Neolithic Shamanism: Spirit Work in the Norse Tradition - Raven Kaldera 2012
Disseminating Moon
The Silver World: Moon
During the Disseminating Moon—the Waning Three-Quarter Moon—the Moon’s attention turns outward. He sees the injustices in the world as he passes over it—especially the “dirty deeds done in the dark.” Many of his myths deal with him stealing children whom he perceives as being abused; in some cases he rightfully rescues them and places them in divine houses, but in at least one German myth he attempts to take the children of the emperor of the dwarves, who chases him through nine worlds with an axe and takes his children back. The Moon is a creature of emotion, and sometimes his emotions and sentiment get the better of his common sense. At any rate, during the waxing half of the lunar cycle his energy is contained and turned within. During the waning half his energy is externalized, and if you work with lunar energy during this time, it will reflect that situation. You will notice the problems of others and be moved to help them—or, sometimes, interfere where you are not needed. Follow the urge if it is a noble one, but check and check again to make sure that a given struggle is actually your fight and not that of someone else.
Exercise: Moon Eyes
Many parasites inhabit the world. Some live in rivers, or swamps, or groundwater, or earth, or the dung of creatures who pass them on. Some are good-size worms that can be seen with the naked eye; some are microscopic. And because the spirit world in many ways is not so different from the physical world, there are psychic parasites that feed on the energy body just as embodied parasites feed on the flesh. If you have the Sight, you’re skilled at looking into people’s energy bodies, and you can put your astral fingers into someone to feel around, you can learn to discern psychic parasites from all the other stuff. But if you’re not quite skilled or talented enough for that yet, you can use the Moon to see them. This is best done with maximum moonlight, and for some reason it seems to work better on the waning side, so a nice bright Disseminating Moon on a clear night is a good time.
There are a lot of reasons why someone might suffer from low psychic energy—physical health problems, emotional stress, psychic vampirism (from someone else or because they are one and can’t find a place to feed), to name a few. These should all be disqualified first, before you jump to the somewhat rare conclusion of psychic parasites. If everything else has been checked—by divination as well as other methods—then take the client to lay out under the clear moonlight on a blanket. Let the moonlight shine directly on the client, and say a prayer to the passing Moon. Ask him to help you see what there is to see, and then look at your client’s body, one area at a time. Some psychic parasites live next to the spine, some in specific organs. Some are tiny, and some can be up to a foot long. Some are snakelike, some like curled shrimp, some like insects, some just vague shapes. They generally show up as dark shapes in the energy body when illuminated by the Moon. If, after some scrutiny, nothing shows up, that’s probably not the answer, and you should look elsewhere for the solution to your client’s trouble. If, however, you see something suspicious, extend an astral finger and “poke” it. If it moves involuntarily in a way that sets it apart from the rest of the individual’s energy body, you’ve got a parasite. Just to be sure, use a divination method to check that you saw what you thought you saw.
The actual removal of such parasites is advanced shamanic art, and this beginner’s book is not the place to discuss it. If your client actually has one (or more), first try a round of the cleansings we suggest in this book. If that doesn’t work by the following month, it’s best that you find someone more advanced to pull any out parasites without damaging the client. However, even diagnosis is a helpful thing to a bewildered client who has no idea what might be going on. At least you can send your client away with a clear problem to be solved.