One of my coven mates' car just over heated in my drive way. I know absolutely nothing about cars beyond being able to occasionally be able to magickally get a car to start when it otherwise won't.
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Hello all! I'm terribly sorry that I'm a bit behind again, but luckily I already have this week's "magickal week at a glace" queued up to post tomorrow morning and I'm trying to decided which herb to choose for our very first Herbal Wednesday. Other news of note is that I've begun my annual goddess devotions. Each week I'll be working with a different goddess. This week is devoted to the warrior goddess Scathach. She's a great goddess to work with if you are trying to get fit, lose weight, or are in training for any type of event physical or not. Since I'm working on all three I thought she would be perfect for the first week. I will post a full list of the goddesses I'm working with later for those who are interested. I hope you all have had a wonderful weekend.
thank you SOO much, yes i've started seeing signs about it as well which is what drove me to the internet for people who could teach me and lead me in the right direction. I'm especially interested in herbal magic. I'll be sure to track down those books! -- Floor-Pizzayou are very welcome. If you’re interested, I’m going to try to start posting the “lessons” my coven uses for those just starting out.
hello :) this is kinda embarassing but I've done my share of research and have been interested in wicca for a while, where would one start of one decided to start actually training and honing/developing their skills? where are good resources for learning about herbs and such? -- Floor-PizzaReally, the only way to decide it is to just be in tune with yourself, perhaps meditate on the subject, or pray for guidance. The answer might be subtle, or it may just smack you in the face. For me, the subject of Wicca started coming up EVERYWHERE! Every show I tried to watch on tv mentioned it. I’d open up random books at my school and local libraries and notes on wicca and witchcraft would fall out. I’d go to garage sales and resale shops and find books on wicca. and I realized that it was the universe telling me what I was supposed to do. But I realize it’s not always that obvious. Should you decide to take the leap, my all time favorite book on the subject is Where to Park Your Broomstick by Lauren Manoy. It’s geared almost exclusively towards teens, but it’s got a lot of really good information. I’d also suggest Solitary Witch by Silver RavenWolf for a general source of information and reference. I also suggest To Stir a Magick Cauldron (also by Silver RavenWolf), it’s not wicca 101, but it has “lessons” in it, and it also contains a Wicca 101 test with information that most witches should know after their first year of study. I’d also check out Witchschool.com, which has online classes, if you’re interested in that. For herbs alone, I’d suggest Magickal Herbalism and Cunningham’s Encyclopedia of Magickal Herbs, both by Scott Cunningham. If you’re very interested in herbs, try checking out books on their medicinal uses as they often go hand in hand with magickal uses. If you have any other questions, feel free to ask. :)
(My computer shut off while I was typing this, and after turning it back on and logging back into tumblr, I had a notice saying that I had an unsaved draft. I guess that was the gods way of saying that my crappy daily devotions are still appreciated!)
I wouldn’t say I’m very good at daily devotions. I actually have a tendency to forget them. But I definitely notice a difference in myself on the days that I do morning devotions, and I sleep better on the nights I do my evening devotions. Many Witches and Pagans do beautifully elaborate devotions every morning and evening, and oh how I envy them! But being in college, I rarely have time to sleep let alone two half-hour rituals a day! My normal devotions are simple, take less than 5 minutes and are short enough that I’ve memorized. I’ve also tried my best to make them engrained in my daily routine! In the mornings, provided that I haven’t overslept, I make a pot of coffee. It takes roughly 8 minutes to brew so as I’m waiting for that I make breakfast. About the time I’m getting my cup ready, the coffee’s done. I prepare my coffee the same way every morning: 3 spoonfuls of sugar, coffee almost to the top (my travel mug holds almost 3 cups of coffee!), and then I top it off with flavored creamer. Then I set it to the side. My kitchen window looks out on a giant maple tree, which is fitting as my prayer mentions the Tree of Life. So I gaze at the tree while praying in goddess position. My prayer is to the Moirae (The Fates. I love their name in greek, mostly because I used to go by Moira, which is crazy similar), and the words can be found in Dorothy Morrison’s book Everyday Magick. When I finish, I turn around, and take the first sip of my coffee. In the evening I brew a cup of tea, usually it’s spearmint, but if I need it, I brew a teas called “sleepy time extra” by Celestial Teas to help calm myself enough to sleep. After I finish the whole cup I light a small tealight in my oil burner, add a bit of scented oil (lately it’s been Egyptian Musk). I like this as opposed to incense as my sister (who’s pregnant) has been getting horrible headaches and nausea whenever I burn the incense. But the scented oils give a good scent with less smoke, and I don’t have to clean up the ashes in the dark! While that’s burning I sit and pray from my heart to any deities I’ve called on for assistance. Some nights if I don’t have many deities to thank (or any) I pull out my rosary and pray with it. When finished I snuff out the candle and curl up in bed and say “As I lay snuggled in my bed, pillows tucked beneath my head, Maiden bring me joyful dreams, Mother bring me peace serene, Wisest Crone watch over me until the light of dawn I see” (I cannot remember where this is from. I thought it was from paganwiccan.about.com, but I cannot find it on the site. If anyone knows, please let me know so I can give credit where credit is due!). While my daily devotions are far from elaborate, I sometimes try to bulk them up for holidays and esbats though it doesn’t always happen. I also love looking for new ideas for my devotions. Right now I"m trying to add a few things to them, but so far it isn’t going very smoothly as it adds a lot of time. I’ve been trying to add sunrise yoga to my morning devotions, and moonrise yoga and daily offerings to my evening devotions. I haven’t give up on that working yet though! What do you do for daily devotions, if you practice them? Do you do the same thing everyday or do you switch it up for the season and holidays? I’d love to hear what you do for your devotions! Let me set the scene for you. A darkened room lit only by candles. Clove incense fills the air. Inkubus Sukkubus' music blares from an unseen speaker. You raise your athame high above you and invoke Nyx and Hekate. Tonight is the dark moon, their most sacred time of the month. To some, this scenario is 100% taboo. Invoking deity with an athame (yes, I have met those that have a HUGE problem with this). Use of stereo in circle (goodness, didn't you know you're not suppose to use electronics in circle? lol). Invoking "dark" deities, and most taboo of all, magickal workings being performed during the dark moon. To others, this entire makes complete and logical sense. Candle light and clove incense always get me in a magickal mindset. Inkubus Sukkubus is a fantastic Pagan (and Goth) band, and I frequently use their music for my group sabbat circles. I use the athame for invoking everything. I very rarely use wands. Hekate is a goddess of the dark moon, so the timing makes sense for her. Nyx is the goddess of the night, so invoking her during the nights when the moon's power holds the least sway, when it is truly night, also makes sense. No matter the view, if you've ever held a ritual even close to this, you've tasted Dark Paganism. If you've ever celebrated Samhain in the dead of night, and honor the Dark Goddess and those that have gone before, you've tasted Dark Paganism. But what is Dark Paganism? According to author John J. Coughlin, Dark Paganism is a combination of one or more of the following definitions:
My personal path combines the second and third definitions, so its no wonder Samhain is my favorite Sabbat! But then again I'm also part of the Gothic subculture, and I've loved Halloween for as long as I can remember. Dark Paganism can also include vampirism and the Vampiric faith, blood magick, and necromancy. For some it also includes darker sex magick that may have bdsm-like influences (often for energy raising, healing from any kind of abuse, etc). Dark Pagans, unlike many other Pagans, aren't afraid that others will associate their use of skulls, athames, and dark gods to devil worship. They don't really care what others think. They also aren't part of the group of pagans who think all paganism should be safe and happy. We know that some magick is dangerous, and that paganism can be scary. But quite a bit of what people find scary (i.e. death, skulls, cemeteries, etc) is very spiritual and beautiful in our eyes! We also don't shy away from working with darker herbs like belladonna, wormwood, deadly nightshade, etc. My personal path includes the worship of many dark deities, especially Sekhmet, Anubis, The Morrighan, Nyx, Hekate, Hades, and Persephone. I perform my rituals almost exclusively in the dead of night. The exception would be occasionally Alban Eiler (Spring Equinox), Midsummer, Lughnasadh, and usually Mabon. I love workings for the dark moon, and its one of my favorite (and most accurate) times to do divinatory work. My path includes blood magick, vampirism (I'm actually a Sanguinarian), bdsm-like sex magick whenever I include a partner in my sex magick, and necromancy in the way that I do call on the dead during Samhain, memorial rites, and many other times of the year. For years I've prominently displayed a ceramic skull on my altar to symbolize my ancestors, and when not working with individual deities, I call on the energy of the Dark Mother and the Dark Father. Even my tarot deck is darker, featuring Vampires and Gothic imagery. Honoring my menstrual cycles also goes hand in hand with honoring the dark moon. And I'm not afraid of the image of the traditional Witch. Some days I even proudly embrace the stereotype. Further Reading
The Aces: The back: The Emperor and the Empress: Seven of Knives, Nine of Knives, Daughter of Knives:
A little late, but here it is. If I missed anything, let me know and I’ll add it!
Welcome to March!!!
Wednesday (3/7) Thursday (3/8)
Saturday (3/10)
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