The Journey of a Wild Witch

The Journey of a Wild Witch

Author: Eilan

It has been eight years since I first discovered Witchcraft in a spiritual context. Prior to this Magick was very much alive in my life as I was lucky enough to have been born into a family that understands the spiritual dimension of life. My family also had the insight and experience to see and live this dimension in their everyday. In truth there is no difference between what is conceived to be ‘spiritual’ and that which is apparent and ‘mundane’. It is all one. This is my truth and my wild way.

I am an initiated Witch and Priest of the WildWood Tradition of Witchcraft. This means a great deal to me, as I am also a ‘co-founder’ of the original Mother Coven, based in Brisbane and initiated at Samhain (April 30th) 2006. Our ‘tradition’ and way of living the Craft is deeply interwoven with what many people call ‘shamanism’; derived from the Siberian Tungus word for their medicine people – saman. Mircea Eliade, the late Romanian historian, described shamanism as a “technique of ecstasy” and my coven has come to define Witchcraft as an “ecstasy-driven, Earth-based, mystery tradition”.

Our (and all Witches’) rituals and methods of practice allow us to transcend the illusion of separation and therefore to dissolve the ego and actualize the freedom that lives in the heart of all things. I often call and relate to this ‘All’ as the Great Mystery. The beauty of being a Wild Witch is that nothing is absolute and I have come to realize that all of Life is a holy continuum, which constantly seeks to express itself through diversity. Through expression comes manifestation, which allows us to experience Beauty through Perfection (the world in which we live) and then once more we come to the Wholeness of Unity and the cycle repeats itself.

We are born into a plural world of many and pass into the One only to yearn to divide ourselves once more to grow, deepen and enrich our understandings and experiences of that subtle/overt thing – the Great Mystery.

My coven’s tradition has developed and evolved around this wild-trance-dance-of-wonder. The only consistency between our covens is that we honor and acknowledge our heartland the WildWood, keep holy our covenant with the Sacred Four (the Weaver, the Green Man, the Crescent-Crowned Goddess and the Stag-Horned God) and that we remain open and receptive to personal/group gnosis and to Awen (the divine flow of inspiration) . Other than this there are some structural similarities regarding dedication and priesthood and inner and outer courts.

Essentially however we are wild Witches who fly in the face of authority and seek the wilderness underlying the apparent ‘civilization’ of things. Nothing can be tamed, for the wild is free and the free is divine! As we say in the WildWood – “we have actualized our radness!”

What do Wild Witches do? First and foremost – we live! We breathe, we sleep, we eat, we drink, we sing, we dance, we make love, we scream and we spend time sharing presence and being with our loved ones. ‘Being’ is an important principle to consider. To be is quite simple but so many people find themselves distracted by the “this and that” that they leave ‘being’ behind and pursue illusion instead.

This isn’t the same concept found in various Christian philosophies which espouses a “Satan’s fault!” message when sheep stray from the flock so to speak. Witches understand self-responsibility and are aware of action, reaction and consequence (the Threefold Law) . Why not exist in euphoric awareness of self as Self – the animate Cosmos? You are not only a cell within a larger body of universal wholeness; you are whole and thus a perfect embodiment, expression and reflection of the Great Mystery whose cause, undercurrent and outcome is Life.

When we free ourselves from the illusion of past, present and future and surrender to the Flow of the Continuum (the spirals, the wayward ins and outs, the labyrinthine, serpentine undulations of fate becoming) we make real for ourselves the state of being known commonly as “here and now”. This seems to constitute location and time, however it simply addresses the emphasis of indwelling consciousness regardless of where you are and what frame of time constrains it.

There are moments in my life, which I refer to as ‘Nostalgic Rites’. They are pure, simple, soothing, knowing moments that are like the punctuation points in a flow of sentences. They are the markers and the thresholds that appear along our paths when it is time to pause, reflect and feel. I have them often enough in my life to understand their imminent message of timelessness, peace and overwhelming Love! For what I have learnt above all else thus far is that dwelling within the chaos in the cosmos is the peace which neither subsumes or overrides it, but embraces it and lets it be. Chaos is what happens naturally when the undifferentiated potential becomes “this and that” and peace is the understanding that this is the way of Life. All of this is wild; we dwell in a far-reaching, limitless wilderness.

In a recent priestess training session with two beautiful women from my coven I asked both of them to divulge their feelings and reflections of the journey toward their priestesshood, as they are nearing to the ‘end’ of the beginning – Initiation. One of the women honestly came out and said to us that she feared for us (the other priestess-in-training and I) because we are on the top of the mountain, but because we are risk-takers it is inevitable that we will fall.

I had to stop and wonder in that moment why anyone would not want to fall. In fact I also wondered whether it had occurred to her that surrounding the mountain were vast forests, plains, rivers, deserts, tundra, bushland, seas, oceans and lakes; not to mention all of the beings who inhabit these places.

For me the mountain is not the point. It is part of the whole Great Mystery, but the journey does not lead to a single place; in fact the journey doesn’t really lead anywhere. There is no aim to my wandering, to my blissful dance through the wilderness – I simply embrace every experience because it is worthy of it and I laugh, smile, cry, choke, rage, relax, love, ***, change, grow, and a million other things that I couldn’t possibly articulate or fathom for the purposes of this article.

The other woman, who knows me very well, and is one of my closest friends, then turned to me smiling and said, “You are so glib!” She then went on to explain that it was the “natural, offhand ease and articulate fluency and flow” of how I expressed my truth that made me glib in her opinion.

It wasn’t a criticism on her part, merely an observation. I think it is actually quite accurate. I have such ease and flow in my expression because I don’t have to think too hard about who I am or how I feel because I am and I feel in the “here and the now”. I live and I am, and in my experience Life itself is glib.

To my fellow journeyers of the wild way who know in their hearts that they are heading nowhere, anywhere and everywhere – may you dance the Wander with all you are. My deepest well of love to you all!

The Wanderer

The sages say that samsara is to wander, to pass through,
I say samsara is to know the way and dance it.
To dance is to live, and to live is never “to pass through”;
Dance doll – dance and light up the stage…

Then they came with their wrought-iron weapons
And they pierced my soul, and looked for the mark.
I sang to them to soothe their battered spirits.
They sunk their swords in harder, my heart is in shreds.

The blood ran dry and the old seas heaved
And there in the darkest hour all was forgotten,
And tattered clothes were left in tatters,
And the ashes were left in mounds at the pyres.

Is it a fact that when we are lost we wander?
Is it true that when we are in love we dance?
Or do we dance when we are lost?
And do we wander when in love?

Samsara, O holy wheel of Life,
Keep turning, I want to stay.
I don’t want nirvana in clouds far away
For I feel it already…here.

The Wanderer – the Fool?
I don’t mind, I don’t mind being;
For all the pain and suffering and the attachment to desire
There is a keenness that is not worth losing.

I want to live,
I want to wander if that’s what it takes,
But through all this I will dance
And I will dance because I love.

– Gede Parma, 2007

Your Current Moon Phase for May 16th – Balsamic (Waning)

Moon Phases: Balsamic Moon

(waning 45-0 degrees)

by Jan Spiller

This is a time to rest, reevaluate and reflect … pulling back into yourself to reconnect with inner sources of strength. Now is NOT a time to initiate anything new. It’s a phase suited to spending time with friends and getting in touch with the “big picture.” A window of opportunity exists for seeing your life objectively and becoming aware of what is important to you. At this point, what are your dreams and aspirations? What larger goals can you aspire to that will bring vitality and excitement into your life? This is a time for resting and gaining inner strength to prepare for a new cycle.

Your Daily Cosmic Calendar for May 16th

There’s no rest for the weary! Ten important celestial seasonings are about to be sprinkled on all of our lives. Here’s the complete list as the Sun forms a contra-parallel with Pluto (1:35AM PDT), the Moon in Aries unites with Uranus (5:12AM PDT), Mars trines Pluto (9:27AM PDT), Venus makes a 30-degree tie to Jupiter (1:42PM PDT), Vesta makes a similar, 30-degree link to Uranus (2:29PM PDT), Jupiter forms an off-kilter, 150-degree connection to Saturn (3:43PM PDT), the Moon parallels Mars (7:39PM PDT), Mercury makes a frictional, 45-degree tie to Pallas (8:28PM PDT), Ceres contacts Neptune via an inspirational, 72-degree link (10:04PM PDT), and Mars opposes Chiron (11:57PM PDT). To some extent, the aspects are almost divided between favorable and challenging. However, Jupiter at loggerheads with Saturn must top the list and this liaison is clearly discordant – particularly on the business and professional fronts. Therefore, attempting to throw your weight around in these areas of life is foolish and illogical. Even though the Moon with Uranus speaks of potential innovation and Ceres in touch with Neptune equates with a possible rising tide of productivity, the two largest planets (Jupiter and Saturn) suggesting the need for a major readjustment is top dog right now. Of course, you can attempt to tweak each difficult alignment – when they occur – and see if you gain some kind of mileage around those time-periods. Nevertheless, the overall mood in the psychic atmosphere is a lot of stress and strain are happening, and if you can play the role of Good Samaritan or cheerleader to shut-ins and the disadvantaged, by all means do so.

The Elemental Aura

The Elemental Aura

Author: Bluethorne

Greetings to you all,

I have written many things in the past concerning the aura and its impact on the daily lifestyles and healing aspects of the world. In almost all of the articles and papers I’ve written on this, I’ve delved into myself for an enlightening answer to the path that unites the mundane world with the retro-spiritual or elemental world.

I have developed a very thorough and well thought-out path on the earning of this, which goes well beyond any lazy eye tricks or alterations of the mind. I have taught and written on my website about the ‘awakening of the senses’ and their path to visiting the auras within us and in the world around us. I have not truly taught this path to anyone, yet I will delve into it here for you now.

I know that most things of this sort are discovered and documented from the perspective of the creator. So I will offer my perspective as well on this with the hope that it could possibly be of use to someone.

I have had this idea that all things are parts of ‘one’ whole being and are mimicked and duplicated in certain ways to turn into the fashions that they are brought forth in our world. And with thi,s we have the mundane world (the life we see everyday, the non magickal and boring life which society has decayed our real world into). With this decayed society, we can think of it like an outer shell of the world, the shell which all things are part of which we see, and just beyond that lies many other paths of worldly view.

If we visit a local sanctuary or park, we may see certain things that society has brought up to gather our attention such as the many colorful manmade structures or awful things that are disheartening to the world. Yet beyond these lie the natural world, the grasses, trees, plants, flowers, and the sky.

If we learn to look past the mundane world into the natural world, we will begin to feel a harmony growing within us as the natural life cycles of the world begin to rear their wheels into motion at the sensitivity we are now focusing upon it. It becomes more ‘real’ then before and now these things speak out to us. We can hear them and feel them if we learn to look and feel as they do.

When we have learned this path of natural harmony, we begin to feel the power of the world lending us its elemental focus and channeling all of the powers of its creation to us. When this begins to happen — if we utilize the same attention we focused towards the natural world by looking past the mundane and into it and becoming part of it — we will begin to feel the elements of the world opening up to us and the elemental world will become visible to us.

Just as we focused on the natural, we will now focus our intents on the elemental world, the world that lies beyond the natural, within it, around it, and below it. We will see the sky as the Air and feel its empowering winds. The enlightenment of its channeling powers will become one with us.

The Earth will open up to us and hold us still as a centering block that all emotional and physical disruption will break upon.

The Waters will flow within us as the waters of life and we will see the connection between ourselves and the waters of the world as the lifeblood of all things natural.

And the Fires will burn within us and all around us, bringing great courage and forthcoming advances in all things to us, so that we may open our minds and hearts to the path of the elements.

With this new becoming — if we simply open our eyes and look past the natural and into the elemental world — we will see the connection that the elements hold to our auras. And in looking at our ethereal self in the same fashion as we would hold towards viewing the elemental world, we will see our auras and the mimicking encounters with the elemental world will be now visible to us in all things.

The world will be our stage and our hearts will be our will. The elemental aura will flow within us and the paths of all things good will now are with us. We will require no strange eye techniques or afflictions that may alter the body (or give special attention to certain folk who can see the aura over others), as all will see and view the world as one.

The aura extends past ourselves to every part of this world that we call life. All plant life, mineral life, animal life, and even the life of the dead, will be visible to us in the elemental aura form.

Through this we can learn many of the magicks that elude us: herbal crafts become an art form that ties the auras together in certain beautiful fashions to create herbal cures and tonics for all that may ail us.

Ritual work now becomes an extension of the self through the elementally auric world to emit a channeling of energy through the elemental pathways to manifest our wills.

Divination becomes a simple alteration of the elemental auras in certain ways to view their altered states and the paths that they take in their alterations.

By being one with the element, and viewing its state in the future, we can become as the elements are and see our own futures (as the candle burns, as the water evaporates, etc).

Many other paths are available to us that I will not go into at the moment, but I feel that this is a great and natural path that we should all take the time to learn. It is so enlightening and loving beyond most things of this world.

I can guarantee that if you work this path, you will succeed and the world will be a better place all around you. The elements, the trees, the Goddess, all things will love you for the dedication you show towards becoming as nature should be and for attending to its will.

Brightest Blessings,

Bluethorn~

Woden – Help Me Read These Runes Aright…

Woden – Help Me Read These Runes Aright…

Author: RuneWolf

I’ve been trolling the Internet lately looking for new information and/or viewpoints on the runes and, I must say, I’ve gathered more than a few resentments along the way.

Now, I am a steadfast believer in the sanctity of individual spiritual opinion, practice and experience, but I also believe that making things different doesn’t necessarily make them better, and that some things are best left in the original packaging, so to speak. (That’s one of the benefits of being a non-dualist – one can be a liberal AND a fundamentalist at the same time without ones head exploding…)

I also believe that if the Old Ways (i.e. the way things were done prior to about 1990) are to be preserved, someone has to speak up when the drift becomes a bit too drifty. And, yes, some of us have to be arrogant enough to think that we qualify for that position. At the very least, I hope that the Pagano-Heathen community can still agree to disagree, and that those of us who “pine for the Good Old Days” have at least as much right to speak up and say our piece as the innovators and pioneers.

(And now, a brief pause for the Politically Correct Disclaimer: What follows is not The Truth, nor the One Right And Only Way. It is simply what I have come to believe in as a result of research, study, practice and UPG [Unverifiable Personal Gnosis]. I believe in it strongly, and will both state and defend it passionately, but that does not mean that I think your way is wrong. Mine is just righter…)

For the sake of brevity, I will address three of the most heinous aberrations I see in “contemporary runelore”: the so-called “blank rune,” orientational interpretation of the runestaves and, for lack of a better term, the “New Aging” of the runelore. I will explain each of these categories more fully as I address them.

Before I do so, however, a bit needs to be said about the process of divination with the runes, in order for my arguments against these heresies to make sense. Since this topic itself cannot be easily covered in a book, let alone an essay, I must again be as succinct as I can be and still communicate the basic concepts.

First, let’s clarify a little terminology. What we commonly refer to as “runes,” (i.e. the little bits of wood, ceramics, metal or stone with the angular symbols on them) are more properly referred to as “runestaves.” “Rune” actually refers to the Mystery represented by each of those little angular symbols. However, to avoid needless confusion, I will acquiesce to popular usage, and refer to the staves as runes (small r), and the Mysteries as Runes (capitol R).

Divination with the runes is a lot like tracking earthquakes with a seismograph. What we are attempting to sense, through the agency of the runes, are the tremblings along the Web of Wyrd that may lead to one outcome or another, depending on other tremblings of the Web. A casting or spread of runes is a snapshot of the vibratory patterns of the Web at a particular point in space/time. While it is possible to hone a reading to a very precise degree, what one normally sees in runic divination is a rather broad picture of the current situation, and the many possibilities that could emerge in the as-yet-unmanifest future. One also needs to understand that, unlike Tarot, a runic divination is not necessarily relevant to the querent. One may indeed be the focus of a particular reading, in which case the reading will tend to resonate or make a great deal of sense. However, one may simply be caught up in an impersonal “Runic current,” in which case the reading may seem – at least at that moment – to be way off base.

There are many contemporary methods for casting or creating a rune reading, but many of these are borrowed from the Tarot tradition. How the runes were originally used is unclear, except that, from the lore, we know that several at a time were cast onto a cloth or other surface, and then interpreted.

With these admittedly broad strokes as our launch pad, let’s look at those “issues” I mentioned earlier.

The (Dreaded) Blank Rune:

There is no such thing.

That should put an end to it, but I know better by now.

To the best of my (admittedly limited) knowledge, the blank rune was first popularized by Ralph Blum in the ‘90s. It may have been around before but let’s be fair: before Blum’s book, precious few in mainstream American had ever heard of a rune, let alone a blank one. While I bitterly oppose Mr. Blum’s New Agey interpretations of the runes and his apparent attempt to combine them with the Tarot tradition, I have to give credit where credit is due: he did succeed in bringing the runes back into the popular consciousness and imagination, although the jury is still out on whether that is a good thing or a bad thing. While many Pagans and Heathens were and are scandalized and offended by his work, there are many writers of whom that can be said, so in all, I bear no great animosity toward the man and his work. I was first introduced to the runes through his book, though I was lucky enough to be set straight later on by my Elders and the Gods.

But I digress…

Since its introduction, the blank rune has come to symbolize many things, and has even been called (shudder!) Odin’s Rune. And while I can tolerate a lot of hooey, I have to draw the line right there. Ansuz is Odin’s Rune; period, end of discussion. If you don’t believe me, just ask Him…

Usually, the blank rune is said to represent the Great Mystery (as if the preceding twenty-four Mysteries weren’t great enough), which has always seemed a bit, well, lazy to me. It’s a convenient “back door” for those who divine themselves into a corner, and a good prop to point to when you haven’t a clue what the whole reading means, but still want to seem powerful and mysterious. In short, it’s a gimmick, and there is no place for gimmicks in serious runework.

The other manner in which I often see and hear the blank rune used is as the “significator” in a rune reading, i.e. a representation of the querent. This is pretty blatant plagiarism from the Tarot tradition and, again, has no place in runework. The Runes do not revolve around you, no matter how special you think you are – it is up to you to fit yourself into the patterns they may choose to reveal to you. If you really MUST have a “significator,” then let that be the first rune that you draw, and cast the others over/around it. But even then, remember that it is a metaphysical seismograph, and the tremors it is picking up may be so faint, so deep, that you see no possible connection to you or your present circumstances.

Orientational Interpretations:

By this I mean the interpretation of the runes according to whether they are “upright” or “reversed,” with upright interpretations being mostly “good,” and reversed mostly “bad.”

This is, again, a direct syncretism from the Tarot tradition, and is alien to the nature of the Runes. The primal cosmic forces that are the Runes cannot be subjected to dualistic reductionism and parsed into polarities of “good and bad,” “light and dark” and so on. The Runic forces are far too fundamental to the structure and function of the multiverse to be thought of in such limited terms. Each rune represents not merely the two obvious sides of a coin, but the edge also, and, for that matter, the very molecular structure of the coin that exists between the visible sides! Indeed, implicit in the very existence of the coin is all that the coin is not! And so it is with the Runes.

In studying and working with the runes, one comes to appreciate the true non-dualistic nature of reality, and to comprehend, however poorly, the vast and complex interweaving of weal and woe (“good” and “bad”) that is existence. This is not a Pollyanna attitude of “every cloud has a silver lining,” nor is it an entropic nihilism that sees all that is good, beautiful and true as ultimately ephemeral and therefore pointless. If anything, it has more in common with the worldview of philosophical Taoism than with any product of the Greco-Roman philosophers and their later European adherents. One recognizes that the ways of Wyrd are neither good nor bad, that they simply are what they are and one is free to accept them on their own terms, or categorize them in whichever pigeonhole one wishes. In the end, our labels and categorizations are swallowed up in the flow of the Runic currents.

If the Runes are then, in essence, shades of gray within shades of gray, how does one make sense of a rune casting? As the man once said, all things are relative, and it is in the relationship of each rune in the casting to every other rune that one intuits the influence, for weal or woe or both, of the individual Runic forces and the combinations thereof upon the matter in question. When one looks at the runes scattered in a casting, one is literally looking at patterns within patterns, and this is the true key to effective runic divination.

The “New Aging” of the Runes:

Here I refer to the association or “correspondence” of each Rune to such things as astrological signs and alchemical symbols, herbs, trees, stones, gems, crystals and such like. While it is true that, in some of the ancient rune poems and rhymes, various runes are associated with various phenomena of the natural world, such as trees, stars, hail, the sea, ice, etc., there is no precedence for assigning each rune a correspondence or association in each such category. The associations that exist seem to be made based upon the nature of the rune itself and the associated phenomenon, and there appears to be no meta-pattern on which to base a systematic matrix. Unfortunately, as with orientational interpretation, this practice has been promulgated by otherwise impeccable Runic scholars, and has therefore fallen into more or less common acceptance. Personally, I find the whole concept to be a bit too neat, tidy and structured to apply authentically to the primal, fractal essence of the Runes. The Runes are the ultimate “patternless patterns,” and by their very nature defy such systematization.

In the end, as with all esoteric studies, one must find ones own way to ones own Truth, and I would be the last to attempt to dissuade anyone from pursuing their own wyrd. The Runes will reveal themselves to you as they will, but I urge you to resist the temptation to try to fit them into a neat little cookie-cutter grid of meanings and associations. But neither can we let our understanding of them become ossified. I simply suggest that working with these most profound of Mysteries is adventure enough for one lifetime. We do not need to clutter our work with gimmicks and gewgaws from other paths and traditions.

The Pentagram: A New Look At An Old Star

The Pentagram: A New Look At An Old Star

Author: Miles Pendry

As a High Priest and Witch of twenty-seven seasons, I have often been asked by curious individuals to explain the meaning of the pentagram I wear. I usually reply with the generally accepted explanation of how each of the five points of the star represents the five primal elements in balance and harmony in an enclosing circle.

If I am in a particularly talkative mood, I will usually expand upon the pentagram’s representation of mankind as reflected in both the microcosm and macrocosm. There is, however, a deeper and more personal definition that I am moved to share during this season. A byproduct, I imagine, of my current funk of introspection and preparation for hibernation. Or, as Ebenezer Scrooge (of Dickens’s Christmas Carol) might explain, “maybe an undigested bit of beef, a blot of mustard, a crumb of cheese, a fragment of an underdone potato”.

As I sit contemplating my pentagram, I realize how it means much more to me than a symbol of my belief as a Witch. It is far more than a map of the elemental alignments and universal harmony. It also represents hope, and a shining light to a small child lost in the darkness of his life…of my past.

As I consider this small silver star, I am reminded that the same stars shine over my head now as they have since the moment of my birth, more or less. When I look up into the darkness of a cold, black, New Hampshire night sky, those same stars shine back, impassive, unblinking, and unchanging.

I stand many miles and many years beyond where I stood watching those stars of my youth. The seasons at my feet cycle past…Beltane to Samhain and back again. The Wheel of the Year spins faster and faster with each passing season, each turn spinning the years dizzyingly past. Yet the stars above remain indifferent. I think that is why I continue to wear my pentagram to this day. It reflects the one stable, constant, immutable element in my otherwise chaotic life.

I remember as a child, standing alone in the cornfields of the Midwest at night, looking upwards and sensing an unreachable, untouchable greatness, of a cold, distant presence that was uncaring, yet perpetual and unchanging. I think that if there was an aspect of the Gods that I most honor to this day, it would be that distant, unvarying constant and a knowing that something in my life was stable.

With parents who were both physically and emotionally abusive, who uprooted and moved me almost every year so that I could never put down roots or make friends or develop any sense of security, it was comforting to have a quiet, isolated place to run to and a star to hold onto.

The pentagram means far more to me than the five traditional elements it represents, deeper still than the circle of the microcosm/macrocosm of man. The pentagram to me will always represent those stars in that cold, unchanging night sky that I, as a child, looked up towards so many years ago and cried for a little bit of stability to steady my footing as my life sped out of control around me.

I was emotionally raw, stripped bare, unable to tolerate any degree of emotional contact. Wounded as I was, I did not need or want love or intimacy. I felt lost, powerless and unable to control my direction or destiny. The ship of my life was adrift in an ocean of fear, confusion and pain.

I wanted and needed a star to follow, a constant, unwavering light to guide me out of my darkness.

Some people call that light “Jesus” and walk a Christian path. Some people choose to meditate on the light and speak its sacred name “Ohm”. Others still may call that light “Allah” and pray to it five times a day.

As for me, it makes no difference what you name the light, or what religious text you lay before you. Religions change. Old Gods die. New gods are invented and venerated.

A thousand years go by, and it’s Jesus instead of Jupiter. A thousand more years go by, and it’s Money instead of Marduk. Our culture’s concept of God is continually deconstructed and reinvented, sometimes out of necessity, sometimes out of convenience and almost always for somebody’s profit.

But my star still shines in the night sky.

That distant star doesn’t love me. I cannot have a close personal relationship with it. For all I know or care, that star is not even aware or capable of knowing I exist… let alone give a damn about how I live my life, whether or not I give that life to it or if I try to convince others to give their lives to it. More than likely, it is (as described by They Might Be Giants) a swirling mass of incandescent gas. It just shines, nothing more.

But I look to it and honor it all the same…perhaps even more so because of its indifference. My star is there for me when I look up every night. It will be there when and if I remember to look up tomorrow. That is more than I can say about any other person, place, or material thing in my life.

Seasons change, people change, and the world as we know it moves on; but tonight I know my star will still be there in the sky above, shining, regardless of whether I am looking at it or not. (I am human, after all, and sometimes I forget to take the time to look up.)

They say that in time, even stars must die. After all, supernovas are an accepted scientific fact. That may be true. My star might eventually grow old and tired, and burn out in a final flash of glory.

But it won’t happen in my lifetime, and when it does finally happen, I don’t plan on being here to worry about it.

Shine on!

Misrepresenting This Path

Misrepresenting This Path

Author: Rev. Crystal

Sometimes I am saddened by the misconceptions of Wicca in the world, but it is not just those outside of the Wiccan faith who misrepresent our beliefs. It is also some people within our own communities. One of the ways they do this is by wearing the sacred symbol of the pentacle while acting out the opposite of what we represent.

Wearing a pentacle is an honor for me. I don’t take for granted the work that is involved with being able to represent the Pagan path with pride and integrity. I continue to hold myself to the high standards that come with being able to say, “I am a witch” or “I am Wiccan”. I have enough respect for my elders who have fought through adversity in order to practice this path and make it possible for me to do so as well.

I have found myself pondering what my role is in the lack of respect for our sacred symbol and what my role should be. I know that I am not responsible for another’s spiritual beliefs and for that I am grateful. It is enough just to take care of mine.

But I do think that there are those in the community who should not only offer to be of assistance in setting the record straight, but actually also try to live up to the ethics which govern the Wiccan faith.

Our path is full of beauty, mystery and spiritual grace. One of the most important jobs of Wiccans worldwide is to continue to manifest the beauty that our path represents. This is another point where ethics come clearly into the picture.

There are many new people coming into this path who are not getting a clear understanding of the ethics behind Wicca. Unfortunately, there are not enough elders willing to stand up and teach either. It leaves us with a big gap of understanding between some of the newer generations of Wiccans and the older generations of practitioners. This gap creates confusion, misunderstanding and susceptibility to learning and teaching things that are not in line with our belief structure.

Wicca is not about spellwork or being cool. It is not about revenge or anger. It is about spirituality and love. It is the connection to the god and goddess and the universe.

One of the most important parts of the path of Wicca (not Pagan, but Wiccan) is the Rede. It is an essential part of this path. If one does not follow the Rede, then he/she may be Pagan but not Wiccan. And think about it, as a Wiccan, why wouldn’t you want to follow a clause that ultimately protects you?

Wiccans should understand that we are a part of everything and everything is a part of us. As above, so below. Whatever energy we send out is ultimately tied to us. It is like throwing a tennis ball to a wall. It is coming right back.

There is a responsibility that comes with the wearing of the pentacle which goes far beyond being cool. In truth, the responsibilities that come with that pentacle around your neck are great.

I have to remember that the moment I put on a pentacle or symbol of this path, I am representing it to the outside world. In essence, it is irresponsible to wear a symbol you cannot respect enough to live up to whatever it stands for.

That means a lot; so let’s be clear.

· Know what it is you believe in and stand for.

· Have enough knowledge of the path to answer questions appropriately.

· Manipulation, dishonesty and deceit are not Wiccan traits.

· Don’t wear a pentacle because it makes you look mysterious or it goes well with your Goth outfit.

· Don’t falsely represent yourself as a mentor, teacher or elder if you have not done the training to be one.

· Don’t advertise for sex on the internet with a pentacle on.

· Don’t throw trash on the ground or abuse our mother with a pentacle on.

· Don’t act in immoral ways in our communities and act like you are better than the book religion people.

· Respect your history and the elders who paved the way for us.

· Be humble enough to still learn and not act like you know everything just because you have a pentacle on.

· Respect this path and your fellow Wiccans or Pagans.

Should I go on? The sad thing is that I could. These are all real examples of what is happening in our community as we speak.

Now, I am in no way immune to this behavior myself. The difference for me on my path is the realization that I don’t want to disrespect this path or myself by partaking in maladaptive, old behavior that does not promote my spiritual self.

So I work on this constantly. Nothing comes easy for anyone, myself included, so I try not to take it for granted. And I never take this pentacle around my neck for granted either…not for one second.

A statement that comes to mind is from JZ knight while channeling Ramtha, and goes something like this, “The best way to worship a God is to act like one”.

I try to follow this with every breath even when it is very hard.

I will repeat this statement because we need to hear this over and over again in our community: the responsibilities that come with that pentacle around your neck are great.

I hope we can all remember that throughout our day and actually be what we are representing.

And if you can’t do that, then it is a simple matter really: Just take the pentacle off.

TAKE THE PENTACLE OFF………………..

Blessed Be.

Calendar of the Moon for May 15th

Calendar of the Moon
15 Saille/Mounukhion

Day of the Honeysuckle

Color: Apricot
Element: Earth
Altar: Upon an apricot cloth set a vase of honeysuckle vines collected earlier and forced to bud, a single apricot candle, a pot of soil, flower seeds, a bowl of water, and a bell.
Offerings: Plant seeds. Be tender toward someone or something.
Daily Meal: Vegan

Invocation to the Green Man of the Honeysuckle Vine

Hail, Green Man of the Spring!
Honeysuckle of the twining limbs
Falling across hedge and fence,
Delight of children and lovers
Whose heady scent intoxicates,
You sacrifice to us your tender flowers
And grow anew each year.
Teach us, honeysuckle, that tenderness
Is never weakness
And that which is easily withered
Can also be that
Which is most easily regenerated,
And that which is softest
Can be strongest.
We hail you, sacred honeysuckle,
Green Man of the Spring,
On this your moment of sweetest nectar.

Chant:
Flower of the dawn
Flower of the morning
Flower of the day
Through the springtime turning

(Each comes forward and plants a seed in the pot of soil, saying, “Hail Green Man of the Earth!” Water is poured onto the pot, and then the rest is poured out as a libation. Ring bell and dismiss.)

[Pagan Book of Hours]

Calendar of the Sun for May 15th

Calendar of the Sun
15 Thrimilchimonath

Huldra’s Blot

Colors: White and blue
Element: Air
Altar: Upon cloth of white and blue set twelve white candles, one sky-blue candle, a great jug of mead, and a cow’s horn. Throughout the next four days, the altar stays the same, and one more candle is lit. On this day, light the blue candle and eight white candles.
Offering: Hard work, inside and outside, throughout the day until sleeping. Do things correctly.
Daily Meal: Bread with cheese, meat, or jam, packed and eaten during work.

Invocation to Frigga’s Handmaidens

Call: Twelve maidens hold the halls of Asgard!
Response: Twelve virgins hold the pillars of heaven!
Call: Twelve mysteries hold the luck of Asgard!
Response: Twelve virtues hold the Law of heaven!
Call: Twelve words of power resound through Asgard!
Response: Twelve stars light up the dome of heaven!
Call: We call upon the power of Virtue!
Response: We call upon the mysteries of heaven!

Invocation to Huldra

Hail, Maiden of Industry!
As the shovel goes into the earth,
As the hoe goes into the soil,
As the seed goes into the garden,
As the grain goes into the field,
As the water is carried from the well,
As the home is cleaned and purified,
As the thread is woven on the loom,
So you teach us that nothing comes
Without great labor and terrible work.
For industry is more than merely toil,
It is the means by which the world is changed.

Chant:
Cloth of honor from the thread of truth
Weave your heart into all you offer

(A libation of mead is poured out for Huldra, and the jug replaced for the next day’s ritual. The entire community will take on hard labor today, from after breakfast to Hesperis, to practice the virtue of Industry.)

[Pagan Book of Hours]

Current Moon Phase for May 15th – Last Quarter

Last Quarter Moon Phase

(waning 90-45 degrees)

by Jan Spiller

The time of reaping is at hand. There is a feeling of completion infused into the atmosphere during this Moon Phase. The opportunity opens to recognize how far you’ve come in various parts of your life. This is not a good time for new beginnings, but rather a reflective period suited to evaluating how you have been using your time and what has been accomplished. Issues of authority may arise. This Moon Phase supports taking responsibility for actively “tying up the loose ends” of projects that are already underway.

New Moon Report for May 15th – Venus Retrograde

Moon Central

by Jeff Jawer

Venus Retrograde

Tuesday, May 15, 7:33 am PDT, 10:33 am EDT

The love planet’s reversal period in jittery Gemini lasts until June 27, turning back the clock on relationships as we revisit old romantic dreams. Reconnecting with people from the past can be a constructive use of this time because it may be more difficult to make new connections. People might be unreliable and easily distracted as promises are ignored and expectations changed without notice. Old sources of pleasure might resurface in fresh forms, reigniting earlier recreational and artistic interests. It’s helpful to avoid pinning ourselves down, because this value-based planet twists tastes in a variety of directions. What and whom we like can shift with the wind, reminding us to avoid making major financial or emotional investments. Yet for those who’ve gone off track in their desires, Venus’ retrograde period is ideal for making course corrections.

Your Daily Cosmic Calendar for May 15th

The Moon in Pisces makes supportive, 60-degree ties to Jupiter (2:10AM PDT) and the Sun (5:00AM PDT). The first hook-up is a definite mind-expander and optimism-booster. The Moon connection with the Sun – as it is building up to exactitude – is equally auspicious, but in a more general, all-around manner. However, once the Moon and Sun reach their precise 60-degree rapport, the lunar orb becomes void until 2:47PM PDT when the Moon enters fiery Aries. It is during this void uncertainty zone that Venus comes to a halt at 24 degrees of Gemini (7:34AM PDT) and begins six-weeks of retrograde motion that lasts until June 27. Venus is only retrograde every 18 months and it is now an excellent time to review and re-evaluate everything Venusian – love bonds, beauty themes, social activities, your creative artistic expression, ways to save money, your personal magnetism, and your value system – developed since your childhood and through the educational and business realms. It is especially wise for all women to take stock of their primary partnerships and come up with new ways to improve or transform those partnerships. In general, both men and women need to be more sensitive and understanding to the dear ones who help to turn their world around on a daily, weekly and monthly basis. The Moon unites with Pallas in Pisces (1:34PM PDT) toward the end of the void lunar cycle. Problem-solving is in focus, but because the Moon is void-of-course, the solutions to difficulties may not be that easy to realize. Once the Moon enters Aries (2:47PM PDT), be more gung-ho and assertive concerning pet projects, hobbies, arts and crafts. A potentially strong impediment to forward progress may stand in your way since Mars makes a frictional, 45-degree tie to Saturn (5:07PM PDT). First it was gentle Venus putting several blips on the cosmic radar screen; now it is the two traditional malefic planets that conspire to add numerous insults to injury. Stay out of trouble to the best of your ability as you need to prepare for a day of many ups and downs tomorrow.

How To Become A Witch

How To Become A Witch
in Nine Easy Lessons

By Don McLeod

Please note that this page is in the Humor section of this site and is not meant to be an accurate or actual depiction of witches. Duh.

In the 1980s, it was fashionable to be interested in the New Age. This is now a dreadful faux pas within the alternative scene, and in order to be accepted in the current metaphysical social set, one must have an interest in witchcraft or paganism. Of course, you don’t have to actually belong to a coven to be thought of as a witch; you can bluff your way into being accepted as a full-fledged witch simply by knowing a few terms and dressing accordingly. This brings us to…

Rule # 1: Image is Everything.

After all, what’s the good of being a witch if nobody knows you are one? You must therefore wear black at all times. If possible, stay out of the sun until you become really pale, as this makes the effect even better. For women (and adventurous males), dark eyeliner and black nail polish can enhance this look. Wear crystals and cheap occult paraphernalia at all times, and make sure that these are as gaudy and bizarre as possible, as this can only help your image. Wearing a pentacle around your neck is an absolutely necessary accessory – the bigger the better! Capes and cloaks are optional around town – it depends on how much of a visual impact you want to make, but either of these are also crucial apparel at any ritual or gathering that you may attend.

Rule # 2: Name Dropping is Good.

Every serious student of the craft (and I’m talking here about the term for witchcraft, not macrame) knows the name Gerald Gardner. This man revitalised witchcraft in the 1950s with his book about the true history of The Old Religion (some have called this book pure fiction, but only those picky few who like books to be based on facts). Real witches however, never let historical accuracy get in the way of their spiritual path, so in conversations with other witches, drop his name as often as possible (in tones of awe) and you will always be rewarded with smiles of acceptance.

Rule # 3: Past Life Name Dropping is Even Better.

Tell everyone about the past life memories that have been surfacing since you began studying the Black Arts. It is especially useful to remember a past lifetime as a witch who was killed during the Inquisition, or at least recall a lifetime as a famous occultist. My past lives have included Aleister Crowley, Cagliostro, Mandrake the Magician, and most of the cast of Bewitched.

Rule # 4: Behave Strangely.

Never forget why it was that you wanted to become a witch – yes, so that you have an excuse for strange behaviour. Behavior patterns previously labeled “eccentric” can now be accepted by others if they have a reason to explain them, even if that reason for howling at full moons while naked is simply, “He/she is a Witch. That’s normal for them, evidently.” So don’t let your friends down – behave strangely. You can get away with it now.

Rule # 5: Watch Occult Movies.

Make sure that you watch the movie Warlock lots of times to perfect those soft landings after over-indulging with the flying ointments (read as mead and weed).

Rule # 6: Ready Yourself for Sex, Money and Power.

Wasn’t this the other reason you were drawn to witchcraft? In the past, Adepts of the occult were known to possess charismatic, lusty, and powerful personas. When people find out that you are a witch, they may automatically assume you have (and therefore empower you with) these same qualities. This may sound pretty good, but unfortunately, in today’s world, another group of people have become even more established within the realms of kinky sex sessions and unlimited power – yes, the politicians! Beware of this elitist group of power-brokers… they don’t want any competition to their manipulative monopoly over the gullible public, hence the laws against witchcraft and divination that have remained unchanged for centuries. So, if calling yourself a High Priest doesn’t lead you to unlimited sex, money and power – or if it does, but you then find yourself as the target of political and legal harassment ‘ you may have to put aside your cloak and broomstick and pick up a pinstriped suit and a back bench in Parliament. If you can’t beat them, try bribery, then if that doesn’t work… join them!

Rule # 7: Atmosphere is Essential.

Your home must reflect your witchy nature. Incense must burn continuously. It’s important that visitors see clouds of incense smoke billowing from a spluttering censer in the corner of your dim, dank, and dusty home, so dismantle the smoke detectors and start collecting strange little bottles of exotic looking ingredients (use your imagination and label them with names like powdered bat’s eyes, or dried dragon’s gonads). And if you don’t like housework, you can explain that the layer of dust that covers your floors and furniture helps to neutralise the highly charged psychic energy that results from your magical spells, thereby protecting your home and possessions from electromagnetic disintegration.

Rule # 8: Be Patronising to Christians.

In social discussions, don’t forget to make plenty of derogatory remarks about fundamentalist Christians, and remember to save your most biting comments for other witches that you don’t get along with.

Rule # 9: Brag About Your Psychic Powers.

Any self-respecting witch will tell you that after their initiation to witchcraft, their psychic powers awakened and their tarot cards (which they always carry with them) are now much easier to read (they now get something right once in a while). They will also tell you that they can now sense energy fields (in other words, they don’t bump into things as often as they used to). Follow this example and brag about the rapid development of your psychic abilities since your initiation. If asked about your initiation ceremony, simply state that you were sworn to secrecy about it, then quickly change the subject by mentioning your newly awakened ability to detect Ley lines, but try to remember that a Ley line is not a queue for the after-ritual orgy!

Now you know how to pass yourself off as a real Witch, so place that broomstick in a conspicuous corner (one that is not clouded by too much incense smoke); pull on those black clothes; give everyone that you meet a sinister look – and your social status will improve overnight. If you do all of this successfully, you may even find yourself with enough adoring acolytes so that you can start your own coven! Good luck and Blessed Be!

The Beauty of Color Magick (Rediscovering a Lost Art)

The Beauty of Color Magick (Rediscovering a Lost Art)

Author: Pagan Education Network

Color Magick is one of those simple types of magick that have enough avenues to keep Witches and pagans busy for a lifetime. This type of magick was one of the first things I was introduced to in the Craft and it opened doors for me like no other type of magick could. Why? To start with it is easy to understand, easy to work with, and it is something we have been practicing since we were children.

Can you remember back to the first time you realized the power color held? You were probably between four and six years old when an adult asked you, “What’s your favorite color?” As a child you were more than willing to tell them all about your favorite color, the toys you had that were that color, your favorite crayon colors, or even a stuffed animal that was the just the color you liked. When we are children, child color painted our worlds. Children marvel at all the colors in the world without even realizing it. Color was already stirring within your feelings that would last a lifetime.

As you grew up, your repertoire of colors grew but you still had that one special color that seemed to mean more than the others. By the teenage years there were colored pens, paper and school supplies in our favorite colors. Our rooms were painted to match our attitudes, favorite colors and most importantly we began to have an overwhelming sense of identity-attached color. Most of us even remember the beloved jewelry that told us which mood we were in based on the color the jewelry turned. Ah yes mood jewelry, what great fun. There were mood rings, bracelets and other wonderful jewelry pieces. They were all made of this wonderful material that reacted to the heat of our bodies. Its magick was so simple, so accepted that it became a fashion phenomenon that was accepted by everyone. Color continued to play a big role in our lives whether we acknowledged it or not.

Enter adulthood. At some point most of us rented apartments or bought homes. The first order of business in our new residence was to make it our own. How did we do this? You got it. Color! As human beings, we are surrounded by and we surround ourselves with what feels good to us. We use it to decorate everything in our lives from walls to comforters, clothing choices to accessories. We create with color when it comes to ourselves and our homes in every way.

The fun of decorating our home spaces begins with being able to choose from the thousands of colors of the rainbow. You can pick anything, what your walls look like, what your furniture look s like and what accents would be perfect for your room. All of these things are intrinsically tied to color and how those colors make you feel. You may have chosen a mossy green and brown for your living room, a cool blue that reminded you of sunny days in summer for your bedroom and a red or orange for the spice of your life, in your kitchen.

Without even realizing it we have been influenced by color throughout our lifetime. We have been surrounded our entire lives by color. We find it in nature, art, homes, hotels, clothing…you get the idea. We cannot escape it nor should we want to. Just imagine how terribly blah the world would be without it. Now to where all this realization lead us, magick of course!

I am willing to bet when you first began to research the metaphysical and the occult you realized, and maybe not for the first time that color possessed power. During your metaphysical studies you began to realize that many things in magick and the mundane were tied to color. Not only were they tied to color but that color had resonance and meaning within its magickal purpose. Suddenly there was a whole new door that opened to you. There were explanations for the reasons that certain colors made you feel a certain way. It made sense why you enjoyed some colors or disliked others. These reasons had to do with light energy and more specifically the frequency and vibrations that colors put off.

As your studies took you deeper you began to have the knowledge to put to all of these sensations and inspirations to work for you. This new power came from understanding why you felt the way you did when in the presence of certain colors and why certain colors held power for you. The name of this art is color magick and it has a world of uses.

Color magick can be extremely useful when doing healing work and be a helpful tool in making magick happen. Every color has a certain resonance or frequency within the light spectrum. These colors are as individually unique as the Witches on the planet are. The key to color magick is finding what, when, how and where it works best for you.

So how does one go about exploring and using color magick effectively? One of the first concepts many pagans are introduced to in regard to color magick is the chakra system and the meditations that go with them. This teaches a couple of main themes to new students of the Craft. Self-healing techniques, balancing moods and basic color associations are just of few of the concepts. These are normally built upon later in occult training. Those trained in the occult arts also learn to heal and control their own body rhythms by introducing various colors to the chakra system.

The underlying science of what they are learning is to use the Vibrational frequency of color to affect change within themselves or their environment. Soon occult practitioners realize that they can do more than just imagine color in their chakras; they can influence each chakra and balance them by using the opposing colors that corresponded to them. A fun tool for learning this concept is your traditional color wheel bought at a local art store. Suddenly your standard color wheel will take on a whole new meaning.

By purchasing (or printing off the computer) a color wheel and writing on it which chakras the colors correspond to and what the color’s frequency does a student can have a visual aid to work with. This visual aid can help to teach them how to properly correspond and contrast to affect changes in their own system. This can be extremely useful in training oneself to associate color frequency with moods and correspondences.

Color magick doesn’t just end there; it can be used in everything from candle magick, to poppets, to the writing in your Book of Shadows. As Witches, the more advanced we become, the more creative we become with colors and their uses. We no longer arbitrarily pick up a piece of clothing, paper, or even ritual items without feeling the color resonating within our personal sphere. We are now fully awake and aware of how color is affecting our person on both a mundane and magickal level. Color has taken on a whole new meaning, coming to life before our Witchy little eyes.

If you have tried or considered all of these things but you feel like you are in a slump regarding color and its uses in magick, then let’s revisit it and swirl up some fun! Let’s consider working more closely with the elements. In magick we use the elements for nearly every magickal action we do. We call them to aid us in our circle, we ask them to empower our magickal activities and we use them to gain further insight into our own path-working. But sometimes we hit a virtual bump in the road. We experience an imbalance or a loss of connection to one or more elements.

So let’s look at how we can whip up a little bit of color to fix that too. When I feel a loss in connection to an element, or on occasion more than one, I set on a mission to correct it. Why? Well for me it allows me to come back into balance with the universe around me.

All you need to do is find the colors that resonate best for you with each element and then practice meditations or magick associated with those colors. You can meditate on the color, introduce that color into your clothing for a day or a week, write a spell in the elemental color ink on the same or similar color paper, burn candles that are intentionally imbued with that elements energy and even set your altar space or sacred space up with lots of things that are in the color and correspondence to the element you are working with. This is also a great way to gain a deeper understanding of the elemental powers and the mysteries contained within their realms. Yet again the color wheel becomes a wonderful tool for learning and growing.

Color theory even finds its way into spells and Craft work. You can muster up an extra amount of kick to charge your spells with by using the power of color. This makes them both more powerful and effective. Further if you are asking a particular element to aid you then it is a great way to honor their spirit. When we consider again the resonance of color then we have to look at the way it works.

To keep things simple red is slower and violet is faster and you can fill in the blanks in the rainbow in between. So the quicker you want your magick to work the higher the frequency of color you might want to use.

As previously discussed color also has a great mental affect on us. We naturally associate certain colors with certain ways of being, material things or even mundane activities. Though various colors mean different things to different cultures, I will focus on Western philosophy, as that is where I reside. Money is a good example of a mundane color association that can work effectively for magick.

When a Witch performs a money spell, they normally use a green candle and display green monies around it. Here they are using the subconscious power that green has upon our psyche and that colors influence on our waking state to make our spell more powerful and effective.

By now you should be noticing that nearly everything we do involves color and our associations to it on some level as part of their design. This leads me to yet another area of color and magick, mood. The mood of a ritual can dramatically change how we perceive the ritual we are involved in. Think back to a fun house or even a Halloween attraction. The colored lights of these area’s can make it spooky, eerie, scary or even downright frightening. Try it out for yourself. Consider using this type of color magick during your next ritual and see how it works for you. Simply using colored bulbs found at any store can dramatically change the mood or ritual setting.

Replacing some of the key lights in the room that you are using will allow for the room to take on a whole different feel and look. This look goes more than skin deep, remember you are not just changing the glow by changing the light bulb; we have also changed the resonating frequency of the room.

The energy in the room is now vibrating at a higher or lower frequency depending on what color you chose. This not only helps to change the energy in the room, it works on a subconscious level as well giving us the sense that we have just entered into a different space, way of being, or even time. Its effects can be as profound and far-reaching as the imagination will allow.

Finally colored bulbs are an inexpensive and quick way to help us change our mood or the mood of a room. We do this by going back to our earlier technique of changing the lighting. By changing the light bulb in a lamp you can help yourself to overcome or attract certain frequencies of energy into your life.

For example red can inspire creative energy or passion; it vibrates slower than other energies so it creeps into the psyche slowly. It can also give a room the air of mystery or even a deeply serious but powerful tone. Red is also usually seen as the life force, blood and the color of manifesting, bringing new ideas into reality.

By contrast violet light is at the other end of the spectrum, it is a fast, high frequency so it can be energizing or balancing depending on what you are feeling personally. It can attract a higher state of consciousness and make meditation easier. Pink is both healing and passionate, its energy is soft and calming. Pink has a gentler less forceful energy than red. Blue is great for calming a room, release, giving a cooling and refreshing feeling. Yellow by contrast is great for happiness, inspiration and wisdom. Green is great for grounding, serenity and comfort. These are the basics, though the color list goes on quite a bit further.

Today science and the medical field are catching up to what Witches have known for years. It is amazing when we consider that we are no longer the only ones who have discovered color’s many benefits and that there are others who use this knowledge to their benefit. It is true that it is becoming more and more common that predominant, well-respected hospitals across our country, as well as traditional medicinal fields are now getting in on what Witches have known and practiced for years.

A few years ago my mother, who was suffering from breast cancer, had to go in for surgery at a prominent hospital in Boston, Massachusetts. When her blood pressure would not come down before surgery a soft-spoken nurse smiled at her and said come with me. Within a few minutes they had her set up in a room specially designed for stress relief through color therapy. They instructed her to breathe slowly and deeply, to relax and focus on the colors as they came up.

I stood amazed. In the room was set up a little devise with a bulb and a wheel that changed like a projector from one colored cellophane to another every so many minutes. What was this doing in a hospital of all places? Suffice to say the Witch in me was tickled pink! After about 20 minutes they came back in to get her and checked her blood pressure. Like magic (pardon the pun) , her blood pressure had come down significantly and my mother even noticed a difference in how she felt. I commend this hospital for being one of the first to catch up to what those of the Old Craft have known for so long.

Looking at the holistic fields or what some refer to alternative health care, we again see the use of color as a predominant field of study. During healing the practitioner lays their hands upon a person’s auric field to help heal their physical or mental ailments. They visualize the colors needed and then they gently push that colored energy into their aura helping to repair and heal, thus resulting in affecting the physical and mental body. When acts of stone healing are performed with the use of stones, the stones used are not only appropriately colored but also ones that resonate with the correct frequency in order to help the individual involved.

We can also use these types of alternative medicine for healing ourselves. This is not a new theory as demonstrated by the hospital above. There are some great ways to help oneself to heal on many levels when working with color. One way is to visualize the color best suited to repair the area, then by focusing that energy on the specific area several times a day. By doing this we can encourage a scrape, surgical incision, or even a headache to heal or dissipate. This technique can even be used to help change your mood or mental state. Be prepared to be amazed at how quickly this simple activity works for you, speeding your way to healing completely.

As we have journeyed through the rainbow we have visited many, many ways in which we can use color in magick. As you can see the use of color is not only limitless but has far reaching affects in both the magickal and mundane world. Some of the concepts above may have been familiar to you and maybe some of them were a new take on an old idea but all of them are powerful tools for both Witch and holistic practitioner alike. By breathing new life into an old idea you can reintroduce some fun into your magickal and mundane life, alleviating the feeling that things have gotten a little stale.

Be creative and you might even find some new ways to incorporate the mystery and magick that all Witches love into your spiritual practice. You could even reintroduce some of the techniques above to your practice and watch your imagination run wild. I promise your magick will take on a whole new life and at the very least you will challenge yourself to revisit something that has long been a cherished, precious magickal skill.

By: Kimberly Sherman-Cook, Minister
Pagan Education Network

Footnotes:
References:
Principles of Color Magick, Online course Pagan Education Network
Color Correspondences, George Knowles, controvercail.com
Solitary Wicca, Scott Cunningham
How to See and Read the Aura, Ted Andrews
How to heal with Color, Ted Andrews
Making Magick, McCoy
Elemental Magick, Wolfe

My (Not So) Normal Eclectic Life Story

My (Not So) Normal Eclectic Life Story

Author: Greywolf

Merry Meet! My name is Jordan, but you can call me Greywolf for short. Well I guess it all starts where and how I was raised. I was born in California, but I grew up in Fayetteville, Arkansas with my mother and my stepfather. My parents got divorced when I was a young child and my father stayed in California while my mother moved away to Arkansas. My mother and father were raised in “The Truth, ” as they refer to it, although most people know the religion as the Jehovah’s Witnesses.

I was raised as a Jehovah’s Witness throughout my entire childhood. Yes, this includes me going “door to door” and knocking in the deep boondocks of Arkansas to talk about God to a lot of very interesting characters, while leaving the “Watchtower” and/or an “Awake” in a folded fashion below the handle of a screen door. (Here’s the shocker) and not celebrating any birthdays, holidays, or festivals of any kind.

I guess because of this religion, I’ve always felt out-of-place, compared to all the other kids in the classroom. Although, it did teach me to have very good social skills and an outgoing personality which I admire (most of the times) .

I’ll always remember the times in class when my classmates would stand up to recite the daily pledge on the announcements. I was always the one still sitting in my chair while my new classmates would urge me to stand up and put my hand over my heart, not knowing of my faith; or maybe it was the time when there was a birthday kid in the class and everyone would eat the pink and blue frosted cupcakes that were guzzled down by everyone. Everyone except me, of course.

But to top it off, I would always end up having to move to a different house or apartment because of financial issues. I suppose your probably wondering now how I got here now, so enough of my childhood. Let’s move on to the adolescent age shall we?

Well after an extremely long period of time and a lot of argumentation between my Jehovah’s Witness mother and my disfellowshipped (excommunicated as you might know it) father, my mother agreed for my only brother and I to go to a school in California for a year.

Middle school was one of the hardest things I’ve had to deal with my entire life so far. I was not prepared for such a cultural change and shift; it still baffles me how I survived it. Nevertheless, it was horrible; kids were mean and talking about drugs (in which, by the way, I’ve never heard the names of in Arkansas) and sex.

I was constantly picked on (luckily I didn’t have an accent because of my California born and raised mother and step-father) because of my differences. Though I thought I was perfectly dressed just the way I was. But apparently my classmates weren’t fond of it at all. And they weren’t too shy to make that clear either.

On the bright side I was able to have my first birthday (in which I was 12 by the way) and I got to celebrate some of the fun holidays (I went to Arkansas Christmas break and stayed there till summer) that were once considered immoral.

I made one friend and he was my best friend as well. I hung out with some of his friends as well, so I wasn’t a complete loner. Although barely anybody at my school knew me and if the did, then it was because I was one very annoying and short little kid. Despite all of that I was failing a lot of classes and usually got bad marks by my teachers for acting out and being “disruptive” in class.

Although it sounds like I’ve had a fun original life. It was quite the opposite. I suffered from depression and tried committing suicide twice in my middle school. I down a whole bottle of extra-strength ibuprofen while I was in the bathroom during my history class period.

About ten minutes after I went back to class, I asked my teacher to go to the nurse because I was having a hard time breathing (I knew it was working by then) . But when I got to the nurse she dismissed it as the cold weather affecting my lungs. I went back to class and found out that I wasn’t going to die and the breathing problem was all in my head caused by me hyperventilating about the whole situation. I know now that the only reason I lived was because the goddess saved me. But I didn’t know it.

Well not quite yet, that is.

Since I was a dumb loner nerd I would always go to the library 24/7. The library would be full of books, that I wished were my friends that would entertain me with stories to replace so many of my friends, in which I’ve never acquired in those years. Then one evening when I was “hanging out” (in the library of course) I came across a black and white book.

“Teen Witch: Wicca for a new generation” written by Silver Ravenwolf was one of the coolest books I’ve ever encountered in a public library so far. But as suspected, that most definitely wasn’t my initial thought as I approached the book with curiosity and fear as if the book would jump up and attack me. I checked my back to see of anyone was watching as a raced to grab the book (as if God himself was in the library watching my every move) off the table and made a dash to the small chair by the window in the farthest corner of the library.

As I skimmed through the pages, my heart was beating so fast and strong I thought the bottle of ibuprofen was just kicking in, although it had been three months since I took them. I decided that the book was interesting and it was not of the most evil of the world as I proceeded to the checkout.

Surprisingly my first remark about Witchcraft came from the librarian who helped me check out the book.

“Planning on turning someone into a toad?” he remarked.

I responded with a cold smile wondering if there was a spell to turn him into a toad right then.

I must admit that when I read that book, I thought I was an “Insta-Witch” and I made a book report to my English class about the book. Stupid idiotic mistake. I regretted that report throughout the rest of my 7th and 8th grade year with all the remarks of students to me.

Three years, dozens of books and a couple teachers later, here I am. Enlightened, focused and happy that I made the best decision of my life by taking that book. I’ve learned so much during these years through practice and dedication. Although I haven’t been initiated yet, nor am I in a coven, I am surprised of how far I came with this way of life. Witchcraft has helped me through my depression, problems, and my way of thinking.

Although I haven’t came out of any closets yet about my faith to my friends I have managed to keep my social life, educational life, extracurricular life, family life And spiritual life in balance and comfortably intertwined with another.

I have many friends at school and I even got nominated for homecoming lord my freshman year! From a loser and an outcast, to a popular guy at school, I consider my life to be “on track.” I do not wear black, I don’t particularly like rock at all (I prefer hip-hop, R and B and pop) nor do I wear a pentacle, nonetheless, I am proud to be one outstanding (if I may say so myself) Eclectic Witch.

Go Pagans!

How Do You Like Your Pagan? Straight Up or Blended?

How Do You Like Your Pagan? Straight Up or Blended?

Author: Avren

I was recently the butt of a joke. I know this happens to lots of folks, no matter what their theology. What ticked me off though was the fact that my theology was what the jerks were pointing fun at. Some pagans enjoy being a spectacle, and still more are just damned proud (and not afraid to let you know it) of their faith. I too am proud of who I am, and what I believe. I take my faith seriously, and DO NOT like to have it blown off or laughed at. So I blend.

I’m sure lots of us blend, and blend well. Blending in is what saved your neck, and flesh in the not so distant past. These days there are hate crimes; no doubt man seems to never run out of reasons to hate each other. What you find more and more though, is discrimination, and/or the assumption that you are a flaky, feather brained hippy.

Now I know it could be worse. I could be tortured and/or burned at the stake a few lifetimes ago, but it’s still annoying! I don’t like the silly superstitions people have or the down right misinformation. When cornered by simpletons who think their path is the “one true path to god” I love to put them in their place with a simple history lesson. Or one of my personal favorites: quoting the Bible to thwart them. In the end though, I am too busy to debate the universe day in and day out. Talk about exhausting!

This particular person only found out about my spiritual preferences because he is a friend of my love’s. He came over for dinner and saw some books I have sitting on the bottom shelf of my coffee table. Every time I see him he has a new snide or smart-a** comment. I thought I’d be smart-a** too.

After one of his comments one day I asked if he worshipped Buddha. He just shook his head and I said that it certainly looked that way. (He is pushing 400 lbs and 5’10) Unfortunately, that didn’t work, and I felt guilty for acting just like him instead.

I don’t wear a pentagram; instead I wear a triquetra that is two inches high. I just love it, and it gets compliments from everyone I meet. I love when they ask if it has a special meaning. I always answer yes! I wear regular make up in natural tones.

I work 8-5 Monday through Friday. My home is warm and welcoming. There isn’t a noticeable altar anywhere. There is a 12-inch tall star hanging in my kitchen, and a moon as well. I have a gold and silver candle on each side of my kitchen sink.

No one knows the 4-foot high metal sculpture of a willow that hangs in my kitchen is a sign of the Mother. Nor do they see the candles and celestial design in my kitchen as my altar, and sign of love to the Lord and Lady. (Can you see the Kitchen Witchery here? LOL!)

When one of the dearest friends I have was going through a tough time, she happened to mention she was interested in stones and their symbolism. She also mentioned having strong feelings for Shamanism. So I asked if she would like some of the leopard skin jasper I had, and a couple other stones I thought she might like. She was thrilled! I was too; I have known her 25 out of 27 years of my life. Now was the first time I could talk about my spiritual side with her. She had lots of questions, and carries the stones everyday!

So you get the idea of how well I blend in? I made an agreement with my beloved when we first started dating. I would keep my books and obvious craft stuff out of sight of his two young children. I agreed readily because I was in my late teens before I could grasp that this is not a satanic path.

I figure that subtly dropping hints and blending it in slowly is best anyhow. Heck, I didn’t even realize I was learning the Old Ways from my grandmothers and mother until I was already well used to it. The kids request ‘Wytches Chant 98′ all the time, without knowing that is the name. They only know that they love it. As a matter of fact we listen to that band often. They love it, and I think that it opens their minds a little.

My beloved is not Pagan, though he has picked up some of my “witchy ways” as he calls it. He even had some runes tattooed on his inner arm. They are like armor to him he says. They make him feel protected, and mark the important points on his journey. The other arm is going to be health and spiritual runes. He has told me that I am a good “Ambassador” for Pagans. He says he would never have taken me seriously, or be willing to venture down his spiritual path this far if I had been as “Loud and Proud.”

So, back to the frustration. I am not ashamed of who I am. I don’t like probing questions either. (Picture sneering face here.) I am open to those who are REAL. I feel like I do more good this way anyhow. When I explain the possible meanings of the Trinity Knot to someone who asks, I feel they take away a positive experience. I’d rather that any day, to the’ stare and giggle’ by the general public.

So here is the question for you dear reader. Are you straight up or blended? Have you asked yourself lately?

After I heard about that jerk cracking jokes on me, I started to ask myself that same question. I know negativity lives among us. Perhaps I’m too serious. I don’t know. I do know this however. I WILL NOT change my way of practicing.

I’m too happy for that! (Unlike him.) Thanks Karma!

Daily Cosmic Calendar for Sunday, May 13

One of the advantages of reading this calendar on a daily basis is that you can prepare for an upcoming event several days before-hand. In the last couple of days, you have been given the alert that the Sun was getting closer and closer to joining forces with Jupiter. Now that merger becomes a reality at 6:24AM PDT – energizing 24 degrees of Taurus. This occurs less than two hours after the Moon has left a void cycle in Aquarius by entering compassionate and empathic Pisces (4:43AM PDT). The combination of the two largest celestial bodies in the solar system reaching their annual conjunction while the Moon embraces one of Jupiter’s traditional ruling signs (Pisces) indicates that advanced and divine dynamics may be at play. The question is whether mere mortals can harness the fire of the gods and goddesses with the alignments going on right now. Helping you tap into cosmic substance – via the water and fire principles – is the Moon uniting with Neptune (10:25AM PDT) and Mercury forming a flowing trine with Mars (1:55PM PDT). Overall, the universe appears to be offering you great opportunities to take a giant leap forward in your main fields of expertise. Some additional hassles or concerns may appear later on when the Moon makes its monthly opposition to Mars (8:49PM PDT) while Mercury forms a frictional, 45-degree tie with Venus (8:57PM PDT). You should also note that Venus is rapidly slowing down its forward motion in Gemini as it prepares to stop and go into reverse on Tuesday morning May 15. Steep yourself in some of the masterpieces of metaphysics as the Moon unites with Chiron in Pisces (10:30PM PDT) and Mercury approaches a mind-enriching trine to profound Pluto (forming exactly at 1:10AM PDT tomorrow morning).

The Love Goddess for You

by Cait Johnson

Back before Ann Landers or couples counselors, before the psychic hotline and the daily love horoscope, people prayed to their local love goddess for help with relationship matters. After all, everyone deserves to have a goddess they can talk to about love issues: it helps to know that you have a powerful deity in your corner, cheering you on, offering gentle advice in the form of your own intuition, a place to go where you can find some peace and serenity around the crazy-making stuff of love.

We all know about the Ancient Greek goddess Aphrodite (whose name gave us the word “aphrodisiac,” among other things) and Venus, her Roman counterpart, but what if you don’t identify with a Greek or Italian goddess? Which love goddess can you go to for help, healing, and advice?
Well, here are some love goddesses from Ireland, Mexico, South America, India, Africa, the Middle East, and more. We also include a listing of offerings that are traditional to give each one, here:

Africa: Oshun(amber, seashells, water)

Borneo: Fire Woman(candles)

China: Zhinu(stars, silver things)

Egypt: Isis(silver, amethyst, myrrh)

France: Isolt(anything white)

Germany: Minne(dried linden flowers, beer)

Haiti: Erzulie(peppercorns, anything blue)

India: Kamala(lotus, yellow things)

Ireland: Edain(crystals)

Japan: Kamuhata Hime(braided yarn)

Korea: Bai Mundan(white flowers)

Lithuania: Laima(wreaths)

Mexico: Chaska(fire, flowers)

Middle East: Asherah (lilies), Anaitis (cinnamon, green branches), Ishtar(stars, moons, doves)

Native American: Bear Woman(stone carvings)

Persia: Anahita(water, green branches)

Romanian Gypsy: Amari De(luminescent cloth, matches)

Teutonic: Iduna (apples)

The Witch I Am

Author: Eilan

Witchcraft, the Arte, the Craft, Magick, the Old Religion – what could these names possibly mean to an 18-year-old male living in an age of global warming, rapid deforestation, tyrannical war and occupation, fundamentalist literature and humanist rationalism? They are the faces of a largely spiritual movement, grounded in the sacred powers of Nature, from which the Old Gods themselves draw their strength and mystery.

My name is Gede Parma. I am an 18-year-old male Witch currently residing in Queensland, Australia. I am an initiate and co-founder of the dynamic Pagan wellspring that is the Coven of the WildWood, and I am priest and vessel to my Gods of Blood and of Breath.

My Pagan peers know me as Dobhair (pronounced ‘door’ with a soft accent in the middle), which is the name my ancestors revealed to me during last year’s solar eclipse as I dedicated myself to the Dagda and Morgaine le Fay. In this time of the Greening much will be seen to come to pass and the world will change in a way that none of us could ever have conceived.

I stand as the Rod of Power, as the Menhir, the Tree of Life, to whom my veneration is given in circles with my coven. As I focus inward so does my breath circulate into the outer realms, my consciousness expanding and taking into itself the divinity that is immanent within all of Life. I remember the animating force behind all that is and dance the spiral path of change and transformation into the very heart of the primal womb whose centre is the point of origin.

From the beginning I was Air, from whose new dawn’s breath ‘I’dea was formed. I was then fuelled by the heat of Fire, and light and warmth gave way to the oceanic-matrix that is the Water and blood-ways became rivers and streams in the body of the Goddess.

By Spirit and the Great Mystery I was given form and beauty and Earth’s presence and foundation continued the cycle, and when my thread is cut by the tides of Fate I will fall to the winds once more to decay with the autumn foliage under the slanted glare of a fading king whose sun sets in the realms of Death.

I am resurrected and born again by Love and by Light, and the Two Pillars join the heavens to the broad earth, from whom once more I will spring up as Kore, the sprout. From Death comes Life, and in Life there is Love, and the Mystery knows them all.

These are the mysteries that have been written of and told to others whose minds and hearts are listening, however their far-reaching and infinite truths are not simply grasped by an eloquent intellect or by the ascetics of a world-rejecting discipline.

Witchcraft to a teen in the 21st century has not lost its Great Mystery. We are still as the priests and priestesses of old who stole away to secret orders nestled in ‘tween places. We are still as the seers and shamans whose journeys remain intrinsically-patterned into our wild and unkempt spirits. We are Witches and by solitude or tribe we still raise the Power to celebrate the ecstasies of Life. I have never forgotten this charge and I have made it my oath to the Old Ones to continue to impart this knowledge and wisdom on those who have ears to listen.

There is immense power in the old mythos. They speak of Gods and Goddesses who inspire and protect their own, of ancient magicks whose powers awaken in the hearts of those who embrace the old ways. There is descent into the netherworld, and resurrection in the light of day. There are ancestors who kindle the hearth-fires and who gather us in to be warmed when way-ward our feet have taken us.

There are oceans and seas that speak of death and devotion. There are groves and mounds and stone-circles who whisper of ancient rites and who glisten and vibrate with the dragon-lines that sing through the land. There are wheels that spin and turn, and bring awareness to the cycles of Nature, to the implicit realities and cause us to revel in the wonder that is the blue sky and the green tree.

These things, these memories are not cast out or forgotten by the Witches of today, they are embraced and renewed by those of us who seek to rejoin and reconnect with the Wyrd, whose keepers, though at times stern, remind us to dance and to make Magick in their honor.

When the Pagan community regards its youths and also their influx into the tribes, they often forget that once upon time that was them. There are many who revile and resent the young folk who seek out the ancient wisdom and who practice the rites of the Craft. They seem to think that in doing so we desecrate their sacred power, or playfully twist and manipulate to achieve our own selfish and incorrigible ends.

Anyone who truly kneels at the Altar or draws the Circle of Power knows to what effect their pure Will can achieve. Those who are simply involved for the ‘glamour’ and the ‘prestige’ soon draw back when they discover what perfect love and perfect trust truly means.

So those of us who still remain after the year and a day and whose understanding has strengthened and whose energy has intensified should be known to all others who walk the spiral-ways as honest and humble devotees.

I will never forget the moment when I became a respected member of my community and was taken by my word for my word. It was as if all my potential became actualized and I could evolve and transform into a new identity, into a new persona. But personas are masks and identities fade, and through this time I began to feel again the pulse in the deepest part of me.

The façade had broken.

I didn’t need their recognition, their support, though it helped immensely in times of grief. What I needed was my connection, to awaken the divinity that is indwelling. It didn’t take long before one Goddess chose to love me and to pour into me what was already at my core. She is beauty; she is truth. She is power and she is that quintessential feeling that resonates through all my fragments, and whose veil covers not to hide, but to symbolize the other reality, that is always waiting, on the other side.

My life is enriched through my Craft. I am joined with all of Nature. I breathe on the mountain and I lose all ego-attachment, and it strikes me that all I am doing is breathing and existing, just as all other beings that dance through the cycles are.

My Gods speak to me through my descent and through my spirit. Their names are not written as a list of spiritual acquisitions, but as powers and forces that have revealed themselves to me, and have chosen to become my allies.

To be a Witch is not to forsake the divine bounty that is made apparent when we learn to trust, but to identify and understand the patterns of power that weave through the fibres of Life and manifest as expressions of innate and intimate truths. We celebrate this continuum of divine-play and revel in becoming a part of it.

I am a Witch, not because I was genetically made to be so (though that adds to it), and not because of some deep-set desire to conquer the plain drudgery and live out a fantasy of power and privilege.

I am a Witch because in my heart lives Magick and to deny its passage, its flow, would be to deny the very essence of my purpose here on Earth, and of my many lives before my present that have been sacrificed to continue the charge I was given.

As I dance the Wheel and as I draw the Circle I remember that I am different. It is not merely a contrast I draw between my nature and those of others, or an indulgent delusion I use to place myself higher than the rest. I am different in that the unfeeling, ego-ridden, politically-driven paradigm that our societies are built on rejects or else wholly negates who I am and what I do.

There is no room in this world, they say, for enchantment and Magick. There is no place for story-telling or dancing. Everything I am and everything I stand for is declared non-existent or irrational at best and Witchcraft is made out to be nothing more than a childish game.

Witches were once respected and revered for their skill, insight and power. In a sense this manifests today as the curious intrigue one feels toward the ‘supernatural’. Witches today are feared, maligned or ridiculed.

We are feared by the ignorant, maligned by the ‘pious’, and ridiculed by the so-called rationalists. However there are those among the liberally-minded communities who celebrate us as true visionaries in our right and who are inclined to study our spirituality in a bid to reclaim the lost wisdom.

There are few words that I can conjure that truly define my being. One of these is ‘Witch’. I embrace it wholly, in every way, for in doing so I reclaim the power that was once considered a gift. It is never a curse to realize truth and never a burden to uphold and live by it.

My Magick is a gift that I will pass on to the next generation of Witches, however at this point in time I work to encourage and inspire this generation. In my coven we circle every week and in between the esbats and sabbats we devote our circles to specific topics so that we may expand our knowledge and add to our magickal arsenal.

In the past we have discussed sacred tools, the Elementals, visualization, meditation and divination. Generally I take on the guise of the teacher as it suits me and I have a considerable amount of knowledge and practical experience in these areas.

The Witches of my coven are strong and steadfast spiritual beings, however we are all still human and prone to making mistakes. This is the reality of the Witch, especially as teenagers. We may be able to cast spells, transcend our egos, invoke ancient Gods and project our astral selves, but this does not exempt us from the everyday trials that bombard humanity.

As Witches, however, we make use of our knowledge of the subtle energies within and without and choose to take charge of our destinies accordingly. Perhaps it is this aspect of the Craft, more so than anything else, that truly frightens those who are not privy to the inner mysteries.

I am a Witch, pure and simple. You could tie to me to a stake, throw driftwood at my feet, drench me in gas and light a fire and I would not deny it.

I am a child of Nature, a Pagan and a priest. I dance the spiral-way and as I descend into the holy labyrinth I sing the old songs and chants to the Gods of leaf and bud, hoof and horn. I release tire and stress, exertion and envy to the four winds and I become the glowing scepter, the sword, and the spear. The serpentine force is aroused and it journeys upward along the spine to the crown that is the triangle of manifestation.

There I meet the Great Mystery and kneel to her charge as I feel the edge of her sword cut cleanly along my soul to my beating heart aflame with Magick.

Go in the way of the sacred, Blessed Be~

A Family Struggle With a Fallen Witch

Author: Lady Sindy Aine

I am a 5th generation Witch. I have a bloodline inside of me that derives from Witches as far back as my Great-Great Grandmother. As far as we know, it could go back further I really don’t know the trail gets a little obscured in Italy where my family line comes from.

Having a firm grip on ritual and celebrations we also have a darker side of the family, not being able to give names nor would I want to but I would have to say the power of a determined Witch is unmatchable, very frightening as well.

Do you believe that from a very old family that such negativity could linger through the bloodlines not affecting all of us but enough to cause much anguish? How does one deal with the fall of a family member whom was brought up with all the same beliefs and structure… knowing all that we know, not allowing any room for mistakes that would show a disregard for what we are, what we stand for, or allow?

The subject of a fallen Witch is the pinnacle of what our family now refers to as a disgrace. Over the years, I have seen the damage that negative energies can do, not in such a direct way as when I looked into this person’s eye and saw such contempt for what is good and right in nature and life with such a disregard and hollowness that eludes me to this day.

As an old family of Witches, we know the horrible consequences of these actions. We have seen them firsthand and even with that, no warnings, no obvious signs, or even actual three-fold rules come to light to affect this person. Nothing has made these actions come to a stop. How do the negative energies engulf someone so fully? How does the purity of this beautiful harmonic natural religion fall victim to such darkness?

It is out there, it is seductive, and it is horrifying.

We all know for a fact that the yin and the yang have to exist, but that they have to exist in your own family makes it so much harder to grasp. I know this seems like a fairytale with a wicked Witch. I assure you, no one else can be appreciative of this accept for people of similar knowledge.

I feel an obligation to bring some attention to the other side that we all know too well exists. I would normally live and let live, however we are faced with this in a very personal way that allows me to convey to you that it hurts to watch someone empower themselves in this way.

I know some dabble in this area hoping for something powerful and I see how it is enticing but do they see what the consequences can be? And what if anything can one family do?

Much like an intervention for an addict in your family we have attempted discussions. This is an incredibly difficult situation. This person knows what is right and chooses to continue on this path. I fear for everyone involved. Never have I tried so hard to bring enlightenment to one person.

As a family, we have cast circles in complete dedication to this cause and still nothing. We have tried to dispel all negativity and sought our elders for guidance — again nothing. We are sneered at by this person — laughed at and ridiculed; still we try.

Allowing this to continue is unthinkable. It is eating this person alive like a cancer throughout their entire being. We have been fighting this for many years, not achieving any level of success.

The eldest member of our family, my Grandmother who is in her nineties and still very active in her beliefs has visions, which do not bode well for this person. Her wisdom tells us to allow this. That it is meant to be.

All that we can do as a family is place blessings of protection on this person and all whom may be harmed. We all keep hoping for a much better outcome. Letting go of someone you love is very painful. Not knowing what is going to happen is even more painful.

The simplest offering I have is to allow yourself the right to allow someone else the right to choose their own path without allowing indifference to encompass your being and change your views. Sometimes you have to just let life happen and hope for the best.

“We are no better than anyone else or any other path that is chosen, if all is for the purpose of good we can conquer anything in time, all will right itself”. That is a quote from Grandmother; she is a very wise woman.

I have come to the realization that this is not just a character flaw, but also something much more, very much more. I believe that this is what comes of wading in darker waters and allowing yourself to be immersed by the cold and eventually to drown in the darkness.

We have never stopped reaching out to this person. We all keep trying and we leave ourselves available, but this is a very sad outcome… so unlike a fairytale, there is no happy ending. Not yet anyway.

My hope by writing this is to let others with mothers, fathers, daughters, sons, brothers, sisters or any loved ones who suffer with this know that they are not alone in their struggle.

Feelings of hopelessness are something that we cannot help. But from time to time, we see that the light of protection which surrounds us and we feel empowered to continue on the path we have chosen.

On a positive note, you have to remember that all we have is our inner light and the ability to share that light. Even faced with a certain amount of despair, our light still shines. We still have our positive thoughts and the ability to channel those energies to those who are in need. We can heal. We can enlighten. And we can give offerings to the Goddess.

We know that all is how it is suppose to be.

Hope and Blessings to all from my Family to yours.

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