merry mabon

I had this wonderful Mabon song/blessing/prayer composed for yesterday. Unfortunately Blogger ate it, and my Muse has left me, since it is no longer Mabon. There's always next year...

Blessed Be!
)0(

reflections on the morning i nearly broke my wrist

First let me say that drugs, including your prescriptions, are not necesssairly the best idea in the world. Last Monday, I was given a Medrol Pack (a cortisone-like anti-inflammatory), to help with any inflammation in my Central Nervous System, and I had never taken it before. I hadn't realize how bad some of the side effects are, like jitteryness, mood swings, and extra energy. I was feeling the side effects of my prescription, insomnia, excessive energy, some impressive mood swings, and such.

Then I get the bright idea Tuesday to Draw Down the Sun, to bring the Cerrunos into me, while up on the Medrol. Drawing a God is an advanced practice for a woman. Women are most familiar with Drawing Down the Moon, bringing the power of the Moon Goddess into us. Drawing Down the Sun can be intense, and doing it on the Medrol didn't help moderate the intensity any - it made it worse. For a while, I was Lord Cerrunos, the Lord of the Hunt, riding the winds.

I have started more advanced practice, but I made such a basic mistake, performing a ritual while taking medications that alter the mental state. A word of advice, know what your medications do before performing any magics.

Which leads to part 2 of this lesson. I went outside to water my potted plants, and there is a retaining wall with plants on the stacked blocks. I slipped and fell on the grass on the steep slope, landing on my butt and left wrist. I nearly broke my left arm, and was left with a pretty severe injury. So, would I have gone out to water my plants without the extra energy? Yes, although I may have been more careful. Would I have broken my arm without the extra energy from Cerrunos? Good question, and one I will never know. Maybe the foolish drawing of extra energy kept me from being more seriously injured.

So always be careful, be aware, with your magics, you never know what other effects you may have. Harm none includes yourself.

Blessed Be!
)0(

blogging will be restricted

Due to nearly breaking my wrist, I won't be blogging on either site as much as I would like. I even have pics of my wrist, both in and out of the brace. There is a very low ick factor, simply some bruising and swelling, showing where the doctor thought the fracture was. Posting will be dependent on my pain medication kicking in, and me being awake.

Blessed Be!
)0(

what is witchcraft?

In a comment:

Anonymous said...

Hey, thanks for updating! I know that there are many different concepts associated with the word "witchcraft", and I was wondering: What is your definition of witchcraft? Do you cast spells on things? How does it work?

I decided this needed a complete post, or else it was going to be a very long comment. Entire books have been written about your simple questions.

My definition of witchcraft is the actual craft of creating/casting spells. I see it as the same as any other craft, such as art (I'm also painter/photographer) - you may not always be actively engaged in practicing your craft, but you are probably thinking about it on some level a fair amount of time.

In art this means I'm looking for something new to paint and/or photograph. I also think about what size canvases I want to buy, what mix of turpentine and linseed oil I want to use as a thinner for my oil paints. I also have to decide what pigments I will choose in the paints I buy - titanium white, zinc white, or lead white? Each has subtle differences in the way they lighten various colors. Do I want to use all natural, mineral based pigments, like the old masters, or do I want to use less expensive modern hues of those colors?

As a witch, I'm thinking of the herbs I have withering in my garden due to the Alabama heat and the two tropical storms that have come over the Huntsville area. I'm also thinking of when the next full moon is so I can re-charge some healing stones I have, and hope it rains before then because I would like to use rain water to rinse them in. I can make do with bottled spring water or tap water, but using rain water would be the best for me.

Witchcraft is also not a religion, the same way art is not a religion. I am a Wiccan, and most Wiccans also practice witchcraft, but not all. Some people may become obsessed with witchcraft, but it is not a religion.

As far as casting a spell, you have probably already cast more than one spell already. We teach our children a very basic spell:

Star-light, star bright,
First star I see tonight,
Wish I may, wish I might,
Wish I get my wish tonight.

That is the first spell that nearly everyone knows. Wish magic seems to be the most common form of spell-casting. Tossing a coin in a fountain, making a wish when you see a shooting star, or blow out the candles on a birthday cake. Another simple form of witchcraft is planting herbs and flowers around the house. Plant lavender for health and healing. Put the flowers in a bath with some salts for a relaxing bath. Simple witchcraft.

As far as personally casting spells each one is unique. As you've seen some are very simple, while others are more complex. For one, I started with a spell in one of my books and adapted it slightly. The spell was to protect a friend of mine in the Army in combat in Iraq. I created a magic circle, a space where I could feel the magic, and a place to work. I carved a combination runes on a white candle with a pin that had never been used before that in the particular configuration I used, gave protection, strength, health, courage, and safe journey home. I also inscribed his name on the candle as a part of the spell, then asked the Norse Deities Odin and Freya to watch over him and bring him home safely. It was one of the more complicated spells I have cast, needing both fire and ice, to infuse the candle with protective powers. After I completed the work, I thanked Odin, Freya, and all the spirits that had helped me. I then had a candle that each time I lit it and let it burn for a few minutes would re-enforce the protection around my friend.

You don't really need all of the props like I described in the spell I worked for my friend in Iraq. Now, I can sit, meditate, and feel the magic around me. I do much of my magic without any tools. I use herbs more than I used to, along with stones for personal healing. I'm still not very good at scrying (looking into the future), but I do practice using either my quartz crystal ball or by looking into a fire, even if it is a single candle.

How does magic really work? I believe it is the ability to tap into the energy of nature that flows through all of us, through everything. Some people are more aware of it naturally, and find magic easier to perform. What you do with that energy is your responsibility. I will say now, primum non nocere, first do no harm. There are other variations, but as an EMT, I like this version for taking responsibility for your magical actions. You may have also heard "If you harm none, do what you will" as an alternative. Consider the results of you actions, and never impose your will on another, because then you are taking away the other's free will. You are free to help yourself, to attract money or other non-necessities, simply never at anyone else's expense.

In the end, everyone has their own way to cast spells. Casting a spell is nothing but manipulating the power that flows thorough all of us. I've avoided using any references to any deities, since I don't know what your personal beliefs are, but in general I this power comes a divine source, that is reflected in all of us. I've been desperately attempting to avoid any Star Wars references, but where do you think George Lucas got the idea for "the Force" from?

I believe I have answered your questions. If you have figured out on your own how to cast a complex spell, then use that power with care, and consider your actions before you do them. If you have not figured out on your own how to perform more powerful magic and spells, I won't tell you, or anyone else who is reading this, how to do that. I do not want to be responsible for teaching someone how to tap into their power without knowing that person, then only to have the person to do less than honorable things. If you wish to ask more specific questions, please contact me directly. I will have my email address and all my IM IDs on this site shortly, but for now you can find them all listed on my main site. I would like to get to know you better before I give you any more specific information. Yes, I know you can find such information elsewhere, and if you choose to look there, then so be it. I hope you understand my reluctance to teach someone I don't know how to potentially do harm.

Merry part and meet again.

Blessed Be!
)0(

saturday familiar blogging

Here is one of my two cat familiars. If you are a regular reader of my main blog, then you will recognize Noah.


So that's where my blessed altar water keeps going. To his credit, he doesn't disturb anything else, he just drinks the water.

In the true form of T. S. Eliot and his poem, The Naming of Cats, Noah has 3 names. His second name is Nightstalker, which either he or Freya told me early one morning. His third name, well, that's between him and Freya.

Blessed Be!
)0(

i wish i didn't have to post this

I was browsing the ways folks find my main site and this particular search was one of the more recent ones - voodoo practioners cause hurricane Katrina (Yahoo). This post of mine was the #1 result on Yahoo, yes, yay me and my crappy spelling, I spelled "practitioner" wrong in my original post.

Most of that post stemmed from an online conversation with a fellow blogger in Houston, when it was announced on CNN that the Superdome temporary residents would become involuntary tourists in Houston at the Astrodome.

(there will be) Lots of Catholics, the occasional Methodist, maybe a few Vodun practioners (Voodoo), but I doubt any Palestinians. I don't think any vampires will be showing up, either, since their hiding places are under water, and it's nice and sunny. Poof. No more vampire problem in New Orleans....

Great. Those of us who practice magic, whatever form it may be, created Katrina and inflicted such horror upon those who live in the affected areas. Or else it was the Wrath of God, ridding the Earth of all unbelievers. I simply can't believe people think that magic had anything to do with Katrina.

Yes, I'm a little bitter on this subject, witchcraft/magic to this day being blamed for natural disasters. (sigh) Some things never change

Blessed Be!

)0(

my personal search for the god and the goddess

I came to a realization over this weekend. Part of has to do with how I conceive the Divine. Imagine the a triangle, equal on all sides. At the top peak is the Divine Spirit. One side of the triangle is the God or the Lord, the other side is the Goddess or the Lady. They are both equals who complement each other, and each are a half of the Divine Spirit. Male/Female, Sun/Moon, Day/Night, Power/Mercy, Wild Lands/Farmed Earth, The Seed which is spread on the Earth/The fertile Earth where the Seed grows, Fire/Water, etc. Neither is whole without the other, neither is more powerful than the other.

To make a etheral concept of the Lord and the Lady easier for the human mind to visualize, They each come to each Witch in the form of an avatar, a form that we can more easily grasp. I have known for years that my avatar of the Goddess was cat-related, given that there has never been a cat that I could never coax into trusting me, given enough time. So, I kinda assumed Bastet was my avatar, but that never quite seemed right. I didn't even take the hint when I presented Noah, my familiar, with 2 similiar sized statuettes of a cat - one of Bastet in cat form, and the a hand carved figure of a very regal cat, sitting upright, somewhat stylized. Noah chose the hand carved figure, after sniffing both, and started rubbing it.

Over the weekend, I suddenly had a realization, Bastet was not the avatar of the Goddess for me, but Freya, Norse Goddess of love, war, prophecies, and Witches. One of her symbols was a chariot drawn by 2 giant domestic cats. She would also sweep over battlefields, deciding which fallen warriors would go to Odin (Valhalla), and which ones would go to her own hall, along with women who died. It it said that she may even be the leader of the Valkyries. It made sense, I'm a descendant of the Celts and Norse, and having an Egyptian Goddess avatar didn't seem right.

I've been a practioner of Wicca for about 7 years now, and a Witch my entire life (that distinction is another post). Since cats are drawn to me, and vice verca, I automatically assumed that the most well known Cat-Goddess was the avatar for me. I really should have known better than that.

I've known for several years that Cerrunos, the Celtic Horned-God of the forrests, Leader of the Wild Hunt, was the avatar of the God who chose me. One afternoon, I was in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, sitting in an open field where several years before the National Park Service had released some eastern elk into the Park. There is a rule that humans do not approach any closer than 100 feet to the elk, for the safety of all. When I chose my seat, there were no elk around, so I just sat, enjoying the silence around me, watching other people walking through the fields, making daisy chains with clover blossoms.

Eventually I heard the elk calling to each other, and looking the length of the field I was in, I could see at the other end of the valley meadow, about 1/2 mile long, a herd that had emerged from the trees. I watched with my binoculars, then heard the trumpeting of elk nearby, so I put up my binoculars, and watched the woodline nearby. A great bull elk emerged, walking through the meadow, checking for dangers. He glanced at me at first, then looked at the other people watching from the side of the road. Slowly, confidently, he continued to walk into the clearing, then he trumpeted to the rest of the herd to join him, to graze. The bull elk continued to scout the clearing, and continued to approach me. Then he broke the 100 foot boundary to look at me. I simply sat there, head slightly bowed, but never taking my eyes off of the majestic animal. He stopped, watched me for a little while, and I watched him. He almost seemed to nod, and walked away, to rejoin his herd. I knew that I had been visited by a representative of the God, and the elk seemed to only leave once I accepted in my mind that that majestic creature was a representative of the God. Thus Cerrunos was the avatar of the God, which I had been searching for, and I had found.

So that is the story of how I came to find my personal primary avatars of the God and Goddess, a journey which has taken years to complete. Even being a Wiccan for 7 years, it goes to show that we all make mistakes, let our own pre-conceived ideas cloud our inner vision, and need to be reminded to relax, and to see what we see, not what we think we see.

Blessed Be!

)0(

a prayer for the dead

Cernunnos, Lord of the Hunt, it is I, Mira, your daughter and Priestess, who calls upon thee
Escort those who have perished in the storm Katrina to the Summerlands
You are the Lord of the Wild Places, and Leader of the Wild Hunt
Ride through the Gulf area, gather the Souls who remain there
Unwilling to leave their bodies, their wrecked houses, their living families

Cernunnos, the Green Man, Father of us all
Gather Your children who have died and soothe their Souls
Usher them to the Summerlands with its green fields and cool forests
With the aid of the Valkyries, comfort Your children who have passed beyond the veil
Remind them that as they meet their ancestors, they will meet their living families again
So may it be!


Blessed Be!
)0(