Tag: Wicca

The Hedge Witch’s Home (Or A Guide to Practical Paganism)

The Hedge Witch’s Home (Or A Guide to Practical Paganism)

Author: Liofrun

For most of us Pagans, the altar can be seen as a spiritual or peaceful refuge in our own special corner away from the mundane and away from the rest of the world. For others of us, we may prefer to meditate and still others would like nothing more than a peaceful walk in a forest. But our homes can be places of spiritual refuge as well, from the front door to the bedroom at the furthest end of the house. In fact, the home should be a refuge, a Pagan one. It goes without saying that most of us want to feel Pagan and live Pagan but for some of us this can be difficult.

Some of us live in must urban settings or very small dwellings with little room. Maybe you’re renting an apartment with strict rules such as no holes in the walls. But it’s anything but hopeless. We can “Pagan” up our houses in the simplest of ways. It is possible even if we live in tiny, cramped apartments or dorm rooms where lighting candles and incense isn’t practical and is prohibited by post-secondary institutions.

Kitchen Witches make much use of their kitchens. Their altars are their counters and their ritual tools are the big wooden spoons and saucepans by the stove. Green Witches have their gardens and hedge witches have the tinted jars of sundry herbs lined upon the shelves.

There are a few simple steps a Pagan can take to make their home really their home. Setting up a modest altar in a preferred room is one way, perhaps with a smudge stick or perhaps with images of ancestors lining the edges. This is really very simple, a nicely framed picture of Grandma and Grandpa on a side table will most surely do! My altar has a calendar set up neatly on the left side. You can decorate your altar according to your path’s holidays and decorate your house with seasonal sprigs or seasonal emblems.

One can also make use of many readily available herbs to feel close to nature such as creating sachets, herbal rinses, soaps, incenses, teas or any variety of delicious culinary dishes. I have only a few words of advice and those are: DO NOT OVERPICK. And be sure to pick ethically as many plants are endangered or becoming endangered just as animals do. And do not pick anything out in the wild without thoroughly making sure you know what it is and use it to the best of its abilities If you can’t be sure, leave it or consult someone who knows. That being said, the practical Pagan may want to get rosehips from the roses in his garden and they appear when the blooms die for any number of practical purposes from teas to desserts.

These and many other herbs can also be found at a local loose-leaf teashop, or if you’re lucky enough, your local herb shop or Pagan shop. There are many practical ways to utilize these small charms as well. A kitchen Witch might go to the supermarket and buy some thyme or ginger to cook with and saturate it with his or her witchy knack for cooking. If you live in the city, and want to feel more “naturey”, set up a windowsill spice garden and be sure to get a few potted plants.

When friends come over, the hedge Witch can brew a mean tea from those same rosehips, which are high in vitamin C and thus helpful with colds. If you’re looking for a sleeping potion and warm milk just isn’t doing the trick, try some chamomile. As a mild sedative, it does wonders to help you, or your active children get to sleep.

To make your home feel like being home and feel more Pagan, you could tie an herb sachet by the bathtub and the scent will be released with the steam. You could collect your favorite Pagan authors and place them on a bookshelf in the living room. You could keep a diary, dream journal or recipe book by your bed stand.

For the more spiritual, you could buy a nice broom and decorate it to your tastes and use cleaning the home as a ritual or if you’re Heathen, place a blót horn or ancestor image on the mantel. Mine is only big enough for a single shot so if you’re space is cramped you can still aim small. You do not have to feel like you are trapped in a cramped, mundane and utterly unPagan apartment.

You can imbue almost anything with a spiritual significance. Even if you are a teenager in a strict nonPagan home you can try your hand at cooking or placing a broom in your room to clean with and of course you can buy little figurines for your bedroom that have special significance to you.

Last but not least, you could try your creative hand and add a very personal element. If you can write, write a prayer for your bedroom wall. If you can paint, paint an image of your patron God. If you can carve, carve an image of your totem. If you can work with wood, well, you get the idea.

It is very easy to be the Practical Pagan without cheapening the experience or overdoing it dramatically. After all, no one really need a big witch hat and a cast iron cauldron sitting dead centre in the front foyer for all to see to have a Pagan home and neither do you need to set up a mini Stonehenge in the backyard (a small altar by a tree or birdfeeder may do just fine) .

If space is an issue, aim small. If disapproving eyes are an issue, aim for subtle and above all, aim for modest and something which will complement your personality!

Make your home really feel like yours and let it be inspired by your Pagan path.

Happy (Pagan) interior decorating!

 


Footnotes:
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Pets in Ritual: Some Basics

Pets in Ritual: Some Basics

Author: Bronwen Forbes

For the purpose of this article, I’m going to assume that you want your pet in ritual with you, and not that he or she has wandered in by accident. That being the case, here are some things you need to consider and plan for.

If you normally cast a circle as part of your magickal workings, and if you have issues with pets casually crossing that magical barrier, you need to figure out in advance how to keep your furry friend from leaving once you’ve started. A dog can be leashed and kept in your circle. So, in some instances, can a ferret, a rabbit, or an iguana. But a cat isn’t likely to take too kindly to a harness or collar and a leash. And if your cat is anything like mine, he will yowl like he’s dying if you put him in a carrier.

What are you going to do? Frankly, you’ve got two choices: either resign yourself to the idea that a cat is going to cross the energy barrier you’ve erected but not affect it, or shut your cat away so he or she can’t participate.

Our cat likes to patrol the perimeter of the circle, but he never comes near the altar. Maybe he’s keeping an eye out for unwelcome entities. I really don’t know. His predecessor used to lie in the center of ritual space with the attitude, “You may all now commence adoring me.”

By the way, if you plan to have your dog in ritual, it’s a good idea to let him or her go outside and do his business beforehand. Nothing interrupts a good ritual like one of the participants barking because he needs to potty!

Something else to consider on this same topic: for obvious reasons, small puppies aren’t the best participants in long rituals, say, longer than thirty minutes. For lengthy sabbats or esbats, take your puppy out beforehand, and then crate him or her (or whatever you do at night) during the ritual. Post-ritual pee and poop cleanups when you’re trying to dismantle the altar and get the ritual feast ready just aren’t fun.

Speaking of altars, if you like to have an altar or shrine set up at all times, you might want to consider setting it up where an inquisitive cat or teething puppy can’t get to it. Cats love to knock things off altars. Puppies like to chew things – and they don’t care if it’s your $70 wand, your favorite Buddha statue (true story) , or a chew toy.

When I first started doing ritual, my cat at the time loved nothing better than to yukk up a hairball on my altar. Needless to say, a hairball was so not the kind of offering I wanted to make to my Gods! If your pets are doing your altar more harm than good, consider moving it to a pet-free room or large closet with a firmly latching door, or to a wall shelf strategically placed where Kitty can’t comfortably jump to.

If you frequently invite newcomers, especially people who are new to Paganism, to your ritual, you may notice that your pet chooses to sit on or next to that person while you all ground and center. This frequently happens in my group, and the newcomer always reports that the pet’s presence helped them feel less nervous, and they were better able to follow the grounding and centering meditation.

Another note about newcomers to your ritual: inform them at the time of invitation that you have pets, and what kind. That way, if they have serious allergies or major phobias, they know ahead of time and can choose for themselves how they want to deal with it, i.e. take antihistamines or not accept the invite.

We share our home with a shaggy, extra large old-fashioned German shepherd, and we always warn people that there’s a HUGE, LONG-HAIRED dog in the house! Karl is a complete goofball who wouldn’t hurt a soul (and in fact, is totally, utterly, and completely devoted to our four-year-old) , but he sheds constantly and weighs approximately 120 pounds. That way, people who don’t think dog hair counts as a condiment (despite the fact that we regularly dust and vacuum) or who might be too scared to concentrate on ritual with a humongous wolf-looking creature in the house can choose in advance not to come.

For safety’s sake, consider making some adjustments to the placement of Cakes and Wine during your ritual. Most of us are used to setting the cakes and drink on the altar – or under it, if the altar is too small. Let me tell you: with pets actively participating in ritual, that doesn’t work! Remember that alcohol, grapes (including grape juice) , raisins, any sort citrus fruit or juice, and chocolate are extremely toxic to cats and dogs.

Besides, do you really want to drink out of a chalice after your toilet-drinking, butt-sniffing dog had a sip? Or eat a cookie she’s licked? I didn’t think so! Put the stuff somewhere your furry friend can’t reach, like a nearby bookshelf or table. That way, all the humans can partake without grossing out – or poisoning the pet.

Maybe you could also have some water and dog and cat treats for your furry participants to enjoy during Cakes and Wine! I have heard that people who invite their ferrets or rabbits into ritual provide a small plate with a couple of raisins or lettuce on it.

With a little pre-planning, adult pets and carefully supervised kittens and puppies can be delightful, useful, and meaningful participants in your rituals. But always leave yourself the option of letting them out – and keeping them out – if they get too rowdy or otherwise disruptive.

Our ritual room is also where we keep our dogs’ crates, and for the most part they’re voluntarily hanging out in their crates (with the doors open) when we do ritual. We know the ritual is a success if the dogs are snoring!

Wishing You and Yours A Very Beautiful Thursday!

Days Of The Week Comments I’m back, lol! I bet you didn’t notice, did ya’? I must apologize for yesterday. I had some type of stomach bug. I still have it today but I at least feel like standing and sitting up. My stomach yesterday hurt so bad all I could do is lay down and run to the bathroom. I guess it is a virus going around. All I know is I am still sick and I hate to be sick. So I am very sorry about yesterday but I hope you understand.  

Thursday Is Ruled By Jupiter

  Named after the Norse Thunder God Thor, Thursday is a great time for rituals and magick focused on strength, devotion, and commitment. Other correspondences for Thursday are: 

Planet: Jupiter 

Rituals: Money, Legal and Religious matters. 

Element: Earth 

Colour: Blue 

Number: 4 
Magickal Graphics

Ritual Tools Dedication Rite

Ritual Tools Dedication Rite

 
This is fairly simple ritual for the consecration and dedication of your ritual tools. Use it as a basic guideline for the creation of a rite that is uniquely suited to you and your path. Trust your intuition and feel free to adapt this to meet your needs. You will need: the altar of your choosing, set with symbols of your spirit allies and deities, smudge or incense; pure water that has been left in sunlight and moonlight for twenty-four hours:; sea salt; essential oil of myrrh, frankincense, lemongrass or rosemary.
 
1. Smudge or cense your altar, yourself, your ritual space, and your new tool. Visualize any unwanted energies breaking up and releasing from your tool. Say, “By fire and air do I cleanse and consecrate this space.”
 
2. Add a pinch of salt to the water, then sprinkle your altar, yourself, your ritual space and your new tool. Say, “By water and earth do I cleanse and consecrate this space.”
 
3. Call upon your spirit guides, patron deities and any other beings you wish to have present. Invite them to share in this ritual and ask for their guidance and protection. State the purpose of this rite: that you have come before these honored spirits to present your new tool for their blessings. Tell them that you dedicate this tool to the highest good and ask that only the most beneficial energies might flow through the tool and through you when you use it.
 
4. Holding the tool in both hands, feel your energy filling it and forming a connection between you, so you might use it to its greatest benefits.
 
5. Replace the tool on the altar and pick up the essential oil. Offer the oil to those invoked and ask again for their blessings. Anoint yourself with the oil, inviting into yourself the qualities you want to bring to your path. Then anoint the tool, blessing it with the intent for a few moments to allow any spirit messages to come through.
 
6. Thank and release all spirits you invited to join in this ritual.
 
7. Close sacred space and keep your tool in a safe and special place.
 
It has been said that ritual tools and other magickal equipment must be crafted by the user to be truly effective. It is true that making your own working tools imbues them with a rare focus and attune them to your energy like nothing else. The process of crafting your own tools involves you, from the start to finish, in the journey from idea all the way through manifestation. It’s an experience that is not to be missed. However, sometimes our tools are already out there somewhere, and will find the way to us when we are ready to receive them. Some people find tools that connect instantly and directly to their hearts and souls at garage sales or metaphysical stores. Others receive the ideal tool from their spirit allies in a vision and the enlist the aid of magickal craftspeople. The tools they now work with have been accepted by their gods and are a physical manifestation of the tools they were given in these powerful vision.
 
Whether you find your magickal object on the seashore or in a yard sale, power objects and ritual tools can be significant partners and potent conduits for your spiritual development. These unique items bring great mystery and allure to ritual magick and meditation, thereby increasing the energy of those very sacred times. As gifts from the spirits we are blessed to received such treasures, whether they come to us in simple of elaborate forms.

Ritual Tools

Ritual Tools

 
 
While many power objects find a home on the ritual altar and are used in ceremony, they are not necessarily the same as ritual tools. Ritual tools are objects that have very specific uses in a ceremonial setting. The smudge fan purify space. Smudge and incense begin to induce a sacred state of mind. The ritual sword may be used to cast the circle and cut openings in it for participants that need to leave or re-enter. These tools may be gifts from your spirit allies, but they have a purpose other than connecting you to Deity and holding power for you individually.
 
Ritual tools being great mystery and powerful belief to a ceremony. Simply by using them, you may be transported into a magickal state of consciousness. The belief in their power alone can spur you into more effective magick and deeper trance states. This can be particularly true in the early stages of your practice, but continued use can increase their power exponentially. The more you work with these tools, the more conditioned you become to the stages of consciousness that you experience through using them. In this way, they can be invaluable catalysts to the creation of magick.
 
Because of the important role these tools play in the creation of ceremony and the intimate nature of your psychic relationship with them, it is vitally important that ritual tools be properly cleansed and ritually consecretaed and accepted by the deities of your path.
 
Kristen Madden
Llewellyn’s 2007 Magical Almanac

Power Objects & Ritual Tools

Power Objects & Ritual Tools

 
When Harry Potter first went to Hogwarts, in the wonderful series by J. K. Rowling, he had a long list of books and tools he needed to take with him in order to practice his “magick.” Many modern Pagans feel much the same way, particularly when they are new to their paths. They want to be sure they have all that they need to do it right. And more than that most Pagans just love to work with beautiful garb and tools.
 
The truth is that we don’t really need any of these things to practice magick. It has been said that magick is the practice of effecting change in one’s life. While this is certainly true and we all do small magicks each day, real magick effects change through the use of ritual action. This may be something as simple as a mantra or visualization done each morning, or it may be an elaborate as a ceremonial magick ritual. For most of us, it is something in between. The energy that goes into magick flows through you. You are the main tool and you provide the desire, intent, and belief that make it manifest.
 
But power objects and ritual tools are most definitely not irrelevant. They hold, magnify and direct power for us. For many people, the power of magick is increased with the addition of ritual tools, and access to the energy of spirit allies is much easier when focusing on power objects. Our relationship with these tools and their uses are not interchangeable, however. As you will find, they are complementary but often very different magickal assistants.

Using Your Fire Dish

Using Your Fire Dish

A fire dish is ideal for any seasonal or personal rite of passage for which traditionally a bonfire was lit. Sometimes you can have a bonfire or remove turf and make a fire pit with bricks, but this is not always possible, especially near sacred ground.

A fire dish is wonderful for unifying those sharing a rite, whether a coven, friends or family.

When you are not travelling, keep your fire dish to the south of the outdoor altar as a powerful representation of the fire element and to attract fire spirits and faeries. You can cover it when not in use or during inclement weather.

Sprinkle incense or herbs directly on to the burning wood to make personal empowerments and to raise or release power during a spell.

Burn wishes scratched on the inside of bark with a small knife or burn dead leaves and twigs to represent banishing what is redundant in your life.

Use your fire dish as a focus for chanting and dancing and as an added bonus for supplying light and warmth during a ritual.

Make sure the fire dish is not too full to avoid the danger of tipping over or getting too hot. Keep water nearby to extinguish an over-zealous fire.

Some woods like juniper and cedar spit; ash and pine are excellent as is oak although some people will not burn the latter. Sandalwood smells fabulous if you can get it; you can sometimes buy small sandalwood logs in bags from a hardware store. You can mix the woods.

Practice before your first ritual with your fire dish so you know how to light a good but not ferocious fire. When everyone had an open fire in the living room, this was daily practice. Nowadays, unless you were a Scout or Girl Guide or belong to a coven, you may not have been taught the art. Follow the instructions on a pack of firelighters or ask an older relative for a lesson.

A Witch’s Fire Dish

A Witch’s Fire Dish

Primary Element: Fire

Another favorite tool for outdoor magick is a fire dish. Though you can burn a small fire in a cauldron, having a fire in a special bowl or dish is one of the most magickal experiences, particularly under star- or moonlight. You can carry it with you in the back of the car for rituals on beaches. Some stone circles, such as the Rollright stones in Oxfordshire, have a fire dish in situ to borrow for ceremonies under supervision of the warden.

Ideally, you would use the cauldron for water and the dish for fire: a perfect elemental balance.

Using Your Cauldron

Using Your Cauldron

In the center of a ritual area (with or without an altar) the cauldron can be used to receive offerings such as flowers, fruits, crystals, etc., in a seasonal celebration or abundance ritual.

Half-fill your cauldron with water on the full moon so that you and anyone present can look into the silvery water and scry (look for images). You can interpret these images as you would dreams to answer questions or to receive wisdom from the moon mother and your wise inner self.

Scry also in bright sunlight or by candlelight by dropping a handful of dried, chopped cooking herbs on to the water to give you moving images to answer questions.

If your cauldron is cast iron and not a replica, you can put a heatproof fire basket or metal liner inside and light a small fire. Alternatively, fill the cauldron with sand and embed a candle in the center. In this you can burn wishes, or scatter herbs of incenses.

Burn incenses in the cauldron either as charcoal or as sticks or cones embedded in sand.

Dance and chant around the cauldron.

Fill the cauldron with water, then cast petals or herbs on to the surface as you circle the cauldron to symbolize healing energies flowing. Alternatively, as a banishing ritual you could ritually tip away the water, for example, dead leaves you threw into the water symbolizing what is unwanted. Best of all, tip it back into the earth or water source.

Fill the cauldron with earth and during a ceremony, plant herbs and flowers and bury coins or crystals. This indicates prosperity, love or healing growing as the plants grow. You can transplant the whole lot after the ceremony or use an old or spare cauldron for this ceremony so that the rite can be ongoing (maybe from spring equinox to autumn equinox).

You finally know you are a witch when…….

Witchy Comments
You finally know you are a witch when:

1. Your BOS has spots on the pages from spilled brews.

 

2. When cleaning house you have to specify. “Where is the broom? No, not THE broom, where is the one to clean the floor with?”

 

3. Candle wax has dripped on your keyboard.

 

4. Neighbourhood cats commune in your front yard.

 

5. There are more jars of strange smelling plants in your cupboards than there are cereal boxes.

 

6. Friends know they can always give you candles and incense as a gift.

 

7. When watching old re-runs of Bewitched, you find you side with Samantha’ s mother Endora.

 

8. You’ve actually tried to twitch your nose to add emphasis to your spellwork.

 

9. When travelling, stranger and stranger strangers tell you their problems.

 

10. You swear in the plural.

 

11. You find yourself making corn dollies in the checkout line at the grocery store.

 

12. Whenever someone sneezes you say “Goddess Bless.”

 

13. You ask for Halloween off, because it’s a religious holiday.

 

14. You start answering the phone with “Merry Meet”.

 

 
~Magickal Graphics~

The Survival of Ancient Ways in Today’s World

The Survival of Ancient Ways in Today’s World

Author: wolf witch

Witchcraft, Wicca, and Pagan belief systems in general are more popular now than since the advent of Christianity in the West. As society gradually moves away from the group and toward individuality with respect to spiritual development, people seek alternatives to “organized” religion in order to more thoroughly immerse themselves in that sense of inner spirituality that, in the East, comes from meditation and a closely controlled lifestyle and in the West has its roots in the ancient Western Mystery Tradition in part or in whole surrounding the teaching founded upon Hermetic philosophy.

Wicca is, depending on which “expert’ you read, either very ancient or extremely new and linked to Neo-Paganism. Still, its practices demand individual dedication and action, and, even in its most basic form, stirs the inner workings further toward the sort of self-realization equated with spiritual enlightenment. Whether this enlightenment is as thorough as that of the Buddhists or is that a devoted Christian attains through constant prayer is unimportant. What is truly a key factor here is that Wicca, in whatever form, requires the individual to ultimately take responsibility for his own spiritual development, as must the Buddhist or the Christian or any other person of faith.

The claim for the Craft being a part of the spiritual movement of modern times collapses in the face of archeological and anthropological evidence to the contrary. The Internet and the ready availability of books from a wide range of authors resulted in an incredible number of “traditions” birthing literally overnight, each of which possesses their adherents and, in the case of many founding members, zealots, a rather surprising response from a religion that is by no means evangelical. The point of this text is not to criticize new or old traditions. Each finds its place in spiritual development. Those with more parochial views may learn something here but will find no further argument with any modern path.

If no other law holds true in the Craft, “Each to his own” certainly applies.

In order to understand Western occult philosophy, one must grasp the words of the Emerald Tablet, the essence of which is the statement, “As above, so below, ” and its reverse. There is no dictum of control implied here, so the phrase does not lose, as suggested by some authors, its validity in reverse. It merely explains that the nature of things is best discovered in any one thing within the set; that is, if something exists in this universe, then its structure and function resulting from that physical existence resembles in kind all other things in this universe.

The axiom applies equally to Man and Spirit. The whole reason for its existence is to tell man that the universe he sees and the Universe his spirit knows is hardly imaginary but very, very real. The stone is the Almighty’s message to Man that what he cannot see has no reality whosoever in relation to the greater Universe of gods, angels, demons, and the like. Man is part of that magnificent continuum.

Thus is the Creator known to Man.

There are as many paths to spiritual awakening as there are people on the planet. Some folks are so convinced their method is right that they insist on bringing it to others which in some cases is a truly positive gesture. However, when that new system comes into place through the annihilation of what went before, then the result proves destructive and dangerous.

In the time of Charlemagne, Paganism died in Europe at the hands of Christians bent on destroying every other belief system but their own. St. Patrick did not drive the snakes out of Ireland (there were none to begin with) , but he did burn every piece of literature concerning the religious history of the Celts, a close equivalent to the burning of the great library at Alexandria by the Romans who simply knew no better. Patrick knew exactly what he was doing, and the Church made a practice of eliminating all but their own warped view of religion as a source of power and authority.

The Craft has few written records that cover events from the Dark Ages. All such literature became personal as each witch kept a Book of Shadows though few would have called it that. The books held recipes and formulae for everything from herbal remedies to dynamic rituals, most of which these days are drawn from a single surviving grimier, the Key of Solomon. From this text, Gardner drew the rituals in his book.

Fortunately, the worst persecution could not eliminate folkways, and many made their way to the present, especially those regarding healing. This knowledge forged an excellent foundation for modern witches to expand their knowledge of the human psyche in order to better help those in need.

All of the present day’s rites and rituals owe much to Hermes and his simple statement. Understanding the universe makes clear the path delineated by the Craft, so the study of how the universe works is definitely worth the effort. In the end, the universe unfolds itself to each in its own way.

Here is one of the great gifts of the Goddess, as claimed in Celtic tradition: the Stone, a foundation upon which all else stands.

The occult deals with those entities and forces that, in general, lie outside the bounds of what most would define as normal existence. Where the world around us takes its description from physics, the occultist studies metaphysics. Where the scientist relies on proof as determined by experimental data, the occultist speculates using intuition as an equally valid point that influences understanding the true reality of any situation. While science plods on toward a complete understanding of the universe in detail, the occultist works more as a generalist using Hermes’ statement as a guide: “As above, so below”.

Today’s trend, thanks to the rapid spread of information and its verification relying very much on popularity rather than true alacrity, creates almost as many Craft belief systems as there are individuals capable of committing those beliefs onto a web page. More than a few seek a sense of authority within the old religion earned only in their own right. Many forget the trials that shaped Wicca over the years and the powerful forces and strong enemies that sought to wipe the Craft from the planet, burning, killing, and torturing every follower and many more who were rumored to be followers of the ancient ways.

There is a common feeling among these folk and a host of other witches that the burning times are over; that the public broadcast of one’s own faith can safely travel the Internet airways without fear of any repercussion.

One careful perusal of the news will prove this merry affection dangerously incorrect. With the smallest change in today’s status quo, the burning time could come back in force. Fundamentalism favors intolerance. There is absolutely nothing wrong with stating one’s beliefs in any public forum, but the defense of those beliefs to the blood must be the heart of that statement.

Dark Goddesses, Not So Dark: Understanding Hecate

Dark Goddesses, Not So Dark: Understanding Hecate

Author: Hecates Moon0013

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

TO HELP DISPEL NEGATIVE ENERGIES AROUND YOU

TO HELP DISPEL NEGATIVE ENERGIES AROUND YOU

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

The Fourth Rule of White Magick: Must be cosmic balance

The Fourth Rule of White Magick:
There must be cosmic balance

 
Though it is important, this rule is sometimes forgotten.
 
As mentioned earlier, even the fluttering of a butterfly wing affects the energies of the universe. So when you take from the cosmos at a time of need, you must redress the balance by a practical gift at another time when you are able to give. This need not be financial giving but should involve positive effort. There isn’t a time limit and if you are surviving on two hours’ sleep with a teething baby, the cosmos won’t charge interest on unpaid dues.
 
Sometimes you can pay back into the same area from which you took the energies. For example, if you used the power of the sea or a river in your spell to launch a venture, you could in the everyday world join a campaign for clean water in the Third World, help a harassed new mother with her washing and ironing or plan to feed the local ducks in winter when no one else bothers.
 
Occasionally perform an open-ended ritual to send out good vibes or healing to wherever it is most needed or to say thank you for your life, even if it is not perfect right now (it may suddenly and dramatically improve after the ritual).
 
Equally when you blow out your altar candles try to send the light to people who are being cantankerous or spiteful in the hope that it will brighten their aura. It may take a whole lot of butterflies to shift negativity but it is possible (and then you have some credit in the cosmic pot).

The Third Rule Of White Magick: Ask for enough for your needs & a little more

The Third Rule of White Magick:

You can ask for enough for your needs and a little more
 
Magick can be used for any area of your life where you need power, money, healing or protection. There is nothing wrong in asking for the resolution of an urgent problem. After all, you can’t be drawing down lunar energies or healing rainforests successfully if you are worried sick about the bald tire on your car and you’ve got to drive your grandma to the hospital for her annual check-up the next day.
 
Witchcraft is and always has been about real people and their daily needs. As the Christian Lord’s Prayer says, “Give us this day our daily bread.” The religion of witchcraft is no less caring.
 
Our ancestors’ seasonal and domestic rituals were based on the need for enough food, shelter, and clothing. These were days when the harvest or the hunt was crucial to survival. The necessity of enough rain and sunshine for the growth of the seeds and animals formed the focus of seasonal rites. In societies that still depend on hunting, fishing or the harvest, these seasonal rituals have maintained their urgency and central position in the religious life of the community.
 
As long as your needs are realistic, you can usually obtain the resources you asked for, plus maybe an unexpected free upgrade, by doing even a simple spell. Be sure that your heart is in it and that you suspend logic–at least while casting the spell.
 
You can ask for love, health, healing, career success, fertility, concentration and an improved memory to pass an examination or take a test. As long as you do put in the necessary hours of studying or earthly effort to bring your wishes to fruition, magick can give you the extra boost and the confidence to succeed.

The Second Rule of White Magick: What is sent out comes back threefold

The Second Rule of Magick:

What You Send Out Comes Back Threefold
 
This is a great incentive to do magick to help others and for the environment.

If you use magick to send healing, love or abundance to other people, the same qualities will come into your own life unexpectedly in ways you need them, with three times the intensity.
 
Equally, if you send out negative thoughts or wishes in a spell to a nasty gossiping neighbor, you may well succeed in making the target of your spells unhappy. But this may make her gossip even more. What is more, similar unhappiness or nastiness will come back into your own life three times as powerfully–even if the person you are sending bad thought to deserves them. Bitterness and anger are natural emotions, best shared with a loving friend or relative or relieved by an hour digging the garden and not amplified in a magickal way to pollute the cosmos.
 
You know yourself that if you wake in a happy mood, you smile and everyone responds positively to you because your energy field is radiating happiness and so attracting it back. Think of the cosmos as a giant aura or energy field and do your share of Mary-Poppins-style magick.

The First Rule of White Magick: Do as you choose/harm no one

The First Rule of Magick:

You are free to do as you choose as long as you harm no one.
 
This rule sounds deceptively simple to keep. However, scientifically it has been shown that a butterfly fluttering its wings subtly alters the energies of the universe. Therefore any decision, act or spell must affect others. We should never use magick to interfere with the free will of others, though there are binding spells that can restrict the effects of a person’s negative behavior.

Of course in order to survive emotionally and sometimes to survive at all, you cannot always avoid hurting others in everyday life or in magick. So magick does involve a lot of careful thought and evaluation and usually relates to what is happening in our everyday lives.
 
Supposing you needed more money each month to pay the bills, You know a senior colleague at work is holding a comfortable, well-paid position under false pretences. She is leaving you to do her work and taking the credit. However justifiable your resentment you should not do a spell to get her fired. If you were subsequently offered her job you would never be happy in it because you got it by negative magick. You could instead do spells to raise your own positive profile at work so you do get offered promotions and also to take earthly steps to limit your colleague’s plagiarism. You could in addition, cast spells so that you would find a better-paid job where you were appreciated. Usually such free-loaders are noticed by higher management and may get moved on naturally.

The Rules of White Magick

The Rules of White Magick 

 
The rules of white magick are very moral. Some witches do practice magick while actively following a religious faith, because there is no need to compromise. You need integrity of the highest order when practicing witchcraft. Christians are afraid they will be damned in hell because they are attracted to magick. The main misconception is that witches worship the devil. In fact the old horned god was a hunting god and witches do not believe in a devil as such.
 
Witches believe we choose to do wrong and so are accountable for any wrong words or actions. We can’t blame a devil for tempting us, only our inner desires. Witchcraft accepts polarity in the expression of both goddess and god energies. It also recognizes that evil is a fact as much as good and can’t be eradicated once and for all. However, we should all work to increase goodness in the world, and to contain and minimize the effects of those who choose to do harm.

The same polarity is described in Oriental philosophy as yang and yin, each of which contains the seed of the other, god and goddess, male and female, light and darkness, action and receptivity, hot and cold, summer and winter, dry and wet. Neither is better than the other but when one reaches its limits or extremes it must give way to the other, just as day follows night and night day. At the Spring Equinox (around 21 March in the northern hemisphere, six months later in the southern) light and darkness are equal. Thereafter light increases till the Summer Solstice around 21 June, after which darkness begins to multiply till the balance is restored on the Autumn Equinox around 22 September in the northern hemisphere. The darkest nights and shortest days last until 21 December, the Midwinter Solstice, after which light slowly increases once more. In the magickal wheel of the year this dynamic struggle represents our own inner change and dynamics.

In magick, therefore, you are accountable for your actions and can’t just say sorry about three Hail Marys and be absolved. We have to try to put it right or carry the bad deed or karma (another Eastern Buddhist and Hindu concept) with us.

White Magick

White Magick

  
Like any spiritual force, magick is neutral, whatever its form. In the past, and even today in some parts of the world, formal religion can be used to justify all kinds of cruelty and intolerance. Magick used for dark purposes is really about power and sometimes people do hide behind the name and practices of witchcraft to abuse the vulnerable, whether physically, sexually or psychologically.
 
Usually these folks aren’t really devil-worshippers as they claim, but have watched some nasty inaccurate horror film about satanism and get themselves into all kinds of psycholgical as well as psychic minefields, not to mention the dreadful harm they do to others — and to the good name of witchcraft.
 
Almost as harmful in terms of misinformation and causing psychological damage, though not intentionally are witch cult films that glorify special effect spells with fire, sulphur and blood sacrifice, ritual sex and medieval demons unleashed to grant their wishes.
 
To real witches all life is sacred even that of the smallest insect. If you’re looking for wild sex, forget witchcraft. You’re more likely to get a list of herbs to learn or the altar silver to polish at your local coven than an invitation to attend a moorland orgy.
 
White or positive magickal practice, the kind recommended in this and other books by responsible witches and organizations such as The Children of Artemis, probably the best on- and off-line resource, is a highly moral and responsible code. Common sense is the key and covens are like gold dust to find. You can be sure if you are offered instant initiation in some lonely place or after a few private lession; you should drink up and leave fast.
 
Natural magick is by its simplicity naturally protective and reassuring. However, in case we do get intoxicated by our own powers, floods, whirlwinds, volcanoes and earth tremors are a sharp reminder that we work with and do not control mother nature.

The Rule of Three

The Rule of Three

aka The Law of Threefold Return

ByPatti Wigington

 

Many new Wiccans and Pagans are initiated with the cautionary words from their elders, “Ever mind the Rule of Three!” This warning is explained to mean that no matter what you do magically, there’s a giant Cosmic Force that will make sure your deeds are revisited upon you threefold. It’s universally guaranteed, some Pagans claim, which is why you better not EVER perform any harmful magic… or at least, that’s what they tell you.

However, this is one of the most highly contested theories in modern Paganism. Is the Rule of Three real, or is it just something made up by experienced Wiccans to scare the “newbies” into submission?

There are several different schools of thought on the Rule of Three. Some Wiccans and Pagans will tell you in no uncertain terms that it’s bunk, and that the Threefold Law is not a law at all, but just a guideline used to keep people on the straight and narrow. Other groups swear by it.

Background and Origins of the Threefold Law

The Rule of Three, also called the Law of Threefold Return, is a caveat given to newly initiated witches in some magical traditions. The purpose is a cautionary one. It keeps people who have just discovered Wicca from thinking they have Magical Super Powers. It also, if heeded, keeps folks from performing negative magic without putting some serious thought into the consequences.

An early incarnation of the Rule of Three appeared in Gerald Gardner’s novel,High Magic’s Aid, in the form of “Mark well, when thou receivest good, so equally art bound to return good threefold.” It later appeared as a poem published in a magazine back in 1975. Later this evolved into the notion among new witches that there is a spiritual law in effect that everything you do comes back to you. In theory, it’s not a bad concept — after all, if you surround yourself with good things, good things should come back to you. Filling your life with negativity will often bring similar unpleasantness into your life. However, does this really mean there’s a karmic law in effect? And why the number three — why not ten or five or 42?

Objections to the Law of Three

For a law to truly be a law, it must be universal — which means it needs to apply to everyone, all the time in every situation. That means for the Threefold Law to really be a law, every single person who does bad things would always be punished, and all the good people in the world would have nothing but success and happiness — and that doesn’t just mean in magical terms, but in all non-magical ones as well. We all can see that this is not necessarily the case. In fact, under this logic, every jerk who cuts you off in traffic would have nasty car-related retribution coming his way three times a day, but that just doesn’t happen.

Not only that, there are countless numbers of Pagans who freely admit to having performed harmful or manipulative magic, and never having anything bad coming back upon them as a result. In some magical traditions, hexing and cursing is considered as routine as healing and protecting — and yet members of those trads don’t seem to receive negativity back upon them every single time.

According to Wiccan author Gerina Dunwich, if you look at the Law of Three from a scientific perspective it is not a law at all, because it is inconsistent with the laws of physics.

Many new Wiccans and Pagans are initiated with the cautionary words from their elders, “Ever mind the Rule of Three!” This warning is explained to mean that no matter what you do magically, there’s a giant Cosmic Force that will make sure your deeds are revisited upon you threefold. It’s universally guaranteed, some Pagans claim, which is why you better not EVER perform any harmful magic… or at least, that’s what they tell you.

However, this is one of the most highly contested theories in modern Paganism. Is the Rule of Three real, or is it just something made up by experienced Wiccans to scare the “newbies” into submission?

There are several different schools of thought on the Rule of Three. Some Wiccans and Pagans will tell you in no uncertain terms that it’s bunk, and that the Threefold Law is not a law at all, but just a guideline used to keep people on the straight and narrow. Other groups swear by it.

Background and Origins of the Threefold Law

The Rule of Three, also called the Law of Threefold Return, is a caveat given to newly initiated witches in some magical traditions. The purpose is a cautionary one. It keeps people who have just discovered Wicca from thinking they have Magical Super Powers. It also, if heeded, keeps folks from performing negative magic without putting some serious thought into the consequences.

An early incarnation of the Rule of Three appeared in Gerald Gardner’s novel, High Magic’s Aid, in the form of “Mark well, when thou receivest good, so equally art bound to return good threefold.” It later appeared as a poem published in a magazine back in 1975. Later this evolved into the notion among new witches that there is a spiritual law in effect that everything you do comes back to you. In theory, it’s not a bad concept — after all, if you surround yourself with good things, good things should come back to you. Filling your life with negativity will often bring similar unpleasantness into your life. However, does this really mean there’s a karmic law in effect? And why the number three — why not ten or five or 42?

Objections to the Law of Three

For a law to truly be a law, it must be universal — which means it needs to apply to everyone, all the time in every situation. That means for the Threefold Law to really be a law, every single person who does bad things would always be punished, and all the good people in the world would have nothing but success and happiness — and that doesn’t just mean in magical terms, but in all non-magical ones as well. We all can see that this is not necessarily the case. In fact, under this logic, every jerk who cuts you off in traffic would have nasty car-related retribution coming his way three times a day, but that just doesn’t happen.

Not only that, there are countless numbers of Pagans who freely admit to having performed harmful or manipulative magic, and never having anything bad coming back upon them as a result. In some magical traditions, hexing and cursing is considered as routine as healing and protecting — and yet members of those trads don’t seem to receive negativity back upon them every single time.

According to Wiccan author Gerina Dunwich, if you look at the Law of Three from a scientific perspective it is not a law at all, because it is inconsistent with the laws of physics.

Why the Law of Three is Practical

No one likes the idea of Pagans and Wiccans running around flinging curses and hexes willy-nilly, so the Law of Three is actually quite effective in making people stop and think before they act. Quite simply, it’s the concept of cause and effect. When crafting a spell, any competent Wiccan or Pagan is going to stop and think about the end results of the working. If the possible ramifications of one’s actions will likely be negative, that may make us stop to say, “Hey, maybe I better rethink this a bit.”

Although the Law of Three sounds prohibitive, many Wiccans see it instead as a useful standard to live by. It allows one to set boundaries for oneself by saying, “Am I prepared to accept the consequences — be they good or bad — for my deeds, both magical and mundane?”

As to why the number three — well, why not? Three is known as a magical number. And really, when it comes to paybacks, the idea of “three times revisited” is fairly ambiguous. If you whack someone in the nose, does it mean you’ll get your own nose punched three times? No, but it could mean you’ll show up at work, your boss will have heard about you bopping someone’s schnoz, and now you’re fired because your employer won’t tolerate brawlers — certainly this is a fate which could be, to some, considered “three times worse” than getting hit in the nose.

Other Interpretations

Some Pagans use a different interpretation of the Law of Three, but still maintain that it prevents irresponsible behavior. One of the most sensible adaptations of the Rule of Three that I’ve heard of is one that states, quite simply, that your actions effect you on three separate levels: physical, emotional, and spiritual. This means that before you act, you need to consider how your deeds will impact your body, your mind and your soul. Not a bad way to look at things, really.

Another school of thought interprets the Law of Three in a cosmic sense — what you do in this lifetime will be revisited upon you three times more intently in your NEXT life. Likewise, the things that are happening to you this time around, be they be good or bad, are your paybacks for actions in previous lifetimes. If you accept the concept of reincarnation, this adaptation of the Law of Threefold Return may resonate with you a little more than the traditional interpretation.

In some traditions of Wicca, coven members initiated into upper degree levels may use the Law of Threefold Return as a way of giving back that which they receive — in other words, what other people do to you, you are permitted to return threefold, whether it’s good or bad.

Ultimately, whether you accept the Law of Three as a cosmic morality injunction or simply a part of life’s little instruction manual, it is up to you to govern your own behaviors, both mundane and magical. Accept personal responsibility, and always think before you act.