My poison patch of castor beans is coming up beautifully. There are around 40-50 castor plants in it and their leaves have already darkened to that dusky purple sheen. I've begun using this patch as a graveyard for my ritual remains. One of the most recent things to be buried there was the remains of a Sara Lee pound cake that had been given in offering to St. Expedite after he (with amazing effeciency) helped me out.
Other things that make their way there are wilted flowers that are removed from the ancestral altar, water offered to spirits that has been out for a day or two and needs to be replaced with fresh, and any other biodegradable ritual item that has fulfilled it's purpose and is ready to move on.
Another thing I use my ritual graveyard for is burying items that need to spend some time entombed as a part of their consecration. For some things I will bury them in an actual graveyard, where a close proximity to literal human death is needed for the work. But if the purpose for the entombment is just related to a period of darkness in a sacred space, my ritual graveyard works perfectly. The buildup of energy created from giving back ritual remains to the earth can become quite potent. This can be accessed through the plants that grow there, and also by taking a bit of the soil to add to workings.
The ritual graveyard is also an excellent place for monuments. A statue dedicated to a nature or underworld spirit are appropriate here, because the graveyard is outdoors and the remains are being buried underground which brings in the underworld connections. A tribute to moon goddess works also, and each night it's there soaking up the rays of the moon. Statues or monuments dedicated to meeting of an entity that helped you on your path, or that you had a memorable meeting with also work well in the ritual graveyard. The possibilities are endless. :)
There is a lot of lore about Witch Gardens, disposing of ritual remains, etc. in books and traditions around the world. Nothing I do with this is new and my own invention, I'm sure I probably read of the idea several times before I started working with my version in the way I've described here.
Monday, June 11, 2012
Friday, April 20, 2012
The Lovely Castor (Ricinus Communis)
First off, I need to say that castor beans are poisonous. Not slightly poisonous either, deadly. Don't mess around with them uncautiously. That being said, the plant is a beautiful specimen. The variety I grow has dusky purple leaves with a rubbery texture. The pink of the seed pods is a beautiful brilliant contrast with the darkness of the rest of the plant. It's beauty is so sensual, it whispers of guarding the darkened untrod sections of Eden.
The deadliness of this plant makes it highly useful in baneful work of course, but I've also found it to be a plant with a very protective quality once a relationship is established with it. I have a rather large patch of it growing at one of the borders of my property, and I keep it's seeds in protective ritual containers throughout my home. I only use it's seeds that I've harvested from the castor plants I've grown, I don't buy them. This isn't something I practice with all plants, but it's part of my relationship with the castor.
Interestingly, I was born a few weeks overdue and my mother's doctor had her drink castor oil to move me along. I understand that this practice is no longer recommended in the medical community, but I do enjoy knowing that this plant that I now work with so well was connected to my birth.
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Prosperity Blend
This is a work I devised to keep prosperity flowing in my home, and to honor the forces that bring it to me.
Put these ingredients in your mortar (or bowl). Amounts are open to your own interpretation.
Chammomile
Yellow Dock
Fenugreek
Allspice (whole, I used 4)
Basil
Cinnamon Stick (I used an inch)
Thyme
Dogwood Petals
Brown Rice
1 dried Four Leaf Clover (I find these all the time and press them to keep and use)
Grind this mixture with your pestle (or a rock or whatever) while meditating on the prosperity that's currently in your life and the additional prosperity you'd like to see. When you're satisfied with it, put it in a plate or large pillar candle stand. Start adding coins that you find when you're out to the plate, to represent prosperity that comes freely to you. Dollar Bills could be put in the bottom of the plate under the spices if you like. I don't usually use tea lights, as I prefer larger candles that can be carved, but for things like this I do use tea lights because they heat up the herbs and cause them to put off more of their lovely scent. I put the tea light in the middle of the blend. I also added a hagstone to my plate that I found in my front flower garden.
Enjoy!
Put these ingredients in your mortar (or bowl). Amounts are open to your own interpretation.
Chammomile
Yellow Dock
Fenugreek
Allspice (whole, I used 4)
Basil
Cinnamon Stick (I used an inch)
Thyme
Dogwood Petals
Brown Rice
1 dried Four Leaf Clover (I find these all the time and press them to keep and use)
Grind this mixture with your pestle (or a rock or whatever) while meditating on the prosperity that's currently in your life and the additional prosperity you'd like to see. When you're satisfied with it, put it in a plate or large pillar candle stand. Start adding coins that you find when you're out to the plate, to represent prosperity that comes freely to you. Dollar Bills could be put in the bottom of the plate under the spices if you like. I don't usually use tea lights, as I prefer larger candles that can be carved, but for things like this I do use tea lights because they heat up the herbs and cause them to put off more of their lovely scent. I put the tea light in the middle of the blend. I also added a hagstone to my plate that I found in my front flower garden.
Enjoy!
A trip to the Graveyard
An old family cemetery is an amazing thing, and I'm grateful that my family has one. It's located in the country, nothing but fields around it. At least once per year I go with my Grandmas and Aunts to tend the graves. We take new flowers for our beloved dead, and bring supplies to clean the stones. The stones are gone over with a brush and the cleaning solution to prevent moss growth that would obscure the names and dates. We have a lot of family there, so by the time we're done we're sweaty and pretty well covered with all manner of graveyard dirt. This is something we've been doing ever since I can remember, and something that we've done since before I was born.
For some families, visiting the graves of their loved ones on Memorial Day (in the US) is not all that uncommon. Unfortunately it's getting to be less common. What is unusual about my family (based on my observation of other families graveyard habits) is not that once per year we clean and care for the graves, but that we visit on a regular basis every time we get the chance. All of us, and we are a very large family, stop by the graveyard to visit anytime we're near it and have a few minutes to spare. There's an understanding that our dead know and hear when we speak to them, even among the fundamentalist-christian members of the family. Of course, we don't have to go to the graveyard to speak to them, but that's a subject for another post.
There are some old graves that are not family members by blood (that we know of) and over the years we've adopted many of these into our care routine. There is a Civil War soldier grave that I took on responibility for bringing flowers to and cleaning 18 years ago, and a few others. They've become beloved dead as well.
It bothers me when people ignore death, or act as if it's something shameful to be avoided. For me, my dead are as much recipients of love and respect as my living. Seeing people recoil from touching a dead body is confusing to me. I know that in our current culture people are not prepared to be comfortable with death in most cases, and the coldness of the flesh is shocking. But still.. I find it confusing. When one of my own go, I hold their hands as I say goodbye, or kiss their brow. I feel that I would insult them if I were recoiling from their new state of being.
So I'm just typing to say, remember your beloved dead. If your family was the worst shit of the worst and you're glad they're gone then they're not beloved. But beloved dead doesn't have to be 'family' in the most literal sense of the word. Find your own beloved, don't be limited to your family tree.
Friday, March 23, 2012
Secrecy, Truth, and Hiding (or in pagan speak, the broom closet)
I believe in speaking the truth. It's very very rare that I ever tell a lie, because something in me just jumps up and bitch slaps me if I even consider it. I do also believe in knowing when to keep silent, because sometimes speaking the truth serves no purpose other than cruelty. Knowing how to change the subject without the person whose request for truth you're avoiding realizing that you just avoided a topic can be a pretty magical skill. It's also a skill that can consume a large amount of energy if you have to practice it on a constant basis.
I've been in the shadows for a long time. Not so much on the internet, but in my face to face interactions. Very few people actually know anything at all about my thoughts on spirituality, religion, magic, death, morality, etc. And avoiding speaking my true thoughts about these things has been taking up more and more of my personal resources. I live in the Bible Belt, there's some pretty serious fundamentalists here who don't hesitate to call DFS on "those Satan worshippers". BTW, to some of these people, any non-christian is automatically a "Satan worshipper". *sigh* There was a time, back before I had a child to think of, when I spent countless hours explaining the differences in Satanism, Luciferianism, Wicca, Hermeticism, Gnosticism, and many more things to these types of fundamentalists, many who happen to be part of my family. But then I got tired. And then I had someone else's welfare to think about, my child's. So I shut up. I went into a deep secrecy.
It's been 6 years now. The secrecy has accomplished what I wanted in regards to safety. Most of those people assume that I "settled down", got over my "occult obsessions", and they hint now and then that I should come to church. heh Due to the fact that in the past I didn't hide so much, these people tend to ask me a lot of pointed questions about my thoughts on religion, and occult theory. Unfortunately, the energetic drain from constant effort to speak truth but only the truth I wish to be known, has made me feel somewhat fractured. This was made really apparent to me in a session of automatic drawing recently, because what came out was literally "Fractured Woman". It took some more work to come to the conclusion of exactly what Fractured Woman was telling me.
I started thinking about just exactly why I am hiding quite so well. Of course I want my child to be safe. Every good parent wants their children to be safe. But there is a big wide grey area between blood rites in the front yard for all the neighborhood to witness and hiding as deeply as I've been. The only answer I can boil it down to regarding why I'm hiding so deeply is fear. I fear that my child won't be safe if anything, ANYTHING, is known locally about what I actually do. And... I don't like that. I shouldn't have so much fear. First off, I have common sense. Even before I went into such deep hiding, I was never a 2 pound pentacle and black lipstick type (although I have nothing against 2 pound pentacles and I think black lipstick is kinda hawt). Secondly, I know my magic works. Why wouldn't I trust it a little more when it comes to the issue of keeping my child safe from mundane repercussions of gossip? Again, I have common sense, so this shouldn't be that big of an issue. Third, I have a supportive agnostic partner. So, what the hel.
The next thing I considered is - what would I currently do differently, if I wasn't in such deep hiding. The first thing that came to mind was finding out what pagan events will be coming to my nearest city soon and attending one or two. Meeting some magical friends face to face as opposed to strictly internet contact. Not stressing that someone might see me at the local metaphysical book store. Most of my practice consists of things that I just wouldn't do or talk about publicly for many reasons, and the things that I would do differently actually seem laughable in their simplicity and harmlessness when I list them out.
Whatever it is in me that can't abide blatantly lying is boiling to the surface over the way I've fractured myself with hiding so deeply, because I have hidden deep enough to be living a lie, a secret life. I think this force is telling me that it's time to stop hurting myself this way, to trust myself more to keep my child safe without completely mutilating who I am with obsfucation and silence.
Forcing myself into silence about this also fostered a level of silence in me about other things that I strongly believe in. I used to speak out often for causes such as environmentalism, GLBT rights, feminism, etc. but I silenced myself on these issues too. Again, out of fear of repercussions. As a bisexual female earthlover, this silence was also particularly fracturing.
I've come to the decision that at some point, I have to take the cross off my back, and quit sacrificing myself to safety. I must teach my child what they need to know, put myself back together and pull off the veil. Learn to show my magical face a little more while covering my magical ass, so to speak.
I've been in the shadows for a long time. Not so much on the internet, but in my face to face interactions. Very few people actually know anything at all about my thoughts on spirituality, religion, magic, death, morality, etc. And avoiding speaking my true thoughts about these things has been taking up more and more of my personal resources. I live in the Bible Belt, there's some pretty serious fundamentalists here who don't hesitate to call DFS on "those Satan worshippers". BTW, to some of these people, any non-christian is automatically a "Satan worshipper". *sigh* There was a time, back before I had a child to think of, when I spent countless hours explaining the differences in Satanism, Luciferianism, Wicca, Hermeticism, Gnosticism, and many more things to these types of fundamentalists, many who happen to be part of my family. But then I got tired. And then I had someone else's welfare to think about, my child's. So I shut up. I went into a deep secrecy.
It's been 6 years now. The secrecy has accomplished what I wanted in regards to safety. Most of those people assume that I "settled down", got over my "occult obsessions", and they hint now and then that I should come to church. heh Due to the fact that in the past I didn't hide so much, these people tend to ask me a lot of pointed questions about my thoughts on religion, and occult theory. Unfortunately, the energetic drain from constant effort to speak truth but only the truth I wish to be known, has made me feel somewhat fractured. This was made really apparent to me in a session of automatic drawing recently, because what came out was literally "Fractured Woman". It took some more work to come to the conclusion of exactly what Fractured Woman was telling me.
I started thinking about just exactly why I am hiding quite so well. Of course I want my child to be safe. Every good parent wants their children to be safe. But there is a big wide grey area between blood rites in the front yard for all the neighborhood to witness and hiding as deeply as I've been. The only answer I can boil it down to regarding why I'm hiding so deeply is fear. I fear that my child won't be safe if anything, ANYTHING, is known locally about what I actually do. And... I don't like that. I shouldn't have so much fear. First off, I have common sense. Even before I went into such deep hiding, I was never a 2 pound pentacle and black lipstick type (although I have nothing against 2 pound pentacles and I think black lipstick is kinda hawt). Secondly, I know my magic works. Why wouldn't I trust it a little more when it comes to the issue of keeping my child safe from mundane repercussions of gossip? Again, I have common sense, so this shouldn't be that big of an issue. Third, I have a supportive agnostic partner. So, what the hel.
The next thing I considered is - what would I currently do differently, if I wasn't in such deep hiding. The first thing that came to mind was finding out what pagan events will be coming to my nearest city soon and attending one or two. Meeting some magical friends face to face as opposed to strictly internet contact. Not stressing that someone might see me at the local metaphysical book store. Most of my practice consists of things that I just wouldn't do or talk about publicly for many reasons, and the things that I would do differently actually seem laughable in their simplicity and harmlessness when I list them out.
Whatever it is in me that can't abide blatantly lying is boiling to the surface over the way I've fractured myself with hiding so deeply, because I have hidden deep enough to be living a lie, a secret life. I think this force is telling me that it's time to stop hurting myself this way, to trust myself more to keep my child safe without completely mutilating who I am with obsfucation and silence.
Forcing myself into silence about this also fostered a level of silence in me about other things that I strongly believe in. I used to speak out often for causes such as environmentalism, GLBT rights, feminism, etc. but I silenced myself on these issues too. Again, out of fear of repercussions. As a bisexual female earthlover, this silence was also particularly fracturing.
I've come to the decision that at some point, I have to take the cross off my back, and quit sacrificing myself to safety. I must teach my child what they need to know, put myself back together and pull off the veil. Learn to show my magical face a little more while covering my magical ass, so to speak.
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Trees, Blood, Books, and Random Looks
Just a rambling post about stuff I've got going on because I feel like writing about it. :)
My dogwood trees have fat buds on them and if the weather stays in the 80's the way it has been, they'll be bloomed out in all their magically delicious beauty soon. Dogwoods have so much to offer, their branches, flowers, and berries. They've been reported for some time to be associated with wishes, protection, and secrets. This seems pretty accurate based on what I get from the dogwoods on my land.
I have three big sycamores in my backyard, that really seem to be coming alive in the last week. Awhile back I got the message that I needed to do a blood feeding of my trees, and it happened to be during my monthly cycle. So I gathered some menstrual blood, diluted it with water, and fed it to my trees. The transformation in the sycamore's energy was amazing. They seem much more awake, and more aware of me, than they did before.
I've posted this elsewhere, but here's my method of gathering menstrual blood since I don't use a diva cup - which appears to be most female witch's preferred way. Buy a bottle of cheap wine in a clear glass bottle with a screw top. Open it and pour the wine down the drain (for the love of all that is holy NEVER drink wine that comes in a screw top bottle!!). Fill the bottle most of the way with water, and when you have a blood soaked tampon stick it in the bottle. You'll probably need to use something to push it down through the neck of the bottle. Be sure and hold on to the string. When you've got it past the neck of the bottle and submerged in the water, screw the lid on over the string to secure it. The blood will slowly seep out into the water, usually dropping down in a line (similar to the way incense smoke rises in a line) and is very pretty to watch for those of us who aren't weirded out by such things, very relaxing and meditative. After a day or two, most of the blood will have seeped into the water and you can take the lid off and pull the tampon out. You now have a wine bottle of lovely dusky red moon blood water for whatever purposes you need to use it for. :)
I recently ordered 3 new books I'm eagerly anticipating. Talismanic grimoires fascinate me. I am not a grimoire purist, there's no way I could take someone else's path (whether current or ancient) and follow it exactly to the letter, but by experimenting with the practices outlined in the ones I choose to work from I can learn new things and evolve on my own path.
On the subject of random looks - I'm not sure just what the hel's going on lately but everywhere I go people are staring at me like I have two heads! This is a sudden development, and as I just completed a rather dark magical work and haven't yet moved the remnants of it out of my home, I'm beginning to think I'm projecting something related to it that makes the local public quite uncomfortable. I'm a "hidden in plain sight" witch, not going around dressed in goth (although I think goth is lovely) or sporting a pentacle.. and nothing about my dress or demeanor has changed that I'm aware of. The remnants of the work will be moved on tonight and a cleansing of the space started, so I'm curious to see if this stops the "deer in the headlights" stares people are giving me.
My dogwood trees have fat buds on them and if the weather stays in the 80's the way it has been, they'll be bloomed out in all their magically delicious beauty soon. Dogwoods have so much to offer, their branches, flowers, and berries. They've been reported for some time to be associated with wishes, protection, and secrets. This seems pretty accurate based on what I get from the dogwoods on my land.
I have three big sycamores in my backyard, that really seem to be coming alive in the last week. Awhile back I got the message that I needed to do a blood feeding of my trees, and it happened to be during my monthly cycle. So I gathered some menstrual blood, diluted it with water, and fed it to my trees. The transformation in the sycamore's energy was amazing. They seem much more awake, and more aware of me, than they did before.
I've posted this elsewhere, but here's my method of gathering menstrual blood since I don't use a diva cup - which appears to be most female witch's preferred way. Buy a bottle of cheap wine in a clear glass bottle with a screw top. Open it and pour the wine down the drain (for the love of all that is holy NEVER drink wine that comes in a screw top bottle!!). Fill the bottle most of the way with water, and when you have a blood soaked tampon stick it in the bottle. You'll probably need to use something to push it down through the neck of the bottle. Be sure and hold on to the string. When you've got it past the neck of the bottle and submerged in the water, screw the lid on over the string to secure it. The blood will slowly seep out into the water, usually dropping down in a line (similar to the way incense smoke rises in a line) and is very pretty to watch for those of us who aren't weirded out by such things, very relaxing and meditative. After a day or two, most of the blood will have seeped into the water and you can take the lid off and pull the tampon out. You now have a wine bottle of lovely dusky red moon blood water for whatever purposes you need to use it for. :)
I recently ordered 3 new books I'm eagerly anticipating. Talismanic grimoires fascinate me. I am not a grimoire purist, there's no way I could take someone else's path (whether current or ancient) and follow it exactly to the letter, but by experimenting with the practices outlined in the ones I choose to work from I can learn new things and evolve on my own path.
On the subject of random looks - I'm not sure just what the hel's going on lately but everywhere I go people are staring at me like I have two heads! This is a sudden development, and as I just completed a rather dark magical work and haven't yet moved the remnants of it out of my home, I'm beginning to think I'm projecting something related to it that makes the local public quite uncomfortable. I'm a "hidden in plain sight" witch, not going around dressed in goth (although I think goth is lovely) or sporting a pentacle.. and nothing about my dress or demeanor has changed that I'm aware of. The remnants of the work will be moved on tonight and a cleansing of the space started, so I'm curious to see if this stops the "deer in the headlights" stares people are giving me.
Monday, March 12, 2012
Romaticizing Ancestors
At times, in conversations with other witches I've noticed a tendency to romanticize ancestors who practiced any form of magic. I've fallen into it myself more than once. So this post isn't a "listen up magical newbs" thing, it's self reflection on a tendency that I think many have, and I most definitely do. I'm not an expert in necromancy or ancestor communication, but certainly not new to either. I'm sharing some thoughts for other non-experts interested in either practice (ancestor communication and necromancy are different, but occasionally overlap IMO).
Several of my ancestors, living and dead, practiced folk magic. For this post I'm going to focus on two of them. One female who was initiated into a form of trad craft who is now deceased, and one male who I have no clue where he picked up his practices and is still living.
The female ancestor I remember had what many in my family refer to as "the sight". She would hear death bells and tell us what direction death was coming in and how many souls it would take (and she was always accurate), make charms for people, etc. She would walk to the crossroads at times and never tell anyone why she was going there. She used blood in her works, and there were curious stone circles on her land with bones in the center that weren't talked about. She was also a Christian. Much as I would like to think that she and I are alike and that she would have taught me her ways had she lived till I was older, I know that she most likely would have saw my bisexuality and Luciferian philosophies without having to be told of them, and would not have approved. And as much as I respect and appreciate family traditions, I respect and appreciate myself more, so I would not have tried to be something I am not just to continue the line. Based on what I knew of her, she might have considered me too much 'on the dark side'.
The male has good luck charms, bone crafts, and many other folk magic works around his home and land that he's made over the years. He knows a lot of traditional lore that would be interesting to document. He has no truck with any type of religious philosophies on afterlife punishment (hell, karma, etc.) which is something we have in common. But, he is an asshole. He is racist and has shown extreme cruelty to children and animals more than once. I would like to preserve the lore of my family, but I don't want it bad enough to go through him. Based on what I know of him, he would consider me too 'soft' to handle the information anyway.
So here I am, more than one ancestor who practiced a form of magic, but none that I would feel comfortable actually asking them to teach me anything beyond what I picked up through observation. Instead, I commune with ancestors whose magical practice or non-practice is unknown to me, but are people with a character that is open minded enough to get to know me and still want to interact with me. I will also open communication with some who would not fully approve of me (like the female ancestor described above) if they're willing, but I don't get quite as intimate.
The reason I am thinking of this today, is that lately I've talked to so many witches who want to start working with ancestors, but only ancestors who were witches or had a magical practice. I would offer that there is so much information and experience that is useful to a witch that can be obtained from communication with any ancestor who's open to it and benevolent toward the one calling them, not just magical ones. Just the communication itself, and not necessarily even the information gained, is experience that will help us grow. And I think it's really important to keep in mind that just because someone practiced a form of magic (such as my male ancestor described above) doesn't necessarily mean that they'll be good to communicate with. That's not to say we shouldn't attempt to contact them, but to go into it carefully and cautiously until we've made sure they're benevolent. That goes for any ancestor, but I feel it needs saying more in regards to those where there's evidence of magic or witchery, since some of us have a tendency to think that those types will automatically be safer and benevolent toward us.
Several of my ancestors, living and dead, practiced folk magic. For this post I'm going to focus on two of them. One female who was initiated into a form of trad craft who is now deceased, and one male who I have no clue where he picked up his practices and is still living.
The female ancestor I remember had what many in my family refer to as "the sight". She would hear death bells and tell us what direction death was coming in and how many souls it would take (and she was always accurate), make charms for people, etc. She would walk to the crossroads at times and never tell anyone why she was going there. She used blood in her works, and there were curious stone circles on her land with bones in the center that weren't talked about. She was also a Christian. Much as I would like to think that she and I are alike and that she would have taught me her ways had she lived till I was older, I know that she most likely would have saw my bisexuality and Luciferian philosophies without having to be told of them, and would not have approved. And as much as I respect and appreciate family traditions, I respect and appreciate myself more, so I would not have tried to be something I am not just to continue the line. Based on what I knew of her, she might have considered me too much 'on the dark side'.
The male has good luck charms, bone crafts, and many other folk magic works around his home and land that he's made over the years. He knows a lot of traditional lore that would be interesting to document. He has no truck with any type of religious philosophies on afterlife punishment (hell, karma, etc.) which is something we have in common. But, he is an asshole. He is racist and has shown extreme cruelty to children and animals more than once. I would like to preserve the lore of my family, but I don't want it bad enough to go through him. Based on what I know of him, he would consider me too 'soft' to handle the information anyway.
So here I am, more than one ancestor who practiced a form of magic, but none that I would feel comfortable actually asking them to teach me anything beyond what I picked up through observation. Instead, I commune with ancestors whose magical practice or non-practice is unknown to me, but are people with a character that is open minded enough to get to know me and still want to interact with me. I will also open communication with some who would not fully approve of me (like the female ancestor described above) if they're willing, but I don't get quite as intimate.
The reason I am thinking of this today, is that lately I've talked to so many witches who want to start working with ancestors, but only ancestors who were witches or had a magical practice. I would offer that there is so much information and experience that is useful to a witch that can be obtained from communication with any ancestor who's open to it and benevolent toward the one calling them, not just magical ones. Just the communication itself, and not necessarily even the information gained, is experience that will help us grow. And I think it's really important to keep in mind that just because someone practiced a form of magic (such as my male ancestor described above) doesn't necessarily mean that they'll be good to communicate with. That's not to say we shouldn't attempt to contact them, but to go into it carefully and cautiously until we've made sure they're benevolent. That goes for any ancestor, but I feel it needs saying more in regards to those where there's evidence of magic or witchery, since some of us have a tendency to think that those types will automatically be safer and benevolent toward us.
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