Saturday 17 September 2011

Other goodies for sale...

)O(

EMAIL YOUR ORDERS TO thewiccaseries@gmail.com - WITH YOUR NAME & POSTAL ADDRESS & CONTACT NUMBER.
DETAILS WILL BE SENT TO MAKE PAYMENT VIA EFT.

All prices exclude delivery.
Delivery within South Africa is R40.00.


BESIDES HAVING GOODIES ON SALE, I ALSO OFFER REIKI THERAPY SESSIONS.
I AM BASED IN LONEHILL, FOURWAYS, WHICH PUTS ME ON THE BORDERS OF BRYANSTON, SUNNINGHILL AND KYALAMI.
EACH SESSION IS R200.00, TO MAKE A BOOKING CALL ME ON 084 311 3350 OR EMAIL ME thewiccaseries@gmail.com

Thank you
Nathalie Beulah



THE HARMONY SMUDGE RANGE
This is a herbal blend for cleansing, balance, peace, clarity and joy.

HERBAL PROPERTIES:

Lavender:
Restores emotional balance and creates a peaceful, harmonious atmosphere. Lavender also attracts angelic beings.

Imphepo: "South African Sage"
A traditional herb found only in South Africa. Used to cleanse and protect and allows you to connect with your spirit guides and angels. A Powerful smudge.

Rosemary:
Brings about mental clarity and calmness by allowing for the release of negative thought patterns or self limiting beliefs. Great for mediators and students.

Cedar:
Provides grounding and joy, especially when used during personal transformation. Promotes "being in the now".

HARMONY BLEND: A UNIQUE MIX OF LAVENDER, ROSEMARY, IMPHEPO AND CEDAR WITH THEIR RESPECTIVE PROPERTIES.






HARMONY BLEND SMUDGE WAND - R75.00






HARMONY BLEND SMUDGE POPSICLE - R30.00








Special:

We realized this week people are not using our Chakra Elixirs completely correctly. The best way to use these elixirs is by using the chakra specific elixir that is blocked or damaged in some way together with the Balancer to bring all the chakras back into alignment again. We are therefore offering a Chakra Balancer elixir together with a single Chakra elixir (Heart, Crown, Throat, Third Eye, Solar Plexus, Sacral or Base) for only R100.00 excluding postage for the next week.

(Normal price: R 150 for the two)



REMEMBER TO SCROLL DOWN TO THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE TO SEE MORE ITEMS FOR SALE, FROM ELIXIRS AND OILS TO SOAPS.

)O(

Books for Sale

)O(

EMAIL YOUR ORDERS TO thewiccaseries@gmail.com - WITH YOUR NAME & POSTAL ADDRESS & CONTACT NUMBER.
DETAILS WILL BE SENT TO MAKE PAYMENT VIA EFT.

Please bare in mind that all of these books are second hand.

Where possible I have included a picture to show how the cover would look originally vs how it currently looks. Where there aren't extra pictures it means the book is still in a good condition.

All prices exclude delivery.
Delivery within South Africa is R40.00.






PAGAN WAYS BY GWYDION O'HARA - R70.00






THE LAW OF ATTRACTION BY ESTHER AND JERRY HICKS - R50.00






KAMASUTRA - POCKET SIZE - R20.00






COLLINS GEM: TAROT - POCKET SIZE - R30.00






HOW TO WORK WITH ANGELS BY ELIZABETH CLARE PROPHET - POCKET SIZE - R50.00






LINDA GOODMAN'S SUN SIGNS - R50.00






HOW TO: DO PSYCHIC READINGS THROUGH TOUCH BY TED ANDREWS - R50.00






A LITTLE LIGHT ON ANGELS BY DIANA COOPER - R50.00






THE HOLISTIC GARDENER BY MARGARET ELPHINSTONE AND JULIA LANGLEY - R80.00






PUTTING THE PEBBLES IN FIRST, 6 STEPS TO ACHIEVING BALANCE AND ENERGY BY TARYN SYDOW AND MICHELE WICKHAM - R50.00






MEDITATION FOR EVERYBODY BY LOUIS PROTO - R50.00






THE ZODIAC BIRTHDAY BOOK - MURDOCH BOOKS - R40.00






I CHING or the book of changes THE RICHARD WILHELM TRANSLATION - R60.00






SOLOMON'S ANGELS BY DOREEN VIRTUE - R80.00






THE AQUARIAN GUIDE TO THE NEW AGE BY EILEEN CAMPBELL AND J.H. BRENNAN - R40.00






SPIRIT GUIDES AND ANGEL GUARDIANS BY RICHARD WEBSTER - R60.00






ALCHEMY AND MYSTICISM BY ALEXANDER ROOB - R60.00






WORKING WITH YOUR GUIDES AND ANGELS BY RUTH WHITE - R50.00

)O(

Tuesday 13 September 2011

A Wiccan-Hindu God?




The Dictionary’s definition of eclectic:
1. Selecting or employing individual elements from a variety of sources, systems, or styles.
2. Made up of or combining elements from a variety of sources.

Wicca is a nature religion where the wheel of the year is celebrated as the seasons come and go. We celebrate a God and Goddess, both in their many forms.

Eclectic Wicca has the basic “outlines” of the original traditions as well as the beliefs of following our true paths, so long as we hurt none. However Eclectic Wiccans do borrow a little here and there to put together a spiritual path that they associate with strongly, and to bring in Gods and Goddesses that they feel are right for them.

I personally am an Eclectic Wiccan, and proud to say so. My beliefs at times have a strong Hindu line running through them and sometimes the more traditional line.

For example, if you were to look at my altar as it currently stands, you would see a beautiful image of the Goddess, with a moon in blues and whites, then right next to it you would see a gold and silver and brightly coloured image of Lord Ganesha.

To call on the Goddess in rituals, I sing the witches’ chant and to call on the God I use the mantra of Lord Ganesha.

On my wrist I have the ‘aum’ of Lord Ganesha tattooed, as well as a Scandinavian rune, both have special meaning to me.

There will be days when, perhaps in meditation, the Great Horned God or God of The Grove will appear to me and so will the Triple Goddess (The Crone is most likely to show herself to me).

However the Goddess that rings most true to me is the Spider Goddess. A form of her can be found in almost every ancient culture throughout the world and every time I walk through a spider’s web, I see it as a blessing. When I feel lost, or depressed, I tend to find that I am suddenly attracting spiders to me, reminding me that I am not alone. They are always there and are sacred to me (killing a spider in my home or around me is strictly prohibited).

I often laugh at the idea that perhaps it was my fate to be drawn to the Spider Goddess. When I was a baby I was put down in an orchard and was bitten by a spider and almost died due to it.

So yes, I tend to take a little from here and a little from there, if I am drawn to something that might not be ‘strictly’ in accordance with the very traditional Wiccan paths and it calls to me, I don’t see why I should ignore it. I believe that even if it is something completely different but that it is guiding me, I should welcome it with open arms because perhaps it will take me on a new adventure that will help me to learn more about being true to myself.

If you are new to Wicca and you find yourself worrying about the influences of other religions or pantheons on your beliefs, embrace it instead of pushing it away. Perhaps it is guiding you to a different path, one that suits you better for where you are meant to be in your life right NOW! It might change in a few days, months or even years, but accept every moment.

For example, the other day I found myself worrying about one of my cats (I hadn’t seen him in 24 hours and I’m one of those moms who panic easily) and out of the blue I found myself praying to Bast to guide him home. Within a couple minutes he came in through his kitty door, and I was immensely relieved. I have never been drawn to any of the Egyptian Gods or Goddesses before but at that moment, it came naturally to me and felt right.

So eclectic may seem a little eccentric and scary at first but that’s one of the wonderful things about Wicca and Paganism, there is no strict dogma and no strict rules on who you can and cannot worship.

However if Traditional Wicca feels right for you, with the Triple Goddess and Celtic Gods, there is absolutely nothing wrong with it in any way.

Do what feels right for you.

.

Friday 9 September 2011

Feathers ruffled and progress made




The concept of being suppressed in South Africa and trying to break free from our suppressors is far from a new one.

South Africans in general have been fighting for their rights for decades and as a result the current generation has been instilled with the idea that if you believe in something and others try to suppress you, then you must shout and make your voice heard.

That is what a lot of people do, they SHOUT! Loud and clear, making sure as many people as possible can hear their voices.

With all this noise, the shouting and arms waving about, we forget to embrace and support our fellow man. Instead everyone wants to go in their own direction.

Amongst all this chaos we tend to find a small handful of Change Makers. The few that will look at this noisy mess and then question, “okay so this is that, but what can we do about it?” and one of the toughest tasks for someone who makes changes to better the lives of many is to bring a community together.

So how do these Change Makers bring together communities? They can’t just shout, their voices will no doubt simply get lost in the clamour.

One action.

This is all that is needed, one action in the name of progress, one small step and one small positive success on behalf of all. I say success because if an action does not heed results then society won’t be still and lift their heads up in curiosity.

This is how only a hand full of individuals end up making the biggest difference.

Something else that is necessary is to dig out the weeds from the rose garden. There are a few who claim that they are making a difference but are really exploiting the population as a whole. They are all bark and no bite and often claim to be something they are not.

There are also those few with good intentions, they rally the troops and get support from those around them BUT then nothing happens. They never take that action and most of the time they don’t intend for it to happen that way. They did want to make a difference but something stopped them, perhaps the fear of having a clearer voice than those around them, or a fear of failure, who knows but those good intentions never yield the fruits of success.

In order for real change to happen we all need to quieten down and come together. One step forward, one small action by many on behalf of all will make a big difference.

I am calling on the Pagan Community, as a whole to see the actions being taken by those around you and embrace the Change Makers and support them so that we can all share in our successes and work on bettering our community, even if we have different beliefs or lifestyles.

When we work as one we yield more Power than when we work as many individuals.

Thank you
Nathalie Beulah

Original Post: 09 September 2011

Thursday 8 September 2011

The sphere of existence


One returns to the place one came from.
-          Jean de la Fontaine

What does your book of shadows look like? Is it a collection of spells from you working on improving your life? Or is it a series of celebratory rites?

Wicca is a religion of celebration. We celebrate the seasons as they turn from year to year. We celebrate the cycle of birth, life, death and rebirth.

Here’s a question for you, do you celebrate the seasons only on the Sabbats and not all year round? Do you only celebrate the Goddess at Esbats once a month or every night as the moon shows us her many faces.

Celebrations should flow throughout the year. Every day is a day to celebrate.

In South Africa I am lucky enough to experience an African sunset and sunrise every day and that alone is a reason to celebrate.

Salute the sun in the evening and thank the Great Horned God for warming us and honouring us with his presence during the day time. As the moon rises, welcome the Triple Goddess as she embraces us.

When winter comes I can almost instinctively feel when Orion is going to bless our skies more clearly. He has special significance to me and I always thank him and spend a moment looking up into the night skies.

Birth, copulation and death. That's all the facts when you come to brass tacks.

Tuesday 6 September 2011

Calendars

Okay, so this is me giving up on Facebook gremlins. In the comments section below you can add your details, this should make life easier for everyone (hold thumbs).


Hi Everyone

All South African Pagans, I am currently contacting calendar printers to try and get them to include our Sabbats on their calendars, in the same way the other religions have theirs.

I will need to be able to give them numbers as they won't want to waste their time moving things around to accommodate us while they have millions of calendars to print.

Please put your first initial, surname and Province below so that I can give them some decent figures. They won't want to print for a couple hundred, so let's see if we can get a couple thousand.

Thank you.
Here is the list of names I have  already received, to avoid any duplication:

  1. N. Laurings, Gauteng
  2. A.J.S. Bleeker, Western Cape
  3. C. Koen, western cape
  4. R PARKINSON KWAZULU NATAL
  5. J Chapman, Johannesburg, Gauteng
  6. C Morris, Pretoria, Gauteng
  7. C. Engela, Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape
  8. W. Geldenhuys, Gauteng
  9. J. Botes, Johannesburg, Gauteng
  10. G Matthews Gauteng Pretoria
  11. Chris van Eck Mpumalanga
  12. Samantha Wickens, Uniondale, Western Cape
  13. K J McKee - Gauteng

Monday 5 September 2011

Science and Magick




I know this has become a very common subject and most, if not all of you have heard about the similarities of the energies from science and Magick at least once.

Well I decided why shouldn’t I say my two cents worth?

I will share with you some of the things that I have learnt so far and I hope that you find what I say to be interesting. I’ll not go into the history of science, there are many, many books out there if you would like to find out more, plus this post would be too long and you might fall asleep after trying to read the first few lines, so I’m going to try keep it simple and interesting.

The Mysteries of Magick is just that, a mystery and a powerful source which we draw from. Some have worried about ‘revealing the mystery’, it in itself cannot be revealed however we can feel its effects and experience it in our daily lives.

Scientists have proven that these ‘effects’ can undisputedly be measured, both in theory and practice, even though they cannot themselves prove the ‘source’ of the mystery itself (not that it stops them from trying).

Some modern thinking* scientists have even followed spiritual paths such as Taoism, Buddhism, Paganism and many others because it compliments their questions and answers, both spiritually and scientifically.

* I say ‘modern thinking’ because these scientists are from as early as the 1930’s and 1940’s

“The most beautiful experience we have, is the mysterious” ~ Albert Einstein 1931

I have an appetite for interesting books. I read everything from fiction to occult and various other religions to psychology and science, in particular quantum physics and mechanics.

Many scientists and practitioners of the Craft have a general agreed consensus that one of the strongest sources of energy is that of human emotion.

In Dr. Masaru Emoto’s book “The Healing Power of Water” he mentions how scientists created a water-based signal transmitter and had it charged with a specific intention. Water-based receivers were then placed between two miles and six thousand miles away from the transmitter. The change in frequencies of the receivers was compared to the ph balance of the original transmitter (there’s a lot more scientific mambo jambo included but I’ll leave that out).

Over a period of months the ph levels of all the receivers changed to that of the original transmitter.

The receivers had been placed in various areas around the world, both above and below ground. What they found was that the receivers below ground received the frequency faster than those above ground.

Dr. Emoto says “The carrier range for this information transfer couldn’t have been electromagnetic”. So no form of signals such as radio or television waves were used, only the intention-charged energy.

I wanted to mention this specific experiment as it had an influence on one of my energy-charged beliefs.

There were at times when feeling negative emotions and energy I would put my hands on the ground and dig in the dirt to ‘get rid of’ the bad energy and ground myself, as Wiccans we often do the same with water, using it to cleanse away the negative.

Now if there is one thing that we all learnt, as early as our school days, it is that energy can change. It can move out of, through and into form. Most of the time we cannot see it happening but you can use water as an example.

The energy vibrations of water are different from when it is ice to water to mist or steam, one way to measure these different energies is something as simple as its heat signature. From ice cold to boiling hot, yet at its core it is still the same thing, H2O.

So if I am taking my negative energies and putting them into the earth and its water, that energy will eventually travel around the world.

So I took the theory of changing energies and I decided that if I am feeling negative, I work and concentrate on changing it into something positive first, only then will I wash my hands or rub the earth. I would much rather send positive vibrations travelling around the world than negative ones.

 In my teens when I first started to learn about Wicca I had no knowledge of this and it never occurred to me to find out how energy worked and why it would be stronger or weaker.

What I did learn about though was something called ‘intentions’. We all know that there are good and bad ones.

If I cast a spell, I always made sure my intentions were good and that I stated it clearly in my spells and rituals.

I also always made sure that I was very specific about what it was that I wanted.

When I cast my first spell that really worked, I was amazed and filled with joy (and also made sure I showed my gratitude to the God and Goddess) especially since it was focused on removing a negative source in my life, at the time (I won’t go into any specifics).

A few years later I decided to try figure out why some of the spells I had cast over the years may not have worked. I took this first spell as a reference point.

Was it the way I cast the spell? Not exactly, different spells can be cast in different ways and still work.
Was it the words I used? Not quite, these would change from spell to spell.
Was it how I said the words? Shakespearean iambic pentameter. Not always to be or not to be.
Had I been specific enough? How much detail does the universe really need?

So what was it?

I realised that it was the power of the emotional force behind the spell that made it work.

The dictionary describes emotion as “The part of the consciousness that involves feeling”. So basically, I had to really feel that I wanted something to happen and then use my intentions to guide it.

This makes me a human transmitter of energy and these energies can be scientifically measured.

Doesn’t that idea just blow your mind?

With the latest wave of “the law of attraction” that has swept the world over, the education of this realisation has been spread.

When I first heard of the law of attraction, one of my first thoughts was “but this is what I’ve been doing all along, and is a part of my spiritual belief system”.

It is not something new to us witches who have been practicing these beliefs for centuries (not me personally, I’m not that old). And it is not something new to the world of science either.

The Great Mystery is still a mystery but now everyone can share in it with us, and millions of people do no matter what their religious paths are.

A note on casting spells

The dictionary defines intention as “an aim that guides action”. It guides the action, it is not the action itself.

It is all very well becoming a human signal transmitter, filled with a specific emotion and then creating a spell and using our intentions and sending everything off and out into the universe.

Bear in mind that a spell is a prayer. A prayer filled with good intentions and your intentions can be as pure as is possible but if you really want to receive what you want, you will still need to do some work to achieve your goal. You will need to take action.

A spell or a prayer doesn’t make things happen, you do. They just help you to focus your energies in the right direction and help you to be specific about what it is that you really want.

I hope my two cents worth has been an interesting read for you and that you might have learnt something new.

Thank you.
Nathalie Beulah
.

Wicca - a little education please...

Lately there has been a lot of ‘discussion’ around the spiritual belief systems of Wicca. I know there are a lot of people who follow this path, myself included, the disagreements and concerns that have come up are in general connected to two problems.

The first is the lack of education of the spiritual path in general and the second is the lack of acceptance of other paths within the Pagan Community.

Wicca is only one ‘sect’ of the community and as a part of this community we need to accept that there are others who are Pagan who have different belief systems to us. This does not make anybody right or wrong, however this does mean that we need to work together to achieve common goals.

In the early 1980’s, Janet and Stewart Farrar, along with the assistance of Doreen Valiente put together a book called “The Witches’ Bible”. It is NOT a bible in the traditional sense but rather a guide to help educate Wiccans. I strongly suggest that all Wiccans read this book to learn about the path they have chosen.

I would like to point out a few things mentioned in this book that need to be duly noted.

* There will be politics amongst different groups and Covens of similar beliefs but it is unnecessary and people will get bored of it. The best thing to do is to share and learn from one another.
* Magick is not ‘white’ or ‘dark’. There would be no good if it could not be compared to evil. There would be no light if it could not be compared to darkness.
* Wicca is not ‘airy fairy’. It is a real religion and must be accepted as one, however you should not look at it too seriously as it is a religion of celebration as well.

Then here are a few notes from myself.

Magick is neither white nor black, if you want to put a colour on it, then it is grey. Sabbats are often celebrated at sunset and sunrise when the night and day meet in the sky.

I once read in the ‘Introduction’ of a book written by Doreen Valiente, the very first words went something along the lines of (this is not a direct quote): If you are looking for something that is all happy and light then put this book down. If all you want to do is cast spells and make your life better then this book is not for you.

I believe the same goes for anyone looking for darkness in Magick. If you are looking to gain something specific from Wicca then stop looking. To be able to accept the religion for what it is then open your mind and find out what it is all really about.

Now here’s a biggie, so pay attention. Wicca is NOT about spells. It is NOT about trying to bring luck or love or money into your life. That part is up to us all as individuals. This is not to say that Wiccan’s can’t cast spells, it is a part of the Craft, however it is NOT the centre of it and it is NOT the be all and end all.

Wicca is a celebration. Rites are where our Magick lies. We celebrate the light and dark, the night and day, the Summer and the Winter. We celebrate the God and Goddess, the masculine and feminine.

Once I went two years without casting a single spell of any sort because I celebrated my religion and that is what lies strongly within me. I didn’t do this on purpose it just never occurred to me that I would need a spell for something.

We cannot say that we follow only the Goddess and are light workers as that is contradictory in the fact alone that it is at night time, when the moon shines down on us, that we acknowledge her.

We cannot say we follow only the God and the dark ways when we acknowledge the God during the day when the sun shines down on us.

It took me three years of learning, not just from books but within myself as well, before I decided to follow Wicca as my path. I did not just jump at it because I thought all the pretty spells could make me rich and famous and healthy.

If Paganism does call to you then start to educate yourself. Don’t just pick one ‘sect’ and say that it is what you want. As you are learning look into yourself and ask yourself what it is that you truly believe in, then decide.

If you say you are Wiccan yet you still accept some of the concepts of Christianity then rather look at Christo-Paganism.

If you don’t feel that acknowledging a God or Goddess is right for you then there are other Pagan paths that only follow nature and her cycles without Deity.

The bottom line of all of this is to educate yourself, you might even find that Taoism or Buddhism are more for you than Paganism is. They are fascinating religions in themselves. You might even decide to become atheist or agnostic.

If you have not educated yourself on the various paths of others in the Pagan Community then you cannot say their beliefs are incorrect and slander them. Put yourself in their shoes and walk a mile before you say anything and if you are not willing to do that then don’t say anything at all.

We all follow what we Feel is right for us and nobody can tell us that what we Feel is right or wrong. Feelings cannot be associated with factual evidence that can disprove or prove a theory as it is a part of who we are.

There are Covens and people out there who run classes to help teach people about Wicca, maybe consider taking one of these and read books, don’t google! You cannot always trust what you find on the internet.

When you are ready to follow your true path you will know.

It will be the moment when you stop listening to the voices in your head and you feel it in your heart.

For the next couple of days I will be blogging on Wicca specifically. I know I have some followers who are from other Pagan paths, I’m sorry but unfortunately this needs to be done but I promise it won’t be all bad.

I also invite people from other Pagan paths to submit a post on their beliefs thewiccaseries@gmail.com

Perhaps if you are following the blog you might realise that Wicca is not for you and you would prefer to look at something else, just follow what feels right for you.

Feel free to ask questions in the comments section, I check these daily and will answer your questions to the best of my ability and when I can’t I will try and refer you to someone who can help.

So come along this path with me over the next few days and let’s see what you discover about yourself…

)O(

What is this Paganism thing?

Last year March I posted this blog and after having received a few queries lately, I though it would be a good idea to post it again.

What is it?

I often get asked, what is Wicca? What is Paganism? And so on. One thing I have discovered is that you can explain it to someone and that will be the end of the conversation and most of the time the person who asked will be left feeling confused.

When people in general ask these questions they do not so much want to know cold hard facts and ideologies (which is generally what we bombard them with in response to such questions), what they really want to know is “How does this relate to me? How do I use this information and apply it?”

This is going to be the aim of my post today, to try and explain Wicca on a personal level. Let me know if it helps!

The rules!

In Wicca it’s more like The Rule, as we really only have one law that governs our thoughts and actions and is a necessary place to start. We call it the Wiccan Rede:
“Do what thou wilt so long as it hurt none.”

The first part of this law “Do what thou wilt” so often gives many people the wrong idea of what it is that we believe. We do not believe that we can just run around doing whatever we want to, as wonderful as that concept may seem. It represents our True Will.

Our True Will is paths in which we follow and direct our magick. It is the path in life in which we wish to follow, it is our hopes, goals and dreams. In Thelema Magick the law is written as “Do what thou wilt is the whole of the law.” This is the first part and means follow your path and your dreams. The second part is “Love under the law.” Follow your path in life with love. If you do not love what you are doing, then perhaps you are on the wrong path.

The second part of the Wiccan Rede is “so long as it hurt none.” We cannot use magick to harm anyone or to affect and change their freewill, and by doing so not allowing them to follow their true paths in life. The Three Fold Law is a general rule that forces us to take responsibility. It teaches us that what we send out into the world, not just our magical workings but our every day thoughts, words and actions, will come back to us three times stronger than the energy we sent it out with. So if you’re going to curse someone, then just think about how strongly you’ll be cursing yourself!

So follow your true path in life and in your magick and do it with love and without hurting anybody else, animals or any other part of nature. Yes, it is that simple!

Oh the possibilities!

What attracts most people to The Craft? The immense possibilities of the power we can bring into our lives and what we can do with that energy. Magick is filled with new, wonderful and exciting opportunities that we want to grab hold of with both hands. It is the change in our awareness that we can actually affect our surroundings and circumstances by willing it to be true.

Magick doesn't have to be a huge ritualistic show. I believe keeping it simple makes it more effective as you're not confused and distracted by all the little extras you've thrown in! However the spells and ingredients we use help us to focus our intentions so that we can have the outcome we desire. It is ultimately the emotions that you put into the magick that is the driving force.

We refer to it as sympathetic magick, meaning that “like attracts like”. If we want to feel joy, when performing our magick we fill ourselves up with joy and infuse the spell with that, the same with love, happiness and so on, the list is endless. It attracts to us the energy and emotions we desire in our lives, changing it for the better.

An important thing when starting out in The Craft is to remember that magick is not something “out there” that you need to find, the answers are not something you need to go in search of. It is inside of you. We are all a part of the universe and the magick is inside of us, it IS who we are. Once you feel and understand that you will be able to realise the control you have in your own life.

So what is the short answer when someone asks me about my religion?

If somebody asks me “What is Wicca?” but they are not asking because they are truly interested in finding out about the religion but just out of curiosity. I define it simply as “a nature religion that follows the cycle of the seasons and where we acknowledge the existence of a God and Goddess.” It is simple and straight forward.

To elaborate more for someone who is truly interested in the religion here is a more in-depth answer. Wicca is a nature religion, and not necessarily meaning that we all run around naked worshipping trees and rocks but in realising that we are a part of the universe and the natural world. What happens in the cycle of the seasons, the cycle of life, death and rebirth affects us. Not only can we see the physical changes, as we do with the seasons, but we are intuitively, emotionally and physically affected by the change. Read my previous blog entry “Emotionally Affected” and you’ll be able to see a very recent affect the world has had on us.

We acknowledge the existence of a God and Goddess (the triple Goddess of Maiden, Mother and Crone) though for every person their personal deity is different. If you would like to learn more about the different Deity Pantheons and so on there are many books and websites available, though to make discovering your deity a truly personal experience, sit down and meditate, welcoming your deity to enter into your life. When you are done write down everything you felt and experienced. Use all five of your senses to describe the experience then use these as a reference when looking for your personal Gods and Goddesses.

In closing

There is so much information available to us on the subject of Wicca and Paganism and there are so many different paths within these that we can choose to follow. May I suggest for those who are new to The Craft or are curious in finding out more, please don’t search the internet. I know there is some wonderful information out there, but there is just so much information that you will be left feeling even more confused than when you started your search.

The best thing to do is go into a bookshop (yes they do still exist, and there are even some online ones but physically going into a bookshop is worth the experience, you are surrounded by the magic and energy of the books) have a look around in the esoteric section and look through the books. You are bound to find a subject that you will be strongly attracted to and then you will be beginning the path of following your True Will in magick.

If you are still unsure, then have a look at the series of books written by Silver Ravenwolf, they are very good guides for those starting out in The Craft. Another book which I felt was very useful was Cassandra Carter’s “Every day magic”.

Another option is to seek out a mentor, a leader in The Craft, and possibly a Coven that you will be able to learn from. Don’t just “jump in” when it comes to magick, take the time to learn it first, it will be worth it in the end.

I hope this helps those with questions, and if not, feel free to ask and I’ll help as best I can.

)O(

Greetings and Niceties


Merry meet everyone.

This post may upset some people but I know a good few that will agree with me too.

Did you here the joy and happiness in the words I just greeted you with? Or did you hear and feel the words as if it was just another “Hi, nice to meet you”?

Myself, as well as others are getting annoyed by the mass use of our traditional greetings and leaving them to lose their meanings. Just because others use them does not mean that everyone should start using them.

Some people use them because that’s just how it is… isn’t it? No, it is not!

We cannot meet and greet everyone with happiness and joy on facebook, twitter or any other social network when in fact we are not actually meeting them. If you meet a fellow witch in person, whether the setting is formal or informal, and you are actually happy to meet them, by all means extend your hand and greet them with a ‘Merry meet’, because that is what to be merry means, to be filled with happiness and joy, or to have had too much mead.

As far as merry meet goes, I hardly ever use it, if at all, why? Because it doesn’t mean anything to me, it never really has and I’m not going to use something without meaning, I would much rather use a “Hi, nice to meet you.”

Bright Blessings is used by many as a farewell greeting. I will admit I use it but for a personal reason of my own, but why do you use it? Why do most Pagans use it?

Once again, is it because, well, everyone else does it? Isn’t that the traditional way to meet and greet each other? In modern times I believe the traditional way to say farewell is “good bye” or “nice to meet you”. I didn’t get a memo to say these traditions had fallen to the wayside.

So why do I use it?

In the fourteen hundreds when the Black Death (the plague) hounded ‘modern’ civilization, if someone was to sneeze the people nearby would say “bless you” (and then probably run as far away from that person as they could) because it meant that the poor person who just sneezed could very well have the plague.

The people who said “bless you” actually meant it then, in our modern times it has simply become a polite nicety, and let’s face it, for most people in this world it is the only time someone ‘blesses’ another person.

This is also why some Pagans use Bright Blessings, because it is a polite nicety.

I use this term only if I truly mean it. I personally feel that I would like to wish more blessings on other people than the average human being usually does.

If I really wish for someone or a few people to receive blessings in their life or lives I will say it and if I really feel like it I say “the brightest of blessings” or use a way to explain just how much I wish for them to receive their blessings and in what areas of their life or lives.

The fine print: I am always happy to send a blessing someone’s way, however I also believe that if that person actually wants it, they will be open to receive it. If they are not open to receive it, then it’s not my responsibility.

So what do I normally use if I don’t use “Bright Blessings”? Good Bye is a nice start or kind regards but mostly I use thank you. I believe in being grateful to someone, whether I like them or not, I can learn a lesson from them.

I might even not use a greeting at all… oh the horror!

Why should I say something when I don’t mean it or when I don’t want to say anything at all?

Blessed Be

Amen Sister! What? If you are using Blessed Be as a greeting you might as well throw in an amen sister or two.

Blessed Be is a term that is used in Magickal workings, whether it as a rite being performed or a spell that has been cast. It is a way of blessing what has just been done.

If you want to put it in a box and label it, then you can say it the Pagan form of saying amen.

Abbreviations

I know we live in the technology age where abbreviations are the everyday norm but it really bothers me when people abbreviate the greetings.

BB – Bright Blessings and MM – Merry Meet.

I do not like them and for me they loose their meaning completely and it represents a lack of creativity and laziness, call me old fashioned. If you want to use shortened terms then say ‘Hi’ or ‘bye’.

Do you know your roots?

This is a little something extra. If you are Wiccan and want to learn more about the roots of our traditions and beliefs, then read these.



If you can find the essay written by Doreen Valiente on how she searched for proof of “Old Dorothy”, I suggest you read it, it is wonderful read and I couldn’t put it down.

)O(

Butterfly Fluster



The butterfly effect has always fascinated me, the idea of how one small change in one person’s life can create a whirlwind of changes and end up affecting more than one person.

These days I haven’t been close enough to feel the flutter of the butterfly’s wings but I definitely feel the fluster of the storm they have created as I have found myself needing to make a number of big decisions in my life.

In the past I had ‘cowered’ away when the possibility of change came towards me. I have wanted to tell it to leave me alone. I wanted to stay safe and comfortable right where I was.

I have had a look at these changes and opportunities that have recently been coming my way and I think, “What if I did that or tried this?” I know I’ve often said I’ve “considered” an opportunity in the past when all I have actually done is tried to decide how safe it is and how drastically my life might change if I said yes to them. Sound familiar?

Quite often in our lives if a change appears to be too big, something in our subconscious shouts at us, “NO! Don’t Do It! I… I… I just can’t, the change is too scary!”

Then the excuses come out as to why we can’t make our lives better, why we can’t take that scary step. Excuses such as “If I did this then what will my family think” or “they would be so disappointed and upset” then there’s always the worry of the money or income that will pertain to this change, how will that be affected?

Money and family, the two reasons, well excuses really, that we use to not live a better life. When we are afraid to do something in our lives, these are the two items that keep popping up at the top of that list.

So guess what I did? I am busy working on a very scary change in my life, I have rationalised and gone through my excuses, in fact I am still doing them.

I shouldn’t do this because my family would…
How will I cover my expenses, surely my income will be limited?

The first thing that surprised me about this change was the fact that I said “Yes”. I said yes and only then did I think about my excuses. Even with myself trying to rationalise why not to take an opportunity I had already accepted into my life, I was then pleasantly surprised by something else.

An abundance of everything I needed to help propel me forward, started to come at me. Yes I still put in the work and asked the questions but it feels as if everything is flowing to me without resistance.

I am still considering my excuses, they are always there nagging me. I see them as my sensible self. These little excuses are useful though, they keep me thinking about both the good and positive areas of the opportunities I am accepting.

Then I make my excuses into something I can learn from.

Family will never be completely happy with changes we make in our lives but then again they might not be completely unhappy. Some of us are lucky enough for our families to say, with disapproving looks on their faces, that they will support us through the decisions we make. Sometimes they don’t but this is your life not theirs.

As far as money is concerned, if you need to find several areas to make it then do so, as long as it makes you happy and is in line with your current goals and the new change in your life. It always helps to have an action plan when it comes to money and if possible, plan in advance so that you know where you may be for the next few months instead of worrying from month to month.

Most importantly, look at your excuses and then look at the opportunities that are opening up for you. If you want those opportunities, then say yes and when your excuses come up answer them with an “I Trust”.

That is what I am doing right now. I Trust.

I am busy trusting that what I need will come to me and I am trusting that I will see and accept the opportunities and answers I am looking for in the first place. My trusting has opened doorways for me that I would never have imagined opening up and as a result I have been calmer and more accepting of my changes.

If it is right then it will happen for you. It all depends on if how badly you need the change. When the opportunity comes along, snap it up instead of running away from it then trust that what you do need from that point on will come to you and you will see that it will flow to you naturally, if you allow it to.

Change can be big and scary but it is the attitude you have towards it that will ultimately affect how your life will evolve.

Say Yes and accept your new opportunities with trust and gratitude and you will receive abundance in your life.

Bright Blessings

)O(

Bee-ism


After watching a bee, having fallen into the middle of my rather large swimming pool yesterday, swim to the side and crawl out I had an “aha” Taoist moment and decided to share what I saw and how it related to the lesson I needed to learn at the time. I was feeling depressed and felt I was in a helpless situation. Sometimes Mother Nature knows best when it comes to the lessons we need to learn.
  1. I saw something looking like a mini speedboat moving across the swimming pool and wondered what it was, perhaps some kind of water insect I had never seen before. My curiosity got the better of me and I had to have a look.
As it turned out it was a bee swimming in my pool. He had obviously found himself to be in uncommon territory and facing adversity. Instead of dwelling on the situation he was in and end up sinking into further adversity, he immediately sprung into action and began to work on improving his current situation.
  1. The bee went around flowers, leaves and sticks not stopping and climbing up on them.
The possibility of a quick and convenient “fix” as a solution to his problem did not fool him. Why settle for a sinking island when you can aim for a dry continent. Solutions to problems may seem hard and far away at times but if a more immediate solution seems too good to be true it probably is.
  1. The bee went the slightly long way around.
Sometimes the path to our goal isn’t always a straight road. It may wind around and we may find obstacles in our path but if we keep on going we will get there. Most of the time the path appears to become longer because of personal actions we have taken. The idea is that we can on moving towards our goal regardless.
  1. The bee stopped for a few seconds when he was so close to his destination.
After swimming for over 2 meters and approximately a mere 30cm from the side of the swimming pool the bee stopped. He was so close to his goal but not having realised it, there was the possibility that he was on the verge of giving up. Why should he have continued when he couldn’t see the end in sight and all he could focus on was the adversity that surrounded him?
Then he started again and with speed and vigour he aimed directly for his destination. Why should he give up his goal? His determination to keep on going was not going to be stopped by anything.
  1. The bee then started again and went to the side, reaching his destination.
The little bee crawled out of the pool and lay on the bricks in the sun for a moment to dry off. He had achieved his goal and was triumphant. He had faced adversity, he had not given up on his goal and he had succeeded. As he flew away perhaps he looked back. The higher and higher he rose in the sky the smaller the pool would appear.
His past adversity becoming smaller and smaller, seeming less important the higher he rose up into his future.
The bee symbolises hard work, and quite often work that needs a team in order to achieve their goals as a group. Sometimes you may be so lost in your own moments of adversity you may forget there are others out there who need you and who can help you as well.
This little bee that took up just a few minutes of my life on one warm summer afternoon has taught me a lesson that will affect me for a long time to come. It is a remarkable concept how something so small in one short moment may significantly affect the lives of others.
Don’t give up you may be closer to achieving your goals than you realise.

)O(

Emotionally Affected

Sometimes my friends may think I am a little weird reading many books on quantum physics and psychology, including how our moods are affected by the chemicals in our brains.

As many people have noticed there has been quite an emotional surge traveling through the world lately. Many people have been feeling tearful and depressed and perhaps a little like their emotions are running away from them. Here is my theory on why this has been happening, feel free to let me know what you think.

Physics

As humans we are made up mostly of water (between 70% and 90%) which makes us very strong conductors for energy, the strongest energy being our emotions.

If we look at the world today there is a lot of negative energy around.

The recession has caused mass job losses. People are loosing their homes and many things that have bought security into their lives. As a result there has also been an increase in crime, especially violent crimes as people have been feeling desperate.

There have been many natural disasters happening around the world in the past few months, earthquakes in Chile and Haiti as well as floods in many countries around the world. Lives have been lost and there is a lot of mourning and a large number of spirits leaving this world who have died violent deaths (both humans and animals).

That is a lot of painful energy that has been conducted by a lot of people, and we are all picking it up and transmitting it. The recent full moon also increased its strength as it affected the water around the world.

Psychology

Our emotions are affected by the continual change of chemicals in our brains. SAD (Seasonally Affected Depression) has taught us that depression occurs more frequently in winter months as well as at night. Even though it affects those who struggle with depression more strongly, it affects us all on some level.

Winter:
In the Northern Hemisphere, spring is on its way but it is still pretty much winter weather and in the Southern Hemisphere it is getting cooler as autumn settles in. This puts us all on the edge of winter and the chemicals in our brains cause a bit more depression as our bodies are still feeling the need to hibernate.

Night time:
As we slow down at night and get ready to sleep the chemicals in our brains change to cause a more “depressed” state. This is to make sure our bodies rest better and there is less active energy moving through us.

NASA scientists have noticed that the recent earthquake in Chile moved the earth off of its axis by 8cm (3 inches) making our days a few milliseconds shorter and our nights longer. Even though it is such a small amount, there is no doubt that this would affect the chemicals in our brains. Our bodies are trying to re-set themselves in order to cope with the change.

In the next few months we are bound to feel these changes very strongly. There is hope though as the world economies become better, and hopefully there are no more large scale and violent natural disasters we should all start to feel better.

What I have been doing lately, and please feel free to do the same, as I crawl into bed at night I take a moment to fill myself with joyful, healing and grateful energy and then a concentrate on sending it out into the world by imagining the energy coming from me as a white light and wrapping itself around the world.

May you have an awesome day filled with joy and smiles, and feel free to spread these emotions to all of those around you.


Following our dreams

This is a very tough decision that my family and I have faced this week. So is it all about priorities of the heart or priorities of the mind?

We’ve all heard the slogans and encouragements of following our dreams to true happiness but let’s face it, for most of us it is one of the most difficult challenges in our everyday lives.

Priorities of the mind

We all know these too well, paying the bills, financially looking after our families and so on. Most of us may end up taking jobs we don’t enjoy just to take care of our basic needs until our “one day” arrives.

We all know that day, “one day I’ll be able to…” fill in the blank. Let’s face facts, I’ve sat and stared at an assortment of calendars and I can promise I have never seen any with the day “one day” on them and for a lot of people “one day” still has not happened while they lie on their death beds.

So we do what makes us unhappy in the meantime causing depression and physical illness because we are not following our dreams. We, after all, have very important priorities such as food on the table, paying for schooling, mortgages, clothing, the latest Playstation and the big screen TV!

The bottom line when it comes down to priorities of the mind is that ultimately we don’t want to let anyone else down. We make ourselves unhappy so that we can be in a position where we can help the people we love follow their dreams and find true happiness. Our parents did it for us, their parents did it for them and now we’re doing it for the next generation.

What is the price we pay? We are unhappy and loose our hopes and dreams. What is the ultimate result? The next generation is more than likely to follow in our footsteps, giving up their dreams so that someone else can find true happiness. And so the cycle continues on and on because this is the example we are leading them by.

Priorities of the heart

True happiness; is it what it’s all cracked up to be? Of course it is, why else would we call it by such a name!

I’m not saying that financial and family obligations should be dropped altogether, they are important and have a place in our lives BUT they must not necessarily become our lives. You must live your life before you try and help someone else to live their life to the fullest.

Working towards our personal goals and dreams takes work, a lot of work. It may even seem so scary that it will be easier to choose the unhappy life. After all what’s the point of giving up safety in our lives and working our asses off with the possibility of failure hanging over our heads? Well for one the experience. If you do fail then at least you know what not to do when you try again and if you try then you get a taste of the possibility of your happiness in your near future, and once you have tasted something good would you want to stop? Have your cake and eat it!

Reaching your full potential and having the life of your dreams, isn’t that the example you want future generations to see?

There are many sources out there that help you to discover your dreams and work on them and so on but this is not the goal of this post. My goal is to help you consider what priorities you want to guide your thoughts and actions in your life.

I hope it has helped.