Category Archives: Witchcraft

Witchcraft

Goals of a Witch: Jarred’s personal edition

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The first book on witchcraft I ever read was Cunningham’s “Guide for the Solitary Practitioner.” That man helped me find my way onto the path that I still follow, and I will always honor him.

One of the things he gave me and the rest of the world — at least my memory and a quick Google search suggests he was the original author (please correct me in the comments if I’m wrong) — was the 13 Goals of a Witch, which I looked up to link to in my previous post. As I looked at them, my immediate reaction was “Yikes! A couple of these are ableist! And that one at least borders on fat-hatred and other issues!”

I commented about this on Twitter and someone suggested I update them. Now, I’ll admit, I feel a little weird updating something written by someone who was as experienced in the Craft as Scott Cunningham, as well as someone who put so much time into making it accessible to so many fledgling witches — like me at one time! And I certainly don’t want to speak ill of him. Plus I don’t want to be the next Scott Cunningham. (Actually, there was a time when a lot of us thought that honor probably already belonged to Christopher Penczak, but anyway.)

But I am a witch and that tends to mean that I prefer to adapt both myself and those things I receive to my own liking. And I think Scott Cunningham would appreciate that. So I decided to look through them and come up with how I would rewrite the list and share them here.

I ended up going beyond my original intended edits and reasons for making them. I decided to make a few linguistic choices because I felt they conveyed something important that felt missing to me from the original source material.

So without further ado:

Jarred’s Personal Goals as a Witch

With a nod of respect to Scott Cunningham, who will always be an inspiration.

1. Know yourself.

I’ve always liked this one. I think knowing and understanding yourself is important. There’s not much to build on here.

2. Know your Craft.

Again, this one seems great and perfect as is.

3. Learn and adapt.

I felt like this one needed a language change. Learning isn’t just about growing or adding to what’s already there. Sometimes, you realize the Tower really was built on a shaky foundation and needs to come down so you can start over. Or maybe other, less drastic changes are needed.

4. Apply knowledge with wisdom.

Again, this one seems pretty great to me like it is.

5. Work toward equilibrium.

I’ve mentally changed this one for over a decade. I prefer the word equilibrium because of how my experiences in mathematics and science have shaded my understanding of that word. Equilibrium is a state of self-maintained stability. But it’s also a state that can change and adapt. You can take a system that’s in equilibrium and make changes. As long as you don’t throw the system out of equilibrium, it will re-stabilize. Maybe not to the same exact point. I think having that understanding in the Craft is more helpful than “balance,” which suggests a single point you must reach and maintain. At least that’s what it suggests to me.

6. Be mindful of the impact of what you say.

I made this change primarily for clarity. It helps understand what it means to “keep our words in correct order.” It also explains why we do so. Plus it reminds us that the impact of our words can go beyond what we intended.

7. Be mindful of the impact of your thoughts.

Same reasoning behind the change for #6.

8. Celebrate the cycles of life.

I felt this one needed a small edit to allow space for the fact that death is part of the cycle of life and needs to be honored and celebrated as well.

9. Attune with the cycles of life.

This change was driven by a personal annoyance of mine. I often feel like many have this “nature/man” dichotomy going on that is troubling to me. We are natural beings too. And our own life cycles need to be honored along with the cycles of “nature” or “the earth.”

10. Nourish your body as well as your spirit.

Okay, this and the next one are the original two I felt most needed to be changed. There are too many people out there ready to tell you how to “eat correctly.” A lot of their advice is ableist or rooted in fat hatred. I wanted to nip that in the bud. So I decided to refocus the goal on what I felt the actual message should be: Nourishing our bodies. Exactly what that looks like can be worked out by the individual witch.

11. Care for your body as well as your spirit.

Again, I felt like this one needed to be edited due to ableism. Not everyone can exercise, at least not in the way people often imagine when they hear the word. So let’s just refocus the goal on what’s really important: Caring for our bodies because we need them. What that care should look like is again something for the individual witch to work out. Again, it’ll be different for everyone.

12. Honor the Divine

This actually corresponds to #13 in Cunningham’s list. (I’ll get to the missing one in this list shortly.) I felt it was time to expand this one beyond the gender binary. If your concept of the divine is gendered, more power to you. But let’s make room for those who have a concept of the Divine that is non-binary. Or isn’t gendered. Or isn’t even anthropomorphized at all.

What about the missing one?

I got rid of Cunningham’s twelfth goal, “meditate.” I don’t consider that a goal at all. It’s a discipline and/or tool. A very useful one. I love my meditation. But it is not a goal in its own right. So why should it get a mention when no other discipline or tool does. You don’t see “pray” on the list.

Of course, as I look through the list, I’m not sure I consider all of the remaining ones to exactly be goals, either. So maybe I could cut a couple more. Or maybe I’ll just rename the list. Or maybe I’ll accept the imperfection of it all.

So what do you think? Do you like my personal version of this list? Or do you prefer the original? Or are there different changes you might make? Tell me about it in the comments!

Witchcraft

So you want to be a Witch: Some of my personal insights

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Due to things I’ve responded to on Twitter, I’ve spent some time talking to and thinking about people who are relatively new to the Craft, are just starting to explore it, and/or are trying to figure out if a (metaphorical or literal) pointy hat is right for them. I’ve deeply enjoyed it. And the reflection involved has inspired me to write a blog post offering some insights to any new witches and people who are curious about it.

Now, I’m not going to give you a list of books you should read. (I think most of them are overrated, even the ones I cherish.) Nor am I going to give you a checklist of things that I think you should do in order. In fact, all I’m going to do is ask you a few questions. Actually, they’re the same basic question asked in a variety of ways. You don’t have to tell me your answer. In fact, you don’t even have to know the answer right now. But I would encourage you to think about how you’d answer. So here are the questions:

Why do you want to be a witch? What do you hope to get out of being a witch? What draws you to witchcraft?

Let me be clear, these are just questions. I have no interest in auditing your answer (which is why I’m not even asking you to tell me what it is) to determine if you’re getting into it for the “right” or “valid” reasons. I know there are people who will do that. If people have done that to you, I’m sorry. Those people were jerks.

So why do I ask this question? Well, for starters, because I remember back when I was first learning about the Craft, The 13 Goals of a Witch were very popular and often cited. I (for the most part once you address the potential fat-hatred and able-ism in it) still like that list and Goal #1 is “know yourself.” I definitely think that’s a good goal and a great first goal.

So if you haven’t done so already, I would encourage you to ask yourself the above questions in the spirit of pursuing that first goal of self-knowledge. Also, it will help guide your journey of inquiry and exploration.

If you’ll forgive a little nostalgia — and even some secondhand nostalgia — I’ve been on this path for twenty one years and know witches who have been on it for even longer. Some of the witches who found the Craft back in the seventies and eighties are delightful and will regale you with tales of the days when they had to travel dozens if not hundreds of miles just to find a coven, which was practically the only way to learn. (They likely won’t include tropes about how they had to make the trip walkng barefoot in the snow — uphill both ways!) It really was like that back then. There also wasn’t an Internet. There were few books, and a lot of them were not “how-to” guides either. So finding sources of informaton and guidance was those witches’ challenge.

My challenge was different and I suspect you are facing or will be facing the same challenge, possibly intensified. That’s the challenge of having too many resources. There are so many books out there on dozens of topics. There are groups (both online and face-to-face). There are Youtube channels. It can be downright overwhelming and leave a person wondering where to start and where to go next.

Knowing why you want to be a witch, what draws you to the Craft, and what you hope to get out of your pursuit is a powerful navigational tool. It lets you cut out a lot of information and practices that just don’t interest you. And it often suggests which resources to gravitate toward. If nothing else, it let’s witches with more experience who like to be helpful when possible — like me — actually identify whether we have anything to teach you that might actually be helpful to you. Or we can suggest a direction or different resource that we think you will find beneficial.

In closing, I want to touch on a delicate subject. I said earlier that I’m not here to judge your reasons being drawn to the Craft or wanting to be a witch. I meant that. However, there are valid goals and needs that are better — or even only — met through something other than witchcraft. In particular, I’m thinking of a desire to improve ones health, whether physical or mental. I have known people who have initially pursued the Craft for primarily that reason. And that can be troubling, especially in a day and age when very famous people are claiming that people can magically overcome their depression or anxiety with positive thinking, meditation, the right candles, visualization, or many other things that can often be used in witchcraft.

I’m here to tell you that witchcraft doesn’t work that way. If you are dependent on insulin right now, I will guarantee you that a million rituals honoring Hecate (to choose a common goddess of witches) will not change that. Nor will any number of spells suddenly allow you to throw away your antidepressants. Your best bet still is and will always be to work out a way to manage whatever your health issues may be with the appropriately licensed professionals. Yes, there are certain practices in the Craft that MIGHT be a helpful addition to your overall health management plan, but that’s something to discuss with those health care professionals. Never take a witch’s advice as a replacement for them.

On a personal note, I am of the opinion that where witchcraft really helps with health issues of any kind is that it will hopefully inspire you and motivate you to keep getting the care you need. And maybe it can help reassure you that you’re worth keeping at it.

So if you’re still reading along, I hope you found this helpful and inspiring. If you want to ask a question or share your own experiences, feel free to leave a comment. If you have your own insights you’d like to offer up (jsut no One True Way-ism, please), feel free to do that, too.

Until next time, may your journey be full of love, joy, and magic.

Magic/Magick, Paganism, Personal Development, Podcast, Psychic Stuff, Religion, Spiritual Development, Tarot, Witchcraft

Pagan Podcast: Divination for Self Empowerment

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It’s the end of July and that means it’s time for episode to of my podcast, The Bed and The Blade. In this episode, I talk about divination as a tool for self-empowerment. I include advice on how to start exploring the world of divination and discuss some of the tools available. I tried to find a great balance between information, suggestions, strong opinions, and the acknowledgement that other points of views exist and are legitimate. As always, you can listen here or check it out through any of the distributors listed below. I’ve also included links to the tools I mentioned and other resources you might find useful in this post.

Listen Now

https://oembed.libsyn.com/embed?item_id=10667189

Tools Mentioned in the Podcast

Note: I have received no compensation for mentioning or linking to any of the above tools. Nor do I receive any sort of compensation if you purchase any of them.

Helpful Resources

Note: I have received no compensation for linking to or promoting any of the above resources. Nor do I receive any sort of compensation if you purchase any of them.

Legal

The music used to introduce and conclude this podcast is from “Outdated Time” by Esther Garcia. It was provided by Jamendo and licensed to me for use with this podcast.

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Paganism, Podcast, Religion, Witchcraft

Podcast Episode: Recognizing the Everyday Sacred

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For those of you have been reading my blog for some time, it may interest you to know that I have just started producing a podcast called “The Bed and The Blade.” It’s a podcast that will explore witchcraft, Pagan spirituality, and living life passionately, three things that are incredibly intertwined in my own life. I’m both excited and nervous.

For those of you who may be just now finding me through the podcast, welcome! This post is for the very first episode of the podcast, “Recognizing the Everyday Sacred.”

I think that the understanding that the sacred is something to be discovered in everyday life rather than something that has to be sought out in special places is central and essential to my Craft and pagan practice on a number of levels. Listen in using the embedded player before to find out why.

I would like to take a moment to thank Ana Mardoll for xer help when I reached out to xer with my concerns about erasing or otherwise harming people who live with chronic illness or disability or are trans or nonbinary during my discussion of sacred bodies. I suspect that even with Ana’s words of wisdom, I probably failed in some ways and I take responsibility for that. Thank you Ana (if you read this) for helping me do better and I promise to keep striving toward further improvement in the future.

As a final note, I hope you enjoy the music that introduces the show and closes it out. It’s all from a wonderful track that I found and was able to buy a license to use in the podcast. In accordance with the license agreement, here is the information regarding it:

Esther Garcia — Outdated Time — Provided by Jamendo.

I hope you enjoy the episode. Feel free to share your own thoughts in the comments.

http://bedandblade.libsyn.com/recognizing-the-everyday-sacred

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Magic/Magick, Witchcraft

Free Magic Lesson: What do You Want?

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In my previous post, I mentioned that a witch’s magic starts the moment she decides to set her will toward accomplishing a given goal. That means that the first step in any magical endeavor is answering the following question:

What do I want?

True story: Over a decade I started taking an online course in spiritual development under a given tradition. The first lesson in that course was defining what I wanted. One single goal that I hoped to accomplish. The lesson was all about how to go about selecting and refining that goal. That’s basically what this post will also be about, because I find it is an essential first step in any magical endeavor.

So what do you want? Do you want money? Do you want to be a successful author? Do you just want to get your kids to go to bed on time for once? (Considering no magic can actually short-circuit another person’s free will, that’s some truly complex and difficult magic, right there. I’m not sure I’d even try it!) Or do you want to find someone who will love you?

For the sake of this post, I’m going to focus on that last one. Besides, love spells seem to always be in high demand, so it’s probably worth exploring anyway. So what do you mean when you say that want someone to love you? What does someone loving you look like? What exactly is it about yourself that you want them to love?(1)

How long do you want them to love you? Forever? A year? A month? A week? Until the end of your first date? Okay, if you answer yes to that last one, you may want to admit you’re probably not looking for love. That’s perfectly okay, by the way. just be honest with yourself, the universe, and everyone else about what you really want. Then look for it without shame or guilt.

Now that we’ve talked about what we’re looking for, let’s bring the goal in a little closer so it’s a bit more manageable. Looking at the big picture was helpful because it helped us define what you’re looking for and what qualities you’re looking for in that “someone” who will love you. But now it’s time to acknowledge that doing magic to bring you someone who’s ready to get married next week (assuming we can even book a reception hall on such short notice) probably isn’t going to work out well. So maybe we should think about just finding someone that you can hang out with or go on a first date with. You know, trying to meet someone who has all (or most of) those qualities you think would make them your perfect partner who happens to be available Friday night. So now let’s think about what you’d like to do on that date or while hanging out for the first time. Do you want to have dinner? Should that person be a bit of a foodie or just be happy to munch on some McDonald’s? Do they need to be vegan? Or do they have to understand and respect food allergies so that they understand you mean it when you say you absolutely cannot eat anything that came within ten feet of any milk product? Do you see yourself going to see a movie? Are there any genres of movies you’d really like your date to be into? Are there any you cannot stand, so that someone who considers those kinds of movies their staple would not be a good fit for you?

Okay, now consider the end of the date. Do you want someone who is all about those romantic notions of the good night kiss? Or do you want someone who will end the first date on a hug and a handshake and still express and/or welcome interest in a second date? Or are you one of those who are hoping the date will end with both your clothes scattered throughout one of your bedrooms?

Knowing exactly what you want and why is important to effective magic, because it offers clarity and focus. It ensures that what you are going after is what you want, leaving nothing to chance or miscommunication. Also, clearly understanding what you want helps you when it comes time to think about the symbolism of any spell or rite you might perform. You can make sure that your symbols — words, phrases, color choices, herbs, and/or oils — all reflect what you are aiming for without ambiguity. And it does the same for your unconscious mind, which should be on the lookout for opportunities to achieve your goal.

Notes:

(1) I would like to take this moment to gently point out that if you have trouble answering this question or it makes you uncomfortable, it may be time to gently put the search for someone else to love you on hold and work on figuring out how and why you can love yourself. I’ve seen it plenty of times. Hell, I’ve been there a few times myself. It’s frustrating to realize that’s where you are, but the work to build self-love can be extremely rewarding. Trust me. Or better yet, don’t trust me. Try it and find out for yourself.

Magic/Magick, Witchcraft

“I found this spell on the Internet.”

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I’ve heard that statement and others like it a number of times. The source wasn’t always the Internet. Sometimes it was a book. Or a print copy of a teen magazine. Or some other source. Anyway, whenever I hear a statement like that, I feel like reaching for a good alcoholic beverage. Because nine times out of ten, the person is going to either continue by saying that they tried it and it didn’t work or that they’re going to try it. If the latter, I can almost bet that they will come back later and report that it didn’t work. In my experience, the type of people who can actually make a spell they find from some source like that work don’t need to find such spells in the first place.

The problem with spells on the Internet is that they are usually written up as if they’re recipes, like a recipe for baking a cake or making old fashioned goulash. The problem is, it encourages people to think about magic and spell-work like it’s formulaic, which it really isn’t. Lighting the right candles in the right sequence and saying just the right words just isn’t enough. In truth, by the time a witch lights her candles and utters her incantation (assuming she even does either of those things), her magic has been building up for some time.

Magic begins the moment a witch decides to set her will and her efforts toward accomplishing some goal. She invests focus and energy as she refines just what it is that she wants to accomplish and considers the ramifications if she succeeds. She invests more focus and energy as she considers what tools, components, and symbolism to use in her working. If she decides to light a red candle, she has considered why a red candle is her best choice rather than, say, a green one.(1) Again, this clarifies and focuses that build-up of magic and boosts it.

All of that focus and energy builds up and is released in the act of the rite or spell, but it’s been building before then, possibly for weeks if the witch in question decides that the work needs that level of attention and consideration. Grabbing a spell off the Internet or from any other source tends to short-cut that process, and therefore often results in a magical working that lacks any real focus, forethought, or build-up of energy.

This does not mean that spells off the Internet (or from other sources) are completely useless, mind you. If they’re well crafted, they are a great way for witches, especially those relatively new, to gain inspiration and understanding. One can take such a ready-made spell, break it down, analyze it, and try to understand why its creator wrote it the way they did. Why did they choose those ingredients? Why did they choose those exact words? What layer of meaning or understanding do they attempt to get across? Are the words rhythmic and repeatable, suggesting a way to really deepen one’s focus as one repeats them (definitely a handy technique in magic, though not required)? If a person puts that kind of effort to understand a spell they found, then they might be able to use it effectively — though I’m willing to bet that anyone who does this regularly will often find themselves “tweaking” such spells before they actually put them to use, and that’s a good thing.

But just following the instructions as written without doing the up-front work rarely pays off, in my experience.

Notes:

(1) I know someone who actually prefers to use green candles when working with love magic, and can make a perfectly compelling and consistent reason for choosing one over a red or pink candle.

Religion, Witchcraft

Musings on “All the Magics”

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The other day I got thinking about the Myth of the Goddess as published in Gerald Gardner’s books, Witchcraft Today and the Meaning of Witchcraft.  I’m not an initiate of Gardnerian Wicca nor any of the traditions related to it. In fact, I prefer to call myself a Vanic witch in recognition of my close ties to Freyja and the fact that much of my spiritual and magical practice revolves around her. And yet, I love and identify with this particular piece of Gardner’s writing.  I think because while it is from another tradition, it resonates very well with my own path and spiritual views.

The part that I’ve really been focusing on and want to write about is the end of the myth, after the Goddess’s encounter with Death is complete and things have moved from narration to discourse:

For there are three great events in the life of man; Love, Death, and Resurrection in a new body; and Magic controls them all. For to fulfill love you must return again at the same time and place as the loved one, and you must remember and love them again. But to be reborn you must die, and be ready for a new body; and to die you must be born; and without love you may not be born. And these be all the Magics.

That closing sentence has always spoken to something deep in mind to me.  Birth, love, death, and rebirth. These things form a cycle which is governed by and defines all magic. To me this is an incredibly profound statement which I feel like I don’t fully understand and probably wouldn’t have to words to explain it if I did.

The paragraph reminds me of how I previously wrote about the fact that I serve a goddess who is life-affirming. But whereas I spent that post talking about celebrating life, reading the quoted paragraph makes me think about how devotion to Freyja is also about maintaining the cycles of life. We do that by living our lives and working our magic, remembering that those two things aren’t as separate as some people may think.  After all, to a witch, every act of will is an act of magic. So living life continues it on.

In the cycle described in the paragraph, love is also mentioned. The obvious face-value reading of the text suggests that it is primarily talking about romantic and sexual love.  But I don’t think that is a deep enough reading.  Other forms of love and relationships are also important to the continuance and abundance of life. No man is an island and neither is a couple.  Friends, family, mentors, helpers, and many other people in various roles are need in order for one to have a truly prosperous life. So we celebrate and work out our wills to strengthen our relationships with others in our communities.  Indeed, it’s how we build communities in the first place. Our communities themselves have lives, and we are a part of those greater organisms and its lifeblood.

I feel like there’s more there, but I can’t quite put my finger on it tonight.  Maybe another time.  In the meantime, may your life be blessed and a blessing to those who share it with you.

 

Spiritual Development, Witchcraft

Spirituality Corner: On Teaching and Traditions

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Over the past five or so years, I’ve found myself in the position to help various people on their spiritual journeys. Most particularly, I’ve found myself helping people to learn to communicate with spirit, be it spirit guides, individuals who have passed from this life, or even deity. My most recent experience has been helping someone make a connection to and contact with a particular deity he felt drawn to.

This last experience has been most interesting and even a bit challenging to me, as I have no real knowledge of or connection with this deity myself. If someone were ask me how to connect with and contact Freyja – or even one of the other Norse gods and possibly even a few of the Irish ones – I’d have a plethora of experience and knowledge to draw on. I’d be able to recommend stories to become intimately familiar with, suggestions on offerings to give, and recommendations on how to craft an invocation for calling out to that particular deity.

In this case, I simply had to show the other person how to figure out much of that information himself and explaining to him how he needed to enter a meditative state, set up a sacred space where he could meet the deity, and how to call out to said deity in his own words.

The good news is that it worked beautifully. Contact with the deity was almost immediate and awe-inspiring, which I credit to said deity’s own deep interest in working with and teaching this person. I am pleased that I was able to help make this happen, but I have no delusions that I was anything other than a helpful middle-man helping two individuals meet sooner than if they had to arrange said meeting by themselves.

Back to the struggle to help someone contact a deity I personally have no knowledge of or connection to, though, the experience has given me yet another appreciation for what it must be like to work with a more narrowly defined tradition. I imagine that those covens that focus on working with a specific deity or small group of deities must have a great advantage when it comes to teaching new members and interested people. I imagine they have a great deal of lore and very specific techniques (such as detailed visualizations and invocations) they can employ and teach those seeking to make that same connection. I imagine that said tools have been developed as a result of the tradition and learning what works best for that specific tradition and working with that specific deity or groups of deity.

Don’t get me wrong. I don’t plan on leaving my eclectic coven to join or form a tradition with a narrower focus. Nor do I plan on trying to change my current coven into something other than what it currently is. I love my coven and its members exactly for who they are. They are my family and I wouldn’t change or leave them for the world.

But that doesn’t mean I can’t form an appreciation for the way others have come to do things.

Religion, Society, Witchcraft

Pat Robertson’s world is a scary place

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Tuesday, Right Wing Watch reported that Pat Robertson warned pregnant women against putting pictures of their ultrasounds on Facebook.  His reasoning, according to the report, is rather interesting:

“I don’t think there is any harm in it,” he said. “But I tell you, there are demons and there are evil people in the world, and you post a picture like that and some cultist gets hold of it or a coven and they begin muttering curses against an unborn child. You never know what somebody’s going to do.”

This is yet another glimpse into the dark, horrible world that Pat Robertson believes he’s living in. He believes that there are “Satanic witches” who have nothing better to do than scour the Facebook to find random ultrasound pictures from people they don’t know and curse them. In Pat Robertson’s fantasy world, people unlike him run around looking to commit evil for evil’s sake. It leaves one wondering if he also imagines us laughing maniacally and twirling over-waxed mustaches or cackling around cauldrons1.

The thing is, most witches don’t work curses at all. Those who do are really unlikely to curse random strangers for a number of reasons2. If a witch is actually going to work that kind of magic, said witch is going to work it against someone they have a personal investment in hurting.

So why on earth does Pat Robertson imagine evil figures doing all kinds of evil that makes no sense? Does he enjoy the way that it ties his followers to him with fear and terror? Is his desire to paint himself and those like him as the soul heroes of the world so great that he needs to paint everyone else in the world as evil as he can?

Or is he actually trapped in his own fear? Has he warning about evils for so long that he actually sees and fears them wherever he looks? If so, I have to say, that’s a horrible way to live.

1Okay, I’ll confess. The cackling around cauldrons thing actually happens. I mean, every now and then you’re in the middle of a solemn ritual and someone flubs a chant or sends one of the ritual tools skittering across the room due to clumsiness. That’s bound to crack up anyone with a sense of humor.

2The two major reasons are “trying to curse someone you don’t have a connection to is nearly impossible” and “no one in their right mind is going to work with and connect themselves to the kinds of energies a curse entails unless there’s a deeply personal reason to do so.”

 

Paganism, Spiritual Development, Witchcraft

Samhain Musings

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Dark StaircaseToday is the day that Wiccans and many other Pagans in the Northern Hemisphere observe Samhain.  So happy Samhain!1

Among other things, Samhain represents the mythological and metaphorical descent into the underworld, the realm of Death.  It’s the traditional start of a season where life slows down (or used to, before our technology allowed us to keep a fast-paced frenzy going year-round) and offers much time for introspection and reflection.  It’s also a great time for deconstruction of oneself, one’s ego, and how one looks at the world.  In Gardner’s Myth of the Goddess, this is represented by the guardians to Death’s Domain when they challenge the Goddess and tell her she must remove all her jewelry and even her garments.  She had to bare her true self to descend.

I find it somewhat amusing that the modern adaptation of this holiday — Halloween — involves donning costumes and pretending to be someone or something else, when Samhain traditionally is also about divesting oneself of such pretense and facing the Darkness without one’s armor and accepting that such armor cannot truly protect.

Of course, that’s a frightening realization to embrace.  We tend to like our sense of control, especially over ourselves.  We like to think that we can present to the world who we want to be and have this accepted.  And there is some witchery there.  Letting go of that and becoming bare, vulnerable to any who may see the real us rather than the perfected image we prefer to present is a terrifying process.  It’s terrifying to let ourselves be confronted with the real us, for that matter.

But it’s also necessary.  To know who we truly are — stripped of all the pretense and illusions we create for ourselves and others — also enables us to improve ourselves and even reconstruct us.  Often, we can do that in ways so that we are more substantively like the person we imagine and project ourselves to be.  But making that improvement requires we first take a close look at admit we are not that person yet.

So to all my readers, especially any who follow a path where Samhain has meaning to you, I wish you a blessed Samhain.  May you find the serenity and courage to face the Darkness alone, naked (only figuratively, if you prefer), and vulnerable.  May you find comfort in the journey and hold tight to the hope of seeing the First Light of Yule.

1Happy Beltane to any Wiccans and other Pagans Down Under who are celebrating that instead.