I feel really drawn to Tarot and divination this time of year. I take time to take stock of what decks I have accessible, which books I would like to work with, and what my goals are for the next 2-3 months.
Do any of you feel a similar calling? How do you address it?
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!
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.
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.
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:
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?
Leland and Marquisha are hanging out at the Pendleton Convention Center for the Mind, Body, Spirit Fest, today and tomorrow while I am stuck at work. Go visit them!
Youth and joy abound. We have spent, not just the last six months but, the last two years under cover, behind closed doors as we waited out the pandemic of COVID-19.
Happy Beltaine!
So, good news, as the isolation of the last two years in coming to an end, we have booked our first festival. I have to work, but this coming Memorial Weekend (May 28-29, 2022) Leland and a friend of ours will be vending at the local Mind Body Spirit Fest, here in Pendleton, Oregon. We would love to see you there.
There is a meadow that I know, that I have seen in all its seasons. A young woman is there, as fresh and young as the spring. She runs wild as the wind, her heart light and winged. Through the meadow and fields she runs as the green sprouts of life brush her bare ankles, tickling, teasing with their caress.
She knows the lambs, the calves, the bunnies and the fruits of vine and tree. She grows with them and tastes of their newness. She watches the sun rise and set. She feels the breezes that blow through her hair and settle leaving the memory of their touch.
The rains that fall around her are sometimes harsh and strong and vibrant. Sometimes they are the gentle pulse of a nurturing kiss. In these things she finds challenge.
She grows and learns and knows joy. She knows hope and inspiration and sometimes hurt and fear. For there are things she has yet to know. I know of this, for I know her. Her motions, her thoughts, her heart mirrors mine. I reach for her and she reaches for me. We touch and are one. I am she. I am the Goddess.
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