Elizabeth Tinker is the pseudonym of a book reviewer who wishes to keep her real identity secret.
Precis: The following article is by a well-known book reviewer and how she
was able to use a simple system to protect her apartment.
I like to think that I have the best job in the world. I review books. I can
set up my schedule any way I like and my agent sends out copies of reviews I
do to several newspapers and magazines. If I don't want to work one day, I
don't. If I want to work at midnight, I do. I am in complete control.
I could live anywhere. All I would have to do is fax or email my reviews to
my agent. At times I've lived in Cleveland, New York City, and Minneapolis. I
think, though, that most people are comfortable with where they grew up.
That's why I decided to move back to my hometown, "Motown," the
"Motor City," Detroit, Michigan.
It's been years since I lived there and I was surprised to find a nice
apartment that was very inexpensive. I was pleased to see the strong locks on
the door. That should have sent up a warning flag, but it didn't. As I was
unpacking my boxed belongings, I heard a knock at my door.
I looked through the peephole and saw a pleasant young woman dressed in
simple clothes, her hair in a scarf. I opened the door and greeted her.
"Hi. I'm Leeza. I live just down the hall," she said, handing me a
card. "Here's my phone number in case you need help when you get
robbed."
"Robbed?" I asked, my voice shaking.
"Yeah. This neighborhood isn't too bad, but this building attracts a bad
crowd. Drugs. Gangbangers. You know..."
"Yes, I understand," I said, regretting that I had signed a
one-year lease and wondering if I could sublease. She invited me over for
coffee and we went to her place. I told her that I had grown up in Detroit
and was now returning home. She told me how this neighborhood had changed.
"If it weren't for the criminals it would be really nice here," she
said. "We're near two parks and a library."
DARE I?
Although I was still living out of boxes, I needed to get back to work. I
looked through the box of books I could choose for review. The strange,
almost mystical cover of Magical Use of Thought Forms attracted me. The
authors, Delores Ashcroft-Nowicki and J.H. Brennan seem to be very
well-respected and have written dozens of books. "Well," I thought,
"at least they know how to write."
Typically, I will thumb through the pages of a non-fiction book and try to
get a feel for it, focusing on anything that draws my attention. It was page
169 where my skimming finally stopped. It talks about using an "animal
guardian." I thought, "Maybe some sort of guardian would be good
for this place?" But I was no wizard or magician. I didn't even believe
in this sort of stuff. Dare I make a guardian to protect my home?
CONSTRUCTION
The book says, "If you are using an animal guardian, try to obtain a
piece of real fur, a claw, or a tooth - a taxidermist can often supply
this...In this way nothing is killed unduly, and you can work with a clear
conscience. If even this disturbs you, you can use...a piece of fake fur or
patterned material such as a leopard print, and a sliver of bone from a
chicken, and chant over them. Use your own words, for it is you who is
working the change. Tell them that they are reborn into the form of (name).
Speak the attributes of this new form and how it will serve your
purpose...When this is done, grind the bone into powder, then burn the
material and use the ashes. Gradually work this into the wax or clay."
(p.169)
I went out to a fabric store and got some material that looked like a tiger
skin. At a hobby shop I picked up some "Sculpy," a clay-like
material that hardens only when you put it in the oven. On the way home I
picked up some Popeye's chicken.
I started wondering what I should call my guardian. When I got home I looked
up the word "tiger" in different languages. When I came to
Sanskrit, I knew I had the name of my guardian: "Vyagra!" (I wonder
if the makers of the drug for males knew the meaning of the differently
spelled but similar sounding name they chose for their medication?) I knew
that the female tiger was more fierce than the male and discovered that the
term "vyagra vadhu" means tigress, but I decided to stick with the
shorter name.
As I ate the chicken I found and put aside a small piece of bone. I put it in
the microwave to dry it out. When it was dry, I put it next to the piece of
cloth. I said to them, "Together, you now have the fierceness of a
tigress, which is why your name is Vyagra! Like a tigress you are quick and
strong. Like a tigress you will defend your territory, rending invaders with
your sharp and terrible claws."
I really started to enjoy this. "Vyagra, let the good and decent people
in this apartment building be as your children. Watch over them with a
vigilance that only a mother could know. Defend them from attackers with your
strong paws, vicious claws, and sharp teeth. Be our guardian and our friend.
Protect us from those who would do mental, physical, or emotional harm."
I lit the fabric with a Bic lighter and let the ashes fall into a bowl. I
didn't have a mortar and pestle to grind up the bone, so I used my
imagination and placed the bone and ash into my food processor. In a few
minutes they were a fine, powdery dust.
The book continues, "Gradually work this [powder] into the wax or
clay." (p.169) I blended the powder into the Sculpy and sculpted it into
a very primitive-looking, four-legged feline. The instructions in the book
said, "Now lay it aside and leave it for twenty-four hours. During that
time think about it and picture it in your mind...try to hold that shape in
your mind..." (P.169) So for the next day I spent as much time as
possible thinking about my soon-to-be guardian, Vyagra. I saw her not as my
somewhat sad artwork, but as an enormous animal, over eight feet long and
weighing in at more than 300 pounds. I saw the muscles move under the skin as
she gracefully ran over grassy plains and leapt small hills. Vyagra was
breathtaking and beautiful. She would curl up, resting, but was always
vigilant. I was starting to like this creature.
I FINISH MY GUARDIAN
The next day, I went on in the book. "When the shaping is complete, it
is time to do your part. Hollow out the underneath of the figure to the size
of a thimble, and put a flake of flint into it to represent fire." (p.
169) I dug out a small section from Vyagra's belly, found a flint from an old
lighter, and put the flint inside. I followed the instructions in the book,
saying, "Let this flint become the fire within thee, that the qualities
of that element shall be yours until the end of your task, which time shall
be appointed by me." (p. 169)
"Hmm," I thought. "How long should this task of protection
last? I'll set it for a year and see what happens."
"Now take some soil (a few grains will be enough) and put them into the
hollow to represent the element of earth." (p. 169) At first I thought
I'd use some of the soil from one of my potted plants, but then I decided to
get some from the flowerbeds outside of my apartment building. I had a
feeling that this might link Vyagra to the area. I put some into the belly
cavity as I said, "Let these grains become the earth within thee, that
the qualities of that element shall be yours until the end of your task,
which time shall be appointed by me." (p. 169)
Per the instructions in the book, I put one drop of water into Vyagra saying,
"Let this drop become the water within thee, that the qualities of that
element shall be yours until the end of your task, which time shall be
appointed by me." (p. 170) The next section involved using personal
fluids. I won't tell you which ones I used, but I did say the appropriate
words as I took them from my body: "This came from my body; this is of
myself and I acknowledge this, but now it is gone from me forever. It has a
task to do that it must do alone. Go from me with my blessing. Be separated
from me and be blessed in your task" The book explains that "This
is so you do not become identified with the guardian of its task once it has
been set in place. This is important, and you must separate yourself in this
way." (p. 170)
I put the mixture of fluids into Vyagra, saying, "These gifts of life I
bestow upon the guardian to be set in a place that shall be appointed. With
the power that is in them, let the guardian be raised up and given the name
of... [Vyagra]." (p. 170)
Finally, I took a straw and put it just into the cavity in Vyagra's belly. I
gently blew into it and immediately sealed the hole as I removed the straw,
saying, "Let this breath become the air within thee, so that the element
of air shall be yours until the end of your task, which time shall be
appointed by me." (p. 170)
Finally, I put Vyagra into the oven and let it harden.
RAISING VYAGRA
Following the instructions in the book, I wrapped the now-solid and cooled
Vyagra in a piece of white cotton that I had purchased with the other fabric.
The book said to, "Seal the temple or sacred space in your usual way,
and call in the elemental Kings at the quarters." (p. 171) Well, I had
never done anything like that before, but I had a good guess as to how to do
it. I stood in the center of the living room and said, "I call on the
powers that be to protect me and this space while I do this ritual. So be
it!" Then I took the box with Vyagra to each quarter, east, south, west,
and north. At each place I stopped and, feeling a bit foolish, I said
"Greetings, King of the East [changing for each direction]. Within this
box is Vyagra, fierce tigress who will guard this building against all evil
and violence. I ask that you give your blessing to Vyagra."
Next, I put the box with Vyagra on the floor in the center of the room. The
book then said I would have to do an invocation. "Your invocation to
raise the guardian must include a definite time of service...Build into your
invocation a request to the Creator, God, or Goddess, and ask for a blessing
'to the amount it is able to receive...' When the time is up, open the box
and destroy the model." (p. 171)
I don't remember exactly what I said, but somehow I felt very inspired. I
remembered my Catholic upbringing and was easily able to come up with a
wonderful request to enliven Vyagra with power.
I put the box under an overstuffed chair by the door. Then I tried to see the
full-size Vyagra in my mind. Per the instructions in the book, I called her
three times by name: "Vyagra! Vyagra! Vyagra!" I told her that she
was an essential part of my life, my apartment, and this apartment building.
For a moment I thought I could hear her purr. I said, "Goodbye" to
all the powers-that-be and the Kings and thanked them for coming to this
"Raising."
THE RESULT
For the first several days I lived in my apartment I had trouble sleeping.
There were frequent sirens going by, yelling, and even an occasional scream
or gunshot. I thought I would get used to it, like people get used to
sleeping near noisy trains or busy highways. And indeed, my sleep did
improve. But it wasn't because I got used to the sounds. Rather, it was
because the sounds diminished.
Within six weeks there was nary a scream or gunshot to be heard. The sirens
became less and less frequent. I had become friends with Leeza, and we
frequently had coffee or tea together. One day she said to me, "I don't
understand it. All of the junkies and gangs have moved out of here. This
place is actually becoming a great place to live." The next day I
received a notice that the building owner was repainting and improving the
heating of the building and adding air conditioning, but that our rents would
not increase! And best of all, I heard children laughing and playing in the
streets. Leeza and I would often walk together in the afternoon to the local
coffeehouse, and we heard other people talking about crime dropping, too.
I can't say that Vyagra was the cause of the improvement, but whatever the
cause is, the situation is wonderful, and I love living in Detroit.
Magical Use of Thought Forms by Delores Ashcroft-Nowicki and J.H. Brennan is
© Llewellyn Worldwide. All quotes used by permission.
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