Tag: Witchcraft

Happy Friday, TGIF, However You Want to Say it, “The Weekend’s Almost Here!”

Good afternoon dear readers! I hope you are having a good Friday. I know I am. I love it when I have time to go out and ride my four-wheeler down into the creek bank. It give me time to think and ponder things that have been said or wrote to me during the day. I pride myself on being a thick-skinned witch. But there are still things that get under my skin. Yesterday afternoon, I was sitting in the creek bed feeding the bigger wildcats and thinking about a couple of messages I had got involving this blog.

One involved me whining all the time on the blog. Before I thought it through I had made my mind up not to leave anymore personal messages or say anything about my life. Then in the middle of the creek bed and about four hundred pounds of wildcats, it hit me. This is my damn blog. I am not a very open person to start with. But for my readers to get to know me and feel  comfortable with me, I agree to occasionally write insights into my life. Now if my life is whiny, I am so sorry. But it is just my whiny life I guess, huh? What it all boils down to is this, the WOTC is my blog. I provide information for those wishing to learn or interested in Witchcraft. I do this because my Goddess told me this is what She wants me to do. I also try to let people see the true beauty about the Craft. Dispel old myths and stereotypes associated with Witches and Witchcraft. Now after I get through doing the Goddess’s work, if I want to whine, bitch, gripe or any of the above, I am going to do so. But I have remained a nice, sweet, loveable (hee,hee, in my own opinion, lol!) witch and I plan on staying that way.
For those of you who are new to blogs (and the author who wrote this was), the comments come in the back and I see them before I release them to the public for them to read.  Of course, I am not going to release the nasty ones to the public, but I can guarantee the author(s) of those comments a couple of things. You will have my undivided attention (which you don’t want)  and I am going to personally email you also. I am going to continue to do as I have always done. If you don’t like the blog, go on to the next one. But leave me in peace.

Second, this turned out to be bogus after I checked into it. I had several people (come to find out it all came from the same computer) write messages stating the style of my blog was unreadable, unorganized  and just a mess (I guess that is why someone made me an offer to buy it, huh?). They told me, they had been taking stuff from my blog to use on theirs’ and their readers were complaining because they couldn’t read the stuff. I mean really, no one can make this stuff up, lmao! Everyone knows I have no problem with anyone using info from this blog. But once you take it from here, it’s your baby!  The more I thought about this one, I almost busted a gut laughing! But come to find out what these people wanted was to sell me a $75 web blog kit for WordPress.  They don’t know it but they are knocking on a poor witch’s door, lol! But I have come to love WordPress and how they keep up with posts in the back and I am very serious on this. In the back, I get your message then I also get your ISP number, cool!  So all my dear friends have nothing to worry about. They keep a record of the ISP in case of a hacker, spammer, or butthead. And I was able to track those buttheads that wanted to sell me the blog kit.

Well guess I have whined enough for today. Enjoy the rest of your Friday and have a great weekend!

Love ya,

Lady A

Modern Witches Connect on the Internet

Modern Witches Connect on the Internet

 

by BlackCat

Back in 1980, the personal computer was new. As a preteen, I used to wonder why anyone would use one. I knew, however, that this was a part of the future, and so I thought it must be a good thing. At the same time, I was spending many hot afternoons in the forest near my home, communing with nature and searching for spiritual connection. I found that connection with all of the life and energy around me. I yearned to learn more and find others to whom I could relate in these matters.

It was hard. There was no huge assortment of “Wicca for beginners” books available, as there is today. I was lucky to find two books on witchcraft at the local library. Even now, a trip to the downtown Seattle Public Library finds fewer selections on witchcraft than the chain bookstore up the street. Funny that the Seattle Public Library has several bookcases full of selections on religious studies of a Judeo-Christian nature, but only a handful of titles on Wicca. It strikes me that ignorance and prejudice still rear their ugly little heads, even in the free-thinking culture of Seattle.

Since my childhood hometown library yielded some results, I also checked bookstores. I discovered that an independent bookstore in town sold Tarot cards. As my ethnic background is Hungarian Gypsy, Tarot cards were considered okay in our household. I believe it was my elder sister who said, “Tarot cards are okay, Mom. They’re like astrology.” I started collecting them with allowance money. I scanned the shelves at that store, looking at the selections. Seeing books by Starhawk classified as “women’s studies,” in my youthful ignorance I didn’t even pick one up.

After a few visits to the bookshop, a woman behind the counter began to chat with me about the Tarot cards. I did not get to know her personally, but looking back I would say that she, like I, was searching and knew there was some way of connecting out there, but we just didn’t have a vehicle to find it.

For most, it was the true witch-shop that connected them. Generally in larger cities, shops specializing in occult merchandise and books became small magnets for like-minded individuals. In a small town, you relied on mail order catalogs. I bought my first athamé via the mail and even a “spell kit.”

Because neo-paganism is a minority spiritual system or religion, its adherents have generally already broken some ties to the cultural mainstream. Our practices require of us new ways of thinking and rethinking previously accepted norms. We do not have a sacred scripture to keep us all in a line, so we are ever seeking and learning new ideas. All the while, we rediscover the beliefs and practices of our ancestors. The use of the Internet is a natural enhancement for these quests.

The Internet can be so helpful in learning that you’d have to be a fool to stay away from it, in my opinion. It is in essence a huge library. All you do is type a word on your computer, and pictures and text are presented on any subject. I use the Internet for news, weather, shopping and especially for e-mail. Like a telephone call, e-mail is immediate, but unlike a phone call it does not interrupt. The receiver can get the communication whenever is a good time for the receiver.

The pagan community using the Internet is large and diverse. Made up of so many creative people and free thinkers, this graphic and opinionated medium was an easy hit. Today, there are thousands of pagan-related Web sites, Webrings that link sites together, e-mail lists, chat rooms and even virtual covens that have sprung up. We already knew that our magick was transcending time and space. Why not use the computer to further this transcendence to commune with other like-minded individuals? Many of these are separated by great physical distance and, yes, time (it’s afternoon here, but it’s tomorrow morning in Japan). Nevertheless, virtual covens communicate via e-mail and online chat-rooms. Rituals are held online, often using a graphic interface that each member can watch on his or her computer during the ritual.

Where to start? Most people have some search feature on the start page of their Internet service provider. According to Lycos, one of these search engines, of the top 1000 most widely searched-for Web topics, the subject of witchcraft ranked 72 and Wicca ranked 91. A search on the word “Wicca” I just did brings up 59,305 Web sites. That’s right, 59,305 individual listings of Web sites you could look at on the subject. Witchcraft brings up a whopping 108,542!

Such a list is hard to sort through, with many of the listings being redundant or actually off the topic you are looking for. The Internet is so extensive as to be almost too big to handle. I have a suggestion. There is one site in particular that stands out among all the thousands to choose from.

The Witches Voice Web site, Witchvox (www.witchvox.com), is a nonprofit organization. Wren Walker, Fritz Jung and Peg Aloi created the organization and Web site in 1997. Wren and Fritz had both previously done work for the Witches League for Public Awareness. They currently operate out of their home in Clearwater, Florida. The Witches Voice is one of the most widely used religious Web sites in the world, having registered since its creation over 30,850,000 pages viewed! Their tagline, “Those who walk in love and truth shall grow in honor and strength,” clearly reflects their honest, noble cause.

Each week, an update is posted, reflecting current events in the pagan community worldwide. The site is extensive, with 34 chapters containing 3410 Web pages. There are over 5000 working links and over 39,000 personal connections verified every three months. The site is rich in graphics, yet with no annoying advertisements. The Witchvox staff does not take any money for the work they do and state they never have and never will. The Witches’ Voice is funded by the community only.

To quote from their Web site, “The Witches’ Voice provides the information, resources, educational materials, networking sections, latest news and all of the other support documents on the Web site to everyone free of charge. What you don’t see on the site are the more personal letters and information packets that are sent to local agencies, schools and individuals, the many hours of research, the discussions with mainstream media on issues that affect pagans, the phone calls offering emotional support and guidance and all the other ways the staff supports the pagan community.”

I use the Witchvox site for many reasons. Sometimes I just browse the well-organized links section and learn about different Craft traditions. One will find widdershins.org and several other Pacific Northwest links. Maybe I want to learn about pagan musicians or an Internet pagan “radio” address. “Wren’s Nest” offers the latest news and is a credited source for my own news column, the Speculum. There are surveys and essays written by community members from all over the world.

The site encourages and accepts sponsorship donations from those that deem its mission of value, and the site uses those funds to pay for communication costs and for donations to events or situations in the community that need help.I can best offer more information by simply quoting the site:

· Witchvox does not teach Wicca or Witchcraft, nor do we promote our personal spiritual beliefs on this site. We offer some of the more popular tenets to those outside of this community in an effort to help them better understand who we are and what we do. Witchvox is about supporting and celebrating the work of the local communities. We are constantly approached for interviews by some of the most famous publications in the world. We defer 85 percent of these requests to witches, Wiccans and pagans at the local level.

· The Witches’ Voice will never be about titles, degrees or fame. Our focus will always be related to the work itself. We live in a world of spin, idle promises and hype. It is our observation that the work will ultimately speak for itself.

· The Witches’ Voice is a community effort; we don’t pay writers or famous names for articles. Even if we could afford to do this, it’s doubtful that we would do it. We are a site by the community… for the community. All are welcome to submit articles and always have been. Notable pagans are encouraged to share their wisdom and experiences.

· The “pages viewed” stats on our splash page are indeed real. They have been faithfully culled from our server logs from day one. They indicate a running daily total of both Witchvox.com and Witchvox.net. Witchvox.com stats are added daily, and Witchvox.net stats are only added at the end of the month. At present, we are pacing at close to 35,000 pages viewed on a daily basis. If you prefer to work with the concept of “hits” (page elements) you can multiply that number by 5; if your preference is for actual visitors, divide this number by 5.

· The Witchvox focus is on the present day and the present way. To us everyone is special and valid in their own personal beliefs. All you have to do to get “featured” here is to do something for the community. We don’t care if you found this path last month or 25 years ago. We do “lean into” individuals and groups that consistently work for the community. Current selfless work, for the good of all, means everything to us.

· The Witchvox staff have no desire to impose our own personal morals on anyone. “An it harm none, do what ye will” — we do maintain a strong sense of ethics. We encourage honesty and direct contact by anyone that has concerns related to what we do.

· We have a rich history of answering 99 percent of our e-mail on a daily basis (we sure have received a mountain of it). We do not participate in “he said/she said” gossip and do not respond to background bitching. Our e-mail addresses are accessible via links at the bottom of all of our pages.

· As always, our goal is to create solutions that are both valuable and useful to the pagan community. Both Witchvox.com and Witchvox.net are here for your news and networking needs. Use them with our love.

· Use the Internet! Start with The Witches’ Voice, www.witchvox.com, and you’re on a firm launching pad for all of your neo-pagan spiritual explorations through cyberspace.

One Pagan Steps Out of the Broom Closet

One Pagan Steps Out of the Broom Closet

 

by L. Lisa Harris

In days past, stepping out of the broom closet meant sitting at the dinner table and blurting out, “Mom, I’m a witch,” then waiting for her to accept the fact and ask you questions, or faint dead away. She might tell you it was a phase you were going though or refuse to talk to you for a period of time. As a general rule, if it wasn’t accepted, it never left the dinner table. It just wouldn’t do to air the family’s dirty laundry to the neighbors (what would they think?).

Today, it could still be as simple as telling a trusted co-worker that you go to circle, instead of church, or explaining to a potential significant other why there is 7-inch dagger on a small table next to your bed. You might even be lucky enough to be outed by your 9-year-old child, who in an argument with a neighborhood kid yells, “Yeah, well, my mom’s a witch, and I’m going to go get her right now.”

However, with the advent of the Internet, one’s “witchiness” (along with anything else of interest) can be world news in a matter of seconds, as I quickly learned. The speed at which such information can travel and how far it can get can be quite surprising, even for one who is “out of the broom closet.” You can give in an interview to the local paper, and the next thing you know, you’re getting e-mail from Australia.

My adventure in pagan PR and world news began early last winter when I received a phone call from Steve Maynard of the Tacoma News Tribune advising me that he was planning to do a feature story on the Earth Centered Spirituality Group at the Unitarian Universalist (UU) Church in Tacoma, which I have facilitated for the past two and a half years. Steve covers religion for the paper and was slowly but surely making progress with his editor in getting earth-centered events covered on the religion page. We both knew he had a long way to go before he would be permitted to treat our group as the paper did other religious groups when, last Easter season, his editor would not allow him to use the word “pagan” when he was describing a UU church service in which elders read children stories of how four traditions (pagan, Hebrew, Christian and Unitarian) celebrated the Easter season.

I was expecting his feature story to be on the religion page, as we were just beginning to get calendar space in the Saturday edition in that section. Imagine my surprise when he told me that it was going to be the cover for the “Sound Life” magazine section and that there was also going to be a photo layout. He was even going to use the words “pagan” and “witch.” For a moment, I couldn’t believe it. All the months of pestering him and sending press releases and information had paid off. We were going to be taken seriously. We were going to have a chance to let Western Washington know what we were and what we weren’t. I was elated.

But on the drive home from work, I asked myself, “What was I thinking?” A nice little column on the religion page was one thing, but to be on the magazine cover of a Sunday edition was another matter. I have been “out” with my family and friends for 13 years and even wear a triple moon pentacle at work, where I have no problem educating those who would malign others’ religion out of ignorance. But when I thought about the conservative Christian parents of the girls I coach in softball and volleyball on the South Hill of Puyallup reading in the Sunday paper about their coach being a witch, something in my stomach did a double back-flip with a twist. I had visions of girls being pulled from the team by parents who didn’t want them corrupted by that “tool of Satan,” other kids not being allowed to play with my daughter and picketers throwing rocks in front of the church. Steve and I had been working towards this for almost a year and a half, so it was no small matter that I found myself reconsidering the wisdom of the situation.

Most witches I know would meditate or cast a circle and ask the Goddess for guidance when dealing with an important situation like this. My goddess never waits for me to do that. I’ve learned to deal with it. She likes to slip into the passenger seat of my car when I’m trying to drive home at the end of a busy day or corner me when I’m in the bathroom and can’t get up and leave because my pants are around my ankles. This time she chose the car, and she really let me have it. “You’re the one that wanted to be a warrior. Now you’re given a chance to battle ignorance and you’re afraid? Don’t be a wimp! Get out there and act like a priestess, not a weenie!” I don’t recommend dedicating yourself to the Morrigane unless you’re the type of person who can stand up to a drill sergeant without flinching. Of course, as I remember it, I didn’t have a lot of say in the matter. She chose me.

About the time I was feeling completely unworthy, my cell phone rang. It was my daughter letting me know that she was home from school. “Honey, how would you feel if the next article about me was in a bigger paper than the last one?” I asked.

“Um, okay, why?” she replied, her mouth overly full of partially chewed banana. I explained that it would be a front page spread and my picture was likely to be in it. More chewing, and another “Um, okay” followed the sound of the fridge being rummaged through. I asked her what her friends would think if they saw the article, and she assured me that her friends don’t read anything other than the horoscopes, music reviews and comics.

“How would you feel if one of your friends wouldn’t hang out with you anymore because your mom’s a witch?”

“I don’t think that would happen,” she said.

“But what if it did?” I pushed.

She swallowed the rest of her banana, which I’m sure was not properly chewed, and in her best exasperated-adolescent voice said, “Well, that wouldn’t make them very good friends, now, would it? Can I go over to Morgan’s?” So much for the girl being traumatized by it. That was one excuse gone. I reminded her to chew with her mouth closed and take smaller bites, then hung up the phone.

The next call came in right on schedule, from Hubby, who was on his break at work. “Hi, honey, how would you feel if all the guys in the break room at work read in the paper that I’m a witch?” I asked, thinking that there was no point in beating around the bush since he only had 10 minutes to talk.

His response was immediate and enthusiastic, “Cool!” he said. “When will it come out? I’d love for some of those dumb, right-wing conservative jerks I argue politics with to see it, so that I can yank their chain.” When he found out it would be in the Sunday edition, he was extremely disappointed he wouldn’t be there at work to watch the looks on his co-workers’ faces when they read it. It would have been amusing, since I used to work in the same place and know all of them. Great, Hubby wasn’t going to be an excuse either. I was going to have to go through with it.

The next step was to set up interviews and photo opportunities. The interviews weren’t going to be a problem. I’d been talking to Steve for over a year and a half and had sent him volumes of information. How much was there that he could possibly ask? I found out that there was plenty. It seemed that the more information I gave him, the more questions he had. He found that the more people he talked to and the more research he did, the more disagreement on basic issues he found. After a month of spending my lunch hours, breaks and time after work talking to Steve, I still couldn’t come up with answers to some questions other than, “Well, if you ask 30 people that question, you’ll likely get 30 different answers.”

I could hear him shaking his head on the other end of the phone line, but he kept with it. He interviewed Ph.D.s, ministers, theologians, authors and other high priestesses in the local community. He attended Tarot classes and rune workshops that we put on in order to get a better understanding of what our group does and interviewed several people at those classes to get a feel for the local community.

The photo editor wanted to photograph a ritual. “We don’t allow photographers at our rituals,” I explained. When I offered to set something up with people who didn’t mind being photographed, he told me that at the paper they “don’t like things that are staged.” “Great!” I muttered to myself. I already had a Brigid ritual to write, a class on the runes to put together and lines to memorize for a Candlemas ritual that another group was putting on. I knew that the only way the layout was going to work would be to put on a real working with participants who didn’t mind being photographed. I made the offer of a special ritual, with a real working, and once he was convinced it wouldn’t be “staged” and I had his agreement the photographer would not disrupt the flow of the ritual, the date was set. I put out a call to the local pagan e-mail lists for volunteers who didn’t mind being photographed.

Getting the volunteers was much easier than I had imagined, and I was rather pleased with how things were working out. The difficult part, I discovered, was going to be finding a ritual that wouldn’t expose material that many in the pagan community would consider “inappropriate” for public use or that would offend or exclude anyone. I soon discovered that what some considered “outer court” material, suitable for any public occasion, others considered “oath-bound.” I was also faced with the fact that just because something is published and sitting on a shelf at Borders doesn’t mean that it isn’t considered oath-bound by one tradition or another. I suddenly had to worry about being pagan politically correct.

Then there were the personal preferences of those who were going to be in the circle. My Wiccan friends didn’t want a Wiccan ritual “performed” for the media. Some of the pagans didn’t want to be confused with witches, the neo-pagans didn’t want to be confused with “New Agers,” my Brit-trad friends didn’t want to be mistakenly identified as Unitarians, and some of the Unitarians didn’t want to be labeled at all. I had 17 ritualists with 17 different ideas of what would and wouldn’t be appropriate.

As I sat at my computer, staring out the window at the woods out back, I thought to myself, “If my close friends and those who trust me to present paganism to the media are this fired up, what about all the pagans who are going to read this in the paper and had no say in the matter? What are they going to think?” Suddenly I went from feeling like a champion of those who suffer religious oppression to feeling like someone not worthy of the task. I had lost count of the number of people who thought that no reporter could be trusted and that I was making a huge mistake. But I had been talking to Steve for a long time. I knew him. I knew what he wanted to accomplish and trusted him to do right by us. I thought I was doing a good thing, and it seemed that it just ticked everyone off. Visions of angry pagans wanting my hide were added to the already scary ones of crosses burning on my lawn or windows being broken at the church by those who fear us. More doubt filled my mind. I tried to brush it away as quickly as I could. I really wasn’t up for a bathroom visit from a ticked-off goddess. I was starting to get a headache.

Two glasses of wine later, I had decided that we would use only published material, to which I would make some changes so that no tradition’s sacred material would be exposed to the media. The ritual would be a working for community understanding, which seemed fitting for a media event. I scanned my bookshelves, literally sagging under the weight of what my hubby considers my “excessive” book collection, hoping that something would present itself.

I noticed my old dog-eared copy of The Spiral Dance sticking out a bit farther than the other books on the shelf. “Starhawk! She knows how to deal with the public and fight for the cause. I don’t really think she’d mind if I borrowed a few things,” I told myself. I found a ritual written by Alan Acacia titled “A Circle for Healing During Struggle,” which fit in perfectly with what we were planning. I modified it to be less priestess-centered and to have the quarters read their parts themselves. I picked out some nice invocations to the God and Goddess, and soon I had a basic ritual ready to go.

The ritual was beautiful, so beautiful in fact that I forgave my friend Dana without even giving her a hard time for calling me a “circle Nazi” in rehearsal. Everyone showed up in festive clothing and colorful robes. People who came to sit and watch but didn’t want to risk being “outed” by being in the circle were drawn in; they just couldn’t stay out. The quarter callers performed their parts perfectly, the candles all stayed lit, and our sound and lighting person hit every musical cue. We passed a small cauldron, which was later lit, around the room, so that each person in turn could hold it and speak aloud what they hoped to accomplish with the ritual. Everyone was so eloquent and sincere and came up with such wonderful, positive wishes that the reporter was frantic trying to copy them all down. We danced a spiral to raise energy, and everyone in that room could feel a strong, palpable force, even the photographer. We had been asked prior to the ritual to send healing energy to a critically ill girl who was on a respirator in a children’s hospital, so we added that to our ritual working and sent it all flying out of the circle in a powerful stream of golden light. Afterwards, everyone in the circle had a look on his or her face as if they had just had amazing sex. I’d call that good energy.

At 4 a.m. on February 8, after weeks of worries and what ifs, I drove down the hill to the mini-mart to get a copy of the paper. I took a deep breath, readying myself in case it wasn’t really there or my trust in the reporter had been misplaced. On the cover of the “Sound Life” section was a full color picture of the ritualists with their outstretched arms, adorned with rings, bracelets and colorful robes, sending healing energy to the ill girl, and the headline “Pagans at Peace.” The light bouncing off of the sanctuary wall in the background looked just like a ball of gold light being tossed out to the universe. There were pictures of the rune workshop and flaming cauldrons. I must say it was possibly the best article I have ever seen on paganism in the mainstream press. Steve had even quoted Christian clergy to explain what attracts seekers to witchcraft and paganism. Yes, there were some things left out, and a couple of people didn’t think that the press should have made it sound like all pagans share a common set of beliefs. All I could do was say, “Well done, Steve. Thank you.” (To see the story, check out “NEW !!! UUAT In the News” under http//members.nbci.com/uuatearth/.)

There were no picketers in front of the UU church that morning. No threatening messages had been left on the answering machine there or at home. Everyone in the church was excited about the article, and some new people even showed up because of it. A friend who works in a local hospital arrived at work to find the article pinned to the bulletin board and a request for pagan clergy posted. The hospital staff had taken notice of the article section that spoke of pagan hospital patients not having access to clergy services. Now there is a group in Pierce County putting together a program to get pagan clergy registered with local hospitals.

The article made it around the globe in a few hours, thanks to the Internet mailings lists and bulletin boards. It made at least two appearances in the “Wren’s Nest” section of The Witches Voice Web site, and I received congratulations from Circle Sanctuary. Soon I started receiving e-mail messages from all over the world. One told me how the article came at a perfect time to show to a judge in a child custody battle in which the mother’s Wiccan religion was being used against her. Another letter told of a case where a young girl was missing and the local media had blamed it on the fact that she had visited a Web site on Wicca. The story went out on the Howard-Scripps News Service and was reprinted in several other newspapers, sparking a whole new batch of letters, all with similar stories and gratitude to Steve for portraying us in a positive light, not just as a media curiosity at Halloween, as many newspapers do.

When it was apparent that nothing bad was going to happen because of the article, I was almost disappointed. I wasn’t going to have to do battle against ignorance or have an exciting and dangerous story to tell in Widdershins. I came to realize, though, that I did have a story to tell. It isn’t about confrontation or hate. It is about battling my own fear and self-doubt. It is a story of a group of people who came together, regardless of personal risk, to accomplish a goal for the greater community. It is the story of a little girl who got off of a respirator and is back home with her family, who incidentally are not pagan.

Happy & Blessed Sunday To All!

Good Sunday morning to all! I hope you are having a wonderful day so far. And your weather much better than mine. It has stormed all morning long and still at it.

I promise to keep this short and sweet today. Yes, really! You remember I was talking about the pendant I was wanting to concentrate to me last evening. The pendant has gorgeous emerald jewels in it. The more I looked at it, the more I wanted to wear it. So I said what the heck. I got everything ready for my simple ritual. My two familiars always attend to me during my spells and rituals, today was no different. My cat sits in the floor and my puppy on the edge of the bed right behind me. If I am doing a ritual or spell and there is someone around that shouldn’t be she lets me know. Well I had started the ritual and was getting close to the end. All of a sudden, Kiki warned me that someone was around. I just figured hubby had opened the door and saw what I was doing and shut it. Shortly after that I closed the ritual and put on the pendant. I turned around and there stood my neighbor with his weedeater in hand with his mouth hung open. I like to have sh*t! I could not believe it. When you are in your home, you expect privacy. Ha, not around here apparently. My yard is well-kept, there is no reason for him to be here at all.  I told my husband about it and he was pissed too. He told me that he guessed I would have to start pulling the blinds when I decided to do some spell work. He also said he knows you are a witch now for sure. I was just so mad I couldn’t stand it. I walked out in the yard and asked the man why he was in my yard. His reply was he was just trying to help out. I guess I was rude but I told him I didn’t need his help. Then he had the gall to ask me what I was doing in my own house. I lost it. I can’t even post what I said to him. If what I said to him doesn’t keep his butt at home, nothing will. I am a private person and I hate my privacy violated. He was the same one that followed me to where I feed the wildcats at. I have food I buy and also if I have scraps I load them up on the four-wheeler and take them down to the creek. I was sitting down and a couple of the wildcats were loving all over me. The man had brought his gun. It was a bolt-action high-powered 30-06 and I heard it. I asked him, “what the heck he was doing there?” He told me, “that he thought I was being attacked by those cats.” I stood up and the cats were loving around my legs and growling at him. I told him that he needed to leave and not to follow me again. After that I moved the feeding place for the big cats. I figured he just wanted to know where they were to come back and kill them all.  But it just amazes me how people like to stick their nose in other people’s business.

Well I feel much better now. I just had to blow up about the neighbor and now I feel better. I hope you don’t have neighbors like me. If you do, I feel sorry for you. Well I am off to do the posts now and think what I am going to do to my nosey neighbor, hee, hee, hee! Got any good ideas?

Sacred Symbols and the Witch Next Door

Sacred Symbols and the Witch Next Door
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Author: Draekaa

It’s Tuesday at five o’clock. I punch out, lock up my desk, and leave the dreaded office for the evening. As I walk out of the side door, I imagine that I’m going through one of those automatic car washes, and the brushes and water are removing the day’s stresses and negativity from me (I’m a title clerk at a car dealership, and as you can imagine, dealing with the DMV every day tends to build up negativity). By the time I get to my car, I’m feeling good, stress free and ready for the evening. I look up and see another Carolina thunderstorm rolling in. It’s going to be a 30-minute drive in the rain, and that makes me smile.

By the time I meander my way out of the parking lot, the rains have started. I roll down my window and stick my hand out. As I drive down the street, going with the flow at 45 mph, I feel the bite on my palms and wrists. Like thousands of needles, the drops seem to pierce my skin, infusing me with the energy of Water and Wind. My entire left side is soaked, and I don’t seem to mind. The family in the mini-van next to me stares slack-jawed, thinking me to be insane. I feel sorry for them. If they only knew how good this feels, how cleansing it is, their heads would hang out of the windows of the van like Labradors. I turn into the parking lot of the grocery store to pick up something for cakes and ale tonight. The rain is coming down in sheets. Thunder cracks and rumbles, making the ground shake. Lightning strikes are everywhere. A handful of people run to their cars, holding a few grocery bags and covering their large heads with thin arms to shield themselves. I have the sudden urge to strip naked, arms out in childlike joy, and dance in deformed circles throughout the parking lot until I’m dizzy and fall into a puddle, laughing. The only thing stopping me is the patrol car parked nearby, with the cop inside catching up on his paperwork. I stroll leisurely into the store and pass a small group of old southern women staring at me as they huddle just behind the automatic doors waiting for the storm to subside. One of them tells me that I’ll get sick from that, and that I should have at least tried to hurry into the store where it’s dry. I look at her and say, “Water is a sacred symbol. I am Cleansed and Purified by the Mother.”

When I’ve finished my transaction and head out of the store, the rain has slowed to barely more than a drizzle. As I turn out of the parking lot, it has stopped all together. Again, I’ve rolled down my window and stuck my arm out; now it’s just the Air that I feel on my skin. I inhale the crisp smells only detected after a storm. My lungs expand, and I feel the butterflies in my stomach. That smell always seems to rejuvenate me. I pull into my driveway, turn off the car and go inside. I put the cakes and ale in the refrigerator, then head straight for the back door. On my deck, I sit and enjoy the rolling hills and farmland behind my house. The smell of the after rain still clings to the Air. I breathe deeply and close my eyes. I feel at one with the Air, with the sky. A light breeze kisses my face. As the breeze kicks up, it wraps around me, a swirling blanket of the Gods. I am given the gift of the East, Air as its symbol, and I take that with me back into the house.

The rest of the coven arrives. I change into my robes and we go into the altar room to set up. I lead them through the chants and the worship, we dine on the cakes and ale, and we meditate briefly before opening circle. After ritual, we sit and catch up on what’s going on in each other’s lives. We laugh, we talk, and we laugh some more. By 9:30 they show themselves out, and I return to the altar room. I light all of the candles once again and stare into the flame of one of my altar candles. I feel my spirit disconnect from my physical body. I enter a trance, and am lost in the awesome power of the Fire. My mind becomes one with the dancing flame and images flood my head. Insights are gained, wisdoms etched into my psyche to forever become a part of me. My education continues, with the Lord and Lady my teachers. The Fire is a symbol of my knowledge. My passion swells as I strive to learn everything…to know…to be. I become aware that I’ve hit the climax of my trance and feel the cycling down, the beginning of the end of the controlled burn. The images slow, and I am once again aware that it is a candle at which I stare. I thank the Gods for bestowing the gnosis upon me, and carefully extinguish the flame.

I am unaware of the time, and do not care to know. I need to ground myself, but rather than do it inside, I instead choose to take our offerings from ritual and bury it outside in the Earth. In the backyard, I find a small, rich patch of soil. Most of the yard is clay, except for here. I dig deeper than needed. Halfway down I toss aside my trowel, electing instead to feel the Earth in my bare hands. As I dig I allow the energies raised within me to pour down into the Earth. The smell of the grass and weeds and dirt permeate me. I feel calm and relaxed, bathed in the glow of the full moon. Carefully I scrape the offering off of the dish. I close my eyes and feel good, knowing that however small it is, this gift of thanks to the Gods will decompose, and what grows in this spot will receive some extra nutrition. All returns to the Earth in good time. I repack the hole I’ve dug and remain on my knees for a few more minutes. The Earth, our symbol of life, our living organism.

These are the most sacred of symbols, the Elements. Water, Air, Fire and Earth all connect us to the Spirit. I stand up slowly, beginning to feel the effects of exhaustion. I turn my head to the right and see a neighbor peeking out the blinds at me. I think to myself that I’m doing nothing strange here, yet tomorrow morning I’ll be the block’s topic of conversation. A Mona Lisa smile crosses my lips as I wave to her and she quickly moves away from the window. I go back into the house, knowing that I’m just the everyday Witch next door.

Spirituality and Magic – Don’t Sell Yourself Short

Spirituality and Magic – Don’t Sell Yourself Short
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Author: Friendly Spirit

I’ve read some informative and highly interesting articles on Witchvox recently and wanted to share a perspective that perhaps may help some in their dealings with their own spirituality. This includes rituals where many find sources of enlightenment but also includes just about anything else, eclectic or traditional, in the general areas of spirituality, magic, ethics, etc. My comments do not center on promoting my own beliefs. Rather I’d like to comment on keeping a bigger picture in mind no matter which path or paths you choose.

The bigger picture is, what are you really and how does what you are relate to which practices you use or follow in seeking spiritual enlightenment? I’d also like to suggest a few simple things to keep in mind when choosing a path or religion.

Which Path/Religion to Choose?

I don’t think that anyone but you can say which exact path or religion is right for you. And I’m not sure most can tell if they don’t try things. I guess the “right” one is the one that works for you. Try things and see what helps you improve your spiritual life. Does it help you to be a happier person or live a better life or feel more spiritual or does it not?

It’s a simple question really but then things should be simple.

But how do you know what to try in order to see what works best for you? Well, I guess many will try different paths before they find out but I can offer here some very simple guidelines in helping eliminate any while conducting your search. These guidelines work very well for me but, if they are something that does not work for you, then don’t use them:

  1. Does the path/religion preach that you are small or insignificant and it offers you a way to improve? I say reject that path/religion because it is based on a lie. The lie being that you are small and insignificant. You are not. You are an immortal, spiritual being.
  2. Does the path/religion depend substantially on faith, fear of gods or such things as damnation, etc? I say reject that path/religion as it is based on a lie. Your goal in spiritual enlightenment should not be based on fear, mysteries that you cannot comprehend, etc.
  3. Does the path/religion suggest not harming yourself and others and does it have at least some system of ethics against doing the above? I say look into it. Ethics are logic, really. They are things that just make sense if you truly want to expand spiritually or in any other way. It makes sense because you the immortal being are good and you will hinder your own growth when doing harm.
  4. Does the path/religion hold firm beliefs that are contrary to your own, even though your own harms no one including yourself? I don’t suggest getting into it unless you yourself are trying to change your own beliefs, as you feel they are incomplete or somehow wrong.
  5. Does the path/religion involve the use of drugs, hypnotic suggestions, invalidation or evaluation of you by others? I say reject it, as real spiritual enlightenment depends on you either regaining or otherwise obtaining a personal spiritual improvement which, in the end, depends on you and not the invalidation and/or evaluation of others.
  6. Does the path/religion promote kindness and things loving? If so, this is a good point as such things as kindness and love are completely natural to a spiritual being. Those times you could not be more mean or tough in a situation were not really signs of weakness. But the times you could not be more kind were signs of weakness as, again, kindness and love are natural in a spiritual being who, when itself, is truly good.

So What is The Bigger Picture to Keep In Mind in Any Path or Practice?

Keep in mind what you yourself really are verses what is being dealt with in your practice. I feel this is most important in order to obtain the maximum benefit of any path towards spiritual enlightenment.

What you are is very different than what you are being. For example, in this life you may have a female body, be a mother, a wife, an office worker and a Witch. Those are all identities you have assumed as you progressed in life while your body developed from the stage of its birth to where it is now.

Can a good spiritual path help you to be a better mother, Witch, neighbor, wife, etc? Sure it can. It can assist you in being anything you want. But, here again we are addressing what you are being in this lifetime, not what you are.

So, you’re not that body you have, right? I mean, for example, if you lost one of your hands in a car accident does that change that loving thing that is “you?” That thing that loves your children, arts or music? Is your body that thing that soars to wonderful music or what you consider beautiful in nature or otherwise? No, it is not.

I was in a Pagan chat room recently and in it this wonderful lady talked about children and other things, which was a great chat. She was obviously a kind and caring person but she stated that we all love our children because of a genetic imprint that makes us feel nurturing, defending, and so on. I loved her but I wanted to scream out, “YOU ARE MUCH MORE THAN THAT!” Yes, human bodies and animal bodies do have a “life force” and a genetic line that does provide for caring, nurturing, etc. (or else there would be no real continuation of a species), and when you take on a body you tend to be affected by it and the genetic line BUT you are so much more than that.

It was not appropriate to argue in that room nor did I feel a need to argue, but I really wanted her to realize she was SO much more than some sort of “genetic imprint” connected with a body…

Yet science often stops at just that point in trying to measure what you are. The physical universe can make a great “playground” in which to play and bodies can be a “calling card” spiritual beings use to identify and play with each other.

So if you are not your body, are you your mind? Again, you are selling yourself short if you agree that you are your mind. Here is a simple exercise you can do as you read this right now that might help you conclude you are not your mind:

Read these next two paragraphs and then close your eyes and think about it

Pick a pet or other animal you have with you or had with you once. Was it in your house? What color was it? Size? How did it look? When you think of a time with it, do you see it in your living room, outdoors or what? What was it doing then?

You can do this exercise with a child, a friend, whatever. Close you eyes now and do it and, when you are done, open your eyes and continue reading this.

Okay, so I am going to assume you just did the exercise. Who was looking at the picture(s) of that pet, animal, child, friend or whatever after you closed your eyes? It was not your body as your eyes were closed. Was it your mind “looking” at that? No, in fact it was YOU looking at it. And what you were looking at was a part of your mind (the pictures and things you saw).

My point is, you are not your mind. You are an immortal spirit that currently has a mind and a body.

Your body is located in time and in space (for example, here on Earth) and the pictures that make up your mind are locatable as well. But you yourself are not so located except by your own considerations and your agreement with the considerations of others.

While this is a subject that would take up a great deal more writing space than is available here, my whole point is if you want to get maximum spiritual enlightenment from any path you choose, please keep in mind what YOU are and never get confused with what you are not (a body, mind, tools of magic, etc.).

For example, the idea of using crystals, stones and other physical things to produce energy or other effects could really work but not for the reason many think. Matter (physical things) are just solidified energy and if someone figured out (by accident or otherwise) how to “tap it, ” lots could be produced. Some physical things like crystals perhaps store more energy than physical things like granite. I believe that different paths and people of older traditions have discovered a lot of that.

But what’s most important is that it’s NOT something bigger than you (the spirit). You’re tapping into something that can be amazing in terms of what is generally agreed to be possible BUT it is comparatively nothing to what YOU (the spirit) could produce. If it helps you to tap the energy and magic that is “sleeping” inside of you then by all means do it.

If people could practice such things with the bigger picture of what they really are in mind, to the point where they at least don’t worship such things as the tools of magic, then it could really be something special.

Just because we spiritual beings may use bodies and other physical things in order to communicate with each other, does not mean that we must be limited to that or to what is commonly agreed to be the limitations of bodies in order to perceive or communicate.

You know, you have many agreements in place automatically all the time with regard to your body and mind. Such agreements as human eyes see only certain hues, human ears hear only certain sounds, words are important to communication, you must breath air, and so on. If a spiritual being had the body of a cat for a lifetime, it likely would go into agreement with what a cat sees, hears, senses and the like. Same with any other body type. But they are only considerations you have agreed with and you yourself as a spiritual being are not restricted to such limits. If actions taken in rituals or otherwise in different paths help you to simply “disagree” on all those limits to perception, then they are probably good actions if they lead to your own spiritual enlightenment. And they are probably good things to do until some day you will be able to bring all the magic and abilities out of yourself without need of any tools.

Spiritual enlightenment is a matter of rehabilitating the spirit’s (your) abilities so that YOU may make a better life for yourself and others. Don’t be impatient and expect yourself to go from where you are to perfection overnight. If in any way you find yourself improving any aspects of your life (you feel better, you’re no longer depressed, some things come easier now, you feel more love for others, etc.) then by all means be happy as your effort on your path is working. Keep it up. It gets better and better as you grow spiritually and realize more of your own potential.

Just keep in mind that it is you the spiritual being that is awakening and that all the magic there is, is in you now. And if some path helps you find it within yourself for the improvement of you and others then it is a wonderful thing indeed.

You don’t HAVE a spirit. You ARE the spirit. Remember that and I believe you will get much more out of your practice.

Final Comment:

I have made no attempt here to comment on a god or goddess or anything else besides you. I believe that subject is very highly personal and that the more you expand spiritually, the more you understand such things. I only want to point out that you are something very, very special and much more than most people or even many religions let you believe.

Personally I have a very deep affinity for the Goddess. Every time I even reflect on that subject I feel wonderful. I do not categorize her in ways that many others have done. I personally don’t feel her under the many names people have given her in the past. Nor in temples dedicated to her in the various forms that might have been real to people at the time they gave her a name or a temple. Rather, personal to me, I see her everywhere, especially at times where I feel more enlightened. I reflect on her every time I see the love of a mother for her child, when I see anything nurturing, when I so much as see a spore fly in the wind and settle on the ground, knowing some day it may grow to be a plant.

I feel all that at times when I see kindness, love, the good in others. I see her when I see what in many lifetimes I’ve perceived as spirituality, courage, caring, wisdom, magic, strength and all things good. I think of all these things when I think of true “femininity.”

I don’t believe you have to roam anywhere to see her and the best evidence of her is within you now.

The Importance of Being a Wise Woman – a Witch

The Importance of Being a Wise Woman – a Witch
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Author: Briallason

The term “witch” wasn’t given to anyone accused of being such by the person being accused. The term was given by the ruling powers to a certain type of individual that the ruling powers did not understand and of which they were terribly afraid.

What was, or is, this type of individual that has frightened so many governments, religions, and ruling powers for so long?

They are nothing more than males or females who are aware of their position in life in accordance with the mathematics of the universe (universal law).

They are persons who recognize and are willing to accept their right and responsibility to be in charge of their own lives: Responsible for their own actions, their own lives, their fate, their destiny.

They are persons, male or female, who recognize that within them must reside the respect, council and wisdom of the heart of a mother – a wise woman – in order for a balanced society to exist and for life to be able to continue perpetually.

In the beginning of civilization, it was the key to proper balance in every realm. Made up of many, many races and nationalities of peoples, this ingredient and characteristic was found deep within each of them.

What does it mean to be a wise woman or Witch? True Witchcraft can be practiced from one place and one place only – from deep within the heart and innermost being of the individual. And it is nothing more than a certain degree of consciousness within that individual.

How important is the practice of Witchcraft to each person? It is as important as the very elements upon which we call – earth, fire, air and water. They are essential to our existence, for without them we will not survive. Neither do we call upon spirit to cast a circle, for if we indeed call upon the four elements, then spirit is there in the midst; it is us, you and I.

In a time before now all five elements existed in perfect harmony and each existed with harm to none. And in a time soon to be, again it shall be so.

During current history, as balance was overthrown and the earth and mankind were pulled into an extended sleep, things continually worsened, becoming even further out of balance. And the wise woman or Witch in every person became the enemy of imbalance and a threat to greed and self-indulgence, for the wise woman mind will not bend nor stoop to unjust harm or abuse. And she was greatly feared, to be destroyed on sight.

For the wise woman, wisdom was, and held, the key of life. For centuries she was hidden or hard to find; yet she was always sought by those who wished to destroy her. Anyone practicing any of her ways was considered to be an enemy. Many books were burned, all manner of propaganda was instigated against her, and a song was produced to lure the sleeping generations into submission and obedience.

It was a sweet song, near – if not impossible – to keep from singing and following. It was the song of prosperity, of money, of ease, wealth, dominance, of someone else to fight your battles for you, someone else to determine directions you should go, and it sounded so sweet, so right, so true.

And with time, it took root, and grew. Many chose mates to think for them. Others volunteered to be the leaders, many joined together to show the others how to worship, or what to worship. Armies were formed to protect and fight to keep the freedom of others to indulge in their seeking. Governments were borne, then stronger governments, and institutions and corporations. And they hated each other and began to destroy each other and if, per chance, they could not destroy, then they joined each other, becoming larger and larger with less competition.

And all the while, the wise woman, wisdom, hid and was cast away and downtrodden. But where would she dare hide or be hidden?

Only the wisdom of the Mother herself could hide wisdom where it could not be harmed or destroyed. So she hid it deep within the sleeping hearts of her children, in the dry and barren wilderness wasteland, the cave of the heart, where once had flowed the rivers of life, but now, a place where wisdom herself alone could enter.

And in the Spring Season, at the beginning of the New, in the Dawn of New Day, the children slowly began to awaken – awakening first to the realization that although the old song had promised so much that was needed, it had not produced. Life steadily worsened, and though a few maintained quick riches in the short-term, most people labored more and more just to maintain short-term existence. And with that awakening, slowly came the desire and need to change that manner of existence.

But how to change that old order? To join and fight against wrong by taking of arms and actions to destroy those that subscribed to such ways? By might and power and forming more organizations to stamp out injustice? No. It only produced more misery and injustice and harm to innocent people.

But then, in the first faint winds of dawn came a sound – a song – more beautiful than any other ever heard. A song, first hard to distinguish in direction, then more and more, as sleep was wiped away, the realization – the song is coming from within! Within the barren desert, moisture, breeze, heat and substance. The song’s rhythm was felt within the minds and hearts of the children, the steady drumming from Earth Mother herself, and the importance of wisdom began to dawn.

That wisdom shed light on the importance of loving one another and doing no harm, of understanding the responsibility for your life, and yours alone, and accepting the same. It whispered the truth of the necessity of thinking for yourself, and while respecting other’s advice, the deep realization that direction for you belongs only to you, and with it the responsibility is yours, thus no one else is to blame.

And more and more, the song is heard, and old things begin to shake, for injustice does not survive in a world that is awake.

And a desert blooms, and a fragrance fills the air. And we begin the slow, painful, but steady birth into the time after history, you and me, in perfect love and perfect trust, with secret deity hidden within, balancing our own life in the center of the elements, bringing survival and hope to each other. How important is being a wise woman, a Witch?

It is the beginning, and end, and the ever after of survival and existence.

I Am A Witch

I Am A Witch
by Sandi Thomas

When I stand up for myself and my beliefs, they call me a “Witch”.
When I stand up for those I love, they call me a Witch.
When I speak my mind, think my own thoughts, or do things my own way, they call me a Witch.

Being a witch entails raising my children to be strong people

Who have a solid sense of personal and social responsibility

Who are not afraid to stand up for what they believe in
Who love and respect themselves for the beautiful beings they are.

Being a witch means that I am free to be the wonderful creature I am,
With all my own intricacies, contradictions, quirks and beauty.
Being a witch means I won’t compromise what’s in my heart.
It means I live my life MY way. It means I won’t allow anyone to step on me.

When I refuse to tolerate injustice and speak up against it, I am defined as a witch.
The same thing happens when I take time for myself instead of being everyone else’s maid or when I act a little selfish.

I am proud to be a witch! It means I have the courage and strength to allow myself to be who I truly am and won’t become anyone else’s idea of what they think I “should” be.

I am outspoken, opinionated and determined.
By Goddess, I want what I want and there is nothing wrong with that!

So, try to stomp on me, try to douse my inner flame, try to squash every ounce of beauty I hold within me. You won’t succeed.

And if that makes me a witch, so be it. I embrace the title and am proud to bear it. I love this, I can call myself a witch now and not feel bad about it!

SO MOTE IT BE!

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I AM A WITCH

Getting My Husband to Accept My Religion

Author: Scáithshúilóir

I have believed in the Wiccan Way since I was perhaps seven or ten years old. It wasn’t until I was thirteen that I began to more wholeheartedly follow the Old Way. I hadn’t done much research, regrettably, and yet looking back on old writings of rituals and dances, songs, poems, that had, at the time, seemed to have nothing to do with the Craft, really did. It was as though the Goddess and the God had been in my blood from day one (for Christianity had always felt “icky” to me, as though I were living a horrid lie that simply wouldn’t go away no matter how much I told the truth) .

I knew what I was, who I was, and what I wanted to do to show the world my beliefs.

However, in my eighth grade year, I was pulled into a weird cult group at my school and while the path we followed as akin to Wicca it was not all the same time. The gods and goddesses we followed were more or less made up, and when I met my current husband at the end of ninth grade after Hurricane Katrina and his friend whom wanted to practice Wicca and turned to me for information, I gave my husband’s friend the information of my cult from middle school versus the true information of the Craft.

My husband went online to verify the information and when it didn’t match up, he went rather nuts. So to this day, I’m still living up to that “lie.” I’m tainted and as are my beliefs.

Now, though he lets me keep my altar up (rather ignorant I’m guessing of what it stands for) and lets me wear my Goddess pendant and pentacle medallion, I know he fights me on practicing my beliefs openly. He seems unable to understand that when one says Wiccans believe in magick, it isn’t necessarily that we believe we can make the wind blow, or flowers grow, or move things with our minds, but rather that we take negative energy morph it into positive energy and through Circles and rituals and spells and the like we channel that positive energy to influence our world and through our positive thoughts and the like change how we do things and how our world is around us.

Yet… I don’t know. It’s hard because every time I bring up Wicca, he tells me “you’re not Wiccan” but I think it’s more because he’s in denial. Like, I saved something from a website that had a good Mabon ritual that I wanted to use come next month and he said, “So you’re looking up Wiccan things to buy online.”

I said, “No, I saved the site because it had a good ritual.”

He didn’t seem mad and didn’t argue with me. So, I guess it’s more of a gradual transition. My friend from years ago, Cael, did a tarot reading for me and said that there are two paths before me and only one reaches home. I’m torn between which path is the right one to take but I’m too stubborn to give up the fight.

I’m not sure exactly what to do.

I’ve prayed consistently to the Goddess and the God to guide me, to allow my husband, whom I would give my life for, who I believe the Goddess and the God gave to me personally, to accept my beliefs. I don’t want him to practice with me. I understand and accept fully that he doesn’t believe what I do, yet… I wish he’d extend the same kindness to me.

I guess I’d be more truthful if I said that there are some aspects of Wicca that I follow. I believe that faeries are lesser, almost demi-gods that are more or less spirits of the Earth manifested in plants, flowers, etc. I’ve already stated my thoughts/beliefs on magick.

I’m an eclectic Witch, but more or less I guess I’d be traditional in the sense that I worship the Goddess and the God, I only call upon Them in my rituals. Though I acknowledge all the other gods and goddesses of the various pantheons, I feel as though it more respectful to speak directly to the “head honchos” of the Way. That may just be me. I don’t believe in love potions, healing spells on myself, or things like that.

I think it is horribly against the Rede to do anything that might be considered “personal gain.” I believe in working for the things in my life, not use the magick given to me in ways to make it a faster process, just to give me a hop in my step.

I’m beautiful the way I am, the Goddess wouldn’t have made me such if I wasn’t truly beautiful. I love women and men equally; I don’t think one sex is better than the other. The Goddess and the God manifest in each of us, so no one is more perfect than the other.

I accept others beliefs, for the Rede bids us “Abide the Wiccan Law ye must/ in perfect love and perfect trust.” I follow the Rede as best I can, but like all humans I mess up.

But I’ve digressed from my general point. I only want to be accepted. I wish I could reach a mutual understanding with my husband. I love my faith and I love the Goddess and the God, and to not worship them every night by opening a circle and simply meditating with Their presence beside me, it’s almost painful.

Goddess and God willing my husband will accept my religion as I have undoubtedly accepted his. But as I’ve mentioned before in above paragraphs, it’s still a debated issue. I hope the gradual transition works out in the end. And I hope it comes to a close soon. I can’t take much more of this. It’s killing me.

A Witch’s Calling


Author: Moon magik

From the moment we are born into this learning experience called life, most of us have our spiritual paths chosen for us. If your parents are Catholic, you’re going to be Catholic. If your parents are Baptist, you’re definitely going to be Baptist. Children have no choice to their own beliefs, because their parents require them to follow family tradition. We then grow up doing the same thing to our own children. There are very few people that grow up and just decide after 20 or 30 years that they do not believe what they were raised to believe. There are also some that grow up with absolutely no spirituality in their lives at all. My mother and father were divorced just 8 months after I was born. My father raised me, because my mother was young and irresponsible and he wanted me to grow up in a good environment. During the first seven years of my life, we lived with my grandparents. My grandparents were Lutheran, so naturally my father was Lutheran as well. There was a Lutheran church conveniently located just a few houses down from our home. I knew from a very young age that I did not belong in a Lutheran Church. Most Witches’ have a calling to the old ways and earth traditions at some point in their lives. I hated bible study and had no interest in learning about Christ. I didn’t know anything about Witchcraft, or have a clue that I would one day find myself casting spells in a circle on my bedroom floor. I just simply didn’t care for church. It wasn’t until I was about 11 years old when I started having dreams that I was magical. It began sporadically and then eventually became an every night dream. In my dream I was standing in the middle of the woods during the peak of fall season. I was spinning in circles and dancing around trees. Every time I had the dream, I notice I had a wooden stick in my hand. I now realize the wooden stick was my wand. I went to the library one morning to check out a book on Diana Ross, because I had a book report for school due on the following Monday. When I sat down at the table in the library there was one small paperback book left behind by what I’m assuming was a lazy citizen. The book was about Witchcraft. I was extremely intrigued, so I decided to check it out and bring it home to read. When my father saw the book, he was very unsure whether he wanted to allow me to read it or not. I used my charm and wit to persuade him, plus he was the biggest push over ever. The strange thing is, my father told me just a few days ago, that a few years before I checked out that book, I was scolded for drawing pentacles on my bedroom door. He said he couldn’t figure out where I got the idea to draw pentacles. He said he would have not been so freaked out by the action if the drawings were only stars without circles around them. He understands a bit more now that I am 27 and he knows about my spiritual practices. As I grew older my dreams became more vivid and lucid. I started having dreams of things before they would occur. My first prophetic dream was about my mother. In my dream, the doctor called me on the telephone and told me that my mom was going to die, because she had a tumor in her stomach. About two weeks later my mother had to go to the doctors, because her premenstrual cycle would not end. The doctors ran some test and then found that she had a large mass, the size of a baseball growing in her uterus. They advised her that she needed surgery immediately to get the mass out. My mother called me on the telephone afterwards to talk to me. She was astonished how similar my dream was to her situation. The second dream was even scarier. I was blind. The only thing I could do was listen to the sounds that were around me. I heard screaming and arguing and then a blast of gunshots so close like the gun was going off next to my ear. The next morning I went to work and received a phone call from my mother in the middle of the day, which was very uncommon. When I answered, she was frantically crying. She proceeded to tell me that one of my closest friends was shot in the head in the middle of the night. She explained to me that he was still alive, but he was in a coma and the doctors said we should come in and say our goodbyes, because they did not expect him to live through the day. We all gathered at the hospital for which turned out to be a week while he struggled to survive on life support. Finally, he woke up from the coma. He could not speak, because he had a trachea tube in his throat, so none of us knew if he could hear us or not. A bandage covered his eyes, so we did not know if he could see us. The bullet in his head traveled back down the path in which it entered and actually fell out into the bandage that was wrapped around his head. The doctors did not have to perform any surgery because of that. Unfortunately once the bandage was removed we found out that he was blind. I have accepted the fact that I am not a psychic. I cannot read tarot cards. I cannot read runes or tea leaves or make use of any other divining tool. The only thing that I have is my dreams. Therefore, I call myself a dream witch. I love witchcraft. I love the freedom of being solitary eclectic and choosing beliefs that make me feel comfortable. I love the art and beauty of casting a circle and uniting myself with the Lord and the Lady to mold the energies of the universe for my intentions. I love herb magick and candle magick. I love every aspect of earth traditions and wish that more people would discover the beauty and mysticism that surrounds it. I wish more people would give their children the knowledge and independence to explore different beliefs to decide what or whom they want to worship. Children continue to be lead into their predecessor’s political, social and religious views. I am not saying that I want everyone to follow the path of the ancient traditions; I am just concerned with the limited freedom we give in a country founded on freedom.