I’m a little behind on my FK journal entries (so.much. going. on.) so this week I’m going to combine both entries into one- as I figure most of you don’t want more clutter on your feeds. The first entry relates to speech and FK and the original article can be found here. The second entry relates to (my favorite) the Dark Flame and can be found here.
I Speak the Universe:
I like this entry. I like it because I need to be reminded that words are in fact powerful. This should be easy for me, as both Shinto and Kemetic practices teach the importance of the utterance. The words need to be said *just so* and our speech (in both religions) is a gift to us from the gods. In both practices, well done speech in ritual helps to pacify and please the gods. So it would make sense that speech is important to me, right?
Wrong. I have a hard time loving English. It’s an ugly language, in my opinion. And it doesn’t help that I live in a country where words are slung out without any sort of forethought or tact. Words are a tool for Americans and nothing more. So I tend to forget that there is life in words. There is life in all that I say. And that all that I say can be very creative or very destructive (which I do note the destructive part- a working with Set that taught me that I don’t need to kill everything dead with my speech, even if I am capable of it).
I think my favorite part of this article was this right here:
We need to be aware of how we speak and what we intend when we speak. Because our words recreate the Universe.
And I need to remember that.
Questions:
What does it mean to speak? What does speech mean to you?
I suppose the most literal definition is to make noises come out of your body that helps others to understand what you want/need/etc. However, it’s technically more than that. It’s a means to bridge (or create) gaps. It defines culture, ideas, can bring things together in many ways. But speech is also destructive, hurtful, and can cause rifts that will never be fixed. It is the ultimate tool.
What would it mean to be unable to communicate with language? What does communication mean to you?
I don’t know what I would do. I have had times where I am just too beat to use my words to express what I need to others. There have been times when my voice is gone, and using ASL with people isn’t an option- it’s frustrating and hard to get what you mean across. And it can wear you out. So I imagine it would suck (in short). Communication is key for me. I see misunderstandings that happen all the time because people aren’t communicating well and it frustrates me. I also get upset when people purposely try to obscure what they mean and interrupt communication- it’s totally counterproductive. I am all about communication. We need more of it.
When is speech sacred? What does sacred speech mean compared to regular speech? Is there a difference?
All speech is sacred. Both of my paths have taught me this. While I sometimes forget it, at it’s core, I believe that all speech is sacred (because everything is sacred in FK) and that all words should be treated as such.
Perceiving the Dark Flame:
We heard you like flames, so we put flames inside your flames.
The bright flame, the normal flame, is a flame we share with others. It is visible in how we act and what we do, shining into dark corners and creating boundaries, showing who we are and aren’t. It burns from within to without and shows in our lives.
Most people break up their Flame into Bright and Dark. And that’s it. I feel like my 2 Flames also have Bright and Dark parts- there are parts of my Bright Flame that you can see, and then there are parts that you should be able to see, but I keep hidden. And that also goes with my Dark Flame. Perhaps I’m missing the concept, but I feel like I am not completely accepting the whole entirety of my two Flames. And while I’m in the process of working on that, they each have their own Bright and Dark qualities.
The dark flame is different. It is hidden, quiet, cool. It burns for ourselves. It revitalizes and refuels us. In the darkness, we find ourselves again. We connect with our inner Divine spark through quiet as well as action. The dark flame gives us a point to connect that Divinity to.
I love Dark Stuff as it were. I thrive in the dark. I hate the light (comes from living in a desert). And ironically, I have had an easier time working on my Setian issues than I have my Osirian issues. I can accept my negative attributes without a problem. I can look at my dark pit and say “wow, there are a lot of BAD emotions in there. Lot’s of baggage. Lot’s of damage that I need to figure out” and not bat an eyelash. But O comes and tells me “You need to go be sociable. You need to love yourself. You need to show people the whole you, not just the Set version of you” and I flip out. My Bright Flame is my bane. Because I have a hard time keeping the dark half from completely swallowing up the bright half.
But I suppose I am getting off track. The point of all of this is I love the Dark Flame work. Sometimes, I wish it was all about the Dark Flame.
Questions:
Are you in balance? Are you even aware of your inward dark flame?
I believe so. As I said above, I have flames in my flames lol. I think I am more in tune with my dark flame. I often have to retreat into myself to work on how to project myself to the world. I go inwards to work on my Bright Flame- as weird as that may be. However, I don’t think I’m completely balanced. Set wants me to be whole- which means I’m currently not whole. I’m two halves fighting with one another trying to figure out how to keep an equilibrium. So while I understand the halves are there- they aren’t in perfect balance yet.
Is the darkness in you nurtured as well as the light? Why or why not? Does this imagery make you uncomfortable?
I suck at the Light stuff. I would argue that my Dark is more nurtured. I love the coolness that it brings me. The Light work just wears me out. The imagery doesn’t bother me. It’s hard to keep it in line, though. I consider dark to be yin and light to be yang- which is some of the opposite of how other people look at light and dark (good and evil). So I have to be careful with how I do my wording. Otherwise, it doesn’t bother me.
Can you feel the Divine connection to the dark flame? The lit one? both?
Both. The Divine is in everything, and I can feel the divine touch in all aspects of myself.
The Twisted Rope 