Tag: Religion

The Wicca Book of Days for August 17 – Sunflower Story

The Wicca Book of Days for August 17

Sunflower Story

 

As a Leonian day, August 17’s “planetary” ruler is the sun, with which many Gods have been identified, including Helios. A tale told by the ancient Greeks about this golden deity concerns the nymph Clytia (or Clytie), who feel in love with Helios, but whose passion was not returned. Jealous of his affair with Leucothoe, a Babylonian princess, Clytia told her strict father of it, whereupon he buried his daughter alive. As for Clytia, she eventually wasted away gazing at Helios, whereupon she was transformed into a sunflower, which still follows the movement of the sun with its head.

 

A Sun-loving Flower

 

Place a sunflower on your altar, both to concentrate your thoughts on the Sun and as a reminder of the destruction inherent in burning passion. When they have ripened, harvest the seeds. Remove the tough cases to find a delicious, nutritious snack.

The Wicca Book of Days for August 14 – Fiery Correspondences

The Wicca Book of Days for August 14

Fiery Correspondences

 

One of August 14’s zodiacal sign of Leo’s most important correspondences, astrologically and magically speaking is with the element of Fire, which like each of the other three elements, is in turn associated with a particular season of the year, cardinal direction, and color. Given the heat that it generates, it is not surprising that fire’s season should be Summer or that its direction should be South. Similarly, fire’s color is typically specified as being flame red, although yellow, golden, and orange hues are also regarded as being fiery.

 

Solar Seeds

The sun’s rule will soon be ending, so if you feel that your self-confidence could do with boosting, or you wish to cultivate any other solar or fiery qualities, now’s the time to light a golden candle and gaze into the energizing flame as you visualize the desired characteristic taking root and growing within you.

Midmaiden Crisis

Midmaiden Crisis

Author: Deborah Castellano

I’m having a midmaiden crisis.

Sometimes I wonder if I make my life much harder than it has to be. Like, just about everyone else I know seems perfectly contented working a job that is hopefully not soul-sucking 40 hours a week, getting engaged/married, spending a lot of time at home, paying nominal attention to their religion of choice, occasionally still going out with friends maybe monthly, once in a blue moon going to a club or a party, and just generally going about life.

I understand watching my family’s struggles with secrecy, pain, and shame has made me very resistant to an average, mundane kind of life even though most people don’t have horrible consequences for choosing a life that becomes very insular. I guess I saw almost all my mom’s friends leave her since she would not leave my alcoholic dad and saw how unhappy both my parents were. So the idea of being so dependent on any one person for everything and being so limited in life choices made me decide at an early age that that would never be me.

I’ve spent all of my life trying to make safe/secure life decisions. For as long as I can remember, I’ve wanted what I never had growing up (a warm, loving, happy family) and to please everyone and be successful. Instead I am staring down:

A career I left because it was crushing me and not nurturing my soul, so I could become a part time nanny and bring home exactly half the money I was previously bringing home for half the hours. This was not the life my mother or I had envisioned for myself. I was supposed to be on a career path! I was supposed to be making lots of money! I was supposed to be working towards being someone important in someone else’s fishbowl! Instead, I am a nanny for two small children for a very nice family and I am helping to nurture them to grow up smart, self-confident, and happy.

Loving, happy, but complicated love relationships. My heart tends to be too complex to fit into a typical Cosmo’s “How to have a successful relationship and give a good blowjob and have an awesome career and spend lots of time with your galpals and girl, get your ass to the gym for some yoga and quality you time!” column. I am truly blessed to have partners in my life who understand this and friends who do their best to try as well. But when you step out of society’s check boxes (Gay or straight? Married or single?), it can also feel isolating and frustrating to not have all the words to explain things quickly or the comfort of doing what’s expected of you.

A religion that’s often misunderstood. I was brought up Catholic (and was a very devout believer), but after my dad died, it started to not work so well for me. I started asking a lot of questions and hoped to find answers that worked for me. And while in my college coursework I found peace with the religion I was raised in, and respect for my feminist Catholic sisters who are fighting the good fight, the revolution was not moving fast enough for me personally. I learned about Dianic Wicca in my studies and was lucky enough to find a circle near to me that started my path as a Pagan. It was (and is) a beautiful, exciting, and moving experience for me. But I would be lying if I didn’t say that sometimes I miss the ease of Catholicism — go to church Sundays, be a good pony, confess when you haven’t, and God will always take care of you. Following a much newer (and at the same time much older) religion and religious movement is exciting and exhilarating because I feel like I personally am making a lot of impact on it. My connections to my own goddesses and gods feel a lot more personal to me. But there are also many explanations needed, fewer religious texts to fall back on, a firm but smaller support structure, and let’s not forget the whole “I went against hundred of years of tradition in my family” to be a Witch thing.

Not wanting any kids. I love being a nanny. I really do. But I also love going home. I love having the freedom to do whatever I want whenever I want it. And that is not going to go over well with my fam when they find out.

Still have a house that is often messy. Part of the reason I left the corporate world was to have more time to tend to my own hearth. To have the time and energy to care for my loved ones, my house and have enough time to cook (another pastime I enjoy). But oftentimes the house is still messy more days than not, we eat casseroles and crockpot meals more often than not, along with the stigma of others (not my partners!) devaluing my labor in the home because it’s unpaid. I also am dealing with my own envy for the women I know who work full time, but make Martha Stewart look like a burnout slacker. It can be very hard to not hold myself up to these other women and find myself lacking.

To say taking the road less traveled is terrifying is nothing shy of an incredible understatement. I remember how scared and anxious I was when I was just out of college, sitting on the concrete train station floor in Belgium, stranded and unable to speak the language with just a fistful of currency (wafflemarks?) in my pocket. If you had told me then that it would pale in comparison to how I would feel five years later, surrounded by friends and family in my own hometown trying to follow my heart like some damned chicklit novel, I probably would have thrown some wafflemarks at you. But yet, here I am anyway.

I guess I’m saying it’s hard sometimes, feeling like not a lot of people in my life can say “I know exactly how you feel” and really mean it. Sometimes this path to my true heart is lonely and often it’s scary. I’ve always, always had a really exacting plan, but I threw my map into the river. Stepping out of my box is really hard for me. My inner critics are loud, bossy, and opinionated. And that’s just my inner critics; forget about my loved ones who want what’s best for me…according to them. It can be hard to stand up for myself to all of them when I still have so many doubts and fears. Because you know what? I don’t know what I’m doing.

In this time of personal turmoil, I’ve gotten so bogged down in the mundane that I’ve forgotten how to practice my spirituality. And, you want to know a secret? I’m scared to get back into a regular practice. To me, it feels like coming home way after curfew, smelling of cigarette smoke, and you know your mom is up waiting for you. At times, I still see my deities as disappointed parents. I’ve been trying to put the magical in the daily (giving thanks to Yemaya in the shower, singing praise to Crow in my car). I’m trying to appreciate all the things I do and accomplish. I’m trying to see the beauty of just being in the grace of the deities who have blessed me by choosing me as one of their beloved. But it’s hard for me to set aside my tendencies to be an overachiever in my spiritual life.

I feel like I should be able to “just” set aside all of my faults in this one area of my life. My altars should be maintained, my meditation practice should be daily, I should give of my time freely and easily to the community and oh yeah, not be critical of my execution of my faith. In other words, I should not be me but maybe Kuan Yin instead. But then . . .aren’t all our flaws and graces amplified in this area of our lives? I’ve been crueler, more selfish, more demanding, harsher, less trusting, less attentive, angrier, and sadder in my faith than I have in any other part of my life. I’ve also been more selfless, kinder, more nurturing, more faithful, more ecstatic, and most peaceful than any other part of my life.

When I can tell my inner critic to take a nap for a little while, I can still see the beauty of my practice, even now. I can see kitchen Witching for Lammas and singing Bridget’s song to Her while I make pan after pan of food with my fellow kitchen Witches and letting a friend cry into my apron when she needed to. I can see myself at the Jersey shore, introducing one of my loves to Yemaya and twirling and throwing white roses into Her sea. I can see my Crow side teasing my friend while I read her Tarot and sort out her love life. I can see my shaman self, dancing to the universal heartbeat at a goth club, dripping in sweat, being brave enough to get on a table and dance my offerings to the Universe and yes, as if no one is watching. And I have to hold onto these pieces of myself during this difficult time, tighter than I’d hold a box from Tiffany’s, because it’s what reminds me that I am part of this universe. It reminds me that I do bring wonder and joy, even when it’s harder to see. Most importantly, it reminds me that following my path to my secret heart is indeed full of miracles and wonders if I can see them through my tears.

Footnotes:
Additional Resources for Soul Searching:

Truth or Dare : Encounters with Power, Authority, and Mystery by Starhawk: A powerful exploration into using our spiritual power as women to make changes in our own lives, our community, and our world.

Office Sutras: Exercises for Your Soul at Work by Marcia Menter: A very helpful little book with ideas on how to find soulfulness at your current job and how to figure out what will make you happy in the workplace in the long term.

Planet Sark: http://www.planetsark.com/: A beautiful, colorful website with lots of kindred spirits figuring out their life’s path with some really great resources.

The Honesty Room by Dar Williams: A lyrically amazing, gorgeously sung cd that will make you laugh and cry and think about your life.

Oh, What A Wonderous Morning After Lammas! Good Morning To All My Dear Ones!


Good Thursday Morning to everyone! I hope you had a very happy & blessed Lammas yesterday. I know I stayed up way to late. So if you see something like this today, “sssssssssssssssssssssss.” You will know I have fell asleep at the computer, lol!

I had to go to town yesterday to do some running around. When the weather is cool, I always take Kiki with me. But it was 105 degrees and there was no way she could go. While I was gone she tore up the house looking for me. She even when outside on the porch and looked and looked. The bond we have between us is unbelievable. I have never had a familiar that is attached to me as she is. We spend every waking moment together. Well I got home and she was about to burn up. I hurried and put up everything. Then we went out on the porch to stretch out and enjoy the breeze. We stretch out side-by-side. I like to lay and look at the clouds. I made sure Kiki was situated then I laid down and starting staring at the clouds. I thought since today is Lammas, I should say a special prayer of Thanksgiving to the Goddess. I started to think in my head what I wanted to say. I had it! I looked up at the cloud and the cloud had took the shape of a woman’s face. That blew me away. I knew the Goddess was going to listen to my humble prayer. I said my prayer to Her and at the end I mentioned something about, “could She blow Her sweet, cooling breath over her children to cool their brow.” Not the exact words but close enough. Then I closed the prayer. About a minute or two later, the coolest breeze you have ever felt came around the corner. Oh, it was bone chilling and so refreshing. There were several more of those wonderful breezes to come. I can’t describe it, wonderful, fantastic, don’t even come close to what we experienced yesterday.

I have am a true worry-wart, no doubt about it. I have had so much on my mind. I have been worried about coming up with the money to pay the server bill, the light bill, the water, everything it takes to run an office. And yesterday, the Goddess looked me directly in the face and heard every word I had to say. Then She gently reassured me that everything was going to work out. I always call the Goddess, “Mother.” Because I lost my mother at such a young age. I have always asked Her to lead me and guide down my Path. Let me know what She needed done and I would gratefully do it. But yesterday was special, it was like a Mother wrapping Her arms around Her child and just giving her all the love and comfort She could. Telling me, “everything is going to be all right, child.” I had put all my problems in the Goddess’ hands. I knew She would take care of them. But I guess I have grown a little weary and my Mother decided I needed some love and encouragement. The Goddess not only gave me love and encouragement, She gave me strength. I know I don’t have to tell you. But to experience the Goddess one on one is beautiful. She radiates love, compassion, caring, all the good qualities in the Universe. I think I am very fortunate that She choose me as Her child.

Before I get to work today, I would like to remind you that we still need donations to pay our server bill. We have had donations coming in and we appreciate those so much. But unfortunately, everything is high as a cat’s back these days and we need some more donations. If you remember, we have to next week to come up with the funds to pay the bill. If not, we will be permanently off the internet. I would humbly ask you to search your hearts. If you like the message we are spreading, then help us to continue to spread it. Our goal is to put Witchcraft back in the mainstream Religions. If we are off the net, we can’t do that. I don’t ask for donations that often but this has been an extremely rough year. We need just a little helping hand to get us through this crisis. It doesn’t matter the amount, because in the end it all adds up.

Please search your hearts and help us through this crisis. Please make a donation today. Because our time is running out, very quickly I might add.

Remember the banner, it is directly linked to the PayPal page. You will see it throughout today’s posts. Then we have a donate button up in the right handed corner of this page. We also have a Donate Page with our mailing address on it, if you would like to us that.  We know we can count on you. Thank you for your love and support.

More Friends Online Comments

Good Morning My Dearest Of Friends!


Good morning, dearies! Well it is still morning to me, lol! I have been on the blog off and on since 8:00 a.m., this morning. I have been drumming up some other Pagan blogs to link with and also be put in their search engines. See there is never a dull moment. I have decided one thing though, I hate like heck using my Microsoft Word Processor. I can get everything looking perfect then I bring it over here to the blog, it looks like crap! I think I spent an hour fixing the new “Astral Projection” section I put up. I finally got it right, finally! A tip for anyone using WordPress blogs, you have to use only the type you are allowed. I have found Arial works best, now that was the “tip of the day,” lol!

I do have good news though. We are starting to receive donations toward our server bill. For those of you, you don’t know how much it means to me. You are very caring, loving and supportive friends. I can never think you enough. When this drive is over, I plan to thank each one of you publicly. I feel you deserve to be recognized as special friends of the WOTC.

Even though that is fantastic news, we still need donations. You don’t know how much I hate to keep bringing this up, I really do. But you don’t know how much I want the WOTC to stay on the internet. The WOTC does the Goddess’ work. I have always believed the Goddess has had a hand in everything the WOTC does. I believe She has always instructed me on how to spread the truth about our Religion, Witchcraft. To some this might seem crazy, but you have to know the Goddess. She is a wonderful divine being, full of love and compassion. I have prayed to Her and asked Her to help the WOTC remain on the internet. All my means are exhausted and She knows it. I know the Goddess is answering my prayers by the donations we have already received. I have faith She will move even more hearts to make a donation. No matter how great or small, it all adds up believe me.

You know what I am about. You know what the WOTC is about. You know there is not that many Pagan blogs, websites or groups left anymore. This is a very sad thing, once the Pagan community thrived. Now it seems they have all disappeared. I have fought tooth and nail for years for the WOTC. I still have fight in me but I need your help, my friend. Just a little help to keep us on the net, were the WOTC won’t fall beside the wayside. The WOTC has an important mission in the Pagan community. You can help us achieve it. Just by giving us a helping hand.

I have been artistic this morning. I made up a small banner that says, “I (heart) the WOTC.”  I am going to post them throughout the daily posts. Not too many now I promise you. Just in case, you can’t find the button to donate the banner will be linked directly to the page.

 Perhaps you think I am harping on this and I might be. But this is not only important to you but also your children and their children. This is our Religion, our Traditions, our Beliefs, to be passed on and on. But if there is no one there to share our Religion with others, where does that leave our Religion?

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Calendar of the Sun for July 30

Calendar of the Sun

30 Haymonath

Tyr’s Day

Color: Red
Elements: Fire and Air
Altar: Upon a red cloth lay swords, lined up in a row, a horn of mead, and a single glove.
Offering: Agree to a promise that limits your convenience.
Daily Meal: Red meat.

Invocation to Tyr

Honor is not comfortable.
It demands all you have,
All you are, all you can do.
It wraps you like a chain
That you may only shuffle where others run
And yet that chain will bear you up
When others trip and fall.
It limits you, like the loss of a limb;
You reach, and fall ever short,
Brought up by honor’s limitation,
And yet this limiting hones you sharper,
Like a tool that must be cut down to work,
As every sharpening is removal of some of you.
O Lord of Honor, you whose name
Invoked, seals bargains without
A thought of cheating, you whose
Word is law and law is will,
You who are never afraid
To do what must needs be done
Even when there is no question
That there will be great loss,
May we all have half the steel
That lies in you, O warrior one-handed,
In your spine, in your hand,
And in your soul.

(The mead is passed by one who has been chosen, and as they pass it they say, “May honor bind you.” Each in turn replies, “May honor find you.” The remainder is poured out as a libation.)

[Pagan Book of Hours]

Good Friday Morning, my dear & precious friends!

Good Friday Morning, dear, precious friends! This is a very somber and sobering Friday Morning. I am sure if you have access to the News, you have heard about the tragic shootings in Colorado. On a morning like this, there are many questions and many thoughts. What baffles me is why, why would someone do such a horrible act? Do people have that little regard for human life? Do they not understand life is a very fragile and delicate gift from the Divine? I just can’t imagine any of it. The victims, there really isn’t any words that I can say right now that will express my true feelings. My heart breaks for those that have lost loved ones and the wounded. Their precious lives snuffed out in a heart beat. They looked forward to going out and having a wonderful time, only to be cut down in the prime of life. A terrible, terrible loss and my heart felt sympathy to all who lost loved ones.

No matter what Faith, Path or Religion you are, stop today and take time to light a candle and offer a prayer for all involved.

Oh mighty and compassion Goddess, we

Humbly pray for all those who have passed

On but this day we especially pray for those

Who have needless lost their lives in Aurora.

Hold them near to you until they are ready to

Be reborn again from your womb.

Oh mighty and gracious God, grant all the

Victims an easy rebirth, and that we never

Forget all that they was to us in this world.

Bring them to everlasting joy of the

Summerland.

So Mote It Be.

Book & Candle Comments

Crone Mother, wise woman, you have

Given us all sorts of herbs, barks, flowers,

And roots that can heal us. Please grant

The doctors in Colorado the knowledge,

Wisdom and skill to best use your energies

To heal the shooting victims of this day.

Dear Father, Healing physicians, please

Send forth your healing energies and put

And end to all this senseless killing, heal

The innocent victims of such violent acts,

Especially those in Colorado this day.

Thank you for your endless compassion.

So Mote It Be

~Magickal Graphics~

Calendar of the Sun for July 14

Calendar of the Sun

14 Haymonath

Ellegua’s Day

Colors: Red and black
Element: Fire
Altar: Upon cloth of red and black place three pennies, a clay head with cowrie eyes, small tricky games, a glass of rum, and Ellegua’s crossroads trident.
Offerings: Chocolate, chicken, and rum.
Daily Meal: Should include chicken and chocolate.

Invocation to Ellegua

Ai! Dancer at the Crossroads,
Maker of many shapes,
Cunning eyes in the bushes,
Your gaze misses nothing.
You are the opener of the Gate,
Without which we cannot speak
To all other orisha.
You are the Great Phallus
Which does not always follow its owner.
Mate and match of Pomba Gira,
Lady of whores and lust
Whose skirts of black lace hide mysteries,
Lord of panic, lord of cunning,
Faithful friend who comes in the pinch,
Little girl with the cowrie eyes,
Old chickenman with the sly smile,
Brewer of trouble split red and black,
You who love to make us break our word
That we might understand its true importance,
Help us to keep the door open
To new possibilities
Lest we fall into complacent sleep.

(The hour should end with a drum circle, and wordless chanting, or chanting of his many names – “Eshu!” “Ellegua!” “Legba!” “Maitre Carre-Four!” “Chickenman!” and so on.)

[Pagan Book of Hours]

The Wicca Book of Days for July 11 – The Kronia

The Wicca Book of Days for July 11

The Kronia

 

It is thought that the Kronia was once held in Athens and other ancient Greek city-states around now. Dedicated to the scythe-wielding Kronos-the Titan and one-time leader of the ancient Greek Gods-and his wife, the mother and Earth Goddess Rhea, the Kronia celebrated the completion of an intense period spent reaping the year’s harvest of grain. During this time of relieved rejoicing, when slaves sat down to feast with their masters, the mythical Golden Age, or era of Earthly perfection that humankind was said to have enjoyed under Kronos’s rulership, was recalled, too.

 

Concentrated Courage

 

Study the major-arcana Tarot care that bears the number eleven today. Its names may vary (it may be called Strength or the Enchantress, for instance), but it usually depicts a person overcoming a lion and represents courage, be it psychological or spiritual.

Good Blessed Monday Morning to you, my dear, dear friends!

Good Morning my dearest of friends! As you have probably figured out by now, there is no telling what you are going to find on this blog, lol! I am probably one of the most moody witches you will ever meet in your life. I can start out on one subject or interest and in a bat of an eye, change to another. My daughter says there is a syndrome for that, lol! I just tell her, my mind races at 90 miles a minute and it does. There is so much I want to do, so much I want to tell. I could to the realization early in life, that life is very precious. What little time we have here, we must accomplish all that we can.

As most of you probably have gathered by now, I love the Goddess very much. I also love our Ancestors very much. I admire them. I am eternally thankful to them. I cannot begin to imagine what they must have endured. Think back for a moment….We are now in the 1600’s. It is a beautiful Spring day. You are outside in the woods with your husband. Lovingly embracing, walking hand in hand looking for berries and nuts. Your daughter comes running down the path screaming, “Mother, Mother, the Lord, deacons & constable from the church are here!” You and your husband are discussing what they want. You pick up your pace. You can see them standing in your wooded front yard. You greet them and before you can say another word, the constable and deacons are putting you in irons. You hear the Lord proclaim, “There are accusations against you that you are Witches!” You gasp, “What?” You are not allowed to say anything in your defense. You are put on a wagon, carted off to town, with your crying 14 year old daughter following as far as she can.

I admit some of the details might not be quite accurate (like there being a Lord present). But yet it is a dramatic scene to imagine. It would be even more dramatic to live. You piss a neighbor off. The neighbor goes to the Church and accuses you of Witchcraft. The Church was more than eager to bring you in. You know why? 100% of the time, you would be convicted as a Witch. The Church has a lot to gain by your conviction. Your land, your property, your home, your money, everything you had went to the Church. Now if that wasn’t reason enough to make sure the innocent people and our Ancestors were found guilty, I don’t know what was. Some of the punishments dished out were pathetic, absolutely pathetic. The one we were discussing the other night, was were the person was taken to the pond. Then the person was thrown into the pond. If the person floated, she/he was a Witch. If they drowned, they were innocent. Then after the person that floated survived that, they were taken and burned. Make a lot of sense doesn’t it? Either way you are very much dead. But our Ancestors were extra ordinary individuals. They were committed to our Religion enough to die for it. Others, thankfully when underground to preserve our Religion. Witchcraft was passed on by word of mouth, from one generation to the next. Each generation was told what our great Ancestors had done to make sure our Religion lived on.

Today, we do not take time to thank our Ancestors for all they have done for us. For all they sacrificed and in all case, given their lives for us to have. We take our Religion for granted. It is here but we don’t stop to realize what it took for it to get here.

Doing my research this morning, I ran across a poem that was written during the Burning Times. I would like to share it with you now.

Burning Times

The songs are sung to rouse our anger of martyred Witches gone to the fires, But what is served by righteous singing, if all we do is stew in our ire? Nine million dead in four hundred years; More in that time simply died of disease. Why do we dwell on long past dead When we are alive in times like these?

(chorus)

Rise up, Witches, throw off your masks And cease crying guilt for ancient crimes. Earth and all Her children need us For ALL face now the Burning Times.

In the face of that hostile power, how did the old knowledge stay alive? How have we still a Craft to practice? Our ancestors knew how to fight and survive! How do we honour our blessed dead? Slavery threatens us all but few. We must teach their cunning ways — EVERYONE needs the skills they knew!

(chorus 2)

Rise up, Witches, gather your strength, And let your power spread and climb; Earth and all Her children need us For ALL face now the Burning Times.

I will not cast off Science’s works — Witches all forces to Will can bend; I’ll not accuse for war and waste some patriarchy of faceless men. Men do not cast the only votes; Women alone do not demonstrate. Rather than shut out half the race, Who if not we will change that state?

(chorus 2)

I will not blame a Father’s Church — blame and guilt are their tools, not mine, And even in the shuls and churches, allies there will I seek, and find! I will not answer hate with fear, Nor with a smug, cheek-turning love. I will not answer hate with rage; By strength alone will I not be moved!

(chorus 2)

I will not hide in my sacred grove — the fact’ries and cities yet ring me about; I will not climb my ivory tower — the real world exists tho’ I shut it out. I will not work for Church nor State Who serve themselves while they serve us lies, Nor only for my Witchen kin, But for the family of all alive!

(chorus 2)

So if rebellion means to fight a State lost sight of why it was built, If heresy’s to reject a Church that rules with force or fear or guilt, Then let us all be rebels proud, And shameless heretics by creed — A tyrant’s hand subjects the Earth, More heretic rebels are what She needs!

(chorus 2)

Did it ever occur to the writers of your antique laws that the Craft might actually be WELCOMED by a great number of people? That there might actually be more of us than of those who wish us ill?  That the only reason those who fear us are so active nowadays is because they see us becoming more and more welcomed by more people?  As I say in another song,

 “When folk in sorrow turn away/

From paths that lead to misery/

And seek  new ways for wholeness’ sake/

Then waiting, ready shall we be.”

All I can say is, I’m Goddess-glad I’m not in your tradition.

Amen to that! I am glad I’m not in your Tradition!

Knowing Right and Wrong

 

Author: Stewart Bitkoff

On one level people want simple answers and to be told what to do. On another they want freedom to choose and make their own decisions. People are multi-level and have the capacity to make their own choices as well as accept direction from others. Discordance sets in when the guidance from others or authority does not fit what the individual wants or feels is right for them. In this case, the individual is in conflict and looks for something else.

Most people are taught a philosophy of ‘right and wrong.’ At an early age aspects of this protective mechanism are projected into daily life and are part of social and religious training. For example, if you do not get-up on time and arrive timely at school this is bad. As an adult, being late will eventually result in loss of job. Or as a youth, if you take street drugs, this will lead to personal problems and addiction.

It is difficult to disagree with these two maxims about daily life. Get places on time and do not take potentially damaging street drugs. However, to complicate matters other factors may be at play. Perhaps the individual is getting to work late because of an inner, hidden unease with this type of work. In time, after warnings by the supervisor, the worker realizes this and moves on. Or the youth experimenting with recreational drugs uses this learning in a future career in brain chemistry. Or in a more damaging scenario, after years of addiction the person sobers up and becomes a drug counselor who, because of personal experience, helps dozens of others.

From a higher perspective, looking at events: travelers are taught to take a more longitudinal and holistic view of the effect of specific actions. In real life, often it is not a simple matter of an action being ‘right or wrong.’ Actions are complex and involve others, having both a collective and individual effect. Before making many decisions it is wise to consider their long term and multi-level effect.

As an example, how about the common situation where your beloved asks- do you think I have put on a few pounds? Does this dress/suit make me look heavy? Sometimes telling the truth can be unnecessarily hurtful, particularly if the individual has been struggling with their weight. In this situation, I’ll leave it to you to figure out what is right or wrong; in most things, we are free to pick and choose.

Further when viewing the effect of personal action, it is impossible to know all the variables involved; particularly over a long period of time and actions that affect countless others. However, for the spiritual traveler, it is possible to know some of this and begins by asking the question: will this action bring me closer or distance me from my higher destiny?

The answer to this question may be thought out as well as perceived. First, we rationally consider and list the effects using what we term our common sense. Next, we use our intuition, requesting if the action will bring us closer or distance us from our higher self. Perception is intuitive knowledge that emerges from our collective consciousness. By turning inward, the traveler unlocks this holistic awareness and uses this answer along with their rational thought to arrive at an action.

At an early age, it is important to learn about the difference between right and wrong. It is important to learn some things are good for us and some things are not. Yet, spiritual teaching must go deeper, illustrating and considering the aspect of longitudinal effect and destiny. While one piece of chocolate may be tasty and even nutritious, twenty is not, particularly, if we are diabetic or prone to dental problems.

Most spiritual training programs teach the traveler to pray, or turn inward in some fashion or another before taking an important action. Within each person, there is an inner voice or capacity to know if an action will bring us closer to our own higher self and the higher destiny of the universe. Most people have forgotten to develop and listen to their own inner voice and have relied upon others to teach them about right and wrong.

This original social, moral and religious teaching, about what is useful in life, was intended as a beginning; and the traveler, as they matured was to be instructed on how to make their own more complex, intuitive decisions. For many, this has been omitted from their training and they continue to rely upon limited and simplistic learning constructs.

Many of which have been tied to a hidden and sometimes not so hidden ‘fear and reward’ system. In a sense, for these travelers, their thoughts on certain subjects have become fixed, often engineered by others.

*
Humanity is conscious energy
Burning like sunlight.
By reflecting the Light into this world
Humanity neutralizes personal spiritual darkness.

Embrace your own inner beliefs
And then travel beyond them.
Embrace higher knowledge
And as the Source Wills
You will become a sun unto yourself:
Knowing right from wrong,
Dissipating your own lower needs and desires.

*
What some call religious training and tradition:
Often is based upon historical and no longer accurate,
Incomplete information; also, in some presentations
There is tendency to misapply traditional exercises to this culture.
Further, many sacred books include
Selective reportage by believers and historians;
With altered teachings to control desired behaviors
Which were insisted upon by the ruling entity or clergy.

Remember many cherished religious traditions and behaviors no longer serve any real or spiritual function. However, they do increase people’s feelings of comfort/tradition and need to be viewed within their emotional framework.
*

The Law

Traveler: Holy One, tell me of the Law

Master: The Law is Inscribed on the heart of each person. Beneath the layers of dust- from selfish living- that surround each heart, is the Golden Rule. The Law is also Written in the Books and is known to all. It is written: That which brings you closer to your higher self and the Beloved is the Measure.

Travelers know what is right; yet, allow themselves to be deceived by their desires. If a traveler would ask their Higher Self or The Light to help make their decision- each would correctly and reach higher.

If you will pray, the Light will cleanse your heart and The Law will be inscribed upon it- Lighting the Darkness. SB

Calendar of the Moon for Thursday, June 7th

7 Huath/Thargelion

Thargelia Day I: Pharmakos

Color: Black
Element: Earth
Altar: Upon a black cloth set incense, a lantern with a flame, and two necklaces of figs strung together, one of dark figs and one of light ones.
Offerings: Purify some evil thing from your life.
Daily Meal: Fasting

Pharmakos Invocation

Long ago on this day
The people chose two from the crowd,
One man and one woman
Who had incurred their wrath,
Or were sinners, or merely ugly,
And they paid them gold in the name of Apollo
Bright God of the Sun
Whose day this is,
Apollo whose other face
Is the ravening wolf Lycaon.
They fed them, marched them around
The boundaries of the city,
And then drove them out
Pelted with figs and squills,
With all the sins of the city on their backs.
Yet sins are not so easily driven out.
To lay them on a human back
Is too easy, and we do not walk the easy path.
So on this day we cast out the sins
Of the house, the family, the community,
Yet we each take responsibility for those sins,
And we admit that we are each the Pharmakoi,
And that none of us can lay that on another.

Chant:
Pharmakoi Pharmakoi
We cast you from our home

(All lay hands upon the fig wreaths and speak what sins they would cast out and be rid of. They are then carried outside to be thrown on a fire and burned, and the ashes turned into the compost heap or scattered about the garden.)

[Pagan Book of Hours]

The Morality of Sacrifice

by Efun Moyiwa

This article can also be found on Efun Moyiwa’s World Wide Web page, OrishaNet (http://www.seanet.com/~efunmoyiwa/welcome.html).

Animal sacrifice is just a small part of the much larger definition of ebó (sacrifice or offering) in the Santería religion. There are many categories of ebó. There are offerings such as addimú, which can include candles, fruits, candy or any number of items or actions that may be appreciated by the deities or orishas in the religion. In divination, the orishas may ask for a favorite fruit or dish, or they may call for the person to heed advice given. At times, they may ask that a person give up drinking or other practices that are unwise for that individual. They may request a person to wear certain jewelry, receive initiations or any number of other things. Or they may request an animal, usually a chicken or a dove, so the orisha will come to that person’s aid. As a rule, animal sacrifice is called for only in major situations such as sickness or serious misfortune. Animals are also offered when a new priest is consecrated in service of her or his orisha during the birthing process of initiation. In every birth, there is blood.

In our modern society, we have become separated from the concept of death. Even our dead are embalmed and made up to appear living. When we purchase meat to eat or leather to wear, it is preprocessed to remove the shopper from the fact that a life was taken in order that another may live. Meat is wrapped in plastic with a little paper towel to soak up any blood that might remind the buyer of the fact of the animal’s death. The buyer is also kept unaware of the circumstances surrounding the poor animal’s life and, of course, its death. When animals are killed in the slaughterhouse, there is little respect or regard for that animal, the only matter of importance being that the animals are killed cheaply and in great quantity to supply an ever-growing market. In other words, these animals too are sacrificed, though the only deity revered here is greed. We should also take into account that the poultry industry alone kills more animals in one day than Santería has sacrificed worldwide in the last several hundred years!

On the other hand, when an animal is sacrificed in La Regla Lucumí it is first and foremost done with respect: respect for the orisha being offered this life and respect for the little bird whose life is taken in order that we may live better. The animal must be well-cared-for, because it is the property of the orisha. In fact, sometimes the orisha will state that the animal must not die but live with the person, and the orisha expects that animal to be well-cared-for and pampered as theirs.

At the beginning of the sacrifice, when the animal is brought forward, there is a song and action that we perform in acknowledgment that one day our lives will be taken suddenly in much the same way as the animal’s. In this way, our religion differs little from the beliefs of the Native Americans. Here there is a respect for all life, and a respect for the death that must come to all, including ourselves.

Afterwards, if the animal wasn’t used to cleanse a person of illness or misfortune, it is eaten by all the participants. If, on the other hand, it was used for a cleansing, the animal is taken to the place requested by the orisha to complete the offering. These animals cannot be eaten, as we would be eating the sickness or misfortune that was removed from that person.

Whether the ebó is a simple apple or a little chicken, it should always be offered with both hands and an open heart.

Calendar of the Sun for May 31st

31 Thrimilchimonath

Day of Stella Maris

Color: Blue
Element: Water
Altar: Upon a blue cloth set a single blue candle, a silver star, and the figure of a ship.
Offerings: Guide another through a treacherous time.
Daily Meal: Seafood.

Invocation to Stella Maris

Lady of the Ocean
Star of the Sea
You who guide the lost ships
To their safe harbors,
You who guide all of us
When we think to look heavenward,
Show us the way home.
(All reply, “Show us the way home.”)
Though storms seize us
And throw us off course,
Though lightning strikes us
And salt wind bites our faces
Like the brine of tears,
Show us the way home.
(All reply, “Show us the way home.”)
Though we fear for our lives,
Though we seem forever lost,
Shine your light above us
That we may always look up
And be comforted
In the midst of all disaster.
Lady of the Ocean
Star of the Sea,
Show us the way home.
(All reply, “Show us the way home.”)

Chant:
Stella Maris
Star of the Sea
Star of the light
That beckons to me.

[Pagan Book of Hours]

What’s In A Name?

Author: Life is a Dance Regardless

Recently, someone spoke with me about some problems surrounding the word “Pagan”. This person told to be careful about who I speak to when claiming that I am one, even other people claiming to be Pagan. It is hard for me to agree with her. I can’t wrap my head around it actually. Truly, I understand exactly where she is coming from, but I disagree with her entirely.

What she is saying is that people may tell me that I am going about being Pagan in the wrong way. Other pagans may be angry with me for the way that I practice my faith. People may advise me on what I should do differently, whom I should speak to, and which people to avoid. What books should I read? Where should I go? What should I do? How should I practice my faith? How, in fact, should I practice my life?

Admittedly, I am new to it, and perhaps I need guidance but I have realized something important. There are people in every faith who think that their way is the Truth. There are people in Life in general who think their way is the Truth. This is something we all have to deal with throughout our entire lives because people have different opinions.

For the most part, I have not respected religion in the past because of its inability to recognize that everyone needs something different in his or her life. Some people do not need faith, and most religions fail to allow room for that view. I explained to my friend that being a “good Pagan” was like declaring oneself a “good Christian”. The term is likely to mean something different from one person to the next.

For one Christian, being good may be hating people in other religions, and another, it may be loving and accepting no matter what. The Bible can be interpreted differently, though some people think otherwise. As such, different people can interpret Paganism differently.

It is not, in fact, a problem with religion, which is why I respect religion so much at this point. It is, has always been, and will always be a problem with individuals. No way is the right way. No way is the wrong way. Religion is not math or science, where one false move can completely screw up your equation, or burn your eyebrows off. Religion is something to be taken seriously, but it is not rocket science. It is for the pure and sole purpose of finding yourself. What do you, as an individual think is right or wrong?

I am 18, graduated high school last spring and am now looking for a job. For me personally, I believe going into college using someone else’s money is wrong. It is my preference to earn enough money to enter a trade school of my choice without needing debt solutions. My aunt suggests I get a loan from my grandpa, but even then, I have debt. There are certain things I do not want to deal with at this point in my life. I would rather have the means to rely on myself. I believe that I should enjoy the little things. There are more important things than brushing my hair in the morning. Sometimes, it may be drinking coffee, watching the sunrise, or simply dressing and running to wish my neighbors good luck on the first of a new month. I water my plants every day. I enjoy what I have. I take time to enjoy my connection with Mother Earth.

I realize to some people that this may be the wrong way to go about my faith. However, I also told my friend that calling myself Pagan, to me, would be like calling myself Christian. There are many different facets to each religion. If I were a Christian, I could go more in depth and say I belonged to the Baptists, or that I was Episcopalian. I am not, as it happens. I claim to be Pagan because I am not yet sure of my choice of where to go on my spiritual path. I am also unsure of what I want to do in life.

I believe there are simple principles imbedded in the Pagan practice that I have tried to honor for my entire life. We must love, honor, and respect others regardless of what their belief is. It is best to live naturally. We must not harm others, regardless of our feelings toward them. If others discriminate, we should not sink to their level. We are better than that. We share a love of all things in nature and we worship that which enables to live and prosper.

I honor my Mother. I honor my Father. Both biological and spiritual. I love my neighbors. I love myself. I honor my Elders, but I also believe you have to earn my respect and attention to get it. I try to live in the best way I can. I try to love even those who do me wrong, because they show me exactly what I do not want to be.

I wrote a poem for one of my friend’s birthday. I put in what I thought she could use in her future, things I myself wish to live by.

Never regret the mistakes you have made
But never forget, or you’ll trip on your blade
Always know, you are never alone
Even when you’re lost, you always have home
Good people with good hearts are far between few
Always aim sharp, always aim true
Whether or not you can witness the fight
Fight for what you believe with all your might
Know that a moment comes only one time
Soak in the moment before the clock strikes and bells chime
Try to live each moment in grace
Those you hate, you should try to embrace
For they show you who you ought not to be
And that is a gift, to the highest degree
Do not get mad if a beggar can’t help you
They may be more in need, so bid him adieu
If possible, speak in whispers, and listen when you can
An inadvertent learning is most precious and most grand
And finally, never stumble on a grain of sand
But hold the world in the palm of your hand
You are a Goddess, and if you try, you’ll always win
The courage of a Goddess always comes from within

Forgive me if I am wrong, but for me, I am not.

MY WICCA (Part1 of 5)

MY WICCA (Part1 of 5)
By Durwydd MacTara

My RELIGION is Wicca, my LIFE-STYLE is Witchcraft! I believe in
a supreme being that is both Immanent and Transcendent, that is
expressing itself within AND without. However, I also believe that
trying to define/describe such an infinite Divine Being in finite terms
to be a waste of time and energy. I CAN describe my perceptions of the
Ultimate in terms of the energies that I work with and find significant
in my daily living. My style and methods of relating to what I can
perceive of these Divine Energies are what I describe as my RELIGION.
How I apply these insights gained via my religious practices, I term my
CRAFT.

The name for my religion is derived from the Saxon root “wicce”
(pronounced “witchy”) and is loosely translated as “Wise”. The word
“Wicca” was first used in modern times in England by Gerald B. Gardner
to describe/define an attempt at restoring “the old wisdom” of pre-
Christian beliefs and practice into a modern context in the 1940’s.
Ergo, I could call my religion “wisdom” and my style of application of
this wisdom “wise-craft” or more simply, “The Craft of the Wise”.

For the sake of convenience and easy understanding, I divide the
expressions of the Divine Energies into two groups; that of the active
positive (symbolically “male”) energies represented to me by the stag
horned Lord of the Forest, and those of a more passive, nurturing, or
“negative” polarity represented to me by the Threefold Goddess.
Approaching my perceptions of the universe and its energies in this way
allows me to break them down into “bite sized chunks”, applicable to my
daily life in a mundane world, and what good is ANY belief system if it
is not of immediate and practical use here and now?

So what are some of the beliefs and practices of this religion
called Wicca, and how do I apply them to my daily life? What does it
all mean? The following explanation is based on a press statement
released by the American Council of Witches released in the early
1970’s, with some editing on my part to reflect my own beliefs and
practices.

=================================

BASIC PRINCIPLES OF THE CRAFT

1. The first principle is that of love, and it is expressed in the
ethic,
“AN IT HARM NONE, DO AS THOU WILL”

a) love is not emotional in it’s essence, but is an
attribute of the individual as expressed in relation
to other beings;
b) harming others can be by thought, word, or deed.
Thought is included here, because for the Witch,
“thoughts are things” and every action, even thoughts,
can become magical actions, whether consciously intended
or not;
c> it is to be understood the “none” includes oneself,
though it is permissable to harm self in helping others,
should one so choose;
d) the harm which is to be regarded as unethical is
gratuitous harm; war, in general, is gratuitous harm,
although it is ethical to defend oneself and one’s
liberty when threatened by real and present danger,
such as personal defense or defense of another WHEN REQUESTED.

Who Is A Real Witch Anyway?

Who Is A Real Witch Anyway?

Author: Amergin Aradia

It seems that the debate about who is and who is not a “real Witch” is coming to a head. Is this sect real as opposed to that sect? Are those in covens real Witches as opposed to solitaries’. And on and on it goes. It’s beginning to sound like the fight between factions of the Christian religion or between organized religions as a whole. That’s probably the way they began too.

This silly useless debate is pulling our community apart as well. The truth is, are any of us real Witches. And how do you define a real Witch? By whose standards and rules?

As an illustration of my point I’ll tell you my story. I have always known that I was a Witch, even before I really knew what that was. When I was very young (grade school) I had certain abilities and interests that other kids didn’t. I practiced raising energy, practiced ESP (as it was called then) , I astral projected, and I cast spells. I was drawn to the night, the moon and stars, and I identified with all things “magical.”

I wasn’t trained by anyone because there was no one to train me. I had to figure it out for myself and that was in the 1950’s so you know there were very few references to rely on even if I knew where to look. As I grew up I did what everyone else did then, got a job and tried to live what was considered a “normal” life, as unsatisfying as that was.

I maintained my interests and practices over the years as best I could, if only peripherally. There may have been one or two occult bookstores in the area but you really had to search them out and I only managed to get to one every so often and then only to browse because I didn’t know what I was looking for. You didn’t just walk up to someone and tell him or her you were a Witch and wanted to join a coven. And people didn’t come out of the woodwork to invite you to join one, even if you knew where to look.

So I dabbled, training myself the best way I could using instinct as my guide. At the time I would have loved to have found someone to train me and I would have loved to have found a coven to join so that I wouldn’t feel so alone. But they didn’t exactly advertise. And there was no Internet in those days to bring us all together.

So unless you were lucky, you were on your own. Like it or not.

Now that we have all these books, magazines, and web sites to fill in the gaps I find that my instincts did very well by me. Everything that I taught myself way back then is now being touted as the way to do it by the “experts.” I have since collected an entire library of books hoping to find information that would help me advance my practice but with the exception of a few interesting bits that I’ve added here and there, I have been disappointed.

I have also attended classes, open groves, and ceremonies, and while the people that I met were very nice it just didn’t feel right for me. I’ve also become very disillusioned with the influx of the newest brick and mortar shops. They seem to have become havens of self-help, yoga, meditation, and coffee and music.

And while I practice yoga and meditation myself I don’t want to go to my local Craft shop to pick up a yoga mat, balance ball, or a book by Dr. Phil. I want to pick up the tools for my ceremonies and spell crafting and, unfortunately, the kind of shop I want seems to be few and far between (except on line.) It feels as though the craft as I remember it is being homogenized and made so “acceptable” in the eyes of the general public that it is becoming useless to serious practitioners. But I digress here.

So to sum up this article, does it mean that I am not a real Witch because I had no one to “lead the way” or no coven to adopt me and teach me “their right way”? Quite frankly I think that makes me an even better real Witch because I had to figure it out for myself. And because of that my understanding and beliefs don’t quite fit into any prescribed dogma. So that is why I stay a solitary practitioner and that is why I have stepped back from the community as a whole.

But then I don’t look at being a Witch as a religion, with all of its implied rules and regulations and dogma. I look at being a Witch in the same way that the old village Witches looked at it. I revere the earth and heavens and do my best to respect and tread lightly on her.

I try to live a spiritual life without bowing to or begging the acceptance of any one archetypal being. I look at the Goddess and Gods as a representation on this plane of the source of all energy and power. I cast spells for my own benefit, and mine alone, as I don’t believe I have the right to manipulate anyone else’s life. And I believe that Karma will out eventually.

I believe that being a Witch is as simple as that. It’s in your heart, it’s in your soul, and it’s who YOU know you really are. Not because someone gives you permission to be one simply because you read and adhere to someone else’s views as written down and published. Or because you attend meetings once a week, or once a month, or even once a quarter.

But because YOU know you are. And whether you are solitary or a member of a group, no matter what that group represents, you are really on your own. You must practice, practice, practice, and hold that knowing in your own heart…alone.

That’s what makes you a “real Witch.”

Calendar of the Sun for Friday, May 4

Calendar of the Sun
4 Thrimilchimonath

Ilmarinen’s Day

Colors: Red and black
Element: Fire
Altar: Upon cloth of red and black set an iron anvil, a hammer, a box of intricate making within which are many golden stars, and eight red candles.
Offerings: Make something.
Daily Meal: Food that is cunningly wrought to look like something it is not.

Invocation to Ilmarinen

O great smith of the northern snows,
Swift of sleigh and skilled of hand,
You who wrought the sampo,
That which given forth inexhaustible wealth,
Guide our hands in that which we create!
Let us be flowing wells
Of the creative force,
And let us make manifest that which we need.
Teach us also, O great smith of the northern snows,
Those lessons that you learned
To your pain and chagrin:
That love cannot be truly bought with gold,
Or with the most wondrous of possessions.
That affections so bribed will not last.
That slavery brought on unwilling
For the need for affluence and wealth
Will someday be a knife in the back
Of the most comfortable bed.
That you cannot build love
Out of silver and gold.
That you cannot recreate the power
Of the sun and the moon
No matter what your skill.
That in the end, power lies not in the hand
But in the heart, and the heartfelt word.
Teach us, Ilmarinen,
Smith of the northern snows,
That we may share the lessons
That have bent your neck these many years.

(All approach the altar, and each strikes the anvil with the hammer nine times.)

[Pagan Book of Hours]

Circle Casting

Circle Casting

Why do we cast a circle? We cast a circle for protection from what may be attracted to what we are doing. There are times when spirits that do not wish us to succeed will be drawn by the power that we raise during a circle. Sometimes it is beneficial to cast a circle to lay down a boundary between the ill will that pagans sometimes encounter as they walk on their path. The circle itself is a reminder that we are now in a different time and space, and that this space is special.

The circle is a container as well. It is used to hold the energy that is raised until it is time to release it to whatever end we are working towards. If it was not there, the energy that we raised would have to be directed into a container rather than letting it swirl around in the one that has already been created. It is far easier to tell if there has been enough energy raised when you are moving directly through it than it is to tell if there is enough in the container.

Finally, the circle exists as a link to the people that have cast circles and gathered together in the past, and a link to those that will cast them in the future. It is a continuation of a chain that has evolved over thousands of years, passing information on and down throughout the ages. While there are very few religions that can trace their roots back into antiquity, it is undeniable that there are traces of those religions left, and that there are rites and ideas that have been passed down from one person to another throughout those long years. The circle is our way of trying to connect to those times gone by and it is our legacy to our children and their children for years to come.

Whether your circle has a physical boundary, a boundary of thought, or whether it is simply a grove of trees that is circular, the ideas are still there. The circle is a construct of the mind, an idea that passes between groups. It is the idea of a scares space and sacred time.

Why do we do ritual? Ritual is a way of trying to connect to something that is greater than the self. It is a link to other people and other beings; a link to times past and future. When people come together to celebrate their idea of the sacred, it is a sharing of something that is intangible and profound. It is a way to experience the divine that surrounds us in nature and is a part of ourselves that is not always understood. Ritual is a time for joy to be expressed in the celebration of the seasons and a time for sorry to be shared in the cycles of life that take our friends and loved ones from us and a time for everything in between.

It seems almost innate for people to come together to share this idea of the sacred. While the idea of what sacred is varies from people to people, there are very few cultures that do not espouse some version of the ideas of the sacred being a time set apart from secular life. Many cultures choose to make the goals of the two similar, thus ensuring that both are successful. Religion, it would seem, is something that is almost an inborn need of humans, a way of processing the things that we do not understand and of being able to celebrate them.

Why do we place the elements of ritual in a particular order? The simple answer is that it makes it easy for more than one person to follow what is happening when there is a common order to what is being done. The not so simple answer is that there is a logical progression from start to end to rituals that allow people to perform their rites in the simplest and easiest manner possible, allowing more people to participate.

Paganism is a group of religions that tends to frown on a centralized religious structure, and so it is important that more people be able to perform these rituals. Simplicity and structure gives the ability of those who do not wish to spend years mastering the smallest component of a ritual to participate as well. Common sense also plays a part in the order of a ritual. For most people, it makes sense to cast a circle and cut it off from the world outside before inviting the gods and elements as it is somewhat rude to make them stand around and wait, or call them and then cut them off from the ritual as you cast your circle. Some, however, find that it makes more sense to cleanse and purify the area, bring everyone in, and then cast the circle and invite the gods. Still others call the gods first and then cast the circle. As with anything, each person must decide what works best for them and why.

Where do we place things in a ritual? When thinking about where to place an event in a ritual, it is necessary to examine that event to find out what the results might be, or the reason that it is being done. If you are going to Draw Down the Moon (Call a Goddess into a person), then you need to consider just how tiring this is going to be for that person. Will they want to run and jump around to raise energy after? Is the Goddess likely to want that sort of thing?

If a person were going to do a drawing down for a God and Goddess, doing that before the Great Rite would make sense as it is a rite that takes the opposites of male and female and uses that polarity to make the rite that much stronger. Ritual creation takes the ability to think about the small details such as this and form them into a larger, successful whole.

How do we know when it is right to do something and when it is not? Start to decide this by thinking of the outcome of the ritual. What is the purpose that you are getting together for? If you are doing a healing, it would be good to invite gods that have that particular aspect. If you are doing a binding or a deconsecration, choose gods that deal with endings. If you are celebrating Beltaine, a fertility holiday, don’t invoke a Crone goddess who is past her fertile years.

The yardstick that any witch must use in creating a ritual is “Does it make sense to do it this way?” If it does not make sense, then find a different way of doing the event that does. There is no limit to what can be done with ritual. There is no right or wrong way to do a ritual. If it does not make sense to call the quarters, then don’t. Because something has always been done need not mean that it should always be done. Similarly, don’t throw out tradition unless it makes sense to do so.

IS WICCA RIGHT FOR ME?

IS WICCA RIGHT FOR ME?

Many people find Wicca because they are dissatisfied with the religion that they
are currently involved in, though they are deeply spiritual and believe firmly
in another Power. For many, the Church is too structured, or too conservative,
or does not fulfill some kind of need within the individual. This is common for
many people who are born into a religion. Just because your parents believe
something does not mean that you are going to believe it!

So, now that you have found Wicca, how are you going to know if it is right for
you?

The only way you will ever know for certain if it is for you is to try it.

However, before you jump headlong into any religion, I suggest you read plenty
of information about it.

The World Wide Web is actually an excellent source of information, and is stock
full of various places that will give you all the beginning info that you could
ever hope to attain. After you read everything that you can, ask yourself, “DO I
believe in the core of Wicca?”

If you have done enough reading on Wicca you will have come across the Wiccan
Rede, which is a poem which beautifully illustrates the Wiccan belief.

The most important rule in the Rede is: “‘An it harm none, do what ye will.” It
speaks for itself: you may practice whatever magick you want as long as you harm
none, including yourself.

If you do not believe in the Wiccan Rede, or cannot uphold it and live by it,
then Wicca is not for you.

So what if you accept the Rede, have read extensively but still aren’t sure if
it will work for you? Well, first things first: if you don’t believe that magick
will work for you, then it won’t.

Simple as that. It can work for you, but you must believe in yourself! That is a
primary tenet of Wicca. There is no harm in trying it. Cast yourself a circle,
pray, and talk to the Goddess and the God.

If you feel silly or uncomfortable, or doubt that what you are doing is really
making any progress, then you probably want to try something else.

Like any other religion, Wicca is not for everyone. It is only for those who are
comfortable in a loosely structured religion, who are open minded and are
patient enough to learn all that Wicca has to offer.

This does not mean, however, that Paganism is not for you.

Paganism encompasses many other religions, such as Shamanism, Nordic religions,
Druidic and so on.

The best thing for you to do is read, study, experiment and trust yourself. If
it is right for you, it will come to you. Don’t force yourself just because you
think it is “cool.”

ANYONE can practice magick, but not everyone is a Wiccan.