Month: July 2011

Cast Out Evil Incense

This powerful formula provides cleansing for areas profaned by evil and/or violence.

1.    Blend and grind the following ingredients together into a fine powder:

       Camphor
       Cinnamon
       Frankincense
       Myrrh
        Sandalwood

2.    Sprinkle onto a lit charcoal and burn

New Orleans Voodoo Spirit Cleansing Service

This spell may also be used purely as a spirit-banishing spell, however it does a potent job of cleaning up all negative vibration and debris. It is best performed at midnight during a waxing moon. Be sure proper ventilation is available the smell of sulfur is pungent and potentially irritating. 

  1. Place a square of red paper onto a small metal or stone plate. You will need one plate plus its contents for each corner of any room you wish cleansed. Most room require four sets.

  2. Place a pinch of sulfur on top of each paper.

  3. Place each plate in a corner, so that there is one in each.

  4. Light the sulfur

  5. Simultaneously, address the four Iwa invoked in the ritual, turning to face each new corner as each name is uttered.

Granbois!

Baron Carrefour!

Baron Cimitiere!

Damballah!

I invoke you! With the power of your names, I command and compel all evil spirits, spells ad vibrations, any negative entities, to leave me and my home and never return!

6.  Withdraw from the room, maintaining a vigilant eye on fire safety.

Happy Saturday to all my Readers!


I hope everyone is having a great weekend. I am so sorry I am running late today. Today is not really a good day for me at all. I have been crying off and on since yesterday afternoon. I had a real good tear jerker this morning and then I took a nap. I know someone once said I whined alot. Today that person would be right. I know everyone knows I had three wildcats. I also had three little precious kittens and a mother cat. I went out yesterday morning and I generally holler, “where are my babies?” and the kittens come a running. I feed them, pet them and love the devil out of them. When I went outside yesterday to feed them, I hollered and nothing came. My pentagram flipped over. I knew them something was horribly wrong. I walked around the porch and I saw where the lattice had been crashed thru. This is where the momma cat and kittens stayed. There was nothing there except fur, fur everywhere. I started to cry. Then I got up and walked around the porch and found one of the wildcats dead. This like to have killed me. I picked him up and cried and cried. Then I heard a faint cry. I got up to find it. It was one of the other wildcats and he was hurt. Something had tried to kill him by get at his jugular vein. He had bites all over him. I called the vet and I rushed him to the vet. The vet did emergency surgery on him and he is going to be fine. The other wildcat I checked out before we left. He was in the barn covered in blood. I washed him off and he was all right. I have one little kitten left and two wildcats. We were talking to some of our neighbors and they have had animals that are being killed too. They decided that late in the afternoons they were going hunting. In the late afternoon is when the coyotes and the coyodogs are most active. I know I probably didn’t spell coyodog right. A coyodog is an animal that mother or father was a dog and the mother or father was a coyote.  This animals are meaner than a coyote. These creatures will attack humans and anything else that sticks its head out.

The poor little kitten that managed to escape the killings, I found him yesterday afternoon. I had walked these grounds and hollered for him. Nothing! Then late yesterday, I got the idea to get a can of food and pop the top. I popped the top and here he came. He wasn’t running, he was staggering and looked very dazed. I picked him up and brought him in the house. I believe the poor kitten was in shock. Today he is doing much better. He is took up with me in my bedroom. My husband says he looks like my other cat. I don’t see it but he does. I want to keep him but my husband doesn’t want anymore cat after Stinker is gone. But I honestly believe he is leaning toward me keeping him. At least, I know he will make his mind up that way, lol! But I just wanted to tell you why it is not a good day for me. I have lost two momma cats, two kittens and a wildcat. It is a very sad day for me.

I am going to post spells today. Something I don’t never seem to have time to do during the week day. If some of them turn out to be geared toward the nasty side, now you know why.

I love you all and have a very blessed weekend,

Lady A

 

How Do You Like Your Pagan? Straight Up or Blended?

How Do You Like Your Pagan? Straight Up or Blended?

Author: Avren

I was recently the butt of a joke. I know this happens to lots of folks, no matter what their theology. What ticked me off though was the fact that my theology was what the jerks were pointing fun at. Some pagans enjoy being a spectacle, and still more are just damned proud (and not afraid to let you know it) of their faith. I too am proud of who I am, and what I believe. I take my faith seriously, and DO NOT like to have it blown off or laughed at. So I blend.

I’m sure lots of us blend, and blend well. Blending in is what saved your neck, and flesh in the not so distant past. These days there are hate crimes; no doubt man seems to never run out of reasons to hate each other. What you find more and more though, is discrimination, and/or the assumption that you are a flaky, feather brained hippy.

Now I know it could be worse. I could be tortured and/or burned at the stake a few lifetimes ago, but it’s still annoying! I don’t like the silly superstitions people have or the down right misinformation. When cornered by simpletons who think their path is the “one true path to god” I love to put them in their place with a simple history lesson. Or one of my personal favorites: quoting the Bible to thwart them. In the end though, I am too busy to debate the universe day in and day out. Talk about exhausting!

This particular person only found out about my spiritual preferences because he is a friend of my love’s. He came over for dinner and saw some books I have sitting on the bottom shelf of my coffee table. Every time I see him he has a new snide or smart-a** comment. I thought I’d be smart-a** too.

After one of his comments one day I asked if he worshipped Buddha. He just shook his head and I said that it certainly looked that way. (He is pushing 400 lbs and 5’10) Unfortunately, that didn’t work, and I felt guilty for acting just like him instead.

I don’t wear a pentagram; instead I wear a triquetra that is two inches high. I just love it, and it gets compliments from everyone I meet. I love when they ask if it has a special meaning. I always answer yes! I wear regular make up in natural tones.

I work 8-5 Monday through Friday. My home is warm and welcoming. There isn’t a noticeable altar anywhere. There is a 12-inch tall star hanging in my kitchen, and a moon as well. I have a gold and silver candle on each side of my kitchen sink.

No one knows the 4-foot high metal sculpture of a willow that hangs in my kitchen is a sign of the Mother. Nor do they see the candles and celestial design in my kitchen as my altar, and sign of love to the Lord and Lady. (Can you see the Kitchen Witchery here? LOL!)

When one of the dearest friends I have was going through a tough time, she happened to mention she was interested in stones and their symbolism. She also mentioned having strong feelings for Shamanism. So I asked if she would like some of the leopard skin jasper I had, and a couple other stones I thought she might like. She was thrilled! I was too; I have known her 25 out of 27 years of my life. Now was the first time I could talk about my spiritual side with her. She had lots of questions, and carries the stones everyday!

So you get the idea of how well I blend in? I made an agreement with my beloved when we first started dating. I would keep my books and obvious craft stuff out of sight of his two young children. I agreed readily because I was in my late teens before I could grasp that this is not a satanic path.

I figure that subtly dropping hints and blending it in slowly is best anyhow. Heck, I didn’t even realize I was learning the Old Ways from my grandmothers and mother until I was already well used to it. The kids request ’Wytches Chant 98’ all the time, without knowing that is the name. They only know that they love it. As a matter of fact we listen to that band often. They love it, and I think that it opens their minds a little.

My beloved is not Pagan, though he has picked up some of my “witchy ways” as he calls it. He even had some runes tattooed on his inner arm. They are like armor to him he says. They make him feel protected, and mark the important points on his journey. The other arm is going to be health and spiritual runes. He has told me that I am a good “Ambassador” for Pagans. He says he would never have taken me seriously, or be willing to venture down his spiritual path this far if I had been as “Loud and Proud.”

So, back to the frustration. I am not ashamed of who I am. I don’t like probing questions either. (Picture sneering face here.) I am open to those who are REAL. I feel like I do more good this way anyhow. When I explain the possible meanings of the Trinity Knot to someone who asks, I feel they take away a positive experience. I’d rather that any day, to the’ stare and giggle’ by the general public.

So here is the question for you dear reader. Are you straight up or blended? Have you asked yourself lately?

After I heard about that jerk cracking jokes on me, I started to ask myself that same question. I know negativity lives among us. Perhaps I’m too serious. I don’t know. I do know this however. I WILL NOT change my way of practicing.

I’m too happy for that! (Unlike him.) Thanks Karma!

The Lion King Explains the Wheel of the Year

The Lion King Explains the Wheel of the Year

Author: Sevati Pari

The Wiccan tradition celebrates eight festivals or Sabbats that follow the Wheel of the Year (their term for the Earth’s seasons) (Wikipedia) . Among these are Yule, Imbolc, Ostara, Beltane, Litha or Midsummer, Lammas, Mabon, and Samhain (Healing Happens) . Allow me to tell you a little about each Sabbat and the mythology behind it before moving on to concentrate on Yule and Litha for my pop culture reference.

For reference though the Wiccan Goddess is a triple goddess. She is Maiden, Mother, and Crone separate and simultaneously. The Maiden is when she’s a youth still young and virginal, the Mother is after she gives birth to the Sun God who becomes the Horned God at Beltane, and the Crone is the wise woman she becomes in her elder years when the cycles of her life are done.

There are two different myths that follow the wheel of the year. One being the Goddess/God duality where the Sun God is born to the Mother/Crone at Yule, The Mother becomes the Maiden at Imbolc as the God grows in power and courts the Goddess in her Maiden aspect during Ostara, He impregnates the Goddess Beltane during the height of his power becoming the Horned God, he begins to wane in power during Lammas, and passes away at Samhain becoming the Sacred King who dies so that the land might be reborn, to be born again to the Mother/Crone at Yule (Healing Happens, Sherri Maddon) .

Another myth is that of the Holly King and the Oak King. One rules winter the other rules summer. The Holly King fights and defeats the Oak King at Litha only to have the tables turned at Yule when the Oak King comes back to challenge and defeat the Holly King (About.com) .

Samhain begins our calendar as the beginning of the Pagan New Year. It falls on October thirty-first and corresponds with the Christian’s Halloween. It’s a celebration of the final harvest and a day to honor those that have passed before us. Samhain is not a mournful holiday in which we mourn their passing but more a celebration of their life. It is on this Sabbat that the Horned God passes on to the Summerland (Wiccan afterlife) .

The wheel continues on to Yule which falls anywhere from December twenty-first to December twenty-fifth depending on when the Winter Solstice (the longest night of the year is) . It is a celebration that even in the dark there is light, of the hope that spring will come again and winter soon will be over.

It is on this night that the God is born to the Goddess in her Crone aspect. Imbolc is the next Sabbat on the wheel’s cycle. It’s celebrated on February second and is one of the first spring festivals. It’s also a time for purification as the Goddess moves from her Crone state to that of the Maiden.

Following Imbolc is Ostara, which lands on the Spring Equinox usually around March twenty-first. It corresponds with the Christian’s Easter. It’s a celebration of Spring. Then comes Beltane celebrated on May first.

Beltane is a celebration of the fertility of the land and would usually end up in more than one woman walking away from the Beltane fires carrying a baby in her belly. The Sun God mates with the Maiden and she walks away a Mother while he walks away as the Horned God. The days grow longer till we reach Midsummer, which falls on June twenty-first, or the Summer Solstice (the longest day of the year) .

Midsummer is a celebration life in general. Next on the wheel is Lammas celebrated on August first. It’s one of the first harvest festivals. It is a time to celebrate the fruit of our yearly labors.

The days progressively decline till we reach Mabon, which actually just passed on September twenty-first. Mabon celebrates the Fall Equinox and is a day of Thanksgiving. It’s a day to be thankful for what you have and for those you have to share it with, much like the American holiday of Thanksgiving that falls in November.

As the day’s decline we swing back around to Samhain where the Horned God becomes the Sacred King and dies so that the land may be reborn (Healing Happens, Sherri Madden) .

I know I went a little off topic here telling about all the Sabbats but I wanted to give you some basic knowledge so you could understand the two I chose for my pop culture reference example, which was that of Walt Disney’s “The Lion King.”

The story was actually based off of Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Disney’s movie Bambi but I doubt Walt even knew of the story of the Holly King and Oak King or the Wheel of the Year when he set about making this Disney Classic and created the “Circle of Life.” At the beginning of the movie you see Simba being presented to the kingdom as heir, much as the Goddess presents the Sun God at Yule.

Then later on Mufasa gives Simba a tour of the lands he will one day rule teaching about the “Circle of Life” and how everything is born and dies but even in death nurtures the land (i.e. the wildebeest eat the grass, the lions eat the wildebeest, and when a lion dies his body becomes nourishment for the grass which keeps the circle going) , a clear reference to the Wheel of the Year.

Scar (Simba’s uncle) leads him into the gorge for a “surprise” for Mufasa that turns out to be a stampede that Mufasa tries to save Simba from. He saves him only to be pushed off a cliff by Scar a clear example of the fight of the Holly King vs. the Oak King, Scar being the Holly King and the Winter of Pride Rock.

Simba runs away and grows up meeting Nala (a childhood friend) , they fall in love, and she convinces him to come back to save Pride Rock an example of Ostara and Beltane when the God courts and mates the Goddess. Simba returns and exiles Scar but Scar attacks him forcing Simba to push him off a cliff like Scar did to Mufasa.

Again this is a reference to the battle between the Holly King and the Oak King, this time with Simba being the Oak King and the Summer of Pride Rock. Scar survives the fall but finds himself surrounded by Hyenas who attack him (Wikipedia) .

I didn’t even think of this till I got further into my studies as a first-year initiate in Wicca and I started this class. I just happened to be watching the movie with my little sister and it all fell into place. It was one of those Ah Ha/Eureka moments where the light bulb goes off in your head. But now the movie makes perfect sense to me.

Then I started thinking about how Lion King has affected pop culture. Snippets of the movies have shown up in other movies, TV shows, and books. It’s shown on Home Improvement multiple times since Jonathan Taylor Thomas played Simba voice one clear example was: “I found another Lion King reference on Home Improvement [episode titled “Say Goodnight, Gracie”– 7th season, 15th episode].

In one scene, Tim and a little girl named Gracie are playing with some Lion King animals. Randy gets a chance to tell Gracie about “his” experiences impersonating a lion cub. Tim says, “Oh sorry, I’ve never been a lion cub before, ”

Then Randy replies, “Well, I have. And let me tell you. It’s a tough gig. Everybody expects you to be king.” (Lion King Sightings) .

There’s also a scene in Aladdin and the King of Thieves where Genie turns to Pumbaa and says “Hakuna Mattata” Then turns back and goes “Whoops, I just had an out of movie experience, ” (Lion King Sightings) .

 


Footnotes:
Works Cited
About.com: Paganism/Wicca. 23 September 2008. About.com
http://paganwiccan.about.com/od/yulethelongestnight/p/Holly_KIng_Yule.htm

Healing Happens. 23 September 2008. http://www.healinghappens.com/wheel.htm

Lion King Sightings. 4 August 2008. Brian Tiermann. 24 September 2008.
http://www.lionking.org/sightings/

Madden, Sherri. Personal Interview. No specific date (classes)

Wikipedia. 25 August 2008. Wikimedia Foundation Inc. 23 September 2008.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheel_of_the_Year

Wikipedia. 25 August 2008. Wikimedia Foundation Inc. 23 September 2008.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lion_King