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

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

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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

Celebrating the Summer Solstice and Celebrating our Fathers

June the 21^st 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.

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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