you look closely enough you begin to see how the universe you live in is constructed. You begin to understand your world, how to live with it and make it better.

You do not need to be a nuclear scientist to discover the tachyons and quarks that build up the atoms of the universe. You do not need to be a life-long witch to understand how to cast spells to change the reality that's around you.

Did I write this after sitting in my tower with my Book of Shadows? No

Did I have to put aside a few hours sitting down and thinking to come up with this? No. I was ironing my clothes and these words came to mind. I watched a movie called "Finding Forrester" earlier in the day.

Not to say that movie talks about power but giving an example how you can get inspiration, motivation and thoughts in the most trivial of places and the most mundane actions that you do.

If you have to sit down and think to learn to change your world but end up doing nothing about it, you have just wasted a few hours or minutes thinking about something but not putting anything in action. What's the use? It's like thinking about breathing without breathing.

How can you even dream of power when you are powerless to control your own life? How will you comprehend what lies beyond when you haven't even taken that first step? You will never get there because you're still stuck at first base, which you have not yet budged from.

If you still see as life is hell, then Earth is hell and you will always be in hell because you will not, cannot leave. The first step is always the longest and the most important.

People will discourage or encourage you depending on who they are. Some will be lazy and give up. Others will say such things are rubbish. But the few who dare to take that step and go against reality and take back their own life have already taken their first steps to gaining power.

Once you have it you can never lose it. You've earned the key to unlocking the universe. It's yours to keep, for now and forever. If all this does not make sense, then perhaps you have yet to reach that stage. Or perhaps you simply do not understand or are afraid to take that step.

Power does not come to the weak unless they are strong.

The powerful took their own steps. They understood. Why can't you? They discovered that their power is their own and like them you have to discover your own power perhaps on your own, perhaps with some friends. You will never know until you begin to take that step.

You can wallow in darkness all you want and curse the world. You can hate the universe for putting you here in the first place. You can spite the light by turning to the dark. You can even hate your fellow man and creatures and just rummage around in the hell that is Earth but aren't you only making it worse? The illusion is always the same. The difference is you and how you perceive it and what you do with it. It's your life. It's your Matrix.

Bet you think I'm some kind of lunatic.

If you wonder why the world sucks or life's a bitch, then you're getting nowhere because you're only going in circles. You think I'm saying this right now because all is dandy? Think again. It's not.

But when the next unwanted event makes me fall down, should I give up? I could, but I would choose not to. I will come back up and take another step higher. What about you? Will you lay on your back, moaning about the futility of it all? Or are you going to see the lesson it offers and find a way to get on top of it? I know people that have lost so much that others in the same situation would wallow in depression and perhaps curl up and die. But they chose not to and continue smiling and striving.

I have nothing but admiration for such individuals. They have shocked me with how they deal with the onslaught of problems that would cause others to give up and call it a day. They persevere and persist. Nothing can keep these souls down. Even the fires of hell only make them stronger. They are powerful. They cannot be defeated.

What about you? Are you going to just sit back and let life throw negativity without resistance? Or will you be a transformation powerhouse that transforms each attack into a beneficial thing?

Can you? Have you? Will you? Has this post achieved anything at all or have you already decided that it is without worth and meaning because you have already decided that life is hell and you cannot HOPE to change it?

Then you are looking at it the wrong way. You can't change the world but you can change yourself. You can be dynamic. You can affect those around you. You can change those around you to change others who change others and ultimately change your world. Do you understand?

Do you comprehend?

One person can make a difference. Why can't it be you?

You can change reality because it is relative. It's your universe.

Change it.

Energy & power go hand in hand. You can't see them but they are there. Energy cannot be destroyed. It changes forms, it bursts into nova brightness or fades into nothingness but still it is there. Learn to change. Being static gets you nowhere. Be dynamic and move.

Transmutate. Transmogrify.

I hope my words are of use to you who seek the power within.

If you still are seeking for the first form of power, perhaps you will get it. But it is an illusion and like all illusions will not give you satisfaction. Like illusionary food, you will gain no nourishment, nor contentment from it. You can eat your fill but you will always be hungry for more. True power comes from within and with it you will be satisfied.

May you achieve your goal and find that which you seek.

Blessings onto all of thee, for now and for all eternity.

Talamh the Raven who got baked in a pie. (& Guardian who rewrote it)
Email: thedryads@hotmail.com