CATEGORIES:
Gratitude
Saying thanks everyday for the smallest of things; saying ¨thank you¨ not necessarily to any God or Universe, but even to the chances we had to build the things we did, even to those things that are common and natural and that we hold no control over. Change the lens through wich you look at the world.
¨Start today by being grateful even for the smallest of things; Be grateful for the Sun and the Rain.¨
¨Being grateful means changing your point of view, expanding on a different wavelength, resonating.¨
¨Being grateful doesn´t mean to conform to what you are, it means recognizing your gifts and building on top of them,
as foundation.¨
Small reminders for when the road fades
A jar full of dreams, and a purse filled with magic make it true
The light guides me, that of Sun or Stars, equally beautiful, equally leading. Be afraid, and do it anyway. Do it at your own rythm
The closer you get to the goal, the brighter the light will be; don´t let it blind you, stay humble, look down, to the ground, to your path, keep working. Make it happen.
Anchor yourself, and be ready to take hold of the steering wheel of your destiny. Keep balance
Smashwords ¨read an ebook¨event
Hello dear friends!
We are fast approaching Read an Ebook Week, a week that encourages readers to pick up the digital device of their choice and download a new book to read.
I\’m excited to announce that my book, Alchemy of the Soul II: Sublimation, will be available as part of a promotion on Smashwords to celebrate 2025 Read an Ebook Week! This is a chance to get my book, along with books from many other great authors, at a discount so you can get right to reading.
You will find the promo here starting on March 2, so save the link:
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1291498
If you wouldn\’t mind taking part in promoting this celebration of Ebooks and reading, please feel free to share this promo with your friends and family or with anyone who would love a chance to find their next favorite book and, as the name suggests, read an ebook!
Thank you for your help and support!
Happy reading!
Smashwords Summer/Winter Sale
The Smashwords July Sale (known as Summer sale for northern hemisphere, and Winter sale for the Southern) it’s a well known and established yearly event where you can find eBooks discounted or even for free, and I’m very pleased to announce that this year you will be able to find Alchemy of the Soul II: Sublimation at half price as part of this promotion on the Smashwords platform. This is a one chance to get my book, along with books from many other great authors, at a deal price so you can get right to reading!
For this promotion, that will run for the entire month of July, you can find Alchemy of the Soul II: Sublimation on epub format for only 1’49$ (or around 1’35€) using the promotion code at checkout SSW50
You can buy it on Smashwords here, or also browse here to see which other titles are discounted or free!
Happy reading!
AI: The “democratization” of Art
With the raise of Artificial Intelligence we stand watching how this technology reaches more and more fields with the passing time, being now the topic of discussion the use of A.I apps to create art.
Without even entering on the polemic of how this apps feed on artists’ works that have been taken without permission (see the anti AI movement on Art Station or the app Glaze), or the unsuspected future consequences that could happen when or if our personal pictures get sold as data packages for this type of app (a problem that many cosplayers already face, and that has reached the fashion world with the fake inclusivity of diverse or POC models created artificially), AI “art” launches an instrumentation on what defines us as humans, which is the capacity to express ourselves through artistic creation.
As a species we have been creating art since the beginning of time, proof of it are the countless paintings on caves depicting animals; Art is a way of expression, AI promoters stand by the argument that “with AI anybody can create art” and that it is “a democratization of art” which, entirely misses the point that we all, as human beings, inherently have the capacity to create art.
Art is, as I said above, a tool of expression, when we replace our own expression with that of the AI we don’t have a democratization, we have an alienation; as if someone took away our voice and, instead of teaching us an useful inclusive tool like sign language they just gave us a tablet and told us that now we can only communicate through this medium
Now, one could argue that AI allows to create some “good” pieces, and I ponder: When and how was it decided that one has to be “good” at something to enjoy doing it?
Art is not about it being “good” or “bad” unless you want to dedicate professionally to any of its related fields (and then again, many experts will vary on their opinions of what is “good”) art is, once again, about expression. Art doesn’t have a logical or practical purpose, its only purpose is to tell something, to create a reaction on the viewer, even if that viewer is only you yourself, the creator of the Art.
No, when using AI apps to create images the only thing that is permeating is a) that there is no respect towards the people that spent time, effort and education to become “good enough” (again, subjective) to make a profession in the Arts, and b)That the only concern is creating something “good enough” to be marketable, because this, this exactly is the ultimate purpose of AI applied to Art; to yet again capitalize on something, to be produced quickly and cheaply, to be put on a t-shirt and sold using printify connected to your webshop, in an effort to maintain people believing in the farfetched possibility that one can become rich effortlessly and whoever doesn’t do it is because they don’t want to.*
Bringing with it the ultimate Unholy Trinity of capitalist individuation: Fast Food, Fast Fashion, Fast Art.
This all said, it could be very easy to let oneself be dragged down to the dark lands of hopelessness but, quite the contrary I propose to you all, dear readers, that you create your own art, even if you are not good at it.
Sing badly in the shower as if you were on stage, take a pen and paper, draw a doodle, write that story of how you escape your boring routine at work by jumping out the window with your favorite characters, try sewing a lopsided dress, paint with your fingers….give food to your soul, do something useless, something unproductive, something only for you, something that speaks only to you.
You all have the capacity to create, you all have art screaming inside yourselves to be let out. Do what you enjoy and never let anyone tell you that, because you are not good at it or because you can’t sell it, you don’t have the intrinsic ability to do Art.
~MercuRea
*I wanted to point out that there is absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to make a living out of something that\’s not a standard 9 to 5 job; the problem rises when this is done by using stolen artwork, when there is the thought that this requires no effort (marketing, SEO, etc requires a lot of work, it can be easy to make the product but you still have to promote and get your product found by people) and the subsequent one that if someone is not doing this is because they don\’t want to get rich or because they are stupid. There are many ways on creating a POD (print on demand) business and counting with real artists for this should be the priority. Instead of using AI to create on the basis of stolen art, we should be turning to the countless websites there are where artists offer their designs either with a fee for commercial use, with a donation fee or completely free.
Preorders open for Alchemy of the Soul II Sublimation
I am so glad to announce the publication of the second part of Alchemy of the Soul!
In Sublimation we explore the psyche through poetry, we confront the shadow self, the Chiron themes and the unidentified copying mechanisms, all that which generates in the early childhood and we carry unkowingly to adulthood…laid brilliantly in touching poetry and poetic prose (free verse poetry).
This is my experience, this is how I\’ve got to know what is hidden within myself through interactions, through the refraction of myself in the other; this is a work of meditations handed on a silver plate so others can identify in themselves their hidden fears and strengths
For this release, I wanted to give the opportunity to buy ahead of time, the official release for Alchemy of the Soul II Sublimation: A collection of poetry is on December 17th 2021 but starting today you can sign yourself for the preorder of your copy (or copies).
Have a look at the inside preview of a few selected pages
Alchemy of the Soul II Sublimation: A collection of poetry
Trim size A5 (5.83 x 8.27 in or 210 x 148 mm)
134 pages
ISBN 9789090350400
Advanced/preorder price included shipping worldwide 10€
How will the procedure be?
-Fill in the required information on the form below.
-Payment of preorder will be done starting from 1st December through iDeal, paypal or SEPA bank transfer (no need to pay yet!).
-I will contact you on the provided email about your prefered payment method and your shipping address.
-As soon as payment is received, your copy will be on its way to you
-Enjoy your advanced release copy!
Laurel
Laurel is a plant strongly linked to succes and glory, Romans wore crowns made of it when they came back victorious from a war campaign. Even the Spanish word “laurear” means to honour or present high respect to someone.
All of this is because laurel is associated with Apollo, the Sun God, in the myth of Daphne which tells the story of how the young maiden transformed herself into a laurel tree to run away from him and his obsessive love. The myth concludes with the promise that he will put her leaves over the heads of the heroes but that is only half of the properties of laurel.
Apollo is god of the arts and of inner healing, often identified with Asclepius, whose symbol is the Caduceus with the twin snakes that we usually can find in any modern pharmacy.
Apollo is not God of the Sun in a literal way like Helios, but in a metaphorical way, for he is the inner (or mystic) Sun, being recognized as such in the Oracle of Delphi; the fact that Eros cursed him with being unable to find love (even if he was considered as the most beautiful and talented of the Gods) only proves so, for the live of the mystic is one of love towards knowledge and spiritual grow (this doesn’t mean chaste, by the way, in ancient Greece a “virgin” was an unmarried woman, not a woman who had no sex) and as such laurel is most useful not only for spells in which we want to be victorious or defeat an enemy but also in those more subtle ones to see glimpses of the future.
When using laurel for any spell is possible to use it dried (bayleaf) as it is easier to find it in any supermarket than it is to find the actual plant if it’s not autochthonous on your area.
I wouldn’t recommend burning bayleaves because it smells horrible but we could do so to “burn away” someone’s succes.
Bayleaves can be kept on inside the shoes, or put under a coin as a lucky charm for yourself or to receive constant flow of money.
If you decide to grow the plant in your yard it will become a refugee and home for the Faes and other “small people” (driads, gnomes and fairies in general). Be sure to keep milk, honey and/or cinnamon close by it to make them happy.
Wear it on a crown or hang it on your doorframe just as Romans did to receive the blessing of Apollo and keep you victorious on every part of your life.
Another way of achieving this effect is by creating an essential oil from bayleaf and olive oil and rubbing yourself with it.
Rubbing it against a mirror or putting it on a bowl of water can grant visions of the future, of your future love or of what is the way to find it.
It’s also useful for dreaming about the future if you put it under your pillow, this can be amplified using also lavender, poppy and chamomile.
And of course, pasta boiled with bayleaf and a bit of olive oil is delicious.
Rosemary
In terms of powerful cleansing herbs, rosemary is my second favourite and one of the most effective (just after rue plant, but rue plant is simply the best).
It’s one of the most basic herbs that can be used and I highly recommend it.
To grasp the nature of this plant and in what kind of rites we can use it I think we should start with its etymological analysis; in Spanish its name is Romero, a word that applies to a person who goes on a romería (both could be roughly translated as pilgrim/pilgrimage although this words don’t convey the truest meaning). A romería is a kind of travel, usually lasting somewhere in between one week and one month, done with religious purpose. In the south the most common romerías are those in which the statue of a virgin is carried from one village to the nearest one, signaling the start of the summer festivals. Two examples would be El Rocío.
Nowadays this has lost all its mystical sense and it’s only done for partying, but in origin the road was meant to cleanse yourself, to get rid of toxic psychological habits and throw out the negativity from the lives of those who chose to go on the road as pilgrim/romeros, and THAT is what we can achieve by using rosemary in our rituals, to bring the spirit of the pilgrimage, one of soul and not of body.
Here are some ideas of ways to use it:
-Boil it in water and add the result (or essential oil, but I always prefer to use the fresh herbs) to the bucket of water for cleaning the floors of your home. Start from the room farthest to the entrance door and swipe towards outside. After this throw the water in the street/outside (never in the toilet or something like that). This is the most effective way of cleansing for a house.
-Put one strand in a bowl of water under the full moon, this way it can be used to cleanse and charge stones and other utensils (this can be used as substitute of water with salt for the stones and metals that can be affected by the salt). For more efficiency on charging stuff under the moonlight instead of putting things just on the night of full moon do it when it’s third quarter and leave it until the full moon. (NEVER put stones and/or whatever you want to charge under a new moon, the new moon energy ‘takes away’, it doesn’t ‘give’)
-Essential oil can be used to clean anything, from any surface to even yourself.
-It can be used for cleansing also by burning it and passing stones, jewelry, yourself, etc, through the smoke. This I recommend mostly for persons, as opposed to the essential oils that I like to use more to clean the surfaces of the house, I feel that by using its fumes is easier to clean the ‘non visible, non physical’ part of ourselves.
-It can also be burnt alongside a note in spells used to get rid of our bad traits or negativity in our lives. In general I like to use fire in this kind of rites, I’d usually write down the spell and burn it while reciting. By adding rosemary to the fire we give a boost of power to it.
-Hanging it by the front door of your house and/or by the windows will protect your home. There are various plants that can be used for this and rosemary, as said before, is one of the most effective. It’s even better if you can grow a plant yourself in your yard (and it will smell heavenly on summer nights).
-In spells where you want to write down the effect in a candle so it burns away slowly you can also use a strand of rosemary to do it.
-It can be kept alongside your tarot deck.
-It’s awesome for seasoning meat, and when thrown in the fire of a barbeque the smell would give the meat a great flavour.
Oración abrecaminos/Ways opening prayer
Que todo mal se aparte de mí,
que mis pies corran ligeros, seguros y firmes;
Que quien me desee mal así lo reciba de vuelta,
y que quien me busque como enemigo encuentre a sus propios enemigos;
Que toda piedra que encuentre en mi camino sea sólo para aprender,
y que no encuentre obstáculo que me haga caer ni montaña que no pueda escalar;
Que el viento sople a mi favor,
que no se apague la antorcha que me guía y que se abran todas las puertas a mi paso.
————————————————–
Let all evil be away from me,
that my feet run light, sure and firm;
That whoever wishes me bad receives it back,
and that whoever seeks me as an enemy finds their own enemies;
That every stone I might find in my way serves only to learn,
and that I find no obstacle which makes me fall or mountain that I can not climb;
Let the wind blow in my favor,
the torch that guides me be not extinguished and let all the doors open in my path.