Magick at Heart

Imagine yourself in a forest, midsummer, walking barefoot down a dirt path to a small pond you’ve been to thousands of times. The sun casually sinking toward the west. The smell of damp earth tickling your nose as the soft sounds of the birds whirl about your ears as they chirp the answers to your questions you haven’t learned to asked yet. The ground is cool beneath your feet. The air is warm, but the trees shade you from the heat of the sun. You trace your fingertips down the length of the fern leaves that fall across your path, offering you a piece of mind that you haven’t felt for sometime. You continue walking, soaking up all the energy around you. You come to that small familiar clearing that you’ve been to countless times in your dreams and in your thoughts. Everything is how it should be as you survey the area.   The waterlily’s float, undisturbed as the water from the small waterfall pours casually into the crystal clear emerald green pond. The rocks at the base of the waterfall are covered in a soft green moss. Ferns and bushes dip into the cool water, offering protection from the sun for the creatures below. The tree trunks twist and curl their long branches to create a hole in their canopy to allow the sun to reach the ground. The fresh scent of the forest revitalizes your energy. Your feet are firmly planted on the ground. You raise your arms slowly out to your sides, your eyes closed. You can feel the sun on your face. The soft natural sounds around you become so familiar that you no longer hear them. You feel your feet begin to take root into the ground…anchoring and connecting you with the earth. You begin to feel yourself grow taller and stronger. Your outstretched arms begin to lengthen. They do not feel heavy as small leaf covered twigs branch out from your fingers, in fact they feel lighter as they reach for the sky above. Each deep breath you take in, you feel yourself becoming more and more entwined with Mother Earth. While you are in this state feel your magick coursing through you. Allow yourself to see, not with your eyes, but with your senses.

Listen as the wind whispers to you… “The strongest magick you will ever find is the magick in your heart.”

To Rune or Not to Rune…

Yggdrasil, the tree of life, grows from the the Well of Urd and connects all of the nine worlds. The Well of Urd is enigmatic. It embodies some of the most powerful forces and beings ever known. Among these embodied are Urd, Verdandi, and Skuld-the sagacious Norns that control the fate of all beings across the nine worlds. Their most notable technique to shape fate is by carving the rune symbols into the trunk of Yggdrasil. These symbols then carry their intentions throughout the tree, influencing everything across the nine worlds. These Runes do not reveal themselves to any except those who prove themselves worthy of such unmanly abilities and wisdom. Odin’s quest for the runes tells a beautiful story of such sacrifice.

Runes were used by Germanic and the Norse, as the written letters, before the adoption of the Latin alphabet; however, when you seek the power of the runes, you are not seeking a set of arbitrary depiction of human alphabet sounds…you  are discovering a phenomenal dynamic system of magick.

Keep in mind, this is not a “How To” or “Instructional” piece on runes; this short excerpt is to help you decide if Runes are right for you. There are several books and resources available to you if you are looking on ways to utilize them in your life.

If you are looking for an imagery form of divination with a deep symbolic and complex system of interpretation, that you could spend countless hours of meditation and reading as a tool to communicate with both yourself and the universe, then you should be reaching for the deck of 78 tarot cards and not a bag of runes.

Runes are actual pieces of the universe, 24 pieces of the universe to be exact. Runes can be used for divination in addition to many other uses in your magick and hold a place for your every day use. To master a rune is to master the piece of reality and gain control of that aspect over your own life. Runes are not for everyone as they can be a little on the intimidating side; don’t be discouraged, remember, your quest for knowledge can be your greatest source of motivation. Runes will only reveal their true power to those that are worthy of them. When you choose a set of runes, listen for the ones that call to you. Feel their energy course through you. You’ll know which rune set is right for you the moment you hold them.

If you are interested in taking control of your life, master the runes. Learn their meanings, meditated on each and every one of them. To become a master of your own being you become a master in your practice. Learn to see them, not only with your eyes, but with every one of your 6th senses.When you choose a set of runes, listen for the ones that call to you. Feel their energy course through your system.

When in doubt; reach for your runes take back control of your life and your practice!

Do You Love Yourself?

“Nothing is impossible!” is a phrase that we use to help our friends, our family, our children, our lovers, strangers and ourselves at times to build up confidence when enduring a difficult task. For the most part this is very accurate; however, you cannot love anyone or anything else until you love yourself. It’s not impossible, you just have to take the necessary steps to achieve your goal!

To some people, this idea comes naturally. It shows in their charismatic disposition and most of all in their smile. To others, this is a foreign concept. I promise you, if this is a foreign concept to you, it’s nothing you can’t overcome, remember!! NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE!

If you are seasoned in your practice or just getting started, you will read or have read many articles along the lines of, “This is the most important tool in your arsenal”… and while those articles are not wrong, (as I have read several of them myself) they are missing the first and most basic tool and it’s not even a tool at all…it’s the basic practice of loving yourself.

We spend hours upon hours ensuring the healthiness of our spiritual care, but sometimes we neglect the energy at the very heart of it. You can’t expect anything to manifest within you if you haven’t made a healthy environment for it to grow in. Look inside your being, don’t only see the beauty but feel the beauty as it stirs inside you, allow it to surround your every thought. Whether you love yourself or you want to love yourself, below are just a few simple ideas to get you started and keep you going. At the end of the day, your practice is only as sound as your love for yourself.

 

• Just do it! In your solitude, reach your arms to the sky and belt out, “I LOVE ME”.
• Write it down on a sticky note and attach it to your mirror so you read it every morning.
• Write it down “I LOVE ME” in your book of shadows or in your journal.
• Write all the things that you love about yourself in these same places and read it once or twice a day, if need be.
•  Don’t beat yourself up. We are our worst critics and there is nothing wrong with a little criticism; but don’t over do it. You don’t deserve it. Sometimes we make mistakes and that’s okay.
• Know your value. Know what you are worth and know what you deserve and if you wouldn’t let someone else treat you that way, don’t you treat yourself that way.
• Follow the golden rule of the law of attraction; what you put out there you will get back. The same goes for the love you put out there for yourself.

Imagine how much better your magick will manifest itself in you if the environment that in which you create it is healthy, protected, safe and most of all, filled with love?

Using your mind’s eye..envision the energy of your beauty stirring inside you. Feel it slowly seep through your veins, empowering your heart and soul and moving through just as the blood flows through your veins. Watch it stitch back together the pieces of you that have been hurt or neglected, feel the warmth from inside as the energy within you strengths from the love you give yourself.

Remember, NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE, especially … if you love yourself.

An Empty Caldron…

“Double, double toil and trouble: Fire burn and caldron bubble ”

Have you ever looked inside something; saw nothing there and immediately thought it was empty? I am sure we’ve all fallen subject to this train of thought at least one time or another… I must admit, the first thought that goes through my mind after a freshly finished bottle of wine is that… “Awe man, I can’t believe it’s empty already!” This is a terrible habit that I am trying to break and you should too! A page, canvas, stage, cup, bottle, home, or caldron is never empty. In fact it’s quite the opposite! They are not void of anything rather they are overflowing with potential. Potential is one of the greatest gifts we could ever give ourselves!

The magick of your potential lies in the beauty of your intention. No spell or advice should ever be cast with careless or cloudy intention. Your magick is only as strong as your heart.

For a witch to fill an empty caldron, you must embrace your potential.

What it Means to be a Witch…

“Witch” … what does it mean? For centuries, the term has been tossed around like a silk scarf in the heavy duty cycle in a washing machine. The term is not derogatory by any means. Fear has a funny way of sculpting the opinions of those who do not understand the practice of witchcraft. (Yes, Witchcraft is a practice, not a religion.) Back to the question at hand.. what is in fact, a witch? I’ll tell you. A witch is someone that uses the practice of witchcraft (herbs, oils, spells, candles and magick) to obtain a desired result. Witches can be traced back for centuries, although it wasn’t until 1000AD that they made their way onto the radar of priests and other mainstream religious figures. Witches tend to be great healers. Most cultures throughout the past few centuries have a relied upon some form of witch for their knowledge of local herbs to invoke healing from common ailments, increased fertility, protection from spirits or those who wish to do harm, and even bring you luck or love. A giant misconception about these lovely people is that they have a pact with the Devil. Every time someone asks this, I laugh…then when I realize they weren’t joking, I calmly approach the situation like this… Witches do not worship the Devil, as we are not Christian or Satanists, therefore we have no belief in The Fallen Angel and we are unable to make a pact with something we don’t believe in. As a witch, we do however, believe in Karma. What you send out, you will get back times 3. So it is on the shoulders of each individual witch as to whether or not you practice white magick or black magick. Witches tend to be very gentle and very knowledgeable. Next time you have a cold and someone suggests a natural cure to ease the symptoms … you have just encountered a small fraction of what “The Craft” can accomplish.

Why is Witchcraft not a religion? Some may feel their practice through their work of candles, herbs, spells and magick is spiritual and who am I to argue with them regarding their own opinion; however, you can use witchcraft without calling upon any deities. Religion in itself is defined as, “the belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God or gods.” The general theory being that you can be part of any religion and still be a Witch.

The debate between Wicca and Witches and Witchcraft is one that has gone on since the Wicca Religion first made it’s debut in the early twentieth century with the help of people like, Margaret Murray, Doreen Valiente and Gerald Gardner. Wicca focuses on the worship of the Lord and the Lady, Wheel of the Year and Covens and yes while some of them may use magick it is not necessary nor is it a requirement.  Not all Witches are Wiccan and not all Wiccan’s are Witches. Say that ten times fast and you will have accomplished nothing other than still being partially confused. To spare you the boring details of the history of Wicca and related witchcraft-based Neopagan religions you can click the link and be directed to more concrete data if you choose.

What it means to be a Witch is to simply just be you. Embrace your quirky habits, dance like no one is watching, love with all your heart and don’t let fear hold you back. You can enshroud yourself in mystery and make your broom closet nice and comfy or share it with the world that you practice witchcraft. No matter which path you choose, you will always come across someone that shuns your beliefs and takes the moral high ground. All you can do is wish them well and encourage them to be the best that they can be. The only person that has to accept that you are a Witch is yourself. You do not have to defend your practice, you do not have to justify it.  Just remember that no matter how much energy you focus into your magick and how good your intentions may be… nothing will ever replace genuine hard work and taking good care of yourself. Magick is not a cure-all. It’s simply a tool that we have adapted through the centuries to help move us along during our journey on this rock.