Shame on you... you witch!

If we have a look around at what is happening in the world today, we can get a pretty good view of how it has advanced spiritually.

We have all become open minded and have really come a long way from the conformity of decades past. Strange esoteric concepts such as yoga and meditation have become the everyday norm. I even know that the marines based in the Middle East war zones, such as Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan practice yoga in the mornings and are encouraged to meditate on a daily basis.

The American army has accepted Pagan religions and homosexuality. Wicca is a recognised religion in South Africa and it is legal to become a marriage officer through this belief system. These are just a few examples.

So why do so many of us still feel shame for being who we are? If you believe you are an Out and Proud Pagan, then ask yourself a few questions.

• Would you visibly wear your pentacle to the office, or if you went out and you weren’t surrounded by familiar faces?
• Do you change your language so slightly as to not accidently let slip who you truly are? Simple things such as “Bright Blessings” becomes “Many Blessings”. Believe it or not but most people won’t think you are a witch because the wording is a little different to what they are used to hearing.
• Do you hide your incense, pentacles, candles, crystals and so on, if someone comes to visit your home? It is your home after all but you feel ashamed to let your guests see who you truly are. I know people from other religions who wouldn’t even consider this notion. When your guests leave, what is left behind from their visit is a strong energy that you helped to create. A Hidden shame, something you feel is a ‘dark secret’ to be hidden from the world.

So in a world that is so open minded, we still create shame.

Here is a suggestion, don’t hide who you are. You understand and know your religious path, let it shine and if a stranger happens to come along and asks a question, “why are you wearing that pentagram? Do you believe in Satan?” or “Why did you say Goddess?” or if they ask about all the funny esoteric goodies that decorate your home, do what we all want to happen in this world, educate them. Tell them truthfully what it is all about.

In safe circles with friends of the Craft (and even in facebook groups) we mention over and over how we would love for the world to become educated. We want them to know about us and to understand us. Keep in my mind though that it is up to them as to whether or not they will accept it.

What we don’t realise is that each and every one of us is a small link in the chain, if we want the change we are always complaining about then take action.

Every time you put the pressure on the shoulders of some one else to try educated the masses, you are breaking away from that chain.

Keep the chain strong, help educate, even if it is just one person a year that you find yourself explaining the Craft to.

It has been proven that when someone hears something interesting they are on average going to share it with another ten people who, if they find the news interesting, will share it with yet another ten people and a chain reaction of education is has been started.

All you did was educate one person.

The people I work with know who I am and my chosen religious path and guess what? They do not treat me any differently or with less respect than anybody else. The people who come into my life and learn who I am generally don’t run screaming for the hills or start praying for my soul to be saved.

There are many people in my life and only a small handful of them are Wiccan. The bottom line is that they associate with who I am and not my religious beliefs.

Only once in my life have I not got a job because of my religion and that was almost a decade ago. It did not bother me because I knew that when I walked out of that job interview, I had not lied about who I was. That was then and this is now and one thing I can promise you is that a lot more people are open minded about these things.

I discovered that when someone learns for the first time that I am Wiccan, they don’t accuse me of being in bed with the devil or start shouting “Burn the witch!” What they do is start asking lots of questions, people are very curious about learning new things. The world has really advanced spiritually.

Just give it a try, let people know what you’re chosen religious path is, I did. You may just be surprised by the response you get.

Whispering with Ghosts: Communicating with those who have moved on...

Why is it so scary?

One of our writers has been asked to write an article on “crossing over”, coming back from the dead as well as writing a bit on us ‘psychics’, or rather mediums, who can communicate with the dead.

The concept of it completely freaks her out and she had no idea on how to approach the subject and as a result, for some reason, she came to me to pick my brain, even though she did not know I had gifts that helped me in the area of communicating with spirits.

I wrote to her an email that I’ve included below, so that I could try and help break the ice for her and to see that there is nothing unnatural about these abilities and that unfortunately some spirits do find it difficult to move on.

That was one concept she struggled with. Why do spirits stay here instead of moving on? They must be in your body or go to heaven, the Summer Lands, reincarnate, whatever your belief system is.

Unfortunately it doesn’t always happen that way. If it did there would be no need for gifted mediums.

Whispering with ghosts

Since I was a child I could communicate with spirits.

Having come from a family where the woman had a strong connection with the ‘supernatural’ as it were, it was acknowledged that my imaginary playmates were not always imaginary. Having such gifts in my family was normal, even though some members refused to accept it for what it was.

In my late teens and early twenties I really began to become more ‘in-touch’ with this side of myself. Sensing spirits was as natural to me as breathing.

For the most part spirits are harmless and generally leave me alone unless they are seeking out help. I had, however, once been in contact with a dark spirit that haunted me for years but it did not matter how frightened I became I was never willing to give up, or rather, suppress my abilities.

Saying my prayers, switching on my bedside lamp and telling the spirit out right to leave me alone worked. The only change in its routine of filling me with fear was on some nights it made sure that when I tried to switch on my bedside lamp, it wouldn’t come on at all. That was when I got into the habit of having two bedside lamps. When one didn’t work, the second one never failed.

Other than that my experiences have been fairly harmless. A few years ago an elderly woman stayed with me for two weeks. She was too afraid to move on as she did not know what to expect on the other side. One day she was simply gone, quietly and peacefully.

Some spirits do come to me for very specific help. Once as I was looking in the mirror and the face of a man appeared. It took me a little while to make sense of what he was saying. He gave me his name and wanted me to say goodbye to his family and to say that he loved them.

The next morning I scanned through the obituaries (I like to double check these things, just in case I’ve imagined it) and there was his name. Below it his family had dedicated a phrase that went something along the lines of ‘gone so quickly without a chance to say goodbye’.

At the time I was about nineteen and the thought of going to a grieving family to pass on the message was so much more frightening than having seen the spirit in my mirror. I never did go and see his family and even now facing the living can be scarier than working with the dead.

As the years have gone by I have had many more experiences, and still do. I would never give up my abilities or pretend they are not there. They are a part of me and they allow me to help others.

I hope there are people out there, who are afraid of their gifts, come to peace with them and accept them as they are completely natural.

Bright Blessings

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Precious "Me Time"

There has been a theme floating around me since last week, something that doesn’t just help with writing, but with artistic intent in general or a solution to a problem you might be facing.

A quote from Oprah says exactly what this theme is:

“If you don’t replenish your well, it runs dry. And things around you falter” What Oprah knows for sure about “me-time”.

So make sure you take some “me time”. The minimum recommendation is at least two hours a week but feel free to spend more than that, take a whole day if you feel it is right for you.

Put that time aside for you. Take yourself out on a “date”. It doesn’t have to be a date in the traditional sense, you can take yourself out for a walk in nature, go star gazing, have a picnic with yourself or just spend some time meditating, as long as it is just you and yourself and no tagger-ons. Sometimes I like to do a little spell casting followed by meditating.

Have a conversation with yourself. You might feel silly at first but it is worth it.

You can see your other you as your inner child so you can always start by saying “hey little me, how are things going?”

If you don’t want to say it out loud then just chat in your mind our even write down the conversation (this might give you something to look back on). When you talk to yourself you might find a few answers you have been looking for. Sometimes you might not even have realised you were looking for them in the first place. Your child self sometimes sees things differently to your adult-self.

Personally I don’t write these conversations with myself down. I like to talk, perhaps discover something new and then move forward from that moment and with the lesson learnt.

This weekend, my child-self and I spent a few hours reading comic books.

You can do anything, as long as it’s taking a break away from everyone else and the mad rush that is your life. Write down a list of possibilities if you like and pick an item on the list every week.

Remember to tell your loved ones what it is that you are doing and that this is “you time” perhaps even suggest that they do the same exercise every week. Can you imagine how a family, whose wells have been filled, will be able to communicate and work better together?

I wish you the best of luck.

Bright Blessings.

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