Tag Archives: Witchcraft

Religion, Spiritual Development, Witchcraft

Witchy Questions: Do you consider yourself Wiccan, Pagan, witch, or other?

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Today’s post is inspired by Question #2 on this list.

The word I use most often to describe myself is witch because I think that’s the best word for me. I’m an individual who practices something that is a fusion of magic and spirituality. Since that spirituality is not rooted in any particular tradition or culture — despite the fact that I heavily lean toward Norse mythology and lore — the most appropriate generic term for what I do is witchcraft. I personally do not like Wicca because in reality, my practice doesn’t really resemble what most people see as the the most common defining characteristics of Wicca.

I also identify as Pagan, as I do believe in a plethora of gods and tend to identify with the greater Pagan community. I don’t use that word much to describe myself, as I think it’s almost too generic and vague to really define who I am or what I do.

If I really want to get specific, I will often use the term Vanic witch, to draw more attention to how central my relationship to Freyja is in my understanding and practice of my Craft. On rare occasion, I will even refer to myself as a seithman (in fact, I use that as part of one of my email addresses), in reference to the practice of seidh. (Note: My practice doesn’t exactly match that as described in the linked site. But there’s certainly enough similarities, that I find it worth perusing. And I find it very inspiring.)

Witchcraft

Witchy Questions: Are you solitary or in a Coven?

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Today’s post is inspired by question number one in this list.

The interesting thing to me whenever I encounter this question is that it strikes me as somewhat of a false binary. I believe it is possible to be a witch in a coven and still have a solitary practice along-side that. In fact, I do not think I know any witch in a coven who does not also work and explore their Craft alone.

It sometimes feels that those who do not have any sort of group work at all assume that covens actively forbid their members from doing any solo work. Or if coven members do solo work, maybe those who have never been in a coven assume that the coven dictates how their members do even their solo work.

I was a member of a coven — in fact, I helped found it — for over nine years. Joe even eventually joined that coven. We both also had our private practices, which differed in many ways from our coven rituals. It was healthy for us because we were both led to explore aspects of the Craft that the rest of the coven was not interested in. So we did coven things when we got together with the others and did our own own studies and work when we were on our own.

I think that part of the real coven vs. solitary divide is an extension of the training with initiation vs. self-taught divide. Traditionally, covens have been about passing down a specific tradition and form of witchcraft, whereas solitary practitioners — and I myself spent nearly a decade practicing solo before I was ever part of a coven and have been part of no coven that offered formal training or initiation — tend to be self-taught. So I think many self-taught solitaries think of joining a coven as being forced to give up or trivializing what they have learned so far.

Experience and conversations with members of those traditions often seen as the most staunch tells me that this is not true. No one can take away what a self-taught witch has learned on their own. And their is value to that. It’s just often different — no better or worse, merely different — than what you might learn from a teacher and/or coven. And the two can exist side by side. If one wants them to, of course.

As for the question, I currently have no coven. Joe and I are working on putting together a framework for the two of us to practice together. And maybe someday that might become the basis for us to form our own coven. But that’s just a distant dream. Assuming it ever comes to fruition, I suspect it is years away.

Paganism, Witchcraft

Ramblings about Freyja from a Devotee

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As regular readers of my blog and Twitter feed might know, I consider myself a devotee and follower of Freyja. I mean, I’ve mentioned her a few times.

I started getting close to Freyja and feeling her draw me in during what I would call the third phase of my search for my own place in Paganism. This was after i had read enough books about eclectic Wicca to know it wasn’t quite right for me and then spent time learning Irish mythology and not quite connecting with the Tuatha de Danaan. A friend realized that my eyes lit up whenever I started talking about runes and the myth and lore that surrounded them and rightfully determined that I was meant for a Norse path. So I started looking into books about Norse mythology and even joined an Asatru organization. And I found Freyja.

At this time in my life, i was very much of the opinion that I needed to have a close relationship with both a god and a goddess. At the time, I had planned on building a relationship with Thor (that…didn’t happen). As I looked over the Norse goddesses, I decided Freyja was the best fit for me. For starters, that’s because we probably have the most information about her. The only other goddess that we know the same amount about is Frigga. The rest, like Sif and Skadi, get a mention here or there and that’s it.

Also, I liked Freyja because she was all about the sex. As a gay man who had only been out for…I’d guess four or five years at that point, I was drawn to how unapologetically sexual and passionate she was. I felt like I needed that kind of energy in my life. She didn’t see sex as nothing more than a way to make babies and she celebrated sex — and sensuality in general, which was also important to me — as something to simply enjoy and celebrate.

Of course, it also helped that she was a goddess of witchcraft, and a particular form of witchcraft called seidr. (Pronounced “sayth, where the “th” is soft like in “these.”) Seidr was also deeply attractive to me, as it’s very shamanistic in nature. Exploring the spiritual realms, relying on intuitive abilities, and communicating with spirits or entities is a common practice. So building a relationship with the goddess who taught both the other gods and mankind seidr seemed like a good idea.

As I’ve gotten to know her, I realize that another thing that draws me to her is her unrestrained and often untamed nature. In terms of sexuality, her brother, Frey, is also about sexuality and fertility. But he seems to express it in a more restrained, “civilized” manner. He has always struck me as the type who mostly plays it safe and stays within the bounds of human society, maintaining good order and making sure the land produces food and whatever else the community needs.

His sister, however, seems to prefer to run into the wild places. Or soar overhead in falcon form. If she comes into the “civilized” places, she tends to bring her wildness with her. (And if, like me, you believe that Gullveig and Freyja are the same person, you realize this can sometimes cause problems.)

My personal experience suggests that she’s not a huge fan of many of the trappings of “society.” It’s not that she’s against society or social customs altogether. She just thinks they can get in the way at times. “She obviously likes him. He obviously likes her. Why do they keep tap-dancing around like a couple of nervous soldiers heading into battle? They should just go ahead and hook up already.” That sort of thing. It’s weird having to explain to a goddess that some humans would suffer unpleasant consequences if they were as direct and blunt as she tends to be. (She finds those consequences ridiculously unjust, in case you were wondering.)

Anyway, those are just some random thoughts about Freyja and my personal history with her. How about you? Do you have a relationship with a particular deity? Feel free to share your own thoughts about and experiences with them in the comments!

Paganism, Witchcraft

Words to honor the Ancestors

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I give honor to those who came before me. Founders of my  bloodline who made me who I am. The now gone wise ones who explored the great mysteries and left clues that I might follow. Those who taught me, either directly or indirectly.

As I consider the strong foundations you have left for me, I thank you for shaping me and the world around me into what we are today. May what I do with your gifts be pleasing to you. Advise me so that my efforts are a fitting gift for those who come after me, those who may honor me alongside you someday.

So mote it be.

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!

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

Subscribe to the Podcast

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.

Memories

Memories: Taking up the Runes

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A bindrune for good fortune.
A bindrune for good fortune.

Back in 1998, my first boyfriend, Zech, stayed a few days.  We were driving somewhere and I mentioned in passing that I was thinking about learning to read tarot.  “Why don’t you learn runes instead,” he suggested.  “They’re a lot easier.”  As a result, I went to the bookstore and bought a set of runes with a well known but not very good (at least from a more traditional point of view) book.  I read through the book in a day and started doing readings for myself and friends.  I was amazed at how well I took to them.  Little did I know the key role they’d play in the journey I was about to undertake.

A couple months later, Zech and I broke up and I lost at least one friend in the aftermath.  As a result, my life was thrown into a sense of chaos.  Around Halloween, I decided to do a massive rune reading for myself, one that involved twelve runes.   That reading led me to search new spiritual paths, which brought me to the Pagan paths.

A couple years later, I started reading other books on runes, as i was still fascinating by them.  I began to read sources that were more traditional, which was difficult.  In time, I devoured books by Thorsson, Diana Paxson, Nigel Pennick, Freya Aswynn, Jan Fries, and a few other authors whose names escape me.  In fact, it was my love of runes and the lore surrounding them that caused a trusted mentor to suggest that I should look into following the Norse gods.  That’s how I ended up a devotee of Freyja.

I don’t use runes as much is my personal practice these days, though I still have a grand love for them.  Also, it led me to teach a rune class — and developing a follow-up mini-class — on runes for my local Pagan store.  I’ve also since learned tarot which I like as well.  I’m not sure I agree with Zech that runes are actually easier.  But they still have a special place in my heart and I probably have a bit of a preference for them.

Paganism, Religion, Witchcraft

Let us bring forth that which has quietly formed in dark places.

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Happy Yule![1]

The winter solstice — that point where the sun’s rays are least direct on the Northern Hemisphere — officially takes place tomorrow morning at 5:30 UTC.  For those of us in the Eastern time zone (UTC -5:00), that translates to tonight/tomorrow morning at 12:30am.

The winter solstice marks the longest night of the year and the triumphant return of the light, longer days, and warmth.  To some Pagans and Wiccans, it represents the rebirth of the sun god.  Yule brings a sense of rejoicing, the darkest time following Samhain has is about to pass and the half-year reign of the underworld will begin to wane and give way to the brightness and warmth that is vital to our survival.

However, I think it’s important to remember as we begin to pass back into more light that we need the time of darkness to survive as well.  After all, the growing season and bountiful harvest rely on the gestational period of the dark winter months, just as our own psyches require downtime and decreased activity.

Yule marks the rebirth of light into a fragile, not entirely ready form, but it’s a birth that takes place thanks to the things that have been rejuvenated and seething in the darkness.  And while that fragile light shall grow stronger and eventually overcome the darkness for its time of reign, it will also be nourished by the waning darkness and the slumber it encourages.

So let the light shine in this quiet time, not as a brilliant force to be reckoned with, but as a comforting glimmer and a promise of what is to come.

Note:
[1]  Or for any readers who are in the Southern Hemisphere, happy Litha/Summer Solstice.  I hope you will indulge me in the rest of this post, however, as I focus on the mysteries I am currently experiencing/working with.