The magic is special the first time you read a book. Knowing that you can never read that particular book for the first time again can cause one to drag out the last few chapters to savor them. The feeling is akin to knowing you will never meet your other half for the first time again. Re-reading can be great...like having lunch with an old friend. It can comfort and relax, but it never has that first time spark of wonder again.
Ritual baths are wonderful. They can be incredibly relaxing and powerful at the same time. This practice is fun to create as well! You add a little of this and a little of that and before you know it, you’ve created a spell right there in your bathtub. All you have to do is step in and enjoy the magic.
As a new person to the Craft, where do you begin? I have fielded this question so many times and continue to enjoy sharing the information I have gathered. For those that aren’t interested in diving into a religious practice, I have created a list of books that have become my go-to for those that are interested.
Beltane is one of four Fire Festivals. The word 'Beltane' originates from the Celtic God 'Bel', meaning 'the bright one' and the Gaelic word 'teine' meaning fire. Together they make 'Bright Fire', or 'Goodly Fire'
Travel altars are great for more than just travel. They are compact, portable, and easily put away, so they are also great for the witch who needs privacy or just doesn’t have a lot of space.....
One of the best ways we can generate love is to give it away. As practicing witches, we don’t just create rituals to make ourselves feel good, we also use our magical tools to face the stark and overwhelming realities that confront us, acknowledge our feelings, and transmute them into the energy we need to make change. Is there an organization in your community that needs some volunteers? A local park that needs some cleaning up? A neighbor that needs help shoveling snow? Sign up. Using our abilities to help others and ignite positive change in the world is real live magic in action.
In ancient Rome, the winter solstice was celebrated at the Feast of Saturnalia, to honor Saturn, the god of agricultural bounty. Lasting about a week, Saturnalia was characterized by feasting, debauchery and gift-giving. With Emperor Constantine’s conversion to Christianity, many of these customs were later absorbed into Christmas celebrations. Let’s take a moment a review some of the ancient symbols and customs practiced today and their origins.
If you wish to start a Grimoire, I suggest using something with removable pages. This way you can add and remove pages as you need them instead of taking your entire book into a ritual where it may be damaged. This also allows you to easily move pages around if you decide to reorganize it. Some people keep their BOS and Grimoires on their computer. I find this cumbersome when I wish to perform magic, but it may work for you.
...sacred space for meditation, ritual, journaling, shamanic journeying to meet my guides, divination, reading, listening to music or yoga, as well as most of my spell work. It's become an important space for me to find balance when life tries to throw me off course and a firm anchor from which I can nourish my growth, which can sometimes get side-lined. By allocating an area in your home as a sacred space, you create for yourself a place for quiet reflection, like a center point that is separate from all of the business of your normal day.
