Month: June 2012

How I Wish: Consequences in Spell and Wish Making

by blackWing

Do what you will and harm none.

Pagans have seen this message over and over again. We know it, we live it or we strive to live it. For most people, it means don’t carry out a form of magick or spell-casting that will harm anyone, including ourselves. Well, that’s pretty easy. I won’t cast a spell on mean Joe Schmuck, the pagan-hating neighbor, for throwing his garbage on my lawn. It also means I won’t call a curse down on the person who cut me off in traffic. I’m not talking about saying something like, “Damn you,” because in most cases that falls under the category of being an expletive. It doesn’t carry the force of magick or higher energy behind it.

Almost everyone will agree that the above forms of magick (spell-casting and drawing down curses) can harm, and they’re fairly obvious. What is not as obvious are the subtler ways we can harm someone. One common trap is love or attraction charms and spells. Many a “good” neo-pagan book written by upright followers of the path has listed spells that are potentially harmful. To cast a spell that brings beauty to you or makes you more attractive is a beneficent charm. However, there are spells that instruct “write the name of the one you love or want on a piece of paper” and perform a certain ritual. There are several versions, all of which are to attract someone specific and to bind them to you. That’s psychic and spiritual bondage — slavery. Those spells can cause serious backlash.

I found out the hard way many, many years ago when I thought I was practicing harmless witchcraft. I had inadvertently fallen in love with a man who was a customer where I worked.

When I figured out what was wrong with me (I was depressed), I did a spell of attraction. It should have been a spell that just made me more attractive. It might have been a spell that made me more attractive to that particular man, but that would have been manipulating his view and feelings. Instead, it was a spell to make him want me and be attracted to me. And unfortunately, I did a very powerful spell.

Did it work? In spades; I was terribly burned in the process. What I put out came back to me threefold. (Oh yeah, there’s that law for a reason.) I almost became an alcoholic, I had an eating disorder that went completely ballistic and I was dreadfully, emotionally wounded in the process of this guy realizing that he didn’t want me. I had done this in all innocence, believing unthinkingly that I wasn’t doing any harm.

Lucky for me, I woke up after the fact and realized what I had done. I didn’t do it again. Seven years later, with that man as far from here as is possible, I had a chance to mend and heal the old wounds and set things aright with him. No, I’m not with him, but there’s a peacefulness and a wholeness that took many years to accomplish.

We learn a lot from our lessons through life, if we don’t do irreparable harm along the way. That means that you can’t even heal someone unless they want to be healed. Now, on a psychological level, many of us know this to be true. You can’t change someone unless they want to change. But if a person is in a coma or hurt beyond asking for healing energy, what do you do? You can perform rituals to heal, but you have to send them out with the addendum, take the energy if you wish it. Some people don’t want to be healed, even if they are at death’s door. Some people do want to be healed, even if they’re trying to take their own lives and won’t ask for the help.

The ethics of healing with or without permission, even on the purely physical level, is one that everyone, from the medical community to shamans, is debating. It is a larger question for another article. There may never be a completely right or wrong answer. The situation I’m looking at, though, is that of manipulating, threatening or changing someone without their knowledge or permission, or against their will.

Another pitfall for the witch is using magick to get someone to leave you alone or ignore you. Yes, I was caught by this one too but not in as severe a way as the attraction spell. I had had problems with a certain person’s attitude and his behavior, so I did a ritual to take back my power that he was trying to manipulate, and to make sure that he would leave me alone. Well, the first part was fine. The second part fell into the category of me magickally manipulating him. It wasn’t even a problem I noticed until I had to talk with this person and found he did not remember having talked to me on previous occasions, and that he had not remembered even seeing me.

I had been much more careful how I had worded my ritual and in what I was doing, so in the long run there wasn’t as much manipulation or damage. It was essentially a protection and empowerment spell. I should have left it at protecting myself from harm, ill thoughts and so on and not in repelling a specific person. I’ve fixed that one after the fact, too.

Another area of magickal concern that has probably escaped most people’s attention is the Internet. In this day of instant communication, the same idea can fly around the globe in minutes. All of us have probably received the same joke within a day from various people in different parts of the country or world. One noticeable form of communication is the preponderance of chain letters. These take the form of adding your name to a list to possibly get the free trip to wherever, to spreading the news and good wishes for the dying child/man/woman with MS/cancer/brain tumors whose church/hospital/town will donate so many pennies per message, and lastly to the good old-fashioned chain letter. In this letter, there may be a touching story about caring for someone, or some truisms and proverbs or even a humorous little joke. At the end, inevitably, is the direction to send this to 10, 20 or 50 of your friends. If you do this, they’ll send it back to you to show their love or friendship, or more likely you will experience good luck, your fondest dream come true or, if you don’t send it out, you will have some type of bad luck like an elephant falling on your head.

These chain letters abound. Almost every time someone gets an e-mail account or starts discovering the ancestry of e-mail jokes, they pick up the chain mail torch and run with it. I received many and sent a few on. I started sending the jokes on and deleting the good luck admonition at the end. I started deleting them wholesale. I sent one out a while back that had great proverbs. It had the “get good luck and send this to your friends” blurb at the bottom. I deleted that and then added my own letter that said, “I’m tired of being threatened with luck.” That’s exactly what’s happening. Someone who “believes” that chain letters work, and who sends one on, is threatening a person with luck. Call it magick, juju or a spell if you will, but whether it’s good luck, bad luck or no luck, it’s still a threat or a promise.

As practicing pagans who believe “Do what you will and harm none,” it’s time to take responsibility for the power we put behind words, whether written or verbal. Even if they’re not our own, we empower them with our belief. This is the basis of magick and spells — belief. Our belief makes them strong, and if you send willy-nilly to people the good luck wish with “If you don’t send this on you receive bad luck,” then we are harming some.

Let’s put it in another perspective. How would you feel if a person came up to you and said, “I wish you the best of luck in your endeavors, as long as they agree with mine.”? Or: “I wish you prosperity as long as you find the one true religion (fill in the blank here).” There is not much difference between these wishes and a good luck chain letter that says, “Unless you recruit and scare 10 more people with this, your luck won’t improve.”

There are many traps and pitfalls in spell and magick making. I might still get caught, but it happens less frequently. I walk ever more carefully with my eyes opened wider, and questioning with what-ifs all the more. The more adept one becomes, the easier it is to tap into higher power and more of that power. It is therefore more important to be extremely careful and check over rituals and spells for potential harm. As well, even our wishes can influence and change the world we walk in.

Like the Internet joke about the old lady/man who finds a bottle. S/he gives it a rub, and out pops a genie who says, “You have three wishes.” First wish: The old man/lady says, “I would like to be young and beautiful.” Poof, it happens. Second wish: “I would like enough money/wealth to live well and have all that I want.” Poof, it happens. Third wish: S/he looks at her/his cat and says, “Why don’t you turn it into a handsome/beautiful young man/woman?” Poof, it happens. The gorgeous creature walks toward the wishmaker and says, “Aren’t you sorry you had me fixed?”

Be careful what you wish for — you might get it.

About Litha

a guide to the Sabbat’s symbolism

by Arwynn MacFeylynnd

Date: June 20-23 (usually, the date of the calendar Summer Solstice).

Alternative names:                 Summer Solstice, Midsummer, Midsummer’s Eve, Alban Heruin, Alban Hefin, Gathering Day, Vestalia, La Festa dell’Estate (Summer Fest), the Day of the Green Man.

Primary meanings:                  This Sabbat celebrates the abundance and beauty of the Earth. From this day on, the days will wane, growing shorter and shorter until Yule. It is a time to absorb the Sun’s warming rays, and to celebrate the ending of the waxing year and beginning of the waning year in preparation for the harvest to come. Midsummer is another fertility sabbat, not only for humans, but also for crops and animals. This is a time to celebrate work and leisure, to appreciate children and childlike play and to look internally at the seeds you’ve planted that should be at full bloom. Some people believe that at twilight on this day, the portals between worlds open and the faery folk pass into our world. Welcome them to receive their blessings.

Symbols: Fire, the Sun, blades, mistletoe, oak trees, balefires, Sun wheels, summertime flowers (especially sunflowers), summer fruits, seashells and faeries. If you made Sun wheels at Imbolc, display them now prominently, hanging from the ceiling or on trees in your yard. You may want to decorate them with yellow and gold ribbons and summer herbs.

Colors: White, red, maize yellow or golden yellow, green, blue and tan.

Gemstones: All green gemstones, especially emerald and jade, and also tiger’s eye, lapis lazuli and diamond.

Herbs: Chamomile, cinquefoil, copal, elder, fennel, fern, frankincense, galangal, heliotrope, hemp, larkspur, laurel, lavender, lemon, mistletoe, mugwort, oak, pine, roses, saffron, St. John’s wort, sandalwood, thyme, verbena, wisteria and ylang-ylang. Herbs gathered on this day are said to be extremely powerful.

Gods and goddesses: All father gods and mother goddesses, pregnant goddesses and sun deities. Particular emphasis might be placed on the goddesses Aphrodite, Astarte, Freya, Hathor, Ishtar and Venus and other goddesses who preside over love, passion and beauty. Other Litha deities include the goddesses Athena, Artemis, Dana, Kali, Isis and Juno and the gods Apollo, Ares, Dagda, Gwydion, Helios, Llew, Oak/Holly King, Lugh, Ra, Sol, Zeus, Prometheus and Thor.

Customs and myths: One way to express the cycle of the Earth’s fertility that has persisted from early pagan to modern times is the myth of the Oak King and the Holly King, gods respectively of the waxing and waning year. The Oak King rules from Midwinter to Midsummer, the period of fertility, expansion and growth, and the Holly King reigns from Midsummer to Midwinter, the period of harvest, withdrawal and wisdom. They are light and dark twins, each being the other’s alternate self, thus being one. Each represents a necessary phase in the natural rhythm; therefore, both are good. At the two changeover points, they symbolically meet in combat. The incoming twin — the Oak King at Midwinter, the Holly King at Midsummer — “slays” the outgoing one. But the defeated twin is not considered dead — he has merely withdrawn during the six months of his brother’s rule.

On Midsummer Night, it is said that field and forest elves, sprites and faeries abound in great numbers, making this a great time to commune with them. Litha is considered a time of great magickal power, one of the best times to perform magicks of all kinds. Spells and magick for love, healing and prosperity are especially effective now. Wreaths can be made for your door with yellow feathers for prosperity and red feathers for sexuality, intertwined and tied together with ivy. This is also a very good time to perform blessings and protection spells for pets or other animals.

Nurturing and love are key actions related to Midsummer. Litha is a good time to perform a ceremony of self-dedication or rededication to your spiritual path as a part of your sabbat celebration. Ritual actions for Litha include placing a flower-ringed cauldron on your altar, gathering and drying herbs, plunging the sword (or athamé) into the cauldron and leaping the balefire (bonfire) for purification and renewed energy. Giving away fire, sleeping away from home and neglecting animals are considered taboo on this holiday.

‘THINK on THESE THINGS’ for June 12

By Joyce Sequichie Hifler

So much has been written about happiness – the way to it, the reasons for it, the symbols of it – and still people search for that very special something that will assure happiness forever after. Of all the recipes for lasting happiness, we finally have to mix our own. But the one thing everyone has in common is the need for a little bit more. We have this and this, for which we are very thankful, but always the need is extended to that little bit more.

Happiness is like any other part of our lives, we must use wisdom in seeking it. We too often rush headlong into something that seems to be instant happiness, all the time telling ourselves we can right the wrong at a later time. But happiness doesn’t remain happiness for very long when it has such strings attached.

In order to e rightly happy we concentrate on getting, but it is giving that we find most necessary to mix into every recipe. To some happiness will always be elusive, never quite settling anywhere, never quite revealing itself, for they have yet to learn that happiness has the wings of angels, the breath of God, and the love of man, all hidden within Him.

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Available online! ‘Cherokee Feast of Days’
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler.

Visit her web site to purchase the wonderful books by Joyce as gifts for yourself or for loved ones……and also for those who don’t have access to the Internet:

http://www.hifler.com
Click Here to Buy her books at Amazon.com

Elder’s Meditation of the Day
By White Bison, Inc., an American Indian-owned nonprofit organization. Order their many products from their web site: http://www.whitebison.org

Elder’s Meditation of the Day June 12

“Behold, my bothers, the spring has come; the earth has received the embraces of the sun and we shall soon see the results of that love!”

–Sitting Bull, SIOUX

Spring is the season of love. Spring is the season of new life, new relationships. It is the springtime that really reacts to the new position of Father Sun. New life forms all over the planet. Life is abundant. New cycles are created. Mother Earth changes colors, the flowers are abundant. It is the time for humans to observe nature and let nature create within us the feeling of Spring. We should let ourselves renew. We should let go of the feeling of Winter. We should be joyful and energetic.

My Maker, let me, today, feel the feelings of Spring.

 

June 12 – Daily Feast

There is an undercurrent that feeds us false impressions like a gentle trap that tells us we are doing right – because it feels right. Feelings are so easily manipulated they can’t be trusted as a measure in anything. We stay with bad habits because it feels right. The habit comforts our feelings and the familiar touch makes us believe we can’t give it up. But it is the path that winds back through the same experiences – almost like being lost in a jungle. We think we are on the right road out, until we find our own footprints going around and around. Whether it is a habit or a person, or a situation we are trying to escape, we have to know our feelings are not to be trusted. They keep us knocking on a door that seems like home but is simply the same stopping-off, na hna I, familiar place. Beware of feelings that deceive.

It has been said that there is no deceit in touching the pen to sign a treaty, but I have always found it full of deceit. ~

STANDING ELK

‘A Cherokee Feast of Days’, by Joyce Sequichie Hifler

Daily Motivator for June 12 – Move ahead with no regrets

Excuses are easy, and consequently they are worthless. Real, focused,  sustained work is difficult and challenging, and can achieve magnificent  results.

What is easy and carefree in the short term becomes painfully, desperately  difficult in the long run. Because when you waste today with excuses, you fill  tomorrow with regret.

Work can be tedious, frustrating, inconvenient and draining, and yet you  absolutely can get it done. Regret, on the other hand, is impossible to escape  once you’ve created it.

So without question, it is far better to use your time to create value rather  than regret. Instead of taking the seemingly easy way out, take the truly best  way forward.

This hour, this day, this week, you are depositing the fruits of your efforts  into the lasting experience of your life. Be sure to fill those deposits with  meaningful, positive value rather than with painful regret.

You have the opportunity right now to make an effort that will make a  difference. Make the effort, do the work, create real value with your time, and  move ahead with no regrets.

— Ralph Marston

The Daily Motivator 

Daily OM for June 12 – Roles of Support

Doing Our Best Work

by Madisyn Taylor

 

Each one of us is very much needed and we all have our role to play adding to the success of the whole.

 

In the great symphony of life, we all have important parts to play. While some people are best suited to be conductors or soloists, their contributions would be diminished considerably without the individual musicians that lend their artistry to the fullness of an orchestra. The magical accents of the percussion section might sound random and out of place without the music they accompany. But any one member of an orchestra, doing less than their best at their particular part, can destroy the harmony of the whole piece, such is their importance. So although we may not receive the same amount or quality of attention as another, all of our contributions are valuable and integral to the success of the whole.

When we do our tasks well, we infuse them with our unique energy, making each act a gift. Each of our personalities and talents are suited to different roles of support. Even leaders and star performers support others in their own way. We can look around us at any moment to see that while we nurture some people with our work, others are supporting us with their gifts. Doing any job from this place within us allows us to do our part with humility and gratitude, while also learning lessons that move us steadily toward our goals.

When we can be fully present in every job that we do, we bring the fullness of our bodies, minds and spirits to the moment. Our contribution is enhanced by the infusion of our talents and abilities, and when we give them willingly, they attract the right people and circumstances into our experience. Anything we do begrudgingly limits the flow of our energy and closes us off from the good that is available to us in every situation. But by giving the best in us to make the world around us better, we open ourselves to receive the best from the universe in return.

 

Daily OM 

Lighten Up – 9 Easy Steps to Becoming A Witch

Want to be a Witch, yet don’t want dangerous items in your home? We’ve assembled this comprehensive kit to meet the beginning Witch’s needs, without compromising safety.

Includes:

1 Rubber Athame.

Painted black handle, silver blade. Very flexible. You can swing this about in Circle with no fears about hurting anyone!

Exclusive! The incredible Collapse-a-Wand!

Hand-wrought of authentic wood-grained expanded foam, with a special adhesive patch for attaching the Power Stone of your choice (see below).

2 Battery-operated Candles (1 black, 1 white).

No more concerns about flowing gowns catching fire.

1 package Glade Stick-ems.

Fresh, floral scent, without the concerns of burning incense. No messy ash to clean up!

1 shaker Mrs. Dash.

Get all the flavor and zip of salt, without the sodium!

1 Quality Fold-a-Cauldron.

Easy-to-assemble, genuine simulated cast iron corrugated material. Complete instructions.

1 Fabric Rainbow Disk.

No sharp corners to be concerned about. The perfect centerpiece for your own Altar. No worries of offending anyone, as could happen with those misunderstood pentagrams.

3 Assorted colors soft vinyl “Power Stones.”

Focus the energy of crystals. Perfect for attaching to your Collapse-a-Wand!(Choking hazard. Not recommended for children under 3 years of age)

1 Booklet

, “How to Be One with the White Light, Because There Is No Dark Side, Luke” subtitled: “The Absolutely, Completely Comprehensive Guide to Everything Possible that a Witch Needs to Know to cast Any Spell at All”

BONUS!

Order now, and we’ll send you our exclusive Fill In The Blanks Book of Light! All the spells you’ll ever need, and YOU fill in the names and dates! Quality softcover binding.

All packaged attractively in a lovely carry-case, which unfolds to become your altar cloth.

Rush out and get yours today!

 

— by René Friberg, aka RaeVynn Sands

Air Sealing Tips for Hot Humid Climates

by Chaya, selected from Networx

By Carl Seville, Networx

Since we’re heading into the summer, and it may well be a hot one  this year,  it’s a good time to look at home improvements that can help  save energy and  make your house more comfortable in those hot, sticky  months coming up. Air  conditioning installers in Miami and other hot, humid climates are going to  get a lot of work this  summer. How can you get the most from your investment in  air  conditioning?

The first thing that homeowners and contractors need to understand is that air sealing is really  important.  The most  common insulation, fiberglass, doesn’t work very well  when air leaks  through it.  It’s actually a pretty good filter for dirt  (you may have  noticed that it’s used for those cheap furnace filters), when you  cut  open an old insulated wall you usually see big streaks of dirt where air   has been blowing through the insulation for years.  Not only do air  leaks  keep the insulation from working, they let lots of humid air into  the house,  making your air conditioner work harder.  Tightening up those  leaks keeps  the house more comfortable, keeps the humidity lower, and  saves a lot of energy  in the process.

So where do we need to air  seal, you might ask?  Pretty much  everywhere, but let’s start at the  bottom.  For now, I’ll assume that you  have a wood framed floor with a  vented crawlspace below it, and probably  fiberglass batt insulation  installed between the floor joists.  Carefully  pull out the batts around  any big holes like tub drains, pipes, big wires, and  any other place  where there are holes in the floor decking.  Plug those  holes with foam  boards, spray foam, or anything else that won’t let air pass  through.  Don’t jam fiberglass insulation in the holes – it won’t air seal   anything.  Then carefully caulk all the small holes where wires and  pipes  pass through the floor.

Finally, make sure that all the  insulation is pushed up tight against the  subfloor and held in place  with skinny metal bars called tiger teeth.  If  you’re really ambitious  you could seal and insulate your crawlspace, but that’s a little too involved  for this post.

Then  you need to go inside and caulk all the cracks between the walls and   the floor.  If you’re replacing carpet or refinishing wood floors, put a   good bead of caulk or spray foam between the baseboard and the  subfloor.   Next, start moving up the walls, filling in all the gaps in  the drywall –  around receptacles, pipes, wires, window and door trim,  and anything else that  makes a hole in the wall finish.  You can buy  foam gaskets to put behind  electrical plates that will help seal them  from more air leaks.  If you  have any knee walls – walls between  interior space and attics, make sure that  they are well insulated and  have a solid air barrier on the attic side –  something like drywall or  foam board, carefully caulked at all joints and  edges.  If your house is  missing this, all the heat from the attic will  flow right through the  insulation into the room, making it really  uncomfortable.

Finally,  we need to fix up the ceiling.  This is where we usually get  the most  air leakage, particularly in the summer.  Go up in your attic and  start  pulling the insulation away from the walls, pipes, wires, and any other   openings in the ceiling.  Seal those holes the same way you did the ones   in the floor, making sure that you get all of them.  You should also  seal  the crack between drywall and the wood wall at the top – that’s a  big air leak  in most houses.   But the biggest ceiling leak is the attic  stair or  access hatch.  You can build or buy a nice foam box to seal  over the top  of them, but you have to be careful about putting them back  every time you go  into the attic.

If you’re not interested in taking on this project yourself, think about hiring a weatherization contractor to inspect the house and  make the repairs for you.  If you’re lucky,  your local utility may offer  rebates for doing improvements like these –  you can be more comfortable, save  energy, and get a little money back  in your pocket.