Sweep Series: Hits & Misses

A friend of mine recommended this series to me, which was the way she first heard of Wicca. I read the first 4 books a while ago when she lent them to me and recently I bought the first book to re-read since I liked the new cover designs.

The Good:

Gets the basics of Wicca right, even if over-simplified to make the author’s job easier. While not realistic in its approach to introducing Wicca, it does attempt to navigate those first issues and questions people usually have when first learning about Wicca.

It’s a nice, easy read – fun tweeny mundane & magical issues.

The Bad:

The main character is the epitome of “normal,” since we’re supposed to identify with her. However, she quickly turns out to be quite extraordinary in the first book, again reinforcing the incorrect notion that you need need to be *special* or *uniquely gifted* to practice Wicca effectively.

I also dislike the idea that they stretched the series into 15 books when they’re each ridiculously short with large print. So much for bang for your buck. I’d like to see the publishers group some of these books together, like make the first 3 books into one, etc.

The Ugly:

Since this book series acted as a Wicca primer for my friend (and others, I imagine) I had to field a lot of questions that I probably wouldn’t have had to if she hadn’t read the series. Memorably, she asked me if the “Seven Great Clans” really existed. Nope, sorry! I told her they added that for dramatic effect to make the story exciting. While most Wiccans feel called to the Craft, it makes no difference – if you consider yourself a “hereditary witch,” good for you, but it’s in no way mandatory, my dear. Even though this question comes off silly, I’m all for anything that gets people interested in discussing and clarifying what Wicca really is versus fictionalized movies, TV shows and books.

Overall:

In general, it’s a breezy fun series, recommended for an easy, fast read. I appreciate the author’s general accuracy regarding the tenets of Wicca (beyond the necessary hollywood supernatural and the Seven Great Clans to spice things up of course). I plan on continuing to read the series since I have a soft spot for supernatural fiction, with a refreshing sprinkling of accurate witchcraft beliefs and practices.

Spell to Find and Get a New Home

After applying for a new house to rent, I realized how stressful the approval process can be.

To ease my nerves I created this spell to send some energy towards getting the perfect home for me, whether it be this house or not.

Materials:

• red candle (my sources point me to green or blue candles for home magick but I didn’t feel that resonated with this task so I went for the power of fire-y red instead – the color is really your call.
• Four of Wands – I bought a Tarot deck at a used book store for artistic & magickal use only, so I took this card out for this spell. Please don’t use cards you’re afraid of damaging – a photocopy or a print-out version works as well!
• pinches of Rosemary, Sage, and Rose Petals – dried, mixed together and ground
• candle anointing oil – I like using a powerful High John the Conqueror Oil for luck & overcoming odds

The Working:

1. Gather materials & bless them according to your practice.
2. Hold the red candle & Four of Wands and visualize walking through your dream home, full of happiness.
3. Carve “new home” with your name and astrological sign into the candle & dress with a blend of the above-listed herbs & oil.
4. Place candle in a holder over the Four of Wands & light:

“Of all the places on this beautiful Earth, This enchanting home we shall call our own hearth! To Hestia, we plea to make our dreams real, and while I’m wishing, please make it a great deal! Blessed be.”

(This incantation is from the 2009 Llewellyn’s Spell-a-Day almanac. Feel free to modify this as much as you need to – I added specific wishes and Trad-specific blessing to this & it was lovely.)

Afterwards:

After the candle burns down, clean up & dispose of the remains (if any) with honor. Thank the Divine for their continued help & blessings in accordance with your beliefs. Don’t forget to take notes about the spell in your BoS, magickal journal, or whatever you use for documentation.

Consider holding onto the Four of Wands card for later use in a house protection spell for the home you end up moving into. When I did this spell, I got oil, herbs & candle wax on the card (I’m messy!) and now my Four of Wands is imbued with the power of this spell, which I think makes it perfect for use when I move this weekend!

7 Books and 7 Ways to Move Beyond Wicca 101

“Wicca as a religion is not that complicated. You learn the essentials, like how to cast a Circle, what the holidays are, what the tools are, and after that, then what? You deepen your understanding of those things, and then you branch out, adding different subjects and techniques that you consider vital to your own personal practice. You find ways to integrate your spirituality into your daily life.” – Dianne Sylvan

The conversation has re-arisen: Where are the “advanced” books? While the community has been challenged with this once again, I wanted to mention a few books that have begun to chart this territory. While you may wildly disagree, I wanted to only include books I have read – how can I vouch for some advanced book if I haven’t? Thus this list is small and based off my own experiences, but I hope it does get you thinking.

Not in any special order -

1. Living Wicca: A Further Guide for the Solitary Practitioner – Scott Cunningham

Ok, this is the obvs choice here, but for good reason. Cunningham gave us the gold standard in Wicca 101 with the predecessor to this book Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner, so what do you do after you “master” this content? Use it in your daily life! Cunningham challenges us in this book to live Wicca everyday, question and hone our practices and to create our own Wiccan tradition.

Notable section: Part 3 – Your Own Tradition

2. The Circle Within: Creating a Wiccan Spiritual Tradition – Dianne Sylvan

Deserves a mention for (1) being awesome and (2) Dianne is from Austin, Texas, just like me! Similarly to Living Wicca, this book also guides us through developing our own Wiccan Tradition. Plenty of good ideas in this one.

Notable sections: her beautiful prayers

3. Solitary Wicca For Life: Complete Guide to Mastering the Craft on Your Own – Arin Murphy-Hiscock

An excellent book that introduced me to Arin Murphy-Hiscock, now one of my favorite authors. She provides several alternative ways to do create sacred space, cast circle, work spells & ritual, work with Dieties and grow as a solitary which gives us a chance to try new methods and pick the ones we’d like to add to our Craft.

Notable section: Chapter 10 – The Power of Words in Ritual

4. Spirited by Gede Parma

I’ve already written a glowing, mini-review of this book, and I truly believe this is a must read for this generation as well as elder practitioners. Gede Parma will surely become an international BNP (Big Name Pagan) as this generation comes of age who is worthy of the title already in Australia.

Notable Sections: Introduction, Chapter 1 – The Inner Witch, The Curse of the Fluffy Bunny: A Social Syndrome, Chapter 13 – Into the Future

5. Power Spellcraft for Life: The Art of Crafting and Casting for Positive Change – Arin Murphy-Hiscock

Sounds like a generic book on spellcraft, right? Well this ain’t no cookbook. Actually this book was a happy surprise in that it makes you take a serious look at spellcraft theory and ethics. While there’s a lot of “basic” material, she offers perspective & clarity, which makes this a good book for those familiar with spellcraft but still aren’t confident in their abilities or who constantly question the morality of it. While it’s not specifically Wiccan, the ethical guidelines are derived.

Noteable Section: Chapter 4 – The Ethics of Spellcasting (good for those that need help fine-tuning a spell & includes reflective questions for helping you think of any previously unforeseen ramifications to the spell you’re thinking of casting).

6. To Stir a Magick Cauldron: A Witch’s Guide to Casting and Conjuring by Silver RavenWolf

Yeah ok ha ha. But for real, this book (while older and very Silver-y) still talks to you like you know something and provides a variety of methods and practices for you to try and help you think critically about your current methods & beliefs. While it’s still fair to call this entire “To [Verb] a [Adjective] [Noun]” series as beginner’s books,  Magick Cauldron can be considered “advanced” because it revisits topics introduced in Silver Broomstick in a more thorough, investigative fashion.

Notable Section: the “Goals to Work Toward” section of the “Conjuring Your Inner Self” chapter provides a checklist of things you can be working to achieve and accomplish, while helping you think of your own personal goals.

7. Embracing the Moon: A Witch’s Guide to Ritual Spellcraft & Shadow Work by Yasmine Galenorn

While I don’t think Galenorn classifies herself as Wiccan at all (though her ritual structure is Wiccan?), this book contains a variety of personal stories, spells & recipes divided up by topic. If you like crafty spells, you’ll enjoy her spell bag, incense and oil recipes. Again, she provides another source of alternate ritual methods to try which are worth reading just for a non-Wiccan-but-pretty-close perspective.

Notable Section: Part 3 – Shadow Work (includes Fey work, animal work, shape-shifting, drawing down the gods & earth healing rituals)

Honorable Mention: Blogs!

If you’re waiting for books to come down the pipeline, take to the Internet to check out what hot topics are making their way around the community. Where in the past we had newsletters to share ideas & forge the future of our community, we now have blogs & websites that have democratized Pagan thought in that anyone can start a website and join the conversation, help each other and just generally put ourselves out there in the hopes of meeting like minds (like I am!). My favorite Pagan blog is of course The Wild Hunt, a Pagan news blog. While there’s a proliferation of Pagan bloggers out there, sadly most are not maintained and/or totally defunct and abandoned. I encourage YOU, the readers who feel “I’m so alone… can’t find others… of a like mind…” to use the Net as an easy way to reach out to others through social media, which Pagans have readily adopted.

7 things to do now that you’re sooooo over 101 stuff:

1. Take the term “fluffy bunny” out of your vocabulary – What other spirituality/religion berates followers for their inexperience? Rather than shutting out the young or the new, invite them in!
2. Deepen your understanding of the basics – Just because you read a few 101s doesn’t mean you are practiced in all beginner techniques. Take the time to do the activities your books recommend if you like them. Commit to celebrating each Sabbat to the best of your ability. Look forward to every Esbat. Give yourself a firm foundation in energy work & raising. Sounds small, but these are integral to what will become your everyday Path.
3. Integrate Wicca into your Everyday Life - This is the big one. This is the point. Take the things you learned in 101 and live them. Cast circle daily if you like. Commune with the Lord & Lady. Do magick in the kitchen while you cook. Make it part of your day. Don’t be an 8-times-a-year Wiccan; you can bring elements of your Path do your day, every day. Really really. This is the goal of my “advanced” books such as the ones listed above.
4. Branch Out & Specialize – Now that you’re well-versed in the foundation of Wicca, try branching out into some favorite practices & arts: herbalism, working with crystals, drumming, teaching, leading rituals, facilitating discussion groups, writing, crafts, astral projection – the lists of interests can go on & on. So many books cover a variety of these topics & trying to become masters of all can be overwhelming & discouraging. What these books are trying to do is give you a taste of practices you can integrate into your Path – not that you MUST be pros at them all.
5. Don’t forget Wicca when the going gets rough – If life gets rocky & s*** hits the fan or you feel after 101 you’re “losing your religion,” get back with the Divine. Get into nature. Refresh yourself. The Gods are there.
6. Explore other Pagan Traditions – If you’re doing the eclectic thing (most likely you are if you’re a book-learned beginner) try investigating Wiccan Traditions, even if that just means reading about them online if you don’t know anyone. Don’t forget to also meet some Shamans, Druids, etc while you’re at it to expand your knowledge of Paganism at large.
7. Just Do It – Like Carl Llewellyn Weschcke says “what counts is the actual experience of using the information you’ve been given”. If “beginner” equals reading, then “advanced” is to actually DO and try what you’ve read and intigrate them into your Path. When you feel like you’ve read everything, go outside and learn something completely new by taking a walk or making an offering in a stream. Reading gives you the tools to practice your Path, but then you have to put the book down and advance yourself by doing.

Links to make you think:

• Llewellyn’s call for Advanced Books
• The Problem of “Advanced” Wicca – by author Dianne Sylvan (an oldie but a goodie). 

“Peace Between Us” Forgiveness Candle Spell

This is a spell I wrote to bring peace between me and another person who constantly gets under my skin. In an attempt to improve the situation between us, I cast this spell:

materials: pink candle, tool to carve into candle (I use an old paring knife), rose petals, lavender flowers, mortar & pestle, Healing or Peace Oil, candle holder & lighter.

1. On the pink candle, carve the other person’s name & your name. Carve your astrological signs (if you know their’s, go for it. if not, put yours) & carve the word “PEACE”.
2. Grind a generous pinch of rose petals & lavender flowers together in your mortar & pestle.
3. Dress the candle with oil, then rub the flowers onto the candle. Place the candle in the holder.
4. Charge your candle with intent & visualize peaceful interactions between you and the other person. If applicable, consider surrounding the candle with objects that remind you of the person. Light the candle & Chant the following:

“With the help of Kwan Yin & the stars in the sky, there is peace between you & I.”

Since casting this spell, I’ve fortunately had minimal interaction with this person. Though they still aren’t friendly to me, I forgave them for past events & feel like this person no longer can emotionally stress me any longer.

I hope this spell is successful for you – please share your casting results & any changes you made to the above set-up. Brightest Blessings!

Witchy Projects & Goals

Harnessing the bright energy of Beltane, I’ve really dived back into my Craft & studies recently. Re-integrating Wicca into my daily life again has been such a positive change. For a long time, my practice was extremely structured and based off of elaborate practices I got from books. Since I had a hard time connecting with these practices, I found myself not engaging my Craft at all With a sudden gush of positive change, I’ve now tailored my practice to be much more “Garnet-style” & wow! what a difference it makes to practice in your own way rather than carbon copying whatever you think you’re supposed to be doing & feeling. While I still consider myself a Wiccan & adhere to the practices and beliefs included, my daily practice is much more in the style of natural, green witchery. For more about how I’ve shaken things up, read my Unbroken Circle post.

Here’s some of the projects I’m currently working on while I’m taking advantage of the summer season. My goal is to accomplish a lot of this before the fall because I’m looking to return to school to get a Master’s Degree (yay!!!).

1. Re-writing my Book of Shadows – This is something I always seem to be in the process of. I would always start over because the ideas & practices I would include weren’t really ME so I’d get discouraged and scrap the project. Now that I’m starting to discover my own techniques, I’m working on a new Book of Shadows that represents my Craft. The Book itself is a journal with a soft brown leather cover with unlined cream colored pages inside that are stitched into the cover – a very handmade feel I owe you all pictures!! Working on this BoS is the first time I really felt like I was including things I really connect with. I would like to complete my BoS full of correspondences, rituals & spells, divination notes, recipes, etc before the fall/when I start school if not sooner.
2. Dedication to the HedgeWitch path – I’m still working through Silver RavenWolf’s HedgeWitch book, going through the process of doing the 14 rites. I’m on the eighth rite (which I’ll do tonight). The rites culminate on the 14th night, which is the dedication. While I’ve modified the rites based on my tastes and supply availability, the ability to spend an evening connecting with different aspects of the natural world has been very rewarding – how much of our practices do we dedicate to just mediating on and interacting with parts of nature without worrying about ceremonial trappings? This is something I really needed to re-integrate into my path.
3. Tarot – I brought this up in my Tarot Journal blog recently. My new Tarot goal (beyond continuous education & practice of course) is to start reading for payment. I’ve ordered business cards, started promoting to friends & re-reading the book Professional Tarot to make sure I’m doing everything right. If you’re in the Austin area, contact me! I’ve also started drawing one Tarot card & one Oracle card a day in the morning, which only after a week has become an enlightening practice – highly recommended for everyone! I used to be lazy about this but the benefits are worth it.
4. Creating a magical home – Currently my housemates and I are house hunting for a new, bigger house to rent. Though we haven’t been approved for the house we want yet, I’m already preparing for ways to add some magic to the house and yard.
5. Herbology – This is one area of fascination that I want to improve my skills in. My goals are to work with herbs frequently in practice & in Crafty
   

   I want a Container Herb Garden like this!

   recipes as well as starting my own little herb garden when we move to a new home. Unfortunately, I don’t have a good history with owning plants but hopefully I’ll get some good advice from my local nursery. Another way I want to interact with herbs is through art, which brings me to…

6. Mixed Media art - I’ve always been into mixed media art & collage but I never knew what direction I wanted to take this interest. Now I’ve decided that one good way to work with herbs and get to know them is to create art based on various herbs. This is an exciting project & I look forward to getting started once I move & get settled.

So many exciting things going on right now & just around the corner! What Witchy projects & studies do you enjoy? Any big workings going on with you? Please share, I love to hear how others are expressing their Pagan & magickal selves.

Posts Coming Soon:

• more spells written by me!
• My Craft in Pictures: photos of my altar, tools, supplies, divination tools, oh my!

Thought of the Day, via Design is Mine:

Blessed Beltane: Decor & Ideas

What are you doing for your Beltane celebrations? I’m going to a public ritual being held tomorrow at 8pm – we’re going to dance around the maypole, weaving ribbons and having a merry ol’ time I’m really excited – Beltane is of course a favorite Sabbat & I’ve been looking forward to the annual maypole ritual all year. I’m pretty busy tonight but I hope I can steal away some time late tonight to have a private observance (and it’s a good excuse to buy lots of flowers!)

Beltane decor:

• Offerings of milk & honey in honor of Flora
• Decorate with greens, reds & bright spring colors – go for bold!
• acorns, seeds & fruit to represent fertility
• Spring flowers: daffodils, hyacinths, forsythia, daisies, tulips. These can be placed on the altar and/or turned into a crown to wear. I plan on putting lots of flowers in my hair and wherever I can for my public Beltane ritual.
• If you work with the Fae or would like to start, now’s a good time! Leave them offerings in good cheer.
• Beltane is a celebration of my element Fire, so deck out your altar with candles, incense on charcoal or even just a cauldron of sticks if you can’t burn anything.
• Mark your magic circle with oatmeal.

Beltane Ideas:

• Watch a Witchy movie for the sheer fun of it – revel in the silliness. Practical Magic, anyone?
• If you’re celebrating Beltane solitary, there’s no reason why you can’t make your own maypole! Click the maypole picture for directions on how to make this adorable centerpiece. Put some flowers in your hair and get dancing!
• One Beltane custom is jumping over a fire. This can be replicated at home with some candles. SAFETY FIRST – be careful of anything nearby that might catch fire, even your clothes! ((Make them short candles!))
• Plant flowers & herbs, especially those loved by the Fae.

Beltane Resources:

• Setting Up Your Beltane Altar
• Do as the Romans do: Celebrate Floralia
• Many excellent links & resources at Gaiatribe

On a related note, I have a kitty named Beltane who is one year old today! Guess she isn’t a kitty anymore… Here she is!

What I’m Reading: Spirited & HedgeWitch

Spirited – Gede Parma

One book that has put me back in touch with the heart of Paganism was the recent Llewellyn release “Spirited” by Gede Parma, a young Pagan leader. This book blew me away in the first chapter and I quickly absorbed the text. Parma’s book is aimed at teens (there’s talk of dealing with school & parents) but his discussions on Paganism and community are the real gems of the book and are for a truly global audience of any age.

Highly recommended for anyone looking to think more about their Pagan beliefs and for those looking to forge & improve Pagan communities. This book is not aimed at beginners – the author even states that he assumes you have a working knowledge of Paganism at the beginning of the book.

If you’re looking for one part Pagan theory, one part community and one part “State of the Union” look no further – the author will knock you out with wisdom and understanding beyond most practitioners his age.

HedgeWitch – Silver Ravenwolf

A recent release (relatively speaking) I picked up again is Silver RavenWolf’s HedgeWitch. I know that even mentioning RavenWolf can bring out the haters, so let me make my SRW opinions clear right now.

No I don’t agree with everything she says, but insults and accusations of “fluffy bunny” are not what our Pagan community needs. Discrimination against fellow Pagan members is antithetical to who we are – if you don’t like an author, don’t read them. Vote with your dollar, but don’t begrudge others because they found a book to be helpful (even if it teaches us what not to do) and you didn’t. Moving on.
Thoughts on her previous work: I’ve read her “new generation of witchcraft” series & “Teen Witch”. Like my others, these were some of the first books I read. While I find today that “To Ride a Silver Broomstick” & “Teen Witch” no longer serve me, they did serve their purpose at the time in terms of getting me learning, thinking and questioning. Years later, I think I’ve turned into a fine practitioner, ethical & in love with nature and the Divine. While she does have some serious hang-ups on Christianity, we have to understand that even in 1991 many neo-Pagans still harbored some ill-will against monotheistic religions or the religions of their childhood. Fortunately, Paganism seems to be coming to an age where this is no longer acceptable. I had sincerely wished that when Llewellyn re-released her series, she would’ve updated/revised/added notations or written a new preface or something, kind of like how Starhawk went back and added notes to “Sprial Dance” at 10 and 20 years later. I remember flicking through “Silver Broomstick” with it’s new dark, Harry Potter-esque cover and thinking “It’s the same! There’s nothing new!” Opportunity missed. Anywhoodle, let’s move on to SRW’s newest work, Hedge Witch.

Since there’s already reviews out there with the expected critiques, I’ll write within the context of the hyperlinked review.

When I saw this new release at the time, I bought it because I’ve been wanting to move into a simpler, nature-based practice. While I started reading it soon after I bought it, I was still in a magickal funk and put the book down. Over the weekend, going through my books I picked up this book again. I figured now that I’m feeling much more Witchy & I’ve got a set up that brings magick & the Divine into my home, I thought now would be a great time to go through the book’s exercises.

While you can think what you want about SRW, here’s why she continues to profit, and it’s not as horrible as you think:

So what is it that makes someone such as Ravenwolf so well known, yet somewhat dismissed in the Pagan community? Quite simply, it’s her simplicity. Her books simply don’t delve into the depths of Paganism and the Occult that other authors’ works do. She deals very little with the “why”, and extensively with her version of “how”.

While the above reviewer nailed just how SRW’s books work, this shouldn’t condemn a book as “good” or “bad” depending on the purpose of the text. While this book can easily be dismissed as a beginner’s book, I think it’s quite the contrary – this book is for “beyond 101″ Witches who are looking to get back to basics when it comes to natural magick & craft. For better or worse, SRW doesn’t go into into the intricacies of spellcraft, ethics, etc because it’s assumed you already know all of this. Where SRW falls short is that she doesn’t explicitly state say this is so even though it’s true (whether she thinks so or not).

I don’t think this is an introductory/beginner’s book at all and I would never recommend it to anyone as such. What SRW does offer is a return to a simpler way of working with natural magick & the elements for those looking to re-visit or try something new in their Craft. Don’t hate on her for offering some new techniques – this book is spells & recipes, not theory. While this may be an unfortunate oversight (like the reviewer, I would’ve like to seen a history section on HedgeWitchery) it is what it is.

Personally: I’m enjoying this book for what it is. My path right now (if you read the previous post) is at a point where I’m trying to explore new methods of practice in my Craft, so giving Silver’s techniques & recipes a try has been fun for me as a “back to basics” way of working natural magick. To me, this was the intention of the book at it’s best (benefit of the doubt).

Verdict: If you require a book on magickal theory, overlook this one because it won’t give you what you need. If you’re beyond 101 with a full grasp of ethics & you understand how magic works and are looking to try some new techniques to connect with the natural world and work magick, this book may be for you. I recommend flipping through Section 1 of the book where Silver goes over the structure of the rites in the book. Flip through some of the 14 rites and see if they interest you. If you find them to be not what you need, walk away and keep looking. When we review Pagan/Occult books, we need to realize just who the audience for the book is. If you are not the audience for HedgeWitch (don’t like her style, don’t like books of recipes or magickal technique), you’ll hate it. If you are, you may discover all sorts of techniques & recipes to try out & make your own.

Any books you’re reading right now that you’d recommend, or not?

The Unbroken Circle: Revitalizing my Craft

May the Circle be open, but unbroken
May the peace of the Goddess be ever in your heart
Merry Meet and Merry Part and Merry Meet Again.

It seems that whenever life gets hectic and I find my Wiccan practice being pushed farther down my priority list, I come full Circle back to the Lord & Lady when I need to the most.

Funny enough, I think one of the main causes of my lack of energy for ritual & spellcraft was not only due to the busy world of everyday life, but also because my altar in my room wasn’t working with me – I had a hard time doing spellwork in the small area of room where my altar was and I couldn’t be comfortable in ritual, so I found myself less inspired to connect in ways I had before. So based on what we know about the cycles of life, what happens when things no longer serve us? We release them to make room for new growth.

Here are some of the steps I’ve taken to revitalize my Wiccan practice:

Witchy Supply Basket – I went through all of my supplies (candles, candleholders, cords, oils etc) and threw away old things and sadly, broken things. I gathered all my supplies together in one place (they were scattered previously) and moved everything into a new cute wicker box with little leather clasps. Every time I lift the lid, I feel like I’m opening a treasure chest of magic! Going through my stuff helped me re-evaluate what I have, what I don’t need and what I need to replace.

Altar gets big & moves to the North – Due to the poor Feng Shui of my room, I had my altar facing West next to my bed, but since it was so close to the bed I couldn’t really move around. Also, my boyfriend would unknowingly put his glasses/cell phone on the altar since it was on the top shelf of what we’re using for an nightstand so I couldn’t blame him too much. This Westward placement just wasn’t working. I tried moving it to the South but again the lack of space I could dedicate was too stifling. I re-assessed what I wanted out of my altar – I knew it had to move, it had to have lots of space and give me room to move around. I cleared out a large stretch of space on the Northside of my room, clearing out stuff that had been accumulating and moved an old wooden coffee table against the wall, which conveniently also includes a large window. I placed all of my candles & altar tools on the table towards the wall, which left me plenty of table space to work. I also use the windowsill as a shelf with extra tools lining the window. This move has made a huge difference in my practice – I’m inspired again & I feel as if the Lord & Lady are truly present in an altar of their liking because I like it now too! Pictures to come!

Curl up with a Good Book – Reading has always been a favorite activity of mine, and voraciously reading books on Witchcraft, Paganism, magick, etc is one thing that has never worn off for me in my years of practice (it’ll be 4 years on August!) I’ll be posting more about what I’m reading soon.

Permission to Do your Own Thing – One beginner trap I fall into over and over is trying to do things based on how others do them. This has been a hard habit to break but I’ve finally given myself permission to do things differently & try them my way. For example, my new method of casting circle & calling the quarters right now is to light candles that correspond to the 4 elements that I have placed strategically around my bedroom in the correct cardinal directions. I walk around my room clockwise starting with Air and walk around the room lighting each one (often chanting the “Air I Am” song by the Reclaiming tradition), ending at the North candle which sits on my altar. Then I get to work! I love this method & don’t tell me it’s wrong because whatever builds the magick in me is definitely right!

Start Your own Traditions – Just like my above example with circle casting/quarter calling, I feel like I almost want to throw out my old BoS (no I won’t really) or at least starting all over because I realize my BoS is a compendium of Everybody Else’s Ideas. One thing I’ve started doing is trying to add my own little things to ritual & spellwork, then repeat them often. For example, ending your spells the same way every time creates a small tradition all your own that only you do. Some small traditions I’ve started are: coming up with my own ways of wording spells, repeating a blessing every night before bed, saying special blessings before a I blow out a candle (YES I blow out candles – that’s another Garnet Tradition, thanks) – the list could go on. As a matter of fact, I think starting a new BoS on the Garnet Tradition is going to be my new project….

Do what feels right! Do your own thing! If you need to release it, let it go & start fresh! Move things around! Buy pretty supplies! However you revitalize your Craft is up to you, and if you too were in a funk I hope this post has at least inspired you to think about your practice in a  new way. Blessed be.

PS – If you haven’t noticed, this blog is back! Woo!

Decision ‘08 Presidential Results

May the bright future we envision and work towards come to pass, beginning on Nov. 4. So mote it be.

Scorpio New Moon Rituals

Today the New Moon is in Scorpio, and I wanted to share some links to help you plan a ritual or at least be mindful of this phase’s influence on your life right now. Have fun – I hope you’ll be weaving some magic tonight with me!

Molly Hall as some things to keep in mind as you plan any New Moon Ritual. Here’s her Scorpio New Moon page.

Get more info about Scorpio’s influence on this phase.

CafeAstrology has New Moon reports for each sign.