Tag: Religion and Spirituality

Daily Feng Shui News for Oct. 11 – ‘World Egg Day’

On ‘World Egg Day’ this might be just the information you need to change your luck and your life. Feng Shui says that you can shift a spate of bad luck to good simply by keeping a raw egg on your bed stand for three consecutive nights. After the third night dispose of it anywhere outside of your living space. If the shell of the egg cracks during these three days, dispose of the egg and start over again. The theory here is that the egg is absorbing negativity while cleansing your space. After three days you should be feeling sunny side up!

By Ellen Whitehurst for Astrology.com

Today’s Tarot Card for October 11 is The Empress

The Empress

Friday, Oct 11th, 2013

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Traditionally entitled “Empress,” this major arcana or “trump” card portrays the energy of the Great Mother. She is Nature, around us but also within us, the ever-unfolding Source of life-giving power. She is often pictured as a pre-Christian Goddess, as the one whom the High Priestess is channeling down to earth for the rest of us.

In medieval Europe, the Empress card was painted to represent whatever Queen currently ruled the land, probably to satisfy the Inquisitors. But the scholars of the Renaissance and beyond had no doubt of her true identity, although she could not be fully revealed on Tarot cards as the “woman clothed with the sun” until after the French Revolution.

This supreme archetype of femininity also symbolizes fertility. It is She who provides us nourishment and security. She is also sometimes seen as delighting us with flowers and fruit. A potentially terrifying aspect of this archetype manifests itself whenever karmic mood swings wipe out our plans, like a storm that has come upon us. Whatever happens, the Empress is the Source of our Embodiment and of Natural Law. She might even be called “the Great Recycler.”

I Don’t Suppose You Ever Heard The Phrase, “As Above, So Below?”

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As Above, So Below

Perhaps you’ve heard the saying “As above, so below.” What does this mean? Basically, this phrase, common among witches, reminds you that everything in this world is part of a pattern that’s reflected elsewhere in the universe and the astral plane. And, vice versa, everything in the rest of the universe and the astral plane has some shadowy symbology in the here-and-now. This point is very important to spiritual seekers: it allows for the possibility that there is something magickal but substantive “out there” that may be seen and interpreted. It also provides some measure of hope that those mysteries, which have been around for a very long time, will slowly be revealed and understood.

Let’s Talk Witch – The Care of Your Divination Tools

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Let’s Talk Witch – The Care of Your Divination Tools

It’s a good idea to cleanse your divination tools before consulting them. Stone runes, pendulums, crystals, I Ching coins, and magick mirrors can be washed with mild soap and water. To clean Tarot cards, light a sage wand or stick of incense and hold the deck in the rising smoke for a few moments. If you prefer, place your tools on a windowsill and let the sunlight remove any unwanted vibrations.

Quartz crystals and especially citrine can be used to purify other tools. Set a crystal on top of  a deck of Tarot cards overnight or place a crystal in a pouch along with your runes. Lightly stroke a crystal ball with a piece of citrine to clear it. Or set the citrine beside a divining crystal so the two are touching; the citrine will cleanse the other crystal.

When not in use, store your tools in a safe place. Many witches recommend wrapping them in silk cloth to protect them from ambient vibrations and dust. You may wish to place them in individual pouches or wooden boxes. Treat oracles with respect and care, as you would dear friends, and they’ll serve you for many years to come.

Hey, It Is Actually Friday! Blessings To All Our Family & Friends on this “Friday”!

 
I call to the Spirits of love and light
To help me make my outlook bright
Take away the gloom and doom
With the sweeping of my broom

 

Cleanse my soul of feelings dark
Where misery has left its mark
Shift my thoughts to patterns new
Within the cauldron’s witchy brew

 

Ease my heart and mend all hurt
To childlike innocence I revert
Greeting each new day with glee
Amid my magick’s mystery

 

Negative out and positive in
With this new attitude I begin
To live my life with love and light
And see the world with clearer sight

 

So Mote It Be

 

Ritual Planning Or Help – I Want To Do A Public Ritual But Don’t Know How

Ritual Planning Or Help – I Want To Do A Public Ritual But Don’t Know How

Author:   Zorya  

“Sincerity is no substitute for competence.”
– Isaac Bonewits
Rituals that Work –

Purpose of Ritual:

So why do a ritual at all, particularly a public ritual? After all, you are giving friends, acquaintances and total strangers a chance to judge whether you and your group really know what you are doing. Is it worth the risk of embarrassing yourselves in front of a crowd?

Actually, yes, it is. When you offer a public ritual you are performing a valuable service. Of all the many reasons for a public ritual, these two are the most essential. First, you are giving the community a venue to come together and strengthen bonds. Secondly, you are creating a “thin place” between the worlds of the material and the immaterial. When we have ritual we set up the conditions where you and those who join you in ritual can put aside the cares and distractions of the mundane and touch the face of Deity. Of the two, that may be the essential reason for public rituals. And as a gift to the Gods and the community, we should do that as well as possible.

Planning: (Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How)

Planning is the key word. A good public rite doesn’t happen by accident. As our former HPS said “A good Witch can pull it out of her a** and make it shiny.” True enough, but how do you get that good? Same way you get to Carnegie Hall – practice. But don’t practice your mistakes. Visualize what you want, then work to manifest it. As the old cliché says, success is 10% inspiration; 90% perspiration.

Why are you doing this ritual, as opposed to ritual in general? What is the purpose behind the ritual? Are you celebrating a seasonal festival, blessing, or a thanksgiving? Is it going to be a unity ritual, or one to affect a community healing? Once you determine the purpose you can better focus on what you will do.

Who is going to be available to actually do the ritual/perform the various roles? Before planning an elaborate, “cast of thousands” ritual, you need to determine things such as how many people in your group do you have to work with and what are their capabilities? If you decide to ask others (non-members of your coven, grove, etc.) to help, will you be able to depend on them? Do you really need a large cast or will a small one serve the purpose of the ritual just as well?

What are you going to do? A good, solid ritual outline is essential to a successful ritual. Outlines are normally the bare bones of a ritual. Once you have the framework set, you can flesh out the finer points of the ritual.

It is important to remember: Neo-Pagan myths, particularly seasonal myths, are drawn from many historical, traditional and folkloric sources. Pick one set with which to work. If you try to include all the myths associated with the season you will have an incoherent mess.

Focusing on a few elements is essential. If you try to include elements that would not normally mix you will only confuse things. Additionally, if you throw in too many activities you can bog down the ritual and take the focus away from the purpose – creating a thin place where the community can touch Deity. Ceremonies of transitions (handfastings, Wiccanings, passing over, etc), community announcements, children’s activities, recognition of individual contributions to the community are all well and good, but they do not belong in the main ritual. They should be done separately before or after ritual, or at another venue entirely.

What to include in your ritual outline depends on the overall purpose of your ritual, as well as how general or tradition-specific you want it to be. Since ritual in its most elemental is sacred theater, you need to have a specific beginning, middle and ending. Casting a magical circle, calling the quarters/elements, invoking the God and the Goddess are standard beginnings across many traditions and paths. Similarly, bidding farewell to the Deities, releasing the quarters/elements and opening the magical circle are also recognized endings. The middle is where the bulk of your sacred theater will occur, and where you are called to be the most creative.

Where – or as they say in the real estate business “location, location, location.”

Where are you going to hold your ritual? Do you want to have it in a public park, or in a local community center? Can it be reserved? If so, make a reservation. Don’t assume that it will be available on the date of the ritual.

What are the restrictions, if any? Will they interfere with what you have planned? (Open fires, loud music, etc.) Can you work within these limits, or would it be better to find a different place?

Should you hold it at a private (someone’s home) vs. public property? There are some advantages to having your ritual on private property. You can have more control over a private location and possibility allow for activities that would not be permitted at a public park or community center. On the other hand, the word “public” means just that – the public is going to know where you live. And while your friends and coven mates may all be wonderful people, there are, ahem, “interesting” folks in every community and you may not want to give them your street address. Another thought is how visible you will be from your front or back yard. Not everyone wants their neighbors leaning over the back fence saying “Hey, what’s going on?” during ritual!

The last objection may also apply to some “public” locations (see “reservations”). Does a jogging path run through the middle of it? Is it right next to the basketball courts, or the Baptist swimming pool? Whether you use a public or private venue, make sure you go to the location and check it out. Check for accessibility, view to the walk-by public, parking, whether a new person can find it easily, does it have a street address to plug into an Internet mapping program (yahoomaps, google maps, mapquest) or can it be easily located on a physical map, and so forth.

If your ritual is located outdoors, what is your “fallback” in the case of inclement weather? Is there a shelter you can use?

When will you hold this ritual? Will it be during daylight hours, or do you plan to have it at nighttime? (If night, keep in mind that most “public” location – parks, etc. – close at dark.)

“Pagan Standard Time” is a given. Allow enough flexibility in your schedule to provide for this, but also remember that some people really may have other plans later in the day (or may have to get up and go to work the next day, if a night-time ritual!). Don’t penalize those who do show up on time. Include the starting time in your announcements and stick fairly close to that.

How are you going to do it? “How” is related to “what,” but more detailed. This is where you get down to the nuts and bolts of the ritual.

Finalize the beginning and the ending of your ritual plan and fill out the details of the middle. Who is going to play which roles? Are you going to write out dialog or give the players the general framework and let them develop their own dialog? Will your Sacred Theater be highly structured or more freeform? With which format are you more comfortable? Which one do you think will do the most to create the “thin place?”

Whichever you choose, make sure you have a few rehearsals before the day of the ritual. Rehearsals are important. They allow the dramatis personae to become comfortable with their roles in the ritual and help them get a feel for the flow of the action. Rehearsals also help the group to see what works, what doesn’t work and fine tune the overall presentation. For example, if you have a scripted ritual with specific lines for the participants a rehearsal with let you see if the script sounds as good as it looks on paper. The lines may be very beautiful and sound wonderful when you read them in your head, but if the participants can’t wrap their tongues around them, well, it won’t be pretty.

Publicity:

It’s not a public rite if nobody comes. Don’t forget to get the word out early and often. With the ease of communication afforded by the Internet, you can reach a large number of people online as well as those who hear of your ritual through conventional means. A very good Internet resource for publicizing your ritual is a posting on your state or country page on The Witches Voice (www.witchvox.com). Other avenues include local message board such as the ones found on Yahoo (www.groups.yahoo.com), MSN (www.groups.msn.com), AOL (www.groups.aol.com) or Google (www.groups.google.com). When posting on local message boards, be sure to post an initial announcement, usually a month or two prior to the event and at least one reminder closer to the date of the ritual.

To reach folks who are not “connected” try posting flyers at local Pagan or metaphysical stores, and on public bulletin boards at local community colleges, university or public libraries. If you are in contact with other covens and Pagan groups in the area extend them a personal invitation to come to the ritual.

Execution:

On the day of the ritual make sure you get there early enough to set things up before your guests show up, so that you can welcome them, talk to “newbies” who may have questions and socialize. If you have extensive set up for the ritual you may want to designate one of your number to act as an official host to welcome people as they arrive.

Speak up! Use dramatic gestures. This is Sacred Theater. If anyone in your group has training in theater arts, ask them to help/train/direct the others. Don’t be afraid to go a bit “over the top.” And have fun with the ritual. One reason you are there is to enjoy what you are doing.

Get the “audience” involved but don’t expect them to do anything that is too complicated. Give the group a pre-ritual briefing of anything that you want them to do or that they may need to know about the ritual. If you have songs, keep them simple. Try to pick songs that your “Pagan on the street” might know, but don’t be afraid to teach the group a new song before you go into the ritual space.

What can go wrong? What will you do when it does? Anything and everything can go wrong before and during the ritual. Weather can go from warm and sunny to cold and rainy in the blink of an eye. Key participants could be no shows. Things fall over, come apart, or break during the rite – Maypoles falls over. Candles won’t stay lit outdoors. (Recommended: Don’t use them if daylight; use “jar candles” at night.)

Make sure you have a back up plan in case of bad weather, missing “performers,” forgotten items, and so forth.

When the Party’s Over…

Review your ritual. What worked? What didn’t? Why?

Don’t “finger point” at coven members for the things that didn’t work. Treat this phase as a learning experience for the coven, not a blame session. Do a written “after action” report and include it in the coven’s Book of Shadows. Don’t assume you will remember all your recommended changes when you are ready to do your next public ritual.

Reviewing other people’s rituals – yes, it’s alright to critique them with an eye to improving your own rituals. What did you like? Write it down to use next time you perform. What didn’t you like? Make sure you don’t do it! Note: If I write nasty things about someone’s ritual on a public e-mail list, that’s bashing, and it’s not nice. Critiquing rituals in private (in coven!) is constructive.

Try your best to make this a dispassionate review. Just because something isn’t “your cup of tea” doesn’t mean it won’t work for someone else. Remember that you are offering constructive, not destructive criticism.

Strive for Excellence:

A public ritual is your gift to the Gods as well as to your community. Take pride in what you have done, but always look for ways to do even better next time.

Miscellaneous Do’s and Don’ts:

Don’t read. (But, if you must, have enough copies for everyone to have their own copy of their lines!)

We recommend assigning roles and letting people write their own lines. (Why? It’s easier to remember something you’ve written yourself.)

Keep to the point; better short and sweet than long and drawn out.

In Winged Pharaoh Joan Grant has two of her characters talk about a poem that one of them has written, and this applies to any sort of presentation: “Better a bracelet that fit’s the wearer than a necklace so long that one trips over it.”

Being a Good Guest:

Attending someone else’s ritual? Go! Nothing hurts worse than planning the best ritual you can, then sitting there hoping that someone will show up.

Leave “personal issues” you may be having with anyone else in the community at home.

Clean up after yourself

After the ritual, go home (so others can, too).

In conclusion, public rituals can be emotionally fulfilling, spiritually uplifting and a whole lot of fun! A well planned ritual will be remembered fondly by both your group and the local community for a long time. Don’t be afraid, just do it!

A Quick Solitary Quarter Call

A Quick Solitary Quarter Call
(when you’re in a hurry! lol)

I welcome the East–bring your winds here,
Blow away doubt, confusion, and fear!
I welcome the South–let your fire glow,
Let desire and passion of life through me flow!
I welcome the West–let your healing rain,
Wash away negative feelings and pain!
I welcome the North–bring stability,
Strength and balance here to me!
The Quarters are called and the circle’s cast,
To raise the power and send it fast,
And when my sacred work is done,
Bless the magick that I’ve begun!

***AutumnRose***

Elder’s Meditation of the Day – October 9

Elder’s Meditation of the Day – October 9

“That spiritual power I wear is much more beautiful and much greater. We call it wisdom, knowledge, power and gift or love. There are these four parts to that spiritual power. So I wear those. When you wear that power it will beautify your mind and spirit. You become beautiful. Everything that Tunkashila creates is beautiful.”

–Wallace Black Elk, LAKOTA

When I was young, I asked my grandfather, “What should I pray for?” He thought for a long time and then he said, “Pray only for wisdom and for the knowledge of love.” This makes a lot of sense. No matter what happens I ask the Creator to show me the lessons I should be learning. I pray for Him to help me learn the lessons. By doing this everyday we become beautiful human beings.

Great Spirit, grant me Your wisdom.

Solitary or Coven?

Solitary or Coven?

Author:   Silverwolf 

Solitary or Coven?

One of the key choices facing pagans is the decision to be a solitary or to join a coven. Obviously a third option is to do both: you can have a practice on your own and still work with most Covens, but for many the practical answer is one of the other.

As Pagans, we generally enjoy a great deal of freedom in the development of our own particular path, and one of the decisions we all face is whether we want to or even feel we need to work with others in our path.

A solitary path brings complete personal freedom and the ability to truly work on a path that fits with your own beliefs. On the other hand, a coven can bring collective knowledge and experience that you may never obtain on your own, as well as the energy that a group can tap into.

The nice thing about Paganism, however, is that most will agree that there is no right or wrong answer for us. If a Coven works for you, so be it. If the path of a solitary works for you, so be it. Of course, you cannot call yourself a member of an initiatory tradition if you are a solitary, but that’s o.k.

Part 1: “Alone but not lonely” – by Silverwolf

Why do people stay solitary Pagan practitioners? Of course it you wish to join one of the initiatory traditions then you have to join a coven. There are other traditions that do not require direct initiation, and you can be a solitary and still practice that path. Of course, most solitaries simply create their own path, which is why they decided to remain solitaries in the first place.

As a matter of terminology, some people refer to solitary practitioners as “solitaries” and some as “solitaires”. I use the former here, but there is nothing wrong with either.

The vast majority of Pagans do start out as a solitary of course. At what point to do you realize you are Pagan? This usually comes on slowly and often as an act of discovery.

You may have had some leanings towards Paganism, but you were not familiar with what exactly it was. Then you read a book, or talked to someone, or ran across a web site that described being Pagan and you realized that that was what you had been feeling already, but didn’t have a name for it. A coven member introduced some people directly to Paganism, but even there these people usually were Pagans in their beliefs already, they just didn’t realize it.

What level of commitment?

The decision to not join a coven usually comes from simply not having the opportunity to join a like-minded coven. Just because you want to join one doesn’t mean there is one nearby with similar beliefs or that they are interested in new members. In fact, it is really incorrect to say that some people decide *not* to join a coven – most simply never decide *to* join one.

Some people practicing solitary would prefer to join covens but simply have no opportunity. Some are simply not involved enough in their practice to want the regularity of coven life. Just like a Christian who only goes to church on Christmas, or even not at all, but still considers him/herself a Christian.

Many people hold Pagan beliefs, but not everyone feels the need to actually “practice” anything and of course there is nothing wrong with that. As part of deciding on a Pagan path that is right for us, the level of activity and involvement that we pick is also a personal decision we need to make. A coven may simply require more activity and involvement than some Pagans are willing to invest.

A variety of traditions to draw on

Being a solitary has both pros and cons. The benefit of being able to construct a tailored path that fits you also means that you do, in fact, have to create this path yourself. You will undoubtedly take inspiration from other works, but you will create the path yourself. Now that is not to say that you can’t get help. Instead of learning about one tradition, you will probably need to research and learn about many traditions in order to find the parts that you wish to incorporate. Of course, you can also simply create your practice by following your own instincts without basing your practice on any previous works. Personally, I enjoy learning about different religions and beliefs, so I view this as part of the growing process as opposed to a chore. But it is work, no mistake.

Community for Solitaries

Being a solitary does not mean that you are without others to help you. You can discuss history, philosophy, ritual, and other aspects with other pagans – solitaries and coven members alike. Their views may match your on some issues, and diverge on others. You ultimately need to pick the pieces you will incorporate into your own beliefs, but you can still discuss ideas and solicit comments and opinions. This is part of the key attraction of a solitary path for me – the ability to take the best of all worlds to construct a path that fits me perfectly, and one that can grow and evolve as I grow and evolve.

A solitary is, by definition, alone and this potentially means on missing out on the benefits of community. However, there are several options to get the benefits of community that come automatically with a coven. There are on-line communities where you can meet on neutral ground, the Unitarian Universalist church is quite Pagan-friendly and I am actively involved in the one near me. Of course, a UU church welcomes Pagans, and many of the practices are purely Pagan, but it stops short of the more religious aspects of Paganism. Still, it provides a great place to explore beliefs and to put social and ecological beliefs into action.

The Solitary Path

Would I ever join a coven? Perhaps – I have nothing against covens and I believe that covens are absolutely the right path for some. If I ever found one that I felt matched my own path closely enough, and that seemed supportive and still flexible, I would certainly consider it. I enjoy attending public rituals on occasion and wouldn’t mind having a group to participate with regularly in rituals more closely aligned with my own path.

Having others to help craft new directions and explore new aspects of my faith could be fun. Joining a coven is also not permanent, and if my coven and I moved in different directions later I could simply leave the coven. With the tight community that a Coven forms, however, this would not be a step taken lightly. But I feel no need to join a coven today, or even to try to seek one out. For now, I continue to explore my faith and my direct relationship with the deity.

Part 2: “Hold Me As I Spiral And Spin” – by Chicoryflower

There are so many solitary versus coven arguments available, so pointing out something novel is challenging. However, it’s the language we’re looking for. An opinion that seems hip in a way that we value.

So with that in mind, I’ll explain that I wasn’t looking to join a coven when I stumbled upon one that I adore.

I had two brushes with covens that left me feeling that coven life was not for me. I wanted to hone and caress my own sense of divinity, explore my own boundless spirituality and not be hemmed in by the conceptual spirituality of others at different stages in life, from different backgrounds, with different (not lesser or greater) emotional and intellectual needs.

I don’t want to sound like I felt it would be an inferior experience, far from it. But I worried that others might feel the need to explore avenues, which I was less interested in, and I might be attracted to areas that they didn’t wish to learn about.

When you “sign-up”, it may seem that the 101 classes are beneath you. You might feel like you’ve been forced off the 10-speed and back on to the tricycle, but this is another benefit of being in a coven. There are precious gems of information about the coven within those classes. Take your time, go to as many as have been assigned, or more, you won’t be sorry. By the end of a year, you’ll realize it was beneficial and a great value of time, effort and expense. You can ask questions, and they will be answered. You can’t get that out of a book!

Covens can meet a lot of needs, and the first one is that perfect love and perfect trust doesn’t exist within the larger community of witches, it can only exist in covens where that is part of the vows you take. Otherwise, it’s just down to you and your divinity to have 100% certainty that all is done with the best you have to offer.

When we meet in perfect love and perfect trust, this has a lot to do with recognizing the intrinsic divine in others. It’s an exercise that makes us better people, better witches, and better friends, everywhere else in our lives. When we love and trust in this way to recognize the divine within others, and we also stretch our own understanding of divinity.

While we don’t necessarily agree with others, often some thought or idea is planted in the back of our mind that later might bloom and we find that it has made our consciousness expand effortlessly.

Community is something that “churches got and pagans ain’t”, in many quarters. When pagans go out looking for a safe, secure, intelligent way to grow as Wiccans, there aren’t a lot of options. As Silverwolf pointed out, there are a limited number of fully hived High Priestesses willing to take on new dedicants. So it follows that of that small number, it’s just not likely that the perfect coven is necessarily going to be one of them.

To me, this seems the greatest reason for witches to drive that extra mile to be a part of a tradition with degrees. There might be a day when the world has plenty of good covens with excellent High Priestesses, but until then you will need to be willing to make a little extra effort.

However, a group doesn’t need a degreed High Priestess from an established tradition to create a culture of love, trust, and sharing among other witches. It is possible to take vows, create new traditions, share knowledge and become tomorrow’s elders in a new tradition.

Coveners can hold each other somewhat accountable to learn the ways completely, and in a way that is generally agreed upon by others. Almost every tradition recognizes that you may have a personal pagan path that doesn’t match everything perfectly, and when we hive, this becomes a part of the heritage of the tradition. This is the same way that your High Priestess’ personality, knowledge, and idiosyncrasies helped form and guide your learning experience.

Being a part of these rites of passage enriches the experience of a witch. We know what we’ve mastered, but it certainly helps to have a group of elders second the notion and reassure us. Having the benefit of being seen by others and having the reality reflected back to us helps us grow, embrace ourselves, confront our shadows, and ultimately be enriched.

To be perfectly honest, I’m a very new dedicant, but these were the points and counterpoints that helped to form my decision to join a coven. I met the High Priestess several months ago, and it took a few stops and starts to be sure that this was the path I wanted to take. At each return, when I pulled back to be sure this was what I wanted to do (and for other more personal reasons), I was greeted with warmth and welcoming. It was easy to follow my instincts as they all uniformly voiced approval.

Conclusion

Solitary or coven, solitary plus coven, solitary and later coven, coven and later solitary…how you pursue your spiritual path as a Pagan is a decision that you and you alone can make. There is no right or wrong, no good or bad, only what is right and good for you specifically.

One of the truly special things about being Pagan is that we do have this freedom to choose. This is s fundamental given and part of what distinguishes us from most other religions: we do not believe that someone else is wrong because they follow a different path.

We have not received any commandment from our Gods to convert others, and eternal pits of fire do not await those who decide on a different way. So make your choice based on where your heart leads you.

Look inside yourself to make these choices, and make sure that you are making them for all the right reasons. Others can help provide advice or insight, but only you can make the final decision. And if you change your mind later, that’s o.k.

— by Silverwolf and Chicoryflower

A Little Humor for Your Day – Circle Etiquette

Circle Etiquette

 

Never summon Anything you can’t banish.

Never put asafoetida on the rocks in the sweat lodge.

Do not attempt to walk more than 10 paces while wearing all of your ritual jewelry, dream bags and crystals at the same time.

When proposing to initiate someone, do not mention the Great Rite, leer, and say, “Hey, your trad or mine?”

Never laugh at someone who is skyclad. They can see you, too.

Never, ever set the Witch on fire.

Looking at nifty pictures is not a valid path to mastering the ancient grimoires. Please read thoroughly and carefully from beginning to end so that your madness and gibberings will at least make some sense.

A good grasp of ritual and ritual techniques are essential! In the event of a random impaling, or other accidental death amongst the participants, (see next rule) a quick thinker can improvise to ensure successful completion of the Rite. Make them another sacrifice, Demons like those.

Watch where you wave the sharp pointy items.

Avoid walking through disembodied spirits.

Carry an all purpose translators dictionary in case the ritual leader begins talking in some strange and unknown language.

Avoid joining your life force to anything with glowing red eyes.

If asked to sign a contract or pact and you are experiencing doubts or reservations, sign your neighbors name. Malevolent entities rarely ask for photo ID.

Blood is thicker than water. Soak ritual garments an extra 30-45 minutes.

While drunken weaving may be mistaken for ecstatic dancing, slurring the names of Deities is generally considered bad form.

Daily Feng Shui News for Oct. 9th – ‘Bullying’

There appear to be many in October days addressing the epidemic of bullying. Ancient Indian texts tell that those being bullied should carry cinnamon (also called the ‘warm brown spice of friendship’) on their person. According to ages-old wisdom, carrying cinnamon will not only curtail episodes of intimidation but is believed to also provide invisible protection and courage.

By Ellen Whitehurst for Astrology.com

Your Charm for October 9th is The Gnostic Talisman

Your Charm for Today

The Gnostic Talisman

Today’s Meaning:

This aspect will be tested morally. This test is may be well hidden and the solution a mystery to you. You will have to make your way through it blindly. Have faith in yourself and you will do fine.

General Description:  

The Egyptian Gnostic talisman is engraved with their hawk-headed and frog-headed deities, the winged uraeus, and the ankh, the symbol of life. The inscription is a supplication to Bait, Hathor, Akori, and ends with Hail, Father of the World! Hail, God in Three Forms! This amulet was worn as a protection against both physical and moral evil. The religion of the Gnostics was a strange intermingling of pagan and Christian ideas. It was a system of complicated symolism made purposely obscure and mysterious.

Today’s Tarot Card for October 9th is The Magician

The Magician

Wednesday, Oct 9th, 2013

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Traditionally, the Magus is one who can demonstrate hands-on magic — as in healing, transformative rituals, alchemical transmutations, charging of talismans and the like. A modern Magus is any person who completes the circuit between heaven and Earth, one who seeks to bring forth the divine ‘gold’ within her or himself.

At the birth of Tarot, even a gifted healer who was not an ordained clergyman was considered to be in league with the Devil! For obvious reasons, the line between fooling the eye with sleight of hand, and charging the world with magical will was not clearly differentiated in the early Tarot cards.

Waite’s image of the Magus as the solitary ritualist communing with the spirits of the elements — with its formal arrangement of symbols and postures — is a token of the freedom we have in modern times to declare our spiritual politics without fear of reprisal. The older cards were never so explicit about what the Magus was doing. It’s best to keep your imagination open with this card. Visualize yourself manifesting something unique, guided by evolutionary forces that emerge spontaneously from within your soul.

Elder’s Meditation of the Day – October 8

Elder’s Meditation of the Day – October 8

“I think there was a big mistake made (when) people separated religion and the government. That was one of the big mistakes that was made, because when they did that, then they removed the Creator from their life – or at least from half to three-quarters of their life.”

–Tom Porter, MOHAWK

The Elders tell us that every thing the Creator made is interconnected. Nothing can be separated. The Elders say we should pray before we do anything. We should ask the Creator, what do You want us to do? We are put on the Earth to do the will of God. If we run our governments, communities, families or ourselves without the spiritual we are doomed to failure.

My Creator, guide my life to include the spiritual in everything I do.

Daily OM for October 8th – Objects of Power

Objects of Power

Talismans

by Madisyn Taylor

 

Having a talisman imbued with your intention is yet another tool you can use to assist you in your journey.

For millennia, mankind has found peace and solace in objects of significance. When cleansed and consecrated through ritual, such objects – be they gems, amulets, herbs, or written words – become talismans. A talisman is any item imbued with a specific power by its bearer to serve a specific intention. Ancient Egyptians used massive stone tablets as healing talismans while the Greeks and Romans used lead talismans to communicate with the spirit realm. Traditionally, a talisman acts to anchor energy in the physical plane. That energy may be protective in nature or may be intended to draw abundance, wealth, or a wide variety of blessings to its user. Today, a talisman may be made of wood, metal, paper, stone, or natural elements such as plants. Often, talismans are small enough to be easily worn or carried, and they may be marked with words or symbols that the talisman’s owner deems meaningful.

Creating and owning a talisman can reassure you and also serve to aide you in attracting what you want in life. You may use your talisman to help you attain health, security, or good luck. Or you may simply want to carry an object with you that will remind you of your search for soulful tranquility. In order to create a talisman, you must first determine its physical properties. This can be as innocuous as a strip of paper bearing the word “Love” and carried in a wooden box or cloth sack. You may prefer a more visible talisman, such as a metal amulet or a gemstone worn as jewelry. Before your object becomes a talisman, however, it must be charged. This can be done by cleansing the object – with water or with incense – and holding a ritual of your own making. Or, you can leave the object in moonlight or sunlight or bury it in the earth for a time. To preserve its effectiveness, talismans should be reconsecrated regularly.

Almost any object can be transformed into a talisman of protection, good fortune, health, love, or serenity. It may be strung on a cord and hung around the neck, worn on a belt, or carried in a purse or pocket. But the physical properties of the talisman are not as important as the intention of its bearer. If you are grounded in your desires, your talisman will give you a focal point that you can concentrate on to affirm your intention and help you achieve your goals

Daily OM

The Veil as Seen Through the Eyes of a Witch

The Veil as Seen Through the Eyes of a Witch

Author:   Crick   

As I near my twilight years I begin to think of death. Not as a final stage, but rather as a doorway standing before me. The door is closed but through it I shall enter, as we all must at some point in time. Our Sacred Mother decides upon such a time, for it is she who sends her children forth into the Chautauqua of Life. And it is she who calls them back home.

For some the journey is but a moment in time, like a shooting star that appears ever so briefly. One of my sons was such a shining star, here and gone ever so quickly. Like a ripple across a quiet pond, he touched our hearts and then was gone. His moment of existence resonated in our souls like a song that will never end.

For others the stay is longer, like errant children with so much to learn. Perhaps it is life lessons to be repeated or maybe a lesson of our selves unto others. For we all are students of life, seeking to find the answers that allow us to grow. However, at the end of the day, it becomes time for us to return home.

Sometimes we face this return with trepidation, like children who want to stay out past dark. However it is children that we are and when our mother calls it is time to go home. For our knowledge of what lies behind the door that leads through the veil is not a reality. We are like small children whose whole sense of reality has been confined to a small fenced in back yard. We have no real awareness of the whole wide world that lies just beyond our gate.

As we go through this life, we sometimes find ourselves in a state of physical pain. The reason for this I cannot fathom or answer as to why. For the ways of Deity, are not for us to know at this stage in our development. For us to have such knowledge is to be as one with our Sacred Mother. Perhaps the pain that such folks endure is a lesson from another life. Or perhaps it is the beginning of a lesson in this current life.

We often feel love and compassion for those who experience such, and then perhaps that is the lesson intended for us. In the end, only Deity has the answers to such. As it is, when it becomes my turn to stand before the door leading to the corridor of transition from this life to that, I can only hope that I do so with a sense of dignity.

The dear Goddess has given us many gifts in the way of experiences. Some of these lessons were tinged with pain while others carried a note of joy. She has created a complex harmony with numerous opportunities to learn about ourselves and indeed to learn about others as well.

Many folks in this life will mill about at the foot of the mountain of life, their hearts and minds poisoned with fear of what lies ahead. And so their journey through this life will be compromised and with closed eyes, dwelling on what may or may not be.

I personally believe that this persona of fear has been initiated and exploited by those who would seek to control the thoughts and actions of those who succumb to such implanted paranoia’s.

As a witch though, I walk through this existence as an individual. And will indeed climb to the top of the mountain of life, seeing each arduous step, as merely another stride in the spiritual growth that awaits each of us. And once the peak is reached I will extend my hands to the skies and whisper a heartfelt thank you to Deity. Thus in this manner, giving a sign of appreciation for the opportunity to have experienced the lessons of this realm as we become that much closer to the final goal of being one with Deity.

From the moment that we take our first breath, we are walking towards the door that leads through the veil. And so when Deity extends their hand and beckons me forth, I will do as was planned prior to my existence in this realm.

Granted, there will be feelings of sadness, for one cannot enter this realm without creating a comfort zone composed of family and friends. But then there will also be feelings of curiosity and anticipation and of course many unanswered questions.

For instance will Deity be awaiting our crossing with open arms? Will those friends and family who have made the journey before us be waiting to greet and acclimate us to our new existence? Will our Spirit Guides who have planted the seeds of lessons and watched as these lessons blossomed into newfound knowledge be there to congratulate us? Will there be yet other teachers and/or personas from ages past waiting to test us anew?

Will we be allowed to take a moment to contemplate the experiences garnered while in this realm or will we awaken in yet another existence as if our level of awareness was momentarily put on hold? Will our existence in this realm resonate in our ken as but a moment in the over all framework of existence?

Of course all of these questions are pure speculation, as we do not have the knowledge at this point in our spiritual growth to answer such musings. But we do have the ability and knowledge as pagans to break away and reject the mind and heart numbing fear that others would impose upon us for their own limited and selfish devices.

Deity created this path of life, death and rebirth, not man. And therefore I place my trust in the grand scheme of things as designed by Deity rather then the tunnel vision of those who would pervert such ideals into something to be feared and distorted.

And so in summation, I will live my life as a Witch and when it comes time to walk through the veil, I will stroll through as a Witch…

Daily Feng Shui News for Oct. 8th – ‘National Face Your Fears Day’

I got this — it’s easy. On ‘National Face Your Fears Day’ all you have to do is look at them straight in the proverbial eye and then repeat, ‘I am enough!’ Dedicated and committed repetition of this single affirmation will give fear the heave-ho and invite you out of the darkness and into the light. Because, quite frankly, you are enough.

By Ellen Whitehurst for Astrology.com

Your Rune For October 8th is Uruz

bw-uruz

bw-uruzYour Rune For Today 

Uruz       

Uruz is the Rune of harmony, order and inner strength. Often it marks endings and beginnings of periods in our lives. Uruz  also symbolizes your ability to tackle new challenges by confronting them with the powers that lie within you. Opportunities probably abound for you right now.

Good Blessed Tuesday Morning, my dear family, friends & visitors!

Great Goddess, Great God

I greet you at the start of a new day

And thank you for the potential that this day holds

Please send me the best day possible

Help me to feel my best

So I might do my best for myself and for others

Smile upon me as I walk my Path

And guide me so I might walk with wisdom and grace

And shine your light upon the world

As the Sun rises

Fill me with energy and joy

Bless me with Your Presence

And watch ove me and those that I love

So Mote It Be