Wicca was there even before the Roman Catholic religion. It is said that the Roman Catholic's invented, their religion based on not understanding the meaning of witchcraft. Everything that is not understood is feared, therefore, people who didn't understand witchcraft, made it seem pessimistic and evil. Though witchcraft is not suppose to be seen as something which brings forth evil, it is often misinterpreted for that. Witchcraft is suppose to be used for the doing of good not that of evil.
There are also certain terms that Wiccans must follow. This is called the "Wiccan Rede", which consists of certain rules you must obey. If however you disrespect these rules, you shall be condemned to a life of non-participating magick( Meaning that any chants or spells that are cast will no longer function).
"If ye harm none no harm shall be done", is one of the phrases most often recited because this is what most Wiccans believe in. Another phrase often used is the term "Three Fold", which means that whenever you cast good or bad spells, whatever energy you give out, you will receive those energies three times their strength. An example of this would be , if you wanted to cast a spell involving negative energies (bad spell), the energies will be sent back to you three times as harsh as the spell itself. If however, you sent positive energies( good spell), it will come back to you three times as good.
One of the three restrictions is, not to cast spells of healing or anything of any other matter on a person without their consent. If you choose to do this, you are no longer preforming white magick, but gray magick. This is seen as a magick not practised by participating Wiccans.
Though it may seem as though there are a lot of restrictions, you are given the freedom to decide what you will follow and what doesn't suit what you stand for!
The Moon The moon is one of the sacred aspects of Wicca. The moon helps enhance the spells strength, depending on the phase. The moon goes through different phases such as : The New Moon, The Waxing Moon, The Full Moon, The Waning Moon. 1st Quarter The New Moon aids in spells involving: 2nd Quarter The Waxing Moon helps enhance spells such as: 3rd Quarter The Full Moon is mostly used for spells involving: call works of power and transformation 4th Quarter The Tools Some witches use tools to aid as a magickal weapon. It helps empower the strength of your spell. The tools used include: a wand, a pentacle, an athane, a sword, a white- handled knife, a censer, cords of initiation. Wand The wand is a stick ( about 2 feet long) which is decorated according to the taste of the owner. The wand can be used where the sword or athane is not proper. Pentacle The pentacle is a round platter used to cut things on. It is usually made of wood and should be decorated with eight symbols including: 1st Degree Athane "The true witches weapon" as said in Gardenerian's Book Of Shadows, is used to draw pentacles and for drawing the circle if you don't have a sword. It is block-handled and doesn't['t have to be big or expensive. Any block-handled knife is perfectly fine. Sword The sword is used to draw the circle. The sword is mostly used for this because metal is a good conductor of energy. Thought the sword has power, an athane or knife is just as good. White-Handled Knife This is a tool that is important for the craft. It shouldn't leave your altar or temple. It is a good tool used for cutting string, carving wood, drawing symbols on candles, etc. Censer The censer is basically an incense burner, somewhat what a church thurible ( Incense burner with chains). It helps create the proper atmosphere for the doing of the craft. Cords of Initiation Cords are mostly used for initiation. They should be 9 feet long (With ends burnt not knotted). Suggested colours:1st Degree - red, white, blue The Pentagram The pentagram is a five pointed star, with one point pointing towards the top. The pentagram involves a great and powerful aspect in wicca. It enhances the spell and correspondents. It also offers a form of protection and healing. It is greatly valued and carefully taken care of. The pentagram, a five-pointed star (can be) drawn with one stroke of the pen...The pentagram has had several different significations at different times in the history of man...The Pythagoreans called it the pentalpha (because it looked like five capital ñ’³ò ©®terconnected), and the Celtic priests (called it) the witchò³ ¦oot. It is also known as Solomanò³ “eal, known in the Middle Ages as the goblinò³ £ross...It also represented the five senses;...Amongst the Druids it was called the sign of the Godhead,...This sign was also populary believed to be a protection against demons, and, by analogy, a symbol of safety. It is believed, too, to be the emblem of happy homecoming, whence itò³ ¥mployment as an amulet.í±‚í¶¬t;br> The pentagram has meant many things to many different people. The oddest of these, however, is the Catholic Church. During various periods in the Middle Ages, the pentagram was used by the Catholic Church as a symbol of truth. Some Athurian legends indicate this use. J.R.R. Tolkienò³ ´ranslation of SIR GAWAIN AND THE GREEN KNIGHT further supports this claim: 󔨥n they brought him his blazon that was of brilliant gules with the pentangle depicted in pure hue of gold. By the baldric he caught it and about his neck cast it: reight well and worthily it went that knight. And why the pentangle is proper to that prince so noble I intend to tell you, though it may tarry my story.It is a sign that Solomon once set on a time to betoken the Troth, as it is entitled to do: for it is a figure that in it five points holdeth, and each line overlaps and is linked with another, and every way it is endless; and the English, I hear, everywhere name it the Endless Knot. So it suits well this knight, and his unsullied arms; for ever faithful in five points, and five times under each, Gawain as good was aknowledged and as gold refineò¤¬ devoid of every vice and with virtues adorned. So there the pentangle painted new he on shield and coat did wear as one of word most true and knight of bearing fair. First fautless was he found in his five senses, and next in his five fingers he failed at no time, and firmly on the Five Wounds all his faith was set that Christ received on the cross, as the Creed tells us; and wherever the brave man into battle was come, on this beyond all things was his earnest thought: that ever from the Five Joys all his valour he gained that to Heavenò³ £ourteous Queen once came from her Child. For which cause the knight had in comely wise on the inner side of his shield her image depainted, that when he cast his eyes thither his courage never failed. The fifth five that was used, as I find, by this knight was free-giving and friendliness first before all, and chastity and chivalry ever changeless and straight, and piety surpassing all points: these perfect five were hasped upon him harder than on any man else. Now these five series, in sooth, were fastened on this knight, and each was knit with another and had no ending, but were fixed at five points that failed not at all, coincided in no line nor sundered either, not ending in any angle anywhere, as I discover, wherever the process was put in play or passed to an end. Therefore on his shining shield was shaped now this knot, royally with red gules upon red gold set: this is the pure pentangle as people of learning have taught. Now Gawain in brave array his lance at last hath caught. He gave them all a good day for evermore as he thought. | 
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| The Salem Witch Trials The Salem Witch Trials, which began in 1692 (also known as the Salem witch hunt and the Salem witchcraft episode), resulted in a number of convictions and executions for witchcraft in both Salem Village and Salem Town, Massachusetts. It was the result of a period of factional infighting and Puritan witch hysteria which led to the death of 20 people (14 women, 6 men) and the imprisonment of scores more. In 1692, Salem Village was torn by internal disputes between neighbors who disagreed about the choice of Samuel Parris as its first ordained minister. In January of 1692, the residents of York, Maine, had been attacked by Wabanaki Native Americans, many killed or taken captive, in the latest massacre in the "Eastward" frontier of Maine of King William's War, echoing the brutality of King Philip's War of 1675-76. Increasing family size fueled disputes over land between neighbors and within families, especially on the frontier where the economy was based on farming. Changes in the weather or blights could easily wipe out a year's crop. A farm that could support an average-sized family could not support the many families of the next generation, prompting farmers to push further into the wilderness to find farmland - and encroach upon the indigenous people who already lived there. As the Puritans had vowed to create a theocracy in this new land, religious fervor added another tension to the mix: losses of crops, of livestock, and of children, as well as earthquakes and bad weather were typically attributed to the wrath of God. Within the Puritan faith, one's soul was considered predestined from birth as to whether they had been chosen for Heaven or condemned for Hell, and they constantly searched for hints, assuming God's pleasure and displeasure could be read in such signs given in the visible world. The invisible world was inhabited by God and the angels - including the Devil, a fallen angel, and to Puritans this invisible world was as real to them as the visible one around them. The patriarchal beliefs that Puritans held in the community further stressed the atmosphere: women should be totally subservient to their men (he in public, she at home; he talking, she listening; he preaching, she hearing, etc.), that by nature a woman was more likely to enlist in the Devil's service than a man was (since women were not allowed to be preachers then they were more likely to sign themselves over to the Devil), and that women were naturally lustful. In addition, the small town atmosphere made secrets very difficult to keep and people's opinions (positive or negative) about their neighbors were generally accepted as fact. In an age where the philosophy "children should be seen and not heard" reigned supreme, children were at the bottom of the social ladder. Toys and games were seen as idle and playing was discouraged, although girls had additional restrictions heaped upon them; boys were able to go hunting, fishing, exploring the forest, and often became apprentices to carpenters and smiths, while girls were trained from a tender age to spin yarn, cook, sew, weave, and to generally be servants to their husbands and mothers to their children. In the village of Salem in 1692, Betty Parris, age 9, and her cousin Abigail Williams, age 11, the daughter and niece (respectively) of Reverend Samuel Parris, fell victim to what was recorded as fits "beyond the power of Epileptic Fits or natural disease to effect," according to John Hale, minister in Beverly, in his book A Modest Enquiry into the Nature of Witchcraft (Boston, 1702). The girls screamed, threw things about the room, uttered strange sounds, crawled under furniture, and contorted themselves into peculiar positions. They complained of being pricked with pins or cut with knives, and when Reverend Samuel Parris would preach, the girls would cover their ears, as if dreading to hear the sermons. When a doctor, historically assumed to be William Griggs, could not explain what was happening to them, he said that the girls were bewitched. Others in the village began to exhibit the same symptoms. Doctor Griggs may have been influenced in his diagnosis by Cotton Mather's work Memorable Providences Relating to Witchcrafts and Possessions (1689). In the book he describes the strange behaviour exhibited by the four children of a Boston mason, John Goodwin, and attributed it to witchcraft practiced upon them by an Irish washerwoman, Mary Glover. Mather, a minister of Boston's Old North Church, was a prolific publisher of pamphlets and a firm believer in witchcraft. Three of the five judges appointed to the Court of Oyer and Terminer were friends of his and members of his congregation. He wrote to one of the judges, John Richards, asking them to take into account spectral evidence and advising them on how to proceed. Mather was present at the execution of Reverend George Burroughs for witchcraft and intervened after the condemned man had successfully recited the Lord's Prayer (supposedly a sign of innocence) to remind the crowd that the man had been convicted before a jury. Mather had access to the official records of the Salem trials, upon which his account of the affair, Wonders of the Invisible World, was based. Traditionally, the affected girls are said to have been entertained by Parris' slave Tituba, during the winter of 1692, although there is no contemporary evidence to support the story. Tituba's race is also often cited as Carib-Indian or that she was of African descent, but contemporary sources describe her only as an "Indian." Research by Elaine Breslaw has suggested that she may well have been captured in what is now Venezuela and brought to Barbados, and so may have been an Arawak Indian, but other slightly later descriptions of her, by Gov. Hutchinson writing his history of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in the 18th century, describe her as a "Spanish Indian." In that day, that typically meant an Indian from the Carolinas/Georgia/Florida. Contrary to the folklore, there is no evidence whatsoever to support the assertion that Tituba told any of the girls any stories about using magic. The one supportable association with any kind of magical practices is that John Indian, another slave in the Parris household and assumed to have been Tituba's husband, was told a recipe for discovering the identity of a witch, a British recipe given to him by a neighbor of the parsonage. The first three people accused were arrested for allegedly afflicting Ann Putnam, Jr., age 12: Sarah Good, a beggar, Sarah Osborne, a bedridden old woman, and Tituba (Boyer 3). Tituba, as a slave of a different ethnicity than the Puritans, was an obvious target for accusations. Sarah Good, a poverty-worn, easily-angered woman, often muttered under her breath as she walked away from failed attempts of obtaining food and/or shelter from neighbors, and people interpreted her muttering as curses. Sarah Osborne, an irritable old woman, was already marked for marrying her indentured servant. All of these women fit the description of the "usual suspects," since nobody would likely stand up for them; neither Osborne nor Good attended church, which made them especially vulnerable to accusations of witchcraft. These women were brought before the local magistrates on the complaint of witchcraft on March 1, 1692, and held in prison (Boyer 3). Other accusations followed in March: Martha Corey, Rebecca Nurse, Dorothy Good[1], and Rachel Clinton. Martha Corey, ever an outspoken woman, was skeptical about the credence of the girls from the start and scoffed at the trials, unfortunately drawing attention to herself. Dorothy Good, the daughter of Sarah Good, was only 4 years old, and easily manipulated by the magistrates to say things that were taken as a confession, implicating her own mother. In order to be with her mother after the accusations, she claimed to herself be a witch, thereby she was arrested. The charges against Rebecca Nurse and Martha Corey greatly disturbed the community. Martha Corey was a full covenanted member of the Church in Salem Village, as was Rebecca Nurse in the Church in Salem Town. If the upstanding people could be accused of witchcraft and seen as possible witches, that meant that anybody could be a witch, but also that Church membership was no protection from accusation. Throughout April, many more were arrested: Sarah Cloyce (Nurse's sister), Elizabeth (Bassett) Proctor and her husband John Proctor, Giles Corey (Martha's husband, and a covenanted church member in Salem Town), Abigail Hobbs, Bridget Bishop, Mary Warren (a servant in the Proctor household and sometime accuser herself), Deliverance Hobbs (step-mother of Abigail Hobbs), Sarah Wilds, William Hobbs (husband of Deliverance and father of Abigail), Nehemiah Abbott Jr., Mary Esty (sister of Cloyce and Nurse), Edward Bishop Jr. and his wife Sarah Bishop, and Mary English, and finally on April 30, Rev. George Burroughs, Lydia Dustin, Susannah Martin, Dorcas Hoar, Sarah Morey and Philip English (Mary's husband). Nehemiah Abbott Jr. was released because the accusers agreed he was not the person whose spectre had afflicted them. Mary Esty was released for a few days after her initial arrest because the accusers failed to confirm that it was she who had afflicted them, and then she was rearrested when the accusers reconsidered. The main evidence used against the accused was "spectral evidence," or the testimony of the afflicted who claimed to see the apparition or the shape of the person who was allegedly afflicting them. The theological dispute that ensued about the use of this evidence centered on whether a person had to give their permission to the Devil for their "shape" to be used to afflict. Opponents to the trial claimed that the Devil was able to use anyone's "shape" to afflict people, but The Court contended that the Devil could not use a person's shape without their permission, therefore when the afflicted claimed to "see" the apparition of a specific person, that was accepted as evidence that the accused had been complicit with the Devil. Increase Mather and other ministers sent a letter to the Court, "The Return of Several Ministers Consulted," urging the magistrates not to convict on spectral evidence alone. As the number of accusations grew, the jail populations of Salem, Ipswich, Charlestown, Cambridge, and Boston swelled and a new problem surfaced: the new governor and charter for the colony were only a few months from arriving. Some have postulated that without this, there was no legitimate form of government to try capital cases (Boyer 6), but this was not true. In the years between charters, according to the Records of the Court of Assistants, a group of thirteen pirates led by Thomas Johnson, a mariner of Boston, were tried and hanged on January 27, 1690 for acts of piracy and murder in August and October of 1689.[2] Elizabeth Emerson of Haverhill, Massachusetts was tried and hanged for double-infanticide in May 1691.[3] The fact that none of the witchcraft cases were tried until late May, after Governor Sir William Phips arrived and instituted a Court of Oyer and Terminer (to "hear and determine"), was likely in deference to his imminent arrival. Phips appointed William Stoughton, who had theological training but no legal training, as the Chief Justice of this court (Boyer 7). By then, Sarah Osborne had died of natural causes in jail on May 10 without a trial (Boyer 3), as had Sarah Good's newborn infant. In May, warrants were issued for 36 more people: Sarah Dustin (daughter of Lydia Dustin), Ann Sears, Bethiah Carter Sr. and her daughter Bethiah Carter Jr., George Jacobs Sr. and his granddaughter Margaret Jacobs, John Willard, Alice Parker, Ann Pudeator, Abigail Soames, George Jacobs Jr. (son of George Jacobs Sr. and father of Margaret Jacobs), Daniel Andrew, Rebecca Jacobs (wife of George Jacobs Jr. and sister of Daniel Andrew), Sarah Buckley and her daughter Mary Witheridge, Elizabeth Colson, Elizabeth Hart, Thomas Farrar Sr., Roger Toothaker, Sarah Proctor (daughter of John and Elilzabeth Proctor), Sarah Bassett (sister-in-law of Elizabeth Proctor), Susannah Roots, Mary DeRich (another sister-in-law of Elizabeth Proctor), Sarah Pease, Elizabeth Cary, Martha Carrier, Elizabeth Fosdick, Wilmot Redd, Sarah Rice, Elizabeth How, John Alden (son of John Alden and Pricilla Mullins of Plymouth Colony), William Proctor (son of John and Elizabeth Proctor), John Flood, Mary Toothaker (wife of Roger Toothaker and sister of Martha Carrier) and her daughter Margaret Toothaker, and Arthur Abbott. John Willard and Elizabeth Colson managed to evade capture for a while but were finally taken into custody, whereas Daniel Andrew and George Jacobs Jr. were never apprehended. When the Court of Oyer and Terminer convened at the end of May, this brought the total number of people in custody for the court to handle to 62. After someone concluded that a loss, illness or death had been caused by witchcraft, the accuser would enter a complaint against the alleged witch with the local magistrates.[5] If the complaint was deemed credible, the magistrates would have the person arrested[6] and brought in for a public examination, essentially an interrogation, when the magistrates pressed the accused to confess. If the magistrates at this local level were satisfied that the complaint was well-founded, the prisoner was handed over to be dealt with by a superior court. In 1692, the magistrates opted to wait for the arrival of the new charter and governor, who would establish a Court of Oyer and Terminer to handle these cases. The next step, at the superior court level, was to summon witnesses before a grand jury.[8] A person could be indicted on charges of afflicting with witchcraft[9], or for making an unlawful covenant with the Devil.[10] Once indicted, the defendant went to trial, sometimes on the same day, as in the case of the first person indicted and tried on June 2, Bridget Bishop, who was executed on June 10, 1692. There were four execution dates, with one person executed on June 10, 1692[11], five executed on July 19, 1692[12], another five executed on August 19, 1692 (Susannah Martin, John Willard, George Burroughs, George Jacobs Sr., and John Procter), and eight on September 22, 1692 (Mary Esty, Martha Cory, Ann Pudeator, Samuel Wardwell, Mary Parker, Alice Parker, Wilmot Redd, and Margaret Scott). Several others, including Elizabeth (Bassett) Proctor and Abigail Faulkner were convicted but given temporary reprieves because they were pregnant (Chronology). Though convicted, they would not be hanged until they had given birth (Chronology). Five other women were convicted in 1692, but sentence was never carried out: Ann Foster (who later died in prison), her daughter Mary Lacy Sr., Abigail Hobbs, Dorcas Hoar, and Mary Bradbury. Giles Corey, an 80-year-old farmer from the southeast end of Salem called Salem Farms, refused to enter a plea when he came to trial in September. The law provided for the application of a form of torture called peine fort et dure, in which the victim was slowly crushed by piling stones on a board that was laid upon the victim's body. After two days of peine fort et dure, Corey died without entering a plea (Boyer 8). Though his refusal to plead is often explained as a way of preventing his possessions from being confiscated by the state, this is not true; the possessions of convicted witches were often confiscated, and the possessions of persons accused but not convicted were confiscated before a trial, as in the case of Corey's neighbor John Procter and the wealthy English's of Salem Town. Some historians hypothesize that Giles Corey's personal character, a stubborn and lawsuit-prone old man who knew he was going to be convicted regardless, led to his recalcitrance. Sadly, not even in death were the accused witches granted peace or respect. As convicted witches, Rebecca Nurse and Martha Corey had been excommunicated from their churches and none were given proper burial. As soon as the bodies of the accused people were cut down from the trees, they were thrown into a shallow grave and the crowd would then leave. Oral history claims that the families of the dead reclaimed their bodies after dark and buried them in unmarked graves on family property. The record books of the time do not mention the deaths of any of those executed. Closure The Reverend Francis Dane led the opposition and supported the accused. He petitioned the Governor and General Court, condemning the trials due to unfounded accusations. The last witch trials took place in May of 1693, although people already found not guilty of witchcraft were not released until they paid their jailers' fees. On October 3, 1692, Increase Mather published "Cases of Conscience Concerning Evil Spirits." In it, Increase Mather stated "It were better that Ten Suspected Witches should escape, than that one Innocent Person should be Condemned." After another trial was conducted, all those in jail were set free in May of 1693 (this amnesty is what saved Elizabeth Proctor). Many descendants of the people who were wrongfully convicted still sought closure. Numerous petitions were filed between 1692 and 1711, demanding monetary restitution to those wrongly imprisoned. The Massachusetts House of Representatives finally passed a bill disallowing spectral evidence. However, they only gave reversal of attainder for those who had filed petitions.[13] This applied to only three people, who had been convicted but not executed: Abigail Faulkner Sr., Elizabeth Proctor, and Sarah Wardwell. In 1704, another petition was filed, requesting a more equitable settlement for those wrongly accused. In 1709, the General Court received a request to take action on this proposal. In May 1709, 22 people who had been convicted of witchcraft, or whose parents had been convicted of witchcraft, presented the government with a petition in which they demanded both a reversal of attainder and compensation for financial losses. In 1706, Ann Putnam, one of the most active accusers, was the only girl to offer a written apology. She claimed that she had not acted out of malice, but was being deluded by Satan into denouncing innocent people, and mentioned Rebecca Nurse in particular. In 1712 the pastor who had cast Rebecca out of the church formally cancelled the excommunication. On October 17, 1711, the General Court passed a bill reversing the judgment against the 22 people listed in the 1709 petition. There were still an additional 7 people who had been convicted, but had not signed the petition. There was no reversal of attainder for them. On December 17, 1711, monetary compensation was finally awarded to the 22 people in the 1709 petition. 578 pounds 12 shillings were authorized to be divided among the survivors and relatives of those accused. Most of the accounts were settled within a year. 150 pounds were awarded to the Proctor family for John and Elizabeth. The Proctor family received much more money from the Massachusetts General Court than most families of accused witches. By 1957, not all the condemned had been exonerated. Descendants of those falsely accused demanded the General Court clear the names of their family members. An act was passed pronouncing the innocence of those accused -- however, it only listed Ann Pudeator by name, and the others as "certain other persons", still failing to include all names of those convicted. In 1992, The Danvers Tercentenial Committee persuaded the Massachusetts House of Representatives to issue a resolution honoring those who had died. After much convincing and hard work by Salem school teacher Paula Keene, Representatives J. Michael Ruane and Paul Tirone and a few others, the names of all those not previously listed were added to this resolution. When it was finally signed on October 31, 2001 by Governor Jane Swift, more than 300 years later, all were finally proclaimed innocent. Possible Explanations of the "Possessed"It is not widely believed any longer that the girls were actually possessed by the devil nor that their neighbors had anything to do with their symptoms. Some experts believe the accusers were motivated by jealousy or spite and their behavior was an act. Others believe they were afflicted by hysteria, a form of mental illness. In 1976, graduate student Linnda Caporael published an article in Science magazine, making the claim that the hallucinations of the afflicted girls could possibly have been the result of ingesting rye bread that had been made with moldy grain. "Ergot of Rye is a plant disease that is caused by the fungus Claviceps purpurea. It is the ergot stage of the fungus that contains a similar chemical compounds to a popular but illegal drug of the counter-culture of the 1960s, LSD. Convulsive ergotism causes nervous dysfunction, which Caporael claims are similar to many of the physical symptoms of those alleged to be afflicted by witchcraft. Within 7 months, a refutation of this theory was published in the same magazine by Spanos and Gottlieb, arguing, among other things, that if the poison was in the food supply, the symptoms would have occurred on a house-by-house basis, and that biological symptoms do not stop and start on cue and simultaneously in a group of those so afflicted, as described by the witnesses to the afflictions. In her book A Fever in Salem, Laurie Winn Carlson offers an alternative theory. She believes that those afflicted in Salem, who claimed to have been bewitched, suffered from encephalitis lethargica, a disease whose symptoms match some of what was reported in Salem and could have been spread by birds and other animals (Aronson).It has also been suggested that the girls could have had Huntington's Chorea, carriers of which have been traced to be among the colonists that settled in that area [1], but no serious historian of this episode today (Mary Beth Norton, Bernard Rosenthal, Marilynne K. Roach and others) gives any of these medical explanations any serious consideration. Salem Today "With one of the highest concentrations of historic sites, museums, cultural activities, fine dining and shopping in Massachusetts, Salem is America's Bewitching Seaport with a little history in every step" (Destination Salem). Today the Salem Witchcraft Trials have become the basis of a money-making tourist industry in Salem. Witch shops are seen all over the community. Museums promise glimpses of the supernatural. Gift shops sell everything from Witch City shirts to Buddhism in a can. Tourists are treated to informational exhibits and programs. Connected to Boston by train and bus, Salem's 38,000 residents and its one-million visitors are able to easily enjoy the best of both Salem and Boston. In recent times, "historians see both sides of Salem" (Aronson). Still to this day, there is not a solid explanation for what occurred in the Salem Witch Trials in the 1600s. The Salem Witch Trials in LiteratureThe Salem Witch Trials have provided the basis for two of America's great works of drama, Giles Corey in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's New England Tragedies and Arthur Miller's classic play The Crucible. Both plays deal with the problem of presumed guilt and both follow a single character from his accusation to his eventual condemnation. Longfellow's play, which follows the form of a Shakespearean tragedy, is a commentary on the attitudes prevalent in 19th-century New England. Miller's play is a commentary on the actions of the House Committee on Unamerican Activities and Senator Joe McCarthy. Lois the Witch by Elizabeth Gaskell is a novella based on the Salem witch hunts and shows how jealousy and sexual desire can lead to hysteria. She was inspired by the story of Rebecca Nurse whose accusation, trial and execution are described in Lectures on Witchcraft, by Charles Upham, the Unitarian minister in Salem in the 1830s. - from Wikipedia.org |
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The Wiccan Rede The Wiccan Rede Bide the Wiccan laws we must In perfect Love and perfect Trust. Live and let live, Fairly take and fairly give. Cast the circle thrice about To keep the evil spirits out. To bind the spell every time, Let the spell be spake in rhyme. Soft of Eye and Light of Touch, Speak but little, listen much. Deosil go by the waxing moon, Chanting out the Witches' Rune. Widdershins go by the waning moon, Chanting out the baneful rune. When the Lady's moon is new, Kiss the hand to her, times two. When the moon rides at her peak, Then thy heart's desire seek. Heed the North Wind's mighty gale, Lock the door and drop the sail. When the wind comes from the South, Love will kiss thee on the mouth. When the wind blows from the West, Departed souls will have no rest. When the wind blows from the East, Expect the new and set the Feast. Nine woods in the cauldron go, Burn them fast and burn them slow. Elder be the Lady's tree, Burn it not, or cursed you'll be. When the wheel begins to turn, Let the Beltane fires burn. When the wheel has turned to Yule, Light the log and Horned One rules. Heed thee Flower, Bush, and Tree, By the Lady, Blessed Be. Where the rippling waters go, Cast a stone and truth you'll know. When thou hast a true need, Hearken not to others' greed. With a fool no season spend, Lest thou be counted as his friend. Merry Meet and Merry Part, Bright the cheeks and warm the heart. Mind the Threefold Law you should, Three times bad and Three times good. When misfortune is enow, Wear the Blue Star on thy brow. True in Love, ever be. Lest thy Lover's false to thee. Eight words the Wiccan Rede fulfill: "AN THEE HARM NONE, DO WHAT YE WILL." A SPELL TO BREAK THE POWERS OF A SPELL If you believe that a spell has been cast against you, place a large black candle in a cauldron (or a large black bowl). The candle must be tall enough to extend a few inched above the cauldron's rim. Affix the candle to the bottom of the cauldron with warmed beeswax or the drippings of another black candle so that it will not tip over. Fill the cauldron to the rim with fresh water,without wetting the candle's wick. An inch or two of the candle should remain above the water. Deep breathe, meditate, clear your mind, and light the candle. Visualize the suspected spell's power as residing within the candle's flame. Sit in quiet contemplation of the candle and visualize the power flowing and growing with the candle's flame (yes the power against you). As the candle burns down, its flame will eventually sputter and go out as it contacts the water. As soon as the flame has been extinguished by the water, the spell will be dispersed. Break your visualization of the spell's power; see it explode into dust, becoming impotent. Pour the water into a hole in the ground, a lake or stream. Bury the candle. It is done To Ease a Broken Heart You will need the following ingredients (be sure to charge them all before you begin): strawberry tea (one bag) On a Friday morning or evening (the day sacred to Venus) take a bath in sea salt in the light of a pink candle. As you dry off and dress, sip the strawberry tea. Use a dab of strawberry oil as perfume or cologne. Apply makeup or groom yourself to look your best. Cast a circle with the willow wand around a table the the other ingredients. Light the second pink candle. Mix all oils and herbs in the bowl. While you stir look at yourself in the mirror and say aloud: "Oh, Great Mother Goddess, enclose me in your loving arms and nurture and bring forth the Goddess within me." Gaze deeply into the mirror after you have finished mixing the ingredients and say aloud, "I represent the Great Goddess, Mother of all things. I shine in the light of the Golden Wings of Isis. All that is great and loving only belongs to me." Then put half the mixture in the pink bag and add the penny and crystal. Carry it with you always [or until you find another love]. Leave the other half of the potion in the bowl, out in a room where you will smell the fragrance. Repeat this ritual every Friday if necessary. HOME PROTECTION MIRROR SPELL Compose an altar: place a censer in the center before an image ofthe Goddess. Have a twelve-inch (or so) round mirror there as well.Ring the altar with nine white candles. Burn a protective incense(such as sandalwood, frankincense, copal or rosemary) in the censer.Beginning with the candle most directly before the Goddess image,say these or similar words: Lunar light protect me! Repeat as you light each candle until all are glowing.Now, holding the mirror, invoke the Goddess in her lunar aspectwith these or similar words: Great Goddess of the Lunar Light and Mistress of the Seas; Great Goddess of the Mystic Night and of the Mysteries; Within this place of candles bright and with Your mirror nigh; Protect me with Your awesome might while ill vibrations fly! Standing before the altar, hold the mirror facing the candles sothat it reflects their flames. Keeping the mirror toward the candles,move slowly, clockwise, around the altar, watching the reflectedfirelight bouncing off your surroundings. Gradually increase your speed, mentally invoking the Goddess toprotect you. Move faster and faster; watch the light shattering theair, cleansing it, burning away all negativity and all lines alongwitch the ill energies have traveled into your home. Charge your home with the protective light of the Goddess. Racearound the candles until you've felt the atmosphere change, until youfeel that your home has been cleansed and guarded by the GreatGoddess. When finished, stand once again before the image. Thank theGoddess in any words you wish. Pinch out the candles one by one, bindthem together with white cord and store them in a safe place until(and if) you need to use them again for this same purpose.
OBJECT PROTECTION SPELL With the first and middle fingers (or your Athame, if you have itwith you), trace a pentagram over the object to be protected.Visualize electric-blue or purple flame streaming from your fingers(Athame) to form the pentagram. Say this as you trace: With this pentagram I do lay Protection here both night and day.And to the one who should not touch Let the fingers burn and twitch.I now invoke the Law of Three: This is my will, so mote it be!
For Prosperity The following is a quarterly prosperity spell given to me by Angel and Gracie, my first two FamTrad teachers. I have no idea where they got it, but I can tell you that it DOES work. I"ve used it for years and it never fails to bring me some unlooked for money. I find that I've overpaid a bill, or an old debt which I had written off as uncollec- tible gets repaid, I find a $20 on the sidewalk, etc. Try it, it works! The spell is to begin at one minute past midnight SUN TIME (I HATE daylight savings time when I do this. Means 1AM!) on the night of April 30 (May 1), July 31 (Aug 1), Oct 31 (Nov. 1) and Jan 31 (Feb 1) In other words, on the first minute of the cross quarter day. You will need the following: 1 gold candle All candles must be dressed with pine oil and then arranged as fol- lows: Gold candle in the center At one minute past midnight on the appointed day, trace a salt circle around the outermost circle of candles, light the gold candle first, then the green candles, moving deosil, then the white candles, moving deosil. Circle the altar three times, chanting "Orbiting Jupiter trine the sun, bring money on the run." Do the chant 3 times also. Sit quietly for a few minutes and visualize your monetary NEEDS. (needs, not desires). Then SNUFF (do not blow or pinch) the candles in reverse order. SAFE TRAVEL SPELL You will need: * 2 white candles annointed with sandalwood oil. Altar should be arranged as below:
_______________________________________________________________ | | | O (white candle) O (Personality candle) O (purple candle | | (1) (3) (4) | | | | O (white candle) Photos or personal object O (incense) | | (2) (5) | | | _______________________________________________________________ Light white candles (1& 2) light personality candle (3) light purplecandle (4), light incense (5). Repeat the following invocation: "Hail Mother of the World!Nanna, Isis, Astarte, Selene, Holy Sin (pronounced Sheen).See me, look upon meSee me, look upon meSee me, look upon meProtect me and my people tonight.Send your white light around me.Send your protective light around ______________That they may be protectedAs they travel and as they dream.Send only good and lucid energies their way.Thank you.Thank you.Thank you. You can either let the candles burn out by themselves, or snuff themin reverse order and let them burn a little each night if the personwill be on an extended trip. On the last night let them burn down ontheir own. NEVER blow our or pinch out the candles. This destroysthe luck. The Charge of the Goddess Whenever ye have need of any thing, once in the month, and better it be when the moon is full, then shall ye assemble in some secret place and adore the spirit of She, who is Queen of all witches. There shall ye assemble, ye who are fain to learn all sorcery, yet have not won its deepest secrets; to these will She teach things that are yet unknown. And ye shall be free from slavery; and as a sign that ye be really free, ye shall be naked in your rites; and ye shall dance, sing, feast, make music and love, all in Her praise. For Hers is the ecstasy of the spirit, and Hers also is joy on earth; for Her law is love unto all beings. Keep pure your highest ideal; strive ever towards it; let naught stop you or turn you aside. For Hers is the secret door which opens upon the land of youth and Hers is the cup of wine of life, and the cauldron of Cerridwen, which is the Holy Grail of immortality. She is the gracious goddess, who gives the gift of joy unto the heart of man. Upon earth, She gave the knowledge of the spirit eternal; and beyond death, She gives peace and freedom, and reunion with those who have gone before. Nor does She demand sacrifice, for behold, She is the mother of all living, and Her love is poured out upon the earth. She who is the beauty of the green earth, and the white moon among the stars, and the mystery of the waters, and the desire of the heart of man, calls unto thy soul. Arise, and come unto Her. For She is the soul of nature, who gives life to the universe. from Her all things proceed, and unto Her all things must return; and before Her face, beloved of gods and men, let thine innermost divine self be enfolded in the rapture of the infinite. Let Her worship be within the heart that rejoiceth; for behold, all acts of love and pleasure are Her rituals. And therefore let there be beauty and strength, power and compassion, honor and humility, mirth and reverence within you. And thou who thinkest to seek Her, know thy seeking and yearning shall avail thee not unless thou knowest the mystery; that if that which thou seekest thou findest not within thee, then thou wilt never find it without thee. For behold, She has been with thee from the beginning; and She is that which is attained at the end of desire. The Charge of the God Listen to the words of the Horned God, the Guardian of all things wild and free, and Keeper of the Gates of Death, whose Call all must answer: I am the fire within your heart... The yearning of your Soul. I am the Hunter of Knowledge and the Seeker of the Holy Quest I - who stand in the darkness of light am He whom you have called Death. I - the Consort and Mate of Her we adore, call forth to thee. Heed my call beloved ones, come unto me and learn the secrets of death and peace. I am the corn at harvest and the fruit on the trees. I am He who leads you home. Scourge and Flame, Blade and Blood - these are mine and gifts to thee. Call unto me in the forest wild and on hilltop bare and seek me in the Darkness Bright. I - who have been called; Pan, Herne, Osiris , and Hades, speak to thee in thy search. Come dance and sing; come live and smile, for behold: this is my worship. You are my children and I am thy Father. On swift night wings it is I who lay you at the Mother's feet to be reborn and to return again. Thou who thinks to seek me, know that I am the untamed wind, the fury of storm and passion in your Soul. Seek me with pride and humility, but seek me best with love and strength. For this is my path, and I love not the weak and fearful. Hear my call on long Winter nights and we shall stand together guarding Her Earth as She sleeps. Baldr, Son of Frigg, Join us. Baldr, Son of Odin, Join us. Baldr, Husband of Nanna, Join us. Baldr, Brother of Hodr, Join us. Baldr, Brother of Hermod, Join us. Baldr, Father of Forsetti, Join us. Baldr, Slain by blind Hodr, Join us. Baldr, Master of Breidablik, Join us. Baldr, Who is much loved, Join us. Baldr, Who Thokk alone would not mourn, Join us. Baldr, The Fairest of the Aesir, Join us. Baldr, Whose Judgments stand unaltered, Join us. Baldr, Whose Judgments stand unheeded, Join us. Baldr, The Wisest of the Aesir, Join us. Baldr, The Shining One, Join us. Baldr, Your servant _______ calls you! Come to me NOW!" "Brigit, Wise One, We, your children, call to you. Lady, Smithy, We, your children, invite you here. Triple Goddess, We, your children, ask your presence. Brigit, Wise One, We, your children, call to you. Lady, Smithy, We, your children, invite you here. Triple Goddess, We, your children, ask your presence. Brigit, Wise One, We, your children, call to you. Lady, Smithy, We, your children, invite you here. Triple Goddess, We, your children, ask your presence, NOW
PROTECTION CHANT Visualize a triple circle of purplish light around your body whilechanting: I am protected by your might, O gracious Goddess, day and night. Another of the same type: visualize a triple circle and chant: Thrice around the circle's bound, Evil sink into the ground. Lucid Dreaming POWER TRIPS: CONTROLLING YOUR DREAMS A number of techniques facilitate lucid dreaming. One of the simplest is asking yourself many times during the day whether you are dreaming. Each time you ask the question, you should look for evidence proving you are not dreaming. The most reliable test: Read something, look away for a moment, and then read it again. If it reads the same way twice, it is unlikely that you are dreaming. After you have proved to yourself that you are not presently dreaming, visualize yourself doing what it is you'd like. Also, tell yourself that you want to recognize a nighttime dream the next time it occurs. The mechanism at work here is simple; it's much the same as picking up milk at the grocery store after reminding yourself to do so an hour before. At night people usually realize they are dreaming when they experience unusual or bizarre occurrences. For instance, if you find yourself flying without visible means of support, you should realize that this happens only in dreams and that you must therefore be dreaming. If you awaken from a dream in the middle of the night, it is very helpful to return to the dream immediately, in your imagination. Now envision yourself recognizing the dream as such. Tell yourself, "The next time I am dreaming, I want to remember to recognize that I am dreaming." If your intention is strong and clear enough, you may find yourself in a lucid dream when you return to sleep. Even if you're a frequent lucid dreamer, you may not be able to stop yourself from waking up in mid-dream. And even if your dreams do reach a satisfying end, you may not be able to focus them exactly as you please. During our years of research, however, we have found that spinning your dream body can sustain the period of sleep and give you greater dream control. In fact, many subjects at Stanford University have used the spinning technique as an effective means of staying in a lucid dream. The task outlined below will help you use spinning as a means of staying asleep and, more exciting, as a means of traveling to whatever dream world you desire. Before retiring, decide on a person, time, and place you would like to visit in your lucid dream. The target person and place can be either real or imaginary, past, present, or future. Write down and memorize your target person and place, then visualize yourself visiting your target and firmly resolve to do so in a dream that night. To gain lucidity, repeat the phrase describing your target in your dream, and spin your whole dream body in a standing position with your arms outstretched. You can pirouette or spin like a top, as long as you vividly feel your body in motion. The same spinning technique will help when, in the middle of a lucid dream, you feel the dream imagery beginning to fade. To avoid waking up, spin as you repeat your target phrase again and again. With practice, you'll return to your target person, time, and place. When spinning, try to notice whether you're moving in a clockwise or counter-clockwise direction. In this ritual the Goddess becomes incarnate in the High Priestess. After the circle is cast, The High Priestess stands in front of the altar with her back to it. She holds the wand in her right hand and the scrounge in her left. She crosses her wrists and crosses the wand and scrounge above them while holding them close to her breast. The High Priest stands in front of her and says: "Diana, queen of night In all your beauty bright, Shine on us here, And with your silver beam Unlock the gates of dream; Rise bright and clear. On Earth and sky and sea, Your magic mystery Its spell shall cast, Wherever leaf may grow, Wherever tide may flow, Till all be past. O secret queen of power, At this enchanted hour We ask your boon. May fortune's favor fall Upon true witches all, O Lady Moon!" The High Priest kneels before the High Priestess and gives her the Five Fold Kiss; that is, he kisses her on both feet, both knees, womb, both beasts, and the lips, starting with the right of each pair. He says, as he does this: "Blessed be thy feet, that have brought thee in these ways. Blessed be thy knees, that shall kneel at the sacred altar. Blessed be thy womb, without which we would not be. Blessed be thy breasts, formed in beauty. Blessed be thy lips, that shall utter the Sacred Names." For the kiss on the lips, they embrace, length to length, with their feet touching each others. When he reaches the womb, she spreads her arms wide, and the same after the kiss on the lips. The High Priest kneels again and invokes: "I invoke thee and call upon thee, Mighty Mother of us all, bringer of all fruitfulness; by seed and root, by bud and stem, by leaf and flower and fruit, by life and love do I invoke thee to descend upon the body of this, thy servant and priestess." During this invocation he touches her with his right forefinger on her right breast, left breast, and womb, repeats the set and finally the right breast. Still kneeling, he spreads his arms out and down, with the palms forward and says: "Hail Aradia! From the Amalthean Horn Pour forth thy store of love; I lowly bend Before thee, I adore thee to the end, With loving sacrifice thy shrine adore. Thy foot is to my lip (he kisses her right foot) my prayer up borne Upon the rising incense smoke; then spend Thine ancient love, O Mighty One, descend To aid me, who without thee am forlorn." The High Priest stands up and steps backwards. The High Priestess draws the Invoking Pentagram of Earth in the air with the wand and says: "Of the Mother darksome and divine Mine the scrounge, and mine the kiss; The five point star of love and bliss Here I charge you in this sign." The High Priestess should be in a trance now. This is a good time to do the Charge or the Witches' Creed. When the Charge or Creed is finished, the Goddess must be dismissed. It is bad magical practice not to do so. The High Priest faces the Priestess and says: "We thank you Our Lady for attending our rites. We bid you farewell till next we call you. Blessed Be." CIRCLE CASTING DRAGON STYLE I just thought I'd drop a note on the traditional Dragon Tradition Circle casting. The circle is cast with the Blade, the Cup and the Censor. The Priest starts with the Blade in the north and draws the boundry of the circle. As he does he recites "I tread this Path for the Elements, that which comprises all that we see." The HPS takes to sprinkling the boundries with the Cup filled with salted water. She recites "I tread this Path for Self, a reflection of the Divine." The HP then takes the censor and carries the smoketo the boundries of the circle in a deosil direction. He recites "I tread this Path for Spirit, that which unites all things." The HP or HPS then state the charge of our Circle. It is as follows: "Our Circle is a place where hearts and minds can meet and share in the wonder and empowerment of a living and loving Goddess. We are a coven of friends, but above all things we are Family. Our Love and our Magick binds us together and our Circle keeps us and nurtures us. We are blessed. Blessed Be!" The Dragon Guardians are then invoked. EAST Mighty Dragon, Guardian of the realms of the East. Your tongue is a sharp sword, cutting with the knowledge of the arcane. Your spirit flows as graceful as a swift in flight. Purify us with truth. Blessed Be. SOUTH Mighty Dragon, Guardian of the realms of the South, your breath is a flame with the fires of inspiration and passion. Your spirit is searing and fervent. Purify us with Love. Blessed Be. WEST Mighty Dragon, Guardian of the realms of the West, your coils are the cleansing healing waves that nurture the soul. Your spirit lunges, leaps and splashes like a Talbot at play. Purify us with pulsing tides. Blessed Be. NORTH Mighty Dragon, Guardian of the realms of the North, your talons run like roots into the earth, giving you infinite strength. Your spirit is substantial, hard and pure like a clear crystal. Purify us with persistant wisdom. Blessed Be. Each of these Dragons has a secret name that they are also invoked with. A suggestion is that anyone using these invocations meditate to find an appropriate name for each Guardian and use it along with or instead of the words "Mighty Dragon". I find that the Circle charge sets the mood for the Circle and I change it to suit the situation. If anyone has ideas for a Circle charge, I'd like to hear them. I have a number of Circle charges that I use but fresh ones always are nice. |
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The History Of The Wiccan Religion
By Rose Ariadne
Before you begin any life changing adventure, it is important to know the history of what you are going into (especially if it is a belief system/religion such as Wicca).
Most people know that the modern day Wiccan religion was born in 1954 by Gerald Gardner (who had an extensive background in the occult). His writings were influenced by Aleister Crowley, Theosophy, Freemasonry, and various other occult sources. All of this gave birth to modern day Wicca.
Currently, it is one of the fastest growing religions in North America.
In reality, Wicca is a more common and much older name for "Witchcraft".
Contrary to what many religious groups would have you believe, Witchcraft is not synonymous with Satanism... in fact, it is quite the opposite.
It was during the middle ages that Witchcraft gained momentum - superstition gave way to the supernatural - and there was a "hodge podge" of Witchcraft practitioners in the world (especially Europe - but of course even older forms of Witchcraft - like Shamanism - were rampant in other areas of the world as well)
The Wiccans of today typically distance themselves from Christianity. They see it as a male dominated religion, and feel there is a lack of balance. The belief is there must be balance in all aspects of life and the world. The duality is worshipped in most branches... both God and Goddess.
Archaeologists discovered a cache of Papyri in Egypt which also added to the knowledge that had collected over the ages.
Fragmented pieces of the sacred teachings have formed the basis for many different branches of the Magick path. In fact, you will not find a discipline of Witchcraft that does not harness the power of a core Magick principle found in the original Magick Papyri.
The Full Power Of Magick Is At Your Feet
You’ve got to understand that because of the amazing discovery of the Magick Papyri – the full knowledge to control Magick energy is at your feet.
The right teacher - combined with the secrets of ancient Magick - will unlock your ability to change the world around you (including your own life) in ways you have never dreamed.
I know the secrets of controlling Magick energy – and I want to show you exactly how to create miracles with Magick. I want to be your teacher.
So enough of the history lesson, let’s dive in to the good stuff. The secret of controlling Magick – and how you can use it to create miracles in your life. Keep an eye out for future articles...
Telling People You Are A Witch (How To Deal With Intolerence)
By Rose Ariadne
Whatever path you choose in witchcraft will be padded with challenges (like in everything). One of these challenges may happen early on - people are going to ask questions about your beliefs, and it's important to know how to "put it" without turning them off...
You may feel uneasy about other people discovering your beliefs, no matter which path you follow in Witchcraft.
As a wicca beginner, follow this short guide to help people understand.
You may even have people close to you that you already know would not accept your beliefs.
The first thing you need to understand is that there is nothing that says you even have to come out with your beliefs. You don’t have to tell anyone if you don’t want. It is easy to keep it a secret.
There are many people with different beliefs that never tell anyone what those beliefs truly are.
Your beliefs are very personal, and they are not for anyone else’s ears if you don’t want them to be.
But, if you feel as though you want to tell the world that you are a Witch (or if somebody does some snooping, and finds out and confronts you), here are some guidelines to follow:
• It is best to wait for the other person to bring it up. Avoid bringing it up yourself.
• Know what that persons beliefs are first. Have a good understanding of their beliefs before you talk about yours.
• Once you know what the other persons beliefs are, find a common ground between yours and theirs – focus on the similarities. (Example: Christians believe in helping others, and do those following the Wiccan way – etc.)
• It is best to prepare for this discussion beforehand by making a list of the people in your life that you may talk about this with. Along with their names, write out what their beliefs are as best you can, and write down the things you will say in your discussion with them.
• Never try to change anybody’s view. You can’t do it, especially if they are older. You are just looking for them to accept you for who you are.
Note: I haven’t included any specific things that you should say, word for word because it is important to actually hear me say them, so that you can practice how you would say them. I provide a detailed video demonstration of exactly what (and how) to tell intolerant people in my Witchcraft Home Academy. It is my job to make sure you can gain acceptance of your views, and reduce the risk of people looking down on you.
Your Wicca Daily Devotions
By Rose Ariadne
When you follow a Magick path, your success in that path depends on your ability to focus charged energies, and send them out into the universe to get whatever you desire.
If you ignore your connection to Magick energy, it will weaken – as will your power. They are especially important for beginner wiccans.
“Daily devotions” are things you do on a daily basis to strengthen the ability to control your inner Magick energy. A devotional routine helps to raise the energy daily, at various times.
Think of daily devotionals as short rituals of energy. They strengthen your connection, and also bring positive energies into your life.
Above all else you want to pick a routine that is right for you – and follow it every single day!
You can do all of your chosen devotionals at one time, or you can spread them out through the day. Find something that works within your schedule, and follow it.
Your devotionals can be anything that brings positive emotion into your heart. It can be something as simple as making diary entries into your Book of Shadows every night before bed. In your Book of Shadows, keep track of where negative patterns are in your life, and work to build on the positive ones in your mind – and in the Book of Shadows.
Another devotional “mini” ritual you can follow is to spend at least a few minutes breathing, meditating, and visualizing positive things to create positive energy in your life. You can even use the meditation exercise that I gave you previously in this book.
Here are a list of some devotionals that you can do every day. There is not a need to do all of them, but pick ones that you feel most comfortable with:
Morning wake-up devotional
Connecting to the Lord and Lady
Connecting to the Divine, Infinite Energy
Greeting Devotionals to the Spirits or Elements around you
Connecting to Nature and the Earth Mother
Journaling
Food Blessing Devotional
Breathing
Meditation
Visualization Exercises
Playing with Energy
Remember, none of the devotionals you do should tire you out. And you should never be in a situation where you “dread” doing them. You should look forward to them – so make sure you select ones that work best for you.
Most of the devotionals above are self-explanatory, and you can “create” these devotionals any way that you wish. There are no “hard and fast rules” when doing your daily devotionals. (I demonstrate some of them in the Witchcraft Academy In-A-Box)
For now, I will walk you through the simple but powerful “Playing with Energy” daily devotional.
Sit in a comfortable position, and begin the basics of the meditation exercise from earlier in this book. Once you have dropped into the stage of slowing your breathing, open your eyes.
Take your hands, palms facing, and briskly rub them together. While you are doing this, start calling the energy from around you into your body. Hold your hands out in front of you, palms facing each other, about twelve to eighteen inches from your face. This works best of you have a solid, dark background in the direction you are facing.
Focus first on your hands, and sending the energy in your body out the palms. When you feel the flow is good and strong, shift your focus to just past your hands, at a point on the background beyond them. Can you see the ethereal, nebulous energy between the palms? It may take some time for you to see it, but keep working at it, you will. Once you can see the energy there, concentrate on making it brighter and darker, increasing the flows and lessening the flows. Keep playing with the energy on a regular basis, until you get comfortable with how to manipulate it to do what you want it to do.
Once you have reached that point, start playing further with the energy. Form it into a ball, move your hands closer and further apart, seeing the ball change in size and intensity.As you get the hang of each one (over days, not minutes!), try different shapes and sizes. Play with the energy and get comfortable with its existence. This is the same energy you use in order to cast magick. Seeing it in solid form, even if there is still an ethereal quality to it, helps to strengthen your belief, and raise your levels of energy even higher.
How To Meditate To Center Your Magick Energy
By Rose Ariadne
Meditating properly is one of the keys to casting successful spells in Wicca Witchcraft. The idea here is to focus on each part of your body one at a time - relax them, force the negativity out of each part.
When done properly, you will reach your place of peace within yourself... the place where Magick energy "comes from".
Whenever time permits, you should do this every single day... and especially before casting spells.
Start with your feet. Flex them, and then relax them... flex them, and then relax them. Then, concentrate on relaxing them completely as if they are 2 "wet noodles". Focus as long as you need to put them in a completely relaxed state.
Next, move to your calves. Clench the muscles of your calves, and then relax them seeing all tension and negativity flowing down your legs and out your feet into the ground. Repeat this through all major muscles in your body (knees, thights, pelvic region, buttocks, hips, lower back, mid section, upper back, fingers and hands, forearms and elbows, upper arms, shoulders, neck, chin, jaw, face, and lastly your head).
Feel all of your tension and negativity drain out of each part of your body, and be replaced by a sphere of white light.
Next, clear your mind and open your inner self to that higher place within you that maintains a constant connection to the Divine.
Spend your time in stillness, and commune with your deities – or even work on your visualization skills.
Finally, when you are finished, go back down through your entire body in reverse, charging each part with the energy of the white sphere to waken and refresh your entire physical self.
My Witchcraft Home Academy In-A-Box, Mastering The Magick of Witchcraft goes into more detail about meditation and how it can increase the power and effectiveness of your spells. It will also reveal a few secrets about visualization that will help you to cast successful spells “on the fly” whenever you need to.
And on the DVD’s, you will be taken on a guided meditation (which is also a part of setting up your internal sacred space).
It is important to have someone to guide you on how to become a witch - and there is help out there!
Not only is good meditation calming and relaxing, but the visualizations you work on in your meditation can instantly put powerful Magick energies at work for you to accomplish whatever you desire. Now, imagine combining this power with actual spells and rituals – and how bundling the power of all the techniques I reveal can give you full control of your life.
You were born with a special power that most people never open their eyes to. Using this power, you can get the life you have always dreamed of, step by step. If you truly believe this, you are already almost there.
The Secret For Using Triggers In Wicca
By Rose Ariadne
First, let me talk about what a Witchcraft "Trigger" is. (and trust me, even some experienced Witches have never heard of Triggers before. You can use this with any wicca spells you get for free (or otherwise).
A Trigger is a way have "assigning" your spells to a word, a bodily movement, or sometimes even a thought or state of mind.
For example, instead of sitting down and doing a full spell ritual to bring "self love" to you, you can actually assign the focus, intention and emotion that the spell entails to a simple movement of your hand or arm.
The advantage of having some prepared Triggers for your Wicca spells is that you can cast them on the fly any time you want. You could be at the mall and be talking to someone that is giving off a bad energy... with just a slight motion, and maybe a word, you can instantly create an egg of protection (I show you an egg protection spell in my course)
The disadvantage of using a trigger is that there is no way to build the same amount of preparation, emotion, focus and intent into the spell as you could if you were doing it in a full ritual situation in front of your altar.
So you really need to decide if you are willing to sacrifice some of the "power" of the spell (for lack of a better word) by using a trigger - in exchange for being able to cast the spell any time you need it - in any situation.
Here's an example of how to create a Wicca Witchcraft trigger:
Sit at your altar, visualizing the spell that you last cast, and picturing how it went wrong. You don’t need to spend much more time than thirty seconds to do this. After all, you do not want to add any more negative energy to empower the spell, you just want to make sure that you have the spell clearly in your mind.
When you have it visualized, use your hand to cut through the image in front of you, slicing it up with your hand like a knife, while saying the following:
“My spell went wrong
Please reverse it
Do not mess it up
And do not pervert it.”
Visualize the cut pieces evaporating into thin air, the energy that went into it sliced up and dissipated.
When you are finished, break your circle by saluting each of the quarters in reverse and asking for them to depart, and finishing the last two rounds counterclockwise, to undo the power of the circle and let it go.
Use Witchcraft To Bring Love Into Your Life
By Arabella Jolie
Love is difficult, uncertain and rarely obedient. It can also be wondrous, passionate and fill us with unparalleled joy. Is it any wonder, with all the things that love is, that those who practice magick are inevitably drawn to love spells?
The clichéd notion of a love spell that overpowers a person’s mind and forces them to fall in love with another is a far cry from the ways that modern witchcraft is able to bring love into a person’s life. The basic tenant of magickal practice is summed up in the Wiccan Rede, “An ye harm none, do what ye will.” Obviously, controlling the mind of another is potentially harmful to them, and so actual love spells are usually quite different from what the mythology surrounding them might indicate.
Though casting a spell to force someone to love you is unethical and potentially dangerous, there are many ways to use witchcraft to bring love into your life. It is possible to try to attract (or re-attract) the love of someone who is already in your life. Just be mindful not to put anything in your spell that involves them losing their free will. Love spells can be a potent force in opening yourself up to and attracting love. The first question to ask is why you are looking for love in the first place.
Ready to Move On - Use Witchcraft To Help You
Perhaps you are recovering from a bad relationship or a failed love. If this is the case, magick can help you cope with your pain and your loss and prepare you to move on. If you are in love with someone who is not able to love you back, you can also use magick to put the past behind you.
Another part of emotional and spiritual growth is recognizing our own faults and acting to improve upon them. A spell designed to help with personal growth can also be a love spell. Being in good mental health being able to view past relationships in a positive light are important factors in developing new, healthy relationships.
To Be Recovered, Whole & Ready to Love Again Spell
Tools and Ingredients
Alter or Sacred Space
One white candle
One pink candle
Sage incense
Sandalwood oil
Frankincense oil
A pin
Salt
Step 1. After collecting the tools and ingredients, prepare your space according to your own ritual, or by lightly sprinkling salt in a circle around yourself while speaking the following words: I consecrate this place/ for the Goddess within and without/ Only love and good can remain/ hate and evil are cast out.
Step 2. After the space has been prepared, light the sage incense. Spend some time in quiet meditation on the work you will be performing.
Step 3. When your thoughts are clear and free of emotion, take up the pin and the white candle. Think of all of the things that you are ready to put behind you. Using the pin, carve words into the wax that represent the things you are leaving behind.
Step 4.Place a few drops of sandalwood and frankincense oil in your hand and anoint the candle by rubbing the oil along the length. As you anoint the candle, remain mindful of those things that you are putting behind you.
Step 5. Put the candle in a holder on the alter, light it and speak the following words: As this candle burns/ I call on the Powers around me for aid/ that I shall heal the wounds of my past/ and let the sadness and the pain fade/ that I shall be cleansed and free.
Step 6. Take the pink candle and carve into it words that represent you, healed and whole, and the lessons you have learned.
Step 7. Place a few drops of sandalwood and frankincense oil in your hand and anoint the candle by rubbing the oil along the length. As you anoint the candle, remain mindful of those things that you are putting behind you.
Step 8. Put the candle in a holder on the alter, light it and speak the following words:As this candle burns/ I call on the Powers around me for aid/ that I shall remember the lessons I have learned/ and grow always to love myself better/ that I shall never forget to see the beauty of Goddess within myself.
Step 9. Allow the candles to burn themselves out while remaining attentive to them. Focus your energy to casting out all that which is negative and in the past by repeating the first incantation and drawing in all that which is positive and hopeful by repeating the second incantation.
Note: It is most effective to perform this spell over a number of days by relighting the candles each day and repeating the incantations.
Eclecticism In Wicca
By Esra Free
All Wicca is Eclectic, a word which Webster’s New World Dictionary defines as meaning, "Selected or selecting from various sources." Some "Trads" claim not to be eclectic at all, citing unbroken lineages and untainted family traditions ("Fam-Trads") dating back to the Stone Age, but I doubt anyone (except the members of said Trads, themselves, of course) takes such claims very seriously anymore. That is not to say one should not take the individuals involved in such Trads seriously, or that the Wicca they practice is somehow lessor than the Wicca outlined in these pages. As author Kaatryn MacMorgan , Priestess of the Church of Universal Eclectic Wicca, phrased it in the title of her top-notch book on the subject, we are, indeed, All One Wicca.
The real question of eclecticism in Wicca is less one of if, than it is of when. "Non-eclectic" Trad practitioners surely hold as fast as they can to the exact structure, rules, rituals and beliefs handed down to them by their nearest known ancestors – but what about their ancestors? And theirs, and theirs...? Somewhere down the line, somebody, somewhere, gathered a disparate body of knowledge together, worked it into a coherent system of belief, and began the "Tradition" of initiating new members into that system. That person, the one who initially "rediscovered and reconstructed" (or flat-out “constructed") the Tradition, who decided what information from family, village, cultural, mythological or other source materials available would be accepted and passed on (or reject for being too "out there," or for contradicting the compiling individual’s personal beliefs or morals), and who filled in the gaps in that material with bits and pieces of the "unproven but reasonable" beliefs or writings of others was doing exactly what the average Wiccan Solitary practitioner does every day right here and now in the 21st Century – building a living tradition out of the best fragmentary source materials available, and beginning the arduous task of refining it all into a workable system through trial and error experience. Now that's eclectic! It doesn't matter whether the act of "selecting from various sources" occurred in 1660, 1960 or 2660, it's still eclectic, there's just no escape from that reality.
All Wicca must be eclectic because it is a religion that is by nature both Gnostic and scientific – it is never enough for a Wiccan to accept statements about the nature of reality "on faith," and stop there, as is the rule in many non-Wiccan religions. The Wiccan practitioner, before accepting any belief, practice, code of conduct etc., must personally experience those concepts to hold true or be of value in reality. What does not work, what does not prove to be true in experience, must rightly be jettisoned, and a new theory taken on to replace the one disproved, itself to be put to the same rigorous test. This style of eclecticism – which bears a striking resemblence to the scientific method, and is, in fact, western physical science's true spiritual counterpart – and the constant personal change and growth it engenders, is indicative of Wicca and any other truly living religious tradition. By this definition, I would go so far as to say that any religion which is not eclectic, whose beliefs are "set in stone" by encasement in unchangeable/unchallengeable books of revelation (the "Holy Books" that define and confine so many of our present world religions), are dead things, mere caricatures of the living religions they might have been had their followers been more experimentally courageous.
True eclectisism is neither a belief system in its own right nor a sign of failure or refusal to commit to any one socially-sanctioned version of "religious truth." Conscious eclecticism, when securely coupled with intentionally-developed intelligence, intuition and will, transcends belief altogether, becoming a reliable hands-on method for sampling, testing and verifying reality, in both its visible and its unseen dimensions.
The task of every Wiccan is to evolve past the limitations imposed by mere "belief," toward real, personal union with the Great Cosmic Goddess. A playful attitude of conscious eclectisim in relation to all beliefs is a primary tool by which we are enabled to accomplish this great work.
Stay Safe & Protected When Working With Witchcraft
By Arabella Jolie
One issue that all those who practice magick should be aware of is safety. In working with witchcraft, you are opening yourself up to some powerful forces and it is important that you do so wisely, and take measures to ensure that you are not harmed.
The first way to stay safe is to always remember the Wiccan Rede and the threefold law. The Wiccan Rede states, “An ye harm none, do what ye will.” Basically this means that you cannot do anything that would harm another. This is a simple rule and an excellent one to follow. By using this as a guide in all of your magickal workings, you ensure that you are not crossing the boundary between good/white magick and bad/black magick.
The Rede is also important when understood alongside the threefold law, also known as the law of return. It states that whatever good or evil a person creates in the world will come back to them times three. Keeping these two principles in mind at all times is an effective means of preventing a bad outcome from your magickal dealings.
Protecting Yourself While Working With Witchcraft Magick
There are other things that you will need to do in order to keep yourself safe. All spell work should begin with some ritual to cleanse and protect the space you are working in. Some call this “Casting the Circle.” There are an endless number of variations on ways to prepare your space. Some are more complicated than other. The important thing is to find a ritual that works well for you personally. Below are two options, the first being more simple.
To Prepare and Cleanse a Sacred Space Spell I
Tools and Ingredients
Alter or Sacred Space
Salt
Step 1. Lightly sprinkle salt in a circle around yourself while speaking the following words: I consecrate this place/ for the Goddess within and without/ Only love and good can remain/ hate and evil are cast out.
To Prepare and Cleanse a Sacred Space Spell II
Tools and Ingredients
Alter or Sacred Space
Ceremonial knife
One white candle
One red candle
One blue candleOne black candle
Step 1. Imagine your space as a circle and set the candles around it. Place the white candle at a point facing East, the red candle at point facing South, the blue candle at a point facing West and the black candle at a point facing North. If you are using an alter, it is best to position it in the Northern corner.
Step 2. Carrying the knife, go to the Eastern corner and light the candle. Rise and remain facing East. You will now trace a pentagram (five-pointed star) in the air using the knife. Begin at the top of the pentagram and go down to the left, continuing until you return to the top. As you trace the pentagram, speak the following words: I invoke the East and Power of Air/ I call on the Breath of the Goddess/ Protect and guide me.
Step 3. Carrying the knife, go to the Southern corner and light the candle. Rise and remain facing South. You will now trace a pentagram in the air using the knife. Begin at the top of the pentagram and go down to the left, continuing until you return to the top. As you trace the pentagram, speak the following words: I invoke the South and Power of Fire/ I call on the Flame of Her spirit/ Protect and guide me.
Step 4. Carrying the knife, go to the Western corner and light the candle. Rise and remain facing West. You will now trace a pentagram in the air using the knife. Begin at the top of the pentagram and go down to the left, continuing until you return to the top. As you trace the pentagram, speak the following words: I invoke the West and Power of Water/ I call on the Water of Her womb/ Protect and guide me.
Step 5. Carrying the knife, go to the Northern corner and light the candle. Rise and remain facing North. You will now trace a pentagram in the air using the knife. Begin at the top of the pentagram and go down to the left, continuing until you return to the top. As you trace the pentagram, speak the following words: I invoke the North and Power of Earth/ I call on the Earth that is Her body/ Protect and guide me.
Step 6. Complete the ritual by stating, The circle is cast and consecrated/ in the name of the Goddess within and without
Escaping Wiccan Escapism
By Esra Free
I cannot rightly say "all," or even "most," but certainly many of the Wiccans I have known or observed over the years appear to find in Wicca a unique brand of escapism from the travails of our modern world, a safe haven from the uniquely complex moral, environmental, social and political issues that define our era. They appear to seek to turn back the clock, to retreat into a pagan agrarian culture that no longer exists, or to "resurrect" a Medieval, "thatched-cottage-on-the-edge-of-the-woods" society that is far more a product of Renaissance festivals and paperback fantasy novels than of anything to be found in real, recorded history. This nostalgic (from the Greek nostos algos, or literally, "To look homeward with longing") brand of Wicca generally embodies an abdication of responsibility for the ills of modern society, rather than the conscious creation of resolutions to those ills and a brighter future for everybody.
But I understand those nostalgic feelings, I really do. Society, at this present moment in history, is frighteningly unbalanced in favor of violence, fascism, corporate hegemony, misogyny, the Industrial rape and pillage of the Earth and its parallel attack on the human spirit in the form of rampant consumerism, etc. We are clearly headed at break-neck speed toward almost certain disaster. Faced with our present real world situation, who wouldn't "Look homeward with longing?"
There's an episode of the old 1960s Star Trek television series in which Kirk and company beam down to help evacuate a planet whose sun is about to go supernova. But when the "away team" reaches the planet's surface, they find nobody home. The residents have all vanished, having used a historical video library/time machine to escape the destruction by slipping into their own past – years, decades, even centuries prior to the explosion of their sun. Faced with similar impending disaster (in our case, looming environmental collapse, prefaced by probable economic, political and social upheavals) many people would like to follow that imaginary TV example, to escape into the past and avoid the consequences of the last thousand years or so of Western history.
Some of these folks, as described above, are drawn to Wicca – but not only to Wicca! This exact psychological phenomenon is the force behind the empowerment of Christian and Islamic Fundamentalism in America and throughout the world, as well. Knee-deep in the drek of our post-modern, post-industrial, in many ways post-Christian, and our clearly post-certainty world, the "Golden Ages" of the past look pretty good, even if they have to be spun out of the whole cloth of our imaginations to grant us relief from the pain and fear of the present moment
But, unlike the lucky extraterrestrials in that Star Trek episode, we do not possess time travel technology, or even a truly accurate record of our past to escape into. For us the arrow of time moves in one direction only – forward – and the only thing we can say about the future with absolute certainty is that it is coming into being for all of us one day at a time, and all too often with the most frightening, "nostalgically" Fundamentalist elements of our species at society's helm. No global Goddess culture of the ancient past is going to save us from the self-fulfillment of their apocalyptic vision.
But a global Goddess culture now, today – a world in which "An' It Harm None, Do What You Will" forms the ground for all human morality, ethics and law – would make (pardon the expression) one hell of a difference! A gentle global culture that revered the Divine Feminine, that taught reincarnation, karma, self-responsibility and the spiral of constant improvement in circular time (as opposed to the prevailing Middle Eastern paradigm of life as a battleground of absolute Good and Evil, sin and salvation, and Humankind's downward spiral of continual decay toward Apocalyptic destruction) would send 90% or better of the dilemmas plaguing Humanity to the dustheap of history overnight. Just like that. Wiccans would not wage religious wars, or kill over access to natural resources. Wiccans would not hijack planes and crash them into populated buildings any more than they would bomb Third World countries out of existence in retaliation for such crimes. Wiccans would neither work to homogenize the world by "Americanizing" foreign cultures, nor destroy the biosphere of the Earth we all rely on for every breath, drink and meal in the name of corporate profits.
We are the good guys, and it's high time we stood up for that fact and put our collective shoulder to the wheel of history. It's time we stopped pleading with the larger Christian culture not to label us "Satanists," and started boldly defining ourselves to the world and advancing a Wiccan agenda that goes way beyond "Please don't persecute us!"
And so we must fight. We must work. We must struggle. We must abandon the inner nostalgia that has crippled our political power, and attack the outer forces of nostalgia that threaten to shape our reality into a post-nuclear-holocaust, Judeo-Christian/Islamic Apocalypse desert. In small ways and large ways – from "coming out of the broom closet" to our friends and coworkers, to legislating for the environment, to running for President and beyond – we must heed the call to action, take back the reigns of society, and, as those in possession of higher knowledge and clear vision have always done in times of great social upheaval, we must lead our species past this present moment of global crisis. We must use our minds and hearts, our bodies and magicks to create a world worthy of our Goddess and our highest ideals – not just as Wiccans, but as human beings.
Who Knows The Types of Candles In Wicca?
By Peter Clark
The types of candles in Wicca depend on the reason for burning the candle. Votive candles are one of the types of candles in Wicca, but these are mainly used for light. They are short and stubby and are usually placed in a cup or other small container. Votive candles also take up less space so that more of them can be placed on a Wicca altar. There are many places where you can buy the types of candles in Wicca at wholesale prices. These retailers sell a variety of other Wicca supplies as well.
For use in Wicca, taper candles are another of the types of candles. In Wicca, these candles are long and slender and the wax drippings are allowed to collect in a pan or a plate placed under the candle. When you buy wholesale Wiccan candles and supplies, you can also buy the special pans you need for the taper candles. The wax drippings are read in a manner very similar to that of reading tealeaves. If a reading is not required, taper candles are often placed in elegant candleholders. At the wholesale store, you can buy them in various heights and diameters.
Jar candles are one of the types of candles in Wicca that have a special purpose. They are made by pouring colored wax into a clear jar or by pouring clear wax into a colored jar, Those involved in Wicca can get both the wax and the jars at retailers that sell wholesale Wiccan candles and supplies. These candles are anointed, although only the top of the candle receives the anointing.
There are also specialty candles used in Wicca. These include types of candles in Wicca dedicated to a Christian Saint or Voodoo Loa. These candles, which are available at wholesale Wiccan candles and supplies stores, have designs and signatures printed on the outside of the glass container. They are jar candles and each different candle comes with instructions about how to use it in Wicca. Another of the types of candles used in Wicca are candles formed in the shape of a cross. They come in black, white, green and red and they are mainly used as altar pieces.
If you want to see all the different types of candles in Wicca, a trip to a retailer selling wholesale Wiccan candles and supplies would be very informative. You will see male and female figurine candles that are burned either face to face or back to back. Burning this type of candle in Wicca face to face is intended to form a bond, but burning it back to back denotes banishment. Seven Day Knob candles are another of the types of candles in Wicca. You burn one knob on each of seven days to cast a spell with this candle.
A Midsummer Wicca Sabbat
By Rose Ariadne
Celebrating the Sabbats is extremely important for any Witch. It is important to "recharge" your Magick batteries throughout the year, and that is one of the purposes for Sabbats. Sabbats are a time to relax and take a break from your Magick work.
Your energy can be depleted throughout the year, and you need to relax. Eat good food, spend time with friends, and enjoy all that life has to offer. Don't focus on spells - but focus on celebrating nature, the Goddess, and the Sabbat on hand...
Here is a simple way to celebrate the Midsummer Sabbat - as an example of a wiccan holiday...
Call upon the God and Goddess to come into your circle, bringing with them the blessings of Divine Spirit.
Take the time now to connect with the God and Goddess. Contemplate on the meanings that Midsummer holds. It is a time for love, healing, protection, and purification. It is a time for the Earth to ripen from the seeds first sewn and coming to life past the energies of Spring. See these life forms growing. Send your blessings to their form, as though an unborn child about to burst forth from the womb.
Take time to think about the full season, the blossoming of the Earth energies, and the power that we receive from our connection to her. Contemplate the joys and blessings of your own life, and share it with her. Send the love and warmth that you feel into the ground beneath your body.
When you are done communing with the energy of the Earth Mother, and sharing her blessings and yours, then thank her for her patience in your growth. Send to her the love that you feel as her caretaker. Ask her if there is anything that you can do for her during this coming season that will offer enrichment to her existence. Listen carefully and follow through with anything she may ask of you.
When you have spoken again to the Earth Mother and have heard her words, it is time to come back to your physical state of awareness. Ground yourself and any excess energy into the Earth beneath you. If you want, have a light snack of raw fruit to help ground, and to honor the bounty of the Earth that is to come. Thank the Spirits and the deities that you have called to your circle and ask them to depart, and then close your circle. When you leave your circle, give thanks again for connecting to the God and Goddess, and the Earth, on this honored occasion.
As you can see, the Sabbats do not have to be celebrated in full ritual format, but they can be as simple or complicated as you make them.
Spell For Attracting Romantic Prospects
By Rose Ariadne
This simple spell will put a strong force of Magick Energy at work for you, even while you sleep. Your belief, desire, and focus will be set to work to influence your fate – bringing romantic prospects to you one after another, until a connection is made.
It is a very easy wiccan spell, but...
Don’t let it’s simplicity fool you – it works extremely well as long as you are familiar with all of the techniques I have shown you previously in this book.
First, of course, prepare your external sacred space, and cast your Magick circle around your altar. Then…
On a Thursday during a waxing Moon, in the first hour after sunset:
Light a purple candle and place it before a bowl of water.
Hold a mirror up to the candle, the water, and then to your face. Gaze into your own eyes. Concentrate on your beauty, your lovability, and your desirability.
Hold the mirror up to the candle again.
Say Aloud:
“In the grace of the universe
And in the abundance of love,
I affirm I am greatly desirable
And open to the bounty of love around me.
The flow of love, romance, and partnership is ever abundant,
And in line with the greater good, I create and attract romance.”
With your fingers, put water on the top of your head, in your mouth, and on your heart center. Blow out the candles.
Spell For A Long & Happy Relationship
When you have found someone special, someone you are falling in love with – this spell will increase the bond between you and that person.
It does not “force” the bond, but rather magnifies each of your good qualities so that the other can see them more easily. Once everything good about you is magnified, the other person naturally grows more and more fond of you.
First, of course, prepare your external sacred space, and cast your Magick circle around your altar. Then…
On a Friday during the third hour of darkness:
Place a potted cyclamen in the room, and water the plant.
Light three candles: deep red purple, and white.
Say Aloud: “I ask the goddess Branwen to bestowTrue love on my union with (insert name).”
Breathe your love into your heart. Place the red candle in front of the other candles.
“I ask that this be done for the greater good/So be it.And so it is.”
Gaze at the flames in each candle, and when you are ready, blow them out.
Love Magick Summary
Remember that it is important for you to be grounded in the basics of Magick and Witchcraft before you attempt any serious Love Magicks. Because desire and emotion are tied so strongly to Love, the spells can have some unpredictable results if you haven’t practiced the basic secrets of real Witchcraft.
My Witchcraft Home Academy will Not only will you get step-by-step guidance on almost every part of Witchcraft, but I will hold your hand through 7 DVD’s of Magick demonstrations (including dozens of Basic, Intermediate, and Advanced love spells for almost every need and desire)
And please remember the section on your Witchcraft ethics and responsibilities. Think twice before EVER casting a spell to affect someone’s free will. It really can come back to haunt you later in life (in the form of frustrated relationships, bad “karma” and other unpredictable things).
How To Create Your Wicca Witchcraft Altar
By Rose Ariadne
The first step to create your wicca altar is to thoroughly clean the room that will contain your altar. It is best to mix sea salt into water. If you can’t find any sea salt to use (any new age shop should have some), just use cleaning supplies you would normally use.
Scrub down the walls, ceiling and floor (if you don’t have a rug). Make sure to pick up the clutter, and organize the room as best you can. The less clutter and mess, the easier it will be to control the energy that collects.
Now, you need to determine where North, South, East, and West are. You can use a compass, or ask someone who knows (if you don’t). Once you figure them out, make sure to mark them using any small objects so that you won’t forget. The reason you are doing this is because your altar will be setup facing North because it is the direction of “Earth” and the primary energy you will connect to.
Next, you need to mark your circle. You can use white cord, or any small objects that are sacred to you. (such as candles or figurines) If you have enough room, try to mark the circle between 5 to 9 feet in diameter. (If you don’t have enough space your circle can be smaller, but it may be a little more difficult to stay inside of the circle when doing your spell work.
When you mark the circle start in the East and move clockwise around the circle, finishing again in the East. Think of this is a “permanent” circle that you will “redraw” each time you do ritual or spell work. (you’ll see how to redraw it later)
Now it is time to decorate your temple (the area around your circle). You can hang meaningful posters, fabric, and pictures. You can set up candles all around the room in any way that feels right for you. Try to set up a mystical feel, one that builds strong emotions for Magick work. The decorating can be simple or elaborate, whatever evokes strong feelings inside of you.
Next, you need to do an initial cleansing and purification of your space. So you must first prepare the cleansing water for this ritual. You will “charge” the water with positive and pure energy from your heart. Then you will use this water to cleanse your space.
This purification is very important to perform correctly or your space will be tainted – and it will never “feel” right. Your Magick will probably suffer as a result.
I can’t stress how important the preparation of your cleansing water, and the actually cleansing and purifying of your space is. It so critical for you to actually see the rituals being done that I have included a DVD section on them in the full Witchcraft Academy. Not only is there a detailed step-by-step guide for you to follow (with pictures and images), but you will actually see a demonstration of this powerful (and important) ritual.
Once you have fully cleansed and purified your space, it is time to set up your altar. Throughout this process, keep in mind that you can use any materials to set up an altar – but it is best to avoid using synthetic or metal materials. You can use a small wooden table that is between knee and chest high (you may even consider a circular table – which are popular for altars) The idea here is to maintain the natural energies of the Earth by using materials coming directly from the earth (if possible).
Set up your feminine diety elements to the left, and your mail diety elements to the right. (for Wiccans, Goddess elements to the left, and your God elements to the right)
If you want to see a full layout of elements, and how to arrange them on your altar to heighten your connection to Magick – see the Home Academy to follow the exact steps. It also includes pictures of different altar setups and a video demonstration of setup and “consecration” of tools and other items on your altar. (This is a must to harmonize the energy within the tools with the energy of the altar and your sacred space)
Replace the markers you used to define the directions (North, South, East, and West) with white candles. In the DVDs you will also see how you can use colored candles that represent each of the elemental colors of the four directions. I like to place more candles around the border of the circle because I like to work my magic by candlelight.
Finally, repeat the purification ritual in the Home Academy for your altar and the circle. Then take a broom, or use your arm to clear out the space of the circle and push any negative or dark energy away.
Your first Witchcraft alter is born, congratulations! Now you can gradually increase it’s power to attract the Magick energies you will need in your spell work by adding meaningful objects to it. There are many specific examples of altar setups, and examples of objects that you can add. Above all, these objects must be a reflection of you. The more of “you” that goes into your altar, the more power you will be able to draw from it – and the more protection it will offer as you do your Magick.
Nature Vs Supernature In Wicca
By Esra Free
Whether it is being lovingly described by its adherents, tallied as a social movement by impartial statisticians, or even decried as "Satanic" by Christian apologists, Wicca is almost universally (alongside its many modern neo-pagan cousins) labeled an "Earth Religion."Wicca is most certainly, in practice, a religion closely aligned with the Living Earth and Her seasonal changes, which lie at the root of our most important celebrations, the Sabbats. But to call Wicca an "Earth Religion"and stop there is to seek the whole of Wicca's thealogical foundation in, and to limit the scope of its meaning and applicability to, the details of human existence on this one tiny planet floating like an anonymous raindrop in the vast ocean of stars, quasars, nebulae and galaxies we now know the universe to be.
Our ancient ancestors did not share our modern understanding of cosmology, as evidenced by the tendency of pretty much every pre-science religion on Earth, pagan or otherwise, to locate this one tiny planet at the center of physical reality (where it surely appears to be to earthbound humans observing the circular movements of stars in the night sky), rather than where we now objectively know it to reside – on the insignificant edge of a minor galaxy nowhere near the center of anything.
Any religion that hopes to maintain its relevance in the age of quantum physics and the Hubbell Space Telescope must be able to offer meaningful spiritual insight into the real grandeur of our universe, on the smallest and largest scales, as it is revealed by modern science, as well as the Earth's place in that grand universe, and Humanity's role – not only in the life of the Earth, but also in that of the real physical Heavens the Earth inhabits, and of everything existing between Heaven and Earth as well. Such a religion must be flexible enough to incorporate new discoveries about Humanity, the Earth and the universe into its beliefs without surrendering its credibility, to welcome new scientific discoveries as puzzle pieces to be fit into a continuing revelation of an infinite spiritual truth.
I believe that Wicca is the one religion on Earth most uniquely equipped to face this challenge of modernity, for, in spite of even well-intentioned misrepresentations, Wicca is not now, nor has it ever been, solely an "Earth Religion." Wicca is a religion that is centered in and reveres Nature – whether that Nature be expressed in the teeming life and wind and water of our planet's biosphere, in the nuclear processes that energize our sun, or in the swirling push and pull of gravity that spins our (and every other) galaxy into being.
Wicca acknowledges that there is only one Nature, and it is everywhere. There is not anything, anywhere – not in galaxies rushing at breakneck speed through the depths of space, not in the Earthly water cycle that brings Alaska's glaciers raining down on China's croplands, not in the invisible bustle of bosons zinging this very moment through my computer's micro-processor, or anyplace in between – that can be rightly labeled un-natural, outside of Nature, whose processes are determined by any force other than Nature's sovereign power.
Wicca is not a supernatural religion like Christianity, Islam or Judaism, although it is often condemned as supernatural by these very institutions. These major Middle Eastern religions all posit a God who exists outside of the physical universe, a male "Creator"deity who is said to have fashioned the universe from dead matter just as a stonemason "creates"a solid wall by gluing together rocks, and who is believed to reside in a "Heaven"located somewhere "outside"the physical universe He created. How much more supernatural can you get? Every aspect of this belief violates the evidence to be found in real, physical Nature as to how things are and came to be – beginning, and very much to the point here, with the supposition of an un-observable "outside"to the physical universe. Wicca, being a natural (as opposed to supernatural) religion, posits no such "outside,"or any deity inhabiting such an unlikely space.
Nor does Wicca posit any such wildly supernatural notions as male-only deity or, really (though many Wiccan authors use the term – in my opinion, quite thoughtlessly), a Created universe or an implied building-block Creator of any kind. Referring to the physical/natural world as Creation immediately centers the discussion in a masculine, Judeo-Christian context, and I feel all Wiccans everywhere should stop using this term at once.
The central deity of the Wiccan religion is the Great Goddess, and we see concrete evidence for Her reality and presence in every living particle of the real natural world. If there is not one single living thing on the Earth, from amoebas to human beings to the whole spectrum of life between them, that can be observed being "created"by anybody out of the "bricks"of "dead matter"(and there's really not – think about it!), then why should we assume that an opposite rule applies to anything else in the universe – let alone to everything else, as is posited by those Middle Eastern religions?
Everything alive, here on Earth, is born of a woman, of a female creature of its own species. In Wicca, we see everything that is – from the sub-atomic particles that make up atoms, to the molecules atoms come together to form, to all matter and energy (and the water and rocks and gases and plants and people and suns and galaxies that arise from their eternal, cosmic dance) – as alive and conscious, varying only in degree. For Wiccans, the physical universe is not a dead thing constructed for Man's pleasure or control by some distant male god. It is Her body, the real, physical, sensually vibrant, lush and beautiful body of the Great Goddess, the Mother of All, and everything we believe as Wiccans flows from this understanding. We exist within Her and participate in the intimate processes of Her being, alongside every other living thing in the universe that, like us, and following the observable pattern to be found in real Nature (as opposed to some unlikely, imagined "super-nature”), was never created at all, but that is rather continually born within Her, and who is composed, just like us, of the real physical substance of Her body.
To view the reality of the Great Goddess of Wicca for ourselves, we need look no further than our own bodies, our own planet, our own universe. Our Goddess is not some distant, invisible, disembodied spirit, nor is she "supernatural"in any way, shape or form. Our Goddess is Nature, in all its manifestations. From the inconceivable whole of the vast, living universe to that universe's tiniest constituent particle, She is physically, spiritually, energetically and personally everywhere. All the time. The Great Goddess of Wicca is All That Is, past, present and future, here on Earth, in every distant corner of the physical cosmos, and in all the seen and unseen spaces in between. There is nothing you can look to that is not Her, that is not born of Her, that does not bear the imprint of Her essence, or that fails to play its assigned role in Her life.
A Midsummer Wicca Sabbat
By Rose Ariadne
Celebrating the Sabbats is extremely important for any Witch. It is important to "recharge" your Magick batteries throughout the year, and that is one of the purposes for Sabbats. Sabbats are a time to relax and take a break from your Magick work.
Your energy can be depleted throughout the year, and you need to relax. Eat good food, spend time with friends, and enjoy all that life has to offer. Don't focus on spells - but focus on celebrating nature, the Goddess, and the Sabbat on hand...
Here is a simple way to celebrate the Midsummer Sabbat - as an example of a wiccan holiday...
Call upon the God and Goddess to come into your circle, bringing with them the blessings of Divine Spirit.
Take the time now to connect with the God and Goddess. Contemplate on the meanings that Midsummer holds. It is a time for love, healing, protection, and purification. It is a time for the Earth to ripen from the seeds first sewn and coming to life past the energies of Spring. See these life forms growing. Send your blessings to their form, as though an unborn child about to burst forth from the womb.
Take time to think about the full season, the blossoming of the Earth energies, and the power that we receive from our connection to her. Contemplate the joys and blessings of your own life, and share it with her. Send the love and warmth that you feel into the ground beneath your body.
When you are done communing with the energy of the Earth Mother, and sharing her blessings and yours, then thank her for her patience in your growth. Send to her the love that you feel as her caretaker. Ask her if there is anything that you can do for her during this coming season that will offer enrichment to her existence. Listen carefully and follow through with anything she may ask of you.
When you have spoken again to the Earth Mother and have heard her words, it is time to come back to your physical state of awareness. Ground yourself and any excess energy into the Earth beneath you. If you want, have a light snack of raw fruit to help ground, and to honor the bounty of the Earth that is to come. Thank the Spirits and the deities that you have called to your circle and ask them to depart, and then close your circle. When you leave your circle, give thanks again for connecting to the God and Goddess, and the Earth, on this honored occasion.
As you can see, the Sabbats do not have to be celebrated in full ritual format, but they can be as simple or complicated as you make them.
Witchcraft and Magic
By Jacqueline S
What is magic?
Having been Wiccan now for several years and have had this same conversation with Wiccans, Pagans and many people of alternate religions the question always poses as a great discussion. What is Magic? Does it exist? And ultimately, can we use it to better our lives?
Magic, to witchcraft, is like prayer to Christianity. When someone performs magic in witchcraft they are moving energy, forming energies around them and sending them on their way to their purpose. Each and every one of us are energy beings. Energies are abundant around us and they reside in almost anything that you see: rocks and crystals, herbs and plants, animals, humans and every living thing. Wiccans, Pagans and anyone creating and performing magic use energies around them to create a power that has been infused for a specific purpose. It is then molded and released towards its goal.
Many find it a helpful way to take control of certain aspects of their lives. Others find it comforting to be able to help others in healing exercises.
The art of making magic is a very personal thing. From the actual idea of a spell or ritual to candle color and which herbs one will use and burn, the magic is forming. Magic starts off as an idea and is formed and molded in the mind with the use of energies. The finale is the actual spell or magic itself.
No one understands why magic works, but ask thousands who have healed, fought off evil or protected their homes and families through the magic of spell work and ritual; it does work. If performed correctly, magic can bring about exactly what it was created for. This in itself is a wonderful thing. I don’t believe for a second that magic should be used just in witchcraft. In this time of struggle and strife in the world, should we leave our lives to chance and luck? I believe that pushing things to move in a certain direction can be a great benefit to us all be it a search for a new love, job, home, or to purify the body and heal. How can this be bad? We are ultimately striving to control our lives in a positive direction. We are using the energies around us and in us that many people ignore to protect and guide ourselves and our loved ones.
Maybe we should ponder more on these questions. Imagine if we all took such positive actions in our own lives. Maybe we could change the course of our lives for the better and move in a direction that would benefit us rather than sitting stagnant and not knowing which way to go.
Magic is not just for Wiccans, Witches and Pagans anymore, it is for all of you out there who believe you can have a say in which direction your life goes. Imagine where the magic could lead you.
Happy magic
Jacqueline S
Samhain - Wiccan New Year
By Kestra Imani
Samhain is coming up fast! While most of us know Samhain as Halloween, what is this Wiccan Sabbat really about? What ways are best to celebrate the Sabbat? What special things should one do for Samhain? Why is Samhain so utterly cool? Read on, gentle reader :-)
Samhain is usually pronounced "Sow'an," and is from the Celtic "Samhuinn" which means "summer's end." It is one of the doorways of the Celtic year - divided into light and dark, Beltane being the "light." It is the final harvest of the year, and thanks are given for the year's bounty.
Many believe that Samhain and Beltane are the two times during the year when the "veil" between the seen and the unseen is at its thinnest. This is the magical time when laws of time and space are suspended, and one can communicate with departed loved ones. On the night of Samhain (October 31) people often light a single candle in their windows to guide their loved ones home, and set an extra place at the supper table for them.
Samhain is also the time when the Crone and her Aged Consort are honored, this being a time for Dark Magic (not "evil," just dark), and to honor the Dark Mysteries. Remember, without Dark there cannot be Light.
So, what should you do for your Samhain ritual? First, gather things that you feel are symbolic of Samhain. Pumpkins or other gourds, apples, besoms, or even pointy hats are useful articles to set the mood. If you happen to have the friendship of a black cat, ask her to participate with you.
Next, gather the herbs that are special to the Samhain Sabbat. Not all of the herbs that correspond with Samhain are easily available, and at least one takes preparation beforehand (as in soaking mandrake for two weeks or so before you can shred it properly for use). The herbs that I personally use are mugwort, motherwort, broom flower, belladonna (also known as deadly nightshade), mandrake (European mandrake, not American mandrake, which is a completely different plant used for other things), and white sage. I use these herbs to burn as an offering to my Matron Crone Goddess, and as incense.
Also on the altar, the stones of Samhain, which are black (go figure), but especially jet and obsidian. I don't personally use hematite here because it is so grounding. I like using the hematite afterwards when I need to ground my energies.
Candle colors, while not absolutely essential, can be quite important to setting the appropriate mood. As one could likely guess, orange and black are the primary colors for Samhain candles. One can also use silver for the Goddess and gold for the God for candles on their altar if they so desire.
Once everything is together, cast your circle as you choose, call your quarters if that is part of your practice, and perform your ritual. What ritual, you ask? While Kestra is always one to suggest you write your own rituals, I suppose I'll share one of mine with you, as a guide, or as a "yuck, I don't want to do anything like THIS."
We welcome our beloved dead
With offerings that they be fed
Let them hear this sacred night
Our love for them brought through this rite
We ask their guidance through this year
And that their blessings settle here
May their knowledge reach our ears
May their message come through clear
Light the herbs, and meditate for a time, waiting for any message that may be sent.
After you feel you've waited long enough, or after you've received a message, thank the Dead, and anyone else you invoked, take down your signal as you normally would, and end the ritual.
After your ritual is complete, you may wish to ground using some of the foods associated with Samhain, such as pumpkin pie, apples (definitely), nuts, mulled wines (yum yum), pork, beef, or chicken.
Sabbats for Non Wiccans
By Kestra Imani
One of your best friends is a Wiccan, and you've decided it might be a nice idea to show them that you support their religious choices (whether you share them or not). So, you've decided to send them a Wiccan greeting card for a Sabbat. What a great idea! Only problem is, you might not KNOW what a Sabbat is, WHEN a Sabbat is, or what they're called. Don't worry, we can help.
A Sabbat is essentially a Holy day, similar to Easter and Christmas for Christians. They follow what Wiccans call the "Wheel of the Year" whose turning bring the seasons, and with them, the Sabbats. The word "Sabbat" comes originally from the Latin "sabbatum" which means "to rest." Note that Sabbath and Shabbat come from the same root.
There are eight Wiccan Sabbats, and they include two Solstices per year, two Equinoxes, and four Sabbats that are known as "cross quarters." Their timing can be a little bit tricky, but in general, if you send a card just before the Sabbat, most people are very happy to receive them, and if you get a "but the day was YESTERDAY and you must be a nincompoop who can't figure out how to figure out when the sun reaches 15 degrees in Leo" then don't give them a card again because they are being too anal to deserve one. (If you're a Pagan who receives a card on the "wrong" day, Kestra urges you to sincerely thank the person for thinking of you and for their gesture of goodwill).
So what are the Sabbats? If you are in the Northern Hemisphere, here they are, with APPROXIMATE dates. Given that most Wiccans celebrate the Sabbats when convenient (generally on a Friday or Saturday night) figure that if THEY can move the Sabbat times around, you are certainly justified in giving a card that is not on the exact hour and minute that the Sabbat happens to fall:
Samhain (pronounced Sow-when) is the Pagan New Year, between October 31 and November 1, (or whenever the sun reaches 15 degrees in Scorpio)
Yule Remember the Yule Log and the decorated tree and all that stuff? Well, that's Yule :-). It is also known as Winter Solstice and occurs between Decembert 20 and the 23rd, during the shortest day of the year.
Imbolc This occurs during February First or Second, when the sun reaches 15 degrees in Aquarius. It is also called Candlemas, and is often celebrated with lots of candles.
Ostara Also known as Spring Equinox. This occurs between March 20 and 23rd, when the sun crosses the Equator moving towards the North.
Beltane May 1, or when the sun is in 15 degrees in Taurus.
Litha Also known as the Summer Solstice. Occurs between September 20 and 23rd.
Lammas No, this is not also known as Llamas. Around August 1, or when the sun reaches 15 in Leo.
Mabon This is the Autumn Equinox, when the sun crosses the Equator moving South. It occurs between Sepetmber 20 and 23rd.
So, send your cards close to the appropriate day, and your Wiccan and Pagan friends will be very happy with you.
About Wiccan Cauldrons
By Kestra Imani
Cauldrons are an integral part of Wiccan and Pagan rituals. To many Witches, the cauldron is an indispensable item in the ritual repetoire.
Enchanted Works sells two basic types of Wiccan cauldrons - cast iron, and pottery types. Both of these types can be used for various and sundry things, and I'm absolutely certain that as many as I try to list for you, you'll come up with many more.
Enchanted Works is proud to offer pre-seasoned cast iron Wiccan cauldrons that are food quality. These are not your average imported cauldrons that chip or flake. Our pre-seasoned cast iron Wiccan cauldrons will last through many years of ritual.
Many people purchase the "mini cauldrons" as pillar candle holders. They make wonderful candle holders. However, that's not Kestra's main use for Wiccan cauldrons. Kestra uses them to mix herbs and incense, and to burn incense with charcoal tablets.
For either the cast iron Wiccan cauldrons or the pottery ones, you can use sand, ash, or other protectors at the bottom of the cauldron to put your charcoal onto. If you use a pottery Wiccan cauldron, the ash or sand is an absolute must so the heat doesn't crack your lovely cauldron. If you are interested in more "advanced" usage, such as the Japanese Incense Ceremony, that is beyond the scope of this short article.
In general, one purchases quick lighting charcoal tablets and places it on top of your sand, ash or other inflammable materials. In a cast iron Wiccan cauldron, you CAN just place the charcoal tablet inside if you choose. Then, preferably with some LONG matches or a long enough fire maker of your choice, light the charcoal tablet. Sometimes this takes a bit of time. The salt peter in the charcoal should make it kinda sparkle as it is heating. Then wait a little bit (a few minutes should work) and place your powdered or resin incense on top of that.
Very soon, your room will be full of lovely scents. We recommend very CAREFUL disposal of your charcoal tablets when you are finished.
Cast Iron Wiccan Cauldrons can also be used for general cooking (in fact, some buy very HUGE cauldrons and set them up over outdoor fires with magickal soups, or other concoctions, including herbal teas and other mixtures). Enchanted Works offers several sizes and types. If you decide to cook in your Wiccan cauldron, be certain to choose the pre-seasoned type. Then do NOT use dish soap on it to clean it out afterwards. Best to put in water and boil the water off.
Do I Really Need to Buy Ritual Tools?
By Kestra Imani
Since this article is written by a shop owner who earns her living (at least in part) selling you ritual tools, you might expect the answer to be "of course! And you should buy the most expensive ritual tools that you can possibly afford. They will make your magick more powerful." But guess what? Kestra tries very hard to give you the honest truth about her views about Wicca, Wiccan practices and ritual tools.
So, do you really need to buy ritual tools? "Need" is a very strong word. Of course you don't "need" to buy ritual tools. You can make just about anything you would ever need. For that which you can't make, you can compromise, for example using your finger as a wand or athame. Now if only we could use our finger to light candles like in Charmed :-).
So why DO people purchase ritual tools and ritual supplies? A ritual tool is used to help you to focus your energies. It is used as an extension of your body, to channel your energy into a specific task, or to "save" energies for use later. Examples are using your energy projected down a wand for consecrating an object, storing energies into a crystal, or drawing down energy from Deity into a statue.
Do you need to buy a wand? Not especially. You can find a stick in the woods and use it. However, if you want to "tune" your energies for a specific purpose, or use that extra "boost" of using a specific type of wood that corresponds to a particular Deity or a particular intention, either search for that wood on your walks through the forest, or purchase a wand of the appropriate type.
But what about an athame? Don't you HAVE to have that special Klingon dagger athame with the spines on the side as your ritual tool in order to make the most powerful circle? Well, uh..... NO. If you feel better with that kind of a tool, and it helps you project your energies best, then by all means, buy one, or even two. That way you'll have one for each hand. Can you use your wand in place of an athame? Sure you can. Can you use a dinner knife as a ritual tool? Of course. But there's something about beautiful athames that evokes something in the brain. Holding it gives you a special feeling of power that comes only with that particular tool. If that is the case with you as well, that is the athame you must have. You can always make your own, or use what you can, but there is just something special about the power you can channel through a really nice knife. Call me materialistic, but there it is.
What about those cool offering bowls? Yeah, they are nice ritual tools aren't they? Do you HAVE to use them? Course not. You can use paper cups, household bowls, anything else you desire to hold your salt and water (sea salt is best, but table salt will do if you have to). Do you need a bell? Well, you can try a water glass and a fork. That makes a nice "ding" if you can't afford a bell. Candles? You can always make your own. If you aren't that handy, however, votives are inexpensive. So are "chime candles." However, a really beautiful pentacle pillar or a Triple Goddess pillar can certainly set the mood, and bring your head into the appropriate ritual space. And, of course, there are the color correspondences that help your mind focus on the working ahead.
Now...do you really need to buy a cauldron as a ritual tool? If you're going to be burning incense on charcoal, you most definitely need an appropriate vessel for that. It would also be a very good idea if that vessel were FIREPROOF. Things that ignite, or ooze plastic goo all over your altar are not good choices, and I would imagine that your focus would be rather scattered as evil smells permeated your ritual area. Might be useful for a ritual celebrating the wonders of swamp gas, but likely not anywhere else. So if you decide to use a substitute for the good ole stoneware or cast iron cauldron, please ensure it will do the job.
So, if you don't want to buy your ritual tools and supplies, you CAN, with a bit of creativity and thought, make/find/use substitutes. Will your focus be as strong? That varies from individual to individual, as well as with the situation. If you find that a ritual tool makes a big difference, perhaps you should use it. Just please be certain that you choose the RIGHT kind of substitute to avoid unintended consequences, and uninvited ritual guests who arrive in a large red truck and wear strange robes with funny black helmets. Their favorite ritual tool is often called a "firehose."
How To Set Up Your Altar
By Kestra Imani
So, you've decided to embark upon a path, and you're trying to figure out what all is necessary to set up your Wicca supplies. You would like an altar, but you aren't quite sure how to go about it. There are lots of "instant altar and tools" kits you can find on the Internet. We have a few ritual tool kits ourselves, but where to start? What to include? Where to put it? How to set it up? With all the possibilities, how do you go about choosing what is right for you?
An altar can be as elaborate as a custom carved church style massive affair with ornate ritual tools placed in specifically measured positions. An altar can be a stump of wood in a forest, a tv tray in your living room, or anything in between.
One of the first considerations for your altar space is likely whether it can be displayed openly, If you feel that your practices would bring unwanted scrutiny on you, you might decide that discretion is the better part of valor, and find a small cabinet you can hide your altar tools and ritual supplies in, and close.
Kestra's altar is placed in an armoire with doors that close. Not because she wishes to keep things "secret," but more that she feels it is more respectful for the altar tools and ritual supplies to be kept for the eyes of those who would appreciate them rather than gawkers wondering if the athame is used to murder small animals.
Other possibilities for an altar can be just a regular table with an altar cloth, a nightstand, a bookshelf, a tree stump, or just about any other surface you desire. It can be as large or as small as you are comfortable with, that will hold your Wicca supplies, and where you can work with them appropriately.
Once you have chosen your altar, then you can decide which ritual tools you wish to place on it. Of course, you CAN choose the ritual tools first, THEN find an altar that will fit them all, but in either case, you can modify the advice to suit your particular situation. See, that's the fun part about being Eclectic....very few instances result in the accusation that you "aren't doing it right."
First comes the altar cloth. I always choose a cloth that is pretty, functional, AND not too difficult to get wax off of. You know you're going to be dripping wax from time to time. It's inevitable. That's why I personally don't buy very expensive altar cloths, since I know I am a clumsy witch. The altar cloth is generally used to protect the altar, and is not "necessary" but can be meaningful (depending on its symbology) or merely functional.
One of the things I always put on my altar is a statue of the Matron Goddess I am working with at the time, and, depending on the ritual I am about to perform, I may include my patron God. Well, what if you don't HAVE a Matron or a Patron yet? That's perfectly fine. You may always choose to exclude a statue, or to instead include a generic statue of the Spiral Goddess and/or the Spiral God. I place my statues in the top center of the altar, just because I like them there.
Next comes the candles. My personal taste is three candles, one white, one red, and one black signifying the Goddess in her maiden, mother and crone phases respectively. These I put in the top center right in front of the statues, making sure they are far enough away from the statues not to drip wax on them or to set them on fire. There's nothing more annoying during ritual than having things catch fire when you do not intend them to :-)
My cast iron cauldron with a chunk of charcoal in it goes in the center of the right hand side of my altar. I prefer cast iron cauldrons and charcoal to stick or cone incense, but your milage may vary and you can use what suits you best, of course. If you'd like to learn more about the different kinds of cauldrons and how to use them, read About Cauldrons. You can also place it anywhere you like, as I am merely using my set up as an example. For more advice on incense, you can check out our article entitled Wiccan Ritual Incense
So we have our Fire (candles) and our Air (incense). Where's our Earth? For Earth, I use an offering bowl . And in said offering bowl, I place some sea salt . So why would sea salt signify Earth instead of Water? Well, to me it's a little of both. Salt comes from the earth and mixes with the water of the sea. You can, of course, put dirt in there, or anything else that signifies Earth to you. I put the Earth to the center left side of my altar.
And then, the either totally elaborate, utterly plain, or maybe even paper cup chalice . Anything that can hold water can be your chalice if it has that meaning for you. As we have said, the chalice holds the element of Water that you can use for your ritual. Whether you add salt to it to purify it or not is up to the type of ritual you are doing and your personal preference. I put the chalice in the center center part of the altar, in front of the candles and the statues.
That just leaves the athame and/or the wand. I like to use both, the athame to cast the circle, "cutting" out a sacred space beyond time, and the wand to direct power. (If you would like to read more about how to choose the appropriate wood for a wand, check our article on magickal woods). I generally carry my athame on my degree cord around my waist, OR in the center of the altar to the front, in front of the chalice. I put the wand next to it.
So, that, in a nutshell, is the Kestra altar set up. If you feel that your correspondences (i.e. must put Earth in the East, etc.) do not agree depending on the position of your altar, that's all right. The important thing is that you understand WHY you are placing things where you are placing them, not that you copy someone else exactly. If it doesn't have specific meaning to you, the ritual itself will not be as meaningful or powerful.
The Hows and Whys of Altar Tools
By Kestra Imani
So there you are, a beginner to Wicca, and you ask yourself, "Gee, what are all these Wicca supplies for anyway? What am I going to do with Altar Tools?" Those are good questions, since we are in a religion where there aren't many seminaries to teach Priests and Priestesses what's what, and what special church supply store they need to go to so they can purchase the right chalice or vestment.
What Altar Tools do you need, anyway? What Wiccan supplies do you need to be a "real Witch?" And how do you remain "non fluffy" while doing this?
Here is a quick primer on Altar Tools and Wicca Supply. Just the basics, of course.
Athame: Beginner Witches always have trouble pronouncing this word. It is pronounced ah' thuh may. Or, you can just call it that big ole Wicca knife. Nobody will be upset with you. You can buy many different types of athames, and since it will be your own personal Wiccan tool, you can tell those who might not like a nice wooden athame and say that the only "real athame" is a metal one with a blade that looks like it came out of Mad Max, that they can eat your Wiccan shorts. The athame is generally used to assist with casting a circle. Since you don't use it to cut anyone, and you only brandish it to look cool (unless some naughty Wicca haters are hanging around your circle making threats), you can buy any type you desire.
Athames are also used to signify the God in the Great Rite.
Bell: Now why would any Wiccan need a bell? Is it the "dinner bell?" No! It's the Altar Bell. And why does a Wiccan need an Altar Bell? As you should know, sound is very important during ritual. One learns to "vibrate" and "intone" with your voice, which helps the Gods to hear you. Same thing with an Altar Bell. The nice tones of a quality Altar Bell will let the Gods know that you would like an audience, please. The Bell is also used to cleanse energies at the end of a ritual.
Cauldron: You will find that most Wiccans LOVE cauldrons, especially cast iron ones and use them for many different things, some ritual, some not. They are most often used as vessels to hold lighted charcoal to burn incense, but they can also be used to make herbal remedies, or simply to cook chili.
Chalice: The Chalice signifies the Mother Goddess and is used to hold water on your Altar during ritual. The Chalice can be anything from a paper cup to a gaudy ornate jewel encrusted one. The Goddess doesn't get upset with you for not buying the solid gold chalice. A beautiful silver or stoneware one will do just fine :-)
Offering Bowls: Having a nice set of offering bowls on the Altar is a "good thing." How else will you hold the element of Earth? Offering bowls can be any type at all, from beautiful hand made jeweled ones, to little black scrying altar bowls, to the proverbial paper cup. As with all things Wiccan, it's your choice.
Altar Cloths: An Altar cloth is essential to a "well dressed Altar." It also protects the Altar from candle drips or other stains. Even experienced Wiccan practitioners find MANY candle drips after a ritual. Know that your Altar cloth WILL get drips. It is good if it is machine washable. You CAN buy that beautiful gold wrapped Altar cloth, but the first time the chalice full of wine falls, or the Mother Goddess candle drips red wax, you won't be a "happy fun Witch."
Wands: A wand is another item that you can use in circle casting, or in any other ritual where you wish to direct and focus your energy. Magickal wands are wands that you choose (either purchased or made....since Kestra must stay away from sharp objects, her wands are purchased), and charge with your own personal energies. Magickal wands can be metal, wood, plastic, or any kind of material you desire, but Kestra prefers wood. Wicca, the Earth, wood, you know.... that sort of thing. Different woods have different magickal uses.
Altar tools and Wicca supplies are very personal choices. If you know WHY you are making the choices you make, such as, "I want to use only white candles for this particular ritual because I feel that they will be appropriate" or "I must have a black offering bowl because I feel that only black should hold the Earth element" then that choice is a good one. Do not purchase tools or supplies because others tell you those are the things you "must have." Look sideways at any who tell you that there is only one "correct" chalice, one "correct" cauldron, or one "correct" athame. They are all choices, and personal choices at that.
Blessings
Wiccca Supplies vs. Witchcraft Supplies
By Kestra Imani
You've likely seen many sites around the Internet advertising Wicca Supplies or Wicca Supply. You've likely also seen sites advertising Witchcraft supplies. So which is the one you are looking for? Is one better than another? What is the difference between Wicca and Witchcraft anyway? What should you call yourself when asked?
These are interesting questions, with even more interesting answers. But in a nutshell, Wicca is a religion, and Witchcraft is an action one might take, whether or not as a result or through their knowledge of religion.
So does one practice Wicca, or does one practice Witchcraft? One can, in fact, practice both, or either one.
Wicca is a religion that began in the early 1950s, as a conglomeration of beliefs, some older, some not. Witchcraft, on the other hand, is a series of practices, some old, some new. So essentially, the difference is belief vs. practice.
Now, with that said, both Wicca and Witchcraft use supplies. Often, they are the SAME supplies. Often also, the aims of the rituals are also the same. But not always. For example, those of other faiths can use Witchcraft and call themselves a Witch. However, those of other faiths should not call themselves Wiccan, since Wicca is a faith unto itself with sometimes specific beliefs.
So which should you look for? Wicca supplies or Witchcraft supplies? You should look for both, actually. The altar tool or item itself is not "Wicca" or "Witchcraft" or "good" or "evil," it is all in the intent of the practitioner. You may see some sites that proudly proclaim they offer Witchcraft supplies for the "left hand path" that include things like perhaps graveyard dirt or coffin nails. An item in an of itself is not "right hand path" or "left hand path." It is not "Wicca" or "Witchcraft" or "Christian" or "Satanist." It is all in what you DO with it.
So should you call yourself a Witch or a Wiccan? To me, a Witch is one who uses his or her Will in order to achieve a desired outcome. Whether the use of Will is "magickal" or mundane, one who knows their Will and seeks to manifest it is a Witch. Whether they choose to call themselves a Witch or not is definitely up to them. A Wiccan, however, is someone very different. A Wiccan is one who follows the religion of Wicca, including the Wiccan Rede, and the duality of Deity.
In conclusion, it doesn't matter whether you use supplies marked Wicca supplies or supplies marked Witchcraft Supplies or whether you go out in the woods and pick up a stick to use as a wand, use your finger instead of an athame, or even use a Christian communion chalice for your offerings to the Goddess. It's all about what energies YOU bring to the ritual, and how YOU feel about their usage. Emotionally and psychologically, I like using certain woods that I identify with specific correspondences, certain athames that I think look and feel "right" and chalices with Goddess symbology on them, but you certainly do not HAVE to do what I do. Instead, do what you feel is best and right. Which may, of course, include buying all of your Wicca Supplies and Witchcraft Supplies from Enchanted Works. *grin*
Ritual Candles - Dressing Them, and More
By Kestra Imani
As you read about rituals, candles, ritual tools and altar supplies, you've likely come across hundreds of opinions (all correct, of course) about what to do with candles. You've likely seen lots of information telling you to "dress" your candles prior to ritual.
So what does "dressing your ritual candle" entail? Do you make a cute little hat and dress for your ritual candle? Can you find some cute little shoes and a blouse? While you COULD do that, it would then be a bit difficult to burn the ritual candle, so perhaps this article should cut to the chase and tell you how to dress your ritual candle.
Please note: If you buy Enchanted Works Ritual Candles from Crystal Journeys, or other heavily pre-scented candles, they are ready for ritual, appropriately scented, and all you have to do is light them. They are "ready to go." You CAN dress them if you would like, but they are so highly scented, that you may possibly get two highly incompatable scents that might make you see strange things. While hallucinations might be part of some people's rituals, they are not always desirable. So please be careful out there, ok?
There are as many opinions on how to properly dress a ritual candle as there are on what color or style candle you should use for each working. In other words, as many opinions as there are ritual candles. These techniques are suggestions that you should take or leave depending on your own personal ideas. Don't let anyone tell you there's only "one true way" to dress a ritual candle. "One true way" ism is not Kestra's idea of Wicca.
The ritual candle's flame is the "head" of the candle, and signifies you. The bottom of the ritual candle is the "base" and signifies the world outside of you. This makes it easier to think about, at least from personal experience.
If you want to bring something to you, whether it be good health, happiness, positive thinking, or whatever it may be, dress the candle from the outside (base) to the top (head). Kestra likes to make a spiral by taking a drop of oil on your finger (make sure it's not overly strong essential oil that will burn your finger) and working from the bottom of the ritual candle to the top in a spiral. Kestra goes clockwise for drawing spells, and does them in the waxing part of the moon phase. You might wish to affirm your intention as you do this, and ask that it manifest.
Conversely, if you want to draw something away from yourself, such as negativity, someone else's energies from a tool, sickness, unhappiness, etc. all you need to do is reverse the process. Start at the head of the ritual candle, and sprial down to the candle's base, counter clockwise, during the waning part of the moon phase.
Of course, if you find something that works better for you, by all means use it. There is no "one right way." If it feels right to you, why not use it. The worst that can happen is that you offend the powers that be and get smitten with a lightning bolt :-).
Hexcraft, An Introductory Essay Upon the Art of the Evil Eye
By Will Grundy
What is a Hex?
What is a Hex, a curse, the evil eye or just a jinx. Every race, civilisation and culture has at one time or another has reffered to the art of the would be gypsy or witch, and thier potent arsenal of evil spells and deadly rites. But what is it?
A hex is a negative form of spell or ritual with a sole intention of causing ill or creating chaos for an idividual or group. The effects of this magickal (We refer to "Magick" this way rather than the way that stage magicians and illusionists refer to thier optical trickery as "magic", this defines the two) practise are meant to dispell negative disruptive energy from the practitioner, and transfer his or her wishes to the victim, therefore hopefully allowing them to manefest in a similar way to how the ritualist first visualises.
The practise is usually done by "Sympathy". This is commonly known as "Sympathetic magick", a widely used form using a concept of "Correspondences" or symbolic links that tie each and every thing. By using these correspondences and tying them to the intended target, it allows an occultist to work with the victim in an intimate way, without fear of being found out by the intented, and ruining the act. A good example is a "Vou-dou Doll" or "Mojo", in which a victim is "Tied" to an image doll and identified withmaybe, a bit of the victims clothing, a photograph, and a piece of the victims hair or nails. In this way, the victim becomes the doll and the doll becomes the victim, and they are one in the same. The connection/correspondences that form from this symbolism is what allows the caster to transfer the negative thoughts and energy from the doll onto the victim, if you accept this theory.
There are many different ways to employ a hex, each one different, but most contain certain similar elements in thier operation. From Sigil to the throwing of componants at a victims person or property, the list quite literally could go on forever.
Why Hex?
The phrase, "Better out than in" is a perfect metaphor to describe the reasoning behind the cursing of a subject. Negative energy is a distructive force, that if left to fester and churn within a person, can cause no end of pain and disruption internally. The hex is a better cause of action for a individual that may be suffering this held energy, maybe from an encounter with a problem person/s who may be the cause of stressful situations, or a long held grudge that may be causing a spiritual or emotional blockage to the sufferer.
The casting of the hex serves a useful process to expell all the bad feelings and negativity from the mind of the sufferer, and leaves the practitioner with a sense of peace. With the supposed energy transferred from the sufferer (The caster who has the original intent) to the victim, psycologically has the effect of lifting the veil of bad feeling from them, and allows them to go about thier daily routine without this negative influence causing problems in their everyday life. Whether you believe in Magick or not, this placebo type expelling of ones anger/hatred/etc is a sure way to give ones self a new boost of positivity and confidence.
The Moral argument, Black vs White.
Magick falls into two main types before being classified under any other sub definitions.
Black and White.
White magick is defined as acts that only generate positive and unselfless results, whilst Black, is all that is selfish and performed for the good of oneself.
There is no grey, as some would argue that if they perform acts of both, that would classify them as a grey practitioner. Even a spell or ritual that would make the occultist (I will use that term to describe any of the myriad of systems and pseudo religions that acknowledge magick use in thier practices) benefit from a windfall of money or good luck, would really be classed as an act of Black magick, as this really only benefits the caster, not anyone else. But if the intent was to grant another this bountiful harvest of good fortune and wealth, whilst not benefiting the occultist in any way, then that would be classed as an act of white magick. Occult scholars (Mainly of the Wiccan community) would argue this and say that the definition is acts of Black are evil, and Good being white. This is nonsense, as many who practise the occult arts have strict moral codes that they must adhere to, and in such paganism and cults it would ultimately restrict thier activities to purely selfless acts, and they would no longer be able to practise acts of selfish magick (As in the above examples) therefore they would loose thier "perks of the trade". Just imagine, training and learning for many years to master the flow of the universe, only to realise, they may not use magick to benfit themselves!Other sub sects of occultists, such as Satanists (Laveyan and Typhonian and so on) and Chaoists (Nothing is real, everything is permitted), while treated with suspicion by the rest of the Occult community, have no such boundries with either acts, or that of the hex.
It is really up to the individual choice of a person, with to hex or not, some people will not hex because they fear the "Three fold law of return", or they feel that thier actions will eventually end up coming back on themselves. If you fear such concepts or anything like that, my advice is your belief will shape your destiny and you will eventually become unstuck. Keep an open mind to the fact of justification of your actions, this being said, if your action is a justifiable act (The victim of your hex, may be threatening yourself or friends or family, or just a terrible individual that keeps getting away with despicable acts and everyone is at a loss as to stop them from causing problems etc.) then it could be said that you are going to do a great service to the greater population! (Could that be then classed as an unselfish white magick act?!) Sometimes sacrifices must be made for the greater good, that require the elimination of such individuals for the benefit of the rest of society!
It is up to you to weigh up all the factors.
The Power of the Hex
So I suppose you want to know what kind of things to expect if one performs a curse on a victim? There also will be many of you with great misconceptions regarding this often misunderstood forms of rite or spell.All magick works in the basic formation as I will tell you, what ever it is you try to make real, from the hex of an enemy to the creation of that dream job, or anything, it can be boiled down to this simple equation.
INTENT-WILL-MANEFEST
INTENT is your main focal point of what you want, in this case to cause ill on a foe. This intent must be sufficient enough to allow the hex to work, if you have objections in your mind about what will happen to your victim, then I suggest that you really shouldn't walk down the path, as it will either come to nothing and you will have wasted your time and effort, or it will become what you fear, with the maximum realised fear you imagined upon the victim (Sometimes death of the subject can occur, so be aware) and all round bad karma for you. Your mind must be prepared for the eventuality that your efforts may work all too well, so any fears you have must be forgotten and blanked out when embarking in this kind of operation. Also you MUST have true intent to make the things you visualise and wish to come about.
Insufficient mental effort will result in nothing at all.
WILL is the mental effort you must expend to create the desired effect, without this the whole process will not reach the intended. You must believe will all your willpower and mental force that you will succeed. If the efforts are not enough again it will end up as I said above, either nothing or too much. Magick is a subtle force that while permeating and enveloping all things in all planes of existence, is unseen and seldom understood by mankind, therefore seldom do we as magickians see the forces at work, instead the energy when expelled to perform the task takes on a silent purpose, infecting object to object, location to location and eventually when finding the destination intended will start to manefest through coincidental or sometimes unexpected occurances, that beginners sometimes find unsettling!
MANEFEST is the end result of your intent combined with your mental efforts, as I said above the desires of the caster will become real through a series of unforseen everyday occurances or bizzarre events that just don't happen that often. Its the kind of thing when people say; "Wow, thats really strange how they just slipped off the kerb and broke their leg, it was as if someone had pushed them!" or "They just stepped on the ladder to change a light bulb and it gave way!". Most manefestations will occur in a every day manner and not generally cause suspicion of anyone around them, unless of course they are witnessed by another who is versed in the arts. After years of study and practise, it is a usual ability for any occultist to know why these things happen, mainly due to the energy sense that an accomplished witch, psychic or occultist (Sometimes untrained sensitives can "Feel" or percieve the unnatural energy that comes with the manefest)There are many ways of accomplishing the hex, some simple candle magic spells, some complex, time consuming and draining. It does depend upon what the one performing the hex wants to manefest. The more you put in, the more you get out. Some acts of hexing are simple but deadly, some are complex, but produce extremely precise end results. A good example is sigils, when used in the circumstances of effecting a foe, they are exellent for thier flexability to produce very specific end results that may not do too much harm, but can be used in combination with other smaller rites to boost the overall focus.
No two hexes are alike, as all situations are completley different, and so with that the hex is always tailor made to fit the victim. if you begin this form of art, you will start to develop your own style and magickal signature, that you will eventually start to recognise. Magick has a sort of independent sentience that sometimes has a twisted sense of humour, this is probably derived from it being produced from the mind of a free thinking human being. Magick is a living energy that is within everything, some may call it God, some the spirits, but in my opinion it is all of us who live and think. That is what God is, all of us collectively. Its what makes us live and be what we are, unique.
If your victim is aware that you are wanting to seek vengence upon them, and are involved in the Occult arts, it can be possible to bluff them into hexing themselves.
I have always loved the power that a victims fear of your power gives you over them, if they start to believe that you have cursed them, your job is done without any effort at all.
People who claim to have no belief and insist that the occult is a load of mumbo jumbo, are probably the best to do this to. If they are sufficiently "Spooked" by your possible casting of the evil eye, they will fester on the dark possibility that you have taken the time to curse them, and then start to put any bad luck down to your actions, the more they focus on this possibility, the more paranoid and accident prone they become. They become a victim of thier own fears, as I said before, it is exactly the same as any fears or objections you may suffer before casting a hex, your mindcan become your enemy. Willpower is the best protection, if you truely believe you cannot be harmed or fail, then that will protect you!
I will warn you that opening your mouth and saying too much about your activities can also lead you to destruction and harm. A good example is mouthing off at your victim, claiming you will curse them, only to find that you have become the victim of ridicule, this leads to all kinds of potential harm for you. Be warned, the method I prescibed is only useful if you really know what your doing, not for beginners, as it usually leads to people thinking your a nut case and will diminish your confidence and any chance you may have at becoming a competent magickian. I have seen this happen to many would be occultists that I know and have mentored. Best bet for the starter, is to perform the hex rite or spell, and keep your mouth shut. Say nothing to anyone or suffer the possibility of a back fire.
When you have finished your rite, the experience should leave you feeling exhausted and drained, as if all the energy has left you and gone to visit your foe. Generally without this feeling of loss, seldom will the focus be sent to your prey. Make sure you feel this expelling of your intent. A sense of well being will follow if you have successfully sent it on its way. Laugh, rejoyce and relax, then forget all about it. Failure to forget will keep part of the ritual inside you and until you expell all of the memory it will remain.
The sooner you do this, the sooner your desires will become reality. Also, don't dwell on asking yourself when will it happen, just know that as soon as the negativity you dispelled is out of you, then part of the battle is done. It will happen when the time is right. There have been times I have wanted rid of a foe, and frothed for an age about how much I wanted them to come to harm, still they were seen around unscathed, but the moment I put it out of my head, I heard about all the bad things that had happened to them!
It can be hard to put it out of your head, but trust me, you will see no results until you do!
What next?
The intention of this essay is not to show you how to perform the act, or even reveal a system for any of you to try.
The word "Occult" means "hidden", so what I'm trying to say is, if having read this brief introduction you come out of it either with a little more education about the subject and wish not to try cursing the man down the street for laying the music too loud, or if it has left you with a taste and hunger to know more, then "Find" the rest. I will not advocate nor disuade any of you regarding the operation. I could if I wanted to, but to be honest there are too many different ways to perform such an operation, each as different as there are people. If you choose to search further, then you must find your own way that suits your individual thinking and perceptions. It would be pointless me trying to teach one or two particular rites, as you may find the ones I choose unsuitable for your way way of thinking.
I suggest that if you need to know more, the internet is a valuable source of information for an occultist in the 21st century. Try clicking Google and searching for Hexes or curses.
It has taken me many years of study and hardship to find my own truth. I urge you to find yours.
For the most part, I think that spells can be a valuable way to "act" out your anger, resentment, bitterness or jealousy. The very act of doing a spell can make a person who feels powerless or victimized, feel at least briefly, for at time that they are somehow in control of the situation again. I have found the following "freezer" spells to be quite satisfying to do, if you find yourself somehow dumped, oppressed or just plain wishing for some kind of psychological torture to stop. I am not completely sure if these spells or not, but when someone does me wrong, the first thing that pops into mind is the frosty insides of my refrigerator.
I love these spells because they fall under the category of corny spells, trailer trash wiccanary and because they originate from such an emotional, passionate and old style of witchcraft. Yet at the same time they are very modern because they make use of the fridge. Technically too, they fall under the category of black magic because they are revenge spells, and represent the desire to control another person.
Being somewhat of a collector and connoisseur of corny spells, trailer trash wiccanary and any ritual that allows you to "act out your feelings" without necessarily hurting anyone, I thought I'd share them with you because they are a few of my favourites. Some of them have been sourced from Lexa Rosean, author of the Supermarket Sorceress who is a master of Kitchen Witchery. Still I think the important thing about a freezer spell is to start with the basics and then make it your own. I know one natural witch, (a famous Canadian singer in fact) who knows nothing about freezer spells, yet every time she gets mad at someone, she writes their name on a little piece of paper, twists it up and throws it in the freezer to "make it stop!" I discovered this one day when I was groping through her freezer for some ice cream and a flutter of little pieces of paper fell out to the floor. When I asked her about it, she told me her intuition had told her to put the people "on ice."
The essence of a freezer spell is about time. The idea is to stop something in its tracks. Freezer spells also fall into the category of binding spells, as often their purpose is to paralyse an offender. They are used for protection, but mainly for REVENGE! Here are a few of my favourites.
THE BASIC ICE CUBE TRAY SPELL: This is all-purpose and what I like about it is that you can use magical ingredients to sweeten or sour the mix before you chuck it in the freezer. Basically, you take twelve small pieces of paper and write down the names twelve people or situations who have not been very nice to you or who have irked you or done you wrong. Think of twelve people who have been hostile to you, or who have a bad attitude towards you or who have behaved as obstacles to what you want in your life or career. Now stick these twelve pieces of paper in the ice cube tray compartments and add a little sugar, or honey to sweeten up their attitude towards you.
You could also add a few other things as well if you wanted - a little dill or parsley powder for improved communication, orange water for joy or rose water to increase loving vibrations. Then you fill the rest of the tray with water and stick in the freezer. I like this spell because it is relatively innocent and is persuading others to think of you kindly and not to harm you. A more vengeful version of this spell would be to add substances like vinegar (to sour their experiences) cigarette ashes (to cause depression) or horseradish (to cause arguments.)
If your resentment is directed towards a particular individual, perhaps a male who has dumped you for some one else you might consider doing this IMPOTENCE spell. While shopping for the cucumber at your local vegetable store, try and find one that resembles your ex-partner's actual member when it is erect. At the very least this will get you giggling. Then carve his name and his birth-date into the flesh of the cucumber and throw it into the freezer. It will start to go soft and wither after a few weeks, and while this happens, imagine him and the sweet young thing that he betrayed you having conversations like "I swear this has never happened to me before." "It's ok. I understand."
The ultimate freezer spell however, in terms of sheer nastiness, is this BREAK THEM UP freezer spell in which you write the offending couple's names on a piece of paper (if you don't know the name of the person coming between you write "unknown rival") You put the pieces of paper in a Tupperware container along with a piece of rotten fish, fill it with water and freeze it. Fish are symbols of fertility and happiness, so the ultimate purpose of this ritual is to have the two lovers become turned off from each other. One person, who tried this spell, told me she laughed her head off, when her boyfriend came back to her and complained that his new lover had terrible B.O. I haven't tried this one myself, but she says it worked. Lexa Rosean also boasts success with this one.
I can't guarantee these spells work, but if you are too chicken to enact some real revenge (like turn the person into the I.R.S.) these little rituals at least satisfy a desire for "petty revenge".
The Evil Eye has been around since the beginning of time. It simply means sending someone a thought that seems intrusive or invasive or has the power to hurt him or her. The bad fortune that results is considered to have been caused by envy. The evil eye is not necessarily considered to be intentional or associated with witchcraft or sorcery. Oddly enough, this thought form could actually be complimentary in nature. The origins of the Evil Eye are Middle-Eastern and Mediterranean. The concept was introduced into the Americas, South Pacific Islands, Asia, Africa and Australia by European explorers.
Sending someone the evil eye comes from the concept that we all have a Third Eye, located in the center of our forehead. Blinding, fogging or obscuring the third eye is often the intent of the energy’s sender. Most of us have experienced the weird power of the phenomenon. All it takes is a gaze that seems to be unfriendly, indifferent or blank and seems to a couple of seconds too long. We think about it for a few minutes afterwards or perhaps an image of the person staring at us preoccupies our thoughts occasionally for the rest of the day. Perhaps that is why the British and Scottish term for the “evil eye” is “overlooking.” It implies that a gaze has remained too long upon the coveted object, person or animal.
The evil eye is also known as the envious or invidious eye. In Italian it is called the malocchio and in Spanish the malojo (loosely translated as the bad eye) The evil eye is known as ayin horeh in Hebrew; ayin harsha in Arabic, droch shuil in Scotland, mauvais oeil in France, bösen Blick in Germany, and was known as oculus malus among the classical Romans.
The original belief is that any person can harm your children, livestock, fruit trees or any other evidence of prosperity just by looking at the spoils of all your good will and hard work with envy. Ironically, the curse of the evil eye is thought to be provoked by inappropriate displays of spiritual pride or excessive beauty. There is a theory that very famous people and celebrities suffer more personal misfortune than others simply because they are subjected to more “overlooking” and envy than others.
This superstition might have some grounding in evolutionary psychology as usually one animal is thought to dominate or be aggressive to another simply by staring at it for too long. Psychologically speaking, staring or glaring at someone is officially considered an intrusion into your affairs. Apparently, there is a fine line between casting a glance to casting a spell. In these post Celestine Prophecy times, this kind of stare could be compared to a kind of etheric laser beam or amoebic arm that rips open your aura. Others would describe the infliction of the evil eye as the projection of an image (such as the image of the person you have offended or hurt) so that you see only that to the exclusion of all other sight. In other words, you see that person wherever you go or feel that your life’s events are always colored by your dealing with that person. Another symptom is the inability to proceed with ordinary, daily events without feeling somehow compelled to make things right with the person you have often unknowingly offended with your grandiosity.
It is common folklore that the evil eye has a dehydrating effect on its victim. It is thought to cause vomiting, diarrhea, the drying up of the milk of nursing mothers and livestock, problems with the blood, eyesight lack of rain, the drying up of wells, the withering of fruit and impotence in men. Clumsiness, stomachaches, dry coughs, diarrhea, itching, hair loss, dry skin are all thought to be physical symptoms of an evil eye attack e. On the astral level it is thought to cause the drying up of prana, chi, life force and the easy flow of prosperity in life. Part of this image might derive from the idea also, of muddy, murky or poisoned vision that is somehow attached to the victim’s third eye.
Almost everywhere that the evil eye belief exists, it is said to be caused accidentally by envy or praise. Thus the phrase “Pride Goeth Before a Fall” In certain Mediterranean and eastern cultures, one is careful not to praise a child too much, lest it invite the subconscious balancing effect of the evil eye. A classic situation would be the barren woman who praises the newborn baby of a new child. Such praise would be considered inappropriate and thought to bring the evil child. One of the remedies for this would be for the mother to spit, to symbolically “rehydrate” the situation. Also, she may speak ill of the child OT counteract the effects of the praise, which might have malefic effects on the child later.
The belief that individuals have the power to cast the evil eye on purpose is more idiosyncratic to Sicily and Southern Italy, although the belief has certainly spread elsewhere – to the Southern United States and the Latin Americas. Such people are known as jettatore (projectors). They are not necessarily considered evil or envious, just born with an unfortunate embarrassing talent that causes others to avoid them. In ancient cultures, if you were thought to be the possessor of an evil eye, you were often negated by the rest of society and went unrecognized on the street without meeting anyone’s eyes.
Perhaps one of the most familiar preventative measures against the evil eye is the hand gesture. The Mano Cornufo or “Horned Hand” involves extending the first and index fingers from a fist. The Mano Fico or “Fig hand” involves placing the thumb in between first and second fingers.Historically there have been many cures for the evil eye:
In Italy, the evil eye is diagnosed by dripping olive oil into a vessel filled with water. If the oil conglomerates into the shape of an eye than the victim is considered officially cursed. Prayers are recited until the droplets of oil no longer create an eye shape.
In Eastern Europe charcoal, coal or burnt match heads are dropped into a pan of water/. If the items float then the person is considered to be the victim of a curse.
In the Ukraine, a form of ceromancy or candle reading is used to diagnose the curse. Melted wax is dripped from a candle into a pan of water. If the wax spits, splatters, or sticks to the side of the bowl then the “patient” is considered to be under the influence of the malefic eye. Usually the patient is cleansed with Holy Water. He or she is pronounced cured when the dripped wax sinks the bottom of the bowl in a round ball.
In Greece Mexico and other places, the official cure is to invite the culprit responsible for the evil eye to spit in a vessel of the holy water that is consumed by the victim.
In Mexico, rolling a raw egg over the body of the victim is the antidote. Afterwards, it is cracked open and if the metaphysician or healer divines the shape of an eye in the yolks then the person is considered to be cursed. Several eggs may be repeatedly rolled over the person’s body until an egg without an eye if found. Sometimes the egg is placed underneath the person’s bed overnight and cracked open in the morning.
In China the remedy for the evil eye is the Pa Kua mirror, a six-sided mirror that is hung on the front door or placed in the front window to reverse bad energy back to the sender. Some of these mirrors are convex to reflect back the bad “poison darts” or “arrows” of multiple ill wishers and some are concave to reflect energy in a definite direction back at, for instance, a nosy neighbor, whose gaze may have lingered on your garden of tulips for too long. In Feng Shui, mirrors are often used as a cure all to reflect negative energy back at all kinds of things – people, bad architecture, traffic, neighbors, physical obstructions such as trees or rocks or anything else that might considered to be a conductor of Har Shui (negative vibrations).
In India the mirroring back of the evil eye takes the form of small mirrors that are sewn, braided or crocheted into clothing. This mirroring back of bad energy is also familiar to practitioners of Wicca and Lukumi or Santeria. In India, the human eye is also considered to be a mirror of the soul. Indian women wear kohl or heavy black makeup to emphasize their eyes not only to shield themselves from evil eye but also to prevent themselves from accidentally inflicting it on others. In India cords strung with blue beads are placed on newborn babies. When the cord breaks and the beads are lost the child is considered to have a strong enough aura to protect him or herself from the evil eye. Red cords worn upon the wrist or neck are thought to have a powerful effect against ocular malevolence. A silver charm called Eye of Buddha which references the Gautama Buddha is also worn against astral attack.
In Italy, gold, silver or gems carved or cast into the shape of the Mano Fica or Mano Cornufa are used to repel the evil. The most coveted ones are made of red coral, but many versions exist today made of gemstones and plastic. They are worn by men to protect against the withering of the genitals thought to be caused by the bad eye. Also Italian in origin is the Corno or horn or devil’s horn amulet that is thought to protect against the same dysfunction. The women’s version is made from a twig of red coral.
In Arab cultures, superstitious types wear an eye in the form of a stone cast in the center of a hand shaped bone or metal charm A common Egyptian charm is the Buckle of Isis which represents the menstrual pad of the Goddess Isis who was the Mother of all living things. Stuffing a little prayer or spell inside a locket that is hung around the neck is the common European custom for protecting oneself against deadly gazes.
A light worker such as myself might advise you to protect yourself in the following contemporary ways:
Always maintain the belief that nobody has the power to hurt you with a look. This in itself is a very powerful thought form.
Before you go out, imagine that your third eye is actually covered by something that looks like a small pocket mirror. If you are a psychic or a healer then simply close your third eye and don’t open it unless you want to look.
If you are feeling haunted or upset as the result of a “look”, press your thumb hard into the center of your forehead and imagine your third eye quickly flipping. Flick the energy away with your thumb and snap your fingers.
Always remember that what you resist often persists. The phrase “Oh, so what!” is one of the most powerful chemicals in the universe that you can use to dissolve negative energy.
Many of our great religions hold that numbers contain hidden meanings that in turn hold the mysteries of the universe and God within them. Ancient Hebrew mystics referred to this as Gematria. Numbers are also given corresponding associations to various deities, colours, plants, gemstones, and superstitions. Here are a brief list of associated correspondences and lore for the numbers 1 through 13.
The Number 1
In the faiths of Islamic, Jewish and Christian cultures the number 1 is associated with the unity of God. For medieval alchemists and metaphysicians the number was associated with the Philosopher's Stone, the unknown catalyst that was thought to transform base metals magically into gold.
The number 1 is also associated with Aphrodite, the Greek Goddess of Love; Apollo, the Greek God of Beauty and Truth; Diana, the Roman Goddess of the Hunt; Vesta, the Roman Hearth Goddess; Freya, the Norse Goddess of Fertility, and the Chinese God Pangu.
The number 1 is associated with the colors red, crimson, scarlet and cherry. Gemstones associated with the number 1 are ruby and garnet. Flowers associated with the number are red roses and red carnations.
Common superstitions about the number one are:
Break one egg and you will break a leg
It is unlucky to walk around the house in one slipper.
Only keep money in one pocket or you will lose it.
People with one hand are psychic.
A one-eyed person is a witch.
Seeing one magpie bodes a death in your future.
Seeing one white horse brings bad luck.
If you wash your hair on the first day of the month you will have a short life.
It is unlucky to get married August 1st or January 1st.
If you dream about the number 1 you have received a direct message from God.
The Number 2
In the Tarot deck, the number two represents duality, choices, decisions and partnerships. The Chinese believe that it represents the polar forces of Yin (the receptive, constrictive female energy) and Yang (the creative expansive male energy.)
Early Christians believed that the number represented the Devil or the division between soul and God. Similarly, the Zoroastrians believe the number represents the forces of good and evil locked in an eternal, yet equal, struggle.
The number 2 is also associated with the Ceres, the Greek Goddess of the Grain from whose name we have the word Cereal; Frigga the Norse Goddess of Hospitality and Wife of Odin; Freya, the Norse Goddess of Fertility and Venus, the Roman Goddess of Love.
2 is associated with the colors orange, gold, tangerine and peach. Flowers associated with 2 are freesias, orange roses and orange lilies. Gemstones associated with the number 2 are gold and coral.
Superstitions about the number two are:
If two crows fly over the house there will be a wedding in the family.
If two people sneeze at the same time both will have good luck.
If two shoots grow from the root of a single cabbage, you will have good luck.
Two people should never pour tea from the same pot.
It is lucky to have two holes in the same sock.
Breaking two eggs accidentally is a sign that you will find your soul mate.
Finding an egg with two yolks means there will be a death in the family.
If you wash your hair on the second day of the month you will have good fortune.
It is unlucky to get married January 2nd and September 2nd.
If you dream about the number 2 somebody is jealous of you.
The Number 3
Christians interpret the number 3 as representing the Trinity of Father, Son and Holy Ghost. The great psychologist Carl Jung interpreted as meaning the merging of the will with the heart and the soul. The ancient Babylonians and Celts interpreted this number to represent creation being born out of the union of 2 and thereby being a 3rd and distinct thing.
The number 3 is associated with Cronos, the Greek Titan who fathered the Olympians; Hecate, the Queen of the Witches and Goddess of the Crossroads; Pluto, the Roman God of Death; Saturn the Roman equivalent of Cronos and Tyr, the Norse God of Battle and Strength.
3 is associated with the colors yellow, lemon, beige and cream. Flowers associated with the number are yellow roses and orchids. The gemstone associated with 3 is topaz.
Some superstitions about the number three include:
A series of unlucky events always happen in threes.
It is bad luck to see three butterflies sitting on a leaf.
Spitting three times shoos away the devil.
It is unlucky to light three cigarettes from the same match.
If an owl hoots three times, there will be misfortune.
If a cat washes his ears three times you can expect a visitor.
A three-legged dog brings luck.
Try anything a third time and it will succeed.
If you wash your hair on the third day of the month you will have great wealth.
It is unlucky to get married May 3rd.
If you dream about the number 3, you will lose your lover.
The Number 4
For the ancient Hebrews, the number 4 was considered to be especially significant. This connects to a mystical understanding of YHVH, the four-letter name of God, which was traditionally never written down. The number 4 and its equivalent geometrical shape, the square, were considered to be sacred by ancient cultures that believed the world was flat.
Many modern Pagan religions find within the number 4 a representation of the four directions (north, south, east and west) as well as the four elements of earth, air, fire, and water.
Deities associated with the number four are the fatherly Gods such as the Roman God Jupiter, the Norse God Odin and the Greek God Zeus.
Number 4 is associated with the colors green and emerald. The gemstones symbolized by 4 are jade and emerald. Plants associated with four are ivy, bamboo and baby's breath.
Some superstitions about the number 4 include:
A four-leaf clover brings luck.
If four cookies fuse together in the oven while you are baking there will be a wedding.
Four ravens clustered together on a tree branch means there will be a wedding.
Finding four colors in one pansy petal bodes health, wealth, happiness and prosperity.
A house with the number 4 in the address is very inauspicious.
Keeping the four aces of an ordinary playing deck on your person is thought to bring power (spades), wealth (diamonds), love (hearts) and popularity (clubs).
Finding four colors in one pansy petal bodes health, wealth, happiness and prosperity.
If you hold the four of clubs while playing a card game, you will always lose.
If you wash your hair on the 4th day of the month you will go gray early.
It is unlucky to get married June 4th or October 4th.
If you dream about the number 4, you will soon be handed a lucky opportunity.
The Number 5
Pythagoras believed that 5 represented man in perfect balance with the universe and containing the sum of the male and female elements. At times this was taken to symbolize marriage. For the Sikhs, the number symbolizes the five sacred objects that are worn by all males.
The Chinese believe the number represents the 5 elements that are used in the divination oracle The I Ching as well as on the Pa' Kua that is a device used for determining Feng Shui: earth, air, water, fire and metal.
In Wiccan circles, five can be found in the star shaped pentagram that symbolizes the four elements of earth, air, fire, and water surmounted or united by spirit.
Deities associated with the number 5 include Dionysus, the Greek God of Wine and Ecstatic Revelation; Ishtar, the Babylonian Goddess of Love, Sex and War; Mars the Roman God of War and Thor the Norse God of Thunder.
The colors sky blue and turquoise symbolize the number 5. The gemstones associated with 5 are turquoise and aquamarine. The flower associated with 5 is the anemone.
Some common superstitions about the number five are:
A five-leafed clover is even luckier than a four leafed one.
Wearing a five-pointed star turns away evil.
If five cookies fuse together while cooking a funeral will take place.
If you twist the stem of an apple and it breaks on the fifth twist you will be married within the year.
In the hoodoo tradition, a talisman featuring a hand displaying all five fingers is known as the Lucky Hand and is used to ward off misfortune as well as for luck in gambling.
If you wax your hair on the fifth day of the month you will go bald.
It is unlucky to get married on November 5th.
If you dream about the number five you will soon be famous.
The Number 6
For Christians, Jews and Moslems, the number 6 represents the day that man was created. Mathematicians revere the number 6 because it is the first perfect number.
Deities associated with the number 6 include Athena, the Greek Goddess of Wisdom; Bacchus, the Roman God of Wine and Hermes, the Greek God of Communication.
The number 6 is symbolized the colors deep blue, navy and royal blue. Gemstones associated with 6 are sapphire and lapis lazuli. Flowers that symbolize the number are thistles and bluebells.
Some common superstitions about the number six are:
It is unlucky to purposely turn the number six upside down in jest as it means your projects will not be completed.
If you find a rose with six petals it means you will be lucky in love.
If you find a pansy petal with six colors in it, it means you will receive an unexpected visitor.
A talisman with the number 6 worn on it means you will be protected against hurricanes and tornados.
It is unlucky to get married October 6th or November 6th.
If you dream about the number 6 you will soon have sex.
The Number 7
The number 7 is equally sacred amongst Islamic, Christian and Jewish religions. According to Jewish and Christian mythologies it took six days to create the world with the seventh day being the holiest day - a day of rest. The Bible, Zohar and other religious texts also recommend that fields were to be left fallow every seventh year as means of allowing the earth to regenerate itself. Some Christians believe the number 7 represents the seven levels of hell.
It is Hebrew tradition to mourn, or sit Shivah, for a period of 7 days.
Deities associated with the number 7 include Frigga; Minerva, the Roman Goddess of Intelligence and Wisdom and Mithras the Sun God in Zoroastrian lore.
The number 7 is associated with the colors violet, purple and plum. 7's gemstone is amethyst.
Flowers associated with 7 are irises and deep purple roses.
Some common superstitions about the number 7 are:
If your date of birth can be reduced to a single number that can be divided by seven then you will have a particularly lucky life.
Shattering a mirror brings 7 years of bad luck.
If you sing before 7 am then you will cry before 11 am.
Wrapping her husband's belt 7 times around a tree causes a woman to become fertile.
The seventh child of a seventh child is said to have psychic powers.
If you wash your hair on the 7th day of the month you will have trouble with the law.
It is unlucky to get married April 7th or December 7th.
If you dream about the number 7, you will soon meet a soul mate.
The Number 8
The ancient Greeks associated the number 8 with unhappiness and imperfection. The psychologist Carl Jung equated the number with the secret and dark movements of the subconscious that constantly folds into itself like a snake eating its tail.
According to the principles of Chinese Feng Shui the number 8 represents abundance and prosperity. It is considered lucky to have a house number that contains an 8.
Gods and goddesses associated with the number 8 include: Mercury, the Roman Messenger God; Gaia, the Greek Earth Mother; and Hera, the Greek Queen of Heaven.
The number 8 is represented by the colors pink and rose. 8's gemstones are rose quartz and pearl.Flowers associated with the number are pink roses and pink carnations.
Some common superstitions about the number 8 are:
If you fall ill eight days after a new moon, you will die by the full moon.
If you give 8 pennies away you will receive 108 times that amount.
Repeating your own name 8 times while staring into your own eyes in a mirror is thought to bring prosperity.
It is unlucky to give a person a bouquet with 8 flowers.
A house with the address 88 will bring you double happiness.
If you wash your hair on the 8th day of the month you will live to a ripe old age.
It is unlucky to get married February 8th and June 8th.
If you dream about the number 8, you will soon lose a great deal of money.
The Number 9
In occult circles, 9 is considered to be the number of completion and is closely connected with the Dead, especially one’s personal ancestors, and with the forces of the cemetery and the Underworld. The nine is also associated with Hecate, the Queen of the Witches.
In Chinese mythology, the number composes the lo-shi, a magic square that comprises the first nine single digits on the number line.
Gods and goddesses associated with the number nine include: Juno, the Roman Queen of Heaven; Luna, the Roman Goddess of the Moon and Odin, the All-Father & Ruler in Norse mythology.
The number 9 is symbolized by the colors white and pearl. 9 is associated with the silver, platinum, diamond and pearl. Flowers associated with the number are white carnations, white roses and lily of the valley
Common superstitions about the number 9 include:
You will be blessed if you find nine peas in a pod.
Tying nine knots in a strand of your lover's hair will convince him to come to you.
Tying nine knots around a photograph of an enemy will cause them to give up the battle against you.
An address with the number nine in it brings you a long life.
If a young man wants to marry he should count 99 stars in the sky for 9 days. On the tenth day he will meet his soul mate.
Misfortune befalls the person who finds the Nine of Diamonds card on the street.
The moon that falls nine days after the New Moon in May is considered to be an unlucky day.
If you wash your hair on the ninth day of the month your marriage will be happy.
It is unlucky to get married December 9th.
If you dream about the number nine, your home will soon be blessed with a child.
The Number 10
For Christians, the number 10 symbolizes the Ten Commandments that were delivered through Moses from God at Mt. Sinai.
Deities traditionally associated with the number 10 include the Greek Gods Atlas, who bore the weight of the world on his shoulders and Uranus who was responsible for imagination and technology.
A common superstitious is that if you wash your hair on the 10th day of the month, you will receive a promotion at work. Another is that if you dream about the number 10 your mate is unfaithful.
The Number 11
The number 11 and in particular the number 11:11 (as seen on a clock) is considered, by many light workers and channellers to be a portal to other astral dimensions. The number 11 is also considered to be a 'master number" in schools of numerology.
Deities associated with the number 11 are the Sea Kings such as the Roman God Neptune and the Greek God Poseidon.
A common Chinese superstition is that washing your hair on the 11th day of the month will improve your eyesight.
The Number 12
The number 12 is associated with the Twelve Apostles, the number of people on a jury as well as The Twelve Days of Christmas.
The number 12 is also identified with the Roman Two-faced God Janus.
A common superstition is that washing your hair on the 12th day of the month will bring you misfortune. Another is that if you dream of the number 12, a solution will soon be found to a nagging problem.
The Number 13
Usually considered an unlucky number, this double-digit represents Judas, who was the guest at the Last Supper who betrayed Jesus. As a result it is also thought to be unlucky to have a dinner party with 13 guests.
Many hotels are missing a thirteenth floor or have omitted the number from their room doors.
Gods associated with the number 13 are Hades, the Greek God of the Underworld and Pluto, the Roman God of Underworld.
The color associated with the number 13 is black.
Some common superstitions about the number 13 are:
It is unlucky to have an address with the number 13.
It is also unlucky to have 13 numbers in your name.
Friday the 13th of any month is said to be an unlucky day.
The moon that falls thirteen days after the New Moon in August is considered to be an unlucky day.
Washing your hair on the 13th of the month ensures that you will give birth to a son.
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