Lazaris
I began my work with my friend and spiritual teacher, Lazaris, in 1991. At that point, I had been studying A Course In Miracles for four years. After that, I branched out through reading books by Carlos Castaneda and Lyn Andrews, who wrote about the medicine traditions in the Native American tribes. When I became an alchemical hypnotherapist in 1992, I discovered very quickly that I was quite good at putting myself into an altered state of consciousness and creating the most magical and sometimes miraculous, life-changing visualizations that, over time, completely changed my life.
Tools of the Magician
I was intrigued with Lazaris because he not only gave us information about reality creation; he used the meditative visualization format to generate healing. Lazaris said, “We create our own reality, no ifs, ands, or buts; no asterisks and no fine print.” We literally create it all from subatomic particles outward. I had no idea how that was possible.
In many of our meditations, we worked with what Lazaris called the “tools of the magician.” Among them were sword and shield, chalice and cloak, blade and walking stick. Each has symbolic metaphysical significance, which is what I will elaborate on.
The Shield
The shield, represents the deep spiritual truths you know. These truths protect us from the belief systems of the world. Spiritual truth states that we are not bodies, but spiritual beings living a material life. There is no death, but rather an endless stream of consciousness that merely changes in form.
Another truth that acts as a shield against the world is that each of us have a whole entourage of angels and guides, unseen friends, and an invisible higher self and soul that are intimately connected to us at every level. Being telepathic, they hear every thought we think and are aware of everything we have ever done. Rather than being judgmental and condemning, they love us completely and feel deep compassion and enthusiasm for our experiences. They want us to know that they are here to help support us whenever we reach out to them and truly invite them in.
The Sword
The sword is symbolic of discernment. As you cut through the veils that keep you separated from spiritual truth, you will need a sword to separate the false from the true.
In this world of illusionary hierarchy, authority figures create rules and laws that serve some, while excluding others; in which those at the top prosper, while those at the bottom do not. In fact, it could be said that much of our world has a completely upside-down belief system that constantly leads people astray, and this belief system is woven into all facets of society, including our educational system, our medical and scientific system, and our religions. Without a sword of discernment, who can say which are the truths and which the lies?
The Chalice
A chalice is a cup, bowl, goblet, cauldron, bag, basket, or even a womb. Obviously, it is something that you put things in. When you put things into a magician’s chalice, they dissolve, mixing themselves together, creating a whole that is greater than the sum of the parts.
In Christian iconography, the chalice is called the Holy Grail, which was used to catch the blood of Christ that poured forth from Jesus’ side when he was stabbed during his crucifixion. Why would it be important to capture blood? Is it because it contained the DNA and energetic signature of what is now thought of as Christ Consciousness? When Christians say they can be healed by the blood of Christ, or they are washed in the blood, maybe what they actually might mean is that Christ consciousness is a healing balm that wipes away all their tears and takes away all their shame and pain by literally changing their DNA as they are born anew?
Another helpful thing that can be put into the chalice is the wisdom that one has gained after living a lifetime of making mistakes and learning from the consequences. As we separate lies from truth, we must hold onto the truth by putting it in a secret chalice or bag so we don’t forget what we have learned and gained.
Private Truth and Ouroboros
When I went on my spiritual journey, my family thought I’d gone nuts. They couldn’t understand why I was wasting all my money on taking dozens of costly workshops. They thought a cult leader who, in the end, would feed me poison in some Jim Jones-type scenario, was filling me with lies. Though I was learning amazing truths and healing myself in leaps and bounds, my parents were totally ashamed of me. If I had allowed it, they would have taken all my truth and healing away from me. Sometimes the truth you hold dear must be kept private. This produces an intimacy between you and your higher self that is exquisitely beautiful.
By the same token, some of the truths we hold near and dear to our hearts are lies. These kinds of lies can be very difficult to relinquish and can take lifetimes of inner work to let go of. There is a spiritual term for this phenomenon. It is called the ouroboros, which is the symbol of a snake biting its own tail. Ouroboros is also called the “ring pass not.” In other words, until you’ve relinquished these lies, you cannot truly move to the next spiral of your spiritual growth, for your belief about what is possible will limit you.
The Cloak
The cloak is another important tool of the magician. The cloak represents your entire belief system. It is what we surround ourselves in. If we hold a non-spiritual belief system that only encompasses the material world, we separate ourselves from the richness and bounty of the unseen world. The material world alone can’t sustain or nurture the parts of you that hunger and thirst for more. Since we are spiritual beings living a temporary material life for the purpose of soul growth, how could it? When you surround yourself with the love and nurturing of your unseen friends, you surround yourself with the unconditional love and support of majestic beings that are here to serve you. Though they won’t do your growth work for you, they will move heaven and earth as they align you with the right people who can help you.
The Blade
The blade is the knife that the magician carries. It is used for lancing wounds so that the pus can be squeezed out and then cauterized for healing. For humans, our spiritual wounds are carried on the inside, where they are invisible to the world. As we heal, these wounds must be lanced and cauterized. This can be a painful ordeal for some. We all carry wounds and scars from the past, sometimes as far back as past lifetimes, that can be brought forward into this one. They are invisible to the eye. Children have no ability to heal themselves emotionally or spiritually, so they wall off traumatic events into a secret compartment called the unconscious, as a protective device. There the wounds fester, causing pain and suffering. Sometimes these wounds affect our physical bodies as well. Other times, they manifest as risky or self-sabotaging behaviors. Still other times, they may show themselves as a mental illness. Because it hurts to lance the wounds, people will avoid spiritual growth-work like the plague. At some deep level, they know that they must deal with the pain that they’ve forgotten. This is the biggest thing that prevents most people from actualizing their spiritual journey.
For the journey to be an authentic one, you need to be willing to carry a blade to lance the wounds. This is easy to do when you are surrounded by a cloak of light that is filled to overflowing with spiritual nurturing and love, but hard to do if you live in a material world where true healers are few and far between.
The Walking Stick
Finally, the walking stick; by its nature and grace, it touches our physical earth. It is symbolic of the need to stay grounded in what’s solid and real while walking into the light. The earth has gravity. It has weight and density. Gravity is symbolic of what really matters. It is the “mattering” of life, what is of true value and importance. The walking stick, therefore, reminds us to stay grounded in the truth. Does your truth improve the lives of yourself and others? My personal truth says what really matters is love. We are all One with the same needs and desires. We are all at varying stages on our spiritual journey, whether we know it or not, and each of us is making progress toward our goals. We are all children of light making our way home.
Sometimes a walking stick is seen as with a crystal attached to the top. Crystals amplify energy. They are also tools of co-creation for they hold thought and can be programmed to aid you on your spiritual quest. As you collect higher truths, putting them into your chalice, the crystal amplifies the light and helps to keep you grounded in what really matters.
Using Your Magician’s Tools
Lazaris always used to call those of us who worked with him magicians. He also called us miracle makers and reality creators, as well as mapmakers and visionaries. I didn’t understand this for a long time. It didn’t seem to me that there was anything special about me. Rather, it seemed to me that I was just an ordinary person who had stumbled upon a rather extraordinary teacher. Besides being ordinary, because of the various wounds I had in my life, I was also someone who had a lot of emotional and physical pain and who needed a lot of healing.
The spiritual journey is a complex one, not bound by rules, but by general principles. By owning the tools of the magician, you can become a miracle maker and reality creator, for you will be surrounded by love as you heal your wounds and learn from the mistakes of your past. As you learn how to separate the false from the true, you will be gifted with a cloak of light that will illuminate the way. When you begin to doubt and backslide into pain consciousness, all you need to do is drink from your chalice of the truths blended together into the most magical and delicious spiritual brew. Drink of the cup. Remember who you are!