The Power of the Witch (1971)

I found this video on Youtube, and hopefully it will stay up. Its an early documentary on the witches (including Wicca).

WordPress Tags: wicca, documentary, the power of the witch, spells, ritual, magic

Wish I may….wish I might

My thoughts often wondered to the concept of ‘putting it out there in the Universe’, in order to take advantage of the 3fold law of return.  You know, the one that states that whatever energy you put out into the world, will come back three fold. Prayers, chants, wishes, spells, and that sort are all methods used to put it to the Universe.

Sounds perfect. It even sounds fair, doesn’t it?

But Life is not fair. The Universe doesn’t care what you want. This idea might be cynical and depressing, but from my own experiences, the Universe chooses to ignore my prayers, energies, and even efforts to reach my goals.

Arguably, people tend to offer excuses as to why a spell might not work, but that doesn’t explain plain-hard-work doesn’t seem to work for me either.

This doesn’t mean I feel it happens to everyone. Others may find it works for them, but sometimes I feel my bad luck stems from a certain level of Chaos that rules my life where one methods that works for everyone else is likely to blow up in my face. Its like being left handed in a right-handed world.

So I’m curious of my readers out there on their thoughts of this idea of ‘putting it out there’. Does it work for you? Do you agree/disagree? Post in comments.

WordPress Tags: chaos, spells, magic, 3fold law, threefold law, wicca, pagan, gods, goddess, success, goals, failure

Wednesday Witch: Phyllis Curott

For the Wednesday witch, I wanted to cover Phyllis Curott, an attorney and Wiccan priestess, as well as author.

I’ve read Witch Crafting: A Spiritual Guide to Making Magic , and found she touches upon the heart of magic, the spirituality of the Wiccan belief system. She covers more in the way of true spirituality rather than practice.

Her site, unfortunately, doesn’t offer much other than a list of her works and some back history, but I still felt she was well worth mentioning.

Here is a video on some of her thoughts-

Her views on forgiving someone who hurts us…

WordPress Tags: Phyllis Curott, wicca, priestess, pagan, witch, goddess, forgivness, magic, spells, ritual, healing

Pinteresting links for pagans

I find so much in the way of links, ideas, crafts, and more visiting Pinterest.com that I often find time slipping by, and realizing I’ve spent hours on the site. But I felt you might enjoy some of the ‘finds’ I pinned on my boards;

Source: tarotreadingpsychic.com via Sharon on Pinterest

Source: carolinaconjure.com via Sharon on Pinterest

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Source: carolinaconjure.com via Sharon on Pinterest

Source: labyrinthsociety.org via Sharon on Pinterest

Source: Uploaded by user via Leslie on Pinterest

 

WordPress Tags: pinterest.com, links, craft, magic, magick, spells, wicca, witch, ritual, estbat, moon

Treading off the beaten path

Tradition is a funny thing, where you end up doing something that others have done before you, often without question or history. Personally, I feel its important to understand why we do the things we do;

Why do rituals generally start in the East? Its said because that’s where the sun rises. With this idea, you can just as easily cast circle by another direction. My coven used to start in the North because we focused on the elements instead. Earth represent growth, to which all things spring forth.

Why are rituals cast clockwise? Not all of them are, because of the reason that it’s the path of the sun. The sun and moon move clockwise (deosil) , and it’s a symbol of growth and moving forward, while counter-clockwise (widdershin) is banishing or removal.

Why do we celebrate the eight sabbats? This ties into the ancient societies that depended on planting seasons to make the change of seasons. Reading the history of the 8 holidays, and you find cultures spanning across Europe influenced practices. Equinoxes and Solstices tie into planting seasons, and even the hunting season. Other holidays mark times to prepare for seasonal changes or harvest times.

Why is the pentacle used to symbolize Wicca? This arises from Gerald Gardner and the history since his time. Before that, the pentacle was simply a magical symbol of protection against bad spirits. Even Christians wore the pentacle as a symbol of Christ’s five wounds.  To Wiccans, it represents Earth, Air, Fire, Water, and Spirit.

There are just a few examples of traditions, but I encourage you to read the history of all aspects of your practice to see why it was done in the first place, and does it still serve today? By challenging this, we can keep traditions alive (with purpose) rather than just follow blindly.

What traditions do you enjoy? Do you know the original purpose of the tradition? Post in comments.

WordPress Tags: pentacle, widdershin, deosil, ritual, spells, magic, wicca, pagan

The power of words

  I dealt with severe depression for many years, lamenting my woes by journal and wallowing in my self loathing/grief/misery. When I came to a breaking point, my ‘aha’ moment, I realized I didn’t want to die, but that I wanted the pain to end. To do that, I recognized I must do whatever it takes to get better.

One methods I used was to quit the wallowing.

I refused to give negative thinking any more energy. In my journals, I’d stop myself from griping about all the horrible things in my life, make a tiny mark to indicate such thinking would end, and I forced myself to focus on anything positive. If I had a bad day, I wrote about a positive experience in the past, or something I hoped for in the future.

The change wasn’t sudden or overnight, but change did come. My brain shifted into a stronger, pro-active way of thinking of things. Problems became challenges to be overcome, experiences to make me stronger.

I found my negative thinking was a habit that required some effort to break. Every now and then I’d find myself wallowing again, or bitching about things, and very little focus given to the good things in my life. I remained, however, persistent.

Try this;

Start journaling (and if you already journal, you can still do this), but find a nice pen, a fresh blank journal, and tell yourself that in this journal, you will not focus your energy on the negative. This is not to say you can’t write about the bad, but you can’t use language stating this as a constant. You need to focus on solutions, or what you’ll learn from this experience.

Dealing with a jerk? Wonderful! Imagine how much better your people skills will be. Dealing with a job loss? Great! Now you can find something you love to do, or a job that offers new experiences, training, potentially new friends, etc.

Change colors or use special pens of unusual shape, or ink. Add drawings, poems, or words of wisdom to help focus on the positive.

Look for silver linings, rainbows, and sparks of hope. In a month’s time, see if it hasn’t helped change your thinking.

Good luck.

WordPress Tags: journaling, writing, spells, magic, wicca, witch, power, depression, focusing

Pinterest pagan ideas

I admit it; I’m a total Pinterest addict.  You can tell you’re an addict if you intent to look as ‘just a few pins’ and hours later, you’re still clicking through.

However, I find tons of very cool ideas and I wanted to share;

Not only is this a brilliant idea to post a memory on the wall, you could potentially add a small altar inside with stones, feathers, and shells to add a level of sacredness to it.

I thought this was a lovely idea to add an Apache ‘burden basket’ (box, cauldron, etc) which was used to gather berries, twigs, and other things. I like the idea of using it for the purpose of adding your burdens to it, to be burned later, or shared with friends, or both.

I love this idea to make enchanted waters. I’m not sure if I’d use colored pencil but charcoal instead or even chalk. I suppose, however, the color might add to the ‘charm’ of it.

Do you have share-worthy links on your Pinterest boards? Leave in comments below

WordPress Tags: pinterest, burden basket, enchanted waterk, memories, wicca, pagan, spells, magic, magick, moon and shadow

Sharing some happiness tips

I was cruising, surfing, and otherwise skipping through the Internet the other day when I happened upon this article on the idea of 10 Simple Things to Make You Happier at Home.

I’ve tried a number of things already on this list. For instance, I found making my bed makes absolutely no difference to my well being whatsoever. Its also common that I do for others without expecting thanks, and that simply promotes ingratitude in others, if you ask me.

I like, however, the idea of surrounding yourself with mementos.  Research shows that our happiness grows from memories of events, not the objects themselves. Putting up photos, or a jar of sand collected from a trip to the beach, reminds us daily those moments of joy in our lives.

I also agree with ‘if you can’t get out of it, get into it’, with the idea that you might as well make best of a situation. I don’t like dishes, but I use that time to listen to my Ipod and daydream on creative projects or stories I want to write.  Or picking berries, which is way too similar to ‘work’, but I found tons of neat bugs to take photos of, as well as spending time with my family.

What are your thoughts on ‘keys to  happiness’? Do you have tips? Do you do any of the things on the list, or do you have your own methods to surrounding yourself with happiness. Post in comments.

WordPress Tags: happiness, joy, pagan, wicca, magic, home

A collection of spells

I’ve been collected spells from books and the Internet lately, finding tons of ideas as I read. Although not all spell really click with me, I do find some of the chants in them, or perhaps the elements used quite useful.

I decided to share some sites and give a quick review in case you’re looking for some ideas yourself;

Lapuliastudio.com’s page of spells. This site is interesting because the spells and information offered are in graphical format. You can print and add to your Book of Shadows as needed. I liked the Wisdom spell.

Witchway.net’s page of spells (and more). Extensive list with spells, recipes, ritual, and more. The page on candles offers lots of tips for candle magic.

Ladyoftheearth.com’s page of spells. Her site is a bit difficult to navigate, and some spells seem a bit hokey to me (like the one to change eye color), but I liked the 3×3 spell.

Do you have favorite spells? Post in comments

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Inspiration for spellwork

You can find tons of spells from books or online, but I think the most profound spellcasting will come from your ideas. Lately, I’ve found some neat ideas inspired by things I found on Pinterest of all places; (click on image for the specific post)

From Geninne’s Art Blog she shares some sketches on a leaf. I thought this would be a neat idea to add runes or intentions, then set adrift on a stream or river to release into the world.

At this site entitled Fiddlesnips, the author shares positive affirmation cards. These can easily be adapted to be invocation, incantation, prayers, or even spell cards.

 

This craft idea from IntimiateWeddings sparked inspiration where I thought ‘why not add herbs or drops of essential oil. Maybe you can even add very tiny crystals as well”. It becomes a working spell sealed into a necklace.

This just shows you can find inspiration just about anywhere.

Technorati Tags: spells,crafts,wiccan,witch,coven,pagan,ritual,invocation,prayers,magic,magick