Your Tarot Card for January 7th is The Sun

The Sun

Monday, Jan 7th, 2013

What has traditionally been known as the Sun card is about the self — who you are and how you cultivate your personality and character. The earth revolves around the sun to make up one year of a person’s life, a fact we celebrate on our birthday.

The Sun card could also be titled “Back to Eden.” The Sun’s radiance is where one’s original nature or unconditioned Being can be encountered in health and safety. The limitations of time and space are stripped away; the soul is refreshed and temporarily protected from the chaos outside the garden walls.

Under the light of the Sun, Life reclaims its primordial goodness, truth and beauty. If one person is shown on this card, it is usually signifying a human incarnation of the Divine. When two humans are shown, the image is portraying a resolution of the tension between opposites at all levels. It’s as if this card is saying “You can do no wrong — it’s all to the good!”

The Celtic Tree Month of The Birch

 

The Celtic Tree Month of The Birch

December 24 – January 20

 

The Celtic meaning of the birch tree deals with:

  • Growth
  • Renewal
  • Stability
  • Initiation
  • Adaptability

 

Listen closely and you will detect whispers of transformation and growth in the midst of the birch groves within your soul.

The birch is highly adaptive and able to sustain harsh conditions with casual indifference. Proof of this adaptability is seen in its easy and eager ability to repopulate areas damaged by forest fires or clearings. Bright and beautiful, the birch is a pioneer, courageously taking root and starting anew to revive the landscape where no other would before.

This is a powerful metaphor for our lives. The birch asks us to philosophically go where no other will go (voluntarily or otherwise). The birch asks us to take root in new soils and light our lives with the majesty of our very presence. The birch sings to us: “Shine, take hold, express your creative expanse, light the way so that others may follow.”

Paradoxically, while the birch is a brilliant symbol of renewal, it is also symbolic of stability and structure. The druids also held the birch as the keepers of long-honored traditions.

Associated with the sun, the birch is a solar emblem, and facilitates passion, energy, as well as growth. This solar association is paralleled when we learn the druids carried birch bark with them as kindling. Birch serves as a perfect igniter as it will start to burn even when damp. This makes it a prized fire starter over most other wood types.

Here again, this makes for a perfect analogy. The birch asks us to serve our fellow man with a fire in our hearts. In this respect, the birch reminds us that even if our spirits are dampened by the set backs in life, we can always catch fire from the spark of passions that drive us to divinity.

 

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The Witches Spell for January 7th – Mary Caliendo’s Potato Chip Hex

Mary Caliendo’s Potato Chip Hex

This is so easy, you can perform it right at the office. Don’t let its simplicity fool you though. It’s powerful enough to get rid of even the nastiest boss or co-worker.

 

You will need:

2 bags potato chips (get them from the vending machine in your building if possible)

3 packets black pepper

1 sticky note

Black pen

Stapler

 

The Spell:

Open both bags to let the air out. Write your enemy’s name on the sticky note in black ink, place it in one of the bags, and add the pepper. Sit on one bag to crush the chips. (Move around a little to make sure all the chips are in small little crumbs). Retrieve the bag, fold the top three times, and staple several times to secure. Place the bag in your purse, and toss it in a public garbage receptacle after work.

Now, eat the other bag of chips. You certainly wouldn’t want to appear to be doing anything suspicious at work, now would you?

Reference:

Curses, Hexes & Other Unsavory Notions
By Dorothy Morrison
WillowTree Press

More Fantasy Comments

Life As The Witch – Things That Can Weaken or Ruin Our Spellcasting

 Things that Weaken or Ruin Spellcasting

There are some circumstances that can weaken or even destroy the spell you have worked so hard to cast, so you want to be aware of and avoid the following:

*Drug or alcohol use: You should never cast a spell with anything other than a clear head. For one thing, it is insulting to the Gods to come into sacred space under the influence of mind-altering substances. For another, it interferes with focus. (Yes, there are some folks who believe in the use of drugs deepens spiritual practice, they are entitled to their opinions, and I would never argue with them, but it has been my experience that nothing destroys magickal concentration and focus faster than coming into a circle high or drunk.)

*Extreme emotional states: As I said above, you need to have a clear head in order to do your best spell casting. Coming in to your sacred space filled with anger or fear or any other very strong emotion will not only stand in the way of clarity and focus, but you may cast a spell you later wished you hadn’t. This doesn’t mean that you can’t do spell work when things are bad–sometimes this is when we need magick the most. But try to achieve as calm a state as possible before starting the work. Do some meditation, take a long bath or walk, repeat some calming affirmations. At the very least, take slow, deep breaths and concentrate on the light and love of the Gods until your head is in a better place.

*Mixed feelings about the spell work: If you’re not sure whether the spell you are casting is the right thing to do or not, that doubt may undermine the will you need to feed the spell. Never cast a spell unless you are certain of your path in that instance. This is also true of the times when you are uncertain of your goal. That confusion will sap your spell of strength, so it is better to wait until you have a solid goal in mind, and the will to back it up.

*Negative intent:  This is not to say that you can’t cast a spell that would have a negative impace on someone else, for better or for worse, free will allows for this. However, you should be in mind that not only do the powers of the Universe often not allow these types of spells to work, it is not unusual for them to rebound on the one what casts them–either immediately or sometime down the line.

*Lack of focus: This is the main reason for not coming into circle under the influence of drugs, alcohol, or heavy emotions, they will simply make it too difficult to maintain the focus needed to create a powerful spell and send it out into the world. But other thing can get in the way of focus, too. If you can’t find a quiet, private place to cast your spell (the kids are running around screaming, the dog is barking, the neighbors ae arguing at the top of their lungs) you are better off waiting for a different time. It is almost impossible to get good results when you cast a spell in the midst of chaos.

Reference:

Excerpt from:

“Writing and Casting Spells
  For the Best Results”
  By Deborah Blake
Llewellyn’s Magical 2013 Magical Almanac

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Ritual for Growth, Healing, and Renewal

Gypsy Comments & Graphics


Ritual for Growth, Healing, and Renewal

 

Tools

  • Black candle
  • White candle
  • Athame
  • Goblet filled with water

Note: this is best performed skyclad, but the same effect can be obtained while fully clothed.

Diety

Ereshkigal, Assyro-Babylonian goddess of the Underworld, known for the ability to shed dead skin to grow and the deep power of renewal.

Setup

Facing north, place the black candle on the altar at south, the white candle at north, and the goblet in the middle.

Cast the Circle

Invocation

Light the black candle.

“Oh, great goddess Ereshkigal, join me in this sacred place. Help me to grow and leave behind the petty ways of the world. Assist me in healing the scars that I have been inflicted with through other’s cruelty. Teach me to respond with love and kindness.”

Passing your athame three times through the fire of the black candle, say:

“Great goddess of the Underworld, as this black candle burns, help me to also burn away the blackness in myself.”

Feel and envision yourself burning away the blackness that you carry with you. Blow out the candle.

Take a drink of water from the goblet. Say:

“With this drink of purity, help me to flush away the cinders left by the burning, so that I may be completely free from maliciousness.”

Take a drop of water from the goblet and place it on the wick of the black candle.

Light the White candle.

Reflect on the purity of the color and the healing power of the light. Say:

“Ereshkigal, assist me in this time of renewal. Help me to heal from the scars that the world has left on me and to rejuvenate myself. Through this renewal, I will be better able to act with compassion and patience towards those that seek to hurt me.”

Take time to reflect on this renewal proccess. Feel every part of your body become stronger, healthier, and more pure. Say:

“Oh, Great goddess Ereshkigal, help me to carry this growth and renewal with me in daily life.”

Extinguish the white candle.

Open the Circle

Reference:

Ritual written by Amy D. Guthrie

The Pagan Library

One More Magickal Spell for My Dear Friends – Revive Your Magickal Powers

witch11

Revive Your Magickal Powers

On the night of the full moon, anoint a purple candle with vanilla
oil. while annointing, raise energy and focus it into the candle. See
it glow with magick. Light the candle and go outside (if possible) or
near a window where you can see the moon. Place the candle on the
ground or windowsill. Reach your arms out to the moon and say:

I ask for your power on this night,
By the powers of the stars above me,
So shall it be

Visualize your arms and hands soaking up the powers of the moon and into your body. Put out the candle and leave it on your altar
overnight. The next morning, repeat the spell with this chant.

Oh dear Lord of sky and seaa,
Lead your magick unto me,
By soil, wind, flame, and sea,
This is my will, so mote it be.

Soak up the powers of the sun. Go to your altar and light the purplle
candle from the night before and meditate on it until it burns out.

The Witches Spell for January 5th – Power Removal Spell (The One Shot Spell)

Witchy Comments

 Power Removal Spell

The One Shot Spell

(NOTE: Do not use rum for this spell! As it is sacred to some of the Afro-Caribbean deities, using it as such may be offensive to Them.)

Materials:

1 shot of vodka, bourbon, gin or scotch

1 glass to hold the shot of alcohol

1 12 oz. glass of water

Pour the shot of alcohol, then swirl it in the glass, saying:

“(Name of target) you’ve become

(Name of target) you shall stay

And I’ve become the nemesis

“Who will take your power away.”

Take a sip from the glass, saying:

“One sip and you feel weak.”

Take another sip, saying:

“Another makes you fall.”

Then chug the rest of the shot and say:

“As I toss back the rest of this

I own your power: All!”

Now chase the shot with the full glass of water, drinking it down as quickly as possible. Then say:

“In an hour’s time, I’ll piss you out.

And you’ll be laid to waste,

Weak and lowly like the piss

And swimming in disgrace.”

Reference:
Utterly Wicked
Curses, Hexes & Other Unsavory Notions
By Dorothy Morrison