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| Take an Orange Candle anointed with Cinnamon oil, Clove, or Lotus oil. Light the candle and say 3 times: “Brimstone, Moon, And Witch’s Fire, Do this spell at midnight. |
Tag: Witch
Differences in Ethics and Magick
Differences in Ethics and Magick
When looking into Traditional Witchcraft, the differences in the views of ethics and magick are an aspect that a lot of Wiccans have a great amount of disagreement with. In Traditional Witchcraft there is a stress on the responsibility of the Witch, just as there is in Wicca, but that responsibility is looked at more in the way of a responsibility to protect yourself and those close to you in any way you can, even if that means using adverse magick in a way that Wiccan never would. For some of today’s modern day Traditional Witches, the way Wiccans will “turn the other cheek” or not get involved in a magickal sense in some situations, is seen as being somewhat of a weakness.
Ethics
Ethics
There are a lot of different components that can be looked at in a compare and contrast way between Traditional Witchcraft and Wicca. But before looking at those, let’s first take a brief glance at what ethics are to the Traditional Witch. Traditional Witches have no code or laws of ethics to live by. The most important factor in using magick is the idea that you will be responsible for your actions. Because in Traditional Witchcraft there is no Wiccan Rede or other moral code, the use of “black magick”, hexes, curses, and the like, are not ruled out on principle. In fact, to the Traditional Witch, it is looked at as honorable to do whatever is necessary to protect oneself and ones family in a time when they are facing potential danger on any level. With responsibility being the main focus, the idea in Traditional Witchcraft that there is no good or evil, only your intent, this gives even more of a weight on the shoulders of a Witch considering adverse magick.
The Spiritual Laws of Witchcraft
The Spiritual Laws of Witchcraft
Witches know that no truths are absolute. There is no one absolute truth for anything. There is no one way to interpret reality, behave, think, or live. Therefore there is no single way to practice magick, pray, celebrate the seasons or spirituality. The idea that there is only one truth to any question leads to fanaticism, compulsion, and persecution.
Witches understand that the Universe is in perfect harmony and balance. Therefore, everything has an equal and opposite, not necessarily equated to a negative. For example: male and female, light and darkness, up and down, positive and negative, left and right.
Witches realize that for every action there is a reaction. Most of us view this as the Law of Karma. Therefore if you create evil, you will receive evil inn return, create good and receive good in return. Harmony begets harmony, evil begets evil, and balance begets balance.
Witches know and realize that we are all one. We are connected. Everything that you do to another, influences yourself either directly or indirectly.
A Witch should never close his or her mind to knowledge of any kind. It is through the continuous process of learning that we raise our personal vibration and our attunement to Deity.
A Witch acknowledges the Magickal Circle as Holy Ground. Therefore a Witch shall purify him/herself before entering or casting a Circle. All notions of hatred, arguments, or prejudices of any kind have no place within Circle.
Witches use the energies around themselves to effect change within their lives and the lives of others. These energies are manifest as the 5 Elements ( Earth, Air, Fire, Water, and Spirit). The Witch becomes a conduit for the Divine and Earthly energies used during Magick and Ritual.
Witches use common sense and wisdom and do not share the Mysteries with common fools. The Mysteries are not to be wasted in this, or any other manner.
Witches do not point out the identity of other Witches. Discrimination still haunts many of us. If one brings about such an incident, he/she is directly responsible for the harm that befalls the one revealed.
The Shamanic Witch and Ethics
The Shamanic Witch and Ethics
Author: Eilan
When ethics from a Pagan perspective are discussed in the public domain the ultimatum of “Harm None” arises. I have written on the Harm None ethic and the Pure Will in my book, Spirited. When I write, I am conscious of the fact that I cater to a wider audience than those of the decidedly shamanic and traditionalist inclinations, therefore I aim to be largely accessible. For this reason, some people misinterpret me as decidedly eclectic, when I am actually avowedly syncretic within my personal path.
I am also an initiate of the WildWood Tradition of Witchcraft. I do not say these things to place myself above the eclectic philosophies, which are entirely valid and of completely equal worth, I merely wish to assert my personal practice as distinct from the implications derived from my publications thus far (1) .
Not all Witches of the WildWood share the same focus or emphasis on the shamanic arts (ecstatic, visionary, Gnostic, etc.) as I do; however these aspects of spirituality innately inform our philosophies and cosmologies. We teach one ‘ultimatum’ when exploring ethics and the Craft, and it can be summed up by the following – total freedom equals total responsibility. “An ye harm none, do what ye will” is contextualized by this precept of freedom and responsibility.
Let me orient this flow of philosophy; I will begin with our definitive foundation – What is a Witch?
A Witch is an individual who through ignited, expanded and deepened awareness serves and celebrates the Life-Force as manifest both in unity and plurality. Our belief in, experience of and reverence for the interconnectivity of all things creates an aptitude for the magickal arts and through science and craft (spiritual philosophy and technology) we are able to consciously ride the tides of change, which rule the cycle of birth, death and renewal.
This is by no means an official definition of ‘Witch’, however this definition has been an evolving and shared understanding within the WildWood over the past three or four years. We uphold it because it conveys that Witchcraft is a spiritual and mystical discipline without implying dogmatic interpretations of ritual or theo (a) logy. It allows for the personal connection, supported by a fertile paradigm, which implies its own ethic.
That all are divine, and equal in that divinity, that we are held in Being by Mystery and we are alive and conscious creates a self-reflection. This reflection speaks tomes on the sacred realities of interconnection and the rhythms and tides of vitality. A Witch knows, by virtue of his/her spiritual experience, that humanity (and all of life) is not inherently moral. Nature (what Is) teaches us that Life feeds from Life, but always with balance. The All equalizes itself – this is the power of death; that energy transforms and evolves is testimony to the rise and fall of flesh.
Witches embrace matter as Mother (Latin ‘mater’) and declare and experience the physical world as intelligent, sentient and holy. Flesh and form are merely receptacles for and of Spirit, they are the perfect expression of Spirit – the Temple houses the God.
An ethic that derives from the sacred autonomy of an aware individual is informed and directed by experience. One cannot warn a youth of this or that unless it is contextualized, relevant and pragmatic. One cannot say, “Do not lie because lying is sinful!” If lying as an act is considered holistically and as interwoven with the entirety of the faculties, then it can be said that if one beholds integrity and honours the implicit balance of Life and wishes to flow and be, rather than to ‘disregard and desecrate’, lying becomes relative. The onus is on an individual’s autonomous self-determination, in other words, according to one’s principles as a collective how would lying impede on or dishonour my personal ethic?
Personally I hold honesty as valuable and therefore sacred. I cannot hope to cultivate honesty in my life unless I myself perpetuate the ethic. I am only as virtuous as I choose to be. I do good because it is good, rather than as the opposite of or alternative to ‘evil’.
When ethical behaviour concerns itself with the rejection of evil as core principle (motivation to make a contrasting example) we enter the realm of morality. When a Wiccan declares that he/she will do no harm because the threefold law would mean that thrice-greater harm would return, this is morality equal to the often-Christian desire to secure heavenly-admission by performing acts of charity. An ethical Witch claims virtue as a lamp to bring clarity to circumstance, rather than to blind hidden demons in the shadows. If we perceive the natural as adversary rather than ally (albeit volatile) we engender the philosophy of dualism, and this paradigm has often proven to be at the source of the world’s imbalance and injustice. To be able to look upon one’s reflection and see the attempt of virtue, here and now is the truth of compassion revealed.
If I am intrinsically free and thus entirely responsible for ‘self’, then the ‘virtue’ of Life is in understanding that self is in all things. Thus ecstasy is the natural product of virtue. Ecstasy forms the foundation of shamanism, and thus Shamanic Witchcraft (2) . This is not limited to the physical sweating, shaking and shivering which characterize the methods of some medicine people; I speak of ecstasy as something of a metaphor. This metaphor relates directly to the word’s etymology – ek stasis, Greek for ‘outside standing’. The qualifying factor of ecstasy is, in context, that the boundary of the ego is dissolved…there is no limit to self because the perspective has shifted and we understand the true nature of self as unbound and free, and therefore responsible. Divine Unity creates Divine Synchronicity and to those who have eyes to see and ears to listen the ‘magick and miracle’ of Life opens up.
Witchcraft is a sacred spiritual discipline that has manifested the world over as magickal tradition – Witches have been and are feared because we do know, we do see and we are powerful. All this because we accept the Immanent Divine and see ourselves as woven into it.
Every act then becomes imbued with consciousness – my being here now is a gift and I intend to honour the giver…this is in right relationship with the world, and all is in balance because of it.
Footnotes:
(1) My most recent publication, By Land, Sky and Sea: Three Realms of Shamanic Witchcraft, speaks briefly on the contrast between eclecticism and syncretism.
(2) I tend to teach that Witchcraft is inherently shamanic at its core.
Wicca, Witchcraft or Paganism? What’s the Difference, Anyway?
Wicca, Witchcraft or Paganism?
What’s the Difference, Anyway?
By Patti Wigington, About.com Guide
If you’re reading this page, chances are you’re either a Wiccan or Pagan, or you’re someone who’s interested in learning more about the modern Pagan movement. You may be a parent who’s curious about what your child is reading, or you might be someone who is unsatisfied with the spiritual path you’re on right now. Perhaps you’re seeking something more than what you’ve had in the past. You might be someone who’s practiced Wicca or Paganism for years, and who just wants to learn more.
For many people, the embracing of an earth-based spirituality is a feeling of “coming home”. Often, people say that when they first discovered Wicca, they felt like they finally fit in. For others, it’s a journey TO something new, rather than running away from something else.
Paganism is an Umbrella Term
Please bear in mind that there are dozens of different traditions that fall under the umbrella title of “Paganism”. While one group may have a certain practice, not everyone will follow the same criteria. Statements made on this site referring to Wiccans and Pagans generally refer to MOST Wiccans and Pagans, with the acknowledgement that not all practices are identical.
Not All Pagans are Wiccans
There are many Witches who are not Wiccans. Some are Pagans, but some consider themselves something else entirely.
Just to make sure everyone’s on the same page, let’s clear up one thing right off the bat: not all Pagans are Wiccans. The term “Pagan” (derived from the Latin paganus, which translates roughly to “hick from the sticks”) was originally used to describe people who lived in rural areas. As time progressed and Christianity spread, those same country folk were often the last holdouts clinging to their old religions. Thus, “Pagan” came to mean people who didn’t worship the god of Abraham.
In the 1950s, Gerald Gardner brought Wicca to the public, and many contemporary Pagans embraced the practice. Although Wicca itself was founded by Gardner, he based it upon old traditions. However, a lot of Witches and Pagans were perfectly happy to continue practicing their own spiritual path without converting to Wicca.
Therefore, “Pagan” is an umbrella term that includes many different spiritual belief systems – Wicca is just one of many.
Think of it this way:
Christian > Lutheran or Methodist or Jehovah’s Witness
Pagan > Wiccan or Asatru or Dianic or Eclectic Witchcraft
As if that wasn’t confusing enough, not all people who practice witchcraft are Wiccans, or even Pagans. There are a few witches who embrace the Christian god as well as a Wiccan goddess – the Christian Witch movement is alive and well! There are also people out there who practice Jewish mysticism, or “Jewitchery”, and atheist witches who practice magic but do not follow a deity.
What About Magic?
There are a number of people who consider themselves Witches, but who are not necessarily Wiccan or even Pagan. Typically, these are people who use the term “eclectic Witch” to apply to themselves. In many cases, Witchcraft is seen as a skill set in addition to or instead of a religious. A Witch may practice magic in a manner completely separate from their spirituality; in other words, one does not have to interact with the Divine to be a Witch.
The Most Wonderful Time of the Year
The Most Wonderful Time of the Year
Author: Grey Ghost
“It’s the most wonderful time of the year” … caught that old lyric as we were walking thru the mall. While the song is more in line with the winter season, I was always fond of the sentiment around the first of September when the kids would go back to school some twenty-five years ago. We in the Witch/Pagan community should be profoundly singing that lyric as Samhain approaches.
As the eve of all hallows is upon us, reflect upon the past year. The veil between Malkuth and Spheres of the spiritual realm grows thin, allowing contact made easier with those who are no longer of the flesh. Sing the praises of those past glories and rejoice upon the “good moments” spent with those now incarnate. The time is now!
Perhaps the most difficult subject to discuss is the process of passing from this reality of the body to the true nature of spiritual existence. Plainly evident from concerns spent here is the underlying preoccupation that our younger members have with the material world. They have not made the discovery that this physical world is of much less importance than their true inner nature as spiritual beings. They seem to value peer acceptance above spiritual advancement.
They appear to value a feel good spell or enchantment more than accumulation of Prana or life force. And lastly, they speak little of transferring psychic energy to heal others. While living with the reality of physical world has needs, the true power of the Witch needs to explore the spiritual realms if we are complete or even contemplate the great work.
Enough of the soap box … my purpose in this writing is to remind you that this is the most wonderful time of the year for the Witch in all of us. This is the time to celebrate the past year and plan for the next year. Now is the time to prepare ourselves for the turn of wheel, celebrating the life force around us.
One of the chief methods of focusing our inner power is the art of visualizing. Many books and speakers talk of this in a manner of fact way as if everyone can visualize without further lessons. So I will speak to especially our younger members of a simple approach to basic visualization.
Peoples all over the world of many differing religious views have known for a long time that the love of the Lord and Lady was more than asking and receiving material things. The Pagan community then must come to realize the grace and love of our Lady are the really only important gifts that She can bestow upon us.
We must first learn to manipulate the forces and forms of the Pentagram, to understand the energies and powers of the universe. Once understood, we can begin the quest to understand ourselves. By quieting our minds and subduing the unimportant thoughts, we train our minds to be fit containers to be used to hold the wisdom and love of our Lady. Only through these cleansing rituals can we become prepared.
The visualization: gaze now upon the pentagram. You must be able to see the pent alpha in our mind. When you open your eyes, the pentagram will remain momentarily in mid air. This will take practice and patience; it does not happen over night. Once you can hold the pentagram for at least thirty seconds after you open you eyes, you will be ready for the nest step.
Any visualized symbol can be use to project your personal energy. Forming the pentagram should be practiced and practiced until proficient before using this method in creation of the circle. To form a pentagram, we start by seeing the pentagram by using retinal retention (scientific term) .
This is not the same as projecting the energy and visualizing the pentagram. Using a pentagram or pentacle, look at the object with much intensity and focus under a bright light. Close your eyes tightly and you will “see” an after image or retinal retention of the pentagram in your minds eye. A bright image against the dark of having your eyes shut. This exercise creates an image that will be similar to the one you will create through visualization.
Exercise 2: This exercise will allow you, with practice, to create an image like the one you “saw” in the previous example, without looking at an example of the pentagram. By creating the image in your mind along, you are imbuing it with your personal energy.
Look at a candle, white in a dark room; then close your eyes. The bright spot of light will be seen by the mind’s eye after your eyes are shut. (Retinal retention again) Relax for a few minutes until the retinal retained image of the candle is gone. Then close your eyes, relax and let a white point of light appear. Think about it and your mind will do it.
You may need to think of the candlelight to make it appear. Do not look at a bright light to create the point of light, which is retinal retention and not creation of power. Once you can form the dot of pure white light with your mind, move the dot to create a line. Repeat this exercise until when you open your eyes, a retained image of the line remains in the air in front of you in the darkened room.
Exercise 3: close your eyes and form a line with your mind. Now form another line, whose head starts where the first line ends. Continue this process until you can form a pentagram. Once you have practiced enough to form a pentagram, open your eyes and “see” the retained image in the air.
Exercise 4: Close your eyes again and form a pentagram and then draw a circle around it forming a pentacle. Practice until you can do this with ease; then open your eyes and “see” the completed pentacle in the air.
Once you achieve this level of concentration, you start the whole process over; only this time you do it with your eyes open in a darkened room. After forming the pentagram with your eyes open, light the room and retain the image in the air.
You will need to visualize, that is create the pentagram in the air without first visualizing it with your eyes closed. This again will take practice. It is sometimes easier to do one arm at a time. Some also find it easier to begin with an all white pentagram. When performing this ritual you need to sit or lay in a relaxed, comfortable position, but not so relaxed that you fall asleep. To avoid falling asleep, you might find that it is best to perform this ritual in the morning when fully awake. Once that you can hold the pentacle for a full thirty seconds in the air, with your eyes open and in color, then are you ready to proceed to the next step. Do not proceed until you have mastered the basics.
Enter your meditative state, control breathing. Prana in, air out; Prana in, air out. Establish your pentagram in the air, in color. Start your mantra while holding the image of the pentagram. Now draw a white circle around the pentagram, just touching it at the tips. You now have the Pentacle. Look deeply at the center and clear your mind of all but the mantra.
You will now under go the “A … Ha”. Sometimes it happens the first time. Others take many times for it to occur. Eventually it happens to all who perform this ritual religiously. What you see inside the Pentacle is completely yours. I will not introduce preconceived ideas of what you will find, but I know in my heart of hearts that you will not be disappointed. This is the first stage of Illuminati. You will need to practice this for sometime to become proficient enough to proceed further. As a guide, I suggest that you be able to “see” what is inside of the formed Pentacle for at least a minute before you continue.
This, my young friends, is the basic of visualization. To be able to manipulate the mind and control your physical world with you inner spiritual being is our goal of these exercises. You must be proficient with the basics before you are able to perform the more advanced magicks.
Realistic Magical Advice for the “Good” Witch
Realistic Magical Advice for the “Good” Witch
Author: The Wyld Dream
As a spell slinger I am often referred to those in “dire need.” Sometimes the problem is rather simple. I have been sent after lost keys, a missing cat, and have had many requests for the usual prosperity spells. Occasionally the difficulty is more occult in nature and there is a problem spirit, a nasty Witch, or even a demonic possession.
Often the person in need is not a Witch and has little or no familiarity with real Magic. They have heard from others that I am “the real deal” and that I can help them. They are willing to suspend their disbelief and trust their contact’s assertion that I can and will magically solve the problem for free. Such is the way of the “good Witch.” A real Magic user often puts themselves out there as a white hat, a do-gooder, a veritable magnet for trouble and we traditionally do it for free.
There is a little saying, “You get what you pay for.” In the case of magical advice this well-known axiom tends to work in the reverse. Very few truly good and helpful Witches make significant amounts of money from practicing their craft. Most won’t take a dime. All that these generous folk ask for is the acknowledgement that they are “real” Magic users, and that you fully accept that when all is said and done that you have been helped by their use of Magic.
I firmly believe that the craft of will working reality is a skill. Yes some people have natural talent, but in the end most people can learn how to consciously change reality and “make things happen.” I believe that everyone, even the most dense and ardent disbeliever already uses Magic daily. The difference between Witches, sorcerers, Wicca, and other will workers is that we do it with purpose.
Using Magic is like dreaming. All people must sleep and all must dream but some people are able to lucid dream. They can control their dream reality. Some have a natural ability to lucid dream, others have taught themselves this skill, several people can lucid dream only rarely, and a few people simply cannot seem to ever remember their dreams at all. Those who can lucid dream have different levels of skill, a number of them can change themselves, some can change their environment, and others can force various people or elements into a dream.
In our waking world there are people that are natural magi. They don’t think much about how they do Magic and find that almost any technique of ritual, focus, or magical practice will work for them. Then there are people who have to try a little bit harder. They have to seek out the magical practice that works best for them. This is an ongoing process of trial and error that can at times be exhausting.
Then there are the difficult ones, the ones that really want to believe, but simply cannot “see” Magic. Where others see providence, they can only see coincidence. And then there are the unfortunate ones. They are completely blind to all Magic and insist that those those of us who do see Magic are mistaken.
Real Magic is a balance between the two opposites of providence and coincidence. For one who is aware of the underlying structure of reality there is no such thing as coincidence, and therefore conversely there is also no true providence. Somewhere between destiny and random happenstance lies the will worker’s mutable continuum of existence. They see that there is a multiplicity of Truths to this existence, and often Witches who are actually capable of effecting change can choose the Truth or the reality that they want to accept at any given moment.
This leads us back to the simple problem of a set of missing keys. When dealing with this predicament there are certain Truths that must be established: Have the keys been stolen, or are the keys “lost?” When and where the keys last seen? Where would the keys normally be? How many other people could have affected the location of the keys?
However before I lift so much as an eyebrow in an effort to find the keys using Magic I must first establish that the client has tried every mundane way possible to find the keys. Why? Because Magic isn’t a toy. Magic is not the easy button you slam whenever you are finding that things in life are inconvenient. If they were my keys, and I was practicing my skill with Magic I would attempt to use my ability of just “knowing” to find the keys. This practice would be for my own edification, and would teach me a valuable lesson on accepting my “knowing” but when working for someone else I need to consider the fact that I may be removing an opportunity for them to learn.
There are many lessons in a lost set of keys. Just telling someone where their keys are teaches them nothing. There are lessons about responsibility, about caution, about being organized, and in the case of an unrecoverable set of keys, about replacing locks. Casting a Magic spell won’t help them in the long run because they will just lose their keys again. Do I have a right to helps someone circumvent their lessons? Do I want the client to put me in their speed dial and call me every time they lose their keys or a contact lens? I don’t think so. Though, maybe just this once they need to learn that Magic is real. So, if I decide that is indeed the lesson that they need to learn the best way to teach them is to let them do it for themselves.
If someone has tried every mundane means feasible short of renting a metal detector to find their keys and are ready to ask for magical help I would consider what would work best for them. In this case dowsing rods seem appropriate. I would take two pieces of thick wire of nearly the same length, bend the ends to make handles and give them to the client and explain that they will point toward the keys. This has in the past lead to a merry chase where in we find every set of keys except the right ones when all the while I know the keys are in their car.
Sometimes there are no keys to find. The keys have been “found” and moved and are no longer lost. A stranger picked them up off the sidewalk or a coworker absconded with them. In these instances I have no choice but to tell people, “Sorry. I don’t see them. I don’t think that they are lost.” We can try to find them, but sometimes some things don’t come back even with real magical help. At this point I recommend putting an ad in the local paper.
This same logical approach can be applied to even the worst situations such as the negative spirit, and the demonic possession. First have they tried any and every possible mundane way to deal with the problem? Have they looked into medical help and made sure they don’t have a brain tumor or a chemical imbalance? Do they live underneath major power lines? Are they exposed to hallucinogens or drugs on a regular basis? Did they do LSD in high school? Think about it, the client isn’t a doctor, nor are they a Witch, can they honestly tell the difference between a hallucination and a visitation? Probably not, so try to encourage them to seek medical advice first.
Once you have established that they are indeed sane and healthy, ask them why they haven’t gone to their church. This is an important question. I am a Polytheist and therefore I don’t casually recommend organized religion as a way to deal with these problems but historically it has been effective to use high ritual to strengthen the mind of the afflicted and allow them to use their faith to either overcome the spirit or close their mind to random spiritual minutia. If you are their clergy then it is your duty to give them as much help as you can. Do not offer help you are not qualified to give, such as medical advice. Do seek a second opinion. Sometimes when you have a very good hammer, such as Magic, all problems start looking like nails, but not every problem is magical or spiritual.
The difference between a hallucination and a visitation is generally speaking academic. Do you honestly believe that there is a presence behind the voices your client hears? Do you hear them too? Can you “feel” a presence? Do you think you can make them go away? If the answer is yes, then you have a visitation. Otherwise if only a single individual can experience the disembodied presence it is a hallucination, and if it isn’t caused by a chemical imbalance there are a myriad of other mundane explanations that can be examined, and finally there is the potential for a genuine but singular haunting or possession.
It is important to consider the possibility that the problem can also be both chemical and magical, and sometimes solving one half of the equation; the chemical, you can also solve the magical problem. Someone who has a lithium imbalance or a drinking problem is far more likely to draw dark spirits than other people. In essence their minds are often more open to negative influence. Righting their chemical imbalance through professional help of doctors, medications, or addiction programs can lead to a reduction in spiritual problems.
And then there are those that don’t fit into either category, the emotional. Occasionally you will find that a person is physically healthy, spiritually unhindered but still disturbed by an inability to cope with reality. Some people have emotional damage that you cannot help. They seek attention, are overly dramatic, and while they might truly believe that they are haunted are completely unwilling to take logical action to take care of the problem. Generally they will only take steps to make things worse because they are seeking attention. In such cases it is best for you to walk away and don’t look back.
Furthermore, it is very dangerous to try to help people who are not mentally well, and whether magical, chemical, or simply emotional someone who is fighting a dark presence is not well. Proceed with caution. Emphasize a mundane solution first. A sane healthy person has nothing to lose going to get a cursory medical examine. They won’t balk at speaking to their doctor nor will they shun getting their home checked for uncommonly strong electromagnetic fields caused by power lines, fault lines, or poor wiring. Someone who doesn’t want to deal with the mundane problem and solutions probably won’t actually be able to accept your magical help either, so don’t waste your time.
This leads me to EM fields, radiation, and other sources for visual and auditory delusions. There can be many reasons why someone suddenly experiences negative or positive “spiritual” presences that have to do not with their personal psychic or magical ability but instead are based on their environment. By spiritual I mean disembodied non-corporeal entities. These disturbances can come in a vast array of visual, auditory, tactile, and olfactory “hallucinations”.
Again I must emphasize that it can be both a real tangible scientific cause, such as disruptive electromagnetic fields that cause the brain to see things that aren’t there, and it can also be a spirit using those same EM fields as fuel and “messing” with their poor human neighbors because they can. Take care of one problem, poor wiring causing a high EM field in a house, and generally the person won’t have visions, or the ghost won’t be able to bother them any more. (Or at least, not as much.)
And as frightening as the situation likely is for your client there are things they can do that will help. First they must deal with the problem rationally and explore all possible causes and cures and consider possible compromises. Not all spirits are evil. Usually they will come to a Magic user for help because this is a new and frightening experience for them. You must ask them is the really that bad, or is it something they just aren’t accustomed to? If you believe the presence is tied to a location you must ask them why they won’t move. Keep in mind that just because their house is old doesn’t mean it is a ghost bothering them, nor is the strange noise just the house settling. Sometimes the answer is both, and occasionally it is neither.
Teenagers, mostly girls, tend to draw particularly violent and aggressive spiritual disturbances known as poltergeists. This label is a misnomer. It indicates that there is a “noisy ghost” haunting the subject but I have fond that half the time it is subject herself having uncontrollable psychic energy surges unrelated to any outside manifestations. Generally these go away as the girl matures; rarely does the individual learn to control the phenomenon. Some have reoccurrences later in life under particularly stressful situations. If you interrogate a subject you might ask if they were “haunted” in their teenage years and if they are currently under stress from a source other than the visitation.
In the case of possession, there is no positive compromise. A human has exclusive and prime right to their body and under no circumstance should they be encouraged to “share” that private space. In this instance I must insist you ask for and ardently seek help in your area. Start with medical. A chemical imbalance can make a person weak, and susceptible to possession. An emotional imbalance can cause that as well. Remember that if you are not experienced at exorcism you can get hurt, the client can get hurt, and sometimes you can fail utterly. Possession is often linked with suicide, homicide and self-mutilation. It is not for the inexperienced. Do not take it lightly.
Finally sometimes there is no solution, all your best efforts mundane and magical fail, and the best advice you can give to a client is in any situation other than a possession is “Deal with it.” Sometimes a person just has to be strong and accept that their reality is not going to conform to the norm.
Before you compose an email to me you should know that I am not going to help you any more than I already am right now. I wrote this article to give you all the advice I have. It is my very best advice. I am not going to let you fly me to your city to deal with a ghost. I am not going to let you drive the possessed individual to me. This is your quest, and if it leads to them being institutionalized. I’m sorry but it is for the best. At least they won’t be able to hurt themselves as easily.
Remember, a good Magic user is a practical Magic user. Seek every solution, not just the magical solution. Try the mundane way first; it works for billions of other human beings.
Remember that real Magic comes in many forms. Sometimes the magical solution comes through apparently mundane means such as a client getting your number from a friend who happened to be ease dropping on a conversation and thereby leads to you wisely mentioning that they should the couch or the car for the keys. Use the techniques that work for you and just let Magic be.
The Way We Were vs The Way We Are
The Way We Were vs The Way We Are
Author: Ryan Hatcher
If we are to look back to the inception of modern paganism and the people who were the force behind it and were to observe how they practiced, worshipped and worked magic and compared it to how we practice, worship and work magic in modern times, while there is guaranteed to be a great deal of difference, the basic, core values should have remained the same.
I was in Norwich yesterday, a city with a strong pagan undercurrent of its own, for a brief look around the shops to pass some time while my partner enjoyed a 2-hour birthday massage, because of which my wallet had experienced a mass weight loss. So window-shopping it was. On my journey around the city I ventured into a Waterstones bookshop to have a look at their MBS section and had a skim through some of the material. Now, 90% of these books were paganism 101, which is fair enough for a standard mainstream bookshop, but reading through some of these 101 books — some of them recently published — it got me to reflecting: what is taught and considered western paganism now is much different than what it would have been considered to be 60-70 years ago.
What do I mean by this? Well, much of my personal pagan practice is inspired by these ‘old school’ methods with a touch of the modern for flavor (I’m talking about Doreen Valiente and Kevin Cochrane for the older styles, particularly Valiente; the Farrars (Stewart and Janet) represent an in-between period. Kate West and Christopher Penczack add the modern flare.) as I feel their values and ideas resonate with me. Now, keeping Valiente and Cochrane’s ideals in mind (again, more Valiente than Cochrane) , compare them to a lot of Penczack’s work and the work of similar contemporary styles and you’ll see what I’m trying to get at.
The styles and traditions of Valiente and Cochrane (hereon called the ‘older styles’) focus more on the earth-based worship side of paganism: seeing their Gods as personified manifestations of the forces of Life, Love, Death and Rebirth as well as the forces of nature in all it’s guises (be this as the four elements or simply as the grass in your lawn) . I also feel that animism in a subtler form was still there, if only felt and respected rather than overtly expressed.
The crafting of magic seems to have been simpler, as was the training (which doesn’t mean it was by any means easier than today; I’m inclined to say it was harder) . Metaphysical ideas such as energy centres, auras and layers of existence appear to have been acknowledged but were not the priority. The same for ‘the mysteries’ of the craft such as hypnosis, astral projection/trance journeying and psychism in all its forms. The works of the older styles show that they were an important part of their practice along with magic, but they were not the primary focus. I feel they were considered tools and techniques that developed along with the witch as he or she progressed down the spiritual path and was able to understand themselves and their developing abilities better and learn to control, focus and use them.
In contrast, the works of Penczack and his contemporaries (hereon called the ‘newer styles’) seem to focus more on the metaphysical ideas of paganism (energy centres, auras and layers of existence) , ‘the mysteries’ of the craft and magic as being of primary importance and therefore many chapters are devoted to these concepts. Now, I’m not saying this is strictly a bad thing; it may well suit many a new student to paganism, but when it comes to the core values about the spiritual and worship side of paganism, we start to enter the world of ‘love, light and blessed be’.
The realm of the FB, and those big furry ears seem to be cropping up more frequently in pagan literature. The spirituality of the newer styles appears to see the Old Gods as playmates: happy, fun, smiley and They do anything their precious ‘hidden children’ ask for. And unfortunately kids, you just have to look at the global history of paganism and myths of the world to now that is definitely not true. The honouring of nature and the earth extends as far as litter picking and recycling, which are very, very good ideas, and more is being suggested such as planting new trees, getting involved with wildlife protection trusts etc. Unfortunately, I feel many of the witches of the older styles, though some did get involved in these things, chose not to, possibly considering ritual devotion to be sufficient.
Ritual then is the moot point of both the old and new styles. As we are all aware, spiritual practice is a subjective thing, especially when it comes to ritual. Both new and old styles of witchcraft and paganism have placed varying levels of focus on ritual, and all have varying styles and methods in ritual that meets with their needs and the ideals of their respective traditions. However (there had to be a however) , and this goes for both old and new styles of paganism, whatever happened to just going out there and communing with nature face-to-face? No pomp and ceremony, no matter how elaborate or simple, just getting out there and being in the presence of the forces that we as pagans honour and worship.
I say, if you’re in a situation where celebrating a sabbat or an esbat with formal ritual isn’t an option, but you are within distance of a beautiful woodland, then screw it! Go for a walk in the woodland, sit under a tree and meditate! Commune with the spirits of the natural world around you and feel the power of the Old Gods, the powers of life, love, death and rebirth and pour your heart out in gratitude for all you have and for all that it means to be alive.
Wrapping it up: to me, the older styles and the newer styles and those of the styles in-between all have their good points and their bad points. The older styles are more grounded, simple and earthly. The newer styles are more flighty, ‘new-age’, hippy-esque and spiritual (in the modern concept of the word) . I’m sure you can see we have a Yin-Yang situation. And like the Yin and Yang, symbols of the older and newer styles do have parts of the other within them, but what we need to achieve is a balance between the two.
Paganism is a living and growing spiritual path and naturally changes with time, but it shouldn’t lose its heart. If we can bring together old and new, Yin and Yang, then we might be able to evolve paganism further, making it stronger, more refined and give us a definitive direction for us to aim for.
I hope that this essay will encourage pagans, both old hands and new, to review their beliefs, practices and crafts… to look back at the old, and freely explore the new and therein decide what is the best way forward in their spiritual path.
Footnotes:
Witchcraft for Tomorrow – Doreen Valiente
Witchcraft a Tradition Renewed – Evan John Jones with Doreen Valiente
The Witches’ Bible – Janet and Stuart Farrar
The Real Witches’ Handbook – Kate West
Gay Witchcraft – Christopher Penczack
Instant Magick – Christopher Penczack
Accepting The Magick
Accepting The Magick
Author: Lady Abigail
Recently a dear, young Witchlet friend of mind called me on the phone in tears. She was upset and feeling as if she was being driven to the edge off a spiritual cliff. Trying to do it all and be all she believed she should be as the perfect wife, lover, mother and Witch. We have all been there, between children, husband, job, home, money, life and kids, and not to mention schools starting again, she was becoming frayed on both ends. Her temper was running on hot and her patience toward the world pretty much gone.
I think we have all been in that place in our lives, magick or not when the mundane world seems to be overtaking our spiritual lives.
I got married very young. I had just turned 18 years old; I was in love and in love with the idea of what love and marriage should be. By the time I was 25 years I had two beautiful children, a home and a job. Being born in the 1950’s I had also been brain washed by those nasty TV programs like Ozzie and Harriet. You know the ones that told us we had to be perfect, look perfect and act perfect.
I was also a Witch and trying to keep that part of my life in the closet. I believed that could I handle it all. Plus I thought I knew it all so I was going to be the perfect everything. But life or the Fates, have a way of slapping us back into reality when needed.
By the time my youngest was 4 years old I had decided that the school systems where we lived were not safe for our children. So I began home schooling them, I had the credentials and had been subbing at local schools so what was one more job in my perfect little world. So I quit my job to stay home and be the perfect mom.
I think I was the only one that believed I could do it all. Some things had slide, so magick and my life as a Witch got put deeper and deeper into the closet. But still I was not able to handle everything perfectly the way I believed I should. I mean the wives and mothers on those TV shows never had these problems. Heck, even Lucy for all her funny mishaps still kept a perfect home and had perfect children.
My stress level was off the charts. My perfect children were driving me crazy. I didn’t realize they were just being children the way normal children were. I was working twice the hours as before trying to keep the house perfect, being up until 2 am at times trying to catch up or get ahead for the next day. Nothing was working, I was not able to keep my perfect world perfect and I was beginning to lose my patience with the world.
I decided I needed a little metaphysical and spiritual assistance. So I pulled my dusty Witches Trunk out from the back of the closet. I took out the tools I needed, the herbs and some stones for offerings. I wrote a chant I believed would help me step back and calm down so I could get control of my extremely hectic world.
I wanted to learn to be more patience with my family and children. So I wrote a spell to teach me patience and in this, bring the ability to be the perfect whatever.
That evening once everyone had gone off to bed and the children had their 12 drinks of water and so on, I went out into our small yard in Texas and formed a circle with my candles, put a light a small fire in my cauldron and worked my spell with all the energy and power I could gather.
As I careful hid everything thing back into my closet, I went to bed assured that the Goddess had heard my request and that my life would be changing for the better.
The next week was absolute hell. I mean it was like watching a hen that caught her tail feathers a fire. I was running like mad and the more I did the more fires keep popping up. I could not believe my spell had backfired in such a manner. I had been working magick since I was a child. I knew all the right tools, the right herbs so what had happened.
Not wanting to ask for help, perfect people don’t have to ask for help, I gave up. I put the kids in the car and drove to my Great Grandmother and asked her to please help me. That evening, as the children were sleeping, we sat down in my Great Grandmother’s kitchen at the small table. I looked around as thousands of memories flooded my mind from my childhood and how many talks had taken place over that table and began to cry.
I told her everything, how I was trying so hard to be perfect, how I couldn’t seem to get anything right, how everyone was driving me crazy and I had no patience for anyone or anything. What was wrong with me? I couldn’t even work a simple spell anymore.
My Great Grandmother hugged me and then we talked. For hours we just talked. She reminded me of how silly I was for even trying to be any kind of perfect, since perfect was not possible and to try to reach something unobtainable always makes you feel less than who we are.
I handed her the spell I had so carefully written and as she read over my spell she begin to laugh. “What is it?” I asked. Still laughing she said, “Honey, your spell is perfect and you got just what you asked for.” Shocked I said to her, “No I didn’t, I asked for patience and to learn to be more patience toward my family.” Smiling at me and shaking her head she explained. “Little one, you asked to learn patience. The only way one can learn patience by experiencing all those things that drive you crazy; all those things that cause you to be annoyed, irritated and impatient. That is how you learn to accept what life gives you. You learn from the experience. You are learning, though it may not be how you expected it to come. It is what you asked for.”
After that I calmed within my spirit and begin to laugh and cry until nothing but laugher was left. I learned a lot that weekend. I learned I had to be me and it was okay not to be perfect. I also learned to be careful what and how I asked for things within my spell work. The Mother of All is wise in her teachings. We learn as and what we need to according to her timing not ours. To think we can quicken the lessons may not be the experience or answer we desire, but it will be what we need.
Blessing to all,
Lady Abigail
Copyright © 08242011
By the time my youngest was 4 years old I had decided that the school systems where we lived were not safe for our children. So I began home schooling them, I had the credentials and had been subbing at local schools so what was one more job in my perfect little world. So I quit my job to stay home and be the perfect mom.
That evening once everyone had gone off to bed and the children had their 12 drinks of water and so on, I went out into our small yard in Texas and formed a circle with my candles, put a light a small fire in my cauldron and worked my spell with all the energy and power I could gather.
The next week was absolute hell. I mean it was like watching a hen that caught her tail feathers a fire. I was running like mad and the more I did the more fires keep popping up. I could not believe my spell had backfired in such a manner. I had been working magick since I was a child. I knew all the right tools, the right herbs so what had happened.
My Great Grandmother hugged me and then we talked. For hours we just talked. She reminded me of how silly I was for even trying to be any kind of perfect, since perfect was not possible and to try to reach something unobtainable always makes you feel less than who we are.
Lady Abigail
Copyright © 08242011
Learning to be a Pagan
Learning to be a Pagan
Author: Lanterna
I don’t call myself a Wiccan. And I don’t consider myself a Witch either, because I’ve just started walking the path of the Ancient Gods, though I have nurtured the love for magick since I was 11 or 12. It was on Samhain (I called it Halloween at the time) afternoon, and I felt like a huge, powerful, green energy filling my body and soul. I had no religion at the time, and I did not want to belong to any religious group: too many “must dos” and taboos and guilt feelings and intolerance. But an interest in spirituality grew and I got involved in a more or less spiritual movement that proved to be quite disastrous for my mental health. But I did not give up my “quest”.
I’m scared of labels. I’m scared of spiritual masters. I had a bad experience with one of them once. But, honestly, I don’t know how to become a “good” Pagan, if there are any ‘good’ or ‘wrong’ ways to be a Pagan. I just know I am honestly in love with the Earth. I like the divine breeze I can breathe in when I open my window at night, the magick of the roses and the grass in that moment, when everything is quiet, when there is none or very little human activity.
It would be presumptuous of me to say I’m a Witch. Do I serve the Gods well? Do I respect the Earth enough? Do I use my magic tools well enough? I’d like to meet guides but I’m leery of meeting people who are shallow or intolerant or manipulative. I’m tempted to learn on my own, through books (I would not believe everything that is written; I would think carefully about it first) , through Pagan forums or websites.
I think what matters most is the genuine love you feel for the Gods. Nobody can tell you what is the best way to serve Them, worship Them, or how to be an Authentic Pagan. Where there is a will, there is a way, and I’m sure Magick will show me the best path. Maybe I will make wonderful encounters here or somewhere else.
I’m sure some of you who read this article will think that I’m not an “Authentic Pagan” or that it’s just a fad or I do not truly want to get involved in Magick. It’s not true. As I said before, I am genuine. I’m just careful about spiritual movements: I don’t know everything about Paganism, and maybe there are, let’s say, dogmas, opinions, beliefs that I don’t agree with in my very core. I will have to find out.
One of the things that attracted me at first, in Paganism, is that it seems that followers are not judgmental of other faiths. “An’ Ye harm none, do what Ye wilt”. That sounds very wise to me. I try not to harm anyone, and I even try to help and / or comfort people when I can. And yet I am always doubting myself: in what way am I really a Pagan / a Witch? Do you ask yourself the same question? Do you sometimes look at yourself in the mirror and ask yourself: Do I deserve to call myself a Witch?
What does it mean to be a Witch?
This is why I have a hard time labeling myself, getting involved in a movement, belonging to a Coven or whatever. I’m a Truth seeker, and I want to be authentic. I am afraid of people telling me, “You’re doing it the wrong way” or “that’s not what a Pagan should do”. I am afraid of narrow-mindedness or people leading me on a dangerous path, as this happened once before.
Don’t get me wrong, if I spend a lot of time reading, thinking, and experimenting before calling myself a Witch and getting involved in Magick 100%. I think that’s what we should do in all religions: read, think over, experiment and then finally decide. We should also trust the signs when they are very strong: like that huge, powerful energy I felt on Halloween day 15 years ago. Or the bliss induced by a Pagan song. Where there is positive energy, bliss, ecstasy, there must be some truth. And it is likely the same thing when we sense that we have “abilities”. It is surely a sign.
I am also sure that when the Gods want something from us, they know how to get our attention. That’s why I try to be very attentive when I perform a ritual, when I pray, or simply when I feel the presence of the Divine sometime in the day.
So to sum up, I think it is not safe to call yourself a Wiccan or a Witch when you have not had a long experience of being into Paganism BUT it does not mean you’re not trying your best to be a genuine, faithful Pagan. It just means you need to take your time, to think this it over, to ask yourself if you are, or can be, a good Pagan before considering calling yourself something as solemn and serious as Witch.
But if you feel strongly attracted to Paganism, if you feel like you are “being called”, it sure means you have to dig in that way before you eventually realize you are (or are not) fit for this spiritual way of life. It’s not like getting a new haircut or getting a tattoo; it is something that will make you rethink your life and it demands involvement and honesty. You want to be sure you understand everything being a Witch implies so that you can walk the path with honor.
Witch’s Daily Affirmation
Daily Affirmation
I am a Witch!
I am at One with the Earth, The Universe,
and the Divine!
Let this day be free from Strife and Fear;
Let only Joy and Love come near;
With Blessings given and received
I walk in Peace in Word and Deed.
I Am A Witch
I Am A Witch
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Who have a solid sense of personal and social responsibilityWho are not afraid to stand up for what they believe in
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Witches Of The Craft® 
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