The Witch's Path (Highlights)

Our path is not an easy one to take. It is filled with many obstacles, some within ourselves, others from the intolerance from people around us. However, it is how we handle these stones that makes us wiser as we grown within our path as we are individuals who seek knowledge, balance, and peace. In our never-ending task of self-discovery, our life becomes one filled with wonder, joy, passion, and fire to live our lives as witches that we are.

Being aware of our feelings is the essential key to master our soul and thus reach the point of self-loving we need in order to counsil others on this path. Remember that witchcraft rituals are ruled by the principle of "in perfect love", which means that if you cannot love yourself you'll never generate a feeling of perfect love for a ritual; and just as they say that if you cannot love yourself how do you expect others to love you, it is also true that if you cannot love thyself you cannot expect to feel the love back from the God and Goddess around you. Love yourself in order to love others; respect yourself in order to respect others and their views. Take responsability for your words, thoughts and actions for they are powerful tools that can either create or destroy the energy of those around you. Self-awareness stimulates a desire for respect and self-esteem.

Have love for life. Laugh. Have  a good sense of humor. The world is a place of wonder and magic.




Source:
The Inner Temple of Witchcraft
by Christopher Penczak

The Rose

From: Sticks and Stones, Roots and Bones

by: Stephanie Rose Bird

No other plant is as intimately linked to love as the rose (Rosa spp). When working with roses, seek out the old-fashioned scented types, such as those listed below, rather than the more neutral tea roses. Roses are beautiful, and like the lotus, they suggest female genitalia en the hight of passion. The blush of the rosa is often linked to the blush of a bride or a sexual partner during orgasm. In parts of Africa and the Middle East, holy temples are spiritually cleansed entirely with highly potent Bulgarian Rose water. Rose water enhances the sacred environment.

A little-known fact is that roses are a systemic nervine (tranlsation: they calm and soothe your nerves). Only your imagination sets the limits when it comes to using roses in love-drawing potions and tricks.

Old Fashioned Shrub Roses for the Hoodoo's Garden

Apothecary's Rose -- This is a richly fragant, medicinal rose with a spicy scent. It has been used since medieval times to treat a variety of health disorders. Rose water can be creqted from this species , although Bulgarian and Damask roses are used most.

Belle de Crecy --This is considered the purest rose scent.

Bulgarian Rose and Damask -- The sweet, fragant roses from which quility rose water and attar is made.

Celestial -- This contains the aroma of clean skin.

Kazanlik -- In Bulgaria, rose oil (attar of roses) ismade from this rose.

Madame Isaac Pereire, Guinee, and Souvenir de la Malmaison -- These are stunning and fragant.

Maiden's Blush -- This is considered to be refined.

Romantic Rose Projects

1. Buy fragant red or pink roses. Peel the petals away from the core and stem. Float them in a bath for two. Light vanilla-scented candles for a pleasant accent.

2. Sprinkle rose petals on your mattress, under your bed, on your bed, in your closets, in your purse, or any place else where the compassionate spirit of the rose is desired.

3. Add 1/4 cup of rose water to 1 cup of milk. Stir in 1 teaspoon of rose hip oil. Add this blend to your bathwater for a soothing, romantic bath.

4. Put a fragant rose in your hair before going out to a party or on a date.

5. Spritz your wet body after a bath or shower with fragant rose water.

6. Spritz your face and hair with rose water before leaving home, especially if inhibitiions and tension are coming between you and finding love.

7. Before company arrives, set out 7 to 9 lit scented with a relaxing essential oil such as neroli, sandalwood, chamomile, or lavender in the room where you will be entertaining. Spread rose petals aroound the base of the candleholders.

Your Magical Name

June Esbat: The Lover's Moon

Also known as the Strawberry or Rose Moon, the Lover’s Moon brings with it energy for love, marriage, and success. Is it any wonder that in some traditions this Moon is called the Honey Moon? This is a time to nurture your garden and marvel at its beauty and abundance. If you have taken that new job, now is the time to make sure you have everything running smoothly. And you might want to keep your eyes open to see how you can move into a more desirable position.

The appearance of the full, round Mead Moon heralds the end of fertility and the beginning of life anew.  Hives fill with honey.  Animals give birth and baby birds hatch.  Butterflies and cicadas burst forth, too, their shell-like cocoons only a reminder of what they were before.  All of Nature is busy now.  It's a time of care, nurturement, and transformation.

The Mead Moon brings a time of metamorphosis for us, too.  A time to reinvent our lives, change our personal realities, and become what we were meant to be.  But before we can do that, we must often change our perceptions of life and see it with a fresh eye.  Fortunately, this isn't as difficult as it seems.  With the whole world in a state of transformation, it's easy for us to follow suit.


Mead (Honey) Moon Ideas:

Dress in shades of yellow and amber to commemorate the honey harvest.

Use yellow and orange candles and burn Full Moon incense.  Alternately, burn a mixture of frankincense, myrrh and rose for incense.

Decorate the altar with flowers, dandelions, and the transformative gifts of nature.  Cicada shells, butterfly cocoons, hatched bird eggs, and shed feathers are all great ideas.

Serve lemon cookies and honey-sweetened tea for libation.

Make a Witches' ladder from shed bird feathers to bring personal good fortune for the next 12 months.  Just braid together one yard each of red, white, and black ribbon, then attach nine different colored bird feathers by knotting them at equal intervals in the braid.  Enchant each feather with a quality as you knot it.  Continue knotting feathers and enchanting them until all are in place.  Then tie the braid ends together in a bow and place the ladder between the altar candles, saying: "Ring of feathers, braid of three; Bring good fortune unto me."

Leave the ladder on the altar until the candles burn completely down, then hang it in an inconspicuous place in your home. bulletIf you're wondering what to do with your life, set aside some time for mediation.  Before beginning, ask for Divine Inspiration by saying: "Lady of the Moon, so bright, Look down on me and cast some light.  On the path I should follow and what I should be, On the turns I should take to make myself free.  Of the life I have now, to gain the life that should be.  Mother, I ask you: please help me to see." Make a personal transformation charm using some of the altar decorations.  Just fill a small cloth bag with egg shell, feathers, cocoons, and so on, along with a strand of your hair.  Place the bag in front of the altar candles and say: "Metamorphical Gifts of Nature, so rare.  Quicken my Spirit - lend the courage to dare.  To reinvent life into what it should be - to transform my personal reality - To refresh my perception and inspire me anew.  Do now, O Gifts, what I ask of You."

Leave the charm bag on the altar until the candles burn completely down, then carry it with you.


Mead (Honey) Moon Correspondences:

Other Names: Lover's Moon, Strawberry Moon, Rose Moon and the Strong Sun Moon

Nature Spirits: Sylphs and Zephyrs

Herbs: Skullcap, meadowsweet, vervain, tansy, dog grass, parsley, and mosses

Colors: Orange, and Golden-green

Flowers: Lavender, Orchid and Yarrow

Scents: Lily of the Valley, Lavender

Stones: Topaz, agate, alexandrite, fluorite

Trees: Oak

Animals: Monkey, Butterfly, Frog, Toad, Wren and Peacock

Magick: Protection, Strengthening, Decision-making, and Personal Balance

Ritual Food and Drink: Lemon Cookies, Honey cakes, Mead, and Lemonade

Deities: Aine of Knockaine, Isis, Neith, Green Man, Cerridwen, Bendis and Ishtar


http://www.angelfire.com/wa3/angelline/june_esbats.htm

In June we enjoy the longest days of the year, especially before the Summer Solstice. Even though the sun begins to withdraw after the Solstice, the shortening of days is imperceptible and we enjoy long hours of light. This is a time to be active, to feel sensuous and to be aware of our bodies and the life-force energy that flows through us.

Moon of Life

Before the heat of high summer arrives, there is a brief period of time to enjoy the softness of this season. Tune into the rhythms of the natural world and take pleasure in your connection with it. Go outside and let the energy of the moonlight help you feel fully alive and aware. Enjoy the magic of gentle moonlight on soft summer nights.

Other names for this moon: Mead Moon, Dyad Moon, Honey Moon, Strawberry Moon.

In the Celtic Tree Calendar
June 1 – 9: Hawthorn
Associated with balancing energy; it is a symbol of the coming summer, and of hope and pleasure.

June 10 -30: Oak
Associated with cleansing, strength, self-confidence and optimism.

Other Information

Herbs: Skullcap, Catmint, Meadowsweet, Vervain, Tansy, Ladies Mantle & Witch Grass.
Colours: Orange & Golden-Green.
Flowers: Lavender & Yarrow.
Perfumes: Lily Of The Valley & Lavender.
Crystals: Topaz, Agate & Fluorite.
Tree: Oak.
Animal: Butterfly.
Bird: Peacock.
Deities: Isis, Neith, Green Man, Cerridwen & Ishtar.
http://witchery.wordpress.com/2008/02/04/june-esbat-information/

The Side Effect of Positive Thinking

I have a class every Saturday morning. Today, in it, we started discussing about what is a positive attitude and why shoud we have this in our every day lives. One of my classmates said that the situation today was enough to be a negative force -- how was it that we could have a positive attitude in such a negative world.

It is true. Sometimes we feel as if the universe is against us; as if the Powers that Be are plotting around their cauldron, stirring it and laughing at the plans that get ruined, the lovers we don't get, the raises we don't obtain, the cars we drive, the life we're supposed to live. But it's also true that in every waking moment, the miracle of life is within us, and as such, the love of the Goddess and the Virtue of the God is also within.

My aunt Nina used to tell me a story. She said that when she was a little girl, her ink bottle spilled all over her school work and that she was so upset about it she started to cry. My grandmother then looked at her and insted of conforting her she said, "Do you think that tears are going to clean everything up? Okay - cry then". My aunt was so angry that she stopped crying. My grandmother then pulled on her ears to make her cry, "Cry! Cry harder! All the problems in the world will be solved with you crying!" After this, my grandmother looked at the mess and told her, "So you see? Your tears did nothing to clean the mess, did nothing to return the ink in the bottle, and did nothing to make your homework again. So you have two choices: keep crying over nothing or actually DO something about it."

True fact, I told my classmate, that we live in a non-optimistic day an age. But crying and complaning about it will do little close to nothing to make things better. A positive attitude CAN go a long way. It doesn't mean that you have to go all smiles, all the time. It will, however, give you a broader perspective of what to expect from life. The secret of life, I said, is to keep in mind that happiness is not a THING, a ONE THING: it's a series of events, of little moments in your life, that shine through and remind you of how good it is to feel alive. If all you do is play the victim, complain, see things for how dark they are, or how bad they are, or how terrible they look, then you will probably not going to realize the moments you were happy.

Not everyone achieves this. And it's not an easy thing to achieve. You can say that it's easy for me to say --- but it wasn't easy to get to this point in my life. I had to go through a lot of personal change for me to finally realize this. And once I realized it, came the other factor: the will to accept the fact that I was wrong in many things and that other people were right. This is probably the hardest thing to do.

So... start your path today. It's never too late to realize you too have the right to be happy. That no matter what, you always have the second shot at life. A positive attitude brings back a lot of life's gifts and joys.