THE LAZARIS MATERIAL

Glamours, the Muse, and the Sisters of the Cauldron

Q: Having just returned from the Arthurian Legends Intensive, I was wondering if you could expand upon the "Glamours" - who/what are they and what is their relationship to the Muse and to us. During one meditation the Glamour of Compassion (in the 9th position?) came to me, but I know I don't really understand what that means or how I can make that significant and meaningful in my daily life. So, any hints and clues would be greatly appreciated!! BTW - what an incredible intensive - thank you!!!!!

Jach:

Lazaris first explored the Glamours in depth while working with the faerie realm. He points out that the Glamours do not belong to the faerie realm, but they are easier to encounter there.

The Muse are the "Sisters of the Fire." They are the energy or consciousness that is present in the igniting of the fires of passion and of creativity. They are present in the ignition of the fires of inspiration and change, as well. They are the god-being energies related to the fire element. Lazaris has talked of them often in workshops.

As the Muse are the nine Sisters of the Fires, so the Glamours are the nine Sisters of the Cauldron. They are the magicians that give birth, death, and rebirth. The cauldron is the womb. It is the esoteric womb and the source of all life. In Ancient Egypt, the Nile was the giver of all life, and the headwaters were the cauldron. In each culture, there is the concept of the womb of all birth, death, and rebirth. That is the cauldron. There is a thread in the Forum on Chalice Magic. That relates to all this as well. [g]

Fire creates life; water gives birth to life. And there are Nine Sisters which begin with initiation and move to gracious love and to joy. These are the first three sisters. If they are the ones who come to you, they bring a message of what you need to give birth to in your life. The Muse may bring a story idea to a writer or a tune to a composer, but it is the Glamours that bring it to birth and manifestation. The Muse can inspire it and create it; the Glamours manifest it. The Glamours make it happen.

So if the Glamour of Joy comes, the message may well be that even when you have a terrific creative idea and you are aching to get about creating it, you need to tap into joy before you are going to "give birth."

For another, the manifestation may come from experiencing gracious love or from sparking initiation within themselves. Other Glamours include the healing balm that heals grief or brings comfort. When Lazaris talks of generating abundance as never before, he talks of the missing key to our "abundance machine." One of the places where that missing key may be lost is within the grief that will not end or in the "unforgivable." It could be lost in the malady that will not mend. For one for whom this is true, it may be the Glamour of the healing balm or the Glamour of healing grief that is necessary before that person will allow the manifestation of abundance. So the Glamours are the Sisters of the Cauldron and they are involved in the manifestation of the stuff that emerges from the fires of creation.

Q: I was curious about how to work more with undine energy within a crystal on an everyday basis. I just got a magnificent crystal that has an abundance of undine energy, and I am more familiar and comfortable with working with sylph and salamander energy. … I am very attracted to the undine energy, but somehow I am not quite sure how to approach it within this crystal and would love ideas. [g]

Jach:

I think the best way to work with undine energy is to relate it to Cauldron Magic. Even when that undine consciousness and energy -- when that particular spirit of Nature -- is in a crystal, I think it is most effective to think of it as a cauldron.

A lot of magic is Cauldron Magic. When we work with our Miracle Making Machines, for example, we are working Cauldron Magic. We write what we want to create and we place it on the Miracle Making Machine. … We place it in the cauldron and we wait … We wait for initiation, gracious love, and joy to be a part of this creation. We wait for dominion, a healing balm, and nurturing in the working of miracles. We wait to respond to the challenge and to call upon our magical knowledge and expertise. We call upon our compassion. These are the energies of the Sisters of the Cauldron. They are the Glamours of Cauldron Magic. They are inherent in undine energy and Crystal Magic, I think.

So, sense that undine energy as though it were a cauldron. Place the objects of your magic and its workings under or upon the crystal as if it were a cauldron and let the magic boil.

Also, you can place questions in the undine energies of that crystal. Ask for direction or for clarity in decision making or choice making, and then put the question or the request into the crystal. Let it steep. Then return and extract the answer from the brew.

Also, that this crystal has so much undine energy means it is a terrific ally in Transmutation and Transformation Magic. It is great to assist you in exploring the realm of the possible. This crystal will bring you joy and spark your passion. That's what undines do. [g]

It will also work in alliance with you for all kinds of healing work. Have a headache? Place this crystal near your head and ask for the healing balm. Can't sleep? Hold this crystal and talk to it. Talk about the anxieties or worries you have. Give them to the crystal to "stew upon" while you sleep. Set the crystal next to your bed and go to sleep. [g] I could go on and on, but I will stop now. I think you catch the drift of what I mean. [g]

Q: Can you talk a bit about the Glamours?

Jach:

I love working with the Muse (the nine maidens), and Terpsichore is my favorite Muse. She is the Muse of Dance or of Movement. She is an important player and participant in my magic. And the Ancients are beyond words. I find them enchanting and I think it is because of the Ancients that we have such words as "enchantress" and "enchantor" in our vocabulary. And between the Maidens and the Ancients are the Glamours.

They are the women of magic. Within the legends of Arthur, they are the Ladies of the Round. Chauvinism and Christianity have focused upon the men, and the Ladies have been relegated, once again, to the recesses. But it is within the dynamism of the Ladies of the Round that incredible magic is worked. And Arthur's half-sister, Morgaine, is a powerful Lady of the Round. She is one of the Glamours, as well. She has been turned into a sinister character in the Legends of Arthur, but she is not that at all. She is a woman, she is a Glamour.

The Glamours are the nine sisters that keep the cauldron steaming. It is not fire that keeps the cauldron boiling, it is the breath of the sisters of the cauldron. And they tend all Cauldron Magic. They tend all that is created from the Goddess. That is, they tend all that is created. [g]

There are nine of them that we know about. Each one has their own glamour and their magic is glamorous. There are Initiation, Gracious Love, and Joy. Each of these offers a special magic and each is essential in creating success, happiness, and joy.

We must begin with initiation; we must set things in motion. And love is key, but for true creation, doesn't that love have to be gracious? Doesn't it have to flow naturally? "Now it's time to love because if you love, you will be rewarded with success,"- we have thought it and we know others who teach it. It's like love is an investment that has a certain rate of return. Done for these reasons, it seldom is magical, is it? But when we just love and it is spontaneous and it is natural . . . as natural as flight is to an eagle . . . then love's magic works miracles. The key is the love, but the key is also the graciousness of that love. And joy is critical to creative success, don't you think?

Then there are three Glamours: Dominion, Comfort/Healing Balm, and Nurturing. Again, all three are critical and they are given. We can develop dominion, sure. But as we do the dance of dominion, it comes as a gift. We do not earn dominion, we receive it. It's a gift; it's given.

The ability to comfort another is also more akin to a talent than it is to a power or strength. It is a gift that some of us have while others do not. And to receive comfort is also a gift. - so it seems to me. To be nurtured and to be nurturing ... the steps can be learned and one can take training, but to truly be a nurturing person takes talent. It just comes naturally to some. All three of these are given gifts from the sisters of the cauldron ... from the women of magic.

And then there are three more: Challenge, Knowledge (of Ancestry), and Compassion. Again, the glamoury of each is obvious.

These are nine, but Lazaris hinted (or said as an aside during a recent workshop) that there are 50 Glamours. He also said there were 50 Archetypes (of which we have representation of 22). There are some who are eager to know what these other Glamours are or who the other Archetypes are. I smile with great amusement when I hear someone eagerly ask for descriptions. I think how young, naive, or both they must be. I know that I have more than enough work to do with the nine Glamours. I don't need to know anything about the other 41. Just as the 22 Archetypes can keep me "plenty busy," I don’t need to have labels for the other 28. [vbg]