Blog – Page 5 – Cat Gina Cole

I start my blog with gnosis because most of what occurs in the world of Psychism, Witchcraft and magic are UPG”s. In the event I describe below in “Meeting Manannan” you will get a firsthand look at what a UPG experience can be like. Many psychics call them spontaneous events.

UNVERIFIED PERSONAL GNOSIS

Gnosis is Greek for knowledge. Unverified Personal Gnosis refers to an experience that is spiritual in nature. One that helps clarify or add information to a person’s spiritual beliefs but cannot be verified by known mythology. A UPG can take many forms, trance, a gut feeling, a sudden revelation, a dream, an epiphany, or any form of a psychic or spiritual event. UPG can fill in the gaps that spirituality sometimes leaves. It is not something you make up or something you think is true. Rather, it is something you believe or know is true because you had the experience and you trust the source or event, even though you cannot prove it in any way. The majority of what occurs in magic, psychism, and witchcraft is considered a UPG.

MEETING MANANNAN

I remember working with Manannan or Manann (also known as Manannan mac Lir), the Celtic God of the Sea. I had been exploring my connections to the Fae through dreamwork. It began with a dream where my being a child of the oak was significant and I was trying to research it to see if it was a real thing or not. Prior to this event in my weeks of research Hecate, came to me and said, “Seek the Fae.” Then my spirit guide later came and told me to seek the Fae. With the message now clear I sought out the Fae.

I knew exactly where to go, to the Fae Goddess I had been to many times before. The home of the Fae Goddess is a place that holds all four seasons on an astral plane. When I visit there I typically arrive on a moonlit winter night. Soon after my arrival a horseman jumps over a snowbank in a bluster and guides me along the path. The seasons along the path change from winter to fall, to summer, and end with spring in a meadow. Typically, once I get to the spring meadow I get to speak to the Goddess.

It was not so this time. When I arrived, it was a bleak winter night without snow or moonlight. This was unsettling and I had to call for the horseman. When he did arrive, he just appeared behind me startling me even more. He asked what I wanted, and I told him I was here to learn about the children of the Oak. He pointed to the path which was unusually dark and formidable and I was uncomfortable.

Previously when I have walked this path there have been shadow people running alongside the path at some distance. They seem to be hunched over like Neanderthals and follow along and watch me. This time one noticed me the same time I noticed it and walked up onto the path before me. The horseman pulled up between us and asked me “What you want of them?” “To no longer fear them and give respect” I replied and the horseman withdrew.

In the silent darkness, I gazed at the shadow person for a moment. I was trying to scan the situation to see what I should do next. As I did I noticed I had no fear, so I told the creature, “I do not fear you old one, and I mean you no harm”. I felt a sense of relaxation from the creature and it straightened to its full 8 ft height. “What do you wish of me?” it asked” “Only to know you” I replied as I bowed my head slightly.

Then through telepathic clairvoyance, the shadow person showed me about its creation. It revealed that the shadow people are the original people of the chaos. The shared vision of their exit from the chaos was extraordinary. The shadow person telepathically implied that Manannan had brought them out of chaos with him and they are now Manannan’s watchers. They are how Manannan knows all, and he showed me a clairvoyant vision of how they watch people for him. Then it slowly walked off the path.

I proceeded down the path into the season of fall when I heard a voice below me. I looked down and it was a rock angrily screaming at me. “Do not kick me! you always kick me!” The rock has never spoken to me before. So, I knelt before the rock and made amends then moved on. I have never been so aware or involved with the journey as I have on this trip.

At the bend in the path, there is a place I have been told is forbidden. The horseman will not let me in there. As I pass by it looks like Fae are in there dancing and having a party. This time I asked if I could enter. “ It is not for you” the horseman replied. “May I at least see them?” I asked and he allowed this.

I was aghast at the creatures; they were not dancing Fairies! They were more like Gollums and it was clear they were not nice as they began approaching the fence. Suddenly I noticed the Goddess who usually in the meadow, was now between myself and the Gollums.

I began to feel a bubble of protection surrounding me as she stood there. She then informed me these beings were the darkest and most dangerous of the Fae. “We keep them contained and sup them with food and drink so they can do no harm,” she said.

The next thing I know the Goddess and I are in the spring meadow. It is a beautiful spring day, with plants all around and some of them are talking as we begin to chat. I ask the Goddess about the children of the Oak and she says, “You must seek Manannan and the Morrigan then return to the Oak from which you come.” Then I was released from the event.

The oak from which I come can only mean the Oak trees I spent so much time in as a child. The Morrigan? Well, books here I come.

I began this pathworking around 8:30 am. When I walked into the living room it was 1:45 pm. Below is my next working on my journey to find an answer about the children of the oak several days later.

I sat before a low altar in trance seeking Manannan and I was transported to a beach. It was a moonlit night and the sea was stormy. I looked out on the sea and felt beckoned to come forth. As my eyes searched the sea, I saw an old boat floating some distance away. I considered using it to travel to Manannan. However, I decided to jump into the sea.

I swam out and was met by a group of Undines, they are the Elemental spirits of Water. Most think of them as mermaids. I was filled with child-like awe at their beauty and overjoyed at the honor of being allowed to swim with them. However, my joy quickly changed to fear as their temperament changed and became aggressive.

I no longer felt safe and supported and stories of mermaids flooded my mind as the sea whipped angrily. Full of fear, the image of the boat came to mind and I struggled to swim toward it through the angry sea. When I was finally able to grab the boat my grip kept slipping. While struggling to get in suddenly a hand reached out and pulled me in. It was Manannan.

“Why did you jump into the water? He asked” “To be in your realm instead of my own” I replied timidly. “Few pass the test to reach me as you have. You knew the dangers of the Undines and the sea and still, you came. What is it you seek?” “To know the origins of the spirit within me” I replied. He told me the Tuatha Dé Danann were my people and showed me their stories of creation and war through clairvoyant visions, I could see it all. “You must seek the Morrigan,” he said then he released me back to the sea, a signal the event was over and I woke up.

In my next entry, I will tell the tale of meeting The Morrigan and the outcome of my search.

FROM THE CAT’S EYE

By Cat Gina Cole

Blog Introduction

Why did I start a blog? I wanted a place to write freely, and a place to reach the whole spectrum of people rather than a specific group.

I am almost 62 and at my age, I have few filters left so I am rather direct in my approach. I offer my insights and experiences because I think there are people who will identify and relate. People whom my experience might help, and for the people, it will simply entertain.

So, who am I and why would you want to read what I have to say? Well, I have lived a full and colorful life. Many of the things I have done may seem fantastic, shocking, or unbelievable, but they are verifiable in their own way. As you read keep in mind, that I have never been someone who feared much of anything let alone consequences or other people.

Much of my magical life is in my book Psychic Skills for Magic and Witchcraft, and magic and witchcraft will be a big part of this blog too because it is what I live.

In my personal life, I became a sexual survivor at age four. We lived in the country and I was raised like a boy. I raised rabbits for meat, I was in 4-H, I rode horses, and we had a food garden we all participated in. I hunted and fished with my dad and helped to butcher the dear. I learned to shoot a gun safely when I was 6. It was needed out there for many reasons. I even used to go under the house with my dad when there was a need.

That was all fine and I was happy until I was 13. One day I was so bold as to tell my mom that if I had been born a boy I would never be bored because I would have a certain bit of anatomy to play with. Well, that was that! I was off to conversion therapy to make sure I knew I was a girl. It did not go well, and neither did her attempt at putting me in catholic school the following year. Then when I was 15 mom encouraged me to get married and leave the house.

Over these many years, I have run with bikers, skinned mink for a job, been a truck driver, worked in caregiving, been a waitress, a bartender, a bouncer, and worked on the carnival. In one ten-year span, I held 100 jobs, because I often worked two jobs to get by. I have been a witness to a murder, been in protective custody, struck by lightning, and survived cancer. It is all part of my colorful life and what made me who I am, which I happen to be very happy with.

In the 90s I went to college and became a dual diagnosis counselor on the streets of Portland Oregon. I say the streets because I worked in places like the detox, and methadone clinics. I also worked at the Salvation Army men’s shelter that only took people from prison and the mental hospital.

To me, this is the street level and it is where I love being. It is also the reason I quit being a counselor in an office. I never felt those running the clinics and programs really understood what it was like being on the streets. But let me tell you when you are in a fleabag hotel in Portland with your 3yr. old son, eating at the Sisters of the Road Café on Burnside while you look for work, you get it.

While I have been through some very heavy stuff, there have also been some very wonderful and magical things that are equally fantastic. All of which make for some very interesting stories. I believe that giving them away freely gives it all a positive purpose. If my writing gives solace, laughter, understanding, enlightenment, love, and acceptance to even one person then I have succeeded. I hope you join me for the journey.

Many Blessings to all!