Author: ladyoftheabyss
Moon Phases – Dark Moon
Moon Phases – Dark Moon
Some practitioners use this phase as a period of rest. They find it useful for regeneration, relaxation, and gathering for the creative phase of the waxing Moon.
Others prefer to use it for meditation, psychic power enhancement, or for delving into past life memories to help them better understand current difficulties. Dark Moon energy also lends itself to divination and matters where truth is an issue.
To seal spells performed during the dark Moon, use this chant or one of your own choosing:
I call on You, Oh Crone so wise—-
One Who rules the darkest skies.
Come and be my treasured Guest,
And aid me on this magickal quest.
Sun Phases – Sunset
Sun Phases – Sunset
The predominant energies of sunset provide a suitable condition for spellwork requiring reduction or alleviation. This phase lends itself to the removal of stress and confusion, hardship, and depression, and the disclosure of deception. It is also a good time for dieting magick.
To seal spells performed at sunset, use this chant or one of your own choosing:
Oh Setting Sun of passing day,
Aid me in Your gentle way.
Take this spell, oh Ancient One:
Give it Your strength as You pass on.
Sun Phases – Afternoon
Sun Phases – Afternoon
As the Sun journeys downward, His energies take on a receptive quality. Use this phase to work efforts involving professionalism, business matters, communications, and clarity. It is also of benefit for spellwork involving exploration and travel.
To seal spells performed in the afternoon, use this chant or one of your own choosing:
Aging One of Amber Light:
Hearken! Hear me! Aid my plight!
Take this spell where it must go,
And give it power that it might grow.
Sun Phases – Noon
Sun Phases – Noon
The influence of the Sun reaches its peak at high noon. This vibration is excellent for performing efforts that involved the mental abilities, health and physical energy. It is also of value when charging crystals, stones or metal ritual tools such as athames, censors, and cauldrons.
To seal spells performed at midday, use this chant or one of your own choosing:
Father Sun, of strength and might,
Aid this spell in taking flight
To its target, now please guide—
Increase its power as it flies.
Sun Phases – Sunrise
Sun Phases – Sunrise
Sunrise lends its energies to beginnings, change, and cleansing. This phase is beneficial to magickal workings that involve new endeavors in employment, love or direction in life. Rejuvenation matters such as renewing hope and trust, good health, or even mending a broken heart also benefit from this energy.
To seal spells performed at sunrise, use this chant or one of your own choosing:
Oh, Youngest Babe, so newly born,
Help me on this bright new morn.
Aid this spell with Your fresh power.
And strengthen it with every hour.
Sun Phases
Sun Phases
The Sun emits an uncomplicated, direct masculine energy that is warm and golden-feeling. Unlike the Moon, He moves through several different phases every day availing the practitioner of unlimited opportunities for immediate spellwork. His wide range of properties can boost almost any magickal effort normally aided by the Moon.
The Proper Timing for Magick
Timing is one of the most important things to consider when doing magick. Astrology can be likened to a great cosmic clock. It reflects the cycles and rhythms of nature. The proper alignment of the stars, the sun, the moon, and the planets should all be taken into consideration. Does this sound complex? I assure you it is not as complicated as it may sound. In fact, this may reduced to two things: the days of the week and the cycles of the moon.
The seven planets rule the seven days of the week. The names even derive from the planets in many different languages. In English these come from the names of the Norse planetary deities. Sunday is the day of the Sun; Monday is the day of the moon; Tuesday is the day of Tue (Mars) ; Wednesday is the day of Wodan (Mercury) ; Thursday is the day of Thor (Jupiter) ; Friday is the day of Freya (Venus) ; and Saturday is the day of Saturn. Therefore, for maximum astrological benefit, a love spell should be done on Friday, the day of Venus (planet ruling love) . In the same way, magick involving education may be done on Wednesday, which is ruled by Mercury. The planetary correspondences are as follows:
The Sun rules Sunday and is good for Success, luck, spirituality, knowledge, and healing. The moon rules on Mondays. This is a good time to do spells for intuition, dreams, astral travel, and communication with spirits. Mars rules on Tuesdays. It is a good time for effective magick involving battle, conflicts, protection, strength, overcoming adversity, and binding.
Mercury is the planet presiding over Wednesdays. This is a time for rituals for education, knowledge, divination, communication, and healing. Thursday is the day of Jupiter, and governs success, prosperity, luck, and leadership. Venus dominated on Fridays and can bring love, romance, heal relationships, and grant new friends. Saturday is governed by the baleful influence of Saturn. This planet grants protection, destruction, binding, curses, purification, and overcoming weakness.
In addition to the seven days of the week, the seven planets also rule the hours in the day. There are several different methods to calculating the planetary hours. One of these involves following the hours from sunrise to sunrise; another divides the hours between sunrise and sunset and divides them into 12 sections and the same is done for the period between sunsets. To avoid all the math and difficulty, a very simple and effective system omits this and simply uses the 24 hours from midnight to midnight. This has worked wonderfully for me and I see no reason to list the other methods. If you would like to examine other methods for calculating planetary hours, that information is readily available online or in other books on magick. For simplicity, just know that the planet for the day also rules the hour at 6 am, 1 pm, and 8 pm.
Now, to illustrate this, let us take an example. If you wanted to do a love spell, it would be a good idea to do this on Friday (the day of Venus) at 8 pm (the hour of Venus) . This acts as a magickal doorway in which the proper astrological conditions are right. In this way the magus moves with the cycles and the rhythms of nature. If one were to bind (or restrict) someone from causing harm to others, Saturday at 6 am would be a good time. The days and hours should be at least partially memorized. The easiest way to do this is to simply memorize which planets rule each day and to simply remember that the planet for that day also rules at 6 am, 1 pm, and 8 pm. In this way, it will not be necessary to look this up every time one wishes to do a spell!
The phases of the moon also have an important impact on the effectiveness of magick. The waxing (growing) phase and the full moon are good from creative magick and bringing things into your life; the waning (decreasing) phase and the new moon are used for destructive spells and getting rid of things in your life. This is the most stressed point in ritual timing in the Wiccan tradition.
The concept of moving with the phases of the moon is very ancient and is found in many different cultures. This can be seen as a more important element in timing than anything else. It is much better to go with the phases of the moon on the wrong day than to do it on the right day of the week and the wrong lunar phase. This aspect of magickal timing should not be over-looked. The full and new moons are peaks of the creative and destructive cycles. The mid-way points (the half moons during increase and decrease) are also times of great magickal power.
The last aspect of ritual timing is the moon sign. The moon passes through the 12 signs of the zodiac, remaining in each sign only for a few days. This is not as important a consideration as the other 2 timing concerns. Nonetheless, this can lend power to rituals and spells. When the moon is in an Earth sign (Taurus, Virgo, and Capricorn) are good for financial concerns; when the sign is in an Air sign (Gemini, Libra, and Aquarius) are ideal for education and spells consistent with the characteristics of the element of Air. When the sign is in a Water sign (Cancer, Scorpio, and Pisces) it is a great time for spells that are connected to the Element of water and to emotions, artistry, and relationships; While the moon is in a Fire sign (Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius) it is a good time to do rituals of a fiery nature.
The individual characteristics of the sign (rather than just the element) should also be considered. This is not a very important aspect to magickal timing, so don’t stress too much over it. As I said before, though, utilizing this can only help and never hinder!
There are other lesser aspects to astrological timing. These would include the weather and the current Sun sign. The reason Sun signs are rarely considered is not so much that it is a weak influence, but rather that it is not practical to wait months just to do a spell, when it will probably no longer even be needed or be too late. This could also be a great aid if followed.
Weather is an issue as well. Storms are usually great for magick because it is a time of great elemental power. Furthermore, if one is doing a ritual involving the Sun, this should be done during the day and when it is sunny. One would assume this would go without saying. On the contrary, however, many people fail to recognize this simple concept. After all, it is only common sense. Thus, weather and the Sun sign can lend a lot of extra power to spells, if you would only harness that power with the use of correct ritual timing.
Now that this has all been laid down and explained, let us take another example to make sure these concepts are well understood. Let us say that someone is looking for a new job and decides to do some magick to help the job search. The moon should be waxing (this is for bringing things into your life) and the spell may be done on a Thursday (the day of Jupiter) at 1 pm (the hour of Jupiter) on a cloudy day because Jupiter is a sky god. The moon should also be in the sign of Capricorn. This would be an extremely good time for such a spell. The conditions are perfect.
Does timing have to be followed? Of course not! In the preceding example, the job is probably needed immediately. It would be foolish to wait for the right conditions during such an emergency. Do spells whenever they are needed. However, WHEN IT IS CONVENIENT, the astrological conditions should be considered. If a spell can wait for the perfect conditions, then great. If they spell can wait a few days for the right day ruled by the proper planet, that is good too. But if the spell can’t wait that long, then do it now. The spell can be repeated when the stars, sun, and moon are aligned right if needed. The spell will still work. The point is lending extra power to your spells. That’s it.
Following the cycles and rhythms of nature is also another way of aligning oneself with the universe. In the ancient Mystery Traditions, from which magick derives, Man was seen as a reflection of the cosmos. One is moving in accordance with the universe. We are moving with the tides of nature. Can magick be done against these cycles and still be effective? Sure. But it is like swimming against a current. Why not “ride with the tide”? It may even carry you a ways if you would only let go and let the currents of the Great Mother take you. Thus, in magick we try to follow the ways of Nature. Magick is merely using Her ways.
Remember, that which separates the initiate from the vulgar is simply that the occultist is aware of the laws of the universe and uses them to his or her advantage while others do not use this power that lies in their hands.
Celebrating Legends, Folklore and Spirituality 365 Days a Year for January 7 – Saint Distaff’s Day
January 7
Saint Distaff’s Day
In southern England, Saint Distaff’s Day was when work began again after the Christmas holiday. Saint Distaff’s Day was not a saint’s day at all, but rather a tongue-in-check commemoration of the day on which women returned to their distaffs of unspun wool.
Short List of Wednesday’s Witchcraft/Magickal Correspondences
Protecting Yourself and Your Home: A Basic Warding Ritual
Protecting Yourself and Your Home: A Basic Warding Ritual
Author: Blondechilde
Have you ever moved into a new home and thought to yourself, “Gosh this place feels so empty and sterile! I wonder how to make it feel more like home quickly?” Worse yet, have you ever thought to yourself, “Eww, this place feels chaotic! It makes me feel like a nervous wreck! How can I cleanse it and make it feel calm again?” Conversely, have you ever walked into someone else’s home and thought, “Wow, their home feels so safe, protected, and relaxing. I wonder how I can make my home feel that way?”
All three questions can be answered with one word: Warding. Mirriam-Webster identifies the etymology of the transitive verb “ward” as Middle English. It means to guard or watch over, or to turn aside (as in the phrase “trying to ward off a cold”) . A warding ritual puts up a kind of permanent circle that protects you and your home from unwanted outside influences. It can also help your home feel safe, inviting, and relaxing.
The following warding ritual is based on one my high priest teaches our coven. I have used it for several years with excellent results.
Determine the extent of your wards
This particular ritual requires walking the perimeter of the space to be warded. If you are a homeowner and you’d like to ward your entire lot, you will need to walk the borders of your property line outside your home. If you are warding an entire house, you may choose to walk the exterior perimeter as opposed to the interior. If you live in a condominium or an apartment like myself, the interior perimeter of your home probably works best.
Walking the interior perimeter of a dwelling can be tricky when dealing with interior walls. You may choose to ward them as well or work around them. I prefer to work around them; I usually walk the perimeter as far as I can, then pause my chanting a bit while I walk around to the other side of the interior wall and find the next available space on the perimeter, then I recommence my casting and continue onward.
In addition to warding your entire home, you may wish to place additional wards on specific rooms within your home. Doing so strengthens the protection. I prefer to ward my home first, and then ward my bedroom as well.
Before performing this ritual, please read the important discussion of ethics on warding shared spaces and rental property that follows later in this article.
Gather your materials
I use salt water to represent earth and water together, and burning incense to represent air and fire together. You may combine elements like this or represent them singly using different materials. I have occasionally represented earth with sand, air with a large feather, fire with a candle, and water with ice. Decide if you want to represent the four elements in pairs or singly, and then choose elemental representations that work best for you.
Clear your space
Much the same way you clear a space before casting a circle, you will want to clear your home of negative and chaotic energies before you put up a protective ward. I prefer to walk every room in my home while ringing a bell loudly. Other sound-based cleansings include the usage of singing bowls and clapping hands.
Cleansing may be also done with smoke or scent, as in smudging with sage smoke or heating essential oils like sandalwood or peppermint. Even something as simple as opening windows to allow in sunshine and fresh air can accomplish the goal of cleansing. The idea is to chase away any negative or disruptive energy so that your home is fresh, clean, and calm before the ritual. Remember, you want your wards to keep the good stuff inside and the bad stuff outside!
Perform your ritual
Choose which elemental representation to use first, and carry it with you while you walk the entire perimeter of the space to be warded in a deosil (clockwise) direction. As you walk, visualize the element (s) forming a great barrier going up all around the space. I visualize the four elemental barriers as mountains, waterfalls, leaping flames, and gusty winds full of leaves and sand. Pass the elements over all portals (windows, doors, fireplaces, gates, etc) twice, for extra strength and protection.
As you pass each of the elements over your home in turn, repeat this chant while you walk:
By (element) , I ward thee:
Guard this space from all ill will
and all those who wish me/us harm.
If you are representing the four elements singly, you will circumambulate your space four times, each time chanting the above incantation for the specific element you carry. If you are representing the elements combined in pairs, you will circumambulate your space twice, alternating your chant back and forth between the two elements you carry.
Maintain your wards
With this ritual, you will create living wards that need regular maintenance to stay strong and effective. In a sense, you will need to feed and care for your ward as you would a pet. When I am healthy and my energy levels are up, I strengthen and repair my wards with my own energy.
I will sit in the center of my home with my eyes closed and my palms up, and I visualize pouring my own energy from my palms into the wards around me. A friend of mine touches the front door to her apartment briefly and pours a little energy into her wards that way every time she leaves the house.
Another way to strengthen your wards without depleting yourself is to draw energy from an outside source and channel it into your wards. I have accomplished this by channeling energy drawn from a candle into my wards, and also from warm sunbeams streaming through my windows. How you choose to maintain your wards is up to you, but you must understand that regular maintenance is important to keep your wards strong and effective.
Ethical considerations
What if you share your home with a roommate? What if you rent your home and you’ll be moving out in another eight months? What about common walls shared with other dwellings? As practitioners, we must remain sensitive to the ethical implications of using magic to protect ourselves.
If your home is a shared space with family, significant others, roommates or other housemates, it is important to discuss your intentions with them before performing a warding ritual. It is entirely possible that housemates may feel uncomfortable with the idea of having the home warded. If this is your situation, it is important to respect their point of view. You may present your reasons why you believe warding the space would be beneficial, but I urge you against coercion or secretly warding the home anyway.
If you are unable to reach compromise with your housemates on warding the entire home, you may wish to ward your private space. I once warded my private bedroom in a college dormitory. If your bedroom is shared, you can also simply ward your own bed. This ritual can be made as large or as small as the practitioner requires.
If your home is rented and you plan to move out in the future, it is important to dispel and dismiss all wards and energies before you leave. The same is true if you are selling your house to new homeowners. Just as you wouldn’t ward a shared space without informed consent from other housemates, you also don’t want to leave behind any magical residue to pollute the environment for unsuspecting new residents. Information on how to dispel your wards follows in the next section.
Regardless of how you choose to bring your wards down, it is ethically imperative that you ground or dismiss any remaining energy residue so as to leave the space clean and fresh for the next residents. To help you accomplish this goal, you may wish to follow dismissal with a cleansing of the space like those mentioned previously in this article.
Common walls with other dwellings frequently occur in rental housing (apartments, duplexes, etc.) as well as in condominiums. It is mainly for this reason that I suggest walking the interior perimeter of apartments and condominiums. Unless you have your neighbors’ permission to perform rituals on their space, it is important that any ritual energies you work with remain contained inside your own dwelling.
In this case, it is important that your ward barriers stop where your walls do. Please take care that your ward barriers do not extrude into the living room or bedroom of your neighbors on the other side of your dining room wall. Similarly, be cautious that your wards do not spill outside your exterior walls into walkways or common areas around your dwelling.
Dismissing your wards
Whether you are leaving a rented dwelling, selling your house, or if you just need a fresh start, there are almost as many ways to tear down and dismiss your wards as there are ways to bring down a ritual circle. You may choose to circumambulate the space in a widdershins (counterclockwise) direction and dismiss the energies as you go. You can also sit stationary in the space and draw all the energies through you and ground them into the earth, leaving nothing behind.
A friend of mine dismisses his wards by element, much as many dismiss quarters after a ritual. Working in a widdershins fashion, he faces each of the cardinal directions in turn. He humbly thanks each element for its protection and dismisses it gratefully.
I prefer to stand somewhere in the center of the warded space and picture the energy barriers around me. I hold my arms straight up and reach with my hands as though I could touch the ceiling of the ward. I visualize ripping a small hole in the ward, and then gripping the edges of the hole, I bring my arms down to my sides, tearing the ward down around me and grounding the energies at my feet. You may also wish to follow dismissal with any of the cleansing rituals mentioned previously.
Make your wards your own
This ritual is fairly simple and straightforward. Try using it as a base upon which to build and create your own personal warding ritual. Remember to determine the extent of your ward ahead of time, and always consider the ethics of your particular situation. When gathering your materials, do not be afraid to use your favorite elemental representations, even if they are different from examples listed here.
Clearing your space can be as simple as smudging with sage, or as complex as performing the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram, it’s up to you to decide which cleansing works best for you.
The incantation must serve its intended purpose, but it need not be as bare and simple as the one suggested here. Try expounding upon it, adding to it, making it rhyme, singing it, and even dancing if you wish.
Finally, it is imperative that your wards receive proper maintenance. I’ve offered examples of different ways to make certain your wards have adequate energy to perform their intended task. You may expound upon these examples in any manner that you find works well. The most important points of warding are covered here. How exactly you choose to carry them out and make them your own are entirely up to you.
Footnotes:
I am a member of the coven Goethe’s Garden, which has a listing here at WitchVox. My High Priest has used this ritual for many years, and he passed it on to me during my year-and-a-day dedication. I share it with you with his permission.
Blessings of Abundance
List of predicted dates of the end of the world
List of predicted dates of the end of the world
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This page details dates when the world was, or is, forecast to end.
| Date | Author | Event | Article |
|---|---|---|---|
| 400 | Martin of Tours | Stated that the world would end before 400. | |
| April 6, 793 | Beatus of Liébana | The Spanish monk Beatus of Liébana prophesied the second coming of Christ and the end of the world that day to a crowd of people. The crowd thinking that the world would end, fasted through the night. The following morning, Hordonius, one of the fasters, said, “Let’s eat and drink, so that if we die at least we’ll be fed.” | |
| 1284 | Pope Innocent III | Pope Innocent III predicted that the world would end following 666 years of the rise of Islam. | |
| 1689 | Benjamin Keach | ||
| October 16, 1736 | William Whiston | Comet colliding with the earth. | |
| 1792 | The Shakers | ||
| 1806 | The Prophet Hen of Leeds | In Leeds, England in 1806 a hen began laying eggs on which the phrase “Christ is coming” written on the eggs. Eventually it was discovered to be a hoax. The hoaxster had written on the eggs in a corrosive ink so to etch the eggs, and reinserted the eggs back into the hen.[4] | The Prophet Hen of Leeds |
| 1843-1844 | William Miller | Miller predicted Christ would return between March 21, 1843 and March 21, 1844, then revised his prediction, claiming to have miscalculated Scripture, to October 22, 1844. The realization that the predictions were incorrect resulted in a Great Disappointment. Miller’s theology gave rise to the Advent movement. The Baha’is believe that Christ did return as Miller predicted in 1844, with the advent of The Báb, and numerous Miller-like prophetic predictions from many religions are given in William Sears book, Thief in The Night. | |
| 1867-1875 | Rev. Michael Baxter | Forty ‘Wonders’ occurring in the following seven years and seventy-five days including wars, famine, pestilence and earthquakes culminating in the return of Christ in 1875. | |
| 1919 | Albert Porta | Alignment of planets causing the sun to explode. | |
| December 21, 1954 | Dorothy Martin | Martin, a housewife from Chicago claimed to have received messages from aliens via automatic writing which stated that the world would end in a great flood before dawn on December 21, 1954. | When Prophecy Fails |
| Summer of 1969 | Charles Manson | Manson predicted that an apocalyptic race war would occur in 1969 and ordered the Tate-LaBianca murders in an attempt to bring it about. | Helter Skelter (Manson scenario) |
| 1980 | Leland Jensen | In 1978 Jensen predicted that there would be a nuclear disaster in 1980, followed by two decades of conflict, culminating in God’s Kingdom being established on earth. | |
| 1980s,2000 | Hal Lindsey | Lindsey has been continually predicting the end of the world since his 1970 book The Late, Great Planet Earth. His later books including The 1980s: Countdown to Armageddon and Planet Earth 2000 A.D.: Will Mankind Survive? gave revised dates. | |
| 1982, 2000s | Pat Robertson | In late 1976, Robertson predicted that the end of the world was coming in October or November 1982. He also predicted various cataclysmic events for the first decade of the current century such as a Pacific Northwest tsunami ” and a Middle East war involving Russia that did not come to pass. | Pat Robertson |
| April 23, 1990 | Elizabeth Clare Prophet | Prophet predicted an impending nuclear holocaust, leading her followers to stockpile a shelter with supplies and weapons. Later, after Prophet’s prediction did not come to pass and she was diagnosed with epilepsy and Alzheimer’s disease, the group’s leadership attempted to draw the focus of its work away from doomsday predictions. | The Summit Lighthouse |
| June 9, 1994 | Pastor John Hinkle | Hinkle of Christ Church in Los Angeles predicted the return of Christ this day. | |
| September 6, 1994 | Harold Camping | Camping predicted the Rapture would occur on this date. | |
| January 1, 2000 | Various | “Y2K” Computers predicted to stop working, leading to failures of the electrical grid, dams, nuclear warheads, and everything else with a computer in it. | Year 2000 problem |
| January 1, 2000 | Credonia Mwerinde, Joseph Kibweteere | An estimated 778 followers of this Ugandan religious movement perished in a devastating fire and a series of poisonings and killings that were either a group suicide or an orchestrated mass murder by group leaders after their predictions of the apocalypse failed to come about. | Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God |
| May 5, 2000 | Richard Noone | In his book 5/5/2000 – Ice:The Ultimate Disaster, Noone predicts that the planets Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn would align for the first time in 6000 years. This would cause a catastrophic build up of ice at the South pole leading to devastation across the planet. | Cataclysmic pole shift hypothesis |
| August 2007 | Thomas Chase | ||
| October 21, 2011 | Harold Camping | Camping predicted that the Rapture will occur on May 21, 2011 with God taking approximately 3% of the world’s populations (200 million people) into Heaven. The actual end of the world is predicted to occur five months later. | 2011 end times prediction |
| December 21, 2012 | Various | Several scenarios for the end of the world including galactic alignment, a geomagnetic reversal, a collision with Planet Nibiru or some other interplanetary object, alien invasion, earth being destroyed by a giant supernova. | 2012 theories |
| 2060 | Sir Isaac Newton | Newton proposed, based upon his calculations using figures from the book of Daniel, that the Apocalypse could happen no earlier than 2060. |
A Simple House Blessing
A Simple House Blessing
Items You Will Need:
Pentagram
Compass
Rosemary
Lavender
Snap lock bag
Glue the Pentagram to the compass, “Spirit” point north. Place everything into bag, and bury in center of building or middle of door.
Pentagram pointing north. Cast a circle, Chant the spell.
Goddess and God bless this house,
Keep it free from bug or mouse.
For good or bad, dark or light,
Those unwelcome will feel thy might.
Protect me as I do thy will,
here you are master for good or ill
Goddess and God hear my prayer.
So Mote it Be.
Concentrate on the Spell until you feel the power flowing, Then break the circle and finish.
Winter Solstice Spell
The Winter Solstice
The Winter Solstice
The darkest day makes way for the return of light
December 21, 2015 marks the Winter Solstice, which is the official beginning of winter, and the shortest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. But there’s a light at the end of this tunnel — literally! As the temperatures fall throughout the winter, the light grows, representing new hope during a time of darkness.
Ancient solstice festivals were the last big feasts before food became scarce during the harsh winter months. This magical day was celebrated from ancient Rome to China, and by the builders of Stonehenge to the Mayans. In fact, we all remember the Winter Solstice on December 21, 2012, which was the apparent end of the Mayan calendar, causing many to believe the end of the world is coming. Obviously, we’re still here!
Many modern holiday traditions, such as Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and New Year’s, have their roots in the Winter Solstice celebrations of yesterday. Winter festivals continue today, complete with lights, feasts, dancing and singing, and spending quality time with those we love.
Astrologically, the Winter Solstice marks the moment the Sun — the ruler of the zodiac — moves from adventurous Fire sign Sagittarius to the steady Earth sign of Capricorn. This is the dark night of the year, a day when the Sun appears to stand still. It’s a time for light and laughter, but also deep reflection.
The Sun’s move into steady Capricorn urges us to take some time to look back on 2015 before we make those New Year’s resolutions. What did we do right? What do we wish we’d done differently? Don’t fight the seriousness it brings to the festive holiday season — use it to start 2016 on the right foot! Just make sure to keep some of the Goat’s ambitious energy alive when the Sun makes its next move.
Source:
Tarot.com is a Daily Insight Group Site
Life As The Witch – Recognizing Our Goddess, HEKATE (Hecate)
Hekate: A Modern Implications
These days, Hekate is often still seen as the Goddess of Witchcraft and Dark Magick, a Dark Crone, because of her connection to the line between life and death. Her chthonic roots are attributed to her aspects as a Death Goddess, but in truth she is not solely death aspected. Her nature is one of transformation, and though change can be terrifying and damaging, it can also be beatific. To think of Her only as a chthonic, Underworld Goddess is to ignore part of her nature.
These days we too often see things in terms of diametric, opposites (light/dark, masculine, feminine, God/Goddess, as if the vast universe is written in binary, nothing more than ones and zeros. While these dichotomies play a role in the nature of the universe, they are also simplified depictions. Deity cannot be contained in the use of dichotomy, because deity transcends those terms.
Hekate is neither light nor dark; she is the very scale of graduation, present at the exact point at which one type of gray becomes another, between every gradient and at either end of the spectrum. Each change is her territory, and there are billions of transformations every day.
Hekate’s connection to magic is another aspect of her nature. Through magic we take what is only potential and pull it into reality, imprinting the mundane world with what could be. And this is one of the biggest changes of all, the transformation for which Hekate has always been particularly revered. Magick is transformation, and it’s from this that Hekate’s association with it is.
In invoking Heckate we can learn to accept changes in our lives, both positive and negative, and we can also create change in our own worlds. She aids the completion and manifestation of spells and when called for divinatory purposes she can help to reveal the truth more readily. She can part the Veil, to allow clearer vision or communion with the dead. Hekate is a protector of children, especially when they walk hard paths, but also in the journey into adulthood.
Hekate guards the crossroads, both those that line our physical reality and those that mark our passage through life, through our spirituality, and through the journey that is existence.
Reference:
Excerpt from:”The Transformative Nature of Hekate”
by Marion Sipe
Llewellyn’s 2012 Magical Living Companion
Saturday’s Spells
Thoughts on Black Magick
Lady of the Abyss is has a way to teach us new things from the Spirit Plane by me reposting a post of hers done on October 2, 2111.
Thoughts on Black Magick by Sylvana SilverWitch
article
Glendower: I can call spirits from the vasty deep.
Hotspur: Why, so can I, or so can any man; But will they come when you do call for them?
Shakespeare, Henry IV, Part 2
Black magick, the black arts, the left hand path_ the words conjure a reaction, a chill, raise the hair on the nape of your neck. I invariably imagine zombies, the voodoo walking undead or secret virgin sacrifices. I think, too, of dolls with needles stuck in them for malicious revenge spells, of death, injury and illness.
First, let’s examine magick; what is it precisely? There are numerous interpretations, and each person you ask will have their own. My favorite definition of magick is that of S.L. MacGregor Mathers, one of the founding members of the Golden Dawn. He characterizes magick as: “The Science of the Control of the Secret Forces of Nature.” I do like to commune with those secret forces, and to fancy I might have some influence, however small, over them. Ha, ha, ha!
Another explication is from the famous old grimoire, The Lemegeton, or The Lessor Key of Solomon. It states: “Magick is the Highest, most Absolute, and Most Divine Knowledge of Natural Philosophy, advanced in its works and wonderful operations by a right understanding of the inward and occult virtue of things; so that true Agents being applied to proper Patients, strange and admirable effects will therefore be produced. Whence magicians are profound and diligent searchers into Nature; they, because of their skill, know how to anticipate an effect, the which to the vulgar shall seem to be a miracle.”
Old Uncle Al (Aleister Crowley, pronounced Cro-lee) had another one of the finest: “The Science and Art of causing Change to occur in conformity with Will.” This leaves a lot of room for doing what you please, but Uncle Al was especially big on free will anyway. I believe he would, even now, approve of black magick.
Another one of my favorites is that of a fellow, described by Doreen Valiente, who said in her book An ABC of Witchcraft: “Black magick can be defined as what the other fellow does!” Isn’t that the truth!? I have listened to this from a lot of people, who really can’t tell you what black magick would be – except a spell to kill someone – and I asked lots of people this question! They can’t describe it themselves, but it’s what “So and so” does! They know it when they see it!
When I sat down to compose this article I speculated, what would people want to apprehend about black magick? I would want to understand – what is it specifically? This is not always simple to define, the edges are blurred in some cases.
So, what actually is black magick? Is it all of these, or any of them? According to the Encyclopedia of Witches and Witchcraft: “Magic is variously described as white, black and gray, but actually it has no color. Magic is neutral and amoral. It can be bent to good, evil or ambiguous purposes, depending on the intent of the practitioner.” “The distinction between white and black magic is fairly modern,” according to occultist A.E. Waite, “and depends upon sharp contrast between good and evil spirits.”
According to certain people, there is apparently no such thing as “black” magick. Other people have differing opinions, like The Modern Witch’s Spellbookby Sarah Lyddon Morrison has a whole section, along with the charms and talismans, love spells and potions, that describes black magick and its applications. It is complete with specific spells: “to torment, but not permanently injure,” or like “punishing a faithless lover,” or “to cause a lot of agony,” and “how to make a marriage unhappy.”
Wait, there’s more: “To maim and kill,” and detailed instructions on “how to dig up a coffin” to get your hands on some coffin nails (presumably for other weird spells). To Sarah’s credit, the chapter on black magick includes a segment about ethics and contains plenty of admonitions about what not to do, and how you should never render black magick in haste. It goes on to caution you about what happens if you’re not positively certain about your victim or whether they actually did what you think they did, or deserve the results your efforts.
So, I guess it’s okay with her, as long as you heed the instructions – this seems to be the theory of quite a few people outside the Northwest. Speaking of the Northwest, I have discovered that people here are inclined to be a bit more conservative (or politically correct), than they are ordinarily.
When I began in the Craft, it was much more permissible to use your art for advantage or protection or even for retribution: the sort of things that are, today, considered by many to be black magick. This whole thing about the politically correct manner in which to do magick, or whether it’s okay to work magick at all – positively annoys me! I say, “What variety of witch doesn’t practice magick?” I have known a number of them here in the Seattle area. Hmmmmmmm. Maybe that’s one of the distinctions between “Wiccans” and “Witches” – I am a Witch, with a capital “W.” I am not, however, a Wiccan, and that’s okay.
I remember when the domain of the witches was just that, the dark side. We were outside the edges of society anyway, and we knew we had power and we weren’t afraid to use it. People came frequently to implore me to work a spell for them: to bring back an errant lover, to get a particular job, to get back at a person who had harmed them. I usually sent them away with instructions on how to resolve the situation themselves, though in certain circumstances it was acceptable to do the spell for them. What happened? Why is it not okay anymore to exercise your power? Why has the Craft become so boringly P.C.?
“The driving force behind black magic is hunger for power.” So says Richard Cavendish in The Black Arts,one of the first books about magick that I bought when I was about sixteen, thinking that “this must be what it is.” Cavendish also says, “The magician sets out to conquer the universe. To succeed he must make himself master of everything in it – evil as well as good, cruelty as well as mercy, pain as well as pleasure.” This makes sense, right? According to almost everyone that I have talked to, those who have been in the Craft for over 10 years, they all started out in search of power. Or at least that’s what they thought at the time. Many began by practicing black magick and proceeded logically, after getting their butts kicked (proverbially or not), to the Craft as we now know it and what they ended up finding is their own power.
When I was younger, and did not know any better – I, too, believed any magick that would work was great. If you could get someone to do what you wanted or to fall in love with you, or whatever, you were a clever witch. It is much easier to do what is now referred to as black magick when you’re young; you frequently have a lot of emotion invested in it, so there’s no wonder a neophyte might be successful with it.
My personal definition of black magick, if there is such a thing, about which I am still ambiguous, is: working magick that is meant to hurt, harm or to cause the loss of free will or to hinder someone else or a situation. Further, it can be just pulling on someone’s energy without his or her permission, and knowledge. Sometimes this is not done maliciously or mean-spiritedly, for instance working love magick to get a specific person, or healing a person who maybe needs the rest that illness provides. So in my opinion, you should be very careful. It works – it works well so you better be very sure! There is so much negativity floating around in the atmosphere that it’s easy to gather that up and direct it without much effort or skill. Should you do it? I can’t tell you that, but I don’t recommend doing anything questionable unless you really know what you’re doing and are absolutely willing to suffer the consequences of the threefold law of return. Because the problem is, it will come back to you, and you should be ready to have your butt kicked by it.
In my class, I teach that there’s no color to magick, that it all just is and it’s a matter of the intent that creates the Karma. I do my best now to avoid situations that might get me into a position where I’d be inclined to have to use my magick in such a way. I also teach my students personal responsibility, and I practice it myself. I would hope that all grown-up witches would do the same. That is the secret, in my opinion. There are not many people willing to take responsibility for themselves and their actions. I have heard many people complain about this and that, and how they wish it would be different to accommodate them. I say stop complaining and do something for yourself! Use magick if you will and remember to be mindful of your intent!
A Witches Spell – Spell To Assist In Readings and Divination
Lady of the Abyss is has a way to teach us new things from the Spirit Plane by me reposting this post of hers done on November 10, 2013
Spell To Assist In Readings and Divination
Items You Will Need:
White candle
Whatever tools you use for divination, such as tarot cards, runes, crystal ball, etc.
Not every form of divination works for every Witch. Sometimes it take trial and error to discover which one work the best for you. If you are having a hard time seeing clearly, try doing this before attempting a reading. It is also a good one to do if the issue at hand is very important.
If you still have a hard time seeing the answers you seek, you can try having your familiar help by giving them a choice of tarot cards or runes stones, and seeing which one they pick.
You can call on any God or Goddess for this spell. Apollo is used here because he was the patron God of the Oracle at Delphi, probably the most famous center of divination in the ancient world.
Great Apollo Farseeing and wise Help me see clearly As if through your eyes Bless now these tools And the one who will see And send me your vision Of what is to be Help me set aside feelings That get in the way So I might see true In my reading today.So Mote It Be
Witches Of The Craft® 
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