44 Days of Witchery: Day 41

A spell I've cast.

I generally don't share my spells with others so much, since I take the whole "To Keep Silent" thing fairly seriously... but here goes.

A Spell for Confidence

Preparation:
Tools: A Strength Card, a candle, a sheet of paper and pen.
Any awards or other momentos that bring up pride or feelings of accomplishment.

It is extremely important that you take a bath with your favorite scents and soaps, and take the time to fix your hair and clothes. You want to look and feel your best, or as close to it as you can get. Even if you don't feel like it, just do it.

Establish your space according to your tradition.

Charge the candle with your favorite perfume.

Take several deep slow breaths, and find your center. When you are able to speak from your heart, continue.

Talk about what's making you feel like less than you are. Try to get to the bottom of the situation. Don't hide from the feelings or bury them. Follow them and see where they're coming from.

If you need to cry or be angry, roll with it.

Then take up the momentos of your successes, and start writing what you love about yourself and your life. Write your gratitude for the things you have accomplished on the paper, list out your best and brightest moments.

When you can't think of anything more, fold the paper and set it under the candle.

Light the candle, and meditate on the Strength card.


This spell is not a quick fix, but a means of finding one's confidence and a method of understanding the ways that you are undermining yourself. As such, it might take more than one casting before you really feel the changes it can bring about.

And of course, if you hold back, aren't honest with yourself, or otherwise don't fulfill the real work of the spell... well, you get what you put into these sorts of things.

If you think you can't find anything to celebrate or momentos or awards that you've received, look again. Everyone has accomplishments. Even you. If you can't sit back and acknowledge the good things in life then the spell has no real chance of working.

And last disclaimer, if you are depressed or struggling to cope with life, the best thing you can do is to seek out help. Find a good therapist, talk to a support line, and generally get help. You don't have to suffer alone.

44 Days of Witchery: Day 40

My Altar.

I've developed a habit of photographing my altar as I change it. I have dozens of shrines here and there around the home. The kitchen has Dionysos, Helios and The Green Man. The bathroom hosts one to Bast and Amun. My bedroom and living room has Hekate, Artemis, and Demeter.

Admittedly Hekate's are the largest and most elaborate.

This one is from a ritual I did about three years ago.

44 Days of Witchery: Day 39

Inspirations:

I am inspired by time outside, amidst the trees.
By the beauty of human creativity.
By my loved ones and all that they've survived and accomplished.
By the compassion one can find in the world, if one has eyes to see.



The power of imagination makes us infinite. - John Muir

44 Days of Witchery: Day 37

Cauldrons:

My cauldron is a dutch oven. It has three legs, and is made of good cast iron.

I don't use it much, I admit. My fireplace isn't large enough for it really. It is a bit too heavy to take camping when one of my campgrounds requires a bit of hiking.

So, it is much neglected. Right now I'm storing river stones in it.

....

So, blogger has forgot all the blogs I've been following. >.< Grrr...

I'll be taking a break from blogging for at least a week starting Monday. Hope you all have a beautiful week! :D

44 Days of Witchery: Day 36

A famous witch...

Truth be told, I tend to read what the popular Pagan authors write and then go my own way.

In terms of who I most look up to...

T. Thorn Coyle is big on my list.
As is Grey Cat.
In podcasting, I have a lot of affection for Mojo and Sparrow of the Wigglian Way.

I'd like to go back and ask Gerald Gardner and Aleister Crowley some questions. And then again, if I could time travel, I'd love to talk to Pythagoras and Paracelsus and Hesiod. To talk to Medea and Kirke would be divine.

I'm not sure that the traits that make a person capable of attaining any sort of fame are those that I want in someone that I learn from. I don't really think of any of the Pagans above as famous really. Fame connotes a wide following, and even our most well-known contemporaries are really only known in our community... or in their local community.

I mean, does the average Californian know who Starhawk is? I'm pretty sure Salemites know Laurie Cabot, but that's a smaller town and she's a loud person.

Anyway, I admire some Pagans for what they've written. But they're still people, with all the flaws and fun that that entails. They don't necessarily have the key that fits the lock of my path of mysteries.

Still, if I could I'd love to study under T. Thorn Coyle, Sorita D'Este, Grey Cat, and the Wigglians. It isn't happening anytime soon, and I'm sure if it did happen, I'd question some of the lessons pretty harshly.

Ultimately we each have to walk our own way, and that means being willing to admit that being famous or published doesn't mean that the Gods whisper in their ears. I'm always a little skeptical of fame. I admit it. Fame seems a fickle beast.

Better to listen to the wisdom of what's actually being said, and weed the garden of what doesn't' work for you.

44 Days of Witchery: Day 35

Lemon Balm: Melissa Officianalis
Origins: Mediterranean World
Astrological Associations: Jupiter and Cancer (according to Culpepper.) Moon (Candace Hunter.)

For the Greeks, the honeybee was considered associated with several Gods and Goddesses. Bees attended the birth of Zeus, and several Bee Nymphs were among his nurses. The priestesses of Cybele and Rhea were called Melissae, which means bee. Even the human soul was associated with the bee.

Of all the blossoms that were beloved by bees, the lemon balm was understood as most prized, according to Pliny the Elder. It was traditional to plant lemon balm near hives to encourage them to stay and be happy.

The flowers of lemon balm are tiny, delicate, and lovely. Charlesmagne found the plant so lovely that he is said to have insisted that it be a part of all monastery gardens. In fact it was a main ingredient in Carmelite Water, which was a popular tonic in the nineteenth century and earlier.

It is also included in the liquor Chartreuse and Benedictine, both of which are medieval recipes for tonics. Paracelsus said that Lemon Balm is an herb in the elixir of life.

Shakespeare uses lemon balm as a symbol of sympathy in King Richard II, King Henry IV, and King Lear, where he describes it being used to anoint the kings. His plays also describe using lemon balm as furniture polish. The British colonies in North America use lemon balm in beverages, food, medicine, cosmetics and around the home.

It was believed in the 17th century to be a balm against baldness, mental degradation, and depression. In Polish folklore, new mothers are refreshed by a tonic of lemon balm or chamomile. It even has some reputation of extending the recipient's life.

In magic, Lemon Balm is very soothing and kind. It grows with a sense of resiliency and strength in spite of its delicate appearance. Melissae Officianalis is also known as encouraging joy and peace and self-nurturing. It is a relaxing presence. Some flower languages list lemon balm as bringing merriment and relieving stress.

If you lightly rub the leaves, a light lemon scent fills the air and your hands.

In modern medicine, studies show it can be useful for insomnia, anxiety, cold sores, antibiotic effect, and indigestion.

Sources:
Shatoiya De la Tour, "Earth Mother Herbal: Remedies, Recipes, Lotions, and Potions from Mother Nature's Healing Plants"
Liebreich, Wagner and Wendland, "The Family Kitchen Garden"
Deborah Anders Silverman, "Polish-American Folklore"
A Modern Herbal: http://botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/b/balm--02.html
University of Maryland's Herbal Database: http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/lemon-balm-000261.htm
Mountain Rose Herbs' entry on Lemon Balm: http://www.mountainroseherbs.com/learn/lemon_balm.php
The Practical Herbalist: http://www.thepracticalherbalist.com/component/content/article/53-magical-herbs/275-lemon-balm-myth-and-magic.html
Herbal Legacy's entry: http://www.herballegacy.com/Morrison_History.html

44 Days of Witchery: Day 34

Something I think people who don't know much about Paganism/Witchcraft should know.


I think I'd like to bring forward the idea, as put forward by Michael York, that we shouldn't be talking about Paganism, so much as Paganisms.

The sheer diversity that our community possesses means that there are always exceptions. One can only talk about their own beliefs and experiences and use the lens of other's experiences and history to test what has happened to you.

When a Wiccan talks about the Threefold Law or Law of Return or the Rede, that only applies to Wiccans, and different traditions deal with them in their own ways. And there's a lot more out there than Wiccan witchcraft.

It all seems to delineate along certain lines though:
Eclecticism vs. Cultural Specificity
Historically based vs. Inspirational
Gods-centered vs. Magic-centered
God is One vs. Gods are Many

Really it isn't a clear distinction however, as each category is really more of a spectrum.
For example, I lean slightly towards eclecticism, but don't cross the line of approaching Gods from multiple pantheons in the same ritual. While I may maintain certain devotions to Bast-Mut and Amun, I don't do those things in the same rite as one to Hekate. The rituals are even different based upon their cultures.

To know what needs to change for the rituals, I look to history, but I also listen to my intuition and when I am inspired to think of something new, I try it out. If it works, I may keep it. If it doesn't, I toss it.

I fall pretty far towards being focused on my relationship with the Gods rather than working a lot of magic. Magic happens, sure, but it usually has a lot to do with something I'm doing for the Gods. I don't cast spells for parking spaces or the like. I do cast healing and love into my cooking, and maintain some basic magic for my home and sanity, but really my work is about learning about myself and how to become a better devotee to the Gods in my life.

When it comes to the last bit I'm a blend. I believe that the Gods are unique parts of one greater whole. Just like I'm part of humanity but am independent. Or the way that we're all part of Earth's ecosystem without losing our individuality.

...
The important part to consider is that other Pagans would fall in a completely different pattern than I. Some of us are conservatives politically, and some of us are assholes. Some of us are big ol' hippies and others aren't at all.

And some, like me, may cast spells and do divination, while holding great affection for the world of Science.

44 Days of Witchery: Day 33

Rune of my Choice: Hagalaz

Not a rune that I suspect many people would choose. I don't really work with the runes much, though I have a set that I made and blooded myself. If I need divination done, I tend to go to Tarot, Oracles, or my pendulum.

That said, a few runes have special places in my heart, and Hagalaz is the most loved by me.

Hagalaz is generally understood as "Hail" - it denotes wrath, storms, destructive forces unleashed upon one's life or psyche.

The Old Icelandic poem for it is:
"Hail
cold grain
and shower of sleet
and sickness of serpents."

So, why do I value it?
Really, it isn't my story to tell. Suffice to say the first real gift that my husband gave me was a glass pendant he made, and, totally by accident, one side of that necklace had the rune Hagalaz on it.

It suited my life at the time, and when he made it the rune fit that time of his life as well.

I keep that necklace in a special place today, as it really can't be worn any longer without risking damage to it.

For me, when I see that pendant, I am reminded that I weathered the storm, and out of it I was born renewed. My life today, for all its occasional headaches and issues (and who doesn't have those!), is amazing and I love it with all my heart. Without that storm, I never would have been able to grow and change into who I am today.

So, in spite of its ill tidings, Hagalaz fills me gratitude. It may not be a very traditional understanding, but it works for me. With thanksgiving just around the corner, this actually makes for a very appropriate post. I love how that works out.

44 Days of Witchery: Day 32

Faery of my Choice, eh?

I don't do much with the Fey, except bribe them when they steal my stuff.

There's so much misinformation about them. People seem to either want to make the Good Folk all gentle and sweet or they try to make them into the incarnation of evil. The truth is a bit of all of the above. Traditionally you don't talk about them directly out of concern for attracting their attention. Thus the euphemisms...

The Good Folk, Fair Folk, The People Under the Hill.

There are a lot of Kings and Queens of these fine peoples, and the landscape of Scotland and Ireland is dotted with their names.
From Cnoc Aine in Limerick (that would be it in the photo) to Dunany in Louth in Ireland, Aine has left her stamp throughout the land. As the Queen of the Good Folk, Aine continues to influence the world.

Her name means 'Brightness' or 'Delight,' and before she was understood as a Queen, she was a Goddess. The daughter of Mannannan Mac Lir and fostered by a King of the Good Folk. She gives the body its vital spark of life.

Yet for the family of the Corrs of Derry, she is the Bean Sidhe who fortells their death.

Like I said, the folk are a bit more complex than a lot of things like to make them out to be. Much like the rest of life.

Sources:
Shee-eire.com has a lot of great information on the figures of Irish Mythology.
There's also this bit on The Folk.

44 Days of Witchery: Day 30

Pagan/Witchy Movie:
I love and adore The Fountain. There are no Witches or Pagans in it. Just eternal love and devotion that transcends death.

From being inspired by the Popol Vuh to talking about Xibalba, The Fountain has a lot of elements of the original Maya beliefs. The way I understand the non-linear story is one that embraces reincarnation. Even better there's a theme of the quest of immortality which is a common theme in ancient myth.

And lastly, throughout the entire film is the symbol of the Tree of Life.

"All these years, all these memories, there was you. You pull me through time."

44 Days of Witchery: Day 29

Wand:

My wand isn't finished, and hasn't been finished for about four years. lol - I'm big on feeling my way through the process of making my tools, and this one isn't ready yet. I think part of my problem is that it doesn't look like your typical wand. It is about 3/4 of an inch thick and shaped more like a wand from a tarot deck than like the wands you buy at the store.

It's made of plum wood, and the bark has been carved by me into a design of ivy leaves. I'm slowly carving the tip of it back so that it can hold a crystal. I have a grip made of green cotton yarn on it.

It'll get finished one day, but for now, I do without.

44 Days of Witchery: Day 28

I seem to have skipped a day, but I am not sure where at... *shrug* Oh, well.

-----------

Today's topic is Water.

When I was about 8 or so my mom took me and my brothers out to the Hill Country. I had never seen water so pure and clear as they have at the Frio River. I love to swim and it is hard to keep me from the water.

I think about the Frio when I consider water. The Frio is spring fed and ice cold. It is clear as glass and deceptive. When you first look at this river it looks shallow and placid, but the first thing my mother said when I got ready to get in was, "It's deeper than it looks." And she was right. What was more, the water was home to monsters. In the warmer waters, the waters in Texas harbor snakes and, closer to Louisiana, alligators.

She made me step into the water where it was shallow, tumbling over riverstones and sparkling in the dappled light.

Water is that way though. It is beautiful and deceptive. It can be freezing yet swift. It can be clear as the sky or grey as storms or the color of stone. Blue, turquoise, purple, grey, or glass. Swift or slow, it takes the form of where it is or whatever it is held within.

All this is much like the way of the heart. Emotions are changeable, flexible, and move deep inside of us all. They can spring up in unexpected places, and have unknown depths. There are even monsters lurking in the darkness of the invisible currents.

The ability to recognize those currents and navigate our lives through doldrums and storms can soothe the journey of our lives. But it is a treacherous path, and means confronting memories and instincts that we might not wish to see.

44 Days of Witchery: Day 27

Today's entry is supposed to be a witchy "want-it-now"... Hmmm...

I don't exactly have something I want right this moment. Stuff can be a distraction from the spiritual.

That said, I'm patiently biding my time until I can commission a statue from Jeff Cullen of Hekate. They're not too expensive, and he builds them around a core of stones and herbs that are relevant to the deity.

I'm also hoping to score a copy of Maxine Miller's statue of Hekate.

But these aren't things that I want right this moment. What one really desires to have in their lives, one should be willing to wait for.

44 Days of Witchery: Day 21

Favorite Scent:

Natural or chemical? I'm very keen with my sense of smell. I have a raging addiction to Black Phoenix Alchemy Labs. One that has been sorely ignored in the past year or so.

Favorite scents...
Honeysuckle on spring mornings.
Bread yeast proofing in the kitchen.
Apple cider warming on the stove.
Roses fresh from the garden.
Live rosemary - There's a huge patch of it on campus and I regularly visit it and run my hands through it just because it smells so good.
Fresh lemon balm from my patio.
Warm hot Earl Grey.
Dragon's blood burning on a charcoal.
Campfire smoke in my clothes after a good time hanging around a fire with friends.

and lastly, not really a scent... exactly, but
the sharp ice sensation when you get the first really cold snap in winter. It feels and smells clean to me.

44 Days of Witchery: Day 20

A picture of a tarot card and its meaning.

That's my bedroom altar with two cards from Aleister Crowley's Thoth deck.
You can see The Star clearest.

The Star is about hopes and dreams. She is the guiding star. The Star inspires us to our higher purpose. She is about flow and serenity.

In The Fool's Journey, the Star follows the tumble down chaos of the Tower, and the pain thereof. The Star is the moment when you start looking past the struggles and life-changing moments with the Tower.

But the thing about following our hopes and dreams is... we can get lost. So the card that follows is the Moon. The Moon offers spiritual guidance, but can also lead us towards confusion, or lunacy.

44 Days of Witchery: Day 19

The Element of Fire -

A short post today since I'm at a deadline crunch. :) A few of them actually.

Which rather works for a discussion on fire now that I think on it. After all, this is the point where I summon all my Will and buckle down.

Fire is about Willpower and passion, heat and transformation. It devours earth and air and in the process creates renewal. It tempers steel so that we can hunt, cook, and defend for ourselves.

A healthy fire is delicately balanced, and needs tending to, just as our send of Passion and Will. An imbalanced Will can either result in lethargy or in being run down into exhaustion. Imbalanced Passion means rage or apathy.

Fire can burst free and break down everything of value. It destroys, and the ashes of its destruction lays out the foundations of a new creation.

It is the phoenix, and the wildfire, the volcano, and the desert. It isn't always comfortable, and even challenges our definitions of good on occasion, but it lives within all things as the illuminating force of life.

44 Days of Witchery: Day 18

The Paranormal *cues creepy music*

Strictly speaking, I'd argue that what most people think of as "paranormal" is really just plain old normal.

I think the chances are that things like aliens exist, but I'm not won over as far as whether they visit Earth. It just isn't likely that we're the only life in the universe.

I have had experiences with ghosts, most of which are extremely private. It started when I was a child, and I eventually got to where I blocked it. Modern society says that people who can communicate with the dead are weird at best and delusional at worst. I put up walls. Now I am working on breaking those barriers down.

I even do the occasional ghost hunting with a friend or three.

I guess that's about it. I can't think of anything else that might fall into the category.

Ultimately, I think my view of it is that there is more to life than is dreamt of in all of our philosophies, to paraphrase Shakespeare.

44 Days of Witchery: Day 17

A picture of Fire

This is my Samhain ritual altar from last year. I hope this years is half as pretty.


This year, Texas has been ravaged by wildfire. This is a photo of the Angelina River Bottom Fire about two weeks after the fact. The scent of smoke and fire still lingered there. This is just the barest edge of it. The scary thing about some types of wildfires is that the fire can smolder inside of the roots and trunk of the trees and bloom up days after the fire has been contained.

44 Days of Witchery: Day 5

A Favorite Goddess: Hekate

I'm pretty much a walking fan club for the Light-bearing Savior, Hekate. Much maligned in literature, much loved by her people, Hekate is the Goddess known as the Gentle-Hearted, the Guide, the Protector, and also the Queen of Phantoms, the Destroyer, the Invincible.
Her earliest images are of a young maiden sitting on a throne, or running with torches (though those images can also represent Artemis). The image of her with three forms seems to have been born in Athens.
As the Goddess of Crossroads, she is more associated with three-way junctions than with four. As locations where suicides and criminals were buried (and in some societies where criminals were executed), she does hold sway over the Restless Dead.

In my own personal experience, she is kind, but firm with her needs. She almost always has me hard at work, if not on an offering then on my self. Doing the work with my own inner demons is, of course, the harder of the two.
She loves to communicate with visions and dreams.

When she first came into my life, she intimidated me into a tiny ball, but now, I wouldn't have it any other way. She pushes me in new directions, reminds me of the majesty of life, and generally has made my life a better one.

She is one of my first thoughts in the morning, and my prayer before I sleep.

Hekate, Queen of Heaven, Earth and Sea
Who ensouls the world,
She who is the bringer of New Life
and the Guardian who accompanies the Dead into the World Beyond.
Hekate, Mistress of the Wild Beasts,
Whose light-bearing presences
Warms the souls of those who speak your names
and Guides us through towards new mysteries.
Hekate, Gentle Nurse,
Whose call strikes fear,
She who stands at the limit
where ever that might be.
Offer thanks to her,
She was there when we were born.
Offer thanks to her,
She will welcome us when we pass onward.
Offer thanks to her,
Her Mysteries are the secret that shall never be spoken, but felt and known.

44 Days of Witchery: Day 3

3. Witchy tools: Athame(s)

I have two, one of which is extremely non-traditional.


There you have it. My first Athame was a letter opener. My second was a kris knife a friend gave me. I still have that one stashed away for the day when I can do some much needed repairs on it.

The two I use now are as follows.
My older of the two is the deer antler pocket knife. I use it as an athame and as an art tool and for harvests. I am not one who believes that the athame shouldn't be used to cut. It's a knife! If the athame is a symbol of one's Will, it does not do to immediately castrate the item's central purpose of being.

Anyway...
The other I commissioned from Lupa. She is far more specialized and nothing feels like she does in ritual. She responds very quickly to me and is truly my ritual knife. She is not sharp, but her purpose is not the same as that of a pocket knife, and she does her job very well.