Merry Meet
I know, I know, there are those who will say that to believe this way is counter Christian. I know that there will be those who will even decry me as even “unsaved” but this is an important issue and I think it needs to be said so that anyone who is reading my blog will understand.
Often one of the things that is held up to me as insurmountable in my religion and the Craft is the belief in sin and hell and the notion of salvation through Jesus Christ. Yes, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Messiah and the Son of God, who was born of the Virgin Mary and was crucified for his beliefs and teachings and his miracles and that in three days he rose from the dead and went into heaven with his father and to help us on earth, he sent down the Holy Spirit who comforts and helps us and empowers us to carry on Jesus’ work.
But, what of non-Christians? What of Buddhists, Hindi, Muslim and Jews? What of Pagans and Wiccans? What of people who believe in nothing? What happens to them?
I believe that the afterlife is everything each and every one of us thinks that it is. If you believe in Heaven like Christians do, you will go there if you have done all you can do to live by the laws of Christianity. If you believe in Nirvana you will go there. If you believe in the Summerland you will go there. If you believe that your soul is reincarnated, that is what will happen to you. If you believe that you simply disappear, you will simply disappear.
Do I believe that non-Christians will go to a Christian hell? No, I don’t. Do I believe in the punishment of sin? Absolutely. Sin is a concept in every faith system even if it is called taboo or karma or self-centeredness. It is behaving in contrary of your particular faith beliefs. What about those who do not have a faith system? They have ethics, and unethical practices are criticized and punished by prison or social exclusion. There are lands of the dead and Hades and hells and sheols for every principle faith system in the world. It is simply an exclusion from the love and compassion of their sacred spirit.
So what do I do when I am questioned about this peculiarity in my Christian belief. I tell them Jesus said judge not lest ye be judged.
Brightest Blessings Be
Aslinn Dhan Dragonhawk
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Monday, December 17, 2007
Christian Occultism and Christian Craft and the Pagan/Wiccan Community
As a student of the occult and witchcraft and a pratitioner of Christian Witchcraft, I am, of course, always on the look out for writings and opinions of the Christian Witch community within the larger Craft community. I am currently stuying the Christian Wicca entry on Wikipedia and I am constantly writing a consulting various writings and works on the subject.
And the topic is growing, whether it is an essay for or against the idea of Christian Witchcraft. Those who are against any form of Christian Wicca or Witchcraft usually harbor the ugly prejudices one associates with the neo-nazi movement or with the ultra fundamentalists like the Phelpses and their queer philosophy (no pun intended)about American soldiers who pay the ultimate price. But, increasingly, I have noted a more open, progressive attitude, interested in understanding and compassion and sypathetic support.
While these writers may not believe in what we do, they appreciate the fact that we share much of the same knowledge and respect many of the same beliefs. The first time I read an article about the practice of Christian Wicca in a Wiccan publication, was when I read a copy of Llewellyn's 2004 Wiccan Almanac. The article was entitled: "Jesus in the Circle: Blending Christianity and Wicca" by S. Tifulcrum. The article explains that Christians simply use the Christian Archetypes and the Holy Trinity where a Pagan would use the pantheon that appeals the most to them. They do this because they more closely identify with Christianity but do not hold with all traditional practices in the Christian Church or find that the traditional rituals of the Church are lacking. Tifulcrum Writes: "It's easy to imagine a Christian witch when you consider witchcraft as a set of techniques that can be employed by someone of any religion." (233)
In his The New Encyclopedia of the Ocult John Michael Greer writes of Christian Occultism: "Despite two thousand years worth of stereotypes, Christianity and the occult are far from strangers to each other..."(102) He further discusses the power of faithful followers reciting from ICorinthians 12:8-10, "The gifts of the Holy Spirit which includes healing powers, the power of prophesy, and the power to work miracles." (102) He also dicusses the active use of "white" magic by Medieval Christians and the original rules of the Order of the Rosicrusians which said that you must be a Chrsitan or friendly to Christian symbols in the rituals of the order. Today, howver the Rosicrusians have become anti-Christian.
Under the heading Christian Wicca, Greer writes "Christian Wicca has not been well received by the wider Pagan communitywith responses to the movement ranging from reasoned to the hysterical... Still, given that modern Paganism champions absolute religious freedom (and makes room for such dubious creations as Klingon Wicca....) it is hard to come up with a meaningful reason why Christian Wicca should be excluded." (105)
Greer does have an entry for Jesus of Nazareth, but it reflects his own perceptions of who Christ was and was not and since I have a differing view of who Christ is to me, his entry simply reflects various theories and opinions.
Further in his entry for Magic, Greer writes: “In fact with the exception of a few forms of Protestant Christianity, every form of religion in the world deals with spiritual powers by a combination of approaches….” (289)
So, what is the problem? Is it that Pagan groups are still judging Christians by what was done in the Church when the Church was more than religion but also government? Is it that they have forgotten that at one time, the Pagan faith was the majority that tried to stamp out Christianity as a dangerous cult through torture and martyrdoms, just as in the Burning Times? Is it because so many Pagans were formerly some form of Christian who for whatever reason felt put upon, maybe even abused and know have simply become the Pagan version of some closed minded bigot?
I hope not.
At any rate, they must simply get used to us, the Christian witches who are just as much a part of their community as any other.
Brightest Blessings Be
Aslinn Dhan Dragonhawk
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Forgiveness and the Craft
Merry Meet!
We all make mistakes, we can't help it. We are human. And, as much as we might hate to admit it, we all have petty, mean, spiteful bigotries inside us. And, we are all, at one time or another completely intolerant and hateful to one another. That is the way things are, because though we carry the best barts of our sacred spirit inside of us, we are small hearted humans who have to not only learn to ask for forgiveness but to also forgive and this is what I wish to talk about right now.
I was told once that everyone is a hero to someone else at least once in their lives. And at least once in your life you do something that lets that person down. It just proves that you are human, fallable and prone to making mistakes. I have had heroes that let me down: Political Heroes like John F. Kennedy, Bill Clinton, John Kerry. Movie stars like Mel Gibson. TV stars like Dog Chapman, the Bounty Hunter. All of these people proved that they were either dishonest or dishonorable, ignorant or insensitive, or bigoted on some level, personally or openly.
But, if we are honset with ourselves, aren't we all like that? Don't we do things that we would rather not have the world know about? Aren't we in someway intolerant from time to time? I ask you, regardless of what you believe or don't believe, aren't we all casting stones upon sinners who are just like us? What should we do?
Forgive. It's tough. And I can't say that I have always been that forgiving. 9-11 really effected me strongly and I am still struggling with it all of the time. Racism? Boy, I would love to say that I am 100% free from racism but I know better and I struggle with it all of the time. Anti-homosexuality, I love people who are gay but I don't really accept their choices, but who am I to judge?
But at the same time I abhor any form of prejudice whether it is racial or sexual or political or social. Neo-Nazis and Zeno phobics and even religious intolerants drive me bug house. And I think it is because it easy to be one of them. They don't have to excuse themselves for their hatred. They simply let it be. But do we forgive?
Yes. We forgive because of the Law of return. Mercy is shown where mercy is given. So I forgive. I forgive those who hate people based on the color of their skin, the creed they follow, the gender they live in, the nation they come from. I forgive those who are simply sinners who are basically good people who make bad mistakes. I forgive myself and I will work to promote harmony among all people but I have to work to promote harmony in myself. And I think that is the first thing any of us should do. Forgive yourself of your ignorances and your petty evils and bigotries. Respect yourself, before you can demand respect from others. Forgive others before they even ask to be forgiven. Pity those who have allowed their hatred to make them small and mean and full of hate.
Karma gives back to us times three, Jesus said that you forgive a man seven times seventy, Buddha said that forgiveness is the heart of enlightenment. It's hard, but try it. And be kinder to one another, teach one another, love one another.
Brightest Blessings Be
Aslinn Dhan Dragonhawk
We all make mistakes, we can't help it. We are human. And, as much as we might hate to admit it, we all have petty, mean, spiteful bigotries inside us. And, we are all, at one time or another completely intolerant and hateful to one another. That is the way things are, because though we carry the best barts of our sacred spirit inside of us, we are small hearted humans who have to not only learn to ask for forgiveness but to also forgive and this is what I wish to talk about right now.
I was told once that everyone is a hero to someone else at least once in their lives. And at least once in your life you do something that lets that person down. It just proves that you are human, fallable and prone to making mistakes. I have had heroes that let me down: Political Heroes like John F. Kennedy, Bill Clinton, John Kerry. Movie stars like Mel Gibson. TV stars like Dog Chapman, the Bounty Hunter. All of these people proved that they were either dishonest or dishonorable, ignorant or insensitive, or bigoted on some level, personally or openly.
But, if we are honset with ourselves, aren't we all like that? Don't we do things that we would rather not have the world know about? Aren't we in someway intolerant from time to time? I ask you, regardless of what you believe or don't believe, aren't we all casting stones upon sinners who are just like us? What should we do?
Forgive. It's tough. And I can't say that I have always been that forgiving. 9-11 really effected me strongly and I am still struggling with it all of the time. Racism? Boy, I would love to say that I am 100% free from racism but I know better and I struggle with it all of the time. Anti-homosexuality, I love people who are gay but I don't really accept their choices, but who am I to judge?
But at the same time I abhor any form of prejudice whether it is racial or sexual or political or social. Neo-Nazis and Zeno phobics and even religious intolerants drive me bug house. And I think it is because it easy to be one of them. They don't have to excuse themselves for their hatred. They simply let it be. But do we forgive?
Yes. We forgive because of the Law of return. Mercy is shown where mercy is given. So I forgive. I forgive those who hate people based on the color of their skin, the creed they follow, the gender they live in, the nation they come from. I forgive those who are simply sinners who are basically good people who make bad mistakes. I forgive myself and I will work to promote harmony among all people but I have to work to promote harmony in myself. And I think that is the first thing any of us should do. Forgive yourself of your ignorances and your petty evils and bigotries. Respect yourself, before you can demand respect from others. Forgive others before they even ask to be forgiven. Pity those who have allowed their hatred to make them small and mean and full of hate.
Karma gives back to us times three, Jesus said that you forgive a man seven times seventy, Buddha said that forgiveness is the heart of enlightenment. It's hard, but try it. And be kinder to one another, teach one another, love one another.
Brightest Blessings Be
Aslinn Dhan Dragonhawk
Saturday, December 15, 2007
Where to find tools and majikal makings
Merry Meet!
When I started to work the Craft, I thought you had to go to great lengths to get majikal tools. I thought that I could only get a cauldron from a metaphysical store, I thought I could only get herbs from an herbalist, I thought I could only buy incense from a religious shop.
The secret to being a witch is that majik is supposed to be about simplicity. My friend Celeste and I went to a flea market in my town and there was this dude selling all of this cast iron stuff. I noticed this little three legged bean pot about four inches high and about 12 inches around with a handle on it. Celeste pointed it out to me and told me that I should get it because I had been talking about buying a cauldron. I bought it for $10. My athame is an ornate letter opener that I used an electric engraving tool on. I bought it for three dollars. I buy fresh herbs at the grocery store and at health food stores, I buy oils and incenses from head shops and hippy stores and I have an alternative medicine shop that buy things from that really doesn't cost that much. True, there are times that you have to spend money, like some true essential oils are very expensive , but I know you can buy a big box of kosher salt at most grocery stores.
Dollar stores are also okay places. You can find small boxes to store things in, you can get candles fairly cheap and you can get many things like sacks of decorative stones to make into charm stones. You can also get things like little toys to use as charms. Majik isn't just about following a recipe, it's also about imagination.
And I understand about Wal Mart. For the socially conscious person, Wal Mart is a problem and I recommend care when buying things, especially food and medicine from there because it comes usually from China and India and may not be safe. If you have to shop from WalMart for things, ask yourself if you really need those things. If you do, buy these things and wear then over and over until they are literally worn out. I patch my pants and make them last a little longer, I take good clothes that I can't wear any more to Goodwill (not the patched stuff) If a garment is too ragged to wear anymore, I cut it up and put it in a rag bag and when I get enough, I braid and sew rugs and cloaks and bags out of it. I use a thing until it is absolutely used up.
So don't be afraid to buy second hand, don't be afraid to use non-majikal sources of goods, and if you have to patronize a box store, make sure you can't do without it and if you can't, make it last a long time when you buy it.
Brightest Blessings Be
Aslinn Dhan Dragonhawk
When I started to work the Craft, I thought you had to go to great lengths to get majikal tools. I thought that I could only get a cauldron from a metaphysical store, I thought I could only get herbs from an herbalist, I thought I could only buy incense from a religious shop.
The secret to being a witch is that majik is supposed to be about simplicity. My friend Celeste and I went to a flea market in my town and there was this dude selling all of this cast iron stuff. I noticed this little three legged bean pot about four inches high and about 12 inches around with a handle on it. Celeste pointed it out to me and told me that I should get it because I had been talking about buying a cauldron. I bought it for $10. My athame is an ornate letter opener that I used an electric engraving tool on. I bought it for three dollars. I buy fresh herbs at the grocery store and at health food stores, I buy oils and incenses from head shops and hippy stores and I have an alternative medicine shop that buy things from that really doesn't cost that much. True, there are times that you have to spend money, like some true essential oils are very expensive , but I know you can buy a big box of kosher salt at most grocery stores.
Dollar stores are also okay places. You can find small boxes to store things in, you can get candles fairly cheap and you can get many things like sacks of decorative stones to make into charm stones. You can also get things like little toys to use as charms. Majik isn't just about following a recipe, it's also about imagination.
And I understand about Wal Mart. For the socially conscious person, Wal Mart is a problem and I recommend care when buying things, especially food and medicine from there because it comes usually from China and India and may not be safe. If you have to shop from WalMart for things, ask yourself if you really need those things. If you do, buy these things and wear then over and over until they are literally worn out. I patch my pants and make them last a little longer, I take good clothes that I can't wear any more to Goodwill (not the patched stuff) If a garment is too ragged to wear anymore, I cut it up and put it in a rag bag and when I get enough, I braid and sew rugs and cloaks and bags out of it. I use a thing until it is absolutely used up.
So don't be afraid to buy second hand, don't be afraid to use non-majikal sources of goods, and if you have to patronize a box store, make sure you can't do without it and if you can't, make it last a long time when you buy it.
Brightest Blessings Be
Aslinn Dhan Dragonhawk
A pinch here a drop or two there
Merry Meet!
My Old Goat and I are getting ready to have a Yule celebration at his little house with another Craft couple and their children. They are being raised in the Pagan way and are 13 and 14. One of them is already working simple potions and charms and was looking at my blog. She e-mailed me and wrote:
"Mother Aslinn, you have a great many spells and candle workings but you do not give the appropriate amounts to use with the spells." I was aghast! It simply did not dawn on me to add amounts. So, for the record, you should mix 3 drops of each oil into about three drops of sweet oil. It should be just enough to anoint a candle or to anoint yourself. If you are making a potion to decant, you should mix 13 drops of sweet oil with 13 drops of the essential oils you are using. add three drops of alchohol. If you don't have a grain "drinking" style of alchohol you can use rubbing alchohol or witch hazel. This will allow complete diffusion. The thing is, unless you are annointing a large group, cleansing a great amount of space or making gifts of charmed oils and potions, you simply do not need that much oil and with essential oils as expensive as they are, you need only a small amount. So, unless I say that you will need a bottle to decant the potion in, just make a small amount.
Another thing is that you should clean everything very well after use so that you do not contaminate the oils you have and the tools you have. Make sure you wash everything and swish a little alchohol in them and dry everything . And anything you use for majik should be reserved for majik, not just for majikal reasons but for safety reasons.
Brightest Blessings Be
Aslinn Dhan Dragonhawk
and thank you to Stargazer who asks the important questions. :)
My Old Goat and I are getting ready to have a Yule celebration at his little house with another Craft couple and their children. They are being raised in the Pagan way and are 13 and 14. One of them is already working simple potions and charms and was looking at my blog. She e-mailed me and wrote:
"Mother Aslinn, you have a great many spells and candle workings but you do not give the appropriate amounts to use with the spells." I was aghast! It simply did not dawn on me to add amounts. So, for the record, you should mix 3 drops of each oil into about three drops of sweet oil. It should be just enough to anoint a candle or to anoint yourself. If you are making a potion to decant, you should mix 13 drops of sweet oil with 13 drops of the essential oils you are using. add three drops of alchohol. If you don't have a grain "drinking" style of alchohol you can use rubbing alchohol or witch hazel. This will allow complete diffusion. The thing is, unless you are annointing a large group, cleansing a great amount of space or making gifts of charmed oils and potions, you simply do not need that much oil and with essential oils as expensive as they are, you need only a small amount. So, unless I say that you will need a bottle to decant the potion in, just make a small amount.
Another thing is that you should clean everything very well after use so that you do not contaminate the oils you have and the tools you have. Make sure you wash everything and swish a little alchohol in them and dry everything . And anything you use for majik should be reserved for majik, not just for majikal reasons but for safety reasons.
Brightest Blessings Be
Aslinn Dhan Dragonhawk
and thank you to Stargazer who asks the important questions. :)
Friday, December 14, 2007
My Links
Merry Meet!
I have been meaning to put some links on my blog for some time and have finally had the chance. I hope that anyone who visits my blog will also visit these links. I don't agree with everything all of them say but most of them believe in a basic element of Christian witchcraft.
I am not the only one out there and if your are looking at this blog, neither are you.
Brightest Blessings Be
Aslinn
I have been meaning to put some links on my blog for some time and have finally had the chance. I hope that anyone who visits my blog will also visit these links. I don't agree with everything all of them say but most of them believe in a basic element of Christian witchcraft.
I am not the only one out there and if your are looking at this blog, neither are you.
Brightest Blessings Be
Aslinn
Thursday, December 13, 2007
The Feast Day of St. Lucia
Merry Meet!
December 13 is the feast day of the virgin and martyr St. Lucia. She is the patron saint of those suffering from eye diseases. Her story goes that she became a Christian early in her youth and swore her virginity to God. Her father wanted her to marry man who would bring a great deal of wealth and influence into the family. When she refused, she was imprisoned and was threatened with rape, but the Lord saved her from the vicious rape by making her extremely strong and it was impossible for the men to complete the act of violation. Because she was so extremely beautiful, the man who wanted her as his wife threatened to disfigure her by removing her eyes. Lucia said that her ugliness would be beautiful to the eyes of God. So he had her eyes removed and she died. Before she was placed in her tomb, however, God restored her eyes and thereby restored her beauty.
I go to St. Lucia not just for those who suffer from diseases of the eye but the inability to see the good in all people and all creeds and all practices.
Brightest Blessings Be
Aslinn Dhan Dragonhawk
Even More from Aslinn's Book of Shadows
Merry Meet!
A young friend of mine who was copying my spells mentioned that I don't give amounts for my anointing oils for each spell. The rule of thumb is 3drops of each oil mixed with three drops of sweet oil or other carrier oil. It should be just enough to anoint a candle. If you are decanting a potion, thirteen drops of each scented oil in thirteen drops of sweet oil. I don't decant a lot of potions unless they are potions that I use all of the time, then I might mix a couple of 2 oz bottles. Otherwise, because the essential oils are so expensive, a couple of drops do it.
Accept Me
To inspire the world to accept all people of good will
1 White candle
Patchouli
Lemon Grass
All Spice or Anise
Rosemary
Red Bead and String
Symbols of all religions or simply words
Incense (patchouli or musk or nag champra)
Envelope
Anoint candle and light with incense. Combine spices in envelope. Add religious symbols (words) and amulet in the envelope. Hold the placket between your palms and intone:
Freedom is what I long to find
From all people with closed minds
My wishes in my hands and heart
My choices protected from all harm
Freedom is what is right for me
Acceptance will now abound
Judgments will not my choices impede
But tolerance for me and thee
As I will it, so mote it be.
You're Fired
To get rid of negativity
Gray Candle
Dragon’s Blood oil
Small Envelope
Mirror
Piece of paper (Especially pink) with “You’re fired written on it)
Bowl or burning cauldron
Anoint and light candle. Write down negative aspects of your life you want to get rid of. Hold the list between your palms and burn the paper. Take the ashes and throw away.
Intone:
From the winter’s ice to summer’s fire
I call out for aid in my desire
Bind the negative as in a tomb
To receive the bounty from it’s gloom
Mirror its face so it shall see
The effect it used to have on me
Join in the banishment as negative goes
Ashes to ashes fresh winds away evil blows
As I will it, so mote it goes.
Free at Last
Ending Addiction
1 White and 1 gray candle
Jasmine and gardenia oil mixed
Frankincense
Paper and pen
Burning Cauldron
Anoint candles and light incense. Write the nature of the addiction on a paper. Hold the paper in your anointed hands and intone.
By the powers of three
Take this habit from me
Take from me the power of need
Bad habits no more shall I feed
This is my will, so mote it be
Burn the paper in the cauldron
I am an ex ________
By the power of three
Take these thoughts from me
This is my will. So mote it be.
The Flame Dance
To accept change
Heather, chamomile, and Sandalwood oil
Small bottle and cap or stopper
Mix the oil and anoint yourself. Intone:
Change may be scary and sometimes sad
But we must remember not all change is bad
Change is serious, and not a jest
But change is always for the best
In the days ahead help me find
The strength I feel has been left behind
And give me the courage to enjoy
The new beginning I employ
I must remember not to shy away
At the uncertainty of coming days
So mote it be
Well Being Witch Bottle Spell
Cinnamon incense (or other spicy) and Cinnamon oil
Orange or gold candle
Picture of the sun
Small Marigold flower
Wineglass or chalice
Water
Small jar or bottle
Teaspoon of alcohol
Light the candle and incense. Anoint your hands with cinnamon oil. Intone:
May the sun’s eternal power
Found in this gentle flower
Grant me good health
From this hour.
Place the flower and water and alcohol in the bottle. Intone:
That which I seek
So might it speak
That I would know
I will understand so
That I would receive
So I might achieve
That wisdom comes near
Let it begin here.
As I will it, so mote it be.
Keep your bottle in a safe place where it can be seen and handled for access to the power of the sun.
Dawntide Spell
To achieve beauty
A green candle in a jar
Silk or fresh flowers in a vase on your altar
Light the candle and intone
In the east, I honor the element of air
In the south, I honor the element of fire
In the west, I honor the element of water
In the north, I honor the element of earth
I call upon the Lord God, creator of green fields and creators of sky, water and earth, the essence of nature. To reflect in me the Lord’s glory and natural beauty.
Repeat the spell nine times. Blow out the candle and light it each day and intone spell until it is completely gone.
Healing Cauldron Spell
To heal grief and emotional pain
Black candle
Penny
Bowl
Bottle or small box
Small dark stone
Water and Wine (about a teaspoon each)
Salt
Spoon or stir stick
The bowl will act as your cauldron. You can substitute vinegar for wine. As you intone, stir the cup and its contents
Light the candle intoning:
Light upon grief, cast out all pain
Tears to be lost, happiness gained
Place the coin in the bowl, intoning:
Ties are now rent, anger is spent
Place the stone in the bowl, intoning:
Banish the frown weighing me down
Pour a bit of water into the bowl, intoning:
Hence the last teardrop passed
Pour the wine in the bowl, intoning:
Bitterness soothed in the tears of my sorrow
Sprinkle the salt into the bowl, intoning:
The earth soaked up the last of this cup
Place the wet contents in a small bottle or box, acting as a casket for the objects of the bowl. Discard it.
Bale Fire Spell
To destroy worries or concerns
1 tea light candle
Pen with red ink
Paper
Envelope
Light the candle. Write your worries on a piece of paper with the red ink. Burn the paper, intoning:
By this bale I root you out
By this boon I cancel you
Troubles be gone
Sweetness anon
Place the ashes in the envelope and discard. Let the candle burn down.
Sunflower Spell
Happy Disposition
Frankincense (incense or oil)
Orange Candle
Symbol of the sun
Yellow Thread
Sunflower Seeds
Small gold coins or shiny copper pennies
Yellow Mojo bag
Light incense or anoint candle with oil and light. Intone:
Sister Sun, empowered by God
You are honored here
Shine your blessing down
On me, your earthly child.
Hold the Sun symbol in your right hand and intone: Your power to pass to me
Eat some sunflower seeds:
Your strength to abide in me
Place the symbol and the remaining seeds in your mojo and rub it on your body and intone:
Happiness reside within me
Sister Sun blessed be
May I give as I receive
Hang the mojo near your bed.
Lavender Spell
Restful Sleep
Lavender colored candle
Lavender incense or oil
Tea light
Holly twig
Purple string or ribbon
Do not work this spell on a Saturday.
Make a circle of your holly twig or decorate a holly cross with the purple ribbon. Add purple flowers or beads if you chose. Anoint the amulet and the candle and intone:
The purity of light
Guide thy way to perfect sleep
Hence may I be known
For the peace that I keep
This amulet opens the door to dreamland
With this I shall pass
To my sleeping world and find my rest at last
As I will it, so mote it be
This Amulet is good for a year. Hang it near your bed.
Spider Spell
For Happy Dreams
Tea Light
Water
Opium incense or oil
White mojo pouch
Nugget of gold, glitter, or coin or penny
Picture of a spider
Picture or medal of the Blessed Virgin
Light the tea light and intone:
There is a lady with a crown of twelve stars
And the moon under her feet
The spider spins the lady’s veil
A veil of sweetest dreams
Place the gold symbols in the bag with the symbols of the spider and the Blessed Virgin. Anoint your hands with the oil and hold the mojo in your palms or pass it deosil through the incense smoke and intone:
Spider spirit, weave your threads
Wrap all beauty in your web
Happy themes enter my dreams
As I will it, so mote it be.
Hang the mojo by your bed
A young friend of mine who was copying my spells mentioned that I don't give amounts for my anointing oils for each spell. The rule of thumb is 3drops of each oil mixed with three drops of sweet oil or other carrier oil. It should be just enough to anoint a candle. If you are decanting a potion, thirteen drops of each scented oil in thirteen drops of sweet oil. I don't decant a lot of potions unless they are potions that I use all of the time, then I might mix a couple of 2 oz bottles. Otherwise, because the essential oils are so expensive, a couple of drops do it.
Accept Me
To inspire the world to accept all people of good will
1 White candle
Patchouli
Lemon Grass
All Spice or Anise
Rosemary
Red Bead and String
Symbols of all religions or simply words
Incense (patchouli or musk or nag champra)
Envelope
Anoint candle and light with incense. Combine spices in envelope. Add religious symbols (words) and amulet in the envelope. Hold the placket between your palms and intone:
Freedom is what I long to find
From all people with closed minds
My wishes in my hands and heart
My choices protected from all harm
Freedom is what is right for me
Acceptance will now abound
Judgments will not my choices impede
But tolerance for me and thee
As I will it, so mote it be.
You're Fired
To get rid of negativity
Gray Candle
Dragon’s Blood oil
Small Envelope
Mirror
Piece of paper (Especially pink) with “You’re fired written on it)
Bowl or burning cauldron
Anoint and light candle. Write down negative aspects of your life you want to get rid of. Hold the list between your palms and burn the paper. Take the ashes and throw away.
Intone:
From the winter’s ice to summer’s fire
I call out for aid in my desire
Bind the negative as in a tomb
To receive the bounty from it’s gloom
Mirror its face so it shall see
The effect it used to have on me
Join in the banishment as negative goes
Ashes to ashes fresh winds away evil blows
As I will it, so mote it goes.
Free at Last
Ending Addiction
1 White and 1 gray candle
Jasmine and gardenia oil mixed
Frankincense
Paper and pen
Burning Cauldron
Anoint candles and light incense. Write the nature of the addiction on a paper. Hold the paper in your anointed hands and intone.
By the powers of three
Take this habit from me
Take from me the power of need
Bad habits no more shall I feed
This is my will, so mote it be
Burn the paper in the cauldron
I am an ex ________
By the power of three
Take these thoughts from me
This is my will. So mote it be.
The Flame Dance
To accept change
Heather, chamomile, and Sandalwood oil
Small bottle and cap or stopper
Mix the oil and anoint yourself. Intone:
Change may be scary and sometimes sad
But we must remember not all change is bad
Change is serious, and not a jest
But change is always for the best
In the days ahead help me find
The strength I feel has been left behind
And give me the courage to enjoy
The new beginning I employ
I must remember not to shy away
At the uncertainty of coming days
So mote it be
Well Being Witch Bottle Spell
Cinnamon incense (or other spicy) and Cinnamon oil
Orange or gold candle
Picture of the sun
Small Marigold flower
Wineglass or chalice
Water
Small jar or bottle
Teaspoon of alcohol
Light the candle and incense. Anoint your hands with cinnamon oil. Intone:
May the sun’s eternal power
Found in this gentle flower
Grant me good health
From this hour.
Place the flower and water and alcohol in the bottle. Intone:
That which I seek
So might it speak
That I would know
I will understand so
That I would receive
So I might achieve
That wisdom comes near
Let it begin here.
As I will it, so mote it be.
Keep your bottle in a safe place where it can be seen and handled for access to the power of the sun.
Dawntide Spell
To achieve beauty
A green candle in a jar
Silk or fresh flowers in a vase on your altar
Light the candle and intone
In the east, I honor the element of air
In the south, I honor the element of fire
In the west, I honor the element of water
In the north, I honor the element of earth
I call upon the Lord God, creator of green fields and creators of sky, water and earth, the essence of nature. To reflect in me the Lord’s glory and natural beauty.
Repeat the spell nine times. Blow out the candle and light it each day and intone spell until it is completely gone.
Healing Cauldron Spell
To heal grief and emotional pain
Black candle
Penny
Bowl
Bottle or small box
Small dark stone
Water and Wine (about a teaspoon each)
Salt
Spoon or stir stick
The bowl will act as your cauldron. You can substitute vinegar for wine. As you intone, stir the cup and its contents
Light the candle intoning:
Light upon grief, cast out all pain
Tears to be lost, happiness gained
Place the coin in the bowl, intoning:
Ties are now rent, anger is spent
Place the stone in the bowl, intoning:
Banish the frown weighing me down
Pour a bit of water into the bowl, intoning:
Hence the last teardrop passed
Pour the wine in the bowl, intoning:
Bitterness soothed in the tears of my sorrow
Sprinkle the salt into the bowl, intoning:
The earth soaked up the last of this cup
Place the wet contents in a small bottle or box, acting as a casket for the objects of the bowl. Discard it.
Bale Fire Spell
To destroy worries or concerns
1 tea light candle
Pen with red ink
Paper
Envelope
Light the candle. Write your worries on a piece of paper with the red ink. Burn the paper, intoning:
By this bale I root you out
By this boon I cancel you
Troubles be gone
Sweetness anon
Place the ashes in the envelope and discard. Let the candle burn down.
Sunflower Spell
Happy Disposition
Frankincense (incense or oil)
Orange Candle
Symbol of the sun
Yellow Thread
Sunflower Seeds
Small gold coins or shiny copper pennies
Yellow Mojo bag
Light incense or anoint candle with oil and light. Intone:
Sister Sun, empowered by God
You are honored here
Shine your blessing down
On me, your earthly child.
Hold the Sun symbol in your right hand and intone: Your power to pass to me
Eat some sunflower seeds:
Your strength to abide in me
Place the symbol and the remaining seeds in your mojo and rub it on your body and intone:
Happiness reside within me
Sister Sun blessed be
May I give as I receive
Hang the mojo near your bed.
Lavender Spell
Restful Sleep
Lavender colored candle
Lavender incense or oil
Tea light
Holly twig
Purple string or ribbon
Do not work this spell on a Saturday.
Make a circle of your holly twig or decorate a holly cross with the purple ribbon. Add purple flowers or beads if you chose. Anoint the amulet and the candle and intone:
The purity of light
Guide thy way to perfect sleep
Hence may I be known
For the peace that I keep
This amulet opens the door to dreamland
With this I shall pass
To my sleeping world and find my rest at last
As I will it, so mote it be
This Amulet is good for a year. Hang it near your bed.
Spider Spell
For Happy Dreams
Tea Light
Water
Opium incense or oil
White mojo pouch
Nugget of gold, glitter, or coin or penny
Picture of a spider
Picture or medal of the Blessed Virgin
Light the tea light and intone:
There is a lady with a crown of twelve stars
And the moon under her feet
The spider spins the lady’s veil
A veil of sweetest dreams
Place the gold symbols in the bag with the symbols of the spider and the Blessed Virgin. Anoint your hands with the oil and hold the mojo in your palms or pass it deosil through the incense smoke and intone:
Spider spirit, weave your threads
Wrap all beauty in your web
Happy themes enter my dreams
As I will it, so mote it be.
Hang the mojo by your bed
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Angels and the Craft
Merry Meet!
As a Christian Witch, I use the heavenly energies that come from the blessed angels of heaven. God placed us in the protection of the angels just as he placed people in the Bible under their care. People like Job, Jesus, Joseph and Mary, Lot and Abraham.
During many of my protective spells and rituals, I call upon the four archangels. Michael, the guardian of the south, and help of soldiers and police officers and firemen. Uriel, the guardian of the north and help of doctors and healers and herbalists and pharmacists. There is Gabriel, the guardian of the east and the help of speakers and communicators and teachers and lawyers and all those who seek peaceful justice. And Raphael, the guardian of the west and the aid of mystics and seers and philosophers. They create a heavenly shield around me and sanctify my sacred space and hear my spells and send me the help I need.
I also call upon the guardian angels. Since so many of us do not know the name of our guardian angels, I simply call out to the guardian of _____and name the person for whom I am working. Padre Pio, who is a saint and served God with humility and the pain of the stigmata, wrote that often if he needed to speak to someone there in the monastery or even in the town, he would speak to his guardian angel and tell this angel to speak to the guardian angel of the person with whom he wanted to speak. That person would feel an overwhelming desire to see Padre Pio. It was from him that I got the notion of inter-angel communication.
So, if you have never worked with angels (and for my Pagan and Wiccan friends, you may call upon angels or devas or djinn or faerie folk) give these sweet servants a try. You will find a lot of comfort and help from them.
Brightest Blessings Be,
Aslinn Dhan Dragonhawk
Is the Blessed Virgin Mary the Christian Goddess?
This topic is a lively one because witchcraft is a feminine centered practice and the Wiccan religion is a Goddess religion. But what about the Christian witch? What if you simply cannot integrate a Goddess into your practice, just as you may not be able to incorporate the Gods and Goddesses of other pantheons?
Some open minded Wiccans and eclectic witches see the Blessed Mother as a Goddess for Christian witches. Some see Mary Magdeline, particularly if you are a gnostic Christian who believes that Jesus actually lived an ordinary man's life before his ministry and married and had children, as a Goddess. But what if you can't see that as a part if your work in the Craft, or it rubs uncomfortably against your faith system?
Well, this is the conundrum that many of us feel in our Craft work. This is how I deal with it. Not all of us who practice Christian Craft are Catholics, and for those of you who aren't, I can tell you that though it is helpful for energy balance to acknowledge a sacred feminine, it is not neccesary. For Catholics who practice craft, the issue of sacred feminine is answered with Mary, the Mother of God.
Notice I call her sacred feminine. To me, she is not Goddess, but a sacred woman who serves the will of the Lord, who ministers to her Son, Jesus, the God made man, and our mother in salvation and our source of hope. She is "blessed among women" and "full of grace" she is the woman "caught up in the heavens with the moon under her feet and the crown of twelve stars". She is the female archetype for Christian Crafters, beloved and trusted.
For the mater of simple observation, it is a shame that Protestants and Wiccans alike ignore her nobility and the power in her sexual virginity. Mary is discarded as a simply a vessel, an incubator for the Son of the Living God. If we follow that train of thought, then that means that God abandons the woman he chose from the moment of her conception, who bore the brunt of human scrutiny and derision and risked quite possibly her own life to be pregnant and bear the Son of God.
No, God blessed her for her holiness and humility, protected and loved her, and when her time came, made her the Queen of heaven, the co-redemtrix and the handmaid of the Lord
Brightest Blesings Be
Aslinn Dhan Dragonhawk
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Familiars
Merry Meet!
There was a lot of talk during the burning times about the witches' familiar. There are a lot of witches who develop magikal relationships with animals in their life. I haven't had the honor of an animal who join me for rituals on a regular basis, but I do have a cat that sometimes joins me as a part time familiar when I do spell work.
Ishee is a black calico cat. He has wonderful yellow eyes and a sweet mouth and soft paws and he always knows when I am spelling rather than sabbating. He loves nothing better to see me light candles at my altar, bring out my simmer cauldron, mix herbs or write down the intention of a spell or to make a charm or amulet. But is he a true familiar? No, not really. He is just a part timer who joins me occaisionally. For that, I must wait. And I will know my familiar when he comes
Brightest Blessings Be
Aslinn Dhan Dragonhawk
Divinations: what is prophesy?
Merry Meet!
I never thought of myself as a strong seer. I learned to tell fortunes with playing cards and that is the form I feel the most comfortable with, but one of the skills I always wanted to develop was crystal gazing.
Now crystal gazing can take many forms. And you don't need a ball to do it. I have a crystal ball but I also use a clear water glass with plain water in it and a black gazing bowl with water in it. When I first began to gaze, I thought that you would see things in the ball, like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, and sometimes, you do see pictures but what I get are emotional impresions and a sort of vibration, like I am using the crystal to tune in a radio station. But I didn't know that the ball could be used as a psychic link, and I gave it up until my Old Goat advised that I try again. This is one of the advantages of working with a small group or circle of Crafters, they can help you when you give up on a skill you don't feel particularly adept with.
Crystal gazing is a form of deep meditation, using the ball as a focal point. It is best if you do this in dim light, in a comfortable position, when you are relaxed and in an even frame of mind. As you gaze at the ball, open yourself up to images and sounds and feelings that might be traveling through your ball. Be patient, it may take you a long time. If something or someone pops up in your meditation but does not appear in the ball, keep focusing on your ball. You are receiving the psychi transmission in your mind rather than on the ball. You are reading the Crystal ball. Write down your impression or use a recorder and describe your impression and record it in a crystal gazing diary or on a page in your BOS.
Dream interpretation is the least problematic for Christian witches. What I recommend those who get into dream counseling and interpretation is to collect oracles from many cultures and collect books of symbology so tha you can delve into the significance of prophetic details in dreams. Avoid dreams after a rich or heavy meal and repetitive dreams, they indicate some level of psychological disturbance which must be handled by a psychotherapist. Also, keep your personal dream diary. And remember what we are told, that young men will dream dreams and old men will see visions. This includes the Christian Wicce.
Brightest Blessings Be
Aslinn Dhan Dragonhawk
I never thought of myself as a strong seer. I learned to tell fortunes with playing cards and that is the form I feel the most comfortable with, but one of the skills I always wanted to develop was crystal gazing.
Now crystal gazing can take many forms. And you don't need a ball to do it. I have a crystal ball but I also use a clear water glass with plain water in it and a black gazing bowl with water in it. When I first began to gaze, I thought that you would see things in the ball, like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, and sometimes, you do see pictures but what I get are emotional impresions and a sort of vibration, like I am using the crystal to tune in a radio station. But I didn't know that the ball could be used as a psychic link, and I gave it up until my Old Goat advised that I try again. This is one of the advantages of working with a small group or circle of Crafters, they can help you when you give up on a skill you don't feel particularly adept with.
Crystal gazing is a form of deep meditation, using the ball as a focal point. It is best if you do this in dim light, in a comfortable position, when you are relaxed and in an even frame of mind. As you gaze at the ball, open yourself up to images and sounds and feelings that might be traveling through your ball. Be patient, it may take you a long time. If something or someone pops up in your meditation but does not appear in the ball, keep focusing on your ball. You are receiving the psychi transmission in your mind rather than on the ball. You are reading the Crystal ball. Write down your impression or use a recorder and describe your impression and record it in a crystal gazing diary or on a page in your BOS.
Dream interpretation is the least problematic for Christian witches. What I recommend those who get into dream counseling and interpretation is to collect oracles from many cultures and collect books of symbology so tha you can delve into the significance of prophetic details in dreams. Avoid dreams after a rich or heavy meal and repetitive dreams, they indicate some level of psychological disturbance which must be handled by a psychotherapist. Also, keep your personal dream diary. And remember what we are told, that young men will dream dreams and old men will see visions. This includes the Christian Wicce.
Brightest Blessings Be
Aslinn Dhan Dragonhawk
Saturday, December 08, 2007
More From my Book Of Shadows
Blood on the Moon
To honor the deceased. Excellent for Samhain, Veteran’s Day, and Memorial Day or for any time you experience the passing over of a loved one.
Purple candle, Athame , Frankincense, Myrrh, lavender , Cypress/Cedar or Sandalwood, anise/licorice oil, salt Myrrh Incense or Nag Champra or Patchouli, wand, cauldron, pictures of loved ones or a list of their names
Mix 2 drops@ of Frankincense, Myrrh, lavender, cypress/cedar/sandalwood, anise star/licorice and simmer in cauldron. Create sacred space and anoint the candle with some of the simmering cauldron. Place your photos and list on your altar. Light the incense and candle. Pick up your wand and intone:
The circle around the pearly moon
Pulls the spirits from their tombs
We invite you to our circle of love
From here on earth to heaven above
Place your list of loved ones under the candle if you so have one.
Grands and parents, sisters and brothers
Gone before we invite you to hover
Be our guardians and our guides
As we honor you tonight
With Athame:
Warrior knights, soldiers and braves
For our freedom your lives you gave
We honor you for your sacrifice
And pray you have found your paradise
We honor you and hold you near
Join us now, the veil is sheer
Open your heart and receive us well
Blood on the moon we cast this spell
Welcome loved ones, friends and guests
Touch our hearts as you do best
Blessings and prayers we offer you
And thank you for these moments few
Blessed be and Merry Meet
As I will it, so mote it be
To Protect the Home
2 White candles
1Black Candle
Sandalwood or Frankincense incense
Wand
Intone while lighting the white candle:
Here I light this candle
Which symbolizes my need
My home will be a fortress
As I secure its safety
The angel’s influence now takes sway
To bless my home in every way
Protect it through the day’s sunlight
Protect it through the dark of night
(Light black candle)
Energy white, energy bright
Strengthening my charm tonight
Powerful protection, my energy
As my spell is woven lovingly
(Light white candle)
With Wand:
May this spell protect from harm
And keep the house from all alarm
Working through the day or night
Angels guard us, hidden from sight
Safe from harm our powers keep
This no trouble can permeate
The walls angel energies penetrate
The walls make an aura all their own
And my spell sets the tone
A mighty shield shall it be
Keeping my home danger free
Robbers and murderers and harm that be
This charm will keep far from my family and me
Now my charm is done at last
And my spell is now cast
Merry meet and Blessed Be
As I will it so mote it be.
Stop Gossip Spell
If you are doing this charm on the spot all you need is paper and pen. Simply tear up the charm when you are finished. Otherwise:
1 Black candle
Pen and Paper
Bowl or cauldron
Write the Gossip’s name on one side of the paper seven times. On the other draw a smiley face. Light the candle .While intoning the charm make small x’s on his lips
This mouth I bind this very day
Binds fast the evil this mouth will say
Never more causing stress and alarm
Never more to cause harm
Truth and justice enters here
A quality most hold so dear
To counteract the many lies
In the mind where slander resides
Destroy the Gossip Face and throw it away. This can be done by burning or by drowning.
No More Delinquents
Paper Poppet
Incense (your choice)
4 Red Candles dressed in Myrrh
If known, write the name of the delinquent on the poppet. Surround the poppet with the red candles. Light a candle deosil after each verse
These candles I light do symbolize
The troubled soul thus inscribed
God give them strength to change
And become better each day
Here is love to guide their life
And keep the young one from strife
Hoping one day they will lead
A life of serving other’s needs
Understanding comes their way
Beginning now, this very day
For this child cannot manipulate
Nor will they be led astray
Now give me patience with this child
Because I can teach them to be mild
I can in straight paths this child lead
And guide them care for humanity
Child, grace and courage has come to your side to resist negativity in your life. For good you live and strive and a good name you take pride. Only that which is right stays forever in sight. A leader you will be for all humanity. Doing what’s right for the entire world to see.
Blessed Be and Merry Meet
As I will it, so mote it be.
St Francis Spell
1 Blue Candle
Catnip
Eucalyptus Oil
Frankincense
St. Francis Medal or Holy Card
Paper and Pen
Anoint candle and light along with incense. Hold the medal or holy card in your palms. Write the name of your pet on a piece of paper or on the back of the holy card. Hold card in your hands and intone:
We don’t mean to cause alarm
Just keep our pets safe from harm
This Saint will bless all animals and pets
From every wind and storm be warned
Humble Francis will protect from hate and neglect
This spell shelters from the young and the old
Safe and sound, all pets will be found
This is my will, so mote it be.
Midas Touch
1 Green, gold and orange candle
Midas oil (Jasmine, Patchouli, Mint, Opium, Orange oil)
Opium or Musk incense
Green Bead and cord or ribbon.
Anoint candles with Midas Oil. Do the same with the bead and cord. Light candle and incense and pass bead on cord through incense smoke deosil
For the wealth we have and the wealth to come
To guard it well, grant me this wisdom
Protect us always from those who dare
To take all we have without care
Good Lord above hear and answer my plea
An it harm none, so mote it be.
Wear the talisman when you play the lottery, pay bills, or work.
Wisdom’s Fire
White candle
Honey Suckle oil
Opium Incense
Lavender and Sage herb
Simmer Cauldron
Bottled water
Wand
Anoint Candle with oils, rubbing from the wick to the base. Mix the oils and herbs with a couple of teaspoons of water in simmer cauldron and set to heat. Light the candle and incense. With wand intone:
The Golden wisdom of the law of three be with me
Make me as wise as Solomon and Moses
With these herbs in my cauldron
I infuse these waters with wisdom
Give me grace, purity, and knowledge divine
Rise now in heart and mind
So mote it be.
Use the potion to cleanse a work space, or a sacred space.
Gargoyles at the Gate
4 Blue Candles
Witch Hazel
Frankincense
4 Gargoyle images (pictures or statues)
Athame
Anoint the candles and light the candles and the incense. Place each gargoyle in a corner of your home. Wave incense into the four corners. With your athame before your altar intone:
Positions at the towers and gates
Gargoyles watch in earnest haste
For Protection of the house and grounds
And all things of sight and sound
Keep us safe from danger and harm
Watch over us in every storm
Jump from the roof tops if in need
To frighten away all evil deeds
So Mote it Be!
Keep the Gargoyles in their places and refresh each year by reciting the charge to the image.
All Patched Up
1 Pink Candle
Friendship Oil (Rose, Cedar, Lavender oil)
Patchouli Incense
Turquoise Bead
White cord thread or ribbon
Paper and Pen
Anoint candle with friendship oil. Light the candle and the incense. Visualize you and your friend reconciling. String the bead and pass it deosil 3x in smoke. Do the same with the piece of paper with the friend’s name on it. Carry both in your pocket until reconciliation.
A turquoise stone to find
Harmony and peace; leave differences behind
Disagreements and hurt taken out of our hearts
Our true friendships shall not part
Let pink burn bright throughout this night
To reconcile this troublesome fight.
So Mote it Be!
For Strength
1 Red Candle
Dragon’s Blood oil
Pinch of salt
Dragon charm or picture or red bead and thread.
Anoint the candle and the charm or bead and intone
With the crimson of this cord
Ancient powers or strength are born
Herbs will stir beneath the form
Creating energies with talismans worn
Boost the body with greatest power
As if Mars is in tune with a full moon hour
Place the strength upon my feet
And all my powers now complete.
So mote it be.
Respect
1 Yellow Candle
Patchouli and Dragon’s Blood
Spicy Incense
Paper and Pen
Gold tone Bead
Brown Bead
Red String
Bowl
Anoint candle. Light Candle and incense. On paper, list 9 characteristics of respect. String beads. Anoint palms in oil and hold the paper in your anointed palms. Burn the paper and take the ashes and rub it in the talisman and pass talisman deosil through the smoke. Carry your talisman in your mojo or tie around ankle or wrist.
To Pay Karmic Debt
After you have been through a rough patch
1 Pink and 1 white candle
Opium oil
Fave Incense
Sage
Water
Check (or a piece of paper)
Simmer Cauldron
Anoint and light candle and incense. Put a bit of water and sage and opium oil in the simmer cauldron and heat. Fill out your check:
Date: Date of Ritual
Pay to the Order of: Karmic Debt
Amount: All
Amount: Live, Learn, Love, and Grow
Memo: Truth and Peace
Signature
Burn Check and add ashes to cauldron. Stir cauldron while intoning:
Karmic Debt is a wonderful thing
Through this process, my soul takes wings
This check is now due
I can start anew
To live learn love and grow
Till truth and peace is all I know
So mote it be.
Sprinkle potion around the room
Witch Charms
5 white candles (Tea Lights, birthday candles)
Low John Oil (Cinnamon, eucalyptus, and sandalwood oil)
Salt
Sandalwood Incense
Amulet ( Star, medal, cross etc.)
Piece of cord
Small cup or bowl
Anoint amulet with oil. With salt draw a pentangle placing a candle at each point. Light incense. Pass amulet deosil through the incense and then lay it in the center of the pentangle. Light each candle, intoning at each candle, moving deosil:
On this day of the year
Witches have no fear
Love, beauty, passion and energy
And our brethren far and near
By blessings of God an amulet is born
That protects from evil each time it is worn
A magical charm that wards off all alarm
So mote it be and none it harm.
World Peace
Oneof the ways that you can bring world peace is to work to have peace in your corner of the world. If you can bring peace to yourself and to the people around you, yu can encourage peace around the world.
1 blue candle
Peace oil (Sandalwood, Musk, Rose, Gardenia)
Sandalwood incense
Salt
Lavender leaves
Simmer cauldron
Pounded Lavender leaves
Bowl
Alcohol
Bottle
Anoint the candle with the peace oils. Mix left over oils, salt, lavender leaves and pass the cauldron through the incense smoke. Once the incense is burned down and the ashes are cooled, add it to the cauldron. Heat the potion in the simmer bowl for thirty minutes, then cool and decant into bottle. The oil is placed on the altar and lasts for a year. After you fill the bottle, intone over the opening:
Angels all around us, where ever we may be
In our small towns and great countries
Around the world please hear our call
To guide and heal us one and all
Protect us from each other’s harm
Reverse and rid bad energy til it’s all gone
Bring peace and love to every kind
All around our world will be
Happiness, peace and harmony
Heal us from our heart within
So we will judge no other friend
Forgive us our sins and protect our hearts
From fears we have within us all
Religion and politics and whatever we believe
From each hurt protect and heal
May we receive blessings be
Until we again merry meet
So Mote it be
Thanks For Giving
To honor God for the first harvest by making a harvest basket totem. Can be done to celebrate Thanksgiving or the new moon of November.
1 White candle
Musk and Lavender oil
Small basket
Chalice
Wine
Fruit, Cheese, Meat, Bread, Cookies
Plastic fruit and veggies
Silk Flowers
Slips of paper with at least six blessings
Anoint candle and light. Arrange the little basket with the plastic fruit and veggies and flowers. Intone over the basket and your small ritual meal and chalice with wine. Place the blessings with the fruit arrangement.
Little basket full of good
Sent by God, our blessed food
Grown from the ground with care and love
Watched by the spirits from above
Gathered from the bountiful harvest
From the fields and the forest
To Mighty God that be
With thanks we offer this bounty
This is my will, so mote it be.
Libate and drink the wine from the chalice.
Blind Justice
For truthful testimony in court. Don’t use if you intend to lie.
1 Gold Candle
1 Gray Candle
1Purple Candle
Rose, Vanilla, and Musk oil
Myrrh Incense
Purple bead and cord
Anoint the candles and light. Light incense. String the bead and pass deosil intoning:
A winged courier now takes flight
Aid me in my legal plight
Shame the devil, truth be told
Habeas Corpus in this court
Grant me favor of legal support
Release the magik and be just
Hear my plea and statement of trust
As I will it, so it must be
To honor the deceased. Excellent for Samhain, Veteran’s Day, and Memorial Day or for any time you experience the passing over of a loved one.
Purple candle, Athame , Frankincense, Myrrh, lavender , Cypress/Cedar or Sandalwood, anise/licorice oil, salt Myrrh Incense or Nag Champra or Patchouli, wand, cauldron, pictures of loved ones or a list of their names
Mix 2 drops@ of Frankincense, Myrrh, lavender, cypress/cedar/sandalwood, anise star/licorice and simmer in cauldron. Create sacred space and anoint the candle with some of the simmering cauldron. Place your photos and list on your altar. Light the incense and candle. Pick up your wand and intone:
The circle around the pearly moon
Pulls the spirits from their tombs
We invite you to our circle of love
From here on earth to heaven above
Place your list of loved ones under the candle if you so have one.
Grands and parents, sisters and brothers
Gone before we invite you to hover
Be our guardians and our guides
As we honor you tonight
With Athame:
Warrior knights, soldiers and braves
For our freedom your lives you gave
We honor you for your sacrifice
And pray you have found your paradise
We honor you and hold you near
Join us now, the veil is sheer
Open your heart and receive us well
Blood on the moon we cast this spell
Welcome loved ones, friends and guests
Touch our hearts as you do best
Blessings and prayers we offer you
And thank you for these moments few
Blessed be and Merry Meet
As I will it, so mote it be
To Protect the Home
2 White candles
1Black Candle
Sandalwood or Frankincense incense
Wand
Intone while lighting the white candle:
Here I light this candle
Which symbolizes my need
My home will be a fortress
As I secure its safety
The angel’s influence now takes sway
To bless my home in every way
Protect it through the day’s sunlight
Protect it through the dark of night
(Light black candle)
Energy white, energy bright
Strengthening my charm tonight
Powerful protection, my energy
As my spell is woven lovingly
(Light white candle)
With Wand:
May this spell protect from harm
And keep the house from all alarm
Working through the day or night
Angels guard us, hidden from sight
Safe from harm our powers keep
This no trouble can permeate
The walls angel energies penetrate
The walls make an aura all their own
And my spell sets the tone
A mighty shield shall it be
Keeping my home danger free
Robbers and murderers and harm that be
This charm will keep far from my family and me
Now my charm is done at last
And my spell is now cast
Merry meet and Blessed Be
As I will it so mote it be.
Stop Gossip Spell
If you are doing this charm on the spot all you need is paper and pen. Simply tear up the charm when you are finished. Otherwise:
1 Black candle
Pen and Paper
Bowl or cauldron
Write the Gossip’s name on one side of the paper seven times. On the other draw a smiley face. Light the candle .While intoning the charm make small x’s on his lips
This mouth I bind this very day
Binds fast the evil this mouth will say
Never more causing stress and alarm
Never more to cause harm
Truth and justice enters here
A quality most hold so dear
To counteract the many lies
In the mind where slander resides
Destroy the Gossip Face and throw it away. This can be done by burning or by drowning.
No More Delinquents
Paper Poppet
Incense (your choice)
4 Red Candles dressed in Myrrh
If known, write the name of the delinquent on the poppet. Surround the poppet with the red candles. Light a candle deosil after each verse
These candles I light do symbolize
The troubled soul thus inscribed
God give them strength to change
And become better each day
Here is love to guide their life
And keep the young one from strife
Hoping one day they will lead
A life of serving other’s needs
Understanding comes their way
Beginning now, this very day
For this child cannot manipulate
Nor will they be led astray
Now give me patience with this child
Because I can teach them to be mild
I can in straight paths this child lead
And guide them care for humanity
Child, grace and courage has come to your side to resist negativity in your life. For good you live and strive and a good name you take pride. Only that which is right stays forever in sight. A leader you will be for all humanity. Doing what’s right for the entire world to see.
Blessed Be and Merry Meet
As I will it, so mote it be.
St Francis Spell
1 Blue Candle
Catnip
Eucalyptus Oil
Frankincense
St. Francis Medal or Holy Card
Paper and Pen
Anoint candle and light along with incense. Hold the medal or holy card in your palms. Write the name of your pet on a piece of paper or on the back of the holy card. Hold card in your hands and intone:
We don’t mean to cause alarm
Just keep our pets safe from harm
This Saint will bless all animals and pets
From every wind and storm be warned
Humble Francis will protect from hate and neglect
This spell shelters from the young and the old
Safe and sound, all pets will be found
This is my will, so mote it be.
Midas Touch
1 Green, gold and orange candle
Midas oil (Jasmine, Patchouli, Mint, Opium, Orange oil)
Opium or Musk incense
Green Bead and cord or ribbon.
Anoint candles with Midas Oil. Do the same with the bead and cord. Light candle and incense and pass bead on cord through incense smoke deosil
For the wealth we have and the wealth to come
To guard it well, grant me this wisdom
Protect us always from those who dare
To take all we have without care
Good Lord above hear and answer my plea
An it harm none, so mote it be.
Wear the talisman when you play the lottery, pay bills, or work.
Wisdom’s Fire
White candle
Honey Suckle oil
Opium Incense
Lavender and Sage herb
Simmer Cauldron
Bottled water
Wand
Anoint Candle with oils, rubbing from the wick to the base. Mix the oils and herbs with a couple of teaspoons of water in simmer cauldron and set to heat. Light the candle and incense. With wand intone:
The Golden wisdom of the law of three be with me
Make me as wise as Solomon and Moses
With these herbs in my cauldron
I infuse these waters with wisdom
Give me grace, purity, and knowledge divine
Rise now in heart and mind
So mote it be.
Use the potion to cleanse a work space, or a sacred space.
Gargoyles at the Gate
4 Blue Candles
Witch Hazel
Frankincense
4 Gargoyle images (pictures or statues)
Athame
Anoint the candles and light the candles and the incense. Place each gargoyle in a corner of your home. Wave incense into the four corners. With your athame before your altar intone:
Positions at the towers and gates
Gargoyles watch in earnest haste
For Protection of the house and grounds
And all things of sight and sound
Keep us safe from danger and harm
Watch over us in every storm
Jump from the roof tops if in need
To frighten away all evil deeds
So Mote it Be!
Keep the Gargoyles in their places and refresh each year by reciting the charge to the image.
All Patched Up
1 Pink Candle
Friendship Oil (Rose, Cedar, Lavender oil)
Patchouli Incense
Turquoise Bead
White cord thread or ribbon
Paper and Pen
Anoint candle with friendship oil. Light the candle and the incense. Visualize you and your friend reconciling. String the bead and pass it deosil 3x in smoke. Do the same with the piece of paper with the friend’s name on it. Carry both in your pocket until reconciliation.
A turquoise stone to find
Harmony and peace; leave differences behind
Disagreements and hurt taken out of our hearts
Our true friendships shall not part
Let pink burn bright throughout this night
To reconcile this troublesome fight.
So Mote it Be!
For Strength
1 Red Candle
Dragon’s Blood oil
Pinch of salt
Dragon charm or picture or red bead and thread.
Anoint the candle and the charm or bead and intone
With the crimson of this cord
Ancient powers or strength are born
Herbs will stir beneath the form
Creating energies with talismans worn
Boost the body with greatest power
As if Mars is in tune with a full moon hour
Place the strength upon my feet
And all my powers now complete.
So mote it be.
Respect
1 Yellow Candle
Patchouli and Dragon’s Blood
Spicy Incense
Paper and Pen
Gold tone Bead
Brown Bead
Red String
Bowl
Anoint candle. Light Candle and incense. On paper, list 9 characteristics of respect. String beads. Anoint palms in oil and hold the paper in your anointed palms. Burn the paper and take the ashes and rub it in the talisman and pass talisman deosil through the smoke. Carry your talisman in your mojo or tie around ankle or wrist.
To Pay Karmic Debt
After you have been through a rough patch
1 Pink and 1 white candle
Opium oil
Fave Incense
Sage
Water
Check (or a piece of paper)
Simmer Cauldron
Anoint and light candle and incense. Put a bit of water and sage and opium oil in the simmer cauldron and heat. Fill out your check:
Date: Date of Ritual
Pay to the Order of: Karmic Debt
Amount: All
Amount: Live, Learn, Love, and Grow
Memo: Truth and Peace
Signature
Burn Check and add ashes to cauldron. Stir cauldron while intoning:
Karmic Debt is a wonderful thing
Through this process, my soul takes wings
This check is now due
I can start anew
To live learn love and grow
Till truth and peace is all I know
So mote it be.
Sprinkle potion around the room
Witch Charms
5 white candles (Tea Lights, birthday candles)
Low John Oil (Cinnamon, eucalyptus, and sandalwood oil)
Salt
Sandalwood Incense
Amulet ( Star, medal, cross etc.)
Piece of cord
Small cup or bowl
Anoint amulet with oil. With salt draw a pentangle placing a candle at each point. Light incense. Pass amulet deosil through the incense and then lay it in the center of the pentangle. Light each candle, intoning at each candle, moving deosil:
On this day of the year
Witches have no fear
Love, beauty, passion and energy
And our brethren far and near
By blessings of God an amulet is born
That protects from evil each time it is worn
A magical charm that wards off all alarm
So mote it be and none it harm.
World Peace
Oneof the ways that you can bring world peace is to work to have peace in your corner of the world. If you can bring peace to yourself and to the people around you, yu can encourage peace around the world.
1 blue candle
Peace oil (Sandalwood, Musk, Rose, Gardenia)
Sandalwood incense
Salt
Lavender leaves
Simmer cauldron
Pounded Lavender leaves
Bowl
Alcohol
Bottle
Anoint the candle with the peace oils. Mix left over oils, salt, lavender leaves and pass the cauldron through the incense smoke. Once the incense is burned down and the ashes are cooled, add it to the cauldron. Heat the potion in the simmer bowl for thirty minutes, then cool and decant into bottle. The oil is placed on the altar and lasts for a year. After you fill the bottle, intone over the opening:
Angels all around us, where ever we may be
In our small towns and great countries
Around the world please hear our call
To guide and heal us one and all
Protect us from each other’s harm
Reverse and rid bad energy til it’s all gone
Bring peace and love to every kind
All around our world will be
Happiness, peace and harmony
Heal us from our heart within
So we will judge no other friend
Forgive us our sins and protect our hearts
From fears we have within us all
Religion and politics and whatever we believe
From each hurt protect and heal
May we receive blessings be
Until we again merry meet
So Mote it be
Thanks For Giving
To honor God for the first harvest by making a harvest basket totem. Can be done to celebrate Thanksgiving or the new moon of November.
1 White candle
Musk and Lavender oil
Small basket
Chalice
Wine
Fruit, Cheese, Meat, Bread, Cookies
Plastic fruit and veggies
Silk Flowers
Slips of paper with at least six blessings
Anoint candle and light. Arrange the little basket with the plastic fruit and veggies and flowers. Intone over the basket and your small ritual meal and chalice with wine. Place the blessings with the fruit arrangement.
Little basket full of good
Sent by God, our blessed food
Grown from the ground with care and love
Watched by the spirits from above
Gathered from the bountiful harvest
From the fields and the forest
To Mighty God that be
With thanks we offer this bounty
This is my will, so mote it be.
Libate and drink the wine from the chalice.
Blind Justice
For truthful testimony in court. Don’t use if you intend to lie.
1 Gold Candle
1 Gray Candle
1Purple Candle
Rose, Vanilla, and Musk oil
Myrrh Incense
Purple bead and cord
Anoint the candles and light. Light incense. String the bead and pass deosil intoning:
A winged courier now takes flight
Aid me in my legal plight
Shame the devil, truth be told
Habeas Corpus in this court
Grant me favor of legal support
Release the magik and be just
Hear my plea and statement of trust
As I will it, so it must be
Christian Craft
As of October 2008, I will have been writing this blog for three years. I have received very little in the way of notice but that is okay, a little bit is better than nothing. What I have been doing is searching for ways to define myself as a Christian, a Catholic and a witch and how this comes together for me and why it seems that all those things go together and compliment and enrich me more than any other form of religious and spiritual practice.
I meet people who say they would never be a witch, who declare witchcraft evil but they unknowingly practice Craft every day. I know some witches, or people who say they are witches who never work the Craft, though they say they are witches which seems to defeat the purpose of your occult education.
I pray every day and I work Craft every day. I do spells and mix potions and perform bindings and protections. I work blessings and cleansings and do divinations and work on my BOS every single day. I read something pertaining to my practice every day. I read the Bible or some other devotional, non-Craft work every day. Christianity and Craft are more than simply who I say I am, they are who I am. They are what I do and believe and embrace.
And I sometimes think that is very radical to people who say, for whatever reason, you cannot be both. The thing is, I can. Jesus told us that all things are possible if asked for in my name. God told us to take care of the earth and use all of the plants and seeds and herbs. We read constant references to the four directions, the elements, the angels and of dreams and prophesies and there is no reason why we must lay down that magikal heritage that God and Jesus Christ gave us from the moment we were created.
I can write a lot of complicated, syncretic stuff on this blog to parallel and compare what witches do with things that happened in the Bible, but the fact is, I don't have to. When I became a Christian, I was ordained in a heavenly priesthood, a bloodline of heirs to the Kingdom of God through my sisterhood with Jesus Christ. This makes me the priestess of my own heart and my own practice. That is the only authority I need. As God wills it, so mote it be.
Thus Endeth the Lesson
Brightest Blessings Be
Aslinn Dhan Dragonhawk
Christian Wicce
I meet people who say they would never be a witch, who declare witchcraft evil but they unknowingly practice Craft every day. I know some witches, or people who say they are witches who never work the Craft, though they say they are witches which seems to defeat the purpose of your occult education.
I pray every day and I work Craft every day. I do spells and mix potions and perform bindings and protections. I work blessings and cleansings and do divinations and work on my BOS every single day. I read something pertaining to my practice every day. I read the Bible or some other devotional, non-Craft work every day. Christianity and Craft are more than simply who I say I am, they are who I am. They are what I do and believe and embrace.
And I sometimes think that is very radical to people who say, for whatever reason, you cannot be both. The thing is, I can. Jesus told us that all things are possible if asked for in my name. God told us to take care of the earth and use all of the plants and seeds and herbs. We read constant references to the four directions, the elements, the angels and of dreams and prophesies and there is no reason why we must lay down that magikal heritage that God and Jesus Christ gave us from the moment we were created.
I can write a lot of complicated, syncretic stuff on this blog to parallel and compare what witches do with things that happened in the Bible, but the fact is, I don't have to. When I became a Christian, I was ordained in a heavenly priesthood, a bloodline of heirs to the Kingdom of God through my sisterhood with Jesus Christ. This makes me the priestess of my own heart and my own practice. That is the only authority I need. As God wills it, so mote it be.
Thus Endeth the Lesson
Brightest Blessings Be
Aslinn Dhan Dragonhawk
Christian Wicce
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Posting on this blog
I understand that there are a lot of people who disagree with what I write and the comments I make. That's cool, it doesn't make a difference to me. I do however request that you reveal your name and return address/blog so that I can address your comments. To do anything less is the mark of a coward.
So, while I appreciate your remarks on anything in this blog, I do not appreciate your cowardice.
So, while I appreciate your remarks on anything in this blog, I do not appreciate your cowardice.
Friday, November 16, 2007
Wiki and Christian Wicca/Witchcraft
I have mixed feelings about Wiki. I think it has wonderful potential to disseminate information but at the same time, I am careful about its content. I think, however that anyone who is following a Christian Witch path will be interested in the entry for Christian Wicca. Who ever the contributors are, they are fairly thorough in their research and careful in their discussion. The article isn't quite "Wiki-ized" but it is a wonderful start. I would love to hear from other Christain Witches who have seen the entry and get their take on it.
Monday, November 05, 2007
Harry Potter and the Craft
Merry Meet!
I remember when the Potter books came out and everyone was in such a dither about them. I resisted reading them for some years after the first book in the series came out. It wasn't because of the subject matter, it was because I had heard excited whispers about the books being well written and exciting and literate, as apposed to the silly, underdeveloped offerings that are today's young reader's fare (that is also the way I would categorize much of adult reading, by the way). Being a teacher, I feared that they might be endlessly cute and silly but what I discovered when I first read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone was that the book was literate and serious and very engrossing.
And then it seemed that is when I heard about the criticism that many in the Fundamentalist Christian community were protesting the book because they felt that the Potter books were promoting witchcraft. I had seen this sort of thing before with rock music, videos, even cartoons so no, it doesn't surprise me that some Christians are against the Potter books. I even saw a web site that said Harry Potter was a symbol of the Anti-Christ, Hermione was the Whore of Babylon and Voldemort (get this) was a Christ figure and Malfoy was a faithful believer. It made me wonder what edition of Harry Potter they were reading. They even cast Nearly Headless Nick as the Holy Spirit.
But, on some levels they are right. While we do not fly on brooms, nor do we play Quiddich and there is no Hogwarts Express, there is a lot of classical alchemy, mythology and lore hidden in the books if you care to investigate. But the students of Hogwarts are not practicing witchcraft as religion, they are using magic as a part of every day life, it simply is to them. It would be great to be able to wave my wand and have my house cleaned, or at least conjure up a great little house elf, or to cook food with a flick of my wand, or to apparate and have an extra hour of sleep before going to school in the morning. But fantasy witchcraft is not what we do.
I love the Potter books. I love them not just because of the magic that is in them, I love the message they teach and that is that good can triumph over evil and that the love of your friends is greater than the love of one's own life and that sometimes good is harder than evil.
I believe that someday, all people of faith will be like Harry Potter and his friends and we will have to stand up against an evil that will be interested in erradicating all religion; not just Christianity or Judiaism, or Islam or Buddhism or Hinduism. This evil will be after all people, even the Pagan and the Wiccan. We will then have to stand together to survive. And that, I think is the true story of the Potter books, love one another, help one another, honor one another, and protect one another.
It is a shame that some people can't see that.
Brightest Blessings Be
I remember when the Potter books came out and everyone was in such a dither about them. I resisted reading them for some years after the first book in the series came out. It wasn't because of the subject matter, it was because I had heard excited whispers about the books being well written and exciting and literate, as apposed to the silly, underdeveloped offerings that are today's young reader's fare (that is also the way I would categorize much of adult reading, by the way). Being a teacher, I feared that they might be endlessly cute and silly but what I discovered when I first read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone was that the book was literate and serious and very engrossing.
And then it seemed that is when I heard about the criticism that many in the Fundamentalist Christian community were protesting the book because they felt that the Potter books were promoting witchcraft. I had seen this sort of thing before with rock music, videos, even cartoons so no, it doesn't surprise me that some Christians are against the Potter books. I even saw a web site that said Harry Potter was a symbol of the Anti-Christ, Hermione was the Whore of Babylon and Voldemort (get this) was a Christ figure and Malfoy was a faithful believer. It made me wonder what edition of Harry Potter they were reading. They even cast Nearly Headless Nick as the Holy Spirit.
But, on some levels they are right. While we do not fly on brooms, nor do we play Quiddich and there is no Hogwarts Express, there is a lot of classical alchemy, mythology and lore hidden in the books if you care to investigate. But the students of Hogwarts are not practicing witchcraft as religion, they are using magic as a part of every day life, it simply is to them. It would be great to be able to wave my wand and have my house cleaned, or at least conjure up a great little house elf, or to cook food with a flick of my wand, or to apparate and have an extra hour of sleep before going to school in the morning. But fantasy witchcraft is not what we do.
I love the Potter books. I love them not just because of the magic that is in them, I love the message they teach and that is that good can triumph over evil and that the love of your friends is greater than the love of one's own life and that sometimes good is harder than evil.
I believe that someday, all people of faith will be like Harry Potter and his friends and we will have to stand up against an evil that will be interested in erradicating all religion; not just Christianity or Judiaism, or Islam or Buddhism or Hinduism. This evil will be after all people, even the Pagan and the Wiccan. We will then have to stand together to survive. And that, I think is the true story of the Potter books, love one another, help one another, honor one another, and protect one another.
It is a shame that some people can't see that.
Brightest Blessings Be
Saturday, November 03, 2007
Another year, Another Samhain passed
After the trick or treaters had gone in for the evening and as The Old Goat, which I lovingly call my boyfriend, and I prepared for Samhain Sabat in his small back garden around his large fire cauldron, I let so many sad things go and said good bye at last to old friends who had gone over. For the first Samhain in a long time I felt as though I had actually reached the goals and purposes of Samhain.
And then our friends, some of them Crafty like ourselves and some just spiritually open minded came together and we ate and drank to the season and to each other. We stayed up late into the night watching horror movies (the old kind, in black and white, made by Universal) and after, my lover and I made love and celebrated life and love in a time of death and remembrance. Being that he is a Christo-Pagan and of a celtic/norse turn, he thinks that this is what part of the orginal Samhain celebration was about. Life in the midst of death.
So as we get ready to move toward Yule and we remember the three Magi who came to see Christ the Lord, don't forget along the way to be thankful for the life, regardless how humble, you have now.
And then our friends, some of them Crafty like ourselves and some just spiritually open minded came together and we ate and drank to the season and to each other. We stayed up late into the night watching horror movies (the old kind, in black and white, made by Universal) and after, my lover and I made love and celebrated life and love in a time of death and remembrance. Being that he is a Christo-Pagan and of a celtic/norse turn, he thinks that this is what part of the orginal Samhain celebration was about. Life in the midst of death.
So as we get ready to move toward Yule and we remember the three Magi who came to see Christ the Lord, don't forget along the way to be thankful for the life, regardless how humble, you have now.
Sunday, July 22, 2007
Candle Magik
Merry Meet,
The topic this evening is candle magik. Candle magik is an ancient practice and it survives in most cultures in one form or anoher. Even people who would never consciously practice magik, do so when they light candles on a birthday cake and then blow them out. How many of you, when you were married, lit a unity candle? How many of you have had the misfortune of lighting a candle at the shrine of a terrible event, like 9-11? How many of you light candles at church or at home in front of an icon or statue?
Candle magik is one of the easiest ways to send out a spell. You can make the ritual of preparing the candle as elaborate or as simple as you want. White candles are good universal candles for all needs but some people find it useful to correspond the color of the candle with the specific need of the person for whom the spell is being worked. Spices, herbs and oils can be rubbed onto the surface of the candle and the candle can be inscribed with a pin or a knife or, if you are very strict, a boline. The thing that you have to remember is that you have to have a clear intent...what do you expect the spell to do? Then, you have to visualize it happening. And as you work the spell, you have to ask for the help of your sacred spirit. Because the candle is only a representation of your spell, the sacred spirit is the one who makes or empowers the spell, through you. You should allow the candle to burn itself safely out.
Here is a hint....tea lights are great candles and they only last for about four hours but if you are doing a spell and it must be completed quickly, use a birthday candle. You can buy them cheaply at the grocery store in various colors and they burn down in no time at all.
How do you anoint a candle? If you do not have a lot of expensive oils on hand, a good olive oil will do the trick. Just dip your finger in it and rub it on the candle. If the spell is to draw something to you, you rub the oil from the wick end to the bottom. If you want to cast it away from you, like a protection spell or a health spell to someone far away, you anoint bottom to wick. It's that simple.
So give candle magik a try and until we meet again,
Brightest Blessings Be
Aslinn Dhan Dragonhawk
The topic this evening is candle magik. Candle magik is an ancient practice and it survives in most cultures in one form or anoher. Even people who would never consciously practice magik, do so when they light candles on a birthday cake and then blow them out. How many of you, when you were married, lit a unity candle? How many of you have had the misfortune of lighting a candle at the shrine of a terrible event, like 9-11? How many of you light candles at church or at home in front of an icon or statue?
Candle magik is one of the easiest ways to send out a spell. You can make the ritual of preparing the candle as elaborate or as simple as you want. White candles are good universal candles for all needs but some people find it useful to correspond the color of the candle with the specific need of the person for whom the spell is being worked. Spices, herbs and oils can be rubbed onto the surface of the candle and the candle can be inscribed with a pin or a knife or, if you are very strict, a boline. The thing that you have to remember is that you have to have a clear intent...what do you expect the spell to do? Then, you have to visualize it happening. And as you work the spell, you have to ask for the help of your sacred spirit. Because the candle is only a representation of your spell, the sacred spirit is the one who makes or empowers the spell, through you. You should allow the candle to burn itself safely out.
Here is a hint....tea lights are great candles and they only last for about four hours but if you are doing a spell and it must be completed quickly, use a birthday candle. You can buy them cheaply at the grocery store in various colors and they burn down in no time at all.
How do you anoint a candle? If you do not have a lot of expensive oils on hand, a good olive oil will do the trick. Just dip your finger in it and rub it on the candle. If the spell is to draw something to you, you rub the oil from the wick end to the bottom. If you want to cast it away from you, like a protection spell or a health spell to someone far away, you anoint bottom to wick. It's that simple.
So give candle magik a try and until we meet again,
Brightest Blessings Be
Aslinn Dhan Dragonhawk
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
On Writing this Christian Witch Blog
Merry Meet,
I keep writing these blogs in the hope there are people reading it, and not just to criticize, but to try to puzzle out this work we do in the Craft. I don't mind people contributing to my blog, but I do mind when someone steals one of my entries to make fun of it or to discount my work.
I mention this because just for the sake of interest, I googled my magickal name and found there was a dot com called The Hull Pagans from Hull, England. They had lifted my article on Ostara and then proceded to criticize me. Not on my own blog, but on theirs, so they would not have to be open for any discussion from me. For those of you on the Hull Pagans bulletin board, remember that as ye reap, so shall ye sow, the cruelty you give, the cruelty you'll know. As I will it, mote it be so. This is especially for you, Librarian. Thou shalt not steal.
Brightest Blessings Be
Aslinn Dhan Dragonhawk
I keep writing these blogs in the hope there are people reading it, and not just to criticize, but to try to puzzle out this work we do in the Craft. I don't mind people contributing to my blog, but I do mind when someone steals one of my entries to make fun of it or to discount my work.
I mention this because just for the sake of interest, I googled my magickal name and found there was a dot com called The Hull Pagans from Hull, England. They had lifted my article on Ostara and then proceded to criticize me. Not on my own blog, but on theirs, so they would not have to be open for any discussion from me. For those of you on the Hull Pagans bulletin board, remember that as ye reap, so shall ye sow, the cruelty you give, the cruelty you'll know. As I will it, mote it be so. This is especially for you, Librarian. Thou shalt not steal.
Brightest Blessings Be
Aslinn Dhan Dragonhawk
Wednesday, July 04, 2007
Which Witch is Which: Multiple Traditions in the Christian Craft Community
Merry Meet
One of the things that is interesting about the notion of Christian Witchery is the various incarnations of the Craft within the community. This is both a good thing and a bad thing . It is a good thing in that we have multiple experiences that enrich our practice, but it can be troublesome because of the way we define not only witchcraft, but Christianity. The way we define Christianity is the cause of much strife, not only in the way Christians deal with the utside world, but deal with eachother. We, myself included, become egocentric.
See, I traveled through many Christian congregations before I became a Roman Catholic. And then from Roman Catholic, I moved into the Christian Witch practice of my faith. I am known by many names: Catholic Crafter, Christian Santero, Catholic Brujeria, but I love the designation a Wiccan gave to me and my practice and what I call this Blog: Christian Wicce.
So how do we resolve this conundrum? How do we bring together the various Christian Craft disciplines? We might start by doing what Jesus told us to do: Love one another and judge not, because we, historically, have demonstrated that we neither love one another (The Crusades, The Inquisition, The Burning Times, The Holocaust) and we severly judge one another (see the list above).
The next thing we have to do is understand we who practice Craft and Chrisitianity come from our own individual experiences with both Christian Faith and the Craft. Some of us are cradle Christians who wandered into Wicca maybe and shifted back. Some are Wiccans who may have become Christians or have learned to blend the two religions. Some of us may not have grown up with much of a religious upbringing and have wandered in and out of churches, temples, mosques and covens looking for the perfect place for us.
I propose that we sit down and write a set of Christian Witch notions. I like that word better than rules or commandments, but just a set of ideas that loosely define what this means to be a Christian Witch.
Brightest Blessings Be
Aslinn Dhan Dragonhawk
One of the things that is interesting about the notion of Christian Witchery is the various incarnations of the Craft within the community. This is both a good thing and a bad thing . It is a good thing in that we have multiple experiences that enrich our practice, but it can be troublesome because of the way we define not only witchcraft, but Christianity. The way we define Christianity is the cause of much strife, not only in the way Christians deal with the utside world, but deal with eachother. We, myself included, become egocentric.
See, I traveled through many Christian congregations before I became a Roman Catholic. And then from Roman Catholic, I moved into the Christian Witch practice of my faith. I am known by many names: Catholic Crafter, Christian Santero, Catholic Brujeria, but I love the designation a Wiccan gave to me and my practice and what I call this Blog: Christian Wicce.
So how do we resolve this conundrum? How do we bring together the various Christian Craft disciplines? We might start by doing what Jesus told us to do: Love one another and judge not, because we, historically, have demonstrated that we neither love one another (The Crusades, The Inquisition, The Burning Times, The Holocaust) and we severly judge one another (see the list above).
The next thing we have to do is understand we who practice Craft and Chrisitianity come from our own individual experiences with both Christian Faith and the Craft. Some of us are cradle Christians who wandered into Wicca maybe and shifted back. Some are Wiccans who may have become Christians or have learned to blend the two religions. Some of us may not have grown up with much of a religious upbringing and have wandered in and out of churches, temples, mosques and covens looking for the perfect place for us.
I propose that we sit down and write a set of Christian Witch notions. I like that word better than rules or commandments, but just a set of ideas that loosely define what this means to be a Christian Witch.
Brightest Blessings Be
Aslinn Dhan Dragonhawk
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Celebrating the Summer Solstice and Celebrating our Fathers
June the 21st was the summer solstice, but June is also the month that we celebrate Father's Day. There are many ways to celebrate our Fathers and there are many men we may wish to celebrate beyond our biological fathers. We should, of course, celebrate our relationship with our God above all others. But, Father's Day is a wonderful day to celebrate not only the our birth fathers or the men who raised us, but also a chance to acknowledge our spiritual fathers and that can include our teachers, like Scott Cunningham and Raven Grimassi and Gerald Gardner Raymond Buckland.
I don't know what I would have done without Scott Cunningham. As a Christian Witch out there trying to find my way through the Craft often through a forest of Christian unfriendly books and writings, Scott taught that the Craft can be more than the art of pagans and Wiccans but can be accessible to any person of spirit who wishes to work the Craft and embrace the natural world around them. He wrote primarily for his own pagan faith, but he made his Craft open to anyone who wanted to learn.
Father Gardner was also a Craft teacher for me though he was less concerned with the possibility of a Christian Witch than some writers. If he had not written down his knowledge and his scholarship in his Book of Shadows and his other books, there would be little in the way of Craft as religion today.
Then there is Raymond Buckland who gave us so much more than the Big Blue Book, but acknowledged the need of people to study and initiate on their own because of the lack of a local Craft Community and the differing disciplines that were arising out of the world wide Craft community.
Friday, June 15, 2007
Celebrating the Witch in Me
I am
Healer
Advisor
Thinker
Fortune Teller
Spell Caster
Petitioner to God
Scryer
Believer
Faerie Seer
Talisman Maker
Student
Master
Moon Phaser
Crystal Gazer
Witch
Why would people fear?
They fear the words they hear.
Witch, Crone, Hag
Warlock, Sorcerer
Whore of the devil
Evil Necromancer
Notice, these words are not on my list
Only theirs
except
Witch
I am
Healer
Advisor
Thinker
Fortune Teller
Spell Caster
Petitioner to God
Scryer
Believer
Faerie Seer
Talisman Maker
Student
Master
Moon Phaser
Crystal Gazer
Witch
Why would people fear?
They fear the words they hear.
Witch, Crone, Hag
Warlock, Sorcerer
Whore of the devil
Evil Necromancer
Notice, these words are not on my list
Only theirs
except
Witch
I am
Witch in the Workplace
OK, you are at work in one of this little cubicles or you are a teacher in the classroom, or some other profession is it okay to display a small altar (a framed picture of the elements or a pentacle or just a candle with a symbol on it)?
Some people would say that it is inappropriate to display anything of a religious or spiritual matter in the workplace. This may be to protect people's rights to practice the religion of their choice or it may be a way to keep down "witnessing" or proselytizing. Others do it for professional reasons. At the same times, these businesses may not even permit family photos or other objects that present a cluttered workspace.
Generally, however, I recommend that witches play it low key. If you are allowed some personal objects in the work space, you may want to just have a small picture or a small potted plant or simply wear something that represents the sacred for you and would have no meaning to the casual observer.
The truth of the matter is that while the mundane world may not be actively burning us at the stake right now, there are other ways we can be persecuted. And remember, one of the ways of the witch is know, to do and to keep silent.
Some people would say that it is inappropriate to display anything of a religious or spiritual matter in the workplace. This may be to protect people's rights to practice the religion of their choice or it may be a way to keep down "witnessing" or proselytizing. Others do it for professional reasons. At the same times, these businesses may not even permit family photos or other objects that present a cluttered workspace.
Generally, however, I recommend that witches play it low key. If you are allowed some personal objects in the work space, you may want to just have a small picture or a small potted plant or simply wear something that represents the sacred for you and would have no meaning to the casual observer.
The truth of the matter is that while the mundane world may not be actively burning us at the stake right now, there are other ways we can be persecuted. And remember, one of the ways of the witch is know, to do and to keep silent.
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Love and the Craft
Well, I fooled around and fell in love. A few of my circle sisters have met this wonderful man and they introduced me to him. He is a Christo-Pagan, which means he honors the old gods as well the Christian God. He is 45 and I never thought I would meet someone I could care about after all of this time.
So what do you do, if you are Craft and fall in love? If you are both Craft, you begin practicing majik together, first small then greater as you get closer. But what if you are meeting someone who is not Craft, what if you are dating someone who is not Craft? What then? What if you are Crafting and one is one sort of Craft discipline and the other is another?
Honesty is always the best policy. It hurts, but sometimes knowing right away if the person has some objection to your practicing Craft is the best thing to happen. If you are both Crafters but one is one certain discipline and the other is another, find some commonalities....do the ubiquitous venn diagram and find out what is alike, what is the difference, and how there might be wonderful blending and how there can be some compromise. But above all, discussion and sharing, communication is the thing that we need the most and that is doubly true in our intimate relationships.
May love and wonder fill your lives together and may all good things come from the glory of your love.
Brightest Blessings Be
Aslinn Dhan Dragonhawk
So what do you do, if you are Craft and fall in love? If you are both Craft, you begin practicing majik together, first small then greater as you get closer. But what if you are meeting someone who is not Craft, what if you are dating someone who is not Craft? What then? What if you are Crafting and one is one sort of Craft discipline and the other is another?
Honesty is always the best policy. It hurts, but sometimes knowing right away if the person has some objection to your practicing Craft is the best thing to happen. If you are both Crafters but one is one certain discipline and the other is another, find some commonalities....do the ubiquitous venn diagram and find out what is alike, what is the difference, and how there might be wonderful blending and how there can be some compromise. But above all, discussion and sharing, communication is the thing that we need the most and that is doubly true in our intimate relationships.
May love and wonder fill your lives together and may all good things come from the glory of your love.
Brightest Blessings Be
Aslinn Dhan Dragonhawk
Friday, April 27, 2007
Beltaine: The Month of the Mothers: Mary and Earth
Merry Meet!
Ah spring in all her glory gowning mother earth in her billion shades of green. The coming of the season of planting flowers and herbs and vegetables. It is also the time to celebrate the feminine in the earth, being our Mother Earth, our birth Mother, important women in our lives, or Mary the mother of Jesus or any female goddess that is a part of your spiritual or magikal tradition.
I never paid much mind to the spring before I bacme involved with Craft in my life. Now I mark my calender for full moons, for planting times, for harvest times and for the celebrations. I now bless the coming of warmer days and nights, where I can sit in the sun during the day and sit in the gazebo during the night and watch the night things creep and listen for frogs and crickets and just be a part of the night in the warm temperatures that I can't truly be in the winter time.
But particularly for me, May first is the day I crown the Blessed Virgin with her crown of flowers and contemplate her gentleness and her compassion for all of us. I think that I shall write more outside this summer so I can quietly libate my Mothers, Mary and Earth and thank them for the love and tenderness they give me now and in the time when I go back to the both of them in my death.
Thank your sacred spirit for the mothers in your life,
Bright Blessing Be,
Aslinn Dhan Dragonhawk
Ah spring in all her glory gowning mother earth in her billion shades of green. The coming of the season of planting flowers and herbs and vegetables. It is also the time to celebrate the feminine in the earth, being our Mother Earth, our birth Mother, important women in our lives, or Mary the mother of Jesus or any female goddess that is a part of your spiritual or magikal tradition.
I never paid much mind to the spring before I bacme involved with Craft in my life. Now I mark my calender for full moons, for planting times, for harvest times and for the celebrations. I now bless the coming of warmer days and nights, where I can sit in the sun during the day and sit in the gazebo during the night and watch the night things creep and listen for frogs and crickets and just be a part of the night in the warm temperatures that I can't truly be in the winter time.
But particularly for me, May first is the day I crown the Blessed Virgin with her crown of flowers and contemplate her gentleness and her compassion for all of us. I think that I shall write more outside this summer so I can quietly libate my Mothers, Mary and Earth and thank them for the love and tenderness they give me now and in the time when I go back to the both of them in my death.
Thank your sacred spirit for the mothers in your life,
Bright Blessing Be,
Aslinn Dhan Dragonhawk
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Ostara
Merry Meet,
Ah, that strange, wonderful, mixed up time for the Christian. Ostara or Easter, is the feast of spring and the growing time and the celebration of fertility and Mother Earth. When Christianity came into play, the pagan holiday was replaced by Easter. The resurrection of Christ is the only date that we as Christians celebrate with any certainty. Jesus was tried and crucufied in the days leading up to and through the Jewish passover, which is a moveable feast, coming late in March and early in April. This year, it is in April. Ostara and Easter became intertwined closely more so than even Christmas. We celebrate in the Christian religion with Sunday School or Mass, palm crosses, candles, and joy and we also celebrate with the visitation of the Easter Bunny, or the fertility hare, with gifts of eggs, which are symbols of fertility, and chocolate, a food which is supposed to induce desire and a wish to reproduce.
For the Christian Wicce, we celebrate the season of not only the Savior's resurrection, but the redemption of our old parents, Adam and Eve. The old blood libel against Eve as the weak vessel who succombed to the temptation of the Devil and Adam as being less of a man and being beguiled by an evil and vain woman are redeemed by the love, generosity and sacrifice of Mary, the Mother of God and her Son, Jesus, the living God. Mary is the new Eve, following the instructions of the Lord and Jesus is the new Adam, without the stain of sin, serving God the Father.
It is ironic, perhaps, that in the beginning, there was Adam, and from a rib, was made Eve. And yet it is the reverse, Mary is the perfect being, sinless and Jesus comes from her womb. The cycle is complete, we are all reunited, humanity and God, part of each other and inheritors to the heavens.
So, this Ostara I celebrate not only Jesus and his life, but the redemption of our old parents and I celebrate the new year of growth and warmth and healing.
Brightest Blessings be
Aslinn Dhan Dragonhawk
Ah, that strange, wonderful, mixed up time for the Christian. Ostara or Easter, is the feast of spring and the growing time and the celebration of fertility and Mother Earth. When Christianity came into play, the pagan holiday was replaced by Easter. The resurrection of Christ is the only date that we as Christians celebrate with any certainty. Jesus was tried and crucufied in the days leading up to and through the Jewish passover, which is a moveable feast, coming late in March and early in April. This year, it is in April. Ostara and Easter became intertwined closely more so than even Christmas. We celebrate in the Christian religion with Sunday School or Mass, palm crosses, candles, and joy and we also celebrate with the visitation of the Easter Bunny, or the fertility hare, with gifts of eggs, which are symbols of fertility, and chocolate, a food which is supposed to induce desire and a wish to reproduce.
For the Christian Wicce, we celebrate the season of not only the Savior's resurrection, but the redemption of our old parents, Adam and Eve. The old blood libel against Eve as the weak vessel who succombed to the temptation of the Devil and Adam as being less of a man and being beguiled by an evil and vain woman are redeemed by the love, generosity and sacrifice of Mary, the Mother of God and her Son, Jesus, the living God. Mary is the new Eve, following the instructions of the Lord and Jesus is the new Adam, without the stain of sin, serving God the Father.
It is ironic, perhaps, that in the beginning, there was Adam, and from a rib, was made Eve. And yet it is the reverse, Mary is the perfect being, sinless and Jesus comes from her womb. The cycle is complete, we are all reunited, humanity and God, part of each other and inheritors to the heavens.
So, this Ostara I celebrate not only Jesus and his life, but the redemption of our old parents and I celebrate the new year of growth and warmth and healing.
Brightest Blessings be
Aslinn Dhan Dragonhawk
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Coming of Age: Croning
Merry Meet!
I turn 40 for my birthday. Forty. I have mixed feelings about that. There is a part of me that is glad that I am turning forty. Less is expected of me in many ways. In someways more is expected of me. I am no longer young, but I am not old. I have different priorities. At thirty, I wanted to find romantic love, but now I want to just love people around me and I want to love myself more. I want to be still, no more of that hoping around and hair pulling. I am far more interested in my interior world.
I want to devote myself to my personal studies and get ready to go to that next step, that next level in the world of the Craft. I am Croning this summer. It is a bitter sweet prospect. My dear friend who has made the journey to the Summerland was to have croned me. I am still being croned, but I will miss my friend.
For those who do not know what croning is, it is when a female witch has reached spiritual and chronological maturity and can be considered one of the wise ones. Men are eldered. It is a happy celebration, acknowledging the wealth of wisdom, experience and work the witch has done in his and her lifetime.
That does not mean that I will stop growing as a person or a witch, it just means that I have reached the highest level attainable in my spiritual practices. So in August think of me as I go through my croning and bright blessings be.
Aslinn Dhan Dragonhawk
I turn 40 for my birthday. Forty. I have mixed feelings about that. There is a part of me that is glad that I am turning forty. Less is expected of me in many ways. In someways more is expected of me. I am no longer young, but I am not old. I have different priorities. At thirty, I wanted to find romantic love, but now I want to just love people around me and I want to love myself more. I want to be still, no more of that hoping around and hair pulling. I am far more interested in my interior world.
I want to devote myself to my personal studies and get ready to go to that next step, that next level in the world of the Craft. I am Croning this summer. It is a bitter sweet prospect. My dear friend who has made the journey to the Summerland was to have croned me. I am still being croned, but I will miss my friend.
For those who do not know what croning is, it is when a female witch has reached spiritual and chronological maturity and can be considered one of the wise ones. Men are eldered. It is a happy celebration, acknowledging the wealth of wisdom, experience and work the witch has done in his and her lifetime.
That does not mean that I will stop growing as a person or a witch, it just means that I have reached the highest level attainable in my spiritual practices. So in August think of me as I go through my croning and bright blessings be.
Aslinn Dhan Dragonhawk
Monday, March 12, 2007
How do you define Witch? Part Two
Merry Meet
After much thought I came up with this. It is by no means complete but it is a jumping off place. Maybe this is the way it should be, always evolving as we grow. We are never the person we were from one year to the next, so perhaps this truth should also apply to being a witch and how we see ourselves as witches.
A witch is someone who has a personal relationship with their sacred spirit, who acknowledges, embraces, and loves the energy endowed to them by their sacred spirit. A witch is someone who seeks not only to serve themselves but help others explore, embrace, and cherish the sacred for themselves.
A witch studies and enriches themselves and emerse themselves in multiple traditions and disciplines so they have a wealth of wisdom from which to draw protective, healing and intuitive powers to help others from diverse paths find their own notion of the sacred.
A witch serves their sacred spirit through their Craft and from their sacred spirit comes their Craft. A witch, above all things is a believer.
So throw away all those stereotypes of the witch. Accept and love yourself and your sacred spirit and your witch self.
I am a witch
And I love the peson I am.
Brightest Blessings Be,
Aslinn Dhan Dragonhawk
After much thought I came up with this. It is by no means complete but it is a jumping off place. Maybe this is the way it should be, always evolving as we grow. We are never the person we were from one year to the next, so perhaps this truth should also apply to being a witch and how we see ourselves as witches.
A witch is someone who has a personal relationship with their sacred spirit, who acknowledges, embraces, and loves the energy endowed to them by their sacred spirit. A witch is someone who seeks not only to serve themselves but help others explore, embrace, and cherish the sacred for themselves.
A witch studies and enriches themselves and emerse themselves in multiple traditions and disciplines so they have a wealth of wisdom from which to draw protective, healing and intuitive powers to help others from diverse paths find their own notion of the sacred.
A witch serves their sacred spirit through their Craft and from their sacred spirit comes their Craft. A witch, above all things is a believer.
So throw away all those stereotypes of the witch. Accept and love yourself and your sacred spirit and your witch self.
I am a witch
And I love the peson I am.
Brightest Blessings Be,
Aslinn Dhan Dragonhawk
Saturday, March 10, 2007
How do you define Witch?
I was reading Judika Illes book, The Element Encyclopedia of the Magical World A-Z, and she begins her book with a question "How do you define the word witch?" And I had to really think about it. How do I define the word that I and others would apply when describing myself? To tell you the truth, I had more ideas about what a witch is not:
1. I do not cast spells to control people.
2. I do not worship the devil.
3. I do not sacrifice animals or people to the afforementioned devil.
4. I do not play quiddich
5. I am not a hag (though I might soon be a crone)
6. I have a black cat but he is not my familiar spirit or daemon (which is not the same as
the devil)
7. I am not Wiccan (but not all Wiccans are witches)
8. I am not one of the Charmed Ones
But If I am none of these things, what am I? What is a witch anyway? You tell me, and I'll think about it and try to answer that question the next time I blog.
Coming soon: More good books, more spells and more lore!!!!
Bright Blessings Be
Aslinn Dhan Dragonhawk
1. I do not cast spells to control people.
2. I do not worship the devil.
3. I do not sacrifice animals or people to the afforementioned devil.
4. I do not play quiddich
5. I am not a hag (though I might soon be a crone)
6. I have a black cat but he is not my familiar spirit or daemon (which is not the same as
the devil)
7. I am not Wiccan (but not all Wiccans are witches)
8. I am not one of the Charmed Ones
But If I am none of these things, what am I? What is a witch anyway? You tell me, and I'll think about it and try to answer that question the next time I blog.
Coming soon: More good books, more spells and more lore!!!!
Bright Blessings Be
Aslinn Dhan Dragonhawk
Saturday, February 24, 2007
Coming out of the Broom Closet: Don't ask, don't spell
Merry Meet!
I have had conversations with many witches of diverse traditions. I have also met many gay folk. Many gay folk who practice the Craft and they all say the same thing: I was easier for me to come out of the sexual closet than the broom closet. I thought to myself why that is, and with hopes that I don't offend any gay folk, this is what I have come up with.
Gay folk are looked at as misguided folks who may be sinners but have done nothing that God cannot forgive, but tell your family that you are a witch and images of grotesque blasphemies rise up in the minds of your family. They assume you have done something to commit the unforgivable sin and that is "Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit".
And this simply comes from a place of ignorance. They believe all those scary stories that have been told since the Middle Ages that we sacrifice children and have sex with the devil and attend black masses. The thing is, a true witch would find that distasteful to do something to insult another religion, the second thing is that the activities themselves would have very little meaning to a true witch, as their religious beliefs do not acknowledge the importance to such things as the black mass, as these are simply parodies of a Christian activity. And no witch would harm a child, it is against the rede and the legends of child sacrifice exist as a part of testimony only after torture by the Inquisition.
For me, I believe that I will likely be in the broom closet all of my life. It doesn't bother me, it simply is this way. The Craft does not require me to convert, in fact the Craft is esoteric, but it is sad that the reason I can't be more up front about my practice is that people refuse to accept the diversity of the world.
Brightest Blessings Be
Aslinn Dhan Dragonhawk
I have had conversations with many witches of diverse traditions. I have also met many gay folk. Many gay folk who practice the Craft and they all say the same thing: I was easier for me to come out of the sexual closet than the broom closet. I thought to myself why that is, and with hopes that I don't offend any gay folk, this is what I have come up with.
Gay folk are looked at as misguided folks who may be sinners but have done nothing that God cannot forgive, but tell your family that you are a witch and images of grotesque blasphemies rise up in the minds of your family. They assume you have done something to commit the unforgivable sin and that is "Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit".
And this simply comes from a place of ignorance. They believe all those scary stories that have been told since the Middle Ages that we sacrifice children and have sex with the devil and attend black masses. The thing is, a true witch would find that distasteful to do something to insult another religion, the second thing is that the activities themselves would have very little meaning to a true witch, as their religious beliefs do not acknowledge the importance to such things as the black mass, as these are simply parodies of a Christian activity. And no witch would harm a child, it is against the rede and the legends of child sacrifice exist as a part of testimony only after torture by the Inquisition.
For me, I believe that I will likely be in the broom closet all of my life. It doesn't bother me, it simply is this way. The Craft does not require me to convert, in fact the Craft is esoteric, but it is sad that the reason I can't be more up front about my practice is that people refuse to accept the diversity of the world.
Brightest Blessings Be
Aslinn Dhan Dragonhawk
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
Imbolc for the Christian Crafter
Merry Meet
Imbolc lands during an auspicious time for the Christian Crafter, especially one who is Catholic. This year, Imbolc lands just before the Lenten season, the time of sacrifice in preparation for the Easter Holiday when we Christian Crafters celebrate the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus. The theme should be familiar for Wiccan and Pagan folk, as they celebrated the death and resurrection of their god at Yule.
Imbolc for our Pagan and Wiccan friends is the celebration of the first signs of spring. It is the milk festival, when the lambs are born and begin to suckle. It is also called Brigantia, the Feast of Brede, or Bridget. This is a feast to bring honor to the earth goddess of the Celts or Druids. The Irish have since Christianized Bridget, but this is not the way I celebrate Imbolc. For me, Imbolc is the waiting time, when I mark not only my Christian fsting, but my Wicce fasting, to purify myself and prepare for Ostara, where I shed the old self and prepare for the new growing season of spring. It is during this time that I get ready to plant my herbs and my flowers and I clean my home and my sacred space and get ready for a summer of preparing new potions, new ingredients, and getting ready for another year of healing, creativity and rest. I may also be reading books I have bought through the winter and did not have time to read and study and I may be buying more books. I will be also adding to my Book of Shadows.
Imbolc is my signal to begin the process of getting rid of things I no longer need. I may be giving away books, if I haven't marked them up badly, which is something I do when I study, I can't help it. I may be cataloging things and making note of things that I need and what I don't need anymore.
I will be fasting. I will cut back on heavy, greasy food, drinking more water, definitely passing up meat on Friday and giving up something like chocolate, which is full of fat anyway, and spending more time in meditation and contemplation.
Imbolc is a time of purification, so I may be purifying tools, old and new, rededicating old tools and dedicating new ones. I may be on the search for new statues for my altar or a new incense burner or new cauldron.
So whatever you do in your Imbolc practices, dedicate them to your Sacred Spirit and prepare for the most festive of seasons.
Brightest Blessings Be
Aslinn Dhan Dragonhawk
Imbolc lands during an auspicious time for the Christian Crafter, especially one who is Catholic. This year, Imbolc lands just before the Lenten season, the time of sacrifice in preparation for the Easter Holiday when we Christian Crafters celebrate the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus. The theme should be familiar for Wiccan and Pagan folk, as they celebrated the death and resurrection of their god at Yule.
Imbolc for our Pagan and Wiccan friends is the celebration of the first signs of spring. It is the milk festival, when the lambs are born and begin to suckle. It is also called Brigantia, the Feast of Brede, or Bridget. This is a feast to bring honor to the earth goddess of the Celts or Druids. The Irish have since Christianized Bridget, but this is not the way I celebrate Imbolc. For me, Imbolc is the waiting time, when I mark not only my Christian fsting, but my Wicce fasting, to purify myself and prepare for Ostara, where I shed the old self and prepare for the new growing season of spring. It is during this time that I get ready to plant my herbs and my flowers and I clean my home and my sacred space and get ready for a summer of preparing new potions, new ingredients, and getting ready for another year of healing, creativity and rest. I may also be reading books I have bought through the winter and did not have time to read and study and I may be buying more books. I will be also adding to my Book of Shadows.
Imbolc is my signal to begin the process of getting rid of things I no longer need. I may be giving away books, if I haven't marked them up badly, which is something I do when I study, I can't help it. I may be cataloging things and making note of things that I need and what I don't need anymore.
I will be fasting. I will cut back on heavy, greasy food, drinking more water, definitely passing up meat on Friday and giving up something like chocolate, which is full of fat anyway, and spending more time in meditation and contemplation.
Imbolc is a time of purification, so I may be purifying tools, old and new, rededicating old tools and dedicating new ones. I may be on the search for new statues for my altar or a new incense burner or new cauldron.
So whatever you do in your Imbolc practices, dedicate them to your Sacred Spirit and prepare for the most festive of seasons.
Brightest Blessings Be
Aslinn Dhan Dragonhawk
Monday, January 01, 2007
Happy News Years....Next Holiday: Imbolc
Merry Meet!
Hello. I have just a bit of time to say hello to anyone who may be checking out my blog. For the coming year I will be working on my blog more and getting more from my book of shadows on line and do some more with the holidays.
Hope everyone is having a wonderful New Years.....
Brightest Blessings Be
Aslinn Dhan Dragonhawk
Hello. I have just a bit of time to say hello to anyone who may be checking out my blog. For the coming year I will be working on my blog more and getting more from my book of shadows on line and do some more with the holidays.
Hope everyone is having a wonderful New Years.....
Brightest Blessings Be
Aslinn Dhan Dragonhawk
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