Year and a Day: Day 7

A Week into studies and going strong!

Witches and Sacred Symbols

Symbolism is an important topic in Wicca as much of our beliefs, practices, spellwork, and ritual relies heavily on symbols.

A Symbol is a form that represents something else. They are usually used to understand and explain abstract ideas, philosophical points, and religious concepts.
Pretty simple, yes?

Symbols change from culture to culture, from place to place and can even change from coven or group to group. However, underneath all these symbol changes, there is a similar or same basic idea defining them.

The problem with using symbols is that all too often the symbol is taken for the thing or concept itself. An example is a brass horn symbolizing might, triumph, victory, masculine power, etc. Now, the problem arises when someone says "he blew down the walls with his brass horn" and people take it literally that the horn blew down the walls rather than the might and power the horn symbolized.

When symbols are taken literally, spirituality becomes dogmatic.

In Wicca we use symbols for so many things.
In your studies you will see symbols used to represent, sympathize and connect to broader ideas and beings. You will use a Chalice of water to symbolize the Mother Goddess and Her womb and the Athame to symbolize the Heroic God and his phallus and a step further, their mating by dipping the tip of the blade into the cup.
You will also learn how symbols in your daily life can be considered Omens and how to read them as messages from your subconscious, your Higher Self, and/or from the Divine.

Homework!
Pick a symbol, it can be anything, but pick one you are accustomed to and have seen and dealt with regularly.
In your Book of Shadows, contemplate the meaning of this symbol. Are there multiple meanings? What does it mean for you personally?

An Example:
An Apple
An Apple a Day keeps the Doctor away! Making it a symbol of nutrition and health.
Eve ate the Apple in the Garden of Eden and lost Paradise. The Apple is a symbol of the Knowledge of Good and Evil as well as of Sin.
The Apple, cut in half on its side reveals a star in the middle surrounded by a circle made by the peel - A Pentagram, the symbol of Wicca.

Year and a Day: Day 6

Wicca and Shamanism

For many, Wicca is a Shamanic Path. As a religion that draws on ancient Goddess-based spirituality, it will naturally pick up the ancient spiritual practices that go along with these.

A Shaman is a spiritual leader, teacher and healer within an ancient tribal society. He or she presides over all the rites of passage from birth to death, heals the sick, divines the fates of his or her people, counsels, and is the tribes connection with the Divine.
A person usually becomes a shaman after a traumatic childhood incident or sickness. He or she demonstrates some sort of psychic or supernatural ability such as a 6th sense or visionary dreams. The elder or shaman will then take him or her under their wing and teach the student the secrets of magic and power passed down from shaman to shaman as a sort of apprenticeship.
The shaman's power comes from secret magical practices and ecstatic rites where they visit other planes of existence and speak with spirits. By doing this, they heal members of the tribe through soul retrieval from the other worlds or by exorcising the negative energy in them. This, combined with training in herbalism, crystal healing, totemic worship and prayer allows them to aid others around them.

Wicca is similar to Shamanism in its spiritual work, its emphasis on community aid, and in its training through apprenticeship and study.
However, Wicca differs because, unlike Shamanism, Wiccans usually work in groups and have ritual practices that include other witches. Also, much of Wiccan practice comes from ceremonial traditions with emphasis on philosophies such as Alchemy, Hermeticism, and more (which we will cover later on).

In the Correllian Wiccan Tradition, Shamanism is taught separately from the traditional path and 3 Degree systems. It is a 1 year study, much like a year and a day study for an initiate. The studies with this school focus on divination, psychopomp, soul retrieval and shamanic history rather than the traditional teachings of Wiccan ceremony, ritual, and methods. In this way Wicca is more like High Magic when compared to Shamanism though both can go hand in hand.

Damon and I incorporate some Shamanic activities in our ritual practice such as ecstatic music with changing, drumming, singing bowls, rattles, bells and even dancing. We also use drumming in meditation, to go within, much like a spirit journey to other planes to receive information as a Shaman would.

Bibliography
The Way of the Shaman by Michael Harner
Wicca: A Year and a Day by Timothy Roderick
Circle of the Sacred Drum School http://sacreddrumcircle.org/school-of-shamanism.html

Year and a Day: Day 4

"While we choose a Path, our feet mold the soil beneath us. As you walk, that Path shifts a bit with your movement in each step you take. As much as it changes you, you change it! And there may come a day when you outgrow that road and have to find one that does to a slightly different place in spirit and life to become fulfilled and whole." ~ Patricia Telesco

Questioning Your Path

Choosing your own Spiritual or Religious Path is part of the ability to make honest, powerful life choices. These choices should be made with a clear perspective and with honesty to yourself.

Open up your Book of Shadows and write down the following questions with your answers.
You can make this a meditation or a a spiritual exercise by clearing and releasing before hand, lighting a candle and/or incense. Relax and do this in a space that is comforting and where you feel secure to think and turn inward without disruption.

• Why am I exploring the Wiccan Path?
• Where am I coming from? What are my previous spiritual and religious practices?
• How did my past practices lead me to investigate Wicca?
• What do I hope to gain from exploring Wicca?
• What am I afraid of as I look at the path before me?
• How will I handle others who might not approve of my new practices? How will I handle friends who don't approve? Family? Strangers?

Aside from this spiritual transition, is there anything else going on in my life that is effecting me at this time? (Deaths, births, marriages, divorce, job change?)
How is this transition effecting my decision to explore Wicca?
If there are major life events going on, is this a good time to explore a new path? Why/why not?

Then, Evaluate Your Personal Belief System and Religion. The following questions from An Enchanted Life by Patricia Telesco are very helpful in this matter. Some of the following you may not be sure of how to answer yet. Write the question down and come back to it as you learn more along your path. Do not be surprised if your answers change along the way.

• Which Ethical guidelines does your faith or personal vows require of you? 
• If you agree with the guidelines of your faith, but do not find yourself following them, what do you believe is holding you back?
• Which emotional, physical, and mental guidelines or challenges does your faith offer? (remember that you are body, mind and spirit and all three must be served to become adept at anything)
• What are the basic strictures of your beliefs and how flexible are they to meet the moment and a changing world?
• How do you see god? (active, passive; as one or as many?)
• What is your view on other spiritual paths, even those with which you might not always agree? (This question may be uncomfortable but be honest with yourself and remember that no one else need ever read your BOS unless you allow them and even then, you do not have to be and open book on everything)
• How do you see your beliefs changing as time goes on, and will that effect by what name you call yourself (Wiccan, Christian, Shaman, etc)?
• How do you see others in your faith changing as time goes on, and how will this affect the stability of the whole?
• Which role(s) do you see yourself accepting in your faith and why? (we will be covering many roles in these lessons and this answer can change as time goes on and as you learn other positions and archetypes in the Craft)
• What attracted you to your current belief system and does that factor still hold appeal?
• Has your faith grown and changed with you, or is it stagnating and potentially holding you back?
• Are you as happy now with your choice of Path as you were in the beginning? Why? 
• What will continue to make you happy or improve things?
• Does your belief system uplift and motivate the individual's potential or undermine it? How?
• Does your belief system honor the Earth or view it as something over which to have dominion?

After finishing, take a moment to read your answers, aloud if you like, and contemplate them. Write more if you need to. Do any other questions come up? Write them down with your answers.

Year and a Day: Day 3

Melting Beliefs Spell

Tools
A sheet with the answers from yesterdays questions copied on them.
A small white candle (a tea light or white taper will do)
A pin or something to etch the candle with
A candle holder
A lighter or matches

After you set everything up, begin by taking a few deep breaths and cleansing your energy and grounding as mentioned in Day 1 Exercise.
Take a look at your answers, read them aloud if you're comfortable doing so and consider them and why you answered that way. Examine the tone of your answers.
Is there fear? Anger? Sadness? Ask yourself why.
Write that them down on the paper with your answers, try and keep it simple, one word.

Etch the word you chose into the candle - if the word is too big, a symbol or letter will do - a frowny face or smiley face will do if necessary.
Close your eyes and think of that word. Let that feeling emerge in you and feel it fully.
Now think about the reason why you feel this way. It may be because of a moment in your life, if so, take yourself back to that scene. Once you have the reason or image of that scene in your life clear in your mind, open your eyes.
Light the candle.
As the candle burns, melting that word away, your concept formed from the past is melted away as well.
When the candle is spent, take the wax left over and your paper and bury it somewhere away from your home.

Write this spell and your experience of it in your Book of Shadows.
Include the image, emotions, and memories your meditation brought up.
Do you feel you have let go of that emotion? If no, do you believe doing the spell again at a later date will help?
Write it all down.

*This spell is from Wicca Year and a Day by Timothy Roderick

Year and a Day: Day 2

The Power of Words

Wicca is a practice filled with terms that can enchant, amuse, and bewilder.
Wiccans accept accept words are only valuable as signposts and guides that point toward mystic experience.
However, the language of Wicca often goes against the social norm. The following terms are ones that can trigger strong emotions in most people:

Wicca
Witchcraft
Ritual
Magic(k)
Occult
Pagan
Spell
Earth-Religion
Power

Homework!

Take the words from the list above and define them in your own words in your Book of Shadows.
Include in your definition how you understand each word and answer the following questions:

What is your comfort level using these words?
How do you imagine these words impact other people who are not involved in Wicca?
How does your relationship with Wicca effect your definition with these words?

Year and a Day: Day 1

I am beginning these Year and a Day lessons and exercises on November 1st, the day after Samhain also called The Witches' New Year.

Today is All Saints Day or Hallowmas, a day to celebrate the Ancestors and those who have carved the path of the Craft before us.

Connecting to the Earth

Timothy Roderick in his book on a Year and a Day study writes, " Spirituality has its birthplace right here - in the dirt, in the soil, in the struggles and triumphs of everyday life. It emerged from human laughter and fear. It was something that pervaded one's eating, sleeping, eliminating, and reproducing. It governed family and community life, the coming of age, marriages, births, and deaths. Spirituality had little to do with lofty philosophical notions - the things that emerge from thinking - it centered on hard facts of life. the soft facts of life must have played their part too. Love, tenderness, and compassion are universal human emotions that have long quickened the heart and informed the spirit."

Sally Griffin writes in Wiccan Wisdomkeepers, "At the dawn of the new millennium, many spiritual traditions think that the twenty-first century will be a Golden Age, with tremendous shifts of consciousness on a universal scale. The spiritual knowledge of older religions is being sought as an answer to the overwhelming pace of modern life...Although Wicca is the modern branch of a mucholder nature religion, Wide Craft or Witchcraft, it offers some ancient insights from Western sources...The resurgence in interest in the land as teacher has moved into focus for those interested in British Pagan history."

Wicca and Witchcraft is about connecting to the Earth, to Nature, to our own Spirit, to the Divine in whatever name or form we give Them.
It is not the path of the faint of heart nor for those who disdain or fear nature.
It is the path of harmony with all that is around us and in us.
You will have to ask yourself, can you handle rain and sleet, boiling heat or high winds? Can you dance in a rainstorm and give praise to thunder and lightning? Can you go barefoot in fields of grass, meditate under a tree, appreciate the beauty of insects?
If not...there are of course ways around this, but it would make bringing yourself into harmony with nature harder.

(You should of course not expose yourself to certain climates or do certain activities if your health will be at risk. This will not make you any less of a Witch, instead, it will build on your ability to compromise and find new ways of doing things.)

Exercise 1

These exercises will aid in both bringing yourself into harmony and balance but also in building your psychic and spiritual development.
Magical ability is like a muscle that must first be developed then grows stronger with use.
It is best to practice these exercises every day or as often as your schedule allows.
Some witches will practice on an empty stomach, much as you would exercise on an empty stomach. It is also good to drink plenty of water.
Wear loose, comfortable clothes, unless you feel better practicing in no clothes at all - when appropriate.

If the weather permits, go outside. Sit somewhere in a natural setting such as under a tree, in a quiet park, down at the beach. Even your own back yard or a patch of grass near your work place will do.
If you can bear the chill, take off your shoes so that your feet have connection with the earth.

Find a comfortable position sitting or lying down. As you sit, breath deeply into your stomach. Relax and let your body become connected with the earth beneath you.
Now Visualize or Imagine you have roots extending from the base of your spine into the earth. These roots run deep, as deep as you can, connecting you to the earth. Breath and feel your connection.
Now, bring your awareness up from the roots to your head and visualize a bright white light pouring down from above. The light passes through your whole body slowly, down from your head to your the base of your spine to your feet then down the roots you created.
Release all tension as the light passes through. Release all anxieties and stress. Release all these things with the white light and let it flow out of you. When the last of it is gone, let the light stop coming into your and let the last of it flow out of you into the earth.

This exercise is one you can do to release excess or non-beneficial energy any time and is one you should use (indoors or outside) before and after you do any magical working so that you do not bring outside energies into your circle or work and so that you do not carry excess energy out from your work.

By creating those roots into the earth, and also by sitting or standing barefoot on the earth, you become Grounded. Grounding is especially good in times of jittery nerves, when you cannot focus, or even when you are not feeling well.

Bibliography
Llewellyn's Magical Almanac
Wicca: A Year and a Day by Timothy Roderick
Witch School First Degree by Rev. Don Lewis-Highcorrell

Happy Witch's New Year

Now is a great time to start anew, make magical and academic resolutions, and the like. Many witches start their Year and a Day studies during this time.
Take a moment to look within, see the path of your True Will. Access what it is that you believe and where you want to go.
Ask your Ancestors and Deities and Guides to assist your journey and open yourself to their advice.

Blessings be to all of you.

Basic Safety Reminders

As witches work their magic, it is very easy to focus on the metaphysical and spiritual and forget about mundane safety, or worse yet, expect the magical safety precautions will protect from mundane accidents. 

Witches love candles. Candle magic is one of the most important things a witch can learn, in my opinion and some of my favorite spells involve candles. However, candles do pose a danger if not handled with knowledge of basic fire safety. 

Do not place a lit candle near flammable items such as curtains, altar cloth pieces, dried plants, feathers, ets. 

Place yoru candle in a candle holder or on a sturdy surface. 

Do not place a lit candle in a cluttered area. 

Do not place where animals or children can touch it or knock it over (yes, even familiars can do this, no matter how well trained). 

Keep candle wicks trimmed to 1/4 of an inch to reduce flickering and smoking. 

Extinguish your candle when it is not being watched! Even if its a candle to Vesta or Brigit, unless you have 9 maidens watching it continuously, extinguish it. 

Be careful of working with candles when wearing robes with long, bell-shaped, or flowing sleeves or belts, etc. They could easily catch fire if being careless around a flame. 

If you are working candle or fire magic with others, be sure to talk with them about these basic safety precautions. Group events should have a fire extinguisher readily available (you could even appoint someone as a Fire Safety attendant to keep an eye on candles, extinguisher, etc). 

The above precautions go for incense and incense burners as well. 

When working with herbs and studying herbalism/herbology remember to NEVER ingest any plant you are not 100% positive of identification. 

If you are working with known poisonous plants wear gloves and make sure your tools are not used later with non-toxic plants as the poisons can still linger. Example: have a mortar and pestle set aside that you only use for toxic plants. 

And last, but not least...

Safe Sex doesn't sound particularly witchy or magical but if you begin practicing Tantric sex or perhaps you and a partner decide to work a Great Rite, be sure to practice safe sex. 

A magic circle isn't going to protect you from STDs and, unless it is your goal, invoking the Maiden will not keep you from getting pregnant. 

What is a Year and a Day?

A Year and a Day is the traditional time frame in which a student of the Craft takes to learn the methods and the beliefs of their faith and practice. Customarily, the student would study under a Mentor or an Elder in the coven or temple. Today, many students learn on their own as solitary witches from various books and websites. Still others learn in a mixture of these ways, through correspondence with a larger temple or group but practicing on their own due to difficulties of travel.

Students can begin their Year and a Day of training any time they like. Traditional times of beginning include Samhain or the student's Birthday. Others feel that the time between Samhain and Imbolc wields little magical growth and is therefore not a good time to begin their magical journey.

There are no rules as each student is different and has different ways of learning. However, to get the best out of any way you approach this year and a day - commitment, patience, self-care, and remember why you are doing this (and that only you can answer that question of why).

A Year and a Day is work and you will only reap what you put into it. No one else can walk the path for you, only beside you. Remember that others have walked this path before, do not be afraid to ask for aid.

The Witch's Rede of Chivalry

The Witches Rede of Chivalry 

Insofar as the Craft of the Wise is the most ancient and most honorable creed of humankind, it behooves all who are Witches to act in ways that give respect to the Old Gods, to their sisters and brothers of the Craft, and to themselves.

Therefore, be it noted that: Chivalry is a high code of honor which is of most ancient Celtic Pagan origin, and must be lived by all who follow the Old Ways.

It must be kenned that thoughts and intent put forth on this Middle-Earth will wax strong in other worlds beyond, and return
bringing into creation, on this world, that which had been sent forth. Thus one should exercise discipline, for "as ye sow, so shall ye reap."

It is only by preparing our minds to be as Gods that we can ultimately attain godhead. "This above all...to thine own self be true."

A Witch's word must have the validity of a signed and witnessed oath. Thus, give thy word sparingly, but adhere to it like iron.

Refrain from speaking ill of others, for not all truths of the matter may be known. Pass not unverified words about another, for hearsay is, in large part, a thing of falsehoods.

Be thou honest with others, and have them known that honesty is likewise expected of them.

The fury of the moment plays folly with the truth; to keep one's head is a virtue.

Contemplate always the consequences of thine acts upon others. Strive not to harm another.

Though there may be differences between those of the Old Ways, diverse covens and circles may well have diverse views. These views, even if they are different than yours, should always be given respect. When a coven, circle, clan, or grove is visited or joined, one should discern quietly their practices, and abide thereby.

Dignity, a gracious manner, and a good humor are much to be admired.

As a Witch, thou hast power, and thy powers wax strongly as wisdom increases. Therefore exercise discretion in the use thereof.

Courage and honor endure forever. Their echoes remain when the mountains have crumbled to dust.

Pledge friendship and fealty to those who so warrant.

Strengthen others of the Brethren and they shall strengthen thee.

Thou shalt not reveal the secrets of another Witch or another Coven. Others have labored long and hard for them, and cherish them as treasures.

Those who follow the mysteries should be above reproach in the eyes of the world, and should always seek to make this so.

The laws of the land should be obeyed whenever possible and within reason, for in the main they have been chosen with wisdom for the well-being of all.

Have pride in thyself, and seek perfection in body and in mind. For the Lady hath said, "How canst thou honor another unless thou give honor to thyself firstly?"

Those who seek the Mysteries should consider themselves as select of the Gods, for it is they who lead the race of humankind to the highest of thrones and beyond to the very stars.

http://www.thesmartwitch.com/

Circumstances of Birth and Scholarship

Weird blog title, I know.
This morning, I was reading Witches' Night Out by Silver RavenWolf (its teen fiction but good all the same) and part of the story was talking about those born into witchcraft (a lineage of it in their family) and those who come to it by study and practice.
This reminded me of something I read a while back about following the religion you were born into rather than breaking from family tradition and how it just didn't feel true or right to me as a person who is the only practicing witch in my family (not counting the superstitions of Cherokee/Algonquin/Irish Appalachian family members).

It then occured to me why I wasn't born into a family of witches.
You see, I believe that we choose a good deal of what happens to us at least in the first parts of our lives before we are born. I guess I sort of imagine it as we are in limbo, awaiting rebirth, and deciding from knowledge of past lives and experiences what lessons we will need to learn in this lifetime to bring us one step closer to enlightenment and reunion with the Divine.

Th reason, I believe, I wasn't born in a family that practices witchcraft is because I am a person who feels knowledge is one of the most important things in the world. The Hindus called my personality type a Jnani Yogi - one who's purpose is To Know. J.K. Rowling would just call me a Ravenclaw, lol.
Because I am like this, and this attitude is something I feel is part of my spirit and not something cultivated in this lifetime, I do't think I would have taken any knowledge just handed to me of witchcraft if I was born into it.
To me, truth and knowledge are things worked for.
When I study crystals, I read every book I can from reputable authors and then spend hours making notes and diagrams and cajoling people into letting me practice on them by either adding their names to crystal grids, giving them crystals and/or letting me put crystals on them for healing.
If i was born into a practice where someone simply told me "this crystal grid is for that, and that's just how it is" it wouldn't be the same for me. I wouldn't have learned the lessons of self-discipline and scholarship I have learned and am still learning.

So looking back to those times when I met people born into a family tradition and felt so jealous, I wish I could hug myself and tell that younger, past self, don't be jealous. You are on the path you need to be on and it was the only way for you to learn your truth.
Instead of a time machine (where's Doctor Who) and helping past me, I figured I'd just share this lesson with you all in hopes that you might look at your own path and maybe see the reason certain things are laid out for you the way that they are.

Blessed Be

The Wheel of the Year aka Pagan Holidays

The Wheel of the Year

The Wheel of the Year is a calendar of holy days celebrated by pagan people. This calendar of eight holidays or sabbats is symbolized as an eight-spoke wheel. The circular wheel represents the cyclical aspect of nature, in that as the earth goes round the sun the seasons cycle from one to the other and back again. The spokes or holidays in the wheel are set on very specific points in that seasonal cycle.

Mike Nichols in his collection of essays on the Wheel of the year stated, “The most important thing to understand about the eight Witchcraft Sabbats is that they are not man-made.” He meant that the holidays were not decided upon and set due to some human idea of celebrating things like freedom on Independence Day or certain people such as Martin Luther King Jr. Day. These were created by nature. “No, the eight Sabbats of Witchcraft were not man-made because they existed long before man was made… Indeed, these eight holidays might be said to be as old as the Earth itself…The reason these holidays are so old is because they are a basic part of how the Earth works.”

He explains that any person who pays attention to the seasons will notice that one day in summer is the longest in the year (Midsummer) while one day in winter is the shortest (Yule). That person will also notice that there are two days in which the day and night are of equal length, one in spring (Ostara) and one in fall (Mabon). These are natural holy days created by the earth’s cycles around the sun.

Terminology: Sabbat
The origins of the term Sabbat is slightly convoluted and could come from a variety of sources. Some texts correlate it to the Jewish term ‘Sabbath,’ or holy day, while others suggest that it comes from the French ‘Esbat’ or celebration.
Nichols states that Sabbat comes from the Babylonian, “Incidentally, the word ‘Sabbat’ was originally Babylonian and was used to designate the quarter-days of the lunar cycle -- Full, New, First and Last Quarter -- thus occurring about every seven days. It was only later that the Hebrews borrowed the word and used it to denote "the Lord's day", occurring every seventh day without exception.”

The Greater Sabbats and the Lesser Sabbats
The eight sabbats of the wheel of the year are split into two sects according to their importance in the Witches’ Calender; the Greater Sabbats and the Lesser Sabbats.
The Lesser Sabbats are solar sabbats sacred to the God. They are Yule, Ostara, Litha and Mabon. These are also known as Equinoxes and Solstices and are marked by the length of the day.
The Greater Sabbats consist of the four holy days; Samhain, Beltane, Imbolc and Lughnassadh. These are four lunar sabbats and are sacred to the Goddess. That these are Greater Sabbats, even though not marked by any lengthening or shortening of the day, according to Nichols, should come as no surprise. “It is a common human experience that things reach their greatest strength, their moment of peak energy, at their midpoint.”



The Sabbats
Samhain
Pronounced “Sow-en” or “Soh-en,” Samhain is the most import day of the Witches’ Calendar. It is the Witches’ New Year and dedicated to the death of the old so it can be reborn into the new. The name, Samhain, means “Summer’s End” in Gaelic, which is exactly what the holiday is, the end of the summer and the dark half of the year.

There are three major themes to Samhain; death and rebirth, honoring the ancestors, and the festival of the last harvest before the cold of winter. Activities for this festival can include divination, lighting of sacred fires, visiting the graves of lost loved ones, and feasting. Divination is a popular activity among pagans and witches celebrating Samhain, using methods such as tarot, scrying in black mirrors or fire, tea-leaf reading, pendulums and more.

Modern day activities such as trick-or-treating and carving jack-o-lanterns all spawn from ancient traditions for this festival. On Samhain, the spirits of the dead and creatures such as the fae roam freely in our realm and, traditionally, humans would leave food and offerings at the table or on the door step to appease them. This is the start of a tradition of children pretending to be ghouls and goblins going door to door to request candy to appease their mischievous ways. Candles inside carved squash, gourds, and turnips light the way for lost souls.

The modern day activity of dressing in costume for Halloween can find its roots in the practices of the Celts. To celebrate Samhain, boys and girls would exchange clothing in order to confuse and put off mischievous spirits as well as to confuse the victims of their own playful pranks.
Though Samhain is actually on November 1st, celebrations start the night before just as they would have when the ancient Celts, who believe the day starts at sundown, would have celebrated it. This celebration the eve before the day was called Oiche Shamna, pronounced “uh-EEK-uh HOW-nuh.”

Personal Note
Samhain is my favorite holy day of the Wheel of the Year. It is on this day that I feel the collective consciousness of others like me, other witches creating the mindset of Witch, giving it life and energy that can be felt in every move we make to prepare for the new year whether we’re writing up a ritual for a coven or simply purchasing a black candle for a solitary rite. I can feel it coursing in my blood, the autumn air that fills my lungs and caresses my skin is blended with this sacred energy of Witch and it is the holy day that I feel most alive and am reborn again on my sacred path and life purpose.

Correspondences of Samhain
Deities: The Crone Goddess known as Hekate, Cerridwen, and the Morrigan and the horned or elder god known as the Dagda, the Oak or Holly King and gods of the dead such as Persephone or Kore, Hades, Anubis, and Osiris. The druids specifically celebrated in the name of the Morrigan and the Dagda.
Colors: Black, harvest colors such as orange, brown and red.
Herbs: Acorn and Oak, Apple, Arborvitae (Yellow Cedar), Corn, Dittany of Crete, Fumitory, Hazel, Mullein, Nightshade, Pumpkin, Sage, Turnip, Wormwood
Stones: Quartz crystal, hematite, jet, apache tears, black onyx.
Foods: wild game, fresh foods from late harvest including corn, whole grain breads, squash and pumpkin, apples and late fruit such as pears.
Libation: Apple cider, Harvest Moonshine, mead, spiced mulled wine.

Yule
The Mid-winter Solstice, also known as Yule or Mein Geimhridh, is a celebration of the darkest night of the year and the coming light of the sun. As a solar holiday and Lesser Sabbat, it is a day marked by the shortest day of the year. This shortness of light is personified in Celtic tradition by a battle between the two gods, the Oak King and the Holly King. The Oak King is the youthful god of light and summer, while the Holly King is the elder god of darkness and winter and is the forefather of the celebrated Saint Nicholas or Santa Clause who is part of the modern day Christmas celebrations. During the tales of this battle, the Oak King defeats the Holly King only to be defeated later in the year when darkness takes over light again.

Yule is often celebrated by a number of activities focused on the hearth and home, spending time with friends, family and loved ones. The Yule Log is a popular focal point of the holiday that has its roots in tradition and has influenced modern day practices such as decorating the Christmas tree. The Yule Log is usually a log of oak, or other hard wood, that was either given to a family or cut down on the family’s own land. Emphasis is on never buying or bartering for a Yule Log as to do so would deplete the magical properties of prosperity and abundance. The Yule Log is then decorated with evergreens, holly, ribbons, herbs and other things that could safely be burned and also add to its magical properties. The Yule log is then ceremonially burned in the central fireplace of the home and is meant to smolder and burn for twelve days – though more modern traditions a lot a single night or simply light candles on the Yule Log rather than burn it.
Other traditions, such as caroling or wassailing also can be traced back to ancient celebrations. The Druids would wassail sacred places, trees as well as homes and animals with spiced cider, ale, wine, and mead. This not only makes for a merry ole time for those traveling from place to place in the winter cold but also provides magical offering of warmth (via heart, alcohol, and spice) to the place blessed.

Herbs that are well known for their use during Yule from ancient tradition to modern day include the use of mistletoe. The modern day rite of being caught and kissed under a sprig of mistletoe has been common in home and lodge for many years. However, the use of the herb holly used to be more commonly considered sacred by the Celts who would keep a sprig of holly used in yule decoration all year round in order to bring the blessings of nature spirits into the home.

Correspondences of Yule
Deities: The God depicted as an old man; Cernunnos, Odin, Harlequin, Santa Claus, the Holly King and the Crone. The Celts celebrated the Dagda as well as his daughter Brighid who is the Maiden who brings the warmth of light into the cold winter.
Herbs: Aborvitae (Yellow Cedar), Ash, Bay Laurel, Blessed Thistle, Chamomile, Frankincense, Holly, Juniper, Mistletoe, Pine
Stones: Ruby, Garnet, Emerald, Malachite, Clear Quartz, Diamond
Foods: Preserved foods as well as winter produce such as root vegetables and herbs, winter squash. Dried, preserved and candied fruits either alone or combined in baked goods.
Libation: Spiced or mulled wine, cider or mead; Dandelion wine to honor the strengthening Sun.

Imbolc
Celebrated on February 1st or 2nd, the pagan holy day of Imbolc may seem to the common person to have very little to do with the modern day celebration of Groundhog Day in which a groundhog is watched as it comes out of its winter home, tests the air and returns and those watching debate on the earliness or lateness of spring depending on whether the creature saw its own shadow or not. However, the student of history and of witchcraft can easily see the connection.

Imbolc, also called Oimelc or Candlemas, is a Greater Sabbat that celebrates the fading of winter and the first glimpses of spring. Imbol or Oimelc is a term meaning the “Lactation of the Ewes.” This is in reference to the herd animals kept in the barn or closed in during the winter being pregnant and lactating at this time.
The term Candlemas is in reference to the man candles and fires lit on this holiday to encourage and aid the Sun in its bringing of warmth and spring to the world. These candles are also burned in celebration of the Maiden goddess, Brighid who is the goddess of sacred fire. For Her, this holy day is also called La Fheile Bride or “Feast of the Bride.”

Other activities of celebration, other than the lighting of candles and fires, included consecration of agricultural tools as farmers and gardeners prepare for spring planting. The fashioning corn or straw dollies as well as clothes, beds and wands for them is done now in honor of the Maiden.

Correspondences for Imbolc
Deities: The Maiden goddess known as Brighid, Eos, Aradia, and Vesta. The Young God known as Eros and Aengus Og.
Herbs: Angelica, Basil, Bay, Benzoin, Blackberry, Celandine, Coltsfoot, Heather, Iris, Myrrh, Tansy, Violets
Stones: Amethyst, Citrine, Garnet, Green Tourmaline, Ruby, Turquoise
Foods: Those that honor the hearth and the fire within including most breads, preserved foods, and dairy products.
Libation: Fresh milk, Dandelion wine, mead and ale.

Ostara
The Spring Equinox or first day of spring is a Lesser Sabbat in which day and night are of equal lengths. This holy day is called Ostara, Eostra, Mean Earraigh, and Alban Eilir among other names. Ostara and Eostra are terms that stem from the aspect of the Maiden goddess celebrated at this time, Eos or Eostre.
In modern day celebrations of Ostara, most of the general public recognize this day as Easter in which the hunting of colored eggs, the finding of Easter baskets, and the visitation of a sacred rabbit are all activities that stem from ancient traditions.

The Celts celebrated this time in spring, when birds began their nesting and egg-laying, by decorating the eggs with color and symbols that they wished to manifest in the coming year. The eggs would then be buried in the Mother Earth for the goals to be manifest. This developed into the dying and hiding of eggs in more modern times.

Personal Note
Ostara holds a special place in my heart as this was the holiday on which I was handfasted to my husband. During this ritual, which was held in private between the two of us, we lit white candles, had a small picnic of hard boiled eggs, milk, and greens, gave blessing to the earth in her garments of spring and after the handfasting ritual reveled in the beauty of the sounds of spring and the animals outside of our home.

Correspondences for Ostara
Deities: The Maiden Goddess Eos or Boand, the Young God as her Consort Aenghus Og
Herbs: Acorn, Celandine, Cinquefoil, Dandelion, Dogwood, Honeysuckle (Woodbine), Iris, Jasmine, Rose, Tansy, Violet
Stones: Clear quartz crystal, rose quartz, agate, lapis lazuli, amazonite, garnet.
Foods: Eggs in their various forms but mostly hard or soft boiled, spring greens such as dandelion and clover, milk and dairy products, small game such as spring hares
Libation: Dandelion wine, milk, fresh herbal infusions, white wines, light beers or ales.

Beltane
Samhain’s light twin, Beltane is the polar opposite of the Witches’ New Year. The term Beltane, Bealteinne, or Beltaine are used for this holy day in reference to the bale fires lit, a tradition that stems from the celebration of the Celtic god Bel, Beli or Belinus who can be traced to the Middle Eastern god Baal. Other names for the Sabbat include Kalenda Maia, Roodmas, Walpugis, May Day, or simply May.
While Beltane is a festival of Life and fertility, it is also a festival of death. This is a time in ancient years past in which a sacrifice might have been made in order to ensure the fertility of the land and the prosperity of the many. This sacrifice in today’s rituals is purely symbolic but still holds the abundant magic of old. The magic of Beltane held such deep significance for the Celts that many important historic occasions were said to have taken place on that date including the settling of Ireland by the Tuatha De Danan.

Activities for the holy day include dancing around a May Pole, which is still done today. The pole itself is made from birch, one of the nine sacred trees of the Druids and is a phallic symbol that is planted deeply and firmly into Mother Earth. The pole also represents the movement of energy between Father Sky and Mother Earth that is further symbolized by the spiraling of ribbons down the pole during a May Pole dance.
A May Queen and King are also selected. The Queen is usually a maiden selected by the community for her beauty or other generous endowments. She either selects the King or he is selected by some activity as a foot race, a hunt, or having climbed the May Pole itself. The two represent the Mother Goddess and the Hunter and their union on this holy day.

The visitation of sacred sites, especially standing stones, is popular during this time. In olden days, offerings of milk and honey and herbs were given to these stones. It was believed that passing of a babe, an ill person or initiates through a hollow of a stone gave them protection and cured disease.
As a day of fertililty, this is also a day in which romance is in the air, especially for young people. Young women would wake early, before dawn, on Beltane to go out into the fields and wash their faces in the first dew of the day in order to obtain beauty to lure a mate. Young couples take to the hills, newly plowed lands, and forests to energize the soil with their…activities.

Though romance is high on this day, it is said to be unlucky to marry on Beltane. In fact, the Celts often held divorce procedures on this day! This belief may be due to the tendency to be a little cavalier in ones sex life during this Sabbat.

Correspondences for Beltane
Deities: The Mother Goddess Eartha, Demeter, Mati Suira Zemlya, Yemaya, Gaia, and others; the God in his aspect as Huntsman and Consort; Bel.
Herbs: Almond, Belladonna, Clover, Frankincense, Hawthorn, Ivy, Marigold, Meadowsweet, Orchid Root, Rose, Rowan, Sorrel, Woodruff
Stones: Malachite, garnet, rose quartz, emerald, beryl, tourmaline.
Foods: Fresh fruits and vegetables, flowers are in everything including salads, sweets of all kinds such as candied violets and honeyed roses.
Libation: May wine, honey mead, fruit punches

Litha
The height of summer as well as the other half of the celebration marked by Yule in which the Oak King and the Holly King meet again, this time so that the Holly King may defeat the Oak King and begin his reign in bringing darkness again to the world.

The celebrations of Midsummer revel in the powers of light and life. Celebrations are often raucous and out of doors, gathered around bonfires, dancing, leaping fires, drinking to the coming harvest, and staying up through the night before to greet the sun are common activities. Gifts of flowers are common on this day as well as gifts representing the sun such as coins, pottery, and golden objects.

Women with child are lauded in representation of the Mother Goddess about to give birth to the harvest. Solar shrines and healing springs are visited by pilgrims as well as cleaned and decorated with flowers and sacred gifts.

Healing springs and sacred wells are used for divination purposes as well as sacred fires. Most divination at this time is in regards to the harvest and prosperity. Creativity magic is also common as the Mother Goddess is at her peak for creative energy.

Correspondences for Litha
Deities: The God in his aspect of Sun King Apollo, Balder, Lugh, Horus, Chango, and others;
Herbs: Chamomile, Chickweed, Chicory, Cinquefoil, Dogwood, Elderflower, Fennel, Figwort, Hemp, Larkspur, Lavender, Male Fern, Meadowsweet, Mistletoe, Mugwort, Pine, Rose, St. John’s Wort, and Vervain.
Stones: all green gemstones, especially emerald and jade, tiger's eye, lapus lazuli and diamonds
Foods: Fresh vegetables and fruits in a variety of colors, pumpernickel bread, edible flowers
Libation: Ale and mead, fresh juices, lemon/lime/citrus drinks

Lughnassadh
Lughnassadh, also called Lammas, First Fruits, and Bron Trograine, is a sacred holy day to the sun god Lugh. It is in this day that he is married to the Crone goddess of death or, in other words, dies and darkness descends on the earth.

This Sabbat is also the first of the three harvest holy days. This is the beginning of Autumn and most activities for this festival revolve around abundance, prosperity and the gathering of the first fruits before the cold of winter. This was also a time of prayer to the gods to bring the people nourishment for if the harvest was poor, people could experience hunger in the dark days of winter. So the gratitude for an abundant harvest was heartfelt.

In modern times, harvest and fall festivals held at schools, parks, and town centers begin to pop up in schedules. Activities such as bobbing for apples, making corn dollies, baking contests, and more are prevalent and allow the modern witch to take part in celebrations that their ancestors in the craft would have celebrated.

Correspondences for Lughnassadh
Deities: Lugh; the Mother Goddess in her pregnant form about to give birth.
Herbs: Fenugreek, Frankincense, Heather, Hollyhock, Mistletoe, Oak, Oat, and Sunflower.
Stones: Gold and red cat’s/tiger’s eye, carnelian, citrine, pyrite, yellow topaz, red and moss agate, and lodestone
Foods: Late summer fruits and vegetables, breads and cakes made from fresh grains, wild game especially venison and wild boar.
Libation: Water from sacred sites or wells, golden wines, beers, ales, mead

Mabon
This holy day is often referred to as the Witches’ Thanksgiving. It is a time of the second harvest celebration as well as one of family and ancestry. Similar to Samhain, honoring the dead, especially dead family members, is common on this Sabbat. Visiting and decorating graves with autumnal décor is a popular modern day activity.

This is the second of the three Sabbats dedicated to harvest and celebrates that of grains and of fruits that are made into wine. The Sacred symbol of Mabon (also adopted by modern day Thanksgiving) is the cornucopia, the symbol of prosperity.

It is also a holy day of preparation for the coming darkness. Ellen Evert Hopman states it well in her book, The Druid’s Herbal for the Sacred Earth Year:
“We bid farewell to the strength of Lugh and welcome once again the power of the Cailleach, the Old one, the hag and crone. She is the Dark Woman who visits us with gifts of wisdom and insight…She is the Great Queen who gives birth and reaps death; the mystical embodiment of the land.”

Correspondences for Mabon
Deities: The Father Gods seen as Zeus, Nodens, Thor, Jupiter, and others; Gods of the harvest including Dionysus and the Green Man, Circe and Demeter; The Crone Goddess as she and the Holly King take over the Light and bring Winter.
Herbs: Acorn, Apple, Benzoin, Fern, Grains, Honeysuckle, Marigold, Milkweed, Myrrh, Passionflower, Rose, Sage, Solomon’s Seal, and Thistle.
Stones: stones ruled by the Sun - clear quartz, amber, peridot, diamond, gold, citrine, yellow topaz, sunstone.
Foods: As the Witch’s Thankgiving, this is a great holy day for feasting – traditional Thanksgiving foods such as squash, corn, apples, nuts, potatoes, even pomegranates. Roots such as burdock and dandelion can also be cooked alongside potatoes, parsnips, carrots, and onions for rustic stews and roasts. Rustic breads with whole wheat and corn breads are also traditional.
Libation: Ale, mead, dark and golden wines, and apple and pear cider.


Resources
Witch School: First Degree by Rev. Donald Lewis-Highcorrell. Llewellyn Publications, 2005.
An Introduction to the Sabbats by Mike Nichols. MicroMuse Press, 1988.
Eight Sabbats of Witchcraft by Mike Nichols. MicroMuse Press, 1988.
Beltain: May 1 by Mike Nichols. MicroMuse Press, 1988.
Ostara: Circa March 25 by Mike Nichols. MicroMuse Press, 1988.
Samhain: October 31st by Mike Nichols. MicroMuse Press, 1988.
Alexandrian Book of Shadows, Public Domain, Compiled by Sekhet Sophia

**This essay was written for my Witch School First Degree, Lesson 3**

Halloween/Samhain Correspondences

As we approach Samhain (pronounced Sow-en) I think it would be a good time to start working with magical correspondences.
Correspondences work on the concept of sympathetic magic
Like attracts like
Life effects like
An example would be - The full moon is a symbol of fertility and abundance. Moon cakes are eaten at Chinese new year or on full moon festivals to bring prosperity to the eater.

Correspondences are also used in representation of other things.
Example - The goddess Kore or Persephone is famous of eating 6 pomegranate pips. Therefore, 6 is her number and pomegranates are her fruit.

***The correspondences listed would be good to have copied down in your working Book of Shadows - choose those correspondences that you feel the most strongly about. If something doesn't feel right to you, don't use it.***

Other Names:
celtic ~ Summer’s End, pronounced “sow” (rhymes with now) “en” (Ireland), sow-een (Wales) – “mh” in the middle is a “w” sound – Greater Sabbat(High Holiday) – Fire Festival Oct 31-Nov 1(North Hemisphere) – Apr 30-May 1 – The Great Sabbat, Samhiunn, Samana, Samhuin, Sam-fuin, Samonios, Halloween, Hallomas, All Hallows Eve, All Saints/All Souls Day(Catholic), Day of the Dead (Mexican), Witches New Year, Trinoux Samonia, Celtic/ Druid New Year, Shadowfest (Strega), Martinmas or Old Hallowmas (Scotttish/Celtic) Lá Samhna (Modern Irish), Festival of the Dead, Feile Moingfinne (Snow Goddess), Hallowtide (Scottish Gaelis Dictionary), Feast of All Souls, Nos Galen-gae-of Night of the Winter Calends (Welsh), La Houney or Hollantide Day, Sauin or Souney ( Manx), oidhche na h-aimiléise-the night of mischief or confusion(Ireland), Oidhche Shamna (Scotland)

Tools: 
Besom, cauldron, tarot, obsidian ball, pendulum, runes, oghams, Ouija boards, black cauldron or bowl filled with black ink or water, or magick mirror

Essence:
Magick, plenty; knowledge, the night, death & rebirth, success, protection; rest, new beginning; ancestors; lifting of the veil, mundane laws in abeyance, return, change

The Plants and Herbs:
Samhain is a harvest festival known as The Third or Final Harvest. Food assiciated with autumn and harvest are particularly good for this festival.
Apple, Cedar, Elder, Horse Chestnut, Oak, Peach, Pine, Rowan, Sandalwood, Willow, Witch Hazel, African Violet, Agaric, Blackberry, Cinnamon, Cyclamen, Deerstongue, Devil’s Bit, Elderflower, Garlic, Hemp, Liquorice, Mandrake, Mint, Myrrh, Nettle, Nightshade, Pomegranate, Rhubarb, Saffron, Sage, Sarsaparilla, Sassafras, Star Anise, Sugar Cane, Tea, Tobacco, Vanilla, Witch Grass, Wolfsbane.
Foods of Samhain~halloween: apples, apple dishes, cider, meat (traditionally this is the meat harvest) especially pork, mulled cider with spices, nuts, pomegranates, potatoes, pumpkins, pumpkin bread, pumpkin pie, roasted pumpkin seeds, roasted pumpkin seeds, squash, corn, cranberry muffins and breads, turnips, beets, ale, herbal tea (mugwort).

Colors:
Autumn Colors: Orange, Rust, Brown, Gold, Dark Red
Colors of Death & Regeneration: Black & White
Colors of Mystery, Psychicism & Magick: Black, Purple, Silver

Stones: Amethyst, Bloodstone, Cat’s Eye, Coal, Coral, Carnelian, Danburite, Fossil, Herkimer, Jasper, Jet, Marble, Obsidian, Onyx, Petrified Wood, Pumice, Quartz, Smoky quartz, Salt.

Incense and oils:
you can use any of the following scents, either blended together or alone
Cedar, Cinnamon, Eucalyptus, Ginger, Lavender, Mint, Myrrh, Orange, Sagebrush, Sandalwood,
Copal, Mastic, Benzoin, Sweetgrass, Wormwood, Mugwort, Sage, or Patchouli.

Animals: Stag, cat, bat, owl, jackal, ram, scorpion, crow, robin, Phooka, Goblin, Medusa, Beansidhe, Fylgiar, Peryton, Erlkonig, and Harpies.

Gods and Goddess Associated with Samhain:
Any figure of the Goddess in her Crone aspect, as well as Gods of death; such as:
Anubis, Arianrhod, Astarte, Baba Yaga Beansidhe (Banshee), Belili, Bran, Cailleach Beara, Cernunnos, Cerridwen, Crone , Dark Lord & Lady, Demeter, Hathor, Hecate, Hel, Horned God, Inanna, Ishtar, Isis, Kali, Kore, Lakshmi, Lilith, the Morrigan, Nephthys, Odin, Osiris, Oya, Persephone, Pomona, Rhiannon, Tlazoteotl

Symbols: apples, autumn flowers, acorns, bat, black cat, bones, corn stalks, cauldrons, colored leaves, crows, death/dying, divination and the tools associated with it, ghosts, gourds, Indian corn, jack-o-lantern, nuts , oak leaves, pomegranates, pumpkins, scarecrows, scythes, waning moon.

Activities of Samhain~Halloween:
On Samhain, Honoring the Dead, Dumb Supper
Carving Jack O’Lanterns (and then baking pumpkin pie!) ,
Making Masks representing the Gods & Goddesses of Samhain,
Making a besom,
Divination,
And most importantly, don’t forget to leave milk and honey out for the Faerie folk.

Halloween / Samhain Crafts
-Make Ancestor Shrines to burn Candles & Leave Offererings of Food
-Make natural Besoms & Consecrate them
-Craft Spell Bottles for various goals or desired attributes
-Carve Symbols into an apple, turnip or potato & charge with intentions for the season
-Make Protective Talismans for the home & person
-Create & Charge a Homemade Scarecrow as the Guardian of the Home for the Autumn Season.
-Bless & Charge Herbs and Make Dream Pillows for Psychic Dreaming
-Play Games & Do Activities geared for Psychic Developement; such as Psychometry with cards containing simple shapes (plus, circle, star, square, crescent); Craft & Practice Scrying with a Pendulum, or Black Ink Water; Work with the Tarot Cards;

Spell Work of Samhain~Halloween:
release of bad habits, banishing,
fairy magick,
divination of any kind,
candle magick,
astral projection, past life work,
dark moon mysteries,
mirror spells (reflection),
casting protection,
inner work,
clearing obstacles,
uncrossing,
creative visualization,
contacting those who have departed this plane

50 Practices for Enchanted Living

50 Practices for Enchanted Living

By Patricia Telesco from An Enchanted Life: An Adepts Guide to Masterful Magick

1. Live in the moments and fully appreciate its worth.
2. Balance and support all aspects of self and one's environment into a harmonious whole.
3. Acknowledge the results of your efforts in a special way that encourages integration.
4. Honor yourself and remember to be your own best friend.
5. Believe in your importance in both the mundane and magical realms.
6. Know thyself in truthfulness.
7. Work for the good of all, do the best, right thing.
8. Recognize when you have a need and find a way to fulfill it. 
9. Appraise your paths and beliefs regularly to make sure they still fit the transformation in and around you. 
10. Practice what you preach.
11. Keep modesty as a companion and guide.
12. Give something back.
13. Know that in magick, a symbol is every bit as powerful as what it represents. 
14. Remember that things don't have to be complicated to work. 
15. Know that meaning is everything.
16. Always make room for spirit and soul-fullness in your life. 
17. See that life is an act of worship; you are the magick.
18. Understand that without mental focus and fortitude in the tangible present, very little will happen metaphysically in the future. 
19. Recognize that you are your own best guru and guide. 
20. Improvise and practice, practice, practice. 
21. Always work with intention. 
22. Remember that patterns equal power, realization and manifestation when treated respectfully and applied sensitively.
23. Know that spirituality is not about keeping up with anyone else. The only real gauge for growth lies in the altar of your heart. 
24. Don't expect anyone else to do something that you, yourself, are not willing to accept or do.
25. You have to know where you've been to glean a vision for where you're going. 
26. Remember and honor wholeness, which helps you begin to make your way back to wholeness. 
27. Know that everything in magick begins in thought and fullness. 
28. Understand that each of us participates in our destiny, but only you can determine how much you create and how much you allow. 
29. Dare to dream, then make your dreams come true. 
30. Accept your weaknesses gracefully and honor your talents with equal poise; then work on both!
31. Take your senses and your spirituality out of the box.
32. Don't work magick if you don't want responsibility. 
33. Don't put on airs. Dare to let down the walls to laugh, to cry, to be human.
34. Always clean up your messes.
35. Never underestimate the power of a life lived differently.
36. Be willing to learn and be open to new experiences.
37. Do not try to be anyone else's guru.
38. Remember that unapplied knowledge is wasteful (f not tragic).
39. Use it, appreciate it, or lose it!
40. Cultivate a mind of perfect love. 
41. Understand that humor is good soul food.
42. Recognize that the universe always uses the best skill sets we have for the task at hand to effect change. 
43. Remember that proactive, positive thoughts and words lead to proactive, positive magick!
44. Maintain a poised, positive bearing; it goes a long way toward making your case for you. 
45. Respect the temple of self; treat your body, mind and spirit as a sacred thing. 
46. Believe that we are children of the universe and a people of power.
47. Understand that there are no limits to magick and our spirits other thank those that we create. 
48. Have fun with your Magick! Tinker, tweak, then try!
49. Know that hard work is good magick.
50. Live the other 49 practices and be yourself!

Blue Moon

Lesson 1 part 2: What is Magick?

Magic: The method of creating, changing, or effecting circumstances through the manipulation of energy. This is accomplished through focus, intend and will-power, which shapes energy.

Creating change is something that can be done for good or for ill and for yourself or to another. This is where the ethics of witchcraft come into play.

The Good and Bad of Magic
“True magic is neither black nor white. It is both because Nature is both; loving and cruel.” – Lirio in The Craft 1996

Magic, the reason most people are drawn to the study of witchcraft, is the act of using the conscious mind and will power to actively control the all-pervasive energy that makes up the universe and focus it on one task.
The question of how to use this power and the ethics involved in making this decision has been a debate since mankind learned that they could harness this ability and use it for their individual purposes.

Good Magic vs. Bad Magic
Whether magic, or the act of doing magic, is good or bad is a question of morals and ethics that will change from person to person depending on his or her upbringing, culture, and background teachings and decisions.
In my opinion, the term Good Magic refers to the act of doing magic for the purpose of bettering the self and/or the world in general. Bad Magic, on the other hand, is the act of doing magic to harm others or the self. Harm is the key word in most definitions that differentiate good and bad magic.
The idea of harm and magic is where the magical practices and beliefs of the Wiccan faith refer to the Wiccan Rede, which states “Do what thou will and Harm none.” This is explained in Witch School Lesson 1 of the First Degree in that Wicca isn’t worried so much about who a person is sleeping with or if they are gambling, drinking or smoking so long as that person is not harming anyone.

The Gray Area
The gray area comes about in magic when practitioners begin to question whether their actions are indeed harmful.
The answer to this question is obvious to some when it comes to the idea of murder, however, it becomes gray area when a person is killing in order to protect family, property or the ideals of nation and religion.
Many agree love spells that force the emotions of another are wrong but do not question the ethics of spells that keep a man or wife faithful. One must ask if it is just as unethical as that man or woman having an affair.
Spells for prosperity are normally considered good magic. However, what if the spell that wins a witch a promotion at work causes another person more deserving to not reach their goal or, worse, get fired?
Then, there is the question of whether or not creating a commissioned spell or doing magic for a customer or friend that is harmful for another person reflects badly on the witch or the person commissioning the magic?
For many making these decisions, the question is not whether magic itself is good or bad but the intent of the witch, which cannot be easily judged by outsiders.

The Law of Karma
Many witches believe that when someone acts through harmful intent, magically or not, they receive their punishment through the Divine. Some witches call this reaction Karma while others refer to the Law of Three.
Karma is, in the Indian belief, an action that causes the cycle of cause and effect. This concept is that whatever person puts out into the universe with their actions, magical or mundane, there will be an effect on that person. This is the same for good magic or bad so that anyone doing bad magic will have something bad happen to them.
The Law of Three is a Wiccan belief that many witches take to literally mean that whatever a witch puts out into the universe will come back to them either in multiples of three or three times as forceful. However, many others, including the Correllian tradition, believe that three is simply a number of balance and that the actions of the witch will come back to them as many times as it takes for them to learn their lesson.

With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility
Magic is a blessing given by the Divine to people so that they can co-create the world around them. Whether the witch chooses to use this power for good or bad effects his or her reality, so that it is up to the witch to decide whether he or she would like live in a world wherein bad things continuously happen to him or her and those around them or if they will persist in using their abilities and practice to create good.

*** This essay was written for my first lesson in my course to becoming a First Degree clergy of the Correllian Church***

Homework #1

The Book of Shadows

For your homework, you are to create or buy a journal. You will use this journal to keep your spells, potions, homework, and thoughts for this class. It is known as a Book of Shadows.
You can decorate this journal however you see fit. Know that the more energy you put in to creating and making this book your own, the more magic you will create with it.

My book of shadows is in 2 parts. 1 is a journal made from a sketch book that I write everything in. The other is a scrapbook that I'm putting together slowly with a page for each spell, potion, spirit, and deity I interact with.

You can find tutorials on journal and scrapbook making online and other pages and tutorials when researching how to create a Book of Shadows. I would not worry over much on the organization or what all to put in it yet, you will figure out how you like things done as you go through the classes and learn what categories you want more room for. Also, don't get too caught up in the "right way" to create a BOS and focus on what your intuition and gut feeling says is the way it should be done.

Lesson 1 part 1: What is a Witch?

What is a Witch? This may sound like a silly question, since the reason you are here is to become a witch, so surely you know what a witch is...right?

When picturing a witch in your head a million images can come to mind. Everything from the Wicked Witch of the West to Hermione from the Harry Potter series can personify iconic witches for us.

Wizard of Oz gives us 2 of the most iconic witches in media

The definition of a witch, in its most simplistic form, is - a person who creates magic; one who practices witchcraft.
The word witch comes from the Anglo-Saxon word wicce - meaning 'wise'. In the Old English, wicca was the word for a male witch, wicce for female. Today, we use the word witch for both genders.

Wise women, medicine men, High Priestesses, conjerors; all these and more were the names of the first witches and wizards of their communities. They are skilled in many attributes of magic including divination, healing, shapeshifting, protection, hexes and more.

Throughout history, witches have been the doctors and midwives, the match-makers and the war strategists. They read the auguries for hunting, presided over weddings and gave last rites at the time of death.
Today, witches carry out these same practices and principles with a modern twist. Witches take on multiple roles from life coach and nutritionist to librarian or CEO. We provide a magical link to human's primal past even as we are enmeshed in this modern, technological world.

Famous Witches in History
The following is a brief listing of famous witches in history and today. We will expound on this list as we go on with our lessons. This list is simply to get you started on your own studies of magical people and what they can teach you.

Hypatia of Alexandria (370- 415 CE)
Hypatia was the daughter of Theon, the last head of the Museum at Alexandria. She was librarian at the great library and renowned for her wisdom, especially regarding astronomy. She wrote The Astronomical Canon and a commentary on The Conics of Apollonius. Hypatia was as articulate and eloquent in speaking as she was prudent and civil in her deeds. Wearing her philosopher’s cloak, she walked through the middle of town, where she would publicly interpret Plato, Aristotle, or the works of any other philosopher to those who wished to listen. Hypatia was beautiful and shapely but also chaste, and remained always a virgin. The whole city adored her, but Hypatia was both female and Pagan in an increasingly misogynist (“anti-women”) Christian world.
Cyril, the new Bishop, was so envious of her beauty, intellect, wisdom, and fame that he plotted her heinous murder. In the spring of 415, a mob of Christian monks seized Hypatia on the street, beat her to death, and dragged her body to a church where they flayed her flesh from bones with sharp oyster shells and scattered her remains throughout the city. They then burned down the great library—a tragic loss for civilization.

Merlin (Emrys Myrddhin Ambrosias) (c.440-520?)
Perhaps the most famous Wizard of Western legend, Merlin is known primarily as the childhood tutor and later advisor of King Arthur (465–537). A fatherless boy said to have been sired by a demon, young Merlin was brought before King Vortigern upon the advice of his court magicians. Vortigern had brought Saxon mercenaries into England to defend against the Picts and the Scots-Irish. The Saxons had taken control of the land, and Vortigern was attempting to build a tower to strengthen his holdings. But the construction kept collapsing, and Vortigern’s advisors told him that only the blood of a fatherless boy would remedy this. But Merlin divined that the tower’s instability was due to an underground pool of water, which was discovered upon excavation. This event secured his fame as a prophet.
About ten years later, with Vortigern dead and Uther Pendragon on the throne, Merlin arranged for the birth of Arthur by disguising Uther as the husband of Ygraine, Queen of Cornwall, whom Uther then seduced and impregnated. When Arthur was born, Merlin took him away for fosterage and tutoring. Upon Uther’s death, Merlin arranged the contest of the sword in the stone; upon drawing it forth, Arthur became King of England. Merlin, then in his 40s, became Court Wizard. He is said to have established the Order of Chivalry with the Knights of the Round Table. In his old age, Merlin was seduced by the enchantress Nimué, who learned his magick and turned it against him, trapping him, it is said, in a crystal cave, thorn forest, or oak tree. There it is believed he lives on still, resting until he is needed again.

Leonardo da Vinci
(1452–1519)
Leonardo was the greatest Wizard of the Italian Renaissance. His contributions to humanity were extraordinary—as an artist, inventor, writer, and thinker. His notebooks reveal explorations and examinations of everything in the known Universe, and some of his paintings (particularly the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper) are among the best known artworks in the world. Each subject that Leonardo studied, he made a field of scientific research. He studied human anatomy to better draw the human body; he studied botany and geology in order to accurately portray plants and landscapes. He became a geologist, physiologist, astronomer, and mechanical engineer. The many machines and inventions that he conceived are marvels of engineering— including his famous designs for a flapping-wing flying machine, or ornithopter. The thousands of pages of drawings and writings he has left us convey a new vision of unity that Leonardo sought to give the world.
He spoke of science as the “knowledge of things possible in the future, of the present, and of the past.” He
wrote many of his texts in mirror image and is known for secreting coded symbols in his paintings.

Nostradamus (1503–1566)
History’s greatest prophet, Michel de Nostredame was best known by the Latin version of his last name, Nostradamus (“Our Lady”). His Jewish family claimed descent from the Issachar tribe, noted for prophecy. His grandfather taught him Greek, Latin, Hebrew, math, and astrology. Nostradamus studied philosophy in Avignon and received his medical license from the University of Montpelier.
Possessing a seemingly miraculous ability to heal the incurable, Nostradamus treated sufferers of the Black Plague. In a tragic irony, his first wife and two children died of the plague, and the Inquisition then accused him of heresy. For the next six years he wandered around France, caring for plague victims and studying the occult. In 1546, he married again and had six children. Using water scrying, Nostradamus was able to receive visions of the future. Starting in 1550, he issued an annual Almanac of predictions, and in 1556, he published Centuries, his famous book of prophecies from his time to the end of the world in 3799. He became famous throughout Europe for his predictions, and the French Royal Family asked him to come to Paris to prepare their astrological charts. He saw that all seven sons would gain the crown, and all would die.
Near the end of his life, Nostradamus was welcomed at the court of Catherine de Médici, where he continued making predictions, including that of his own death, which occurred exactly as he described it. His enigmatic quatrains have been reinterpreted by each generation since, and more than 40 are believed to have already come true.

Aleister Crowley (1875-1947)
Born the day Eliphas Levi died, Aleister Crowley believed himself to be the reincarnation of Levi, Cagliostro, Edward Kelly, and Pope Alexander VI. The most controversial figure in magickal history, he has been both idolized as a saint and vilified as a sorcerer. He had an enormous thirst for knowledge and power, coupled with an insatiable appetite for sex, drugs, and sensual pleasures. He joined the Golden Dawn in 1898 but was soon locked in a bitter power struggle with its founder, S.L. MacGregor Mathers, resulting in his expulsion and the breakup of the Order.
Crowley traveled widely, climbing mountains in India and studying Buddhism, Tantric Yoga, Egyptian magick, Qabalah, and Dee’s Enochian magick. In 1904, his wife Rose channeled a spirit called “Aiwass,” which Crowley identified as the Egyptian god Set. Through Rose, Aiwass dictated The Book of the Law. Its core is the Law of Thelema (“will”): “Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law.” From 1909 to 1913, Crowley published the secret rituals of the Golden Dawn in his magazine The Equinox, infuriating Mathers and other Golden Dawn members. He lived in the U.S. from 1915 to 1919, then moved to Sicily, where he founded the notorious Abbey of Thelema. For a time he headed the Ordo Templi Orientis, before being deported in 1923 due to scandal as “The Wickedest Man in the World”— a title he relished, calling himself “The Great Beast 666.”
In his final year, Crowley met Gerald Gardner and contributed some material to Gardner’s Book of Shadows. A brilliant writer and poet, his several books include Magick in Theory and Practice (1929), considered by many to be the best book ever on ceremonial magick. In it, Crowley introduced the now common spelling of “magick” to “distinguish the science of the Magi from all its counterfeits.”

Gerald Brousseau Gardner (1884–1964)
Born into a prosperous family in England, Gerald Gardner claimed several Witches in his family tree. In 1906, Gerald went to Ceylon as a cadet in a tea planting business. There, in 1909, he was initiated into Freemasonry. In 1912, he moved to Malaya to become a rubber planter. When the price of rubber fell in
1923, he joined the Malayan Customs & Excise Service. There he befriended the Sea Dayaks, a Malayan tribe from whom he learned their folk magic. Returning to England in 1936, after retiring from the Service, Gerald and his wife Donna eventually settled in the New Forest region in 1939. There he joined an occult group called the Fellowship of Crotona, a Co-Mason lodge (both men and women) with three associated magickal groups: Rosicrucian (who also put on esoteric plays for the public), Theosophical, and Witchcraft reconstruction according to the ideas of Margaret Murray. Some claimed to be hereditary Witches, and “Dafo” (Elsie Woodford- Grimes), their high priestess, initiated him in 1939. She became his magickal partner for the next 15 years.
In 1946, he met Cecil Williamson, founder of the Witchcraft Research Center and Museum of Witchcraft.
A year later, Arnold Crowther introduced him to Aleister Crowley. From materials obtained from Crowley, fragmentary elements from the New Forest Coven, Leland’s Aradia, and his own collections and researches, Gardner compiled his Book of Shadows.
Much of it he published as fiction in a novel, High Magic’s Aide (1949). After Britain’s anti-Witchcraft law was repealed in 1951, Gardner purchased Williamson’s Museum. In 1953 he initiated Doreen Valiente, who substantially reworked the Book of Shadows, giving more emphasis to the Goddess. Out of this collaboration grew the Gardnerian Tradition. In 1954 Gardner published Witchcraft Today, supporting Murray’s disputable theory of Witchcraft as the surviving remnant of old European Paganism. The book made Gardner famous and launched new covens all over England.
Gardner’s last book was The Meaning of Witchcraft (1959). He met and initiated Raymond Buckland in 1963, just before sailing to Lebanon for the Winter. He died aboard ship on the return voyage the following Spring. Buckland brought Gardnerian Witchcraft to the United States, where it has blossomed into the Wiccan religion.

Raymond Buckland (1934–),
known as “The Father of American Wicca,” was the first to introduce Gardnerian Wicca to the U.S. in the early 1960s. He was born in London of Romany (Gypsy) descent. His spiritual quest led him to the works of Gerald Gardner. Buckland began serving as Gardner’s spokesman in the U.S. and was initiated into the Craft shortly before Gardner’s death in 1964. In the mid-1970s he founded the Saxon tradition, Seax-Wica, now practiced in countries around the world. He was also instrumental in helping spread the solitary practice of PectWita, a form of Scottish Witchcraft. He has had more than 30 titles published, including The Witch Book and Buckland’s Complete Book of Witchcraft. Raymond is the Fæder of Seax- Wica and a member of the International Guild of Sorcerers and the International Society of Independent Spiritualists. www.raybuckland.com.

Amber K (1947–)
is a Wiccan Priestess of the Ladywoods Tradition, from the Pagan Way Tradition, out of the Gardnerian Tradition. She has served the Goddess and the Horned God for more than 24 years, in various roles: as priestess, as National First Officer of Covenant of the Goddess, as editor of Circle Network News, as a faculty member of RCG’s Cella program, and currently as Executive Director of Ardantane Witch College and Pagan Learning Center in New Mexico. She is the author of True Magick, Covencraft, Moonrise, The Pagan Kids’ Activity Book, Candlemas, and The Heart of Tarot. She lives and works with her partner Azrael Arynn K in among the red mesas and high desert of the Jemez Mountains, the home of Ardantane. www.ardantane.org.

Ellen Evert Hopman (Willow)
(1952–) is a Pagan author, a master herbalist, and a Druid Priestess. She is the author of several books and videos on herb craft and Druid wisdom including Tree Medicine— Tree Magic (on the herbal and magickal properties of trees), A Druid’s Herbal (Druid medicine and lore of herbs), Being A Pagan (with Lawrence Bond, a book about what it means to be a Wiccan, a Witch, or a Druid in the world today), and Walking The World In Wonder—A Children’s Herbal (a book of herbal formulas and recipes suitable for children of ALL ages). Her videos Gifts From the Healing Earth, Vol. I and II will teach you the basics of herbal healing and her video “Pagans” covers the eight festivals of the Pagan Wheel of the Year. http://saille333.home.mindspring.com/willow.html.

Raven Grimassi (1951–)
is the author of nine books on Witchcraft and Wicca, including the award-winning titles The Wiccan Mysteries and The Encyclopedia of Wicca & Witchcraft. Raven has been a practitioner and teacher of Witchcraft for more than 30 years. He is a popular lecturer and speaker at Pagan conventions and festivals throughout the U.S. Raven is currently the director of the Arician Tradition of Witchcraft and co-director of a Mystery school known as The College of the Crossroads. It is Raven’s life work to preserve and teach the pre-Christian European oots of Pagan religion. He lives in southern California on a ranch in the countryside where he maintains a sacred grove to the Goddess and God of the Old Religion and a shrine to Ceres, the Goddess of the Mysteries, on whose festival day he was born.
www.stregheria.com.

Oberon Zell-Ravenheart (1942-)
is the author of Grimoire for the Apprentice Wizard, Companion for the Apprentice Wizard, and A Wizard's Bestiary. A respected leader and Elder in the worldwide magickal community and an initiate in several different Traditions, he has created and participated in many Pagan and interfaith groups and projects, playing a major role in reclaiming the spiritual heritage of pre-Christian Europe. As publisher of the award-winning magazine Green Egg, Oberon was the first to adopt the words "Pagan" and "Neo-Pagan" to describe the newly emerging Nature religions of the 1960s. Since 1968, Green Egg has served as a primary catalyst and journal for the entire Pagan community. Oberon resides in Sonoma County, California, with Morning Glory, his beloved wife of 35 years.
www.oberonzell.com/

Rev. Donald Lewis-Highcorrell 
is First Priest and Paramount High Priest of the Correllian Tradition, and at Mabon of Year 0 Aquarius was acclaimed Chancellor of the Tradition as well.
Don is the son of the blv. Lady LaVeda, former Regent of the Correllian Tradition. Don is the head of the Mabelline branch of the High-Correll family. He has been an initiated Priest of the Correllian Tradition since 1576 Pisces (1976 AD), and a Third Degree High Priest since 1579 Pisces (1979 AD).
Don is well known both as an artist and as an author. Don’s writing or artwork has appeared in numerous Pagan ‘zines, including Circle Network News, Green Egg, Panegyria, Harvest, Covenant of the Goddess Newsletter, Gerina Dunwich's Golden Isis Magazine, and Silver RavenWolf's PWPA Newsletter.
Don is well known as a professional psychic. He has been a professional clairvoyant since 1584 Pisces (1984 AD), and is a well-known astrologer. But Don is best known as a Tarologist, and the designer of the Tarot of Hekate ('82).

Super Moon Summer Solstice

I know you've yet to have one lesson yet but tonight is a special night!

We've just celebrated Summer Solstice on June 21st - this is the time of the year when day is longest and night is shortest. We will discuss Sabbats and Holidays (Holy Days) in a later lesson. For now, just enjoy the sunshine!

Tonight is the Super Moon! It is a full moon that is closest and largest this year and because of that this night is full of magic!

I will be celebrating this full moon by drinking a melon potion from Patricia Telesco's book The Kitchen Witch's Cookbook and placing out crystals and water to be blessed by the moon. You will learn how to do this in later homework, but if you would like to join me, simply place a mason jar of distilled water in the moonlight tonight before you go to bed. The water will capture the moon's power to be used later this month or year. To preserve, simple put a teaspoon of alcohol or witch hazel in the water and be sure to label Moon Potion, not for drinking!

Enjoy the Full Super Moon in all her abundant glory and blessings of the Mother be upon you!