1. Order of Paladins Lesson 1 copyright 2013 Kerr Cuhulain

2. Hint:  Check out the notes pages for each slide. There is a lot of additional information cached in the notes. copyright 2013 Kerr Cuhulain

3. 13 Precepts: 1.Know thyself. 2.Nurture the ability to perceive the truth in all matters. 3.You create your own reality. 4.Develop a sense of Right Action. 5.Do not be negligent, even in trifling matters. 6.Your body is your temple: Care for it! 7.Minimal appearance, maximum content. 8.Perceive that which cannot be seen with the eye. 9.Power with. 10. Who dares wins. 11.The Gods cannot help those who will not help themselves. 12. Be creative! 13. Do not engage in useless activity.

4. Code of Chivalry:  All members of the Order of Paladins must live according to the principles of chivalry, which include:  Sincerity.  Courtesy.  Compassion.  Perseverance.  Industriousness.  Justice.  Loyalty.  Courage.  Self-Discipline.  Humility.  Largesse.  Truth.  Honor

5. And now, we begin…  “Live Your Truth”  “Whatever stage of life you find yourself in, now is the time for self-realization and to bring internal peace to your heart.” Kohshyu Yoshida copyright 2013 Kerr Cuhulain

6. An Order of Knights:  No, the Order of Paladins isn’t a Wiccan coven or tradition, it’s a Wiccan Order of Knights. copyright 2013 Kerr Cuhulain

7. Novice Cycle  This lesson is the start of the first cycle of training for the Novices of the Order of Paladins. copyright 2013 Kerr Cuhulain

8. Service:  The knights of the Order of Paladins commit to 4 levels of service:  Service to self  Service to kith and kin  Service to community  Service to the Earth copyright 2013 Kerr Cuhulain

9. Service to Self  One of our precepts states: Your body is your temple; care for it. You cannot be of service to others if you cannot respect and care for yourself. copyright 2013 Kerr Cuhulain

10. Service to Kith and Kin  Your ancestors, family, and friends are hopefully all there to support you. Those supportive family members should be able to count on you in turn. copyright 2013 Kerr Cuhulain

11. Service to Community  Service to the community makes positive change in the world which benefits us all.  Service to the community allows you and the Order of Paladins to make connections and friends, a greater network of support that will grow to encompass a widening circle of people. copyright 2013 Kerr Cuhulain

12. Service to the Earth  Everything is connected to everything else. In caring for the Earth, we care for ourselves, for each other, and for those yet to come. copyright 2013 Kerr Cuhulain

13. Duties:  Novices in the Order begin to develop the sense of service to the community by performing services to the Order. Duties will be assigned to novices by their mentors or superiors from time to time. This may include duties such as minding the children of members while members are in ritual, kitchen duties, hall set up/take down, and so on. copyright 2013 Kerr Cuhulain

14. Volunteers:  Obviously on line students can’t perform duties in person, so they can perform service by volunteering for certain tasks. For example, the web site that these lessons are on was created by a student who is a member of the Order. For on line members service could consist of writing articles, doing research, etc. copyright 2013 Kerr Cuhulain

15. Largesse:  Largesse is one of the principles of our Code of Chivalry and is a form of service. Donations are a way that you can serve. For example: The Order has a team on Kiva.org so that any time you make a donation to that worthy organization it is recognized as one of the Order’s donations. copyright 2013 Kerr Cuhulain

16. Belts Unlike most Wiccan traditions, the Order of Paladins uses colored belts rather than cords to indicate the level of initiation attained:  Novice: white  Squire: green  Knight: brown  Master: black  Paladin: violet stripe on black belt copyright 2013 Kerr Cuhulain

17. 8/30/2015Copyright Kerr Cuhulain 2013 Book of Shadows TTTThe Order of Paladins returns to the original intent of a BOS, as I outlined in my book Full Contact Magick: A personal journal. Every member is to keep one and use it to record their work. It can be a notebook, it can be a binder, it can be a computer file, it could be written in some obscure magickal script, but you’ll have one.

18. Divinity: Ego-video liber deorum (“gods: a spotters guide”):  Chapter 3 Wiccan Warrior  Chapters 1 Full Contact Magick  Chapters 9 and 10 Magickal Self Defense copyright 2013 Kerr Cuhulain

19. “Spirit First, Technique Second” Ginchin Funikoshi, Rules for the Dojo

20. The Warrior A Warrior is a person who makes a fearless and objective inventory of their personal characteristics and then uses this information to take control of their life. Kerr Cuhulain

21. Amber K: “You begin by taking responsibility for your life and everything in it. This is part of coming into your power. You cannot be a victim, the pawn of others’ schemes and the plaything of fate, and be a magician too. Accustom yourself to the idea that everything in your life- every event, relationship, thought and material object- is there because you chose it.”

22. Thou Art God/dess  Monism: The divine is inseparable from the mundane world  You and everything around you is divine  The Gods see the world through our eyes, work in the world with our hands copyright 2013 Kerr Cuhulain

23. Charge of the goddess (Doreen Valiente) “And thou who thinkest to seek for me, know thy seeking and yearning shall avail thee not unless thou knowest the mystery; that if that which thou seekest thou findest not within thee, thou wilt never find it without thee. For behold, I have been with thee from the beginning; and I am that which is attained at the end of desire.”

24. Drawing Down vs Drawing Out  Why would we try to draw down the divine from outside if it has been within us all along?  We should draw divinity OUT of ourselves.  The Order of Paladins does not draw down. Our knights strive to draw divinity OUT of themselves. copyright 2013 Kerr Cuhulain

25. Just Listen…  We are all clergy. You don’t need me or anyone else to tell you what the divine wants you to know. All you have to do is learn to listen. copyright 2013 Kerr Cuhulain

26. Revealed vs Immanent  We are all clergy  Listen and you will hear the voice of divinity  You don’t need someone to translate it for you copyright 2013 Kerr Cuhulain

27. God is the Potter vs The World is the Garment  X “God is the potter and the world is the pot.” This implies that God is not present in the world. This in turn suggests that it is not possible for humans to be in the presence of the divine. This is a Christian view of the world.  √“The world is the garment that divinity puts on in order to be seen.” This implies that divinity permeates everything. This is how the Order of Paladins views the world copyright 2013 Kerr Cuhulain

28. We DON’T Worship!  Worship is putting something out there on a pedestal and bowing down to it.  The divine isn’t out there, it is inside you  We don’t worship:  We connect to the divine  We immerse ourselves in divinity  We entrain with divinity  We embrace divinity. copyright 2013 Kerr Cuhulain

29. Live for your Gods “You can die for your country or your people or your family, but for a god you should live fully and busily every day of a long life.” Terry Pratchett, Small Gods, page 351 copyright 2013 Kerr Cuhulain

30. We Create Divinity & It Creates Us  This is a Symbiotic Relationship  We are born from the divine energy  We reduce the infinite dimensions of divinity to aspects that our mind can encompass  We make these aspects in our own image  We and the divine create one another copyright 2013 Kerr Cuhulain

31. Aspects of Divinity Exercises  Chose a pantheon that speaks to your subconscious  Chose aspects of divinity that relate to your needs copyright 2013 Kerr Cuhulain

32. Make a Deity  Identify an area in your life for which you feel you’d like divine assistance. Without referring to existing texts or lists, invent a deity to deal with that situation and give that deity a name. Report back by next class with your results. copyright 2013 Kerr Cuhulain

33. Making Deities  I find that a lot of students are uncomfortable with this exercise at first: They don’t think that they are worthy to create a God/dess. Consider this: Every single deity that has ever been was created by a person just like you. copyright 2013 Kerr Cuhulain

34. Feeling and Grounding Energy  Chapter 6 Wiccan Warrior  Chapter 6 Full Contact Magick copyright 2013 Kerr Cuhulain

35. Energy Work  Become the floodgate, the valve, the transformer  Tap into the universe’s energy and let it flow through you  Be conscious of energy blocks and correct them  Ground excess energy copyright 2013 Kerr Cuhulain

36. Standing Energy Techinques  Improve brain function by 10% due to increased blood flow.  Lateral cross-overs stimulate brain function copyright 2013 Kerr Cuhulain

37. Entering Tranquility  Feet shoulder width apart, hands at your sides  Imagine a string attached to the top of your head pulling up to straighten your back  Breathe normally into your abdomen copyright 2013 Kerr Cuhulain

38. Shaking Loose Chi  Stand in Entering Tranquility posture  Start shaking your hands, let the shake work up your arms, into your shoulders, then all the way down your body in a big shiver down to your feet  Do this X 3 copyright 2013 Kerr Cuhulain

39. Receptive vs Projective  Many people have observed that one hand is naturally a “projective” hand: That is, you tend to send your energy out of this one hand. The other hand is said to be receptive: That is, you tend to sense or draw in energy currents more easily with this hand. It is said that for right handed people the right, or dominant, hand is the projective hand while the left hand is the receptor. In left handed people this is reversed. Most people find that they most easily project chi out of their bodies using their strong hand, and that they most often sense incoming energy with their weak hand. For the untrained person this probably holds true. However, just as in martial arts you learn to strike with either hand or foot, you can train yourself to project or receive with either hand. You should practice the use of both hands in both receiving and sending energy. copyright 2013 Kerr Cuhulain

40. Sword Hand  Fold your little and ring fingers into the palm of your hand and fold the thumb over top of them, pointing the index and middle fingers together, and you’ve made what is known in Qigong as “sword hand”. copyright 2013 Kerr Cuhulain

41. Sword Hand  Imagine the index and middle fingers to be the handle of the sword, and that the blade is the chi projecting out of the ends of those fingers. You can imagine it to be a sort of light sabre like those in the Star Wars movies. copyright 2013 Kerr Cuhulain

42. Sword Hand Exercise  Form a sword hand with your strong hand. Hold up your weak hand and direct the “blade” of the sword hand, the chi being projected from the index and middle fingers of your strong hand, into the palm of your weak hand. You should feel the same sensation in that weak hand palm that you felt when you were doing the Shaking Free exercise described above. Now move the sword hand closer and further from your weak hand, as if the “blade” of chi is sliding in and out of the palm of your weak hand. This will give you a sense of the motion of the chi in and out of your hand. copyright 2013 Kerr Cuhulain

43. Warding posture  Feet together  Hands one over the other over your navel  Elbows at your sides copyright 2013 Kerr Cuhulain

44. Holding the Ball  Stand in Entering Tranquility posture  Hold your arms out in front of you, hands a few inches apart  Let the energy build up into a “ball” between your arms and chest  As you inhale, feel the “ball” press against arms and chest, as you exhale, feel the “ball” contract and spin forward copyright 2013 Kerr Cuhulain

45. If your shoulders are weak, you can do holding the ball like this copyright 2013 Kerr Cuhulain

46. Forming the ball  Stand in Entering Tranquility posture  Hold your arms out in front of you, hands a few inches apart  Let the energy build up into a “ball” between your hands copyright 2013 Kerr Cuhulain

47. What Do We Do With That Energy?  Once you’ve created that ball of energy, you can either imprint it with your intention and send it off towards the target of your magick, or…  You can press it into your abdomen in the region of your navel and re-absorb it into your Dantian… copyright 2013 Kerr Cuhulain

48. Dantian  In Asian medicine and martial arts, an area just behind and about 3 inches below the navel is an energy storage area known as the Dantian. There are four energy fields in the body in Chinese Chi Kung: Yuanguan, Dantian, Niyuan and Zhongyuan. To the martial artist and the magician, the Dantian is the most important. This energy storage area is the foundation of Tai Chi and Chi Kung practice copyright 2013 Kerr Cuhulain

49. “Grounding”  It is always a good idea to do grounding after energy work to get rid of any surplus energy and restore your inner balance.  Probably the reason that this process is referred to as “grounding” is that most people seem to relate to the idea of sending this surplus into the earth. copyright 2013 Kerr Cuhulain

50. Grounding  This is the most common form of grounding used by members of the Order:  Start in “Entering Tranquility” posture copyright 2013 Kerr Cuhulain

51. Grounding  Breathe in  Sweep your arms up copyright 2013 Kerr Cuhulain

52. Grounding  Exhale  Bring your hands down in front of you, palms facing each other  Imagine the surplus energy draining out into the ground at your feet. copyright 2013 Kerr Cuhulain

53. Grounding  Repeat this cycle three times, exhaling down the front, down the back, and finally down the center copyright 2013 Kerr Cuhulain

54. Grounding  Finish by bunching your hands into fists at your sides briefly…  Then let yourself return to Entering Tranquility copyright 2013 Kerr Cuhulain

55. Grounding Variations  Not everyone finds that they can ground surplus energy by sending it into the ground at their feet. Some get better results by sending the energy into the air, or into water, or into fire. This is usually related to the person’s affinity to particular elements. copyright 2013 Kerr Cuhulain

56. Air Grounding: Cut the Wind  One of my former students, used a technique that he calls "Cut The Wind". The technique is done in high winds, either the wind blowing steady and hard against you or you perhaps sticking your hand outside of a car window on the highway. Placing your palm flat against the wind creates a far more solid connection to the air and a much more tactile feedback to energy transmission. Allow whatever you want to expel to be blown off your palm and at the same time taking in air energy. Others have had success using a fan to create the air flow. copyright 2013 Kerr Cuhulain

57. Air Grounding: Swinging Arms  One way to ground surplus or negative energy into the air is a technique I call “Swinging Arms”: You start in the Entering Tranquility posture. Raise your arms to the side to shoulder height. Then, let them fall, one passing in front of you and the other behind, turning in the direction of the arm in front. Swing back to the front with arms raised to each side, then twist the other way, letting the other arm go in front this time. Repeat the motion, twisting from side to side, arms swinging across your body. As the arms come up to the sides, breathe in and imagine yourself filling with positive energy. As your arms swing across your body to either side, breathe out and imagine the negative energy streaming out of your fingers away from your body. You can imagine this as tossing balls of dark energy with your hands each time they swing across your body. copyright 2013 Kerr Cuhulain

58. Water Grounding:  One procedure is similar to the aforementioned “cut the wind” exercise. All you need to do is immerse yourself or part of you (hand or feet) in running water and imagine it carrying away the excess.  One vary powerful variation is to lay on your back by a stream and immerse the top of your head in the water. copyright 2013 Kerr Cuhulain

59. Fire Grounding:  I’ve had students who used candles to ground: They feed their excess energy and emotion into the flames until they feel things settle copyright 2013 Kerr Cuhulain

60. Fire Grounding  Another of our knights, Tristan, uses bon fires: “If you're working with a lot of energy at once and have one available, bonfires (of the 4-foot or taller variety) work quite nicely. Just watch out for sparks, logs breaking, etc.” copyright 2013 Kerr Cuhulain

61. Lesson 1 Energy assignment Practice the forming the ball exercise every day for a few minutes. Next class we will use this exercise to move on to other things. copyright 2013 Kerr Cuhulain

62. Escrima/Arnis To be a Knight, you have to learn defensive techniques, whether they be magickal or mundane. In the Order of Paladins one of the things that we use Escrima techniques. copyright 2013 Kerr Cuhulain

63. Escrima CCCComes from Spanish word “esgrima” (“fencing”) AAAAlso known as: AAAArnis de Máno (“harness of the hand”) KKKKali: derived from “kalis” (“sword”)

64. Push/Pull Techniques The push/pull technique that we are going to teach you is Hubud Lubud, a technique from Escrima that is similar to push/pull or “sticky hands” techniques in Asian martial arts like Aikido, Wing Chung, Tai Chi or Jujitsu copyright 2013 Kerr Cuhulain

65. Hubud Lubud  Refer to the Hubud Power Point for directions on this exercise  This exercise helps the novice get the feel of flowing chi.  It also helps develop bonds between members copyright 2013 Kerr Cuhulain

66. Lesson 1 homework reminder  Invent a deity and report back on your results by next class  Practice forming the ball exercise  Learn and practice Hubud copyright 2013 Kerr Cuhulain

67. Order of Paladins Be Glorious! copyright 2013 Kerr Cuhulain