For many, the new year brings New Year’s resolutions. For a witch, those resolutions are accompanied by a release of those things that no longer serve. A witch understands that to truly move forward, you must rid yourself of those things that drag you back.
As I go deeper into my study of the Craft, I have come to realize that I have a gift for healing and for psychism, including divination. Therefore, as the Roaring 20s get underway, my priority for the new year is to turn my healing skills on myself. I have been suffering from a variety of not-so-serious but still life-force draining issues over the past couple of years. I spent 2019 educating myself about all things fitness and nutrition, and I am a month or so away from completing my personal trainer certification. I am working on a nutrition coaching certification as well, and in a couple of months will complete my training as a Reiki Master.
Last month, on the night of the Dark Moon, I performed a banishing spell to banish my sugar addiction. I called on the powers of Hecate, Kali, Morgana, and Lilith and asked them to help remove that harm from my life. These powerful dark goddesses helped me cast out the control that “legal cocaine” had over me, and empowered me to continue to resist it.
So this new year, this new decade, I will let go of those things that no longer serve. I will use my knowledge and my skills as a witch and a healer to heal myself, from the inside out. I will harness the power of the Four Elements as they relate to health, to help strengthen my Fifth Element – spirit.
Though I will be starting on my new health program with the new year, I plan to perform an intention ritual on the first Full Moon of 2020. I will be asking for the assistance of Archangel Raphael, the Angel of Healing, and the power of the Four Elements to help me on my journey.
I will call on the power of Earth. I will overhaul my nutrition and eliminate those things from my diet that the Earth does not provide.
I will call on the power of Air. I have a stressful year ahead of me at work, so communication with my higher self via meditation, yoga, and Reiki will be extremely important to my health.
I will call on the power of Fire. I will harness my own inner fire to increase my metabolism, reduce my body fat, and improve my endurance through strength training and cardiovascular activity.
I will call on the power of Water. I will listen to my inner voice, practice inner healing, shadow work, and soul retrieval, to heal from the inside out.
My journey is just beginning and I am excited to see where it will lead. Happy New Year everyone, and welcome to the Roaring 20s!
There was a time in my life when I felt lost in any silence. I was so used to getting up, going to work, rushing around, dealing with the day-to-day of existence in modern society, that when I did find the rare moment of silence, I had no idea what to do with it. Occasionally, when my husband and daughter would be out for the day, I would sit in my home and literally not know what to do with myself. Enter Netflix.
In 2017, when I was diagnosed with anxiety and depression, I took up meditation to help quiet my mind. It was my exploration of the spiritual side of meditation that eventually led me back to the Craft. But even when meditation became a regular part of my routine, I still generally used music or a meditation app to block out the noise of the outside world.
Recently, I read an article in the 2020 edition of Llewellyn’s Magical Almanac entitled Seeding the Silence by Sasha Graham. Grahams writes “Silence is the space of infinite possibility.” This got me thinking about my rather uncomfortable relationship with silence. When I am surrounded by silence, I immediately start looking for something with which to mask it, or better yet fill it. Why did I feel that way? What was I afraid of?
I decided at that moment to incorporate “silence” meditations into my meditation routine. Now, at least two or three times a week, I simply sit with silence. I reach past the distractions and noise of the world around me and try to locate the empty stillness which lies beneath it. When I find that stillness, I let it fill me: body, mind, and spirit. The silence beneath the noise washes over me, sweeping the cobwebs from the corners of my mind and refreshing my spirit. In that place, beneath the hum of the world, lies many truths, if we are willing to hear them.
As a witch, one of our purposes is to search for truths, to peel back the superficial layers of reality and find what lies within. A strong relationship with silence can help us achieve this.
To perform a silence meditation, prepare yourself for meditation as you usually do. Light a candle or incense if it helps you focus and relax. Leave the headphones off.
Close your eyes. Listen to the sounds around you. Identify each one individually. Bird tweeting. Wind. Laughter. Television. Car passing. Bird. As you name each one, let it fall away in your consciousness. Let its sound grow dim in your mind. Allow each sound to fall away, and let your consciousness travel downward with each layer that is removed.
Reach out for the emptiness beneath all the sounds, the blank canvas on which the soundscape of the world is drawn. Find that point, that place of stillness. It may sound like a slight buzzing or ringing, or like the sound of a steady wind. Let it surround you and quiet you. Let it wrap around you. Hold onto the silence as long as you can, then gently thank and release it, and return to normal consciousness.
It may take you a while to find the silence, so don’t be frustrated if you can’t locate it the first time. It has taken me quite a while to be able to hold onto the silence for more than just a few moments. But believe me – those moments are oh so worth it!
Tonight is Winter Solstice, which makes today the last day of the solar year, and tomorrow a brand new year. I have spent the time between Samhain and Yule reflecting on the last year, and deciding what I should release going into the new year.
I had several health issues this year, and my first priority in the new year will include healing and management of those issues. This year will also include the completion of my second-degree studies in the Correllian Nativist tradition, my first-degree studies in Temple of Witchcraft, and my year-and-a-day studies with Black Rose. I will finish my aromatherapy certification and my Reiki Master attunement. In addition, I have several large projects at work, which will give me a chance to shine and make a positive difference.
I plan to spend today tidying the house, meditating, working on my Book of Shadows, and planning for the new year. I am still trying to decide how to share my healing gifts with others, but I am confident that all will be revealed to me at the right time. And tonight, I will be celebrating Yule under the stars in my back yard and casting a prosperity spell for the upcoming year.
So to everyone celebrating today, I wish you a happy Winter Solstice and Yule, and a wonderful upcoming new year!
When I first decided to study witchcraft, the Internet was in its infancy. I couldn’t just get online and Google “witchcraft” and find the plethora of information that is now available. So I did the 1990s equivalent – I went to the local public library and looked in the card catalog under “witchcraft”. While I found many books about the history of witchcraft, my public library only had three listed: “Mastering Witchcraft” by Paul Huson, “Helping Yourself With White Witchcraft” by Al G. Manning, and “Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner” by Scott Cunningham. All three were reported missing from the library.
So I wrote down the title and author information on those little pieces of paper that the library used to keep next to the card catalogs (remember those?), and I hit the bookstore, where I placed special-orders for all three of these titles. A month or so later when the books arrived, I couldn’t wait to start reading them. I first tackled “Help Yourself with White Witchcraft”, but I didn’t get very far. From what I remember, the book called upon the guidance of many foreign deities with whom I was not familiar. No history was really given – I suppose that the reader was meant to blindly trust the author. However, seeing as how I had never heard of Shiva, I wasn’t sure if I really wanted to summon him into my living room.
Next, I turned my attention to “Mastering Witchcraft”. This book seemed to be a little more relatable. However, one of the first tasks that was set to the budding witch by the author was to recite the Lord’s Prayer backward. This made me very uncomfortable. I live in the South, and you just don’t mess around with stuff like that unless you are prepared for the consequences. I was not. (As an aside, I recently re-read this book and got much more out of it than the first time around.)
Finally, I turned my attention to Scott Cunningham. I was surprised to find that Cunningham wrote of witchcraft as a religion, known as Wicca. He offered some history about the religion and described it as gentle, Earth-based practice. As an ecologist, this idea really appealed to me. Eventually, I met a couple of other practitioners through work and attended a few circles. I remember actually being happy when I read in the paper that a local coven had been denied rental of a venue on the grounds that the venue did not rent to religious organizations. It gave my newfound practice some legitimacy.
A few months later, my parents were visiting, found my witch stuff, and flipped their shit. In a tearful tantrum, I threw away all my witch supplies, and sold all my witch books. So much for commitment. However, I did hang on to one book: Scott Cunningham. It didn’t have the word “witch” on it anywhere, and the cover featured a woman who looked like she might simply be meditating in the garden. Pretty innocuous (though at that time my parents thought that meditating dangerous also).
As the years passed, I would occasionally hear things about Wicca. I remember hearing a news story about a soldier buried with a pentagram on his headstone, and I was proud that his family remembered his true faith in this way. I was glad to hear that Wicca was becoming more mainstream, even though I was no longer a practitioner myself.
In my continuing search for wisdom and connection to something bigger, I visited the local Quaker meeting house, read about Buddhism and Taoism, and explored Eastern-style meditation, but nothing ever felt right. I never found my home. While my brief experiences made me more open-minded, they also made me want something more tangible, more familiar, more in keeping with what I felt inside.
Flash forward to October 2017. I am in bed with the flu, and decidedly miserable and cranky. On a whim, I download Lisa Chamberlain’s “Wicca for Beginners” and begin to read. And something clicked. Lisa described Wicca and witchcraft as a way to use your personal power and the power of the Universe to manifest the life that you want. I begin to visualize the Goddess as a loving, maternal figure and mentor, someone who I could speak with, someone who loved everyone and everything, but who allowed her children to follow their own paths. The God was her powerful and supportive partner, who cared for the Earth, the forests, and the animals. The more I read, the more I realized that I had finally found what I was looking for.
I began my studies in earnest. I learned that not all witches are Wiccan and not all Wiccans practice witchcraft. At first, I categorized myself as Wiccan, which seemed the safer terminology. But the more I learned and studied and honed by beliefs, I realized that “witch” really better describes me. I still identify as Wiccan, particularly when people ask me what religion I am. Saying, “I am a witch” in my part of the country can elicit everything from admiration to fear to disdain to an attempt to save my soul. However, when I say I am Wiccan, people seem to accept it.
My goal is not to shock those around me with my beliefs – I let my pink hair do that! If someone is curious, I will explain to them that as a Wiccan, I consider myself a witch, that Wicca is the religion and that witchcraft is a way that I practice that religion, that my holidays have to do with the cycle of nature, and that spells are a way to use meditation and visualization to manifest change in our lives, much like prayers.
But mostly, I just let my actions speak for me. I am kind. I am considerate of others. I take care of the Earth. I feel connected to those around me. I practice healing through meditation and aromatherapy. Since I have become a witch, more people come to me for advice, and for my aromatherapeutic treatments. I feel like I am making a difference. I feel like I am a better person. And after all, isn’t that what religion is supposed to – make you a better person?
I eventually worked up the nerve to tell my parents that I am Wiccan. To my surprise and delight, they said that they were glad that I had found a path that spoke to me. I guess I am not the only one who is older and wiser!
So am I Wiccan or am I a witch? While I do use the term Wiccan to define my beliefs to others, in my heart, I am a witch. As Samantha would say, “I am a witch. A real house-haunting, broom-riding, cauldron-stirring witch.”
Most witches know that one of the central tenets of Wicca is “harm none”. But many of us fail to recognize that this includes ourselves. I am not saying that we deliberately harm ourselves. I am simply saying that anyone in today’s crazy, busy, hyper-connected world struggles with taking care of themselves properly. And long-term neglect can eventually become harm.
Too many of us do not eat properly or exercise regularly. Too many of us sacrifice proper sleep for “productivity”. And many of us do not handle stress as well as we could. I know that I personally struggle with all of these things. Many is the time that I have just had Oreos for dinner rather than take the time to prepare a healthy meal! However, as I have gotten older, my laissez faire attitude towards my health has begun to catch up with me.
I now find that if I eat poorly, I feel sluggish, and my digestive tract begins to complain. If I don’t exercise regularly, I feel stiff and sore, and I lack energy. If I don’t get enough sleep, I am unmotivated and cranky. And if I don’t manage my stress properly, it begins to bubble out and affect others. Nutrition, exercise, sleep, and stress management: these are now recognized by most health and fitness experts as the Four Pillars of Health.
Since I have been diagnosed with depression and anxiety, it is important for me to take my physical health seriously. Though I take medication, when my health drops below a certain point, I really begin to spiral. Moreover, since I began to study witchcraft, and my psychic powers have begun to awaken, I have become much more sensitive to the emotions of those around me. I have just recently recognized that when I am around certain people, I begin to be subtly influence by their emotions. If they are upset, I start to become upset. If they are stressed, I begin to feel stressed.
In order to deal with this, I have begun practicing special aura cleansing and strengthening exercises, as well as psychic shielding exercises, as part of my meditation routine (I will discuss these more in future posts). I have also realized that I need to strengthen my body physically in order to be able to gracefully handle my new powers, without becoming overwhelmed or fatigued. I am currently overweight, with several nagging injuries that occasionally plague me. I have spoken with my doctor, who has prescribed a round of physical therapy, and I have begun strength training, to make me stronger, increase my metabolism, and help me lose weight. And I have begun to study nutrition, so I can identify a proper eating plan for myself.
Though it’s fun to focus on the spiritual aspect of witchcraft, and work on strengthening our witchy powers, I believe that a good witch recognizes the importance of the mundane as well. In other words, keeping the body healthy and strong, and taking appropriate steps to maintain good mental health and psychic hygiene are just as important to increasing your power as performing spells and rituals, or burning the correct incense. Our physical body supports our psychic and ethereal bodies. It’s important that we treat ourselves properly, and take care of ourselves.
Therefore, I have defined some goals, similar to my spiritual goals, to help me better care for myself:
Begin physical therapy for injuries
Strength training four times a week
Begin to reduce daily calories; define and make better food choices
Get to sleep by 9:00 pm each week day night
Continue aura strengthening and psychic shielding exercises daily
Like my spiritual goals, I feel that these are reasonable, measurable, and completely attainable. I hope to reach the point where all these new actionable goals become second nature to me.
To other witches out there, are you as strong as you could be? Do you make time for yourself? What one thing could you do to help promote your physical or mental health?
I am currently enrolled in a witchcraft course, in order to help strengthen and expand my knowledge of the Craft, as well as connect with like-minded witches. The course emphasizes self-knowledge and self-discovery, in order to build a strong foundation for higher consciousness and future Craft work. As author and witch Christoper Penczak says, “We cannot see others and the world until we see ourselves more objectively.”
“Know Thyself” has long been the mantra of spiritual seekers, and since finding the Craft, I have begun to know myself better. But I still have a long, long way to go. To that end, I have begun to reflect on several “self-evaluation” questions, designed to help me honestly consider myself and my path. Today, I am considering:
What is the status of my spiritual life?
If enthusiasm counts for anything, my spiritual life is great! Unfortunately, enthusiasm is only a very small part of any undertaking. I have let my regular practice slide in the past few months, due to a series of illnesses and other “life adventures”. Whereas I used to mediate daily, I rarely make room for it now. I used to celebrate every Esbat and Sabbat with a ritual. Last month, I am ashamed to say that I didn’t even pay attention to when the Full Moon occurred.
So what is the status of my spiritual life? Well, I have a faith that I dearly love, to which I am committed. There is plenty of room for improvement, and I have begun rebuilding my practice. Last night, I did a lovely Full Moon ritual in my back yard, and could feel the energy pulsing all around me, as if it had just been waiting for me to call it. I am reviewing the basics of energy work in order to reawaken my skill. And now that a few things have calmed down, I intend to resurrect my daily meditation practice.
I have defined some goals to help me re-establish a strong spiritual practice:
Daily meditation
Observe each Esbat and Sabbat, preferably with a ritual
Continue energy work exercises to rebuild my skill
Begin Reiki practice again, at least two times a week
Journal daily
These goals are reasonable and measurable, and there is no reason why I should not succeed.
To other witches out there, is it time for a self-evaluation of your own Craft? With Mabon right around the corner, and the full moon still with us, it’s a perfect time to recommit!
Have you ever been out and about and suddenly just felt annoyed or angry for no reason? I have noticed that this has been happening more frequently to me since I have begun developing my psychic skills.
For example, we are taking a trip this week, so this morning, we headed to the airport to pick up the rental car. As my husband and I navigated the crowds of arriving and departing people to reach the rental car area, I was enjoying the beautiful day and buzz and hum of activity around me.
However, heading back to the parking area after getting the car, I started feeling stressed and annoyed. Why wouldn’t everybody just get out of my way? I just wanted to get away from the crowd – all those people, milling around with their suitcases. So annoying!
It suddenly occurred to me that I was picking up on the emotions of someone around me. And that person was in a bad mood! So I erected a psychic shield. I took a deep breath, and visualized a crystal white bubble of light all around me, moving with me as I moved. As I concentrated, the tiny white sparkles began to deflect some of the harmful feelings.
However, I could still feel that buzz of impatience and annoyance. So I strengthened the shield by changing the crystal sparkles to purple. As I continued to walk, I concentrated on maintaining the purple shield around me, thereby deflecting the harmful psychic energy that was encountering. The buzz began to quiet, and finally I could no longer sense it.
I continued concentrating on the shield until I moved out of the crowd of people. Then, I relaxed the shield a bit, letting the purple sparkles fade back to white. By the time I reached the car, I was able to take down the shield completely.
Using this kind of shielding is very helpful for deflecting harmful energies. I have even used different colors to tap into different energies as needed: green for healing and pain relief, blue for calming, yellow for cleansing, pink for contentment and love, etc. For me, purple seems to be best for protection and deflection, and white for all-purpose shielding. These colors work best for me, but each witch is different.
So next time your confronted with those sudden feelings of anger, frustration, sadness, or irritation that don’t appear to have any source, try psychic shielding. With practice, you will be able to keep your own aura clear of those nasty random harmful energies.
When most non-witches think of a witch, they might think of the stereotypical dark robes or dress, a pointy black hat, maybe even a kicky broom. Or they may envision a flowing skirt, dangling earrings and bracelets, and long hair adorned with flowers. Or they may picture the typical goth look – dark clothes, dark hair, dark eyeliner, brooding manner.
While any of the people in those images could be a witch, it doesn’t mean they are. Maybe the chick with the broom is headed to a costume party. Maybe the girl with the flowing skirt is just a gypsy at heart. Maybe the goth boy is 16 years old, just looking for a way to rebel and fit in at the same time.
That being said, many witches do wear special clothing for rituals, often in the form of ritual robes, jewelry, etc. This special attire can act as a key to allow the witch to more easily shift consciousness for spellwork or communing with Deity.
I currently have three different dresses that are reserved exclusively for ritual work, depending on the purpose and season. They are all floor length and allow for ease of movement, so that I can sit, stand, bend, or dance as needed. My cool-weather dress is black, with long, fitted sleeves, so I don’t catch myself on fire. When it’s very cold out, I throw on a handknit wool sweater over the dress, and accessorize with some black fingerless gloves. My warm weather dress is purple and sleeveless, with an embroidered bodice. I also have a dark blue dress with silver details that I use for Esbats.
While I love my ritual vestments, if I am working indoors, I will sometimes go au naturale. Many witches, especially some of the more traditional branches, always work skyclad, that is, in the nude. Since I live in a village where the houses are quite close together, I do not work skyclad when I have an outdoor ritual. And if I just want to do a quick spell or devotion, I will sometimes just wear whatever I happen to have on.
Whether they dress or undress for rituals, in their day-to-day lives, most witches look like everyone else. For example, I work in an office, so I wear regular office attire. Our office is pretty casual, so I do rotate in a couple of flowing skirts. And I help my hair to be a little redder than what it is naturally. And I wear a pentacle necklace everyday, which depending on my outfit may or may not be visible. But I am not required to do any of these things by “witch law”. I do these things because they allow me to express myself, and to feel slightly “witchy” even as I go about building software.
Sure, there are witches whom you can identify at a single glance by the way they dress. These individuals are generally very excited about their chosen path, and want to share it with the world, or they want to elicit shock and perhaps fear from those around them.
At the end of the day, my thoughts are: dress however you like. But know that because we live in a world of humans, you will likely be judged, or at the very least assessed, by your appearance. It would be wonderful if this were not true, but sadly it is. Depending on your personality, this might be what you want. I personally chose the more conservative route at work, since it is in my best interest to help others feel comfortable around me. I mean, I wouldn’t want to be confronted everyday by someone wearing an “I heart J.C.” t-shirt.
However, if I am out at the Pagan festival, it’s triquetra skirt and cauldron earrings, baby! And when I am on my own time, it’s generally jeans and a t-shirt. And if that t-shirt says, “Witches be crazy”, so mote it be!
When I hear or think of the term “witch”, I immediately think of a woman, confident and empowered, using her powers to build the life that she desires and to help those around her. I think of Cassie from “The Good Witch” and Samantha from “Bewitched”. I think of the sisters from “Charmed”, saving innocents both magickal and mortal. I think of generations of women, passing along their secrets of herbalism, astrology, aromatherapy, and divination.
Even though I know that there are and have been plenty of male witches (Scott Cunningham, Gerald Gardiner, Raymond Buckland, Christopher Penczak, etc.), I still think of a “witch” as being female. Am I maybe secretly sexist? More likely, the image of the female witch is the first to which I was exposed. I did not encounter male witches until much later, when I began actually studying witchcraft.
There is also some disagreement about what male witches are actually called. Many prefer “witch”. Others identify with “warlock”. And of course, in the Harry Potter world, they are “wizards”. This last one actually always bothered me, since I think of a wizard as more of a sorcerer that a witch. But I digress …
So what is a witch?
A witch lives in harmony with nature. She enjoys the outdoors, and the changing of the seasons. Her home is clean and cozy, warm and friendly. She is creative. She sparkles with laughter. She enjoys sharing her gifts and skills, both magickal and mundane with others. She does not judge those around her. She is kind, to humans, to animals, and to the environment. She recycles. She uses Earth-friendly household and personal items when she can.
She celebrates the beautiful world in which we live. She is thankful for her blessings. She does not fear the unknown. She believes in herself, and in the inherent good of mankind.
A witch is in tune with her higher self. She respects herself and treats herself well. She strives to live a healthy life, though proper nutrition, exercise, and regular meditation. She communes regularly with her Goddess and/or God, and with the world around her. She believes in the Threefold Law.
A witch forgives readily, but doesn’t take any crap from any one. One of the pages in my Book of Shadows features the image of a witch with the caption, “Do no harm, but take no shit.” Precisely. She knows how to hex, but prefers to heal.
A witch has an air of mystery, but remains approachable. She is unique. She knows when to be silent, and when to speak up. You might not even know that she is a witch. But you know that there is something about her …
Today is the Litha, the celebration of the summer solstice and the longest day of the year. Rather than my usual backyard ritual, I decided to so something a little different. I took a relaxing walk around our beautiful village, enjoying in the warm sun and summer breezes, and admiring the summer blooms.
I have been struggling with my health of late, and I am finally starting to feel better. Time outdoors, enjoying the advent of summer and my improved health, seemed like the perfect way to honor the Goddess and God on Litha.
During my stroll, I captured some images of the abundance of summer in our village.
Crape myrtles in bloom
Day lilies outside a church
Magnolias blossoms
A street corner garden
Magnolias in bloom & a street corner garden
Hydrangeas by a roadside carriage house
My hydrangeas
Hydrangeas blooming near a roadside carriage house & my own beautiful hydrangeas
Sunshine on the lake
I am looking forward to many more rambling walks, now that summer is officially underway.
