July Week 1: Dreams, Astral Work, Life and Death Philosophies
So this week we will focus on some pretty broad topics, so that we can pack more learning and practical things into the second half of the year. Let's start with some pretty heavy topics for the week! These days will be very chock full, so feel free to save these prompts for rainy days or to keep working on after this week!
Monday - Dreams and Dream Work
Research/ New Page - scientifically speaking, what are dreams? How do they work? Why do they occur? When do they occur? Now apply a spiritual and magical lens to what dreams are. Then apply a philosopical lens. How do all of these definitions and functions work together to form what dreams are to you?
Research - Sending, Receiving, Shaping and Controlling Dreams. How does one send dreams or influence the dreams of another? How does one become more open to recieving dreams? What are the methods and ways we can shape our dreams? How can we control our dreams? Make a list of any terms, practices, methods, or articles on the subject you want to look further into. Or read and define things now! Learning is understanding. Also look into ways to help you better recall your dreams after you wake up!
Research - Look into the history of dream work, and the study of dreams in general, both in a magical and scientific way.
Tuesday - Astral and Astral Work
Research/ New Page - Define Astral and astral work. What is the astral or astral plane? How do we reach it? How do we see it, sense it, and connect to it? What things can we do when doing astral work? What does this influence, if anything, within your craft?
Introspection - Expectations vs Reality. What are the things you expected from astral work and what you thought you knew? Now compare that to the reality of what you've learned. What did you expect to see/ hear/ feel/ etc when you did astral work? What was the reality of the work you did? It is important to be able to differentiate between reality and your mind and perceptions tricking you.
Research - Gem Study - Pick a gem or other item from your list and study everything about it that you can!
Wednesday - Life, Death and Beyond
Introspection/ Meditation/ Journal - Think on the three topics listed. What is life? What is death? What is beyond those things (before and after)? Really dig deep into your beliefs about the world and the way these things work and how they are connected. Why do you believe those things? What influenced these beliefs in you? How do you feel about each of these things?
Research/ Introspection - Do you believe in reincarnation or a "beyond" where your spirit or soul or what have you goes after death? Define it, describe it, how does it work and why does it work and who is in control, if anyone, of this process or place? Are there multiple places or levels? What are they? Where do they exist? How do they function? The idea of a 'beyond' flows into and around the ideas of life and death. Connect the dots in yourself and in your beliefs.
Research - Herb Study - pick an herb from your list and learn all that you can about it! Magical, mundane, everything!
Thursday - Some fun stuff!
Practical/ Craft - Take today to do some design work on your pages! Color them, decorate them, add paper or notes, stickers or flowers, anything that helps make your grimoire feel more at hand and connected to you! Example: If you've made a page on Basil, find a basil leaf and dry it, then add it to the page! Or draw a picture of a basil plant!
Practical - Attempt some dream work or connection to the astral plane. Journal the experience, start to finish and look back on the experience to learn how to improve it!
Friday - Casual/ Catch Up
Use today to dive deeper into the topics discussed earlier this week, I know these were some big topics to broach. If not, rest! It's important to take breaks on projects as big as this challenge!
Well that’s a lot for the first week! But we’re gonna be getting deeper into a lot of broad topics this month! Stay tuned everyone and thank you for participating! I’m hope you’re all having a wonderful summer so far!
-Mod Hazel