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

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

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