Remembering and Reconnecting

Remembering and Reconnecting

Author: RuneWolf

I do consider my religion – Wicca – and my particular practice of it, to be Earth-based. Such a statement might seem absurdly obvious on the surface, but it is, I think, important to state it in this fashion. Wicca has within it elements of Ceremonial Magic, and it has been my personal experience that it is quite possible to become obsessed with and lost in the liturgical and ritual forms, to the extent that what one ends up practicing has, in fact, more in common with CM than with Wicca.

Now, don’t misunderstand me: We need ritualists and liturgists who can preserve the outer forms of our religion, and re-invent them as time goes by, so that we neither lose our traditional roots nor become mired in them. The creation, preservation and cultivation of ritual and liturgy are important, but I’m not talking about that here. I am talking about an unhealthy balance where an individual or group over-focuses on those outer forms, often to the detriment of the inner energies. So it is important, I think, that we remind ourselves, individually and collectively, that our religion IS Earth-based, and that, in my personal tradition at least, re-connecting with the Earth and Her cycles is one of the central concepts and objectives.

But then, what is this whole “re-connect with the Earth” thing, anyway? Sounds like a bunch of neo-Hippie, tree-hugging, New Age bushwa, doesn’t it?

Oh, contraire…

Western thought seems to enjoy lampooning and belittling whatever it doesn’t like or cannot understand, as if by satirizing something, it is made harmless and non-threatening. (This, oddly enough, is a very Celtic concept. Bards of Old Eire were feared for their power to debilitate a powerful leader by the use of satire.) Culturally, we will even go so far as to transform an inherently neutral or positive label – New Age, for instance – into a synonym for something wacky and outlandish. So those outsiders – or insiders, for that matter – who roll their eyes when they say or hear “re-connect with the Earth” obviously haven’t bothered to fully consider what that means.

We aren’t talking about sticking our feet into the ground and putting out roots. What we are talking about is simply becoming fully aware of – and experiencing as fully as possible – our relationship to the biosphere. For the most part, citizens of modern technological nations have fallen out of that awareness and experience. Some would argue that, without this awareness and experience, we as a species are doomed, because nothing short of these will prevent us from terminally fouling our nest. In more immediate and individual terms, however, I believe that a fuller awareness and experience of our relationship to the biosphere and, by extension, the Universe itself, is mandatory for true physical, mental and spiritual health. This is, as I understand it, the primary thrust of Taoist philosophy and religion, and is certainly a primary objective in my practice of Wicca.

Wicca, as I have said, is my religion. My spirituality, however, is Witchcraft. Some would not agree with this dichotomization, but then, as mother used to say, that’s why they make vanilla and chocolate. I make the distinction because I define those terms differently. Wicca is my religion – it is something I joined, a community that has a unique identity, and to be part of that community I am obliged, to a greater or lesser degree, to conform to the community template. I, personally, believe that there are certain things that I must agree to, that I must practice, that I must believe and that I must espouse, in order to be Wiccan. While there is certainly a great deal of individual latitude, I nonetheless believe that were I to deviate too far from the “community template” of Wicca, I would no longer be practicing Wicca. In the practice of certain martial arts, students are given a great deal of latitude to improvise and personalize the art. However, at a certain point, if that improvisation and personalization goes too far, that individual is no longer practicing that particular art, but something unique unto themselves that they have created there from. This is not a judgment on the art itself nor on what the individual has created from it; it is simply a statement of fact.

So it is, I believe, with the practice of Wicca, or any religion, for that matter. (But then, these are only my beliefs, and have no power beyond the tip of my nose.)

Witchcraft, on the other hand, I define as that body of techniques that enables the practitioner (Witch) to live in harmony with the rhythms of Life. “Life” here may be seen as synonymous with All That Is: an individual’s life-path, the greater community of Humankind, the biosphere and the Universe – in short, Everything. And those rhythms include the “bad” as well as the “good.” By this definition, Wicca is just another “technique” in my practice of Witchcraft, something which helps me to attune to the rhythms of Life. And this is, for me, as it should be: religion should always be the servant of spirituality. When that formula is inverted, we are left with dictatorial religious institutions.

When one truly seeks a deeper, fuller understanding of our connection to and place in the Universe, one cannot help but develop, I believe, a concern for the welfare of the “natural” world, i.e. the biosphere. Even if one were a staunch “scientific Pagan,” I don’t believe one could overlook the necessity of preserving an uncontaminated environment in order to ensure the survival of Humankind. And if one looks beyond mere survival, then we must recognize the necessity of preserving the beauty of unsullied nature as an adjunct to the mental, emotional and spiritual health of humanity.

Those of us who believe this face grave obstacles today. We are now ruled by an administration that is obviously bent on furthering the cause of “Big Business” – which has always been the destructive exploitation of the Earth for profit – at the expense of the environment. More and more, corporations are freed of the restrictions imposed on them by former, relatively saner, regimes. More and more, they are free to “rape and pillage” as they see fit, regardless of the destruction they cause. Nor can we simply blame “Western thought” for these travesties, as the policies of China in modern Tibet relieve the West of sole responsibility in the rape of the planet and the destruction of her children.

At times, it seems overwhelming, and it may well be an effort doomed to failure, although such failure will certainly doom humanity to eventual extinction. But we must try, each in her or his own way. I myself am not much of a “joiner,” and taking care of what little land is “mine” takes up most of my time. So you won’t see me at many demonstrations or protests. But what I lack in “discretionary time” I make up for in “disposable income,” and I can and do support the environmental cause with my monetary contributions. In the end, only money can defeat Big Money, so I don’t feel that this is merely a token gesture to assuage my conscience. And I do take an active, if geographically limited, part: there is a nature trail in the community near my home, which I avail myself of at every opportunity. As one might imagine, this trail is subject to all kinds of littering, not only from walkers but from nearby homeowners. When I walk, I always carry a trash bag, and I clean up what I can. When someone creates a mess too big for me, I make sure the community association knows about it, as there are strict rules regarding such abuse. I don’t know that my actions have ever led to the censure or fining of a guilty homeowner, but it hasn’t been for lack of trying.

Tattle tale? Snitch? Ratfink? You’re damn right.

And then there are the “little” things that all of us can do: proper soil management on our property; avoiding fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides; using “low impact” products; driving fuel-efficient autos; using mass transit when possible; recycling. It is gratifying to see that, in our neighborhood at least, we have a very high percentage of participation in the recycling effort. But then, these things should be “no brainers” for everyone, Pagan or not, in my opinion.

Perhaps the biggest difference between me and my neighbors is that, when I recycle or pick up litter, I see it as a sacrament, an acknowledgment that I AM RESPONSIBLE; not for the whole shebang, but for what I, as an individual, can do. I’ve always subscribed to the belief that “a little bit of something is better than a whole lot of nothing.” On any given day, I can’t solve all of the world’s environmental problems. But I can do something, even if it’s only picking up one piece of litter. No action occurs in a vacuum; every action has consequences, and resonates along the Web of Wyrd.

Despite the odds, none of us are totally powerless; we can always do something. And sometimes, in the wee dark hours of the morning, that’s all we have to hold onto.

Another year til another Samhain…

Gothic Comments

It is the time of burning leaves,
The crispness of the air has awakened
Memories both dark and hidden,

Memories of past feasts partaken.

I sit comfortly in this silent room
Computer keyboard beneath my fingers
Yet…my mind is never frozen here

In times past it wants to linger.

I ‘see’ a bonfire raging on a hilltop
With my people all gathered around
Our prayers to the Gods I shout,

Yet, in my dreams I hear not a sound.

The drums beat, the people dance

Wildness fills the autumn night.

The Other Side is so very close–

The Veil just beyond the fire light.

I reach, I feel, I almost touch…
Spirit fingers entwine with mortal
Then dawn’s first light appears

And seals again the fragile portal.

I turn away from the cold ashes

Let the wildness leave my aching soul.

Another year til another Samhain…

On that night again I’ll be whole.

(poem by: Elspeth Sapphire)

Spiritual Reaffirmation for the Witches New Year

During the Witches’ New Year, or Samhain, take time to stop and evaluate your faith and beliefs. Make a sacred ritual or retreat out of this evaluation. Light white candles and burn sandalwood, myrrh, or frankincense. Brew a cup of herbal tea. Sit down and ask the God and Goddess to guide you on your path. Write down your beliefs in a journal or your Book of Shadows. Some questions you can meditate on are: What is life? How do I view the universe? Why am I here? What affirms my spirituality and what lessens it? How can I bring spirituality into my everyday life? After writing, you can create a statement of faith based on your answers to the questions. Recite what you write by candlelight for the universe to hear. Rediscover and rededicate yourself to your spirituality.

Calendar of the Sun for October 31st

Calendar of the Sun

31 Winterfyllith

SAMHAIN

Color: Black
Element: Air
Altar: The altar should be set as a table with a fine cloth and good dishes, and food for the Dead. Among the dishes places skulls, bones, a brazier, black candles, and pictures or items of the Dead.
Offerings: Give food to the Dead. Give divination to each other.
Daily Meal: Anything, so long as it is shared with the Dead.

Ritual Note: Like all the eight high holidays, this day should ideally be spent not enclosed and isolated, but in common with the larger pagan community. This can be done a number of ways, including spending the day elsewhere, at the Brigid’s Day ritual of another group or tradition, or by inviting in those pagans who would otherwise not be able to attend a ritual. Either way, the eight holidays should be a time of remembering the place of the house in the greater community. If the choice is made to go elsewhere, then no liturgy is needed for the day. If the choice is made to bring the greater community into the lesser one, the following ritual can be used.

This is the only rite on the solar calendar that is not celebrated at the hour of Sponde. Instead, Sponde is used for silent, solitary meditation. The Samhain rite is begun at Arktos, and all keep vigil overnight until Auge on the following day.

Samhain Ritual

(Four who have been chosen to do the work of the ritual come forward and cast the quarters.)

East Caller: Spirits of the East, powers of air
Winds that carry our ashes, winds that bear our cries,
Our howling on your black wings,
Today we speak for the beloved Dead,
We call to the Dead, and honor them with our voices!
Hear us!
South Caller: Spirits of the south, powers of fire
Flame of the altar and the cremation ground,
Stroke of scorched lightning,
We purify our lives as the funeral pyre,
We burn for the Dead, and honor them with our transformations!
Hear us!
West Caller: Spirits of the west, powers of water,
Still pools deep under the ground,
Drowning depths and freezing ice,
We give over our hearts to Necessity,
We drink with the Dead, and honor them with our surrender.
Hear us!
North Caller: Spirits of the north, powers of Earth,
Blackness that surrounds us, buries us,
Dust and the silence of waiting,
We see mortality etched onto our bodies,
We go into the Earth with the Dead, and honor them with our hands.
Hear us!

(One steps forward and holds high a cup of wine, saying:)

Drink, then, for the Dead!
Name them, those whom you have loved
Who have passed forth from this world
But are not forgotten.
Name them, those whom you never met
Save through words, or tales, yet still
Found a bond there to inspire,
To create courage, or brotherhood.
Name your ancestors of the blood,
Name your ancestors of the spirit.
Name your ancestors of the tribe.
Name your ancestors of the faith.
Call also to those for whom you have no names
But without whom you would not have been born.
Call to our Dead, as we do every year,
Remind them that they are not forgotten,
Remind them that they are still loved.

(The cup is passed, and each speaks of their beloved Dead. As they finish and drink from the cup, all say, “And he (or she, or they) too has a place at this table.” One follows behind the cup with a bunch of dried roses, collected and dried throughout the year from any rituals that used them, and gives each one a rose. The remainder of the roses are placed on the table. Another steps forth and holds high a crystal ball, and speaks the following as a call and response with all:)

Hail the Veil Between The Worlds!
Hail the bones in the Earth,
Hail the ashes in the fire,
Hail the fishes’ meal in the ocean,
Hail the birds’ meal on the mountaintop!
Hail the Hounds of Hel who eat the corpse!
Hail the Raven and the Vulture!
Hail the path which someday we all shall walk,
But we shall not walk alone!
Hail to our ancestors, who open the way for us!
Hail to the cold white breath of the Moon!
Hail to the drying heat of the Sun!
Hail to the ever-turning wheel of the stars!
Hail to salt of Earth and salt of tears!
Hail to the rot which feeds all new growth!
Hail to the cycle, which spins eternally!
Hail to the Dark, which is the counterpart of Light,
Hail to that Dark from which all life springs!
Hail to those who passed the Veil and returned,
Hail to those folk that we once have been,
And hail to those we will be again!
Hail to the Dead!
Hail to the Dead!
Hail to the Dead!

Chant:
Door of the ages
Veil of the years
Door of the darkness
Veil of our tears
Winds of our sorrow
Lift us in flight
Winds of tomorrow
Lift up our sight
Stones of the graveyard
Path we walk on
Stones of the labyrinth
Path of the dawn

(Each goes forth and places their dried rose in the fire of the brazier. Then one steps forward and says:)

The year is turning, and we stand at the crossroads.
Remember as you keep your vigil tonight,
That Darkness yields always to Light,
As Light yields always to Darkness,
And so shall it be, always and forever,
And so mote it be.

(All repeat “So mote it be.” Then all leave the room chanting together, and go solitary into various places to keep their vigil. The altar room is left as a feast for the Dead.)

[Pagan Book of Hours]

The Witches Magick for Samhain – Honoring the Harvest’s End

Samhain Comments & Graphics

How To Honor the Harvest’s End

A Samhain Ritual for Wiccans and Pagans

By Patti Wigington, About.com

Celebrate the final harvest with a ritual.

Samhain represents, among other things, the end of the harvest season. If you haven’t picked it by Samhain, you probably won’t be eating it! The gardens have died off by now, and where we once saw lush green plants, there is nothing left but dry and dead stalks. The perennials have shut down for the season too, going dormant so that they may return to us in the spring. Animals are brought in from the fields for the winter — and if you’ve ever had a spider come wandering into your living room one chilly October night, you know that even the insects are trying to find a place to stay warm.

Here’s How:

If we had lived a few hundreds of years ago, we would not only have brought our cows and sheep in from the pastures. Most likely we’d slaughter a few of them, as well as some pigs and goats, smoking the meat so it would last through the cold months. Our grain that we picked back at Lghnasadhu has been baked into bread, and all of our herbs have been gathered, and hang from the rafters in the kitchen. The harvest is over, and now it’s time to settle in for winter with the coziness of a warm fireplace, heavy blankets, and big pots of comfort food on the stovetop.

If you want to celebrate Samhain as the time of harvest’s end, you can do so as a single ritual, or as the first of three days of ceremony. If you don’t have a permanent altar in place, set up a table to leave in place for the three days prior to Samhain. This will act as a your family’s temporary altar for the Sabbat. Decorate the altar with symbols of late fall, such as:

Skulls, skeletons, grave rubbings, ghosts

Harvest food such as pumpkins, squash, root vegetables

Nuts and berries, dark breads

Dried leaves and acorns

A cornucopia filled with an abundance of fruit and veggies

Mulled cider, wine, or mead

To begin your ceremony, prepare a meal for the family — and this is something that everyone can get involved in. Put emphasis on fruits and vegetables, and wild game meat if available. Also make sure you have a loaf of a dark bread like rye or pumpernickel and a cup of apple cider or wine. Set the dinner table with candles and a fall centerpiece, and put all the food on the table at once. Consider the dinner table a sacred space.

Gather everyone around the table, and say:

Tonight is the first of three nights,
on which we celebrate Samhain.
It is the end of the harvest, the last days of summer,
and the cold nights wait on the other side for us.
The bounty of our labor, the abundance of the harvest,
the success of the hunt, all lies before us.
We thank the earth for all it has given us this season,
and yet we look forward to winter,

a time of sacred darkness.

Take the cup of cider or wine, and lead everyone outside. Make this a ceremonial and formal occasion. If you have a vegetable garden, great! Go there now — otherwise, just find a nice grassy spot in your yard. Each person in the family takes the cup in turn and sprinkles a little bit of cider onto the earth, saying:

Summer is gone, winter is coming.
We have planted and
we have watched the garden grow,
we have weeded,
and we have gathered the harvest.

Now it is at its end.

If you have any late-fall plants still waiting to be picked, gather them up now. Collect a bundle of dead plants and use them to make a straw man or woman. If you follow a more masculine path, he may be your King of Winter, and rule your home until spring returns. If you follow the Goddess in her many forms, make a female figure to represent the Goddess as hag or crone in winter.

Once that is done, go back inside and bring your King of Winter into your home with much pomp and circumstance. Place him on your table and prop him up with a plate of his own, and when you sit down to eat, serve him first.

Begin your meal with the breaking of the dark bread, and make sure you toss a few crumbs outside for the birds afterwards. Keep the King of Winter in a place of honor all season long — you can put him back outside in your garden on a pole to watch over next spring’s seedlings, and eventually burn him at your Beltane celebration.

When you are finished with your meal, put the leftovers out in the garden. Wrap up the evening by playing games, such as bobbing for apples or telling spooky stories before a bonfire.

What You Need

A table to use as your Samhain altar

Decorations that represent the late autumn season

A meal with lots of veggies, fruit, and bread

A cup of wine or cider

Oh, What A Glorious Samhain Morn It Is, My Brothers & Sisters of the Craft!

Samhain Comments & Graphics

THE DRUMS OF SAMHAIN

The drums of Samhain keeping time.
The gates of magic open wide.

A cauldron’s blessings overflow.

The candle flames are dying low.

The witches dance the circle ’round to chant and bring the power down.

Hecate will hear our call
to turn the summer into fall.

The magic veil is growing thin.

The Netherworld is near our own.

We’ll see the sacred fire fed
while witches commune with the dead.

The winds of Autumn call our names.

The driving rhythm slowly calms.

The glowing embers we will tend
until the drums of Samhain end.

Wishing You A Very Blessed Samhain & A Prosperous New Year,

Lady Of The Abyss & The WOTC

How Many People Can You Fit Under An Umbrella?

How Many People Can You Fit Under An Umbrella?

Author: BellaDonna Saberhagen

What is Paganism? Ask a hundred Pagans and you’ll get a hundred answers. The definitions are vast and mostly vague. Many try to describe it by saying what it is not: “Paganism is a name for the many paths that fall outside the Judeo-Christian or Islamic faiths.” By this definition Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, Shinto, and even Scientology all fall under the banner of “Pagan”. Would any of these peoples describe themselves as Pagan? Would they appreciate you lumping them with the neo-Pagan movement? Probably not.

Other definitions are somewhat more descriptive, but are again so vague that they could describe almost any path: “Paganism is earth-centered spirituality” or “we choose what we believe so anyone wanting to call themselves Pagan, may do so.” Some Pagans might not see their path as “earth-centered”, so they might feel cut off from the rest of the community for not subscribing to that definition. The second one is better for the individual Pagan, but it does nothing to actually define Paganism to the non-Pagan.

How about this one? “Paganism is an attempt to recreate the indigenous religions of Europe.” That sounds good, but what if you’re a Kemetic Pagan? Sure, there was a lot of cultural trade between Egypt and Greece, but that doesn’t make Egypt a part of Europe. Or, what if you’re Asatru and prefer to be referred to as a Heathen? Does that remove you from this definition?

The best, so far seems to be, “Paganism is an umbrella term for varying paths that attempt to recreate indigenous forms of religions. It’s an umbrella term in the same way that Christianity is an umbrella term for varying paths that follow Christ.” Sounds good, right? However, there is a major problem with it.

All who take shelter under the umbrella of Christianity, whether Catholic, Baptist, Koptic, or Snake-Handler, have one very big thing in common: Jesus Christ was born, lived and died on the cross for their sins. They might duke it out and think the other ones are wrong and “going to hell” for their wrongness, but at the end of the day, they have this unifying principle. Jesus is their umbrella.

We, as Pagans, don’t have that. We can’t agree on a definition of Pagan. We can’t even agree on the fundamental nature of “deity” (or even if there are deities or if they’re just energetic archetypes to be used for our convenience) . In our attempt to make everyone who wanted to fit under the Pagan umbrella feel comfortable, we threw away the umbrella. Paganism is really more of a “cloud” term. You might say Paganism is closer to how “Abrahamic” describes all faiths descended from Abraham (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) by definition, but we really don’t even have that much in common.

This lack of definition has led to several problems, within the community, when dealing with those outside of it and even with deepening individual spiritual connections.

We’ll look at the major issues within the community first. This largely deals with how individualized we are while still wanting to remain some sort of cohesive unit. The Witches’ Voice is a prime example. Certainly not everyone with a profile on this site is a Witch, but since Wicca (an umbrella term for varying paths unto itself, yet another reason that Paganism can’t be referred to as an umbrella term) is the most prominent form of neo-Paganism and many Wiccans also refer to themselves as Witches, it’s a place where many of differing Pagan faiths can get information and network with other local (and not-so-local) people of (some-what) like-mind. It also used to be a site that posted news articles that were relevant to the Pagan community at large (this has now been moved to its Facebook page) , and this leads to the interesting phenomenon of “Pagans in the media.” Every time there is an article that puts an individual Pagan in an unflattering light (such as a 40 year old Wiccan High Priest deciding it’s a good idea to do a private ritual skyclad with a 15 year old girl) , there’s a plethora of comments that say “He/she’s not Wiccan/Pagan because we all believe A and since he/she did B, there’s no way he/she can be a practicing Wiccan/Pagan.”

It doesn’t even have to be an unflattering article. I’ll give an example. Let’s say a large Hof of Asatru are featured in an article (most likely some fluff/local interest piece that goes Pagan-media-internet viral) about what they believe and how they practice. Now, this particular Hof is on a farm and raises organic/free-range goats that are ritually slaughtered in a humane way and then used in blots to Thor (in which the sacrifice is also eaten by the members of the Hof that they might commune better with Thor) . You are bound to get at least one person who (while supposedly an open-minded Pagan) will say something along the lines of, “Oh My Goddess! How terrible! These people are NOT Pagan! Pagans don’t DO animal sacrifice!” And when other commenters try to inform them that ancient Pagans sacrificed a lot (sometimes even having practiced human/cannibalistic sacrifices- no! not the peaceful Celts!) they either ignore archaeological evidence or give some fluff-bunny reason about why “we” don’t need to do that.

Here’s the thing: if we cannot decide on an actual definition of Paganism that is held up by the ENTIRE community, then we have no right to say that anyone else who refers to themselves as Pagan is not Pagan. We can agree that a murderer calling himself Wiccan is not Wiccan as he did not follow the rule that unifies all of Wicca: “An’ it harm none, do as ye will.” However, if he just claims to be Pagan (remember, Caligula was “pagan” too) we cannot say he is not. We can say that it’s no worse than the guy who claims God or The Devil told him to perform a heinous act and that it does not reflect the actions of the majority of adherents, but we cannot just say “He’s not Pagan!” We would need to be able to have a documented definition as to what about his behavior made him a non-Pagan. And the Rede is only applicable to Wicca, despite what some might prefer to believe. We cannot say we accept anyone while at the same time denying people based on nothing more than gut reaction.

When dealing with non-Pagans, this becomes an issue that leads some to ponder if we’re being discriminated against. Recently, The Pagan Federation has been fighting to gain charitable status (exempted from taxes) . Part of the reason they are being denied is that their religion is “too loosely defined” and the non-Pagans don’t know what they stand for and where their money will be going. Could this be discrimination? Perhaps, but given the definition of their religion, I sort of agree: “love and respect for nature, a positive morality and recognition of the divine.” This could define almost any religion. How “the divine” is envisioned (a major part in most religions) is completely left up for individual interpretation. Which is great, if you’re a practicing Pagan and don’t want to feel “left out” of the local community (as I do from the local Wiccan community, really) , but not so great when dealing with non-Pagans. If you refuse to give them even a hint about what you worship, then why should they believe you worship anything at all? Why should they believe this is a religious organization just because the founders say it is? Even Christians have their tax-evading televangelists, and their supposed beliefs were fully visible for the entire world to see.

Pagan churches have gained tax-exempt status in the past. Most notable is the Aquarian Tabernacle Church. The big difference between The Pagan Federation and the ATC is that the ATC is officially a church of Wicca, which has set rules, rituals and interpretations of “the divine” that can be pulled out and shown to non-Pagans and allows them to say, “This is what we believe, this is what we practice.” Now, the ATC does cater to the broader community and many non-Wiccan Pagans attend services there, however, since their basis is a specific Wiccan tradition, they have the definition that lets the general public feel better about their tax-exempt status (I’m not saying everyone likes it, but at least it “feels” more like a religion to them) . This is the model that I think the Pagan Federation (and others fighting for tax exemption) should try to adopt. Narrow the official focus but add something about catering to other alternative religions that have nowhere else to worship to the by-laws. The organization will seem more legitimate in the public eye and it will still be a place where Pagans of varying faiths can attend to their spiritual needs.

There is also the problem with dealing with the non-Pagan public on slightly more individualized scales. I once went to a meeting of ghost investigators that were having an informational lesson on dealing with Pagans. Our friend, also a Pagan, was part of the group and was very keen for us to meet the “expert” (he was a member of a local coven she was thinking about getting involved with and since has) . The problem was, she invited two very experienced, well read and opinionated Pagans (Barnabus Saberhagen and myself-and if you are shocked that I am opinionated…what have you been reading?) to a talk hosted by an expert that had only been practicing for six years (to put this into perspective, Barnabus and I had easily twice that experience under each of our belts, quite possibly more) and while I have met some who’ve only practiced that long but have managed to learn much and go through all three degrees of Wiccan initiation (within that same Tradition, I might add) , he had only managed to finish first degree (now, I don’t know if he decided he was a Witch/Pagan and didn’t find the coven for a few years but considering his opinion of reading books on Paganism-which I’ll get into later- it doesn’t seem likely) .

The point of this talk was to educate the ghost hunters on not being freaked out by Pagans should they ever investigate a haunting at a Pagan’s house. Most of the ghost hunters were some form of Christian and we all know that some of the tools commonly used have seeped into the Satanic Panic media. This was a fine idea…and then the guy opened his mouth. I’m not sure if his research skills are sub-par or if his teacher gave him incorrect information, but almost everything he said was quite frankly wrong, especially when trying to be as generic as possible. So Barnabus and I began to give counter points and examples from our seats. I suppose I could have left his holiday muddling alone (he claimed Ostara was the feast of Brigid) , it did no real harm (other than grate on my nerves) . However, he also claimed that Aleister Crowley wrote the Satanic Bible.

When I said that was Anton LaVey, the crowd of the uninformed asked that Barnabus and I refrain from commenting anymore because they found it confusing. The problem is, now these normal people are going to get freaked out by every tome written by Crowley because they will automatically associate him with Satanism (and even LaVey’s Satanism isn’t the Christian perversion you imagine when saying Satanism) . Many, many magical folk love Crowley; so this could be potentially damaging if and when they actually investigate a Pagan home. At the end of the discussion, the guy (and some of the crowd) performed a John Edwards style “read” (which I am always leery of, no matter who performs them) and was then approached by someone who wanted to learn more about Paganism. He told her NOT TO READ BOOKS, and to attend open circles to see what it’s about.

I don’t know about you, but the open circles I have been to have not been the deep rituals I sought. They were nice and beautiful in their own right, but sometimes depth of meaning and power is sacrificed in an attempt to be open to all. Also, books. BOOKS. Read them. They are important. His tradition was even started by a prolific Pagan author, so that he did not even recommend her works (as unrecommended by the over-all Pagan community as they might be) was a bit of a surprise.

The point is when the crowd asked us not to comment anymore because they were getting confused. They were getting information from two distinct Pagan traditions that had almost nothing in common aside from being called Paganism. I suppose the best thing to do in these situations is to explain that you only know things as your tradition sees them, so you can only comment on that. We step on each other’s toes quite a bit by trying to be all-encompassing in our rhetoric about our paths. We can’t speak for all Pagans and we need to make that clear.

Now we get to the individual. How is lacking a definition of Paganism hurting the individual Pagan? Well, I think it causes “101 Pagans” that don’t move on beyond it. The Pagan 101 books sell like hot-cakes. In fact, that’s the biggest seller and the most easily obtained form of works on Paganism. They try to be as generic as possible, often reading like Pagan Plug-and-Play or (at their very worst) Pagan Mad-Libs. This leads to new-comers thinking that that’s all they need to know and never seeking anything deeper. They think they can substitute Freya for Aphrodite just because they happen to like amber more than seashells. Or worse, their gods are faceless and unknowable, often either distant or immanent “mother/father energies” and often both at the same time. They have no cultural context for their deities and don’t feel they need to look any further because they can just call themselves Pagan.

Here’s the thing, to move beyond 101, you have to specialize. You have to specialize in technique and you have to specialize into a cultural framework. Without that, you lack the roots that connect you to the ancestors and what they practiced and if Paganism really is an attempt to “reconstruct various indigenous faiths” then you can’t move on without that connection.

But what if Paganism isn’t an attempted reconstruction of indigenous faiths? Well, then, what is it? Without a definition, it’s not an umbrella term, and is barely even a cloud term, really. It’s pretty much meaningless. You have to add another descriptor word to even give people a vague idea what you’re talking about and if you refuse to even narrow your focus that much because “you’re not about labels” then don’t expect to be asked deep questions about your path, because many will assume that it’s not deep and meaningful to you. I use at least three words to describe my unique path (sometimes more, sometimes less, depending on with whom I speak) and that is without stating the name of any specific Tradition. The real lesson here is to read books, specialize, and don’t claim to speak for all Pagans, because you just can’t.

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Footnotes:
http://www.thirdsector.co.uk/news/1163381/

http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20121201/NEWS01/712019950#.ULoImKgxv7I.facebook

http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/Article.aspx/3018295

One Voice United

One Voice United

Author: Lady Fenix

Wiccan, Pagan, Heathen, Celtic, Shaman, Druid, Witch, etc. The list can go on and on to include different paths within each chosen label. The thing that gives me concern is that we in the community spend so much time defining ourselves that we forget that we are one.

Our goals are the same and each one of us has the same feelings inside us. The reason our path lacks so much understanding from the public is that everyone gives a different explanation as to what the craft is. We (meaning everyone in every path) need to come together and stand as one voice united and proclaim a set of guidelines that thoroughly define the Wiccan faith. (I use the word Wiccan here to encompass all.) Regardless of what path you practice within the religion, we all strictly adhere to the Rede or some form of a code of Ethics.

It is a sad time when our troops cannot get the respect they so richly deserve when it comes to the headstone symbol in a national cemetery. It is also sad that when going to a job interview, a Wiccan removes a ring or necklace that has anything to do with their religion out of fear of not getting the job offer. It is emotionally draining that they have to choke back the desire to speak out against the stereotypes of a witch that are hanging all around their child’s schools during one of our biggest holidays.

We all look back at the persecution of our ancestors and even of people who were not practicing the craft and our hearts ache. Yet we sometimes fail to see the persecution that is still going on all around us today. Why is that we must hide in broom closets when other religious group are not having to hide who they are?

Wiccans are not a threat to society and that is obvious to anyone who has examined Wiccans and Wicca. Yet far too many do not bother to look deeper at the slanderous accusations and merely believe them to be true. The hand fasting I had always wanted never happened due to fear of us casting circles and performing the “forbidden witchcraft” in front of a family that was Christian.

In one man’s words and the best way I have ever heard it put, “Christians have oppressed Jews, Moslems, Buddhists, Pagans, and each other throughout their centuries of power, preaching religious intolerance as the word of Jehovah whenever they had the military, political, or economic power to make it stick — and then piously preaching brotherhood, peace, and toleration when they didn’t.” (Isaac Bonewits)

That being said, maybe it is time that we formed an inner faith council. I am not talking just on a local level. I am talking a state council and the head of that state council would sit as a member of National Council. We need lobbyist to talk to people. A council of elders that will ultimately represent our path.

I personally stood in front of a class of my peers in the middle of the Bible belt dressed in full ceremonial garb and gave a power point presentation on Wicca. Many people were relieved after I explained to them what Wicca was and even asked for sachets, soaps and such.

We need to let the public know that we are not a passing “fad religion” and that we are a religion that is here to stay. Wicca is one of the fastest growing religions in the U.S. and well, ladies and gents, like it or not, opposition to it is growing as well.

Education and a united front is the only way that our faith will be recognized as such. We need public speakers to go to businesses, colleges, and city councils to educate people about our faith. They do not need to know the inner workings of each faith just be given a broad spectrum of what it is about. Let the public know that we are healers, educators, and friends of all.

Let them know that we do not do evil things and we are not what make things go BUMP in the night. God and Goddess willing we may even be able through hard work to form an alliance with other religions that people know little about and have huge fairs where each religion gets a voice. A fair where the public will be able to openly attend and learn.

We need to allow all to participate in the faith and see that it is truly a religion of love and understanding and that there are consequences for ones actions. We hide in shadows and continually allow Hollywood to make anything that has to do with our faith into something evil. Why are we not screaming at the thought of that?

This turning a blind eye or speaking out against it at home simply will not do. As long as we allow people to portray us this way then the mass society will continue to see us this way.

This is a plea to everyone to finally lay down his or her differences within our faith.

Again to stand as One Voice United.

This is a call to the open leaders of the community, the authors, shop owners, and any other open Wiccan that has a mass audience, to come together. Stop letting our differences give the public a reason to doubt the validity of our faith. Stop allowing the horrendous stereotypes that invoke fear in those that know little or nothing of our faith to go unchallenged.

It would be great to see covens and groups nominate officials for their area and who would all come together and discuss how tomorrow will unfold for our faith. This may not change things for the Wiccans of today, but we need to build a better path for the Wiccans of tomorrow.

This is our chance to leave a legacy that our children can be proud of. A chance to change things so that they do not have to hide in a broom closet…so they can wear their religious jewelry without fear.

I beg all of you please: Lets finally have “ONE VOICE UNITED.”

Foxia Rowan Moon

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Footnotes:
Christians have oppressed Jews, Moslems, Buddhists, Pagans, and each other throughout their centuries of power, preaching religious intolerance as the word of Jehovah whenever they had the military, political, or economic power to make it stick — and then piously preaching brotherhood, peace, and toleration when they didn’t.” — Isaac Bonewits

Also a website about Wicca..
http://www.holysmoke.org/wicca/wicca_defense.html

The Witches Magick for Oct. 30th – Solitary Samhain Ritual

Solitary Samhain Ritual

Place upon the altar apples, pomegranates, pumpkins, squashes and other late autumn fruits. Autumn flowers such as marigolds and chrysanthemums are fine too. Write on a piece of paper an aspect of your life which you may wish to be free of; anger, a baneful habit, misplaced feelings, disease. The cauldron or some similar tool must be present before the altar as well, on a trivet or some other heat-proof surface (if the legs aren’t long enough). A small, flat dish marked with an eight-spoked wheel symbol should also be there. [This is just what it sounds like. On a flat plate or dish, paint a large circle. Put a dot in the center of this circle and paint eight spokes radiating out from the dot to the larger circle. Thus, you have a wheel symbol – a symbol of the Sabbats, a symbol of timelessness.]

Prior to ritual, sit quietly and think of friends and loved ones who have passed away. Do not despair. Know that they have gone on to greater things. Keep firmly in mind that the physical isn’t the absolute reality, and souls never die.

Arrange the altar, light the candles and censer, and cast the Circle of Stones. Recite the Blessing Chant. Invoke the Goddess and God.

Lift one of the pomegranates and, with your freshly-washed Boline, pierce the skin of the fruit. Remove several seeds and place them on the wheel-marked dish. Raise your wand, face the altar and say:

On this night of Samhain I mark Your passing,

O Sun King, through the sunset into the Land of the Young.

I mark also the passing of all who have gone before,

and all who will go after.

O Gracious Goddess, Eternal Mother,

You who gives birth to the fallen,

teach me to know that in the time of

the greatest darkness there is the greatest light.

Taste the pomegranate seeds; burst them with your teeth and savour their sharp, bittersweet flavour. Look down at the eight-spoked symbol on the plate; the Wheel of the Year, the Cycle of the Seasons, the End and Beginning of all Creation.

Light a fire within the cauldron (a candle is fine). Sit before it, holding the piece of paper, gazing at its flames. Say:

Wise One of the Waning Moon,

Goddess of the Starry Night,

I create this fire within

Your cauldron to transform

that which is plaguing me.

May the energies be reversed:

From the darkness, light!

From bane, good!

From death, birth!

Light the paper in the cauldron’s flames and drop it inside. As it burns, know that your ill diminishes, lessens and finally leaves you as it is consumed within the universal fires. [The cauldron, seen as the Goddess.]

If you wish, you may attempt scrying or some other form of divination, for this is a perfect time to look into the past or future. Try to recall past lives too, if you will. But leave the dead in peace. Honor them with your memories but do not call them to you. [Many Pagans do attempt to communicate with their deceased ancestors and friends at this time, but it seems to me that if we accept the doctrine of reincarnation, this is a rather strange practice. Perhaps the personalities that we knew still exist, but if the soul is currently incarnate in another body, communication would be difficult, to say the least. Thus, it seems best to remember them with peace and love – but do not call them up.]

Release any pain and sense of loss you may feel into the cauldron’s flames. Works of magick, if necessary, may follow. Celebrate the Simple Feast. The circle is released.

A Wonderful, Blessed Tuesday Morn’ to all our family & friends!

Good morning dear family & friends! I hope you are having a very beautiful Tuesday morn. As you are hurrying around to get ready for Samhain, we have a small gift for you. The gift is something that will set the mood for all your rituals. Guessed what it is yet? It is some Samhain recipes for divination, Scrying and etc. We haven’t found these on the net anywhere. So perhaps you don’t have these recipes. We hope you enjoy them.

Divination Incense for Your Samhain Rituals

Divination Incense

2 parts sandalwood

1 part orange

1 part mace

1 part cinnamon

Burn during divination rituals

Fire of Azrael Incense

1 part sandalwood

1 part cedar

1 part juniper

½ part saltpeter

Burn prior to divination and Scrying

Moonfire Incense

1 part rose

1 part orris

1 part bay

1 part juniper

1 part Dragon’s blood

½ saltpeter

Burn for divination, love and harmony

Scrying Incense

1 part mugwort

1 part wormwood

Burn a small amount prior to divination.

Witches Sight Incense

1 part of each:

Gum mastic

Juniper

Patchouli

Sandalwood

Cinnamon

Few drops Musk oil

Few drops Ambertris oil

For Tarot readings, crystal balls readings, meditating.

Samhain Ritual Potpourri

Samhain Ritual Potpourri

by Gerina Dunwich

45 drops patchouli oil

1 cup oak moss

2 cups dried apple blossoms

2 cups dried heather flowers

1 cup dried and chopped apple peel

1 cup dried pumpkin seeds

1/2 cup dried and chopped mandrake root

Mix the patchouli oil with the oak moss, and then add the remaining ingredients. Stir the potpourri well and store in a tightly covered ceramic or glass container.

(The above “Samhain Ritual Potpourri” recipe is from “The Wicca Spellbook: A Witch’s Collection of Wiccan Spells, Potions and Recipes” by Gerina Dunwich, page 164, Citadel Press, Carol Publishing Group Edition, 1995.)

“Samhain Dream”

by Myria/Brighid

It is Samhain …The Night of Shadows. The Circle is cast around the fire, And through the darkness, we glance, For the veils are thin, in this sacred night! Ancient voices around us, Whispering old and forgotten songs, While we dance the Spiral Dance, To meet Her. And there She comes, The Lady of the Gate! Power and compassion evolving us, As a dark but comforting wave. Beautiful Queen of the Dark Night! With Her mantle of raven’s feathers, And eyes deep with wisdom. Cerridwenn! She opens Her arms, in a welcoming embrace, We feel around us the flow of love, Of Her Eternal Grace. And then we hear Her voice, Melodious and grave, That speaks from inside our soul, As an echo in a cave. Blessed Daughters of My Heart, I hear your prayers from afar. And that is why I came tonight! Do not despair when the times are hard! Do not abandon the Path you found! For time has come for My return, And you, Loved Ones, shall open the way, Singing my name as the ancient bards. I am always with you, do never doubt that! I am the Old and the Young One! I am the Keeper of the Gate! I am the Master of Time! I am the Dark Goddess of Death! I am the Bright Goddess of Dawn! I am The One! I am Cerridwenn!

Samhain Approaches

I was about half asleep this morning, drinking my coffee. I was thinking about Samhain and how I looked forward to it each year. To me, it is the most beautiful time of the year.

The Veil is thinning, the energy is rising, you can feel it coursing through your veins. The magick and excitement is building in the atmosphere. For Witches, this is the most magickal time of the Year. We make plans on how we are going to celebrate. What kind of rituals we are going to do? What time should we start them? Any ancestors going to show up this year? Lots to do and little time left to do it.

I know what I am getting ready to say the Elders in the Craft already know and have heard it a thousand times. I just wanted to talk to the new ones to the Craft about what to expect or not. They come to our Religion so full of joy, eager to learn, wanting to do everything just right. Samhain is exciting for the Elders, can you imagine what it is like for the new ones? That is why I am writing this. I love each of you. I never want you to face discouragement or doubt yourself. I just want you to always be prepared. I know we all talk about our Ancestors and doing rituals to bring them back. You know it is breathtaking to have that kind of power.

I know when I did my first ritual to call my Ancestors back, I got very disappointed. No body showed up! I had been a witch for a long time but it was still a blow to the ego. I guess the reason mine don’t show up is because they stop by for a visit all the time. I went about double checking and checking again, what did I do wrong? I always thought it was me, always. Then it hit me, my ancestors might have reincarnated. It wasn’t that they didn’t love me or want to be with me. They had been reincarnated.

All those years, I felt like it was me and that does effect you. Then I realized how selfish I had been. Instead of feeling disappointed and unloved, I ought to have been rejoicing. They had all been reincarnated and they walk this plane as I do. Don’t do as I did. If, after all your preparation, none of your ancestors appear, don’t be sad. Instead rejoice and be proud for they are here with you on this plane. They were given the opportunity to live again.

Celebrate your ancestors, give them the honor and respect they deserve. But if no one appears, don’t be disappointed, you did nothing wrong. Your ancestors have been reincarnated. Now that is something to celebrate. They were given the opportunity to walk this plane with us. Thank the Goddess for giving them the opportunity to be reborn.

I don’t want to dim your hopes, I just want you to be prepared. No one ever told me and I guess the Goddess was the one who finally revealed to me what had happened. I have years when ancestors show up, then I have years when they don’t. But I go ahead and make all the preparations. I invite my ancestors home to visit with me for a while. When they do show up, that makes up for the year no one showed. The experience is indescribable. You have to experience for yourself. Make your preparations, prepare your rituals and your spells. But please learn from me, if no one shows up, rejoice for their new body and soul they have been given. Rejoice because our Goddess chose them as being worthy enough to reincarnate. Never stop trying to communicate with them, never. Always make preparations for their coming. You have nothing to lose but everything in this great Universe of our to gain.

Samhain might seem like a dark time of the year. A time when death is all around us. But it is also a time to celebrate new life.

Let’s Talk Witch – Has Moved for the Day

I have my reasons for moving the “Let’s Talk Witch” section today. It will be after the cartoon today. I am going to write it and you know how I am when I get started, lol!

If you have a moment, stick around or pop back in later and read it. It is going to deal with our Ancestors and rituals that we might be planning on doing. Should be interesting. Because I had never thought of what I am going to write about till this morning, hmm…..

When The Crone Pays A Visit, You’d Better Pay Attention

When The Crone Pays A Visit, You’d Better Pay Attention

Author: Maire Durkan

(Samhain 2012) I wake in pre-dawn hours, heart pounding. I’d placed photographs of my beloved dead on my altar, placed a welcome offering of my dad’s favorite candy and whiskey, and lit a candle. I’d asked for a dream—contact with a message—and had expected something like the warm and loving messages I received during Audience With the Ancestors, a Samhain ritual performed by my coven (Grail of the Birch Moon) and member covens of the Assemble of the Sacred Wheel in three locations. I expected a message along the lines of “follow the way of love, ” but the Wise Woman, the Crone, had visited me in the darkness of night, in the waning of the moon, bringing the chill of winter and a stern message.

I have never been a lucid dreamer. So, when I find myself in my very own bedroom confronted by a messenger dressed in black who is–shall we say–brutally frank, I’m pretty freaked out. First, the specter makes sure that I am icy cold (which certainly gets my attention) , then she dissolves the headboard of my bed and tears chunks out of the door to a very real crawl space behind it while my father (who passed in 2008) tells me to “wake up.”

This dream is not a nightmare—but its message is certainly stern. So, I wake to a room not quite as frigid as the astral room. When my heart rate dropped to normal, it was time to figure out my spiritual game plan.

As I’ve said, the crawl space is quite real and exactly where it was in the dream. There are a lot of things in that crawl space—old manuscripts, old books, old clothes, old memories good and not so good—things that I’m not quite ready to part with because they hold a part of me for good or ill.

As the space is behind the very large, very solid oak headboard of a behemoth of a bed, I can’t get at it without putting in a lot of effort. I put them there for a variety of reasons—nostalgia, the hope that they’ll be repurposed, and even (in the case of the manuscript) because I couldn’t bear to look at it but couldn’t bear to throw it away either.

Clearly, it is time for me to do some shadow work. But I don’t want to! That’s why all that stuff is packed away in an almost inaccessible physical space and in an equally inaccessible space inside of me. I have a hunch that the Goddess and my dad expect a New Year’s cleaning that involves more than sorting through the tangible junk that lurks behind that closed door.

As I do a lot when I’m working through “things, ” I take a walk in the woods and farmland around the Brandywine River Valley. Sometimes, the land and the beings that inhabit it, have lessons to teach me and sometimes the process of walking in the quiet countryside helps me find my way to an answer or at least help me pose questions that point me toward more clues.

The woods have turned towards winter. A cold breeze rattles bare limbs and dry leaves spiral down onto damp, cold earth. In the meadow, horses stand in groups, nose to nose. A maple tree felled by Hurricane Sandy lies across the path pressing down the electric wire around the fields of dun colored corn stubble. Its branches are filled with the tight knots of next year’s buds– life and potential that will never be realized in its current form–although it will be transformed and used. Nothing in nature goes to waste.

Near the last unharvested soybean fields migrating robins chirp with alarm, then fall silent as a local red tailed hawk wheels overhead. I’m like the robin, chirping, alarmed. Then, silent…listening…watching.

The woods hold death and danger –felled trees, downed leaves, and the feathers left from a kill; this is a cycle. I must embrace this–for it is my story as much as the tree’s or the bird’s. But it was also full of life. In strong roots that held firm despite Sandy’s fury. In the animals that are foraging or hibernating. In the last red clovers blooming low to the ground. In the Red Tail soaring high above crying its glorious “Keeyerr!” I whisper, “She changes everything She touches and everything She touches changes.”

It’s time for me to touch, to draw out, acknowledge, and change. Nature is filled with harsh truths that I need to apply to my spiritual habitat. I have held on to old grief and hurt too long. I lock them away, unexamined, because they are too painful to acknowledge, but too much a part of me to easily relinquish.

It’s time to ground, center, pray for compassion and take them out of the darkness. It’s time to do the hard work of removing barriers that give false comfort and open the door to that shadowed place within myself.

Shadow work is as painful and healing as the nettle plant. Sometime the sting has to come before healing can begin.

When I get home, I know what I must do. This is my first task of the new year. Mastering my fear, I must open physical and spiritual doors, reach into the darkness, and bring what I’ve stored and hidden into the light to be examined, sorted, kept or discarded.

At fifty-two, (to paraphrase the Bard) , I’m a tree approaching winter. A tree shaped and weathered by many seasonal cycles. My roots are strong, deep, and I can withstand this shadow work. But I am still a vibrant, sexual, life-embracing woman. I acknowledge shadows and darkness and will to examine the things that I have hidden with care…but I will not hide there –I will open the dark door, embrace the Crone and embrace this new and powerful cycle of my life.

The Sacredness of Halloween

The Sacredness of Halloween

Author: Tut

One of my Pagan friends has the same admonition for us each October. “Don’t try to contact me on Samhain, ” he informs, “I’ll be busy.” Of course, by “busy” he means that he’ll be deep in the midst of a self-imposed seclusion, fasting, meditating and performing solitary rites from sunup on October 31st to more or less sunup on November 1st. As a fellow Solitary Pagan, albeit of a different path, I can respect that. I also know members of an area coven that observe Samhain communally, going to the cemeteries to clean graves and make offerings or holding a silent supper before observing their Sabbat. I have to applaud them for their efforts as well. Even as an Egyptian Pagan, I consider October 31st a holy day, and I typically observe the Osiris Mysteries as close to that date as possible.

But I find one element of the sacred that still seems overlooked by both Solitaries and covens each October 31st. In our efforts as Pagans to mark the solemnity and sanctity of Samhain, we miss what probably made the day so hallowed and special for so many of us in the first place: dressing up, trick-or-treating, and celebrating all things spooky. In other words, we miss the importance of celebrating Halloween.

As a kid, I loved Halloween. Sure, Christmas was when I got presents and time off from school, but Halloween was a time when my creativity and imagination were allowed to soar. What am I going to be for Halloween? was a question I typically started asking myself around late August or early September, and by the time I was ten I was building my own costumes. Ironically, the Irish in my heritage was perhaps better celebrated through Halloween than it was through Saint Patrick’s Day. As a very young child, my mother told me the story of Jack and his Jack o’ Lantern while we carved pumpkins or colored paper decorations, and on occasion she would share ghost stories that her father had told her. The decorations we put up, combined with my own vivid imaginings of her stories, painted dark yet intriguing mental images of primeval forests stalked by fantastical creatures and lonely moonlit moors traversed by wandering souls.

Whether these images came from some collective inherited subconscious reaching back to our distant forbears in Ireland or from my own super-active brain, I will never know, but I still see them in my mind every October as I watch the sun go down and the full moon rise. Another source of inspiration are the handful of decorations and other items I inherited directly from family members: my uncle’s black light, my mother’s pack of Gypsy Witch Tarot Cards (which by this point must be at least forty years old) , my paternal grandmother’s tabletop decoration of a black cat on a tombstone (I’ve had offers from friends to buy it, but it’s not for sale) , and most especially the cassette dub my late grandfather made for me from his old record of Halloween sound effects, complete with a playlist in his own handwriting. While he was alive, my maternal grandfather instilled in me a love of technical toys, especially recording and sound equipment, which carried over into my Halloween decorations–especially the screaming doormats I became notorious for in college!

From the general Pagan perspective Samhain, of course, is a time of transition when the Corn King dies and enters the Underworld (with variations depending on tradition) . It is a time to honor the dead, and an opportunity for divination because the veil between worlds is at its thinnest. The focus is on death, aging, and mortality, much the antithesis of childhood revelry. But when I think back to those Irish forbears–and probably our Welsh ancestors as well–observing the onset of winter, huddled around a bonfire as darkness closed around them and cries of wild animals echoed through the distant hills, I think of grandparents telling their grandchildren those same stories I heard about Jack with his lantern, the Will o’ the Wisp, the Banshee, and probably more I would never hear.

I think of children wrapping themselves tighter in Grandpa’s cloak, staring with wide eyes of wonder at the curtains of shadows beyond the fire, experiencing for the first time that thrill of a good ghost story, and the eternal question, Oh, that’s not real–is it?. Imagination is a sacred gift from the Gods Themselves, the more so when it is handed down from one generation to the next. The Irish and Anglo-Saxons that travelled from their native lands to North America passed down those stories, those characters, and that love of a good fright, regardless of whether they called it Samhain or Halloween, and that lively spirit lives on in our modern holiday.

Indeed, today Halloween is considered a major “kid” holiday, driving a multi-million-dollar industry fed every year by the young and young at heart. And as we all know, Halloween has no shortage of detractors among the evangelical Christian community who denounce it as a “devil’s holiday”–forgetting, of course, that it has long been celebrated as a Catholic holiday, whence it earned the name All Hallow’s Eve. The Mexican communities who observe Dia De Los Muertes two days later are no less devout in their Catholicism. But as we Pagans strive to reclaim the Samhain heritage of October 31st, establishing its legitimacy as a sacred occasion and not a night of “devil worship”, lost in the debate and dogma is the holiday’s golden opportunity to enhance the bond between generations, something just as spiritual and important as its ritual aspect.

A coven member once told me that children are not allowed at their Samhain rituals, owing to the dark and serious tone required to participate. How, then, are the next generation of Wiccans and Pagans going to identify with Samhain, especially if their Pagan parents are spending all their time observing the Sabbat for themselves? How are kids today to understand trick-or-treating, costumes and other traditions surrounding Halloween–and its Celtic prototype? Are we going to fill their heads with ideas of October 31st as Samhain, the misunderstood holy day they’re expected to defend against ignorant schoolmates but wait until they’re older to participate in; or as Halloween and Samhain, a time of year that has something for everyone to enjoy?

For my own part, I’m already planning how I will decorate for this year’s trick-or-treaters; I had better, considering I’ve gained a neighborhood reputation for having the best candy! I take joy in observing Halloween with the neighborhood kids, regardless of their religious affiliation–besides, if their parents opposed Halloween, chances are they wouldn’t be coming to my door (unless they snuck out to do so, in which case who am I to discourage defiance…?) . By doing so, I contribute a tiny part of my own heritage, passed down through the ages, to the next generation so that it won’t one day die with me.

I will have plenty of time to observe the Osiris Mysteries in private after the trick-or-treaters have all gone to bed. But whenever the time comes that I have others observing the Osiris feast with me, I will make sure that they know ahead of time to pitch in for the trick-or-treating first. A child’s imagination is just as sacred as any service, and it should be celebrated accordingly.

A Samhain Dance

A Samhain Dance

Author: Lady Wolfwind

The wheel turns. I can feel it. The angle of the light in the morning is different, glowing lower in the sky. The air is cooler. The earth is beginning to give up her heat. The cooler air meeting the warm soil has created a low-lying fog in the meadows. Droplets hang from the long grass. It won’t last long this time of year. Slowly, the rising sun will burn it away. For now it is quiet and it is mine to share with the creatures of the earth. I watch as the squirrels scamper, grabbing nuts and noisily run back up the tree. The birds are busy foraging for their share as well. I see a beautiful red cardinal, his beak full of seeds, land on a nearby tree limb. The yard is alive with activity. Even their frenzied activity tells me that a change is upon us.

This is my favorite time of year. I have anxiously waited for the harvest season. The changing light patterns signal changes in my body. I feel as though I need to prepare for something. Maybe it is an ancestral need to put up supplies for the winter. I feel as though I can take a deep breath, as if the time for rest is near.

Later, in the evening, I return to the yard and it is alive once more. As I sit under the moon, very gradually a vision appears before me. I can see the spirits of my ancestors celebrating around the balefire and they are beckoning for me to join them. The harvest festivals have begun. I hear the drumming and the laughter. I hear the whispered conversations. I see their faces glowing in the firelight. They’re strong, determined faces of people who have know joy and sorrow, of people who have worked hard and the struggle shows in the lines of those faces. I feel their eyes gaze upon me from time to time. They feel my presence as well. They know who I am and they are happy I am here.

Tonight, I sit and I watch. I feel as if I’m an intruder, watching something I shouldn’t. At times I don’t feel it is normal, these glimpses of the past that I am granted. I don’t speak of these things to many people for fear they would think me insane, not even my family. I quietly say a blessing and thank the Goddess for the gifts of insight She has bestowed upon me. I wonder how many people think of their ancestors and all they owe to them.

I sit and contemplate as I watch the dancers celebrate, as I listen to the music quietly suspended in time, meant for my ears to hear. I silently communicate and ask them to tell me about their life as they lived it. I hear snatches quietly whispered in my ear. They tell me of living by the wheel of life. They explain how babies are born and die too soon. They tell me that some years the crops are good and others the crops they rely upon don’t fill the pantries and the cellars. They tell me how it is to be hungry.

Others whisper about good fortunes and fertile cows that they’ve sold for some gold pieces that have increased the family’s standing, about buying more land, and building bigger, better homes for their families. They talk mainly about the harvest and the dark half of the year, of the cold and the boredom and the fear of disease. There is always talk of fear of the dark.

I sit for a while longer and watch. I promise them that I will return on Samhain. I will be ready and we (my children and I) will participate. I’ve always favored Samhain, even before I knew it by its real name or true reason of existence. We will be prepared.

In our home Samhain is a truly special time of year. My daughter and I cook a great assortment of foods. I tell them stories of my family and encourage my husband to do the same. Samhain is a day of feasting and of celebration. Not so much a celebration of the last harvest, but a celebration of our ancestors. I want these people to be remembered, even if it is not by name, but by the fact that they are the reason we are all here today. We build a bonfire and we invite people to our home. They usually are here to celebrate Halloween as they know it, but to us it is nice to have the energy of the living mingling in our midst.

My daughter and I have prepared the names of people who have passed this year and we have woven a grapevine wreath on which to put these names. As the clock tolls midnight we cast the wreath upon the fire and wish those no longer with us safe journeys on the continuation of their paths. We light candles and place them around the yard and the house and invite the wandering souls a quiet, safe place to rest for the night. The quiet, lost souls are always welcome here. I feel them and my daughter sees them from time to time. We both acknowledge their presence and say a welcome to them as long as they don’t cause any trouble.

After all the guests have left, we, as a family, gather together and talk about all we wish to see in the coming year. Samhain is truly the end of this one. I think this year I will speak of my vision and of the departed ones desire for us to participate in their festivities. I think we will throw another log on the fire and dance. We will dance a celebration of life and all that it brings. We will dance to the joys and the sorrows we have faced. We will dance in thankfulness for all that we have and stop longing for all that we think will make our lives better. Most of all, we will dance with all those who have crossed over, one more time. We will not mourn their loss but celebrate all that they have taught us. We will dance in celebration of lives well lived and the gratefulness of having had the opportunity to have crossed paths with these truly special people.

At dawn we will lie in the cool grass and say our farewells and feel overjoyed by the delightful time we have shared with those others have forgotten. The sun will begin to rise and the fire will only be small wisps of smoke. The children and I will look at each other and know that we share a secret, a magical one. We will be hesitant to leave and return to our mundane lives. I think my children have a deeper appreciation of all that it means to be Pagan. We’ve spoken of the Sabbats and we have honored the Goddess at the full moon, but they have never truly been blessed with the presence of the Old Ones reaching out to them. I believe that their lives will be forever changed starting with this new year.

I am thankful for the wisdom I now see in their eyes, wisdom I could never have imparted. They have both been securely set upon their path and I am so ever grateful for this. It gives me a sense of peace that I no longer need to worry about this area of their life. As Pagans I know they will live as kind and compassionate human beings.

Now it is time to look to the future and of the coming year. My children and I will grasp each other’s hands and head into our home to rest. It’s funny how our ancestors have helped strengthen the bond between us. How many people can say something like that? We’ve allowed the long line of family to help build the future. Not only have they helped build our future but also they have helped build it in a positive way.

I hope everyone out there is enjoying this harvest season. It is time to reap what you have sown, may it all be pleasant. If it is not, now is the time to set aside the negativity and allow the positive to flow into your life. A new year and a new start are upon us. You have the power to make this coming year into anything you dream of; you can reach goals you never thought attainable. Take the opportunity of the dark half of the wheel to plan and build your energies, to rest and to prepare yourself to put your plans in place.

I wish you all the greatest Samhain.

Love to all my fellow witches,

Lady Wolfwind

To My Witchlings and Newbie Pagans

To My Witchlings and Newbie Pagans

Author: SonneillonV

I want to talk about that time period when you first discover magic (or magick, if you prefer, but I don’t use the ‘k’ spelling) is real.

There are a million ways it could happen. There are a million directions it could come from. Perhaps you tried a spell from a book and… something… happened. Something you couldn’t explain, something terrible or wonderful or just plain weird. Perhaps you saw something in the deep woods one day that had no business being there. Perhaps you know a Witch or other practitioner, and they brought something into your life that kept defying your vision of reality until finally you had to adjust it. Perhaps you always knew magic worked, but for reasons philosophical or religious or practical, you denied it to yourself until the lure of it made you cave. Maybe you picked up ‘To Ride A Silver Broomstick’ or a ‘House of Night’ book and suddenly felt like you’d come home. Maybe you’ve been glimpsing ghosts for as long as you can remember, or sensing the spirits that live in the creatures and land around you, and you’ve finally decided to quit turning your face away.

However it happened, wherever you came from, you see it now – the threads that bind us to each other and to the world, the synchronicities and symbolism that run through our lives. The music of the spheres. You realize that the complex interrelations between all the elements of our universe go much deeper than you previously assumed, that there is such a thing as sympathetic reaction, that a rose may not be merely a rose, nor a tree a tree, nor a missing set of keys a missing set of keys; there are layers of meaning, circles upon circles.

And now that you realize it, you’re seeing magic EVERYWHERE.

You may not realize it, but you’re probably annoying the crap out of practitioners or Pagans in your life. They’re saying things like, “The gods are not your imaginary friends, they don’t care what you eat for breakfast, ” or “It doesn’t necessarily mean anything that you tripped and dumped coffee all over yourself today”. They insist that Loki has better things to do than to hide your keys, and that every time it storms, Zeus is not specifically yelling at YOU. When you find an exciting congruence and ask them what it means, you can’t see why they say, “probably nothing” or why they hesitate to give you the benefit of their wisdom regarding correspondences, and why they won’t litanize a run-down of the uses for every weed in your yard.

It’s okay; don’t feel self-conscious. We’ve all been there. Or, at least, I have been there, so I totally understand what you are going through. Everything seems shiny and new, like you’re looking at it through new eyes.

You may suddenly feel connected to your environment in a way you didn’t before, or you may think you sense things from other humans that you never sensed before (clinging astral nasties are particularly popular) . You may start talking about ‘negativity’ with great esteem, as in, “I’ve decided not to hang out with zir anymore, zie was bringing too much negativity into my life”, or “No negativity allowed – we only nurture positive thoughts here!” You’ve come under the conviction that absolutely everything affects absolutely everything else… which it does. But those effects aren’t always significant, and that’s what your fellow practitioners, those who’ve been around a little longer and become a little more jaded (and perhaps a little less jaded…. time can open your eyes to new wonders) have been trying to tell you.

Let me give you a simple example: Some people make a big deal about astrology and about the position of the stars when we are born. The view of the stars at different times of the year is supposed to affect everything from your temperament to your ultimate destiny. Note that I’m not calling astrology a crock of bull because I don’t believe it is, but when you drop a hot pan on your foot, that doesn’t mean the stars are misaligned and out to get you. From a purely physics-centered standpoint the effect of distant stars on human physiology is so small as to not be worth charting – if we calculate the force of Mars’ gravity specifically on you at the time of your birth, if you are an Aries, we find that the force of gravity from the midwife who delivered you would be 150 times greater (source below, read it, it’s fascinating) .

Likewise, the light that may have been shed upon you by the planet Mars IF you were born outside under a clear sky and perfect visibility conditions would still be much less than the fluorescent lights that probably shone down on you when you were delivered indoors, in a hospital. So the question is less, “Can the constellations of the moment of my birth effect me in any way?” and more “Can the constellations at the moment of my birth effect me in any way that would reasonably be noticeable when compared to all the other forces (light, gravity, electricity, heat, friction, ) which were also having effects on me at the time?” You have to find your own answer to that (and if your answer is ‘yes’ the next question is ‘how?’) , but the point is, you have to have some perspective.

Now, perspective is a tough thing to get hold of. Time is the most reliable way – the longer you live, the more things you see, the greater your perspective can grow. But time isn’t the only way of gaining perspective – some people live 110 years and never get their heads out of their own asses, and some people have lived 17 years and passionately try to ease the systemic injustices of the greater, wider world. Exposure helps, having someone who’ll talk to you about how things affect other things and why that matters, or being able to listen to people who are affected talk about their experiences. You can increase your own exposure, and I highly encourage every new witch and Pagan to do this, because you can’t go wrong by listening – just make sure your critical thinking skills are being applied to what you hear.

You should be open-minded, but you don’t have to be credulous.

When someone makes a claim, you should be asking questions: who, what, where, when, why, can this effect be reproduced, can it be controlled, how does it work under other circumstances, can it be reproduced using different techniques. We are talking personal gnosis here, which doesn’t always get along well with rigorous scientific inquiry, but the point is to experiment. Test conclusions. Test techniques. Examine what’s presented to you.

Question your teachers. Question peoples’ claims. Develop your own belief about sympathetic magic and correspondence theories, and whether the innate nature of a thing, whether it’s an herb, a stone, or a person, can override or be subsumed by the forces that thing is subjected to in the course of its life. If a piece of rose quartz is improperly mined using slave labor, does it still resonate with love? If the wedding ring worn by your ancestress and passed down through her finger was worn by her when she died violently, is it ‘clean’ enough to make a reliable pendulum? Will a scrying mirror you buy for a high price in a new age store work as well as one you make with a piece of convex glass and black nail polish? Does it matter as long as you cleanse and dedicate the tool yourself?

You can find out these things by testing them. Until you’ve tested them, don’t make claims. Trust me, if you apply that simple rule to all of your magical practice, your fellow practitioners will be MUCH happier with you. That is, the ones who bother testing claims and examining critically.

This is probably a bright and wonderful time in your life (or, conversely, it may be a terrifying and paranoid time in your life) , and I understand how exciting it is to feel like you can see all kinds of connections that weren’t there before. But another part of having perspective is fitting yourself into the grand scheme of things in a way that isn’t self-aggrandizing, and makes sense.

If you’ve dedicated yourself to Loki and now you think he follows you around hiding your keys and making snarky comments about people in the mall, ask yourself why. Ask yourself, ‘does this really make sense considering who Loki is – not just a mischief-maker and king of sass, but also a DEITY, a JOTUN, someone of immense power who, incidentally, is chained up under the foundations of the earth, whose agony and insanity make it tremble when he’s in pain, who is destined to bring about the greatest catastrophic event in his mythos? Likewise Apollo governs the blazing sun, the source of light and life on our planet, which must rise and set each day for us all to survive. Do you really think he spends his evenings preening in front of your mirror?

I am not saying that gods and spirits never reach out and touch people. I am not saying they never speak to people, maybe sometimes even about inconsequential things. I am not saying they never take an intense personal interest in one individual’s life – the existence of godspouses would prove me wrong. What I am saying is that even today, these deities have thousands of devotees not to mention their traditional responsibilities and/or portfolio, and you are only one worshipper. So, especially when you are starting out, it’s important to keep that in perspective – I am only one worshipper, I am only one witch. There is more going on here than just me. And perhaps most importantly, the greatest actor upon my future and my development as a magical person is myself.

Also, as you explore, you will encounter all kinds of entities from all kinds of cultures… demons, daemons, spirits, kami, faeries, free-range repeaters, and so on. People around you who follow specific cultural paths will use words you don’t understand to describe how they interact with the supernatural or the unseen. It’s wonderful and fascinating to learn about all these new things, but it’s important to keep in mind that aspects of a culture may not be lifted from that culture and appropriated for your use. This is what people mean when they refer to ‘cultural appropriation’ – they mean that it’s inappropriate and disrespectful to take pieces of a culture or mythos you know nothing about and claim to ‘use’ them for your own benefit without understanding the real people who lived in that culture or having their permission to use those elements.

Some traditions are culturally ‘closed’, others are open, so it is important to treat every culture you learn about with respect and examine your practice with discernment. I know everything is new and wonderfully shiny, and you don’t mean any disrespect by dipping your toes in, but some things are not yours to take or to use, and it’s important to be respectful of that. Listen to the people who belong to that culture; seek them out and be respectful when they speak. If they tell you their practices are not for you, back off. If they advise you may practice only after you have participated in cultural immersion and extended study under a reliable teacher, then that is what you must do in order to be respectful. Deities, spirits, and ancestral ghosts that belong to a particular culture do not usually look kindly on someone who does not treat that culture with honor. They will remember someone who is both ignorant and arrogant, and so will the people.

A new Pagan or a new Witchling may attract some attention from forces around them. Spirits may want to get to you before you’ve learned to be cautious. Other entities may want to deceive you into thinking they’re someone else just because they can, and you haven’t learned yet how to tell whether they’re lying. Some entities may just want to whirl around you in a celebratory dance, blow up your skirts, tip over your flowerpots, and maybe hide your keys. The world is a many-splendored place. That’s why reaching out and learning about it is so important – and critically examining what you learn is even more important.

So, rather than attributing every occasion in your life to forces beyond your control, or searching for the meaning in the arrangement of spaghetti-O’s in your bowl, remember that you are just one person moving through a vast and magnificent multi-verse, it’s not all about you, and you have just set out on an adventure, so you had best find some good guides and an even better towel.

Footnotes: Neil Degrasse Tyson – http://www.haydenplanetarium.org/tyson/read/1994/05/01/horrorscope

Forging Your Own Path: My Journey

Forging Your Own Path: My Journey

Author: Bear Stormcrowe

Ever since I was a wee lad, I knew that I had a special relationship with Mother Earth and the elements around me. I always had this magnetic attraction to all things mystical, offbeat, and natural. I remember quite well the times I used to ‘trick’ my parents into buying trees from the Arbor Day Foundation in order to plant them as an homage to Mother Gaia. I would sit outside and plant them, whispering softly to the planet; “Here you go. Thank you for giving us what you give us.”

When my family finally got the Internet, I remember sneaking onto my computer at night; silently hoping the dial-up connection sounds wouldn’t stir my family. It was there that my journey began. I searched earth-based religions high and low…and I came to the realization: I’m a Witch.

I had always been more mature than others of my age group, and since my epiphany I’ve referred to myself as a Natural Witch. I began seriously pursuing the Well-Worn Path soon after that epiphany and started my path as a solitary practitioner in full force. At the time, I was still green on the subject of Witchcraft, even though I was naturally inclined to it; So, I began researching books from the library and following their paths and their beliefs but something didn’t feel quite right. In any religion, a personal means of practicing helps you get that more personal connection with your deity. In my case, it was multiple deities but namely, Lugh and Danu. It was then I realized that I could forge my own path…my own solitary journey.

Since beginning my own personal journey, following the rules of the Wicca, and showing reverence to my amazing deities, I found my connection and my own personal practice. When it came to Sabbats I followed a loosely based outline but added my own flair in the mix, it all worked just the same if not better because all of my mind, body, and spirit were put into my craft. I came “out of the broom closet”, so to speak, to my friends in high school—then to my friends and professors in college.

After much networking and a twist of fate I owe all to the God and Goddess, I met a woman who is now my fiancée and a group of friends with whom I created a small active coven. They were all well seasoned in the Craft already but I found myself answering their questions with a knowledge I had no idea was hiding deep within me. The advice and techniques I offered proved a success and I realized that I had an even deeper calling: High Priestdom. After meeting and discussing the future of the coven, they all agreed unanimously that they felt I would take the high priest position and honor it well.

So, what’s the point of this story? You ask. In my personal experience I’ve found that crafting your own spells and following the path that your heart and soul vibrates well with yields better results. In my case, a closer connection to the deities I’ve aligned myself with.

How do you find your own path? The simplest way to do it is follow your heart. However, if you are unsure of what your heart is telling you here are some simple techniques that have helped me when the answers my heart had given didn’t really satisfy my spirit.

Meditation: Simple two-step meditation works wonders.

The First Step is to open sacred space. This is the brief equivalent of casting a circle. How I open sacred space is by grounding and centering me then I say:

“By the Grace and Power of the Great Ones, Within and Without, I allow love to enter this space, but keep evil and ill intent out.”

Your sacred space is now open. Feel free to change the invocation of positive energies to something of your liking.

The Second Step is to clear your mind of all things but your question at hand. This takes a lot of practice so do this on a day that has been relatively uneventful if at all possible. Clearing your mind and focusing on your own path and what fits just right for your individual Witchiness should yield some result the first few times you try it.

Scrying: Using a scrying mirror or bowl is another way to get some answers. Be prepared to look deep into the mirror/bowl for some time. As with most divination arts, symbols are left to the diviner to interpret so have a notebook and writing utensil (or computer for those tech-savvy Witches) to record the symbols for interpretation after the scrying session. It’s been my experience to wait until the end of the session to interpret symbols and messages because if you take your focus to one symbol, you may miss other important ones. Once you’ve finished scrying, interpret symbols, make connections, and have fun with it.

To end this article, I’d like to say that if you follow a set path founded by someone else and you feel at home in that path, then by all means continue on the path you are most comfortable with. You may get things from different paths in order to forge your own way. That is perfectly acceptable. It’s all what feels right to each individual witch.

I write this article in the light of Lugh and Danu and with love to all of my fellow Pagans and Earth-Children. May bright blessing and prosperity come your way and as always—Blessed Be.

-Adam Osborne (Sacred Magick)
Eclectic Pagan, High Priest, and Lightworker.

Beyond Wicca 101

Beyond Wicca 101

Author: Talma Stormphoenix

One of this month’s topics is Wicca 101 and the complaints about all the books that are about it. The thing is if you’re going to complain about something then you have to know what’s wrong with it. So let’s start at the beginning. What is Wicca 101 and what does it cover. I’m sure everyone knows but just humor me on this and lets get a basic run down of just what Wicca 101 is.

Some of the things you get in some books a smattering of Witch history. You know, the cavemen doing their rituals to ensure the success of the hunt and there is very often a discussion of the burning times. The why behind the Witch burnings and tortures not just the when and who. There is also a discussion about the clothes that you can/need to wear or not wear (depending on the trad) along with a discussion on jewelry that can be worn and what can’t (watches). Another big part of Wicca 101 are your color correspondences. This covers what color your clothing (if you’re wearing any) should be and also the colors of candles and other stuff. We can’t forget the gems because of their vibrational properties and what they are best used for. Herbs can be one of the healing Witch’s best tools. You could go buy them but what about growing them yourself? (hey don’t worry if you don’t have a green thumb just go to the store!) Proper meditation techniques have to include opening up your chakras (of course). And we can’t forget our divination tools and techniques.

There are so many tools to choose from here I could possibly list them all but as we all know some of the best known are the tarot, runes, numerology, palmistry, tea leaves I ching and scrying. That last one includes crystal balls and fire, not necessarily together. We can’t forget sacred space. The place you do ritual can be conductive or destructive to your magickal work so it’s important to have peace and quiet so you won’t be disturbed. Dedications, rituals and circle casting, this could be considered the core of magickal teaching. First you dedicate yourself to the God and/or Goddess then you design your ritual and cast your circle to do ritual. Oh yeah did you pick your pantheon yet? I’m just kidding. As you can see there are many things that are included in Wicca 101 and if you’re like me you have a couple Wicca 101 books and could back in ten minutes to tell me what all I forgot but I’m hoping you see the point I’m trying to make. If Wicca 101 covers so much what on Gaia’s green earth could Wicca 201 cover and who would be experienced enough to write the books?!

The answer is this. The books are already here and written but there are people who are just looking for an easy ride up the Wiccan education ladder. (groaning from the gallery) What, did you think there was some magickal secret that I had? I’m sorry you feel like you got ripped off but if that’s the way you feel then I’m sorry but it’s going to get a whole lot worse for you.

This is how I see it. Wicca 201 is here and has been here. There are folks out there who are already doing Wicca 201 and just haven’t realized it yet. There are others that just want to to jump to the end of the book so to speak so they can talk about what they know to anyone and everyone who will listen. They want to read these books and not do the work that goes into doing magick. The one’s who are trying to get a quick fix are in for a rude awakening because if you thought Wicca 101 was hard you ain’t seen nothing yet! Now don’t get upset and start jumping up and down in your seat now. Hear me out and I’ll explain just why Wicca 201 is already here.

We’ve just taken a glance at some of what makes Wicca 101 so it should really be obvious as to what Wicca 201 is. Okay, if Wicca 101 is like a basic introduction to everything it’s like going to a clothing store and finding the clothes that fit you and look the best. You and your best friends could go out to find a new outfit to wear to the club on Friday but just because you picked out the lime green hip huggers with silver glitter and a matching top doesn’t mean that they’re going to get the same thing. Friend A may not feel that the color just isn’t her and she opts for the pink one with the gold The second friend looks doesn’t go for either. She goes for the basic little black dress. Wicca 101 is the club but the outfits are Wicca 201.

Everyone starts out with basically the same education of magick. You find out just what’s out there and as you learn you find yourself drifting toward certain subjects that appeal to you. You say ‘Hey I like gardening so I’ll be great at using herbs’ but your best friend kills anything green she touches or maybe you were curious and bought a tarot deck and became very good at using it other folks go for the Runes as their tool of choice. The thing is most people have already delved into Wicca 201. All Wicca 201 is are the advanced studies of whatever has become your study of choice. I love the tarot. I have been doing it for almost seven years but if you asked me to use runes I’m going to need the book! I also have a love of plants and am slowly moving into herbs and other plants so my newest books is Cunninghams’s encyclopedia of herbs but I know I won’t be stopping there. I live in the northeast and luckily I live near a park that’s big enough support a nice array of wild life big (mule and white tail deer) and small (moles, squirrels etc.) This is Wicca 201. Working to perfect your skills and come closer to finding deity however you view it.

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