Sensitivity and a feeling of self-consciousness pervade the day. Stress levels may be high due to deadlines and commitments; if possible, take some time off to relax and focus on your personal life, as romance is highly favorable.
About the Number 2
Theme: Adaptable, Tactful, Gentle, Cautious
Astro Association: Moon
Tarot Association: High PriestessUnderstanding Magickal Royalty: Witch Queen / Witch King
Author: Lady Abigail
Recently during one of my classes on the history within our magickal traditions, a question came up about levels and degrees of hierarchy found in Witchcraft and Wicca. Within these, is there a title or position wherein someone is called Witch Queen or Witch King.
First of all: YES!
This is a real term, older than recorded time. It does not matter what the word is you use King, Queen, Sovereign, Master, Elder Lord or Lady; these are each equal titles given to someone that is held in a place of greatest honor within the traditions of magick, spell crafting and the old ways and traditions. It is not a self-professed degree. You have to have worked for years with many other teachers and traditions of understanding. The Wise Ones and the Elders must first teach you. Then you become a teacher in your own right to achieve these levels.
If you work as a solitary this will not be an issue. But if you are in a group that works within a degree system you may decide you want to move forward within this group as an Elder, teacher or someday leader yourself. Not all traditions follow a degree system. It depends on the specific tradition you follow and what requirements there are within that group.
A Witch Queen is a High Priestess (of third degree depending on traditions) within a coven that has had a certain number of hives that have formed independent covens under which the Queen oversees. The hiving can be either from growth or from desire.
The title “Witch Queen” is not a rank. It is given in honor and with respect to those of aged wisdom. We give this title to those of great knowledge that work to share our beliefs within the light and truth.
The title shows dedication, wisdom and heart of commitment. A pledge is then given freely and witnessed by Elders, Priest and Priestesses as well as other Witch Queens and Kings. This can be difficult when these traditions are so personal and held in great secretary within all traditions.
To receive the title Witch Queen, you must be a High Priestess (HPS) of the third degree or higher. Depending on the tradition, the second level may be required (5 to 13 years training) . From there, you must have taught and trained several students who have reached the level of High Priest or High Priestess of the third degree (10 to 20 years +) and have subsequently hived themselves unto their own independent covens, clans or groves. During all this work, study, time, teaching and subsequent hiving and growth, you must be maintaining your own personal working coven without question or falter, maintaining all the wisdom in its continued teaching and training therein.
In other words, you must have at least five working covens that have hived from your group. These Covens must be in good standing as working covens holding to their teachings and traditions. Yet you must continue to be a strong leader within your personal Coven. As Priest or Priestess within your group you must be teaching, training, and upholding the daily responsibilities. In addition to these duties you must be ready, willing and able to deal with any circumstances that may arise within those Covens that have hived from you and look to you for guidance.
To receive the Title of “Witch Queen” can take anywhere from 13 years to a lifetime. Please note: That 13 years to achieve the honor of Witch Queen is very rare even if you are truly doing all that must be done.
How it works:
Once you have studied and trained within a Coven to receive the title of High Priestess of the third degree (this takes 5 years or longer) , you must ask your Coven HPS permission to hive. If it is agreed, you begin to work towards this goal. As an Elder and HPS within your Mother Coven, you will train with your Coven High Priestess for a year and a day. You will begin to find and teach students that will be a part of your group when you hive off from your Mother Coven or Hive.
(To hive, it is best to have at least four students who have reached the level of first degree under your instruction. Those whom have trained with you within the Mother Coven as you prepare to separate into an independent group.)
Once your Coven is formed and independently working from the Mother Coven, the work truly begins. You must labor to keep your group active and growing. In this, you may have members that desire to learn and grow and become leaders. So you will teach and work with them unto this goal, while also teaching and working with new members and the community. No Coven can be made up of only leaders; there must be students and seekers to make it whole.
Once you have established your own working Coven independent unto itself you are ready to begin. You must teach and train five members of your Coven unto the level of third degree High Priestess or Priest; that have started working with their own groups independent of the Mother Coven. This will not and cannot happen all at once. While teaching these members, and during the hivings, you must still maintain your personal working Coven outside these members and all the time maintaining your group while teaching and working within the community.
Once you have at least five members that have hived to create their own active, working covens, (which have not withdrawn themselves from your coven in any way that would cause turmoil or malice to enter) then and only then, you may request that your Mother Coven’s High Priestess recognize you as a “Witch Queen” within your own right. This is how the cycle continues and we grow as a community.
The title “Witch Queen” is given to honor those who have dedicated their lives to the continued understanding of who we are within the community as a whole and unto those seeking understanding of our beliefs.
“Witch Queen” is not an entitlement one can give oneself. It comes from hard work and knowing that this life is a gift that must now and always be shared.
To be a “Witch Queen” shows that you will continually work, teach and train others; working as a teacher, advisor, elder and/or councilor.
“Witch King”: So do we have Witch Kings? I am not sure why we don’t hear as much about the male side of this coin. Those who have reached the honor of being a Witch Queen are rare. I have to imagine that Witch Kings are just as rare.
I can tell you the terms I have heard. I believe them to be equal; both Witch King and Witch Queen are terms we give to those we know of knowledge, wisdom and honor.
Witch King is the best known of the titles. But I have also heard the term Master Witch. Both being rare and seldom used. I think the Master Witch today sounds too much like a video or computer game. (This may be why we don’t hear it used.)
Because we don’t hear a lot about a Witch Kings is not to say they are not around. Like myself it is the honor we hold not the scepter. We don’t wear signs that state, “I am King or I am Queen.” We are generally known in our circles and by those we love and trust. Occasionally we share the information with others to teach, and to explain why we should all keep striving to be more.
The title “Witch King” is given to honor those who have dedicated their lives to the continued understanding of who we are within the community as a whole and unto those seeking understanding of our beliefs.
“Witch King” is not an entitlement one can give oneself. It comes from hard work and knowing that this life is a gift that must now, and always, be shared.
To be a “Witch King” shows that you will continually work, teach and train others, be this as an advisor, elder and/or councilor in and outside the traditional Coven workings.
* NOTE: I understand from history the mundane world decided to believe that male was stronger than female, somehow better. Like in history; first we had the Goddess. She was strong, full of love and life. She was the giver of life and the cycle of creation found in Life and Death. Later we find balance in both the God and the Goddess as they worked together in balance. Then man decided this was not to be. Man was the master and in this he tried to destroy the Goddess saying we needed only one God. To seek the female energy would be a sin and bring death to those who worshiped Her.
During these changes in history, society began to believe that man should rule over woman in all things. Therein, a King should rule or stand over a Queen. She became somehow less than he. We in the Pagan world understand this will just not work. We have both Priestesses and our Priest. We may stand together or alone, but we stand as equals in the balance of female and male. Those who study history along with the old ways understand this to be true.
I think this may be why we have so few that stand proudly in these old traditions of pride within our beliefs. It is not that we do not find honor in the titles of who we are, Witch Queen or/and Witch King. We are somehow put off by the way others see them. Yet if we don’t teach those walking the path anew, who will teach those how come later.
I have pride in who I am, what I have accomplished and those I teach. I know in my heart that they shall carry forward into the next generations the truth with wisdom and honor.
Blessed Shall They Be.
Lady Abigail
High Priestess Ravensgrove Coven
Greenfield, IN
Copyright © 01252010
Good afternoon, dear readers! I will make this quick. I am going to finish up the handfasting that I didn’t get to yesterday, real quick. Which by the way I hope you enjoyed. Then I am getting back to the regular stuff. Who knows I might throw in a little extra between posts. I hope you are enjoying the blog. I almost forgot the main reason for posting this today. I have over 500 comments in the back. They keep coming in faster than I can read them. I deeply appreciate them and please have patience and I will get to your eventually. It is wonderful to hear from my readers. I love to hear your comments whether good or bad. So keep’em coming and I will get to them soon as I can. Till then……
Much Love & Blessings,
Lady A
As in the olden days, a high priest or priestess usually performs the handfasting ceremony either outdoors or in a place of worship, such as a Christian church. Rings are exchanged to symbolize unbroken union and the eternal circle of life It is interesting to note that the wedding ring, which is traditionally worn on the fourth finger of the left hand, came to be place there because our ancestors believed that it sat over an artery that ran directly from the hand to the heart.
The high priest or priestess is traditionally clothed in a gothic-style outfit, usually in green, gold or lavender. These outfits typically include ornate headdresses, and the priestess may wear a crown graced with a variety of crystals and feathers. These high-ranking clergy are mostly mature members of covens who have a wealth of knowledge about spell casting and all things magickal.
Strong, clear energy and the possibility for major opportunity exist today. Focus on work and planning, and avoid the emotional cobwebs of others. Your intuition is strong, so rely on what you know and don’t take someone else’s word for it
About the Number 4
Theme: Form, Work, Order, Practicality, Discipline
Astro Association: AriesTarot Association: EmperorWhat’s All This About “And Harm None”?
article
by Freya Ray
“Do what you will, and harm none.” What does that mean, exactly? Why on earth would any community hamstring itself with a fundamental motto so basically impossible to live up to? When you think about it, it’s crazy, right?
The Jains, those intensely wacked-out Hindu-type people who believe all life is sacred — and I mean all life — they try. They go barefoot so they don’t inadvertently crush any little critters. They eat no animals. They wear a cloth across their mouth so they don’t inhale a bug. Now that’s devotion to a creed.
Does it work for them? If you play it out logically, any food they eat is taking food from the mouths of other creatures. In India, this equation is even more apparent than here, the land of the surplus. I’m sure Jains roll over during the night and squish caterpillars, brush gnats out of their ears with a little too much force and kill them dead, dead, dead or eat some rice with little cooked rice-eating bugs in it. Not to mention the damage that is inflicted to all the tiny dandruff-eating mites that inhabit our bodies with every belly scratch. You can run it up the food chain, too. The rice that the devout Jain eats is grown on land that is therefore not used to grow hay, and he could be causing the death of a cow through his own feeding.
Please indulge me, and allow me to run through a similarly ludicrous examination of a good little witchy person trying earnestly to do no harm. Say she wants to draw love into her life. She does a nice little ritual to draw a mate to her, being terribly careful not to make any specific requests about any particular individual, so as to not infringe on anyone’s free will. She disposes of any leftover ritual props in sharps containers or recycle bins and dumps nothing into a storm drain. She just wants to be happy, after all, and thinks she needs a mate in her life to be happier, although of course she’s fully aware that true happiness comes from being full in yourself and wouldn’t ever dream of needing to be rescued from her loneliness, although it might be nice to have sex again before she dies.
You with me? Now what happens? Anything. She’s altered the energetic balance of the universe, moving energy and intent toward a specific purpose. She’s shaken things up, sending out a “Now!” signal into the void. She might get someone, but not a very good someone but only what was available at the moment. She might get the letter of what she asked for but not the intent, because the deities are crafty bastards. She might run around after the ritual radiating sexual readiness in such an overtly enticing way she provokes a normally faithful partner to start hitting on her, causing his girlfriend to dump him. Any of these scenarios are possible, and any of them can result in heartbreak and angst for all of the players involved. Or worse, she might get what she wants, be deliriously happy, pissing off her bitter single girlfriends and losing all her pals.
Go on, play this game yourself. Ask yourself, when did I do ritual asking for something? How did it go wrong, in ways I might have anticipated but didn’t? If you’ve been playing with fire, you’ve been burned, unless you’re perfect, and then why are you reading me?
Then there’s ritual for other specific purposes. You might do a ritual of protection for yourself after a bad relationship, a woo-woo restraining order. A year later you realize you haven’t had sex since the circle went up, and guess why? Think of the untold harm this has brought all your potential sex partners during that period of time! The heartbreak!
You do a healing circle. After the circle, one participant has a nervous breakdown, another ends a long-term relationship, another quits his job and becomes an artist. Harm, or not? The nervous breakdown might lead to breakthrough healing, but then it might be the frying caused by too much energy running through a system unprepared for it. The end of the relationship might be good and long overdue, or it might be the result of someone high from endorphins released by letting go of old baggage who decides she’s too good for the partner who stood by her through carrying all the baggage, and if she stuck around another six weeks they’d have been happy together forever. The artist — following his dream or caught up in a Bohemian fantasy? Living his path or abandoning his responsibility to pay child support every month?
How on earth is one to tell?
Spirit can probably keep track of all the ramifications of individual events, but humans can’t. As to judging whether individual results are boon or bane, I’m not entirely convinced Spirit keeps score that way. When we do, it only makes for extensive confusion, and worse.
“And harm none” is a great idea for keeping Fluffbunny Artemis Moonriver from casting a spell to bring Peter Trent, the boy next door and man of her dreams, to her bed, despite his complete and utter lack of interest in giggling little Artemis. It’s a good motto to try and dissuade High Priestess Arachne Wolfspawn from casting a curse unto the seventh generation on the landlord who wouldn’t refund her security deposit because of the teensy little cigarette burns in the carpet. It’s a fine thing to attempt to keep Lord Wizard Aleister SexGod of the Ninth Circle from “initiating” all his “novices” with mushrooms and “tantric sex magick.” I’m not sure it works, but it’s a nice idea, and well worth repeating.
What effect does it have on those with both a conscience and a brain, though? You work to learn responsible magical practices. You sweat the language for your rituals, trying to envision all the possible consequences. You set up support groups and phone trees for helping people who crash after ritual. You do giveaway work more often than you ask for anything for yourself; you try not to offend people in the supermarket.
Good for you.
After a while, you realize you’ve PC’d yourself into a little box, and you can’t really remember why this whole Wiccan thing was so appealing in the first place. Wasn’t there some original moment of power and glory when you touched all of creation, throbbed with majestic spiritual strength, knew your divinity? Wasn’t there some seminal idea about living without compromising yourself to your dominant culture; following your own heart, creating your own reality?
Screw it, then. I mean, assuming you’ve got a conscience and a brain. If you don’t, then you don’t need my words as an excuse to bungle things up wildly all around you all the time.
I let that idea, harm none, lead me away from the place where I radiated power all the time. I got tired of people (only some of them, some of the time, but still … harm none) jumping back out of a hug as if they’d been shocked. I got tired of people calling me after a two-hour first date to tell me their stuff was suddenly all up in their face and they were in no way ready for a relationship. I got tired of people shrinking from eye contact as if I were overwhelming their circuits by beaming lasers from my eyes.
I mean, it’s not like I’m Guru Mai, right? I’m not offering shaktiput, elevating the consciousness of devotees with a glance, touch or hug. I’m not part of some grand tradition where running current at a zippy frequency is celebrated.
No, I was making people uncomfortable. I was doing too much meditation, too much energy work, too many readings, too much talking to God, too much teaching and ritual. Too much. I was too much.
So I stopped. I watched a lot of TV, I stopped meditating, I turned my attention to writing rather than all the other stuff that required my being terribly amped up. Readings I can still do, even when I’m not crackling with juice. Energy work, no. But it was fine, really.
Until I realized consciously what I had done. In seeking to harm none through least common denominator thinking, I had removed a significant portion of my light from the world. I wasn’t making people uncomfortable anymore, but neither was I challenging them to grow and giving them a little nudge with catalytic energy. I wasn’t radiating at the highest frequency possible for me, the one that brings me the most joy.
It’s a lot more fun being all amped up. If I thought about it, I could list the harm I brought the world by damping my energy down, but the other kind of harm was much more in my face. It’s a Wonderful Life, and all that.
That’s my point, then. Screw `em. Do what you reasonably can to act ethically and responsibly, but don’t sweat it, trying to find the perfectly harm-free path. It can’t be done. Harm happens. Every action you take, every word you speak, is going to have consequences, more of them unforeseen than foreseen. That’s life!
Take a deep breath and do what you are moved to do. If you expand the first part of the creed to “Do what you will, as guided by spirit, your intuition, your wisdom and your conscience,” you’re probably going to be fine.
There will be consequences. You’ll deal with them when they happen. But don’t let the fear of them stop you from charging yourself up, radiating light, learning energy work or asking for what you want. I’ve got the army slogan running through my head now: “Be all that you can be!” Whatever. So it’s hokey. Do it anyway.
Screw it. Do what you will, as best you can.
The Importance of Being a Wise Woman – a Witch
Author: Briallason
The term “witch” wasn’t given to anyone accused of being such by the person being accused. The term was given by the ruling powers to a certain type of individual that the ruling powers did not understand and of which they were terribly afraid.
What was, or is, this type of individual that has frightened so many governments, religions, and ruling powers for so long?
They are nothing more than males or females who are aware of their position in life in accordance with the mathematics of the universe (universal law).
They are persons who recognize and are willing to accept their right and responsibility to be in charge of their own lives: Responsible for their own actions, their own lives, their fate, their destiny.
They are persons, male or female, who recognize that within them must reside the respect, council and wisdom of the heart of a mother – a wise woman – in order for a balanced society to exist and for life to be able to continue perpetually.
In the beginning of civilization, it was the key to proper balance in every realm. Made up of many, many races and nationalities of peoples, this ingredient and characteristic was found deep within each of them.
What does it mean to be a wise woman or Witch? True Witchcraft can be practiced from one place and one place only – from deep within the heart and innermost being of the individual. And it is nothing more than a certain degree of consciousness within that individual.
How important is the practice of Witchcraft to each person? It is as important as the very elements upon which we call – earth, fire, air and water. They are essential to our existence, for without them we will not survive. Neither do we call upon spirit to cast a circle, for if we indeed call upon the four elements, then spirit is there in the midst; it is us, you and I.
In a time before now all five elements existed in perfect harmony and each existed with harm to none. And in a time soon to be, again it shall be so.
During current history, as balance was overthrown and the earth and mankind were pulled into an extended sleep, things continually worsened, becoming even further out of balance. And the wise woman or Witch in every person became the enemy of imbalance and a threat to greed and self-indulgence, for the wise woman mind will not bend nor stoop to unjust harm or abuse. And she was greatly feared, to be destroyed on sight.
For the wise woman, wisdom was, and held, the key of life. For centuries she was hidden or hard to find; yet she was always sought by those who wished to destroy her. Anyone practicing any of her ways was considered to be an enemy. Many books were burned, all manner of propaganda was instigated against her, and a song was produced to lure the sleeping generations into submission and obedience.
It was a sweet song, near – if not impossible – to keep from singing and following. It was the song of prosperity, of money, of ease, wealth, dominance, of someone else to fight your battles for you, someone else to determine directions you should go, and it sounded so sweet, so right, so true.
And with time, it took root, and grew. Many chose mates to think for them. Others volunteered to be the leaders, many joined together to show the others how to worship, or what to worship. Armies were formed to protect and fight to keep the freedom of others to indulge in their seeking. Governments were borne, then stronger governments, and institutions and corporations. And they hated each other and began to destroy each other and if, per chance, they could not destroy, then they joined each other, becoming larger and larger with less competition.
And all the while, the wise woman, wisdom, hid and was cast away and downtrodden. But where would she dare hide or be hidden?
Only the wisdom of the Mother herself could hide wisdom where it could not be harmed or destroyed. So she hid it deep within the sleeping hearts of her children, in the dry and barren wilderness wasteland, the cave of the heart, where once had flowed the rivers of life, but now, a place where wisdom herself alone could enter.
And in the Spring Season, at the beginning of the New, in the Dawn of New Day, the children slowly began to awaken – awakening first to the realization that although the old song had promised so much that was needed, it had not produced. Life steadily worsened, and though a few maintained quick riches in the short-term, most people labored more and more just to maintain short-term existence. And with that awakening, slowly came the desire and need to change that manner of existence.
But how to change that old order? To join and fight against wrong by taking of arms and actions to destroy those that subscribed to such ways? By might and power and forming more organizations to stamp out injustice? No. It only produced more misery and injustice and harm to innocent people.
But then, in the first faint winds of dawn came a sound – a song – more beautiful than any other ever heard. A song, first hard to distinguish in direction, then more and more, as sleep was wiped away, the realization – the song is coming from within! Within the barren desert, moisture, breeze, heat and substance. The song’s rhythm was felt within the minds and hearts of the children, the steady drumming from Earth Mother herself, and the importance of wisdom began to dawn.
That wisdom shed light on the importance of loving one another and doing no harm, of understanding the responsibility for your life, and yours alone, and accepting the same. It whispered the truth of the necessity of thinking for yourself, and while respecting other’s advice, the deep realization that direction for you belongs only to you, and with it the responsibility is yours, thus no one else is to blame.
And more and more, the song is heard, and old things begin to shake, for injustice does not survive in a world that is awake.
And a desert blooms, and a fragrance fills the air. And we begin the slow, painful, but steady birth into the time after history, you and me, in perfect love and perfect trust, with secret deity hidden within, balancing our own life in the center of the elements, bringing survival and hope to each other. How important is being a wise woman, a Witch?
It is the beginning, and end, and the ever after of survival and existence.
I Am A Witch
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Who have a solid sense of personal and social responsibilityWho are not afraid to stand up for what they believe in
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Author: Beweaver
Now mind you, I’ve been asked to do magic for folks over the years. But none have ever followed through. They think it sounds good but for one reason or the other they bail. Don’t know if it’s because they become afraid or can’t get their act together enough or what. So it’s never happened. I’ve always been nervous at the thought. Those days are gone. And it came to me as naturally as snapping my fingers.
Some of you might remember the difficult wounding of a tender, fairly new friendship back in December. It kind of blew up and kind of healed. But we have not met outside of a meeting nor talked on the phone nor walked around the lake since that day. I have missed her terribly. Missed her and her daughter. But I did make a pact with myself, because of all the challenges I was having regarding all friendships, that I would seek out those who seek me. That it was time I stopped pursuing people who, when left to their own devices, did not pursue me.
I wanted her to have the time she needed, I didn’t want to push myself on her. I had told her I loved her and that I wanted her in my life. I hoped that something might happen, not holding my breath, detachment has been mine, and last week it happened.
She contacted me to ask if paying her psychic $500 to cleanse her house was a reasonable thing given what I know about magic. That the psychic said someone was trying to take her house away, that they were watching her house. Now I don’t know if this was truth or if the person was trying to scare her into spending a bundle on “magical” remedies. I told her my truth. That no witch I know would charge anyone $500 for any magic of any kind. That I would be very happy to come and do some work on her house for her but I would prefer it if she helped. For no charge, that witches in my tradition don’t charge for their services although they were allowed to accept gifts of thanks.
I suggested that her 13-year-old daughter would be very welcome but only if my friend, as her mother, approved. I felt that she needed this cleansing as much as her mother did. And to spend $500 on a new front door if she felt she needed to spend it. Tongue in cheek of course.
She said, oh yes please. I wrote up a ritual, sent her a shopping list, worked out the best day, and called my High Priestess for direction. Like my friend my high priestess is Jewish. She suggested that instead of pentagrams we use the Mogen David. The Shield of David. Yes, that six-pointed star, like our pentagram, is a shield. A shield used by God to protect his people. Perfect. I am not a squeamish witch; I embrace all the good, spiritual tools available to me. To be able to help them with symbols and a language that spoke to them was such an honor.
My friend said that she barely got it all out when her daughter excitedly said, “YES! I want to do this with you.” Awesome.
I actually got a little lost on my way there. When I got my new phone and they transferred the sim card info, I lost all addresses but hadn’t realized until I got lost that I needed theirs. When I finally found it I realized that I had driven right past it twice. I didn’t recognize the place. My friend had already begun to renew her home and her life. The lights from the windows, the colors of the walls radiating out, was so welcoming, quite beautiful. The inside had changed even more. She was half way there instinctively, intuitively. Moving furniture out, moving it about, changing the flow of energy, those are powerful tools. New locks on doors and windows.
So three women and a dog talked about what we would be doing, toured the house, and explained grounding and some of the tools we would be using. I gently suggested that she remove her ex-husband’s things from the house as soon as she could. That is was time. He is still around but he is severely disabled due to an allergic reaction to a medication and has no interest or use for what is left. That she buys herself and her daughter new sheets and physically cleanses their rooms to remove the sadness and depression that they had experienced in their beds for the past 3 years. That the house had always felt sad to me and that it wasn’t just their sadness, that it felt older to me. She said the neighbors had told her that a woman like Throw Mama From A Train had lived there with her children. Neglect, pain, sadness. I was so glad she was doing this.
I explained grounding and we began. We tried to start from a standing position, forming a triangle with our bodies to represent the female half of the Mogen David but the dog thought we wanted to dance and kept jumping up and licking faces. We had to sit. I walked them through a guided meditation for grounding and I felt them both ground. When the daughter opened her eyes we could both tell that something had really happened for her. She is thirteen but her ability to articulate what that felt like and what she experienced was truly beautiful. I wish we could all keep a part of that wise girl who’s just become a woman, who’s still experiencing the world and it’s wonders with a state of grace, inside us.
She was so excited to do this. Her energy was so bouncy, so pure, so joyful. Her bat mitzvah was only a few weeks ago and she was so excited to learn about the Kabbalistic Cross and to seal her doors and windows with something magical that was from her own faith.
We swept that house; we asperged that house; we cleansed that house. We sealed the doors and windows with Mogen David’s; we chanted the heck out of that house and sent the negative energy and spirits packing. We charged some stones to ward the perimeter of the property and necklaces for them to wear. We laughed, we hugged, we marveled, we sighed. It was so good, so wonderful.
She and her daughter honored and blessed me with their need and their request. And their gratitude. While I was packing up to leave they went down to the basement to turn off lights and lock up. What they came back with was something that I had seen in the basement. A black leather motorcycle jacket with studs on the collar, belt, and shoulders. It had belonged to her ex-husband, the father of her daughter.
I had said that if she was selling it in the yard sale they were planning that I would definitely be interested. She told me that this coat had seen the punk music scene in New York. That it knew Lou Reed, The Ramones, poets, playwrights, was even in a photo shoot for a Japanese magazine. That it had a real history, the man who wore it had lived the life with those I had admired back in the day. I was in awe of that jacket. And they gave it to me in gratitude for coming over to bless their house.
We laughed and talked and hugged some more. I drove home high as a kite, floating on air. It was hours before I was able to fall asleep. I had hung the coat up but kept it out of my closet. While that coat, one just like it, has been on my wish list for my entire adult life, I’ve never wanted to spend the money or didn’t find one I liked or that fit, I felt uneasy. I had planted my wish in her mind and I felt that in a way I had asked for payment. I wasn’t sure what to do.
When I woke the next morning I thought I should call her, see how she’s doing. “No, she’s out buying new sheets, ” sounded in my head. I set about cleaning my own room. 90% of what I brought with me to my parents house is in one room with me. 11 x 11. I’m certain I’m being generous to the size. Clutter builds up very quickly. I’ve got The Razor’s Edge on the laptop playing and I’m clearing and sorting out my underwear drawer (I believe MOST of magic is about making mundane acts magical) when the phone rang.
It was my friend. She was so excited, words bubbling out of her so fast, she’s so emotionally charged. She starts telling me that knowing that I have that coat has done so much good. That the man who was her daughter’s father was a man she had loved, who had been a very good man, that she had really loved him and knowing that the coat went to someone who really wanted it and who knew him and her and their story, someone who would honor it and give it a new loving life made her heart overflow.
Tears? Falling like a fountain, we’re both just sobbing. She tells me she’s been crying all morning but it’s been bittersweet, a cleansing. And she was putting the new purple sheets on her daughter’s bed as we talked. And that after I left, her daughter, with eyes as big as saucers, said, “She’s the real thing Mom. She’s a REAL witch.” Now that is a compliment indeed and I’m humbled and all kinds of grateful.
So much healing was done Saturday night. The night of Saturn, waning moon in Sagittarius. A banishing protective night. But this is the best part of magic. Things happen that you don’t expect and hardly dare to hope. Things happen that are counter intuitive. Good things, things like healings and blessings and love happen when it isn’t a full moon. New things begin; joy is embraced. All in black our bond was cast. The three of us, three women. And a dog. Three women who will always have Saturday, February 6th, in their hearts for the rest of their lives and beyond. Wealth beyond compare.
Be careful what you witch for. You just might get it. *wink*
You’re more sensitive and intuitive than usual. You may find yourself having vivid dreams or even premonitions. Today you may wear the hat of mediator in a dispute, and you’ll do so with great success. Love and romance are also likely to have an effect on you today.
About the Number 2
Theme: Adaptable, Tactful, Gentle, CautiousAstro Association: MoonTarot Association: High PriestessTheme: Adaptable, Tactful, Gentle, CautiousAstro Association: MoonTarot Association: High PriestessWhy am I qualified to answer these questions? Because I am a witch, and have been all of my life.
So let’s get those questions answered.
First, a witch is many things. She, or he, as men are witches too, may or may not be a sorceress. Some witches practice no spell craft, but choose only to focus on the worship of nature, and the Goddess and God, providers of all that we are blessed with on this earth.
There are those like myself, who practice sorcery, or magick. And you will find that among witches, those terms, along with numerous others, intertwine for many, while some insist that the term sorcery only applies to black magic. I do not agree, because to me there is no “black” or “white” magick. There is only magick, and it is the intent of the practitioner that determines the direction of the energy used.
When one decides to follow the path of the witch, they are making a commitment that holds many responsibilities, and will find that there is much to learn before any actual casting of spells should be approached.
To quote High Priestess Ly de Angeles, from her book “Witchcraft Theory and Practice”, “Once initiation has occurred, there is no turning back…you will quest all of your life; it is not a thing to do thoughtlessly.”
This is, in part, because our spiritual path, unlike others, states that we are immediately responsible for all of our actions and the results that follow. We cannot lay blame elsewhere for our harmful deeds, whether toward ourselves or to others.
Witches do not believe in the devil, so the idea of our worshipping one is meaningless. If we have acted in a baneful manner, we will not be judged after our body dies, before a single god, but will reap the sowing of our intent while in the present life, and sometimes beyond it, in accordance to the laws of the universe.
This is known among witches as the Threefold Law. It states that any one baneful act by a witch shall be returned upon them three times.
Some, myself included, do not hold strictly to the Threefold Law, but believe that negative use of witchcraft returns upon those liable however many times the universe deems necessary, in order to teach that which must be taught to the practitioner. Think of the old saying “What goes around comes around.”
So witches do have rules? Hell yes!
We abide by that which is known as the Wiccan Rede, a hefty list of guidelines. The most basic and important of these is “And it harm none, do what thou wilt.” Now, just what does that mean?
It means a lot.
We must take care with everything and everyone on this earth, be it the people, the animals, nature, and the planet itself. All is a gift from the Goddess. We must not lie, steal, cheat, or raise war, either with nations, or other people who would condemn us for our beliefs because they differ from their own.
We must work magick responsibly. This means we must prepare for ritual with great thought and patience, being precise, and making sure our efforts do not impose upon another’s will, as that would be baneful.
We must not use mind-altering drugs of any kind before or during ritual. To do so would be against the Rede, as we could bring harm to others and ourselves due to our lack of clear focus.
There are strict rules for summoning energies or “watchtowers”, as we in the Craft refer to them. They are called upon to join and assist in ritual, and must be dismissed at the ritual’s end, in a certain way. Failing to do this can, and most often does, result in negative occurrences long after the ritual is over and those in the circle have gone merrily on their way.
Being in a drugged state would leave those practicing within the ritual circle completely vulnerable to the energies and spirits that have been summoned. To perform spell work correctly, successfully and safely, one must have complete control over their faculties.
Now, how about our reputation?
It has taken hundreds of years for witches to partially recover from the labels placed upon us, and whether we like it or not, our chosen path is one which is looked at by others who still hold to the opinion that we are not following a true spiritual path, but one of pure evil. We must show them differently.
We must act responsibly, respectfully, and never fall into the trap of believing that we are “right” and others “wrong” in their differing beliefs.
We must not boast of powers, or play upon another’s fear of us, thus falling prey to the ego and thereby promoting our own demise, either through personal fault, or by those who would seek to destroy us.
As for that last question, I think I’ll let you, the reader, decide. You have heard from me, a practicing witch, concerning some or our basic beliefs and ways in which we live our lives.
So, what do you think? Should I be feared? Ostracized and imprisoned? Executed?
Some would still answer, “Yes.” My neighbor is one. She has stated on more than one occasion that anyone who practices witchcraft, or her idea of witchcraft, should, in fact, be burned at the stake, twenty – first century or not. With the giant wooden cross she has erected in her front yard, I guess she is preparing for her own ritual….
There will probably always be those who will hate us, out of ignorance and fear. Or perhaps just because we have the courage some of them lack, to follow our own path rather than go along with what is most acceptable in society for the sake of fitting in.
As for myself, I shall continue on the journey my Goddess has provided me, and I shall remain a responsible witch.
Author: jajlo b
have only been studying and practicing Wicca (and I say practicing since I’m not perfect) for the last 10 years. I’m very much eclectic, and have had to do much of it on my own. I just haven’t found a teacher that I feel is right. And in all honesty, I’m not looking for one just now. I enjoy my freedom to digest what I read in many forms and what comes to me through my dreams, and mediations.
But I often wonder… can you really tell who is Pagan or Wiccan and who is not, by some outward sign?
I mean I know a lot of people who wear t-shirts with faeries and fey on them. I have seen people with bumper stickers saying, “Give me that old time religion” and a Pentacle right next to the phrase. I have even seen t-shirts in Kansas near where the Wizard of Oz museum is with “Good Witch” on the front. (I actually have that one because I have a strange sense of humor.)
But in all honesty, how do you tell a Pagan or a Wiccan from everyone else you meet in your daily life and travels.
The reason that I ask is because of two separate occurrences that happened to my husband and me.
Okay picture if you will, walking into a truck stop about 11 p.m. one night and the cashier is busy with a line full of costumers. And she is wearing one of those fancy sterling silver pentacles. Not a pewter one, but one that you know is sterling silver and she has a small Pentacle ring on that I notice as her fingers are flying across the cash register keys.
Anyway my husband and me finally make our choices and approach the cashier. “Hi, that is a pretty necklace.”
“Thank you, I’m a High Priestess, and my daughter had me order this from such and such” is the response she gave.
Ok, not exactly the response that I was looking for or expected. I only commented on her necklace. I had to do double-check my appearance; yep my pewter Pentacle was safe inside my uniform shirt. And I don’t have any tats or rings or earrings that have Pentacles on them. So why did she just come across with that answer.
Just then I realize she is still talking about the necklace. She goes on to tell me that she was thinking about doing a consecration ritual when it comes in the mail. But she decided not open it till the night of the full moon. So she could do the whole ritual properly (I still haven’t said anything else at this point) .
She goes on to explain she got her ritual bath and set up her altar and went to her room to get the necklace (This was an outdoor ritual she adds almost in a whisper as there is another customer at the register) . But as she goes to take it out of the tissue paper that is wrapped up she gets a shot of what she can only describe as static electricity.
Just then she says she realized that the maker of the necklace had consecrated it when they created the piece. Her daughter quickly tells her to just put it on, and wear as the artist that created it had to be stronger and more skilled than her and her ritual would only ruin the piece.
I tell her that is amazing and thank you for sharing with me and I walk away with my husband, who looks at me and says, “She’s a High Priestess. You didn’t even tell her you were Wiccan. So how did she know?”
I just look at him and shrug, “Beats me”
About a month later sitting in Montana at another truck stop we are eating. I see the younger couple come in (They look to be in their mid to late 20’s; my husband and I are in our 40’s) with their two children. I’m facing the door so I can see the t-shirt the young woman is wearing” 51 percent Angel/ 49 percent Pagan {don’t push it}.
I laughed. “ I like your shirt” I say while giggling about the thought of it.
“Thanks. I’m a High Priestess, ” she says back to me. And walks past.
I look at my husband; he looks at me, and says, “ What is it about declaring High Priestess status suddenly?”
I shake my head and double-check my appearance. My pentacle is in my shirt, not visible to anyone. So what is the deal with people saying this when I just comment on something they are wearing?
Suddenly the young lady comes back over to my table and she ask me point blank.” Do you know what Paganism is?”
“Yes, I do.” I tell her then I tell her I’m a solitary Wiccan.
“Oh really!” she says with a smile and some excitement in her voice (someone that she could talk for a few minutes) “ I was a solitary but then all my friends started coming to me and asking me to help them figure out what books they should read, so I ask them if they wanted to just start a coven with me.
They all said yes, and I told them we could do this but I would have to be the High Priestess since they came to me for advice in the first place.”
“Did they all agree to that?” I ask.
“Yes they did, ” she informs me. “My husband drives truck and he is heading to take me home so that I can do a new moon ritual and an initiation this weekend. I have to run to restroom. I’ll be right back”
She walked off, and my husband looks at me and asks, “Is that the way it is done in a coven” (I’m Wiccan; my husband is Catholic)
“No, ” I tell him, “ it is not done that way”
The young lady comes back and asks me to hold out my left hand palm down. I did and she places her right hand under palm side up. She looks at me and proceeds to tell me” Your energy isn’t very strong. I think you need to study more”
“ I have a head and chest cold that is eating up a lot of my energy right now trying to heal.”
“Well I can tell when people aren’t that strong of a Witch. I was doing a tarot reading on a chat line and for a woman in Ireland and she left in the middle of her reading to talk to her High Priestess”, she says
“Why did she go talk to her High Priestess? “ I asked
“Well when she came back she told me that her High Priestess told her that if I was able to pick up on the things that I was that I was one of the strongest High Priestess she had ever heard of.”
“And the woman told me that her High Priestess was now afraid of me”
I just smile and say, ” That is wild that another High Priestess in another country would be so afraid of you.”
She smiles and says” But I know that I’m that powerful and can do that, so that makes me one of the strong elders in this life”
She says she has to go; her husband is motioning for her to come on and help with the kids.
My husband and I get up and walk up to pay for our food, and my husband ask me, ” How do people just know that you are Pagan or a Wiccan?”
“I don’t know, ” I tell him.
To this day, I often wonder. Can you really tell a Pagan or Wiccan from some other outward sign?
Or were these two women just trying to startle me because I made a comment about their religious items?
The Story of an African American Wiccan Priestess
Author: LilithSilverKrow
During my 14 years of study of Witchcraft and Wicca, Shamanism and Paganism, I have found that Pagans of Color are hard to come by, or just simply in hiding. For years of my life, I have searched far and wide to create a group based on African American Neo Paganism and Wicca, but to no avail, it’s as if I am the only one who exists. While I know this isn’t true, I often find myself wondering if the traditional stereotypes of our African American Family culture, and the binds that keep families of color separated from other belief systems are true.
Is it true that we must bind our beliefs solely within the Christian Hierarchy of religious followings? Do we tell our families that we hold a close belief in something other than the all-knowing all-mighty God? How do we tell our families that we are not evil, and that we believe in the purity of nature?
Coming from a strict family of Deacons, Pastors and Reverends in the Christian Faith (not to mention the Catholics, and Jehovah’s witnesses) didn’t make my coming out so easy. When I was a young Pagan on my path to understanding the ways of the Goddess, I slowly came out to my family with little subtle hints that their way of religion was not particularly right for me and my spiritual tastes.
I would often deliberately sleep in on Sundays, ditch bible school, and refuse to sing in the choir- (er.. I mean I suddenly lost my voice, of course) . I would spend many hours in silent meditation, out in public spaces (like the living room, or the front porch) , which often lead to a lot of interesting questions. While this was probably not the best way to come out in a family so demanding of living a Christian life, it was a subtle way of letting know that I had a different path to walk. Finally, I was kicked out of my mother’s house for two different reasons. 1. For being a Lesbian Vegan, and 2. For being a Witch.
The very first book I had ever read was True Magick by Amber K. My mother actually found that book while “cleaning my room” and asked me if Christmas was out of the question. I started to explain to her the Pagan holidays, and what it means to be a witch- then she proceeded to tell my great-aunt, the devout Christian from Kansas and head of the family about me and my choice of religion… This caused an absolute riot in the family, and I was thrown out immediately on the spot, with no place to go. After a while of communicating with my mother, and letting her read all the books I deliberately left laying around, she decided to let me back in the house if I promised to stop being a Lesbian, at least eat some chicken and not tell anyone about my choosing to be a witch… At least she let me have my spiritual choice… one down and one and a half to go.
After my mother and I settled are differences about the whole idea of me being a Pagan child, she allowed me to have friends of the same faith and decided that it was time for me to go and be myself. She realized after all the fights and the arguments, that I wasn’t going to change my mind and that if she wanted me not to be who I was authentically, then I would obviously need to find my own place and move away from the house.
At the age of 16, I moved away to continue to lead a group or coven, and study with only those that were serious about Wicca and Witchcraft. I refused to let anyone in our group unless they read at least 5 books pertaining to Witchcraft or Wicca, and knew the basics of what our Spirituality was about. I look back know and realize that I have always been serious about my religion, and have made sure that others around me radiated the same kind of energy that I did. I never let movies influence me and I never bothered to listen to what others said about me. I was once again the only African American of my group.
My group consisted of several different races and ethnicities- Puerto Rican, Vietnamese, Caucasian, Mexican, and well me the black girl and “High Priestess”. I really hated the title of High Priestess, because having read all the books that I took the time to read, I knew that there was no such thing as miraculously becoming a high priestess. I just kept learning and making sure that all of the people in our coven were doing what it took to learn all of the initiatory rights, bound by the law of the Wiccan rede and following the wheel of the year. Sometimes I look back and think that I knew more then than I do now, and other times I wish that I could find more people of color to start a new coven all over again- this time with the right credentials to lead.
To conclude my story, I stuck with Paganism because it was the only source of spirit that allowed me to connect with the feminine energies of the Goddess. It was my only source of love and abundance and understanding and it has brought me nothing but wonderful bliss and has made my life truly centered and enlightened. I have learned how to connect with all sorts of people, to fit in and to allow what comes to me to come.
Although, I am still looking for Pagans of color who have a sense of their own individuality and pride as Pagans, I am happy doing what I do best. I am now running a humanitarian business here in Portland Oregon that focuses on the Pagan community, I own a two Shops, teach workshops and classes in the Pagan community and I do Shamanic Soul coaching and Journey work. This is what I do for a living, serve the Goddess in any way shape or form that I can. I dedicated my life and live in Service of the Goddess, and forever I will always be in service to those that need healing.
May the God and Goddess Bless you,
Love and Blessed Light,
Lilith Silverkrow
Footnotes:
B y Lilith Silverkrow
The Modern Coven: Importance of Documentation
Author: RedHawk
After a ritual with my coven sometime ago, it occurred to me that we’d all had a really good time, gotten a lot out of it, but alas, had nothing of the physical realm to show for it. Then it hit me. I am a military-trained videographer with an HD camera I wasn’t using NEARLY as much as I thought I would. How fortuitous is that? Two problems were solving each other.
Beautiful. It’s like they used to say on the old TV show “the A Team”: I love it when a plan comes together. Now all I had to do was sell it to my High Priestess.
I tossed my sales pitch around in my head for hours…. what I’d say, how I’d say it. What could I do to convince her we needed to start producing an audiovisual representation of how we did things? After all, it could potentially have a significant impact on later generations of Dragonstone (our coven) and ourselves when we wound up doing our AAR (Sorry, a military term: After Action Review) .
I guess my biggest concern in photographing rituals was that these are sacred, religious rites and even in the process of documenting them, sanctity needed to be preserved. Then again, I’ve photographed lots of weddings, baptisms, and confirmations, and this has never been an issue in the past.
Much to my surprise, it took little more than the mere suggestion. My HPS had always considered our group a modern coven with a forward-thinking attitude. For her, to be anything less is to become obsolete.
Honoring decorum and tradition is paramount. Clinging to it to the point of spiritual stagnation, however, inhibits the growth of the people within. I’m paraphrasing, of course, but you get the idea.
So as of now, I am the considered the coven’s “documentarian.” Since we have a highly organized structure in the coven, we have what are referred to as “points of service.” It’s our way of serving the various needs and functions within the group.
For instance, some may help keep the herb closet stocked, others may help out with the website. I was now the person in charge of keeping an audiovisual record of the coven’s goings on.
There would, of course, be issues.
I should state up front, that we are not, by virtue of our tradition, a skyclad coven—so that would never be an issue. But what about people who were uncomfortable with being photographed?
Personally, I hate being photographed. That’s why I always volunteer to be the one taking pictures. If it were an open ritual, whoever was joining us would also have to consent to being photographed. These were just the beginning of a host of potential things to be ironed out.
But most importantly for me, I’m still a part of the coven…and I need to be involved and an active part of the ritual or event taking place. Fortunately, these issues aren’t as complicated as they appear to be on the surface. As a rule, you really don’t need consent from someone to photograph him or her for personal use. Or in the strictest sense here—for coven-related purposes only.
As long as it’s not going to be used to sell something (commercial purposes) or mass distribution (i.e. YouTube) , you’re usually good. However, anyone from the outside, joining the ritual, needs to understand (well in advance) that you are photographing the ritual for archival purposes. Giving them advance notice, allows them a chance to opt out if they don’t want to be photographed.
As for the members of your coven who don’t want to be photographed, this is where the HPS needs to step in and smooth things out. In short, that’s why they’re the High Priestess.
As for my coven, they’re a pretty shameless bunch. So most love getting face time, the rest put up with it. I’m neither here nor there about it. I view it as a necessary part of keeping a true record of the coven’s history and practice.
Now…what to photograph?
This is the real beauty of it and what makes it stunningly practical and ruthlessly efficient. Technically you can photograph ANYTHING!! And we do! I’ve yet to photograph a ritual per se. But that little omission is just a week away from being a reality (i.e. this upcoming Samhain) .
Another use we’ve found for documentation is classwork. We have members in different states (some thousands of miles away) who simply aren’t able to take part in coven rituals and classes on a regular basis. Therefore, documenting the class gives them a chance to take part (in an after-the-fact sense) from far away.
Also keep in mind, with technology as consumer-based as it has become, it’s quite simple to ‘burn copies’ of any recorded event for all of those involved. This would especially come in handy for rituals such as handfasting for which you KNOW multiple copies will need to be made.
Sometimes we just get together for grins and giggles. You know summer picnics and the like. Having a visual reminder of just how silly and giddy everyone got, makes me smile. Much better than just a few still pictures.
These are just a couple of ideas on how to incorporate video into coven workings. These uses are as infinite as the variety of rituals you can do.
In closing, this method of record keeping was never meant to be a replacement for a Book of Shadows or a Grimoire. Consider it merely a supplemental. But it’s a position worth considering in larger groups, particularly if the group is expected to continue long into the future. (Sure, it requires someone to purchase a video camera, but they’re so cheap and common these days and usually someone within the coven is likely to already have one.)
Imagine what the covens of old would’ve done if they’d had this technology at their disposal. Now…. imagine what WE could’ve have learned from them if they had.
Witches Of The Craft® 
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