the voice from here and beyond
The Quartz Pentacle is a mystery still unfolding within Feri Tradition. A student of the tradition, a gentle fey named Greg whose thoughts I have appreciated, spoke of it in a private group, and it is something that planted, has grown like a seed in my heart.
The concept seems so simple. Just as the Iron Pentacle weaves Sex – Pride – Self – Power – Passion within our body, mind and spirit, the Quartz Pentacle anchors Compassion – Balance – Patience – Forgiveness – Gratitude within us. In Greg’s version, he spoke of Harmony as compared to Balance as it has sung within my form… as we dive into this working, use whichever calls to you.
Though the concept seems so simple, these five elements that I have found are surprisingly complex in their textures and tastes. Just as silk feels so soft and sensual, it comes in so many textures and such diversity of truth. Just as vanilla is common nowadays, it is a rich and varied flavor depending on the region it comes from, a spice who wars have been fought over, and whose imitation may satisfy, but is far from the truth of authenticity. As I have sat with each of these five elements, and worked to anchor them into the five points of my essence- the burning brand at my third eye or above my crown, each of the spots at the center of my wrist or my palm, the space just below my feet or at the insides of my ankles- I have come to find the layers possible as diverse as the supposedly simple flavors and textures we find within our lives.
Before casting this circle, before setting aside time and space within my beingness and life to do this working, I begin with preparing myself.
Next, I prepare a space.
With my eyes open to the five elements I am working with, seeing it, I now turn to my other senses. My nose and mouth, my senses of smell and taste, will be a part of this work. Thus, I must engage them actively. I dig through my box of scents, and consider what will align me to these elements. What calls to me of Compassion, Balance, Patience, Forgiveness and Compassion. The words that hit my minds eye is “safety” and “letting go of fear of rejection.” The sense I feel in my body is wrapped in warmth, and hope. The feeling on my skin is one of relaxation, possibility, and knowing others will not abandon me if I know them fully. Thus, I turn to scents that open me to such truths. I envision fresh baked bread. I remember cigars and brandy. I know fondue and board games. I remember walks in lavender fields in Maui. I fill my minds eye with books freshly opened. I fondly recall wandering through an essential oil shop and smelling everything I could.
I decide on lavender, and pour a bowl of it. I set it on my altar, before my athame, and lower my shoulders as I smell it.
I prepare a playlist of music that will attune my heart and ears with one another. Though drumming works for many, I do not drum often, and instead use the music of others for my trance and transformational work. Today I open my spirit, and hear the following songs call to me:
I prep the list to be on repeat once I begin.
Before I begin, I also listen to my body needs. I use the restroom, have a small bite, some water, and stretch. In fact, since Compassion is one of the elements we are working with tonight, that includes Compassion for your bodily needs. If you need to pee, pause between segments, open a window, or anything else- feel free to take care of you. You deserve it, and I find that the World prefers you to be present to workings, rather than distracted by a full bladder… unless of course we are working with energy that demands such discomfort.
I dim the of the lights in the space, breathe deeply through my nose, and very slowly release the tension in my body. I am ready to begin. If you need more to calm your life and mind, I have done long walks in the night air (as I did on my way to this working before preparation), candle-lit baths with pleasing scents, meditation, long, slow masturbation with no specific goal, yoga or stretching, having a quiet meal (salads or something light often being best in my experience, especially raw greens), or gazing and candles for creating the sort of energy I am speaking of.
With my space and being prepared, I begin.
We begin, and yet, this work has always been here, has already begun. These things are not new. These essences have always been in us, been within us.
I know this, and yet, beginning sounds so comforting. But even with the seeming comfort of these elements, I must acknowledge that they are not comforting. They may comfort us, but in different dosages, in different situations, Compassion, Balance, Patience, Forgiveness and Gratitude may not be comfortable. We do not enter this work with this belief, for if I do, I will know myself to feel that pain with no preparation. But perhaps you need to be taken by surprise, let the depths of these elements plunge deep into you without warning. You know yourself, listen, listen now, we are listening.
Lighter in hand, I kneel before the five candles.
I then cast my circle, with the room lit now with the five elements. The intention has been set. In my case I draw a circle around the room with my athame, calling the directions, calling my patron deity, call Above and Below, within and without, to my ancestors and the beloved spirits I cherish on all planes. I ask them to guide me in this work, and keep this space safe from outside conflicting influence while I dive into this work. I encourage you to ground, ward/shield, and call forth a sacred space as your traditions, training or intuition will find most appropriate.
Continuing with my athame, now within a space between the worlds, I call the elements again. I draw a pentacle in the air before me, over the altar, to the five elements. I draw an invoking pentacle, moving clockwise- Compassion at the top, down to Balance at the bottom right, up to Patience at the left, across to Forgiveness on the right, down to Gratitude on the bottom left, and back to Compassion at the top again. I say each word as I draw, and begin to draw the elements into the space. They have been waiting for you to call them forth. They have been waiting for me to call them forth. They know me, and want to know me better. I know them, and want to know them better.
I return my breathing to normal, my face tingling with the truth of my need to call forth these five elements into my life. I sit with my intent again- am I ready to do this work? Are you ready to do this work? Honesty is imperative. Some times I have been unready to explore, I had further consideration or thought, experience or security needed to dive in. As the first element is Compassion, it encourages you to be compassionate of your truths and reality, and not proceed if it is not yet time. You can come back here. There is no shame in this. There is the seed of Compassion, and Compassion wants this seed to take root.
Speaking out loud, I call forth the element Compassion:
“Hail Compassion, element of my body, mind and spirit. Hail Compassion, truth of the universe unfolding. Hail Compassion, blessed being of our deepest light and shadow.
I call upon thee, Compassion, who has been known by many names and faces. Our world has known thee as charity, empathy, grace, kindness and sympathy. We have seen you by the faces of lenience, benevolence, tenderness, condolence and clemency. You are felt each time we are commiserate with others who are in pain, and mourned your absence in the face of hatred, cruelty, indifference, harshness and tyranny.”
I then stop and speak times I have longed for compassion. I allow myself to speak the times when I was not compassionate to others.
I then give voice to times I have given compassion. I name truths of times I have been shown compassion, by myself or others.
Once is enough. A thousand truths of each is never enough. This is the mystery of the variety of Compassion that exists.
Having spoken our truths, we prepare our crown to breathe in Compassion whose face we know, whose truth we know, but are now ready to imbue into our spirit. We are ready to modify our astral body to feel Compassion as an element in our essence, and have the capacity to monitor whenever we are called to know Compassion in all its forms.
The breaths begin.
I return my breathing to normal, my face tingling with the truth of Compassion being actively known in my life. I have Compassion in my body, I have Compassion in my mind, I have Compassion in my spirit. I have planted the seed, and will watch it grow.
I sit with my intent again- am I ready to do this next work? Are you ready to do this next work? As the second element is Balance, it encourages you to be balanced between your deepest truths and realities you work within, and not proceed if it is not yet time or you do not have the capacity right now. You can come back here. There is no shame in this. There is the seed of Balance, and Balance wants this seed to take root.
Speaking out loud, I call forth the element Balance:
“Hail Balance, element of my body, mind and spirit. Hail Balance, truth of the universe unfolding. Hail Balance, blessed being of our deepest light and shadow.
I call upon thee, Balance, who has been known by many names and faces. Our world has known thee as harmony, accord, poise, stability and congruence. We have seen you by the faces of reconciliation, correspondence, equality, steadiness and resonance. You are felt each time we cooperate with all sides of our desires or find the place where everyone truly wins, and mourned your absence in the face of discord, disagreement, instability, shakiness and conflict.”
I then stop and speak times I have longed for balance. I allow myself to speak the times when I was not balanced in my interactions with others.
I then give voice to times I have shown balance to others. I name truths of times I have been shown balance by myself or others.
Once is enough. A thousand truths of each is never enough. This is the mystery of the variety of Balance that exists.
Having spoken our truths, we prepare our ankle or foot to breathe in Balance whose face we know, whose truth we know, but are now ready to imbue into our spirit. We are ready to modify our astral body to feel Balance as an element in our essence, and have the capacity to monitor whenever we are called to know Balance in all its forms.
The breaths begin.
I return my breathing to normal, my face tingling with the truth of Balance being actively known in my life. I have Balance in my body, I have Balance in my mind, I have Balance in my spirit. I have planted the seed, and will watch it grow.
I sit with my intent again- am I ready to do this next work? Are you ready to do this next work? As the third element is Patience, it encourages you to be patient with yourself, and remember that we deserve to do this when we are ready. You can come back here. There is no shame in this. There is the seed of Patience, and Patience wants this seed to take root.
Speaking out loud, I call forth the element Patience:
“Hail Patience, element of my body, mind and spirit. Hail Patience, truth of the universe unfolding. Hail Patience, blessed being of our deepest light and shadow.
I call upon thee, Patience, who has been known by many names and faces. Our world has known thee as calmness, perseverance, humility, tolerance and restraint. We have seen you by the faces of diligence, endurance, heart, strength, and self-control. You are felt each time we pause after provocation to assess our full reactions, and mourned your absence in the face of intolerance, rage, frustration, judgement and personal suffering mistaken for Patience.”
I then stop and speak times I have longed for patience from others. I allow myself to speak the times when I was not patient in my interactions with others.
I then give voice to times I have given patience to others. I name truths of times I have been shown patience, by myself or others.
Once is enough. A thousand truths of each is never enough. This is the mystery of the variety of Patience that exists.
Having spoken our truths, we prepare our palm or wrist on the opposite side of the body from Balance to breathe in Patience whose face we know, whose truth we know, but are now ready to imbue into our spirit. We are ready to modify our astral body to feel Patience as an element in our essence, and have the capacity to monitor whenever we are called to know Patience in all its forms.
The breaths begin.
I return my breathing to normal, my face tingling with the truth of Patience being actively known in my life. I have Patience in my body, I have Patience in my mind, I have Patience in my spirit. I have planted the seed, and will watch it grow.
I sit with my intent again- am I ready to do this next work? Are you ready to do this next work? As the fourth element is Forgiveness, it encourages you to forgive yourself, that which you feel weak about, and remember that we deserve to do this when we are ready. You can come back here. There is no shame in this. There is the seed of Forgiveness, and Forgiveness wants this seed to take root.
Speaking out loud, I call forth the element Forgiveness:
“Hail Forgiveness, element of my body, mind and spirit. Hail Forgiveness, truth of the universe unfolding. Hail Forgiveness, blessed being of our deepest light and shadow.
I call upon thee, Forgiveness, who has been known by many names and faces. Our world has known thee as mercy, absolution, pardoning, gentleness and benevolence. We have seen you by the faces of understanding, clemency, kindliness, amnesty, and sympathy. You are felt each time we end the constant blame towards ourselves or others, and mourned your absence in the face of accusation, punishment, meanness, grudge bearing, and hatred.”
I then stop and speak times I have longed for forgiveness. I allow myself to speak the times when I was not forgiving in my interactions with others.
I then give voice to times I have forgiven. I name truths of times I have been forgiven, by myself or others.
Once is enough. A thousand truths of each is never enough. This is the mystery of the variety of Forgiveness that exists.
Having spoken our truths, we prepare our palm or wrist on the opposite side of the body from Patience to breathe in Forgiveness whose face we know, whose truth we know, but are now ready to imbue into our spirit. We are ready to modify our astral body to feel Forgiveness as an element in our essence, and have the capacity to monitor whenever we are called to know Forgiveness in all its forms.
The breaths begin.
I return my breathing to normal, my face tingling with the truth of Forgiveness being actively known in my life. I have Forgiveness in my body, I have Forgiveness in my mind, I have Forgiveness in my spirit. I have planted the seed, and will watch it grow.
I sit with my intent again- am I ready to do this next work? Are you ready to do this next work? As the fifth and last element is Gratitude, it encourages you to be grateful for what we already know and that we have the capacity to do this when we are ready. You can come back here. There is no shame in this. There is the seed of Gratitude, and Gratitude wants this seed to take root.
Speaking out loud, I call forth the element Gratitude:
“Hail Gratitude, element of my body, mind and spirit. Hail Gratitude, truth of the universe unfolding. Hail Gratitude, blessed being of our deepest light and shadow.
I call upon thee, Gratitude, who has been known by many names and faces. Our world has known thee as appreciation, praise, recognition, thankfulness and acknowledgement. We have seen you by the faces of mindfulness, celebration, awareness, giving credit where it is due, and noticing the blessings in our life. You are felt each time we pause to value what we have in our lives, and mourned your absence in the face of ingratitude, blindness, disregard, cursing our lives and expectation that we deserve the world without giving back to the world.”
I then stop and speak times I have longed for gratitude from others. I allow myself to speak the times when I have not felt or shown gratitude to others or the world.
I then give voice to times I have been grateful. I name truths of times I have been shown gratefulness by myself or others.
Once is enough. A thousand truths of each is never enough. This is the mystery of the variety of Gratitude that exists.
Having spoken our truths, we prepare our ankle or foot on the opposite side of the body from Forgiveness to breathe in Gratitude whose face we know, whose truth we know, but are now ready to imbue into our spirit. We are ready to modify our astral body to feel Gratitude as an element in our essence, and have the capacity to monitor whenever we are called to know Gratitude in all its forms.
The breaths begin.
I return my breathing to normal, my face tingling with the truth of Gratitude being actively known in my life. I have Gratitude in my body, I have Gratitude in my mind, I have Gratitude in my spirit. I have planted the seed, and will watch it grow.
I sit with my intent again- am I ready to complete this work? Are you ready to complete this work? To create the Quartz Pentacle we must bring our energy back to Compassion, for this pentacle is without beginning and end. Each time we run energy through this pentacle, we can start at any point once all five corridors are ready. We can also create a circle around all five points, allowing us to move from Compassion to Patience, Patience to Gratitude, Gratitude to Balance, Balance to Forgiveness, Forgiveness to Compassion… for example- though depending on the direction you ran energy (down to left or down to right) and the direction you run energy in the outside perimeter, your order may be different.
To complete the pentacle and bring our energy back to Compassion at the crown or third eye, remember that you know this element already.
Having spoken our truth, we open up the final conduit to Compassion whose face we know, whose truth we know, knowing we are ready to finish the circuit within our spirit. We are ready to modify our astral body to be able to create connection between all of these elements in all of their forms.
The breaths begin.
With breathing having returned to normal, move your consciousness along the pattern of the pentacle.
Continue breathing your way through the pattern as it weaves through your body. Breathe slow and feel the essence as the power moves through you. Breathe sharply and feel how your passion can move energy into places that need attention. Breathe calmly and feel it dance through the woven star. Breathe as your spirit calls you to breathe, and feel the Quartz Pentacle embed itself firmly in your essence- bendable, malleable, but powerful and firm, all in one.
With this awareness in your form, lay flat on your back. Spread your hands out to the side, and legs apart, forming a pentacle with your body. Continue to run the pentacle through Compassion- Balance- Patience – Forgiveness – Gratitude. Move the energy out into the world, using our breath as the tool to do it.
But our work is not done. It is often much easier to show Compassion – Balance – Patience – Forgiveness – Gratitude to others. Reaching out to the world can be challenging, but for many the hardest place to run this energy comes here- when we reach inward and show them to ourselves.
Pull our energy back. Feel the points run between your crown, ankle/foot, palm/wrist, palm/wrist, ankle/foot and back to the crown. Breathe through this a few times, knowing where we began. Now, we look inside our body, mind and spirit, and begin to turn a mirror on our essence as we continue to run the pentacle. As we feel challenged, breathe through it. Try again as there are blockages. Remember:
Bring your focus in to yourself.
I return my breathing to normal, my face tingling with the truth of Compassion – Balance – Patience – Forgiveness – Gratitude being actively known in my life. I have all five elements in my body, I have all five elements in my mind, I have all five elements in my spirit. I have planted the seeds, and will watch them grow.
It is time to begin coming back to the world. We have danced with Compassion – Balance – Patience – Forgiveness – Gratitude, laying the energetic lines within our etheric bodies and energetic beings. This tool is there for us to use in our lives, and come back to whenever we need or desire it. We have reached out into the world to feel these elements, and then reached inside ourselves. Now it is time to begin coming back.
Pull your energy back into the full star that runs around your body. Feel the points run between your crown, ankle/foot, palm/wrist, palm/wrist, ankle/foot and back to the crown. Breathe through this a few times, knowing where we began.
Slowly standing when my body is ready, I release my circle. In my case I draw out my athame, thanking my patron deity, those Above and Below, within and without, my ancestors and the beloved spirits I cherish on all planes. I reverse the direction of my drawn circle around the room, and release the directions with sincere thanks.
Continuing with my athame, now back in the world, I release the elements of the Quartz Pentacle. I draw a pentacle in the air before me, over the altar, to the five elements. I draw an evoking pentacle, moving counter-clockwise- Compassion at the top, down to Gratitude on the bottom left, up to Forgiveness on the right, across to Patience at the left, down to Balance at the bottom right, and back to Compassion at the top again. I say each word as I draw, and release the elements from the space. They have been integrated into your form, and are thanked for having given us the gifts they were waiting to give us.
I blow out each of the five candles in the reverse directions (though if by now you just want to blow them all out, it is totally okay).
Slowly turn lights back on, or sit in the dark/low light with your thoughts. Journal your thoughts if called to, or deconstruct your altar, airing out the space to dissipate the smells that may have you float back into the working.
Rejoin the world, in your own time, aware of the Quartz Pentacle embedded in your being. Consider running the pentacle daily, bringing awareness to each of these points in your life. If the pentacle is not evenly laid out as an equilateral star, with one or two legs smaller than the other, look at how your life is impacted by the traits in those directions being under-tended. If the star is withdrawn, look at your need for Compassion, Balance, Patience, Forgiveness and Gratitude from yourself or others. If the star is pushed out, consider how much energy you are giving out to the world, and whether it is a maintainable energy expenditure if you do not have the support needed to continue with all points far out into the world.
But at the end of the day- this tool is yours to see fit. Just as it is mine to use as I see fit. As I will find to use it tomorrow as I change.
I breathe in, release, and feel it’s crystalline form in my body, and give thanks to each element.
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