Tag: Samhain

A Sip of Inspiration

A Sip of Inspiration

by Miriam Harline

Invocation/Meditation

You are in a dark room, empty of furniture, a box of wood rough-hewn. The window looks out on night. You smell woodsmoke, though there is no fire. You are cold, and you huddle on the floor, wrapping your arms around yourself.

The door opens, and standing in the doorway is a woman with long blonde hair. She wears a white dress, hanging in graceful folds, and no shoes. In her hand is a white candle, burning. “Rise,” she tells you; you do, and follow her.

Outside hangs black night, a sky dusted with stars, no moon. The ground is cold, frozen hard, but there is no snow. You follow the woman down a narrow path. To either side rise hills, grass tan when the candle shows it. You walk down; the stones under the hills begin to show to either side. Beside you, slowly, rock walls rise.

The walk down turns steep. You smell salt, hear waves crash. The land flattens, and under your feet is sand; you are on the seashore.

Ocean water pours across the sand, a margin of foam at its edge. The candlelight glows, a yellow globe on the water. You follow the woman still; you turn and walk above the surf. It is low tide.

A cliff rises ahead, to your left, and in the cliff you see a black mouth, a cave. It is so dark, black on black, you feel some fear. But the woman walks right up to it, enters the tall mouth, twice her height. You walk after her into the cave, still on hard-packed wet sand; when the tide is high, the cave floor must be covered in water.

The path of sand narrows between rocks; you continue along it. You turn a bend, and behind you can no longer see the sea, but you hear it still, rushing, sighing.

You walk on. To either side rise black walls of stone, occasionally veined with red. Ahead, as the path curves, you see not darkness, but golden light.

You turn another bend, and the cave ceiling rises; you are in a vast room, lit by candlelight. Before you is a line of eight women robed in white, all holding white candles.

One woman steps forward. She is blonde, like your guide, but taller, older, in the prime of womanhood. Her face is still, not smiling, full of pride. “Greetings,” she says. “What is your name?” You tell her.

“Why have you come here?” she asks. Your eyes go wide, because you have no idea; you were waiting, and were summoned, but you do not know why. But your guide steps up and whispers in your ear, “For inspiration.”

You repeat, “For inspiration.”

The woman who greeted you smiles; you have made the right answer. “Very well,” she says. “Come forward.”

All nine women turn, move further into the cave, form a circle. You see in its center a huge cauldron, waist-high, its legs straddling a fire. The cauldron is boiling, and from it rise rainbow bubbles that pop in the air, leaving a smell of spice and honey. “This is the cauldron of inspiration,” your greeter says.

Two women in the circle loosen their hands and beckon to you. You pass by them, and the circle rejoins around you. You stand before the cauldron. “Drink from the cauldron,” the greeter says.

Drink? you say to yourself. But the liquid in it is boiling. I will boil my hands. “Drink,” she says. “That is why you are here.”

You look around, in fear. These people are crazy. Then you catch the eye of the woman who guided you, and she smiles very slightly. You sense there is some magick here. Foolishly or wisely, you lower your hands into the cauldron.

The liquid is just cooler than lukewarm, delightful, like a bath on a hot summer day.

You cup liquid in your palms, raise it to your lips. The smell of spice and honey fills your nostrils. The liquid seems to shine upward into your face, rainbow colors. You sip.

An explosion goes off in your head. You fall backward onto the ground. You see stars, moons, suns, rainbows flare; a stream of firework, many-colored, falls from the sky. You hear music, whispers, laughter; someone close is speaking in your ear, you can almost make out the words….

After a long time, you wake on the floor of the wooden house. All is dark, and your head hurts. But now the house is warm.

Use Imbolc to Ask for Brighid’s Inspiration

Use Imbolc to Ask for Brighid’s Inspiration

by Melanie Fire Salamander

At a Northwest Imbolc, grey days pass under grey skies. The furor of the solstice holidays is over, and cold and rain face us for the next six weeks, or six months. Here, Imbolc lacks even the bracing snow of winter. Nor is it time for flowers and fresh breezes. A few crocuses may poke their heads above ground, but Imbolc, the first pagan holiday of spring, doesn’t speak of spring’s fulfillment, rather of spring’s promise.

Imbolc is the pregnancy of spring, the first stirring of seeds sown in autumn. One derivation of the holiday’s name, which is taken from the Irish, is “in the belly,” according to R.J. Stewart in Celtic Gods, Celtic Goddesses. Animal life also begins to stir. Around Imbolc, ewes begin to lactate, a time important to hungry traditional peoples. This association is reflected in medieval European writings. Cormac’s Glossary, composed around year 900, derives “Imbolc” from “sheep’s milk,” Ronald Hutton writes in The Stations of the Sun. In the tenth- or eleventh-century Irish tale “The Wooing of Emer,” this holiday is called “Imbolc, when the ewes are milked at spring’s beginning.”

At Imbolc, early Europeans also rendered fat for candles, having saved the fat from meat eaten through the winter. Hence the holiday’s alternate name Candlemas, from the Christianized version of the day. Christian Europe observes Candlemas with candlelight processions, parades that may hark back to ancient torchlight ceremonies for purifying and reviving the fields at spring sowing, according to Funk and Wagnall’s Standard Dictionary of Folklore, Mythology and Legend. The February ceremonies of the pagan Romans were also rites of cleansing and preparation for the coming year. Likewise, February 2 is the Aztec New Year, observed with early-spring agricultural rites and renewed fires. After other purifications, covens at Imbolc traditionally initiate new witches.

Around the Northern Hemisphere, Imbolc is a time of beginnings, of hopes for success in the coming year. But hope is double-edged; the ancient Greeks put it into Pandora’s box with other human ills, a lying daemon. In this grey weather, it’s easy to see hope as a lie. Of all holidays, Imbolc is the most based on faith. If you don’t feel faith, if you lack inspiration, Imbolc is a good time to seek it.

Brighid’s Day

Imbolc comes strongly associated with a Celtic goddess who oversees inspiration. The Irish, Scots and Manx considered this holiday to belong to Brighid or Bride (pronounced breed), a patroness of smithcraft, healing and poetic inspiration whose name can be derived from the Gaelic “breo-aigit” or “fiery arrow.”

Brighid’s attributes are many. She was known as a smith and fighter, patroness of the armies of Irish Leinster. As a healer, she rules wells and streams. Worshippers in medieval times walked around her holy wells deosil (sunwise) on hands and knees and left valuable pins or buttons in the water, or hung rags in the trees nearby, asking for relief.

An Irish celebration of Brighid’s day reflects another healing aspect. In this observance, Hutton writes, a family would hold a formal supper, during which they would place food, usually cake or bread and butter, on the windowsill as a gift for Brighid. The family might also leave a cloth, garment or ribbon on the sill overnight, asking Brighid to bless it. Family members would wear it later in the year to prevent headaches.

Brighid also oversees childbirth. In the west Scottish Highlands as late as 100 years ago, midwives would bless newborns with fire and water in Brighid’s name, Caitlin Matthews reports in The Encyclopedia of Celtic Wisdom. Fire and water come together also in Brighid’s water, which you make by plunging a burning coal into water while asking for the goddess’s blessing. The water, used to anoint and purify, combines Brighid’s natures of smith and healer.

Brighid’s midwife aspect perhaps conceals an earlier goddess of fertility, a corn-mother, as shown in the tradition of Bride’s bed. To create this bed, Pauline Campanelli in The Wheel of the Year has you decorate a grain maiden made at the autumn equinox or from the last harvest’s wheat or corn. You dress the maiden in white, lay her in a basket and set across her a priapic wand — an acorn-tipped wand of oak — twined with ribbon, so that wand and bride form an X. You then place lit candles to either side and hail the maiden with a chant, or incorporate her into a ritual saluting the fertility of the coming spring. After the ritual, you undress the maiden and at sunrise place her on your dwelling’s front door. There she forms an amulet of prosperity, fertility and protection, which can remain till the next Samhain.

The Celtic traditions behind this pagan practice are many and varied. In the Isle of Man, according to Hutton, followers of Brighid left her an empty bed in a corner of the house or barn, beside it bread, cheese, ale and a lighted candle. In the Scottish islands of the Hebrides, where householders made a figure of Bride from oats, families would leave her abed overnight and look for an impression of her wand in the hearth ashes the next morning. A mark meant a good crop and a prosperous year, and a footstep was held marvelous, but if nothing appeared the family took it as a bad omen. To avert misfortune, members would bury a cock at the junction of three streams or burn incense on their hearth fire.

Elsewhere in Ireland, people plaited a criosog Bridghe, St. Brighid’s cross, of rushes or straw, hanging it on Brighid’s Eve over a door or window or in the rafters to welcome her. Others set their crosses in stables to ask for blessings on the animals. The Irish left their criosogs up through the year, replacing them the next Brighid’s Eve.

Besides giving health and agricultural fertility, Brighid lends clear sight into the future and creative fertility. According to Matthews, she presided over a special type of Irish augury called a “frith,” performed on the first Monday after a cross-quarter day, such as Imbolc, to predict what the year’s next quarter would bring. Brighid was said also to inspire poetry, and many Irish poems hail her. Cormac’s Glossary calls her “a poetess… the female sage, woman of wisdom, or Brighid the goddess whom poets venerated because very great and famous for her protecting care.” Matthews attributes to her the “nine gifts of the cauldron” mentioned in the Irish poet Amergin’s “Song of the Three Cauldrons”: reflection, lore, research, great knowledge, intelligence, understanding, wisdom, meditation and poetry. If inspiration is what you seek at this grey Northwest Imbolc, Brighid is a good goddess to turn to.

A Ritual to Seek Inspiration

This ritual is to find hope and inspiration in a project or your life as a whole. Before you start the working, I’ll ask you to spend some time in journal work and meditation. For these and the magickal rite, give yourself at least one undisturbed hour (two is better). Turn off the phone, and put your pets in another room.

A good time for this ritual is first thing Imbolc morning. If that doesn’t work, try the night before, or during a waxing moon. It’s best done in spring, but don’t let the season prevent you from doing the ritual if you want.

Have on hand:

  • A white or pastel candle to meditate by, and a candleholder for it.
  • Paper and pen to create a journal entry and for use during meditation. (You can create the initial journal entry using a computer, but you’ll definitely want the old-fashioned tools later.)
  • A cauldron or earth-filled bowl large enough to contain a burning piece of paper safely.
  • Anointing oil or Brighid’s water.
  • A candle of a color that says inspiration to you, possibly rainbow-colored, silver, gold, lavender or
    green — use your own personal associations.
  • A candleholder for this inspiration candle.

Journal Work

First, create a journal entry looking at what you’re thinking and feeling. Whether or not you keep an ongoing journal, writing about your thoughts and emotions helps clear your head before a ritual and make sure that unconscious ambivalence doesn’t color your work. Even if you already know what’s in your head, getting your feelings out on paper may reveal new information or connections. And the simple act of formally acknowledging a thought or emotion by writing it down can help that energy move.

So ask yourself: How do I feel? Why?

Next, ask yourself: What do I want out of this ritual? Write the answer on a separate page as a single, formal statement; this will be the statement of your working.

Then ask yourself: What within me stands in my way? What benefits do I get from not succeeding here?

This ritual assumes you are already dealing with any practical roadblocks preventing your success. For me, it’s rarely the outer blockages that most hinder me — it’s the inner ones.

So look at the inner urges that block your desires. As they come up, don’t judge them, if you can avoid it. These shadows all exist for a reason. If you can honor these urges, understand them, talk to them, promise they will be met in some way other than preventing your success, you will clear the way for inspiration.

On a separate piece of paper, write out a list of your inner blockages for use in meditation, following.

Meditation

To meditate, start with relaxation. Light your white or pastel candle, and sitting in front of it relax your whole body. If this doesn’t come easily, try tensing each body part, then releasing it. (For more meditative techniques, see other articles in this issue.) Looking at the candle flame — if you don’t want spots before your eyes, look at the base of the wick — take 20 deep breaths, breathing into your belly, saying to yourself that each breath relaxes you further. Count each breath.

Once relaxed, ground and center. Make your grounding cord strong and deeply rooted, and center yourself in the middle of your head — your third eye, a neutral space. Neutrality is a good tool when looking at inner blocks. Next, create a protective energetic circle around yourself in whatever way you prefer.

For the following step, give yourself some latitude. Don’t force yourself to do work you’re not ready for; doing so will enforce rather than clear obstructions.

From your list of inner blocks, choose one. Let it be personified in a way that you can be neutral about — not a monster, simply a presence. Then ask the block in meditation: What do you want?

For me, the answers to this question always surprise me and usually simplify matters. What your blockage will usually want, first, is acknowledgement. Then it might have some specific request. Nine times out of ten, at least for me, such requests can be dealt with in ways that allow me to move forward with my desired goal.

On a separate piece of paper, write down what the block wants. If you can, promise to fulfill that need, but at very least write it down for your knowledge.

Thank the block, bless it and let it go.

Then choose the next block on your list (unless you have only one), and repeat the process, collecting all the blocks’ requests on one sheet.

When you’re done figuring out what your blockages want, briefly decide how to address the requests. Often the action required is something simple, such as recognizing and honoring a formerly hidden emotion. Sometimes addressing the blockages’ needs will take further practical or ritual work. The answer isn’t to do the work right now, but to make an honest commitment to do it over time. If you don’t feel you can do what your blocks request, at the very least promise to keep thinking about the issues raised till solutions can be found. However works best for you, make a commitment to do the work to satisfy and thus release these blocks.

Write that commitment down on the page with the blocks’ requests, fold the paper and, when you can, set it in some place you will see daily, such as on your altar.

Now ground and center once more. Connect with the energies of earth and sky, and from the sky draw down cleansing, healing energy. Let it meet healing earth energy within you, and fill yourself completely with healing and comfort. Wash any pain or negative emotion down your grounding into the earth. Take time to do this slowly and fully and come back to equilibrium.

The Rite Itself

Now that you’ve done your personal work in journal and meditation and cleansed yourself, it’s time to ask for inspiration from the goddess.

Connect again with your grounding, center yourself and renew the circle around you, this time so as to work magick. Call the elements, directions, fey or all three to your circle as you usually do.

Now call to your circle the Celtic goddess Brighid. Do so in a speech inspired in the moment; call to her from your heart. The description earlier should give you a feeling for her attributes and nature. Call her strongly; let her fill your circle.

Besides your original journal entry and the page listing your blocks’ requests and your commitment, you should have two slips of paper: the list of the blocks themselves and your formal statement of ritual intent. From that statement, read aloud what you want this ritual to do. Feel free to amend your statement based on what you learned from journal work and meditation.

Now take up the list of things obstructing you. Say aloud the following, or something like it:

“To do (my project), I have committed to satisfy these blocks. Having made that commitment, I release them.”

Focusing on letting go your inner blocks, fold the page and light it in the flame of your meditation candle. Let the flame burn up everything that stands in your way. Drop the burning page in your cauldron or earth-filled bowl, and watch till it flares out.

Now pick up the anointing oil or Brighid’s water. Hold it above your head, and call out the following or something similar:

“I dedicate this (oil or water) to the Goddess Brighid and her brilliant inspiration!”

With the dedicated oil or water, anoint the candle you’ve chosen to represent inspiration. Holding the candle above your head, stand and raise the energy of inspiration either by toning wordlessly or by chanting:

“As this candle flames and fires,

Let me be renewed, inspired.”

Pour energy into the candle, imagining yourself filled with inspiration and hope. Imagine too the goddess lending you her aid.

When you have sent the power you raised into the candle, touch the surface below you and ground out any excess energy. Set the candle in its holder, ready for use. Then thank and release the goddess and other entities (directions, elements, fey), and take down your circle.

Light the candle whenever you work on the project you created it for, or whenever you’re in need of inspiration or hope.

Mind/Body/Spirit Cleansing for Imbolc

Mind/Body/Spirit Cleansing for Imbolc
By: Lotus Moonwise
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Although Samhain is commonly considered to be the Witch’s New Year, Imbolc has always felt more like New Year to me. After going through winter “hibernation” mode, this is the perfect time to start clearing everything out, moving some energy around and making way for new things to come in Spring. Ever since I started practicing the Craft, this has been my favorite Sabbat of all because it brings Change, which I am so very fond of. Stagnation blocks creative power, so I usually do some kind of total cleansing at least twice a year, but preferably every quarter.
 
I like to set aside one or two weeks before Imbolc for this cleansing process, so that by the time the Sabbat rolls around, I’m fresh and new and ready to invite the new energies in. Here are some ways to cleanse yourself and your space:
 
Your Home:
· Do a total house cleanse, dedicating at least one day to each room.
· Go through each room and move everything. Create a system of organizing. Divide things into categories of what you know you want to keep, what you know you can let go of, and what you’re not sure about. Also, as you go through the rooms, if there is anything that is not where it belongs or anything that doesn’t have it’s own place, set that aside for now.
· Be honest with yourself and let go of things you no longer need. If there are clothes in your closet that you haven’t worn in a year, chances are you can let them go. As time goes on and our energy changes, our styles change, too. Make sure that everything in your home matches who you are NOW, not 5 years ago.
· If you come across anything that is broken, either repair it or replace it. Broken items in the house bring down the vibration. Remember that your house is a mirror of your soul.
· Once you’re sure of what you want to keep, start arranging those items in a way that is pleasing to you. Take time to sit in the room and meditate. If you pay attention, the room will tell you want it needs. Often it is something much simpler than you might expect.
· A good way of increasing abundance in your life is to create an altar somewhere in a direct line from your front door. When energy comes into your life/home, it comes in through the front door. In my home, the front door and the back door are in a direct line. As I did rituals to increase abundance, I noticed that the abundance was coming in, but it was also going out very fast. Extra expenses would just keep coming up. It was “easy come, easy go”. An altar situated between those two doors would magnetize the energy and anchor it into the house.
· Clean and re-dedicate your altars. Also cleanse and re-consecrate any ritual tools that you use.
· Placing a piece of rose quartz near your bathroom mirror is a good way of helping increase your self love and self esteem. You can also write some affirmations on an index card and post them here, since this is a place you’re likely to see them everyday.
· To keep the abundance coming in, you need to complete the cycle by giving. Take the items and clothing that you no longer use to a donation center or a shelter. A continues outflow of energy insures a continuous inflow.
 
Your Computer:
· This is also a good time to go through your computer and get rid of some clutter. Go through your email files, internet bookmarks, files saved on your hard drives and see what you truly need and what can be deleted. Organize the stuff you do keep into folders so you can easily find them when you need them. Many times I have done this and found useful things that had gotten lost in the mass of clutter. Clearing everything out also means your computer will work quicker and this is a metaphor for your mind working more efficiently. Once everything is clear, it’s a good time to back everything up to prevent it from being lost forever if something happens to your computer.
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Your Body:
· This is a great time to get a makeover. Maybe you want to try a new hairstyle or try out a new style of clothing. Making changes can be very uplifting and that energy will carry over into all your creative projects.
· Address any medical concerns you have. Get a checkup, maybe do a spring “fast” or undergo a detox program.
· Meditate on what you need to do to nurture wellness in your body. Talk to your body – it knows what it needs to heal itself and if you listen, it will tell you. Sometimes what your body truly needs goes counter to the generally accepted ideal of what is healthy. Trust yourself. Each person and each body is unique, and the best source for answers about you… is YOU.
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Your Emotional/Mental Self:
· This is a very important part of a total cleanse. If you don’t already, start keeping a journal. Start to observe the thoughts you have. Do this without judgment or analyzing yourself – just observe. Notice if your self talk is nurturing or hurtful. If you notice negative thought patterns, write some affirmations to counteract these and say them daily.
· Write all your fears, concerns, hopes, dreams. Get clear about what you want this year, what you don’t want this year, and what steps you can take to achieve your desires.
· This is a great time for divination focusing on the coming year.
· Create a visual representation of your goals for the coming year. I love to make collages, or what some call “treasure maps”. It’s a collection of images and phrases that becomes a powerful focal point for your energy. Put these up in places you’re likely to see them often.
· You can also do a collage as a way to release your fears. Do that same thing, gathering images and phrases that represent your fears. Then you can either bury this or burn it.
· Another technique that is helpful in clearing out emotional clutter is the Emotional Freedom Technique (EMT) The “Personal Peace Procedure” is a very thorough way of getting to the core of your fears and blocks, and releasing them in a pain free way.
· Write a “Statement of Intent” that outlines your personal philosophy on life and spirituality and your intention of how you will embody that philosophy in the coming year. This is a commitment you make to your self, your Spirit, and the Universe as a whole. Re-write this statement annually, since we are constantly changing, learning, and growing. Keep this statement in your Book of Shadows.
 
Doing all or some of these things will create a “clean slate” feeling. Then when you invite Brigid into your space on Imbolc, you will feel empty enough to be filled with Divine inspiration and creative fire.
 
About The Author: Lotus Moonwise is a Priestess of the Order of the White Moon, and is currently studying to receive ordination as High Priestess. She leads a small family coven. Lotus is a Shambhala Reiki Master/Teacher and offers online classes and attunements. In addition, she is studying to become a licensed massage therapist and lives in Oregon with her husband, three children, and two cats. Contact her via email at lotus@…

Earth Witch Lore – Crossroads

Earth Witch Lore – Crossroads

 

Crossroads are considered sacred in almost all magical traditions. A crossroads is a universally accepted place to hold rituals, leave offerings, or dispose of items you wish to be rid of. While this is not a natural creation but one that is homemade, it still falls in the realm of earth.

 

It is believed tat Hecate rules over the three-way crossroads. She can see the past, present and future, It is said that if you should approach a three-way crossroads at night, you would hear her black dogs howling. Her altars have been erected at such places for centuries.

 

The four-way crossroad are considered to be powerful because all four directions meet at one point. Dirt, rocks and sticks gathered from such a crossroads are said to have powerful spiritual connections, albeit tricky ones to master. In Greek myths, Oedipus met his fate at the crossroads. From the Yoruban people we have Legha (a god known for his clever tricks) ruling the crossroads.

 

Ancient people were afraid of what it meant when one direction met another direction. All manner of folklore is available concerning the crossroads. Fairies are said to hand about there, along with ghouls and goblins. Even the Christian Satan is said to roam the crossroads.

Earth Witches know that a crossroad is actually a place of sacred transformations, manmade or not. Frequently they see them as a metaphor for transformational points in our lives. In such a capacity the crossroads relate to time.

Incense Magic

Incense Magic

When incense is burned prior to magical workings, fragrant smoke also purifies the altar and the surrounding area of negative, disturbing vibrations. Though such a purification isn’t usually necessary, it, once again, helps create the appropriate mental state necessary for the successful practice of Magic. When the incense is smoldered in a ritual setting it undergoes a transformation. The vibrations, no longer trapped in their physical form, are released into the environment. Their energies, mixing with those who use them, speed out to effect the changes necessary to the manifestation of the Magickal goal.

 

You needn’t limit incense use to ritual, but avoid burning healing incense just for the smell, or to freshen up your stale house. Burning magickally constructed and empowered incenses when they’re not needed is a waste of energy. If you wish to burn a pleasant-smelling incense, compound a household mixture for this purpose.

Slipping Off the Bed: Get Out of Your Comfort Zone!

Slipping Off the Bed: Get Out of Your Comfort Zone!

Author: Sage Runepaw

I’m looking out my window and there’s no air conditioner in it, having been taken down as of half an hour ago. I admire the amount of light in my room again, and gaze out at the big tall maple across the street, the quiet setting, my butterscotch-gold car sitting next to the walkway and blending in with the golden oak leaves over the carpet of dry olive-green grass that’s sticking its scraggly self out, and enjoying the airy, autumnal energy. I’ve been practicing at attuning to the Four Winds, and I’ve been enjoying the energy that the not-Mabon-anymore, not-yet-Samhain time brings. I always like the “in between” spaces- they fascinate me. Anywho…

My across-the-street neighbor’s son comes out from the driveway and comes with a ball. He kicks the ball. It goes away, rolls up his incline driveway, and rolls back to him. This got me thinking, as I’m watching him pick it up, kick at it, go after it to retrieve it in the ubercute manner tiny toddlers do this in.

We kick things we want to ‘go somewhere’, but they come back, or we retrieve them. Do we ever really let them go? Do we keep them solely because they are “ours”? Do they bring anything back with them that wasn’t originally there… just adding on and ‘snowballing’ back at us? This is much like the way of the universe, isn’t it? – Seeing our intent go “out there”, sending it out, then later on, it comes back to us in the form of karma, be it good, bad, or whatever shade of grey in between. I’m not even going into spellcraft here- I’m sure that if you take a couple minutes to think about it, you’ll find a proverbial or metaphorical ‘ball’ in your life somewhere.

For all intents and purposes, I got up this morning, got breakfast and plopped my butt down back in bed to enjoy it and to journal down some things I’ve been discovering through my 303 studies and recent dreamwork. So I sit there, turn on my beloved new Zune (I’m not one for new technological toys unless my current, older ones which did the job broke- about 5 discmen and 2 boomboxes breaking and I’m ready!) , and start writing.

My vision suddenly becoming lower and lower to the aqua bedsheets should have warned me, but as I’d been snapped out of my own personal world- that of The Word Being Written As I Think It and the Mystery of Ink Capturing It in Time, coupled with the Beauty of Ink Manifesting on Paper- I felt my butt slide, though I wore long jeans and a t-shirt.

Now normally butt-sliding is usually designated for the loose toilet seat in the bathroom that Mom and I have been too lazy to fix (which usually results on saying hello to the cold ceramic floor or the cold porcelain, whichever comes first, and at the risk of giving TMI for the readers of this article) , but this time it was a fabric, soft, warmer butt-slide thing going on. And in the meantime I’m too stunned to react (as well as being a zombie because come on, I got up at 9:00 am on a week-day after a late night of work, and caffeine doesn’t work on me) – and so the next thing I see is me sitting on the floor staring at my heap of Stuff (capitalized due to the nature of the random objects in question never quite leaving the floor, getting relocated every time I clean) next to the bed.

So I’m sitting here a little longer than others might normally do, or the “Durrrrh?” moment, which consisted of many more long moments. And I’m staring, wondering why on earth I’m on the floor. And it occurs to me, again belatedly, that my perspective is not of the journal page I was writing in. My train of thought was entirely derailed (and rightly so) when I fell on my butt.

Then the proverbial lightning bolt struck- and it occurred to me that “This is not the perspective you’re used to”. Of course not, on a mundane level- it’s been years since I fell on my butt on the floor from the bed, even though I sit in the same exact spot on the floor when I’m drawing. On a spiritual level- and a synchronicity in my life, as I’d just been journaling about perspective itself and new realizations in my life- falling on my butt reminded me of three important things.

1) It reinforced that (this is my own personal truth talking) perspective can be everything, and all we have to do is quit the mental yammering inside our heads, or the “us” factor, or stopping our emotions and/or thoughts cold-turkey, open our eyes, and really -see-. Sometimes, detachment is better than letting something ride itself out to the end with a healthy outlet, or refusing point-blank to deal with something (remember that ball? it’ll come back with crap all over it for you to wipe off!) , or worse, twisting it- among many other things people can do.

2) It doesn’t matter if you’ve fallen off your proverbial comfort zone- you can always choose to get right back up. How long it takes you or the manner in which you get back up, however, is up to you. It’s also up to you whether or not you want to go back to the comfortable position you were in before- but whether or not you can actually attain that (and whether or not you’re actually comfortable if you do attain said comfy position) is up to the Gods of Comfortable Positions.

3) No matter how well you think you made that bed, you can and probably will fall out of it from the sheets suddenly gaining a mind of their own and ejecting you forcibly from them.

So what do we -do- with that proverbial ball? No matter which angle we view it from, we’ll still have a ball. It is what it is. Its purpose is open for interpretation, but it’s that interpretation that will affect how we interact with it. And like the sphere that it is, it’ll roll into our lives some way or other.

For me, it rolled into my life by my decision to break with a slow-morning tradition of getting back in bed and parking my butt on the desk chair to look out the window and admire the autumn weather. If I tried to go back to my comfort zone, I’d have missed out.

And no matter how I look at it, something that’s round and rolls in any direction is pretty freaking cool. 🙂

What’s the ball like in your life? How are you interacting with it?

A Hinge in the Year: the White Solstice

A Hinge in the Year: the White Solstice by H. Byron Ballard

Homer used “rosy-fingered dawn” to describe the rising of the sun, and here in the mountains of western North Carolina the dull gray of morning twilight gives way to a fresh bright pink. If the weather holds, this is the sight that will greet Pagans as we celebrate our next holy day on the Winter Solstice.

My daughter and I will rise in the darkness, put the kettle on the stove and bundle up to stand in the back yard with warm drinks in gloved hands. When the gray smoothes to pink, we will sing some songs and welcome the sun’s “return.”

Though our simple celebration is colored with the trappings of modern life we are following an ancient impetus and performing a ritual of thanksgiving that harkens back to the earliest human times. How often do we think about the life-giving properties of our nearest star? We wear sunscreen and dark glasses to protect us from the power of its rays and the gardeners among us may squirm uncomfortably when the rainy days of early spring delay planting.

But our ancestors knew the rhythms of the seasons because they lived close to the land. They waited for the strengthening sun to warm and dry the soil in the spring. They watched tender shoots grow thick in the heat of summer and observed the daylight lessen day by day after the celebrations of Midsummer. Harvests and animals were brought in and preserved against the dark and cold of winter. And after an enforced time of rest and conservation, the lengthening daylight following the midwinter holy days was a welcome sign of nature’s continuous nurturing cycle.

The burst of light at the Winter Solstice is reflected in so many religious observances at this holy time that we can easily recognize how our ancestors felt about the sun’s return. In the contemporary Pagan community, the celebration of the Winter Solstice is less intense than Samhain, less flashy than Beltane. It is generally an intimate holiday that features good food and song and bright hearth-fire. We honor our biological and intentional families and share tales of times past and plan the months to come.

In Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, Ebenezer Scrooge is confronted by the same three spirits that challenge each of us at this time of the rolling year: the dreamlike past, the delicious present and the unknown yet-to-come. The Winter Solstice is a hinge in the year when we may, like the Roman Janus, look both forward and back. In the dark and long nights of winter, let us find some time to rest and reflect, to share a story and a song. The sun’s returning will bring the warmth of May and the glare of August but for now, it is the promise of the coming harvest that motivates us as we rise in the dark, wait through the twilight with our fragrant steaming mugs and sing a lullaby to the young sun.

Joyous Solstice!

Howdy Ya’ll! Have A Very Happy Thursday!

Days Of The Week Comments
How’s my dear friends doing today? I hope fine. I have the sun is shining and your spirit is soaring. And I hope you are excited about our Blessed Sabbat that is coming, Yule. I know this year I am very excited about Yule. Or perhaps, I just forget how excited I was last. So I think I am more excited the next year. But I will be so glad when Yule gets here. I was going to mention this when Samhain was on the way but I didn’t. I think it is time to let the magick flow on this blog.  Now I know you are wondering what I am talking about. I think everyone knows that we have the chatbox down on the right-hand side. I was thinking on the night of Yule, doing a simple ritual or blessing. It wouldn’t be anything complicated nor would it be anything to make you uncomfortable. All you would have to do is answer every now and then with a “So Mote It Be” or a “Blessed Be.”

 

 We had an online ritual in the old group. You could feel the ower moving through the computer screen. It was an unbelievable experience. Since then, I have always wanted to do another one. If there is enough people interested, I will get a regular chatroom somewhere. That chatbox on the box you can harder read, I might do it anyway. Well there something to chew over! Think about it and let me hear from you. I would love to do another online ritual. 

 

Now On To The Magick…….

  

Thursday

Magickal Intentions: Luck, Happiness, Health, Legal Matters, Male Fertility, Treasure and Wealth, Honor, Riches, Clothing Desires, Leadership, Public Activity, Power and Success Incense:

Cinnamon, Must, Nutmeg and Sage

Planet: Jupiter

Sign: Sagittarius and Pisces

Angel: Sachiel

Colors: Purple, Royal Blue and Indigot

Herbs/Plants: Cinnamon, Beech, Buttercup, Coltsfoot, Oak

Stones: Sugilite, Amethyst, Turquoise, Lapis Lazuli and Sapphire

Oil: (Jupiter) Clove, Lemon Balm, Oakmoss, Star Anise

Jupiter presides over Thursday. The vibrations of this day attune well to all matters involving material gain. Use them for working rituals that entail general success, accomplishment, honors and awards, or legal issues. These energies are also helpful in matters of luck, gambling, and prosperity.

  

Magickal Graphics

Protective Invocation to Hecate

Protective Invocation to Hecate

 

Wise Hecate, bless me please
And all that does belong to me.
Bless my work and my endeavors
Protect and keep me safe forever
From every hex and negative thought,
From every place that harm is wrought,
From every evil that’s allowed,
Protect me, Wise One. Guard me now.
Help me to walk in harmony
With every stone and bird and tree,
With every creature on this Earth.
Let me live in joy and mirth
That I may always be their friend
And gain their protection ’til this life ends.
Oh, Wise Hecate, watch over me
Until my soul, at last, is freed.

Witches Ballard

Witches Ballard

Oh, I have been beyond the town,
Where nightshade black and mandrake grow,
And I have heard and I have seen
What righteous folk would fear to know!
For I have heard, at still midnight,
Upon the hilltop far, forlorn,
With note that echoed through the dark,
The winding of the heathen horn.
And I have seen the fire aglow,
And glinting from the magic sword,
And with the inner eye beheld
The Hornéd One, the Sabbat’s lord,
We drank the wine, and broke the bread
And ate it in the Old One’s name.
We linked our hands to make the ring,
And laughed and leaped the Sabbat game.

Oh, little do the townsfolk reck,
When dull they lie within their bed!
Beyond the streets, beneath the stars,
A merry round the witches tread!
And round and round the circle spun,
Until the gates swung wide ajar,
That bar the boundaries of earth
From faery realms that shine afar.

Oh, I have been and I have seen
In magic worlds of Otherwhere.
For all this world may praise or blame,
For ban or blessing naught I care.
For I have been beyond the town,
Where meadowsweet and roses grow,
And there such music did I hear
As worldly-righteous never know.

Doreen Valient

Original Post By Natural Wytch

How Do We Include Kids in Ritual Without Making Adults Run Screaming?

How Do We Include Kids in Ritual Without Making Adults Run Screaming?

by L. Lisa Harris

Ask a group of ritual facilitators what their philosophy on children in ritual is, and at best you’ll get as many different opinions as there are people in the room. At worst, you will have pushed a hot button that operates an opener attached to a huge can of worms. This topic is near the top of my “ways to start an argument at a pagan gathering” list. I’ve seen this issue turn a harmless candle-making party and ritual planning session into a virtual war zone, and don’t even get me started on what it can do to an e-mail list.

Groups that put on large public rituals, those who work in small family coven structures and every sized group in between all eventually face this issue. Public ritual comes to most people’s minds first when they think about controversy over kids in circle. But even in small covens, where all of the members consider themselves a family and parents or “aunties and uncles” to the children of other circle members, disagreements as to if and when children should be in circle do crop up.

One of the many issues that parents who want to include their children in ritual can run into is what circle members wear (or don’t wear). Bob, a member of a “medium-sized traditional coven” is concerned about the legal ramifications involved in having children present in a group that works skyclad.

“There are certain considerations when allowing children in ritual,” he said. “For instance, being skyclad in front of a child can get a person charged with sexual abuse in many states.” Just because a child is taught that nudity is perfectly normal and not necessarily sexual, it doesn’t mean that society as a whole and the judicial system will see it that way. If a small child casually mentions seeing “Uncle John’s wee-wee” to a teacher or member of the medical profession, the parents are likely to receive a visit from Child Protective Services.

A greater danger arises when the parents of a child are separated or divorced. Even if there is no ritual nudity, a parent who wants full custody can claim that what goes on in ritual is damaging to the child. Seeing someone hold a blade to Mommy’s throat and issue a challenge to her when she enters a circle, or even witnessing a light ritual scourging, can not only be frightening to a child, these things are also not going to look good if a complaint is filed by an ex-spouse with an axe to grind.

Some small groups prefer that ritual be a place for adults only. “Circle is a place for women to relax and take a break from their daily parenting responsibilities and nurture themselves,” said Luna, who facilitates a women’s circle. She doesn’t want new mothers to be left out of circle but has very clear rules regarding the presence of children. “Babies at the breast are welcome in our women’s circle, but once a child is old enough to be left with family or a sitter, we expect that mothers will come alone. They need to be able to bond with other women and to have time that is theirs alone.”

Sage, a father of two, feels strongly that children should be included in circle. “It is vital that we teach our traditions to our children, or they will be left open to conversion by more aggressive religions and there will be no one to carry on after us.” His partner Oana agrees: “We have a responsibility to provide for the spiritual education of our children. Christian churches have Sunday school, so why is it wrong for us to teach our religion to our kids?”

When it comes to public ritual, not everyone has or understands children, and many people have very different ideas as to what is appropriate behavior and how much parental discipline is called for. Stardancer, a mother of three, feels “watching children joyfully play in a circle is a beautiful sight. We don’t want to suppress their natural energy, it can be quite infectious.” Kim, who is married and “childless by choice” does not agree. “Poorly supervised kids in ritual distract everyone else, and they don’t learn or experience anything. Don’t get me wrong, I like kids, but ritual should be a sacred space that is not filled with running around and yelling.” She doesn’t place the blame for disruptive behavior on the kids. “It’s ludicrous to expect a 3-year-old to stand quietly in a circle or to understand what’s going on.”

Some groups don’t allow anyone under the age of 18 at any event. “Our circles can get a little wild and crazy sometimes, and the owner of the place where we meet doesn’t want to worry about having minors around,” said Wolfehawk, a member of a small group that hosts open events. Other groups restrict the age of the children to middle-school-age or older and specify which events are appropriate for kids. Freya, a Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans member, said, “We let older kids par-ticipate in most of our rituals, with the excep-tion of Samhain, as it tends to be a bit too intense. Although middle school seems to be a good cut-off point, it’s not always that easy. Reaching a chronological age or grade in school is not always a good indicator as to how a child will behave in circle. I’ve seen very young children pay attention and be respectful, while older kids in middle school have behaved atrociously. It’s really all about the individual level of maturity and how the child has been allowed to behave in public by their parents.”

A few groups have experimented with various forms of paid and shared childcare. “The problem with the concept of co-op child care is that one or two parents get stuck with all the kids all the time while the parents that tend to have the most badly behaved kids just dump them off and go have fun,” advised Morgan, a solitary witch and mother of two. “Sooner or later, you get tired of doing all the work and missing out on the festivities and ritual workings.”

Some groups that have considered hiring a babysitter to provide paid childcare have run into liability concerns. They are afraid that if a child gets hurt when childcare is being paid for at an event they sponsor that the group members will get sued. Anne, an attorney, advised, “The fear of lawsuits for an injury or allegation of abuse is very real, particularly if someone is providing care without a license. People will sue over anything, and you never know what a jury will do. Liability releases aren’t worth the paper they’re written on.” Another problem with paid childcare is the policy that most pagan groups have of not turning anyone away due to inability to pay. Either you give some people free childcare and not others, or you allow some parents to bypass childcare. Either way, someone is going to feel that it’s unfair.

Yet another possible solution is making all kids under a certain age check into childcare and requiring all parents to work a shift. This concept did not go over well with me at all when one local group suggested it about a year and a half ago. My daughter, 11 years old at the time, was still in elementary school and would have been required to check in as a kid. I have trained her as a witch, taught her circle etiquette and even given her small roles in ritual at the Unitarian Universalist Association of Tacoma (UUAT). She generally behaves better than many adults in circle, and I most certainly was not going to “reward” her hard work and good behavior by allowing her to be labeled and treated as a “child.” My rule is that if a young person has continually behaved like a responsible adult in circle, then he or she deserves to be treated as such. In addition to my objection to what I considered an insult to the maturity of my daughter, an older, well-behaved young woman, I didn’t feel that I should be required to baby-sit the children of parents who couldn’t be bothered to teach their children manners or to supervise them.

Several local groups have had great success with separate rituals specially designed for kids. I was at a Mabon event earlier this year where just such a ritual was put on. The quarters were marked with colorful balloons, and the adult leaders led the children in a merry dance to lively music. I overheard several adults say, “I wish I was a kid, so that I could be in that ritual.” In this case, the children’s ritual, along with other kid’s activities, was held before the adult ritual, which still left the issue of what to do with the kids during the adult ritual.

One of the major obstacles to successfully including children in ritual with adults is the lack of a standard of behavior. What one adult interprets as children freely expressing themselves is often viewed by other adults as a lack of parenting. “I have to ask myself, do these parents let their children behave like this in school, restaurants or in other peoples’ homes?” said Laura, a mother of a 7-year-old daughter whom she is raising in a goddess tradition.

David, whose children are grown, has had negative experiences at public festivals where children were not supervised by their parents. He said, “I was at one outdoor festival where a very expensive drum was ruined by kids whose parents were nowhere in sight. There was a band of unsupervised kids running around all over the place banging on the drums and playing with things on the altars. It was like their parents just walked off and figured that the community would take care of their kids for them.”

I am one who feels very strongly that we should include our children in our rituals when possible. I tried for almost three years to bill events at the UUAT as child-friendly and trust that parents would ensure reasonable behavior from their children. It became increasing apparent to me that this was not going to work. After several complaints from adults who felt that ritual was disrupted and after having to clean up several messes left by unsupervised kids, the Gaia’s Grove earth-spirituality group had to implement a set of rules for at UUAT events. The following statement is available at the check-in table, is posted on our Web site under the heading “parents please read” and is also addressed in pre-ritual discussion:

We love our children.

We want them to be part of our community and events.

We design our rituals to be child/family friendly.

Due to past damage to chairs, carpet and other UUAT property, and to ensure that all ritual guests get the most out of their experience, we must now abide by the following rules.

  • Children must physically be with a parent or adult guardian at all times.
  • Children must respect altars, drums and personal item as hands-off.
  • Children must not climb on stacked chairs.
  • Children must not walk on the furniture.
  • Children may not run nor roughhouse in the building.
  • Children in circle should participate in the circle, not play with other children and/or disrupt the person/people who are speaking.
  • Children may play in the nursery downstairs WITH ADULT SUPERVISION. The nursery must be picked up afterward.
  • The circle guardian will gladly cut parents with fussy kids in and out of the circle as necessary.

Even with the new rules in place, it seems that some parents are just not sure exactly where the line of “disrupting the ritual” gets crossed. I found that often the parents with the most disruptive children were oblivious and did not think their kids were a problem, while the parents with well-behaved kids, who weren’t quite perfect, stressed out trying to make them behave well. We decided to enlist the help of a circle guardian who gently and discreetly offers assistance to parents whose kids are pushing the limits of being disruptive. After Gaia’s Grove implemented the rule, a handful of people decided not to bring their kids anymore, which is too bad. The ones that still bring their kids are making a concerted effort to help them to respect the ritual and others in the circle.

The challenge to groups of any size is to balance the needs and desires of parents and communities to involve children in ritual with the needs of adults who don’t want their ritual experience disrupted. It is ultimately up to parents to decide if their children’s behavior is appropriate for the circle they are bringing them to, but it is also vital that ritual facilitators address this issue and make expectations and behavioral standards clear in a supportive, yet firm, manner.

Spell – A- Day – Wisdom of our Ancestors

Spell – A- Day – Wisdom of our Ancestors

 
You can find guidance to deal with difficult situations by
accessing the wisdom of our ancestors. To do so, write out your perception of the situation on a piece of paper.
Light white, black, and red candles, and cut an apple crosswise to reveal the five-pointed star created by the seeds.
State these or similar words:
 
I send my voice across the veil
To my ancestors who know me well.
Guidance needed,
Wisdom bequest;
Answers given to aid my quest.
Quiet your mind, and receive guidance. It may arrive immediately or over several days. Thank your ancestors,
and offer the apple to them.
 
By: Karen Follett

Snow Moon Ritual Oil

Snow Moon Ritual Oil

 
Draw the power and passion of the Goddess to you with this ritual oil.
 
You will need nine tablespoons of grape seed oil, six drops of sandalwood-scented oil, two drops of lavender essential oil and twelve drops of vanilla extract.

Pour the oils and extract into a bottle with a sealed top. Shake the oil while saying:
 
Goddess of love bless this sensuous oil
Please fill it with your divine power and passion.
 
Warm the oil up slightly before using it to massage your beloved. Enjoy the aroma as you kneed the oil into your lover’s skin. After you rub your beloved, then have him or her massage you with your snow moon ritual oil.

Divining Love (Snow Moon)

Divining Love

(Snow Moon)
 
This spell utilizes the ancient art of dowsing to answer your questions regarding love.
 
You will need two seventeen-inch lengths of wire and two five-inch hollow tubes. Copper wire works best with copper tubing as the holders. If nothing else, you can use metal coat hangers and straws.

Bend the wires into “L” shapes, with the long arm being twelve inches and the short arm five inches. The holders go around the short end. The wire should move freely around in the holder.

Hold the wire rods in each hand, outward from your waist, and take a deep breath in and out and say:

May the Goddess bless these divining rods as a true and clear oracle.
 
Now think of a question regarding love and state it aloud three times. The rods should start parallel to one another. As you ask your question, watch what the rods do. If they open up, it’s a positive answer to your question. If they cross one another, it’s a negative response to your question.

The Witches Guidelines of Life

The Witches Guidelines of Life

 
The Witches credo acknowledges the right of all people to practice their own path of spirituality. As long as that path does not bring harm or injury to any living being. The term rede is derived from the Old English term roedan “to guide or direct”. But don’t confused the witches credo with the Wiccan Rede & Credo. The Witches Credo provides the same guidelines, but it’s purpose is broader for many varying traditions of magik, including the solitary practioner.
Historians debate the origins of the Wiccan Rede, which is simply:
“Eight words the Wiccan Rede fulfill, An’ it harm none, do what ye will”
An’ is old English for And.
In general it is believed the Rede originated during the mid-to-late 18th century. The Credo, which is very similar to the witches credo, holds it’s origins in modern times of the 1910’s during the mystical revivals of the Gilded Age and into the 1940’s and 50’s. The reasoning behind the credos, according to spiritual scholars, was to add acceptance of modern witchcraft for the general public.
However, a broader study of both the Wiccan Credo and the Witches Credo may lead a researcher back to ancient myths, legends and pagan traditions of the 7th and 8th centuries. Even in it’s varying forms, the practice of witchcraft and it’s underlying spiritual beliefs have been utilized all over the world for thousands of years. All of which can be seen and often documented through the study and research of mythology. Within each mythical legend of Celtic, Greek or even Asian origin, resides a structure of do’s and don’ts for the magikal practioners of the day. Within each of these structures, are the references to free will, karma and choice; the laws of magikal practices so to speak. The modern Credo’s adhered to today, regardless of their original dates of creation, reside in the frame work of these ancient structures.
Many spiritualists today have a deep respect for the sanctity of free will within all living creatures. This is especially true for the modern neo-pagan. To use one’s spiritual talents and gifts to interfere in that free will is unethical and violates the essence of living in balance and harmony with the universe. To violate that balance would bring a karmic boomerang of negative energies and events back to the sender.
The Witches Credo is therefore a guideline of direction, not only for one’s spiritual practices in magik, but in all aspects of life. The credo is first instilled into a pagan’s life during their ‘Coming Of Age’ ceremony. Many traditions believe in making a rededication of faith with the Credo during the Witches new year celebration of Samhain as a means of reconfirming their spiritual belief and practices.

Choosing Your Cauldron

Choosing Your Cauldron

A cast-iron cauldron is by far the best if you intend to use it for any fire work. These are for sale in some garden centers as well as New Age stores. You can sometimes discover an authentic cauldron in an antique shop or in street or flea markets, especially in the countryside. It may be an original iron cooking pot. You can clean it up with a gentle wire brushing and a little grate polish. Alternatively, adapt a round coal scuttle.

Dark Goddesses, Not So Dark: Understanding Hecate

Dark Goddesses, Not So Dark: Understanding Hecate

Author: Hecates Moon0013

There are many Goddesses who are considered “Dark Gods/Goddesses and who tend to be misunderstood or seen as “evil.” A few examples are Hecate, the Morrigan, Anubis, Poseidon and quite a few more, I’d wager as well. In my case, the “Dark Goddess” is my Patroness, Hecate. She has indeed a long history, and has been known in Her many different aspects, such as the three-faced crone, Goddess of Magic, Queen of the Night, Goddess of the Crossroads, and more. One culture supposedly offered dogs as a sacrifice to her out of honor and respect. (Although I personally don’t find that necessary to ever do myself!) In others, they offered feasts and left offerings at the crossroads.

The goddess Hecate is indeed widely known as a Dark Goddess and is associated with the darkness… But what exactly makes many people consider darkness as ‘evil’? Honestly, I see Her more as a mother figure. She looks after those who work with her.

Is She associated with the dark? Answer: Yes! However, She is not the darkness, but rather the light that guides people through the darkness. She watches over us all, and, in fact, helps nurture us. She is also not afraid to act. She, Hecate, Protects those that follow her like any other Goddess. Furthermore if you ask for her help, she will help and then ask simply “What’s next?” She finds ways to help Her adherents to grow both inside and out.

At this point, I would like to clear up a few misconceptions. First of all She, Hecate, is often portrayed as a Goddess Who is not fond of males, but favors female. This however is not true. As I know from personal experience, She will work with both.

Also it is thought that She is against love and marriage. However there is documentation that is not the case. She actually is all right with marriage, though She is strict on how it happens. She will not condone any form of sexual contact unless it is mutually acceptable between the two partners. She considers marriage and dating as normal things; marriage and childbirth, she considers “sacred things.”

One of the symbols that represent Her, in my opinion, is the Torch. Hecate, as I have said before, leads us through the hard times… through our anguish, through our grief, and She is there to comfort us, to warm us, and to guide us with Her light. Hecate herself is ‘The Torch’. She is the light within the eternal Darkness. One thing for sure, Hecate has seen me through many dark times, and has also helped me to learn more about myself… by helping me through those rough times she has shown me that, though sometimes life in itself can be scary, if we acknowledge it and learn to embrace ourselves for what might come, and learn to look through it, we will find ourselves at last in peace. We are able to walk through the fires, so to speak, of life and still be standing tall as we overcome the negative situations that we face.

When my first struggle with faith happened, Hecate was there. When I grieved over the loss of good friends and family, Hecate was there… When I felt lost, alone, and questioned Wicca, and religion itself, She was there. Hecate, at all of my crossroads, has brought people to help me in my time of need, and I have been brought in turn to help others in their times of need. If anything, Hecate has taught me that everyone is afraid, but we have to move on. Hecate also has taught me time and time again, that when you act with compassion, things in general are better for everyone.

I once struggled with Wicca. I had gotten myself to the point where I felt abandoned, and that I would never be able to feel energy or work with the Craft again. It was so bad, I questioned my sanity, wondering, is this even real?” Am I not supposed to be a part of this religion? Have the Gods and Goddesses abandoned me in my time of need? Why else could this possibly be happening? I prayed to Hecate to please watch over me and to help me overcome.

I eventually came across a group of people who helped me with my problem. I was looking for a group to work with and learn from in hopes I could find some clarity. I ended up finding a group, and though things did not work out for me with the group, I made some amazing friends. The people in it taught me a lot about myself, and other things as well. To this day, my ability to feel energy is not the same as it used to be, nor is my level of energy, but it is better. Not only that, but I have gained more confidence in myself.

I owe Hecate a lot. As odd as it might sound to some of you, I feel, to an extent, that I owe Hecate my life. She also taught me a valuable lesson: just because people are helpful does not mean that mistakes are not made. I learned to expect both good and bad from people and that we are all capable of both. No matter how good we are, or how bad we are, we are still capable of both. Because of this insight, I tend to look for the good in a negative situation. For there is always something, good and/or positive that can come out of any situation. The real trick is to find it in things and in people.

Now, most people are wondering, “Aren’t Dark Goddesses vengeful?” I feel the best answer for this is: What God or Goddess can’t be vengeful? In truth, they all can be. Hecate is literally a Mother Goddess. She is the ‘Okay. Done. What’s next?’ sort of Goddess. She is only vengeful to those who would harm Her charges, or rather those that She works with if someone would Harm them.

Hecate is able to give us so much knowledge, and teach us so much, that condemning Her without even getting to truly know Her I feel is a sad thing indeed. Furthermore, she teaches us that if we learn to accept the bad things in life, we become better… for Hecate carries the key to unlock that which we keep hidden. and once we discover ourselves, and accept things as they really are, we feel relieved. She helps us not only to see, but helps us to understand things in the ‘rawness of it all’.

I write this near the time of Samhain. For me, this holiday represents Hecate very well as she is also associated with the dead. One of my favorite characteristics of Hecate is that She teaches us to respect those who have come before us. As a Goddess of the crossroads, She makes the holiday even more meaningful. Samhain is the time when we are supposed to remember those who have helped pave our way. As the Goddess of the crossroads, Hecate compels us to reflect not only over what we have done or should have done, but also to remember that while we have gone through so much, it could have been worse. We are more blessed than we realize.

Hecate is more than just a simple Goddess. Hecate is my Mother, who protects me and nurtures me as I go through life. Hecate is my Patroness whom I am grateful to. I know that She is always there willing to help me, if ever I ask. Hecate is so misunderstood that, honestly, it saddens me a bit. If anything working with Hecate has truly been a blessing. I don’t think I would have been able to do, let alone get through, a lot of the things I have if not for her help, and for that I will always be eternally grateful.

Knowing that, as the sun sets, She is all around me at night is a comfort in so many ways. At night time, She is all around me, protecting me, and watching over me…and I know that when I am at the next crossroad, at some future turning point in my life, She will be there waiting for me, always more than willing to help me through the next hurdle. And so, I will continue to worship and work with Her, for She is not ‘the darkness that is evil’, but is, in fact, a guiding Light and a help for those who feel lost. And if you call to Her, Hecate will be there to help guide you through the rough times as well.

May Hecate bless you, and watch over you always!
Blessed Be!


Footnotes:
Understanding the Warrior Goddess by the author: Stephanie Woodfield

TO HELP DISPEL NEGATIVE ENERGIES AROUND YOU

TO HELP DISPEL NEGATIVE ENERGIES AROUND YOU

Take a small clear crystal, an acorn, some rosemary and mandrake and a bit of green silk
or cotton. It doesn’t need to be a big piece. Cast your circle and creating a pouch from
the herbs, bless them with each element saying:
“While this dwells within,
there will be protection without.
Cleanse and charge this charm,
element of against all who wish me ill!”
Now hang this somewhere not too obviously, like hiding it in a corner or over a window.
This will protect you ’til next Samhain when you should burn it in the sacred fire, crystal and all.
If it is not too tainted, the fire will just cleanse the crystal and you’ll be able to retrieve it
from the ashes but I always recommend just getting a new one.

Dragon’s Blood

Dragon’s Blood

Several tales tell of the magickal uses of a dragon’s organs and blood. In European lore, the blood was said to make a person invulnerable to stab wounds if they bathed in it, able to understand the speech of birds and animals if they drank it. One of Bothvar’s companions, in the Danish Hrolf’s Saga, ate a dragon’s heart and became extremely brave and strong. Eating the tongue gave eloquence and the ability to win any argument. The liver cured certain diseases, as did various other parts.

Medieval medicine and magick mention the use of dragon’s blood many times. Since dragons are not going to willingly give up their blood, magicians had to turn to other sources. There were said to be several sources of this material, other than from an actual dragon. The “bloodstone” hematite, an ore rich in iron, and the mineral cinnabar, a compound of mercury, were both called forms of dragon’s blood. However, the most widely used “dragon’s blood” was a gum resin. It was said that trees which originally grew from actual spilled dragon’s blood produced a reddish-brown sap of great magickal value. This species of tree is still called Dracaena draco by botanists. Incisions were made in the bark and sap collected as it congealed into resin. Most of these trees are found in the East Indies, souther Arabia, and the Canary Islands. Dragon’s blood resin is still known and used in magickal procedures today.

“Dancing with Dragons”

D. J. Conway

What Should I Put In My Book of Shadows?

What Should I Put In My Book of Shadows?

Author: Bronwen Forbes

The most common question I’ve seen on various online forums and been asked by my own students is, “What should I put on my altar?” The second most common question is “What should I put in my Book of Shadows?” For some reason, the Book of Shadows – like an altar – is something that most Pagans are scared spitless about “messing up.” They will go out and buy a lovely bound blank journal from their local mega chain bookstore or a leather-bound notebook with a pentacle carved on the front, and do absolutely nothing with it for years.

I freely admit that I am guilty of this; I have *both* a bound blank journal from my local mega chain bookstore *and* a leather-bound notebook (black leather, no less) with Celtic knotwork carved on the front and they are both, well, basically blank. My excuse is that my handwriting is lousy and I don’t want to “mess them up.”

The first step toward the fulfillment (literally and figuratively) of a Book of Shadows is to determine exactly what a Book is and what it does. A Book of Shadows is part poetry collection, part journal, part dictionary and encyclopedia, part recipe book and part ritual construction guide (I’ll go over these in a minute) . Depending on your own interests and practice, some of these parts may be bigger than others in your own Book. What a Book of Shadows *does* is keep all of this information in safe, easily referenced place.

Does it actually have to be in book form? Nope! My journal and leather notebook are blank, but I have a four-drawer file cabinet stuffed (and I do mean stuffed. Trust me, I recently moved it halfway across the country) with printouts and photocopies of articles I’ve found useful to my practice and my writing in the past or that may be useful in the future; copies of poems I think might be nice to read in ritual someday; notes on how to teach a basic Tarot class; handouts from workshops I’ve taken on Norse spaeworking, knot/string magic, and drumming; and scripts from old rituals I’ve led or attended, just to name a bit of it.

I guess you could say I have a File Cabinet of Shadows. It may not be pretty, or open to the exact file I need just by asking like the Hallowell sisters’ Book did on Charmed, but it’s mostly organized and I can find what I need in it pretty quickly. Also, as a recent flash drive accident reminded me, I can access the material in my file cabinet for years without worrying about hardware or software malfunction, unlike folks who prefer a Disk of Shadows or something similar. Also, barring an unlikely full-house-immersion flood, the material in my File Cabinet of Shadows will be around for a long, long time.

So let’s talk about the specific stuff you can put in your own Book. As you read more and practice more, you’re likely to run across bits of poetry that you think would be great to use in ritual. You might even be inspired to write some poems of your own. Your Book is the perfect place to store them.

If you do a lot of tarot or rune readings for yourself or others, or if you incorporate specific cards in your rituals, you can – and probably should – record your reading in your Book of Shadows. That way you can go back and look at it weeks or months later and see how accurate your predictions were. If you work with your dreams (interpretation, etc.) , your Books is a good place to record those, too.

There is so much material to absorb when you first start on the Pagan path. When is Samhain, and how do I pronounce it? What’s an athame for, and how do I spell it? When do I use a boline? What’s a thurbile?

You can make notes in your Book so you can look stuff up again later – much like you took/take notes in class. Writing this information down also helps you keep it all straight in your mind.

If you take a Paganism/Witchcraft 101 class and the teacher gives you handouts, either get a three-ring Binder of Shadows (not a bad idea, actually) and stick them in there or find some way to get the information from those handouts into your smaller Book.

If you like to blend your own essential oils or incense, or are an herbalist, your Book of Shadows is the perfect place to write down recipes you like and also make note of recipes or blends that didn’t work as well as you’d hoped.

You can also write down basic spellworkings as recipes, “Do this, then say that, then light the yellow candle, then do this…” Next time you need to do that particular working, the “ingredients” are all right there.

You can also write down the basics of how you’ve celebrated each sabbat/esbat. That way, when the holiday comes up again next year, you’ve got a record of what you did, what worked and what didn’t (you can write that down, too) , and you don’t have to reinvent the ritual from scratch. Also, if in January, say, you have a great idea for something to do next Samhain, you can write it down in your Book so a) you know where it is and b) you don’t forget it.

In short, a Book of Shadows is as individual as the person who makes it, and that’s okay. Let me repeat that: it’s okay to make your Book of Shadows uniquely *yours*. I have my File Cabinet. My husband, who learns best from watching other peoples’ mistakes, says that his Book (if he were to have one) would be page after page of “Don’t do” and “Never try.” Neither of us is particularly artistic (I’m even completely incompetent at scrapbooking) , but if you are, don’t be afraid to add artwork to your Book.

If you are an accomplished scrapbooker, use those skills to make your book even more personal. If you’ve traveled to a place that has particular spiritual significance for you, put some of the pictures you took or postcards you bought in your Book.

Couldn’t you just download one of the Books of Shadows on the Internet? You could – but I don’t recommend it. And that’s a subject for a completely different Witchvox article for another day.

In the meantime, my File Cabinet of Shadows needs dusting!