28 Dec 22

Reading List for the New Year

There is a lot of talk on Facebook and various social media, as people gear up for the New Year, about planning their reading list for next year or to start reading more as a resolution. I read a lot, but a lot of it is recreational. There isn’t anything wrong with that, of course, but I think I would like to accomplish some more purposeful reading for the coming year. So, I am thinking about my own reading list.

I have been going through my kindle app, and my Amazon wishlist, and also culling recommendations from the various posts of my friends. I am a planner, and a list maker, but also very chaotic in practice. (ADHD strikes again!) So, I’m trying to figure out what it is that I want to accomplish, and how to best do so. (Maybe just read ALL of the gazillion books in my library?)

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24 Sep 22

Merry Mabon

The New Moon is tomorrow, Sunday 25 Sep 22, and while the day of celebration for Mabon was officially the 22 of September, I am going to take advantage of the energy of the season (and my day off of work) and celebrate the equinox as well. The focus of these celebrations is my new home! We bought the house last month, and have been in it for one full lunar cycle, not I am going to do a major cleansing and home and hearth blessing. Big energies happening!

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11 Sep 22

The Charge of the Dark Goddess (Hecate)

The Charge of the Dark Goddess
(Tribute to Hecate)

Author Unknown

Hear now, the words of Hecate, who comes forth from her cavern of trickling waters and baying hounds. I am the Eternal Soul, the Dark Maiden, the Mother of Night, and the Patron of Witches. Fear not my power, for I am justice, the Keeper of the Keys, and the bearer of ancient wisdom.

 I come to you during the dark of the moon, that I may lead you as your soul’s mirror. My vision spans all directions, as I walk the endless crossed roads in darkness. I  travel between the worlds, yours and mine, my children, that I may guide you through the shadows of the Underworld.

As I stand on the edge of sanity, cloaked, veiled, with glowing eyes and a blazing  torch, my appearance is intense, but you shall learn, my fearful ones, that it is I who brings you fairness and resolution. It is I who protects you, my suffered children of the Earth. It is I who heals your wounds and makes you strong. It is I, Hecate, Queen of the Underworld, who charges thee by the light of my love, and hearkens to your call in the winter when the night is still.

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11 Sep 22

Charge of the Dark Goddess

Hearken ye to the Words of the Dark Mother, who of old was called Hecate, Nuit, Morrigan, Banba, Erda, Macha, Mother Night, Sekhmet, and many other names:

“Whenever you seek wisdom, at the time of the Darkening Moon, come together in love and trust and learn of Me, who am the Wisest of Crones.. Ye who search for the mysteries of the Earth… The secrets of Air and Darkness, of Blood and Fire, the silence of the uttermost stars, come unto me, and I shall whisper to you in the depths of midnight. Ye shall approach Me in silence, and as a sign that ye are free from fear, your breast you shall bare to My blade…for fear has no place in My mysteries, and that which you seek of Me will destroy you if you fear it.

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3 Jul 22

Principles of Wiccan Belief

As adopted by the Council of American Witches at its Spring 1974 Witchmeet,

April 11-14, Minneapolis, Minnesota

The Council of American Witches finds it necessary to define modern Witchcraft in terms of the American experience and needs.

We are not bound by traditions from other times and other cultures and owe no allegiance to any person or power greater than the Divinity manifest through our own being.

As American Witches, we welcome and respect all Life Affirming teachings and traditions and seek to learn from all and to share our learning within our Council.

It is in this spirit of welcome and cooperation that we adopt these few principles of Wiccan belief. In seeking to be inclusive, we do not wish to open ourselves to the destructions of our group by those on self-serving power trips, or to philosophies and practices contradictory to ours, we do not want to deny participation with us to any who are sincerely interested in our knowledge and beliefs, regardless of race, color, sex, age, nationality or cultural origins or sexual preference.

We therefore ask that only those who seek to identify with us accept these few basic principles:

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24 Jun 22

Rethinking the Watchtowers

or ’13 Reasons Air should be in the North’

=======================================
by Mike Nichols
copyright 1989 by Mike Nichols
(fondly dedicated to Kathy Whitworth)

INTRODUCTION

It all started 20 years ago. I was 16 years old then, and a recent initiate to the religion of Wicca. Like most neophytes, I was eager to begin work on my Book of Shadows, the traditional manuscript liturgical book kept by most practicing Witches. I copied down rituals, spells, recipes, poems, and tables of correspondences from every source I could lay hands on. Those generally fell into two broad categories: published works, such as the many books available on Witchcraft and magic; and unpublished works, mainly other Witches’ Books of Shadows.

Twenty years ago, most of us were “traditional” enough to copy everything by hand. (Today, photocopying and even computer modem transfers are becoming de rigueur.) Always, we were admonished to copy “every dot and comma”, making an exact transcription of the original, since any variation in the ceremony might cause major problems for the magician. Seldom, if ever, did anyone pause to consider where these rituals came from in the first place, or who composed them. Most of us, alas, did not know and did not care. It was enough just to follow the rubrics and do the rituals as prescribed.

But something brought me to an abrupt halt in my copying frenzy. I had dutifully copied rituals from different sources, and suddenly realized they contained conflicting elements. I found myself comparing the two versions, wondering which one was “right”, “correct”, “authentic”, “original”, “older”, etc. This gave rise to the more general questions about where a ritual came from in the first place. Who created it? Was it created by one person or many? Was it ever altered in transmission? If so, was it by accident or intent? Do we know? Is there ever any way to find out? How did a particular ritual get into a Coven’s Book of Shadows? From another, older, Book of Shadows? Or from a published source? If so, where did the author of the published work get it?

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