How do you feel about animal or blood sacrifices? In terms I’m speaking about using your own blood as a sacred object during a spiritual working, and using all parts of an animal (hunting deer for meat/pelts) rather than solely for ritual sacrifice. Though if you want to speak about plain animal sacrifice, by all means.

Despite the equivocation stuck in the middle there, this is still a question of what witches believe about sacrifice. I started to respond with a rant about how it was irresponsible of Witches Weekly to pose such a question when so many of us are frequently forced to dispel the common misconceptions that witches are out here drinking blood and sacrificing kittens and babies. But then it struck me that perhaps avoiding tough questions is even more irresponsible. We should never stop asking questions for fear of what the answers might reveal the truth to be.

That said, I do want to make one thing absolutely, unequivocally, crystal clear: Wiccans do not believe in sacrificing animals - human, feline or otherwise. If there are people who call themselves witches or other pagans who are out there committing these kinds of heinous acts, they are going against the most basic tenet of the Wiccan faith: harm none!

There are many stories from mythology that deal with sacrifice - human and animal - that are revered and ingrained into tradition by Pagans and Christians and many people of other religious faiths. Modern practice of these faiths often finds a way to symbolically represent those sacrifices in ritual. Wicca is based on ancient religions, mostly Western European, about which little is known. Some believe that the ancients did perform sacrifices but as there is no written record or conclusive archaeological proof one way or the other, we have no way of knowing what the truth really is.

Should Christians be prohibited from giving or taking communion because it represents the sacrifice of human flesh and blood? Of course not. By the same logic, Wiccan rituals should not be condemned if the sacrifice they acknowledge is mythical and symbolic in nature.

As far as the use of blood is concerned, I'm sure there are certain traditions and solitary witches who do use their own blood for rituals, spells or potions. I've heard of women using menstrual blood for various magickal purposes. And Santeria and Voodoo are entirely different subjects altogether. I don't know enough about the various traditions to give examples of what they do and do not practice and, frankly, am not in the mood to research blood rites at the moment.

Personally, none of my training thus far has required me to use blood nor have I been taught about any work that uses blood. Most witches I know find the use of herbs and other substances is more than sufficient to bring necessary power to the work they are doing. Speaking about blood symbolically is typical in many religious practices. It is part of one of the holiest of Christian sacraments: communion. So Wiccans certainly cannot be accused of doing anything untoward if we use wine to represent blood in a ritual.

Regarding the second part of the question - using animal parts - well, my feeling on that subject is that whatever ethics guide you in the consumption of meat or the wearing of leather, etc. should guide you in the context of your magickal work. Lots of witches love to cook and consider the preparation of food to be a ritual unto itself. If you don't have a moral objection to eating meat, then what is the harm in cooking meat as part of a ritual or using it in a potion for your own personal consumption? However, if some spell or potion required you to use ivory (I'm making this up; I have no idea if such a spell exists) and you believe that it is wrong to buy, own or use items that have been banned because the animals they come from are endangered (I do), then I think it would be unethical to work that particular magick. This all just seems like common sense to me.

Thank you to Witches Weekly for the Q&A.

Posted by Angela-Eloise at 6:51 PM | Comments (2)

At least according to this story by ABC News.

I've seen trailers for Wicker Man, starring Nicolas Cage, which opens tomorrow. Or rather, I've noticed them on television but studiously avoided watching them. You see, I can't handle scary movies. Even the trailers tend to give me nightmares. I hear creepy music or see icky images and I'm hightailing it to the kitchen to top off my glass of pinot. (I know, I'm a witch, this stuff shouldn't phase me. Meh.) When I came across this link in a news feed, I'll admit I was intrigued.

The first thing that struck me about this article was that a major news network was actually refraining from painting Wicca with a wide, black paintbrush. The tone even comes across as sympathetic to witches who are offended by how they generally are portrayed in popular entertainment. The author, Buck Wolf, makes it very clear that sacrifice (an element contained in the film) has absolutely nothing to do with Wicca and includes this paragraph in his conclusion:

What attracts many people to Wicca is its belief in a god and goddess, and its celebration of nature and, especially, fertility. By some estimates, there are more than 200,000 practicing this faith in the United States, and perhaps as many as 1 million, with proponents claiming that it is one of the fastest-growing religions in the world.

Wow! Someone who got his facts straight - I'm impressed!

Wolf also interviewed and extensively quotes both Phyllis Curott, Ivy-League educated lawyer, author, and priestess of the Temple of Ara, and Fiona Horne, Australian-born witch, rock star and TV and radio personality, who spoke at Harvard earlier this year at a conference called "Witchcraft and Paganism in Contemporary Media." Although it's likely that he got much of his information on Wicca from them, it's obvious that Wolf was not just out to write a sensationalistic fluff piece about a high-profile horror flick. The article is as much about Wicca and it's place in American culture as it is about Wicker Man.

About the film, Buck Wolf says:

One might think modern day witches, who've revived ancient traditions in the Wicca faith, would be outraged by the film, as they were with "The Blair Witch Project," and other negative depictions. Instead, many witches like the original "Wicker Man," and are eager to see what new twists Cage and director Neil LaBute have brought to the remake.

I have a fuzzy recollection of someone, somewhere mentioning that the current film is a remake - it may even have been on a witchy blog - but I had no idea what the story was about until reading Wolf's article. Cage's character is investigating the disappearance of a young girl and encounters a mysterious island, isolated from the contemporary world, whose inhabitants are practicing a "strange, vaguely pagan belief system." Hopes are high - and the Wiccan community seems poised to discern - that the new film is as good as the original.

... many witches say that [the original] "Wicker Man" was one of the first popular films of its time to consider some of the aspects of the ancient traditions that made them relevant today.

I may actually have to go see this movie. But only if someone will come along to hold my hand and ... well, let's not finish where that sentence was going!

Posted by Angela-Eloise at 3:53 PM | Comments (3)

Bjorngrímnir responded to July Moon, who accepted a challenge from Penguin, who got the idea from her friend Clare.

Go here and look through random quotes until you find 5 that you think reflect who you are or what you believe.

It is entirely too easy to get lost in this exercise, hitting the "New Random Quotations" button ad infinitum, reading more and more interesting and witty quotes you wish you had thought of. What is difficult is finding quotes that reflect precisely the essence of who you are. Sometimes this happens and, as Bjorngrímnir pointed out in his post, some of us actually keep track of them when we do happen upon them. Quotes that reflect what we believe are easier to find. I'm sure if I had spent several more hours on this, I would have found more from both categories. But since I have to do something today for which I might actually get paid, I'll give you what I found:

Peace is when time doesn't matter as it passes by. Maria Schell

We are born charming, fresh and spontaneous and must be civilized before we are fit to participate in society.
Judith Martin, (Miss Manners)

The most gifted members of the human species are at their creative best when they cannot have their way, and must compensate for what they miss by realizing and cultivating their capacities and talents.
Eric Hoffer (1902 - 1983)

Every moment of one's existence one is growing into more or retreating into less.
Norman Mailer (1923 - )

One man's "magic" is another man's engineering. "Supernatural" is a null word.
Excerpt from the notebooks of Lazarus Long, from Robert Heinlein's "Time Enough for Love"

Here are a few that don't fit the criteria of the challenge for me, but that I can't resist posting because they are so good:

I knew I'd been living in Berkeley too long when I saw a sign that said "Free firewood" and my first thought was "Who was Firewood and what did he do?" John Berger

Be careful in revising those immigration laws of yours.
We got careless with ours.
advice given to Herbert Humphrey by a Native American from New Mexico

Normal is getting dressed in clothes that you buy for work and driving through traffic in a car that you are still paying for - in order to get to the job you need to pay for the clothes and the car, and the house you leave vacant all day so you can afford to live in it.
Ellen Goodman (1941 - )

It's lots of fun to read the other blogs who are participating in this challenge. You find quotes you wish you'd found for your own list; you get to know your online friends better; you read some interesting blogs! Some day it would be really fun to trace a meme all the way from where you found it to where it started!

Posted by Angela-Eloise at 11:03 AM | Comments (0)

Sojourner at A Pagan Sojourn was bemoaning the lack of Pagan Poetry refrigerator magnets. I did a Google search and, alas, no such thing exists, tis true. However, I think that it is possible, by mixing and matching a few different sets available from fridgedoor.com, to come up with some fun and funky pagan poetry.

For instance, there is the Evil Troll Smash Face magnet set. Combine that with Magnetic Poetry Fridge Door Fortune Teller, Zen Monkey Wise Simian, and Magnetic Poetry Healing Words.

Begin a journey of courage. Do no thought, Puny Human. Beware.

Brilliant, if I do say so myself.

BTW, fridgedoor.com makes custom magnets. We could commission our own set.

Posted by Angela-Eloise at 11:20 PM | Comments (3)

It seems that Iran's President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has challenged George Bush to a televised debate on world issues. I think this is a very good idea, and not necessarily for the reasons you might think.

Photo by Joshua Roberts/Reuters

The American President serves as a figurehead for the citizenry he was elected to represent, so why shouldn't he be required to defend the United States, its views and policies in a globally public forum? Why shouldn't he - and by extension we - be called to task for the myopic, self-centered, self-serving beliefs and motives that drive this country's every move?

Thanks to the Patriot Act and a variety of legislation and policies that the government hides from the general populace in obfuscation and deliberate deception, the American people in practice enjoy but a pale facsimile of the freedom we so vociferously try to peddle around the world. But we've done it to ourselves. If nothing else, the current administration proved its brilliance at manipulating the fear of the people to get them to lay down their liberties like offerings. And it's not just civil liberties the majority of the U.S. population has seemed so eager to sacrifice. Environment, education, health care, sound economic policy - the list is long - and all examples of things that are lost when people are manipulated into voting against their own best interests.

I think those of us with progressive ideals, thoughtful world views, a belief that other ideologies may be equally as valid as our own, and that this planet is here for everyone to share are an ever-dwindling minority among the citizens of the United States. What we like to comfort ourselves by seeing as the right-wing, fundie, lunatic fringe is quickly becoming the majority with the decision-making power, on the basis of the size of their voting blocks alone if nothing else. And whether we want to accept it or not, it's becoming increasingly likely that the administration we love to hate actually does represent a majority of the American populace.

Personally, I can't stand the sound of George Bush's voice, and we all know that whenever he opens his mouth in public it's to spew some pre-prepared neo-con propaganda. And while I do believe that sovereign nations have every right to pursue new energy technologies that will reduce the entire world's consumption of non-renewable resources, I'm not so naive to think that Iran is a pillar of virtue. So I'll concede that the possibility for any debate between the two countries to be authentic is, well, debatable. But believe me, I think it would be illuminating indeed for an American President to be put on the defensive for once, especially when so much of his administration's activity over the past few years has been indefensible.

Posted by Angela-Eloise at 4:13 PM | Comments (1)

Artichokes are yummy. I just ate one as an appetizer. But every time I eat an artichoke, scraping out the delectable meat with my upper teeth, I wonder - who ever thought it was a good idea to eat an artichoke? Come on. They're really sharp and pointy and before you can eat them you have to steam them for a couple of hours (preferably with some white wine and herbes de provence) and then in order to eat them you have to pick off the leaves one by one and ... well, I've described the method of consumption.

Do you ever wonder how certain things came to be food for humans? Who devised our modern cooking method for artichokes? Who was hungry enough to figure out how to eat lobsters? I mean, really! Lobster is great. I love it. But how do you think the first person to ever eat a lobster actually did it? Have you ever tried to eat a lobster without a lobster cracker? Trust me, it's not an easy task.

And what about fugu - that Japanese delicacy, poisonous blowfish that a chef has to train for ten years to serve? How many people died before they figured out which parts of the blowfish were actually edible?

So, really, I want to know, how is that we came to eat freaky food?

Posted by Angela-Eloise at 6:48 PM | Comments (2)

Posted by Angela-Eloise at 3:05 PM | Comments (2)

I like jewelry. Over the years certain pieces have appeared to me at significant points in my life and they've become amulets and talismans of sorts. It's as if each piece came looking for me, knowing that I needed it.

Once it was an Atlas bracelet, purchased on a trip to San Francisco for a job interview. I got the job and moved to San Francisco, where I was very happy, and I still consider San Francisco to be my spirit's home. It was as if the bracelet was a literal atlas, showing me the way to where I was supposed to be. Another time it was a string of peridot beads I bought after a psychic friend told me he'd had a vision of me wearing them and they were important. I'd been mercilessly dumped by the boyfriend I thought was "the one" and was really devastated; the beads were meant to heal my wounded soul. I wore them faithfully every day and a month later met a significant new love. There are other similar examples, and over time I have come to trust that if an object speaks to me, there is a reason.

This morning, I was reading Hecate and happened to look at her list of "Shiny Things!" Amongst Fairy Wear and Seeds for Witches was a link to Elsa Peretti. My curiosity was piqued. I know Elsa Peretti's work and was curious to see what sort of witch-relevant piece Hecate was referencing. Her link took me to the Tiffany & Co. site. Ah, a witch after my own heart! So I started to browse their online Elsa Peretti catalog.

Elsa Peretti's jewelry is so wonderfully organic it isn't difficult to see how it would appeal to a witch's sensibilities. Many of her pieces use stones that have magickal correspondences. She even has a pendant that is a small silver bottle - the perfect vessel for a protection potion! And then I found it - a band of iron. A frisson of energy ran through me - a powerful portent.

“The spirit of this ring exists in the material—pure iron. The high polish shine will soon give way to iron’s natural appearance”—Elsa Peretti

Iron is the Warrior's metal. Ruled by Mars, it corresponds to the emerald and its astrological houses are Aries and Scorpio. Iron is useful to ward against ghosts and spirits; for strength, competition, protection and command. In Iron we recognize the male and active character of the war-like god Mars, building and conquering himself a new world.

The magickal use of Iron in rituals, spells and charms is to promote energy, strength, determination, will power, assertiveness and aggression. It aids in fertility rites, beginnings and undertakings, and spells for speed, power and courage. We can use herbs that contain iron, like urtica, equisetum, kelp and spirulina. To increase energy, we eat foods that are rich in iron: red meat, beets, dark green vegetables, whole grains, dried fruits, nuts and seaweed.

The universe is not a subtle messenger. Through many sources it has been telling me of late that I have to be myself, live in my strength, honor my power, and create my own happiness. (I'm in the process of writing more on this subject, through work I've been doing with the tarot. Stay tuned!) What better talisman to aid in these goals than to wear a band of iron?

I wanted to find out if different fingers had correspondences that I should heed when choosing where to wear my band of iron. In fact, they do! (Google is fast becoming one of my most reliable magickal tools!) The pinky finger corresponds to the element of Air and the Waxing Moon. The ring finger corresponds to the element of Fire and the Full Moon. The index finger corresponds to the element of Water and the Waning Moon. The middle finger corresponds to the element of Earth and the New Moon. I'm thinking ring finger or middle finger - I'll have to meditate on this a bit.

Now it's time to plan a spell using the current Waxing Moon energy to bring me some money so that I can offer Tiffany & Co. my custom!

Posted by Angela-Eloise at 2:03 PM | Comments (2)

Didn't you know? Yoga is evil.

I could almost understand thinking pilates is evil. I mean, you have to get on that contraption and it kind of resembles the rack and it could bring up all kinds of scary past-life traumas that we won't mention in present company. But yoga? Evil?!

Apparently, yoga is a mere drop in the evil bucket. According to Marsha West - Founder and Editor of the E-Mail Brigade News Report, an online news report for conservative people of faith, freelance writer "specializing in the Christian worldview" and recent guest op/ed writer for the website The American Daily - all of these things are evil:

Flee from horoscopes (astrology), numerology, séances, tarot cards, tealeaves, palm reading, crystal balls, talking boards, omens or signs; do not get involved in wizardry, witchcraft, the study of Kabbalah, nature religion (Wicca), the practice of yoga (its purpose is purely spiritual) — basically, stay away from pagan customs and practices. Eastern mysticism is off limits (Buddhism, Hinduism, New Age beliefs).

Marsha seems to have a big problem with Spiritism, a word she says has replaced "animism and other religious practices involving the invocation of spiritual beings." This is "not to be confused with spiritual or spirituality" - which seems to imply that those are okay. I guess the big S makes all the difference.

Spiritism, as I discovered, is a body of knowledge with scientific, philosophical, and moral/religious components, first compiled by the French pedagogue Allan Kardec in 1857. It is a scientific approach to the nature, origin and destiny of Spirits, as well as their relationship with the corporeal world. It seems to center around ideas of reincarnation. According to one of the primary sites about Spiritism on the web, one of their beliefs is that there will be a "promised Consoler [who will come] at the appointed time, to compliment and remind us of what Jesus taught, "reestablishing all things in their true meaning", so bringing to Humanity the true basis for spiritualisation."

Okay, I can see how this statement and certain other tenets of Spiritism might run afoul of strict, by-the-book Christian doctrine. And, interested as I am in comparative theology, I might have enjoyed a thoughtful article on how Spiritist beliefs are appearing among modern-day Christians and what the effects that this is having on the Christian faith actually are. Alas, instead, this author simply uses her pixels to bash just about everybody who doesn't happen to subscribe to her particular variety of Christianity. She states that Spiritualism is the combination of Spiritism and Christianity (which, of course, is very evil indeed) and the rest of her article, Going Against God, "Just For Fun", goes on to condemn various forms of Spritism, which along the way somehow turns into sorcery and occultism. (I thought it was Spiritualism she was against, but I digress.) That poor, misguided youth pastor who had the audacity to state on his blog that he's a Gemini! The innocent souls who read his blog will surely burn in hell!

By now, I'm sadly accustomed to seeing the Wiccan faith bashed from here 'til next Tuesday by conservative Christian writers like Marsha West who want to demonize anything that they either don't understand or simply hate for being "other." Most of it is ill-informed, illogical screed, fueled by irrational ignorance. It would be easy to dismiss writing like this if it weren't for the fact that people are reading it and forming their opinions - and consequently their voting practices and other actions - with a horribly skewed and biased view about what Wicca is. For those of us who are practicing Wicca, our religion is no less sacred to us than Christianity is to those who follow that spiritual path. Ask the 750 million Hindus in the world if they are practicing their religion "just for fun."

Marsha completely lost me when she claimed that the reason that yoga is evil is that "its purpose is purely spiritual." Mkay ... but I thought spiritual was only bad if it were capitalized?

Posted by Angela-Eloise at 11:09 AM | Comments (2)

Wednesday brings us a New Moon in Virgo. Virgo is ruled by Mercury. Since Mercury influences the power of the mind, this is a good time for intellectual pursuits, but more for those requiring critical detail rather than innovative creativity. It's also a good time to work on assimilating new information. The Moon in Virgo helps us effectively manage anything requiring painstaking attention. It's time to roll up our sleeves and get down to some serious work, and to set up specific routines that will help us manage our lives in constructive and mindful ways.

Virgo encourages us to handle the "little" details of our day-to-day life in an organized, step-by-step fashion so that we can free our minds of clutter. Many people feel an urge to clean up our homes at this time, which is a good way to channel Virgo energy. Health and work goals take on greater importance now, making it an opportune time to start (or re-commit to) a health and fitness regime or a new work project.

At this time of year, Virgo's influence is manifesting as that back-to-school preparation we never quite grow out of. A perfect symbol for this New Moon could be a bouquet of sharpened pencils!

Emotionally, Virgo makes us more concerned with getting things accomplished. We crave organization and practicality and anything that works contrary to having everything in its place will get on our nerves. We are discriminating, fastidious, and can be overly critical if we're not careful. We tend to be more concerned about food and health as Virgo rules the intestines. This can be a healthy reminder to take advantage of summer's harvest to eat better, but we should be mindful not to go to unhealthy extremes.

Spell Work

For any of you who plan to use the Dark of the Moon to perform banishment spells or rituals, you'll want have things wrapped up before 2:19 tomorrow morning. The Moon will be void of course from 2:19 am EDT Wednesday until 2:08 pm, when it makes its move into Virgo. Midnight would be perfect!

The New Moon happens at 3:10 pm on Wednesday. After that time, the Moon will move into its Waxing phase, which is the best time to perform all types of magick for healing, attracting good luck and increasing or advancing things. Mercury is used for guidance and protection with all forms of travel and communication, including cars, planes and electronic devices. Do you need any of these things? Maybe this New Moon energy, influenced right now as it is by Mercury, would be a good time to work some magick for a new car or a new computer! Mercury magick is useful for assimilation of information or to pass tests. Mercury energy is particularly effective for spells involving business, buying and selling, cleverness, communication, contracts, creativity, information, intellect, memory, perception, science, wisdom, writing. Virgo rules the intestines, pancreas and gall bladder - this is a good time to do healing work for these parts of the body for yourself or someone you know.

Correspondences

Correspondences that can help make your New Moon in Virgo magick more effective are listed below.

Color correspondences for a New Moon are silver or white. Goddesses with particular New Moon associations are Artemis and Nimue.

Virgo correspondences:

Planet: Mercury

Element: Earth

Incense: narcissus

Colors: pastel blue, peach, yellow, gold, black

Metal: platinum

Crystals/Stones: cornelia, jade, jasper

Flowers/Herbs: rosemary, madonna, lily, valerian

Tree: elder

Birds: magpie, parrot

Body: intestines, bowels, pancreas, gall bladder

Archangel: Hamliel

Mercury correspondences:

Element: Air

Color: orange

Crystals/Stones: opal, moss agate, aventurine, sodalite, and flourite

Flowers/Herbs: almond, anise, clover, dandelion, dill, hyssop, lavender, lemongrass, lilac, mace, peppermint, rosemary, vervain.

Posted by Angela-Eloise at 5:39 PM | Comments (0)

When we last tuned in to Nixie's Life in Astrology Land, Monday was sucking royally from communication issues wrought by a nasty Mercury-Neptune opposition. Lovers' quarrel anyone? Yesterday just wasn't your day? Stuck your foot in your mouth? Shot yourself in the foot? (Okay, enough of that.)

Some of you commented that you had had similarly not-fun Mondays. Well, good news from our friends at Cafe Astrology. Things should be better today:

The Moon is in dramatic Leo and a Venus-Jupiter square furthers the extravagance theme! This can be an expansive, creative, and romantic day; although we should watch for a tendency to overdo and to overstate our feelings. Enjoying the pleasures of life is our focus, and work isn't. We might take great strides to get noticed, and feel very bored if life resembles anything humdrum. We should probably avoid impulsive buying. This is not a good day for new beginnings with the New Moon occurring tomorrow. It's best used for enjoyment and reflection.

Whew! Enjoyment. Yay!

Tomorrow brings the aformentioned New Moon, and I'll have more to say about that later. For now, I suggest you find someone to get out there and enjoy those pleasures of life with. Sounds like a good day to play hooky to me.

Posted by Angela-Eloise at 1:37 PM | Comments (1)

Athena Was A Goddess of Wisdom And Strategy. Just Saying.

Brilliant! Hecate, you are a goddess!

Posted by Angela-Eloise at 7:24 PM | Comments (0)

What method do you use to plan through rituals or spellwork? (such as a ritual outline, etc) Give a brief rundown of how a particular ritual for you goes.

The first step is to identify the most opportune phase of the Moon depending on the work I want to do. If I'm casting a spell to bring something to me or for help manifesting something, I pick a date during the Waxing Moon. For help removing something, I pick a date during a Waning Moon. The Full Moon provides the strongest power for spell work and I believe that the Dark Moon is best for banishing spells. It's important to know exactly when the phases of the Moon will occur for correct timing.

If I'm not using the Full Moon or the Dark Moon, which would limit me to whatever day on which they happen to fall, I pick a day of the week that corresponds to energy that will be the most beneficial for the success of my spell. Sunday=Sun; Monday=Moon; Tuesday=Mars; Wednesday=Mercury; Thursday=Jupiter; Friday=Venus; Saturday=Saturn. It's good to think about what it is that you really want your spell to achieve. For example, the first inclination might be to perform a love spell on a Friday, Venus' day. But if what you really need to do is to improve communication with a loved one, then the better day for your spell might actually be Wednesday.

I was taught that different hours of the day also have their own correspondences, and I have a table that tells me what they are, but using this method gets complicated. To do it correctly, you have to do mathematical calculations using the exact time of the sunrise and sunset and then divide the time in between by 12 to determine "hours" of the day. Magickal hours don't necessarily have 60 minutes each! This certainly lends another layer of accuracy, which adds another measure of power to the spell, but some witches don't think it's necessary to go quite this far. I've done it to practice but I don't do it every time I cast a spell.

Usually I choose a particular God or Goddess to invoke, especially if I want to communicate with deity to ask a question or for guidance. I have a great book that describes different Goddesses and lists correspondences and invoking rites for them: The Ultimate Guide to Goddess Empowerment. I admit that I work with Goddesses most of the time, so this book has been all I have needed. If I wanted information to invoke a God, I'm sure a Google search would lead me to plenty of resources. I use information the book provides about colors, stones, herbs, foods, etc. that the Goddesses like and I use the items I have or can get that correspond to decorate my altar for the ritual/spell.

Other than providing a pleasing environment for deities I plan to invoke, I also decorate my altar with any objects that will bring power to my spell or may simply create an atmosphere that I find pleasing or appropriate. This might include seasonal items, photographs, etc. I also like to use candles in all rituals and choose candles for scent and colors that correspond to the work I am doing or the energy I need to raise. I don't have a lot of experience making potions, but when I have a potion or oil that would add to my spell, I dress my candles with it.

The last step I take when planning for a spell is to write new quarter calls. Depending on the type of spell I'm casting, I write quarter calls I think will resonate most closely with my work. Sometimes, for simple things, I use a basic quarter call invoking elemental spirits of the four directions, but the quarter calls are one area of spell casting that I can get creative with and adds to the artistic quality of my work.

I write down all of my spells ahead of time. Perhaps in time I will feel confident enough to do the work from memory, but for now this helps me to stay as accurate in the performance of the spell as I've been with the planning. I add the spell to my Book of Shadows.

I try to follow all of the steps I was taught when casting a circle and creating a sacred space for ritual. This includes cleansing beforehand. Sometimes I will be so elaborate as to shower and put on clean clothes and then cleanse my space. Sometimes a simple smudge or salt-water circle feels appropriate.

I have learned the hard way that my apartment's smoke detector is very sensitive. From now on if I have to burn anything other than a candle or some incense, I'll try to find a way to perform my work outside. (Just one of the many challenges of being an urban witch!)

As I've said before, formal ritual sometimes has it's appeal but I'm drawn to the idea of simple, instinctive types of magick that come with practice and time. I hope to get to the point where magickal work becomes such an ingrained part of my day that I don't need to perform a ritual every time I want to work a spell or create some sacred space.

Thank you to Witches Weekly for the Q&A.

Posted by Angela-Eloise at 6:55 PM | Comments (0)

It's Monday all right. The day started off badly and now I know why:

In stark contrast to yesterday's Mercury-Saturn conjunction, today's Mercury-Neptune opposition can lead our minds astray. We are mentally lazy, and our minds tend to wander when presented with technical facts. It's hard to get solid answers from others, and we can too easily misrepresent ourselves as well. Avoid signing contracts or formalizing agreements now. There can be misunderstandings, misinformation, wishful thinking, confusion, some depression, carelessness, and deception. Our thinking may be self-defeating. We may have to struggle to keep our feet firmly planted on the ground. Things that seemed glamorous in our dreams may reveal their flaws in the light of day.

I should have read Cafe Astrology's What's in Store by the Stars first thing this morning and would have avoided talking to anybody! Instead I got into a huge argument with someone I care about and now I don't know how to fix things. I hope the Stars have something better in store for tomorrow!

Posted by Angela-Eloise at 4:30 PM | Comments (2)

This week I have been guest blogging over at A Pagan Sojourn (and have cross-posted my entries here). There were three of us guest bloggers, each tasked with writing about three different issues from our own faith's particular point of view. First was nature, then the afterlife, and finally, describe the essence of your faith in 300 words or less. As the Wiccan/Pagan of the bunch, this was a daunting task indeed, given how much ground there was to cover. But it was a fun and enlightening experience.

I decided the bulk of my final post - describing Wicca as if to someone who didn't know anything about it - would be old hat for most of my Blogickal readers. But there was one section that I thought worth posting here because it points to some specific ideas that are important to me:

Wiccans are women and men of every profession, cultural background and religious upbringing. For many, Wicca is the only religion they've found that encourages love for the Earth and its inhabitants (human, animal, vegetable and mineral) and that promotes the practice of magick to transform their lives into positive experiences. Women, especially, are drawn to it because of its acceptance of the feminine aspect of divinity - the Goddess. For Wiccans, theirs is the only religion that allows a truly intimate link with deity.

My personal experience of Wicca as a spiritual path puts me firmly in this category. I enjoy the connection to nature and spirit as one and the same. Wicca requires me to taking responsibility for the outcome of my actions, including my spiritual ones, and allows me to direct my personal will while discovering a higher purpose for myself - a divine Will. Along with the freedom it gives me to adopt a spiritual path of my own choosing, I appreciate Wicca's returned emphasis on Goddess worship. It represents something of a feminist liberation after feeling the after-effects of the Judeo-Christian suppression of the feminine divine and the second-class status women have been handed by more dominant religious institutions. It is important for me to be able to identify with a religion that tells me that I have power and am divine. I also count myself among certain Wiccans who are reclaiming the word witch, who are not ashamed to admit that what we are practicing is witchcraft. Although I sometimes enjoy the ceremony of a high ritual, my day-to-day approach to the craft is more about finding a personal connection to deity and to living my life in a way that is in harmony with nature, with the spirit of the world around me, and that celebrates and acknowledges my place within the web that connects us all.

Thanks and blessings to Sojourner for having me, and to Mike and Bjorngrimner, my fellow guest bloggers, for their kind comments and support. It was fun!

Posted by Angela-Eloise at 11:02 PM | Comments (1)

The Wheel

When I was in Ireland I bought a beautiful tarot deck, The Fey Tarot. Printed by Lo Scarabeo in Italy, its artwork is by Mara Aghem and the book is written by Riccardo Minetti.

I bought The Fey Tarot because I found its images beautiful and intriguing. As I've begun to practice reading with it, I've discovered that it is exactly the right deck for me at this stage in my life's path, spiritual pursuits and intellectual interests.

The book begins by telling us:

In this deck the traditional archetypes of the Tarot blend together with the Fey world: whether one believes in their existence or denies it as though dreaming it, the Fey Creatures speak through the symbols of the imagination (especially in this deck), the infinite potential of the cosmos, as well as our world.

A human world which is characterized by the constant struggle "to have" vs. "to be". This struggle does not belong to Fey creatures, which are concentrated on being. They seem what they are, they are what they seem.

To begin to acquaint myself with this deck I went back to the practice of doing a daily reading for myself. Sometimes I address a specific question; often I just want to get a read on the day. Although I'm sure these cards could be as effectively read using any spread, I chose to use the spread recommended in the book - the Dream-Joy-Magic spread.

The card in the Dream position indicates the querient's desires. Joy indicates the reasons why the querient should be happy. And Magic indicates what the querient must do about this situation in order to overcome his or her personal limits.

The Fool

One of the things that I like best about reading with this deck is its insistence that we approach the questions we are asking from a Fey point of view. The Fey know pain, suffering, guilt, solitude, anger and shame like every human being, but they do not shun the negative aspects of their life; they do not become overwhelmed or defeated by them. Joy always shines through their in their thoughts and actions. The Fey are magical. Their magic is the possibility to do things that don't seem possible, to change things, to reverse situations, to fly. In the Fey world, wanting is being. To be is to do.

For someone who has been struggling lately with the effort just "to be" this offers a powerful message and the cards become a daily reminder to look at what's happening in my life with some fresh perspective. It is, after all, important to remember that there is always a reason to be happy, even if our human habit is to ignore this truth. And to have a magical lesson on how to use this joy to transform our situation represents the essence of why we turn to the tarot in the first place.

Three of Cups

When I lay a spread for myself, I first take a few minutes just to look at the cards. I make notes on what I see in their imagery - what the Fey are doing, the expressions on their faces, the things that surround them. I write my thoughts about what I think the cards mean, based on my experience of reading tarot. Then I look at the book to see what it says about the meaning of the cards. All together this serves to give me a nuanced reading and some fundamental knowledge about reading with the Fey.

The book includes a section that guides you through a meditative process for getting to know the advanced meanings of the cards. It essentially asks you to choose a card at random, to study its imagery, to read the meaning given in the book, and to contemplate why that card has that meaning. Think of other meanings the card may have. Look at the cards that precede and follow it - what insights do they have to offer? This exercise is very helpful to experience the cards not as separate, isolated ideas but as moments in a dynamic story. It also helps to bring about a richer and more complex awareness of what the cards represent to you as a reader, which in turn makes reading with the cards a more powerful and intuitive process.

For more information about The Fey Tarot, Tarot Passages has a few deck reviews: by Lee Burston, Joan Cole, Arielle Smith and Diane Wilkes,

Posted by Angela-Eloise at 1:34 PM | Comments (3)

Where is the Moon today? I swear, something is truly weird in the universe when this is today's news: Las Vegas Passes Public Defecation Law

City officials have made it illegal to sleep within 500 feet of urine or feces, but the city attorney says the new law was passed by mistake and won't be enforced.

The new ordinance makes it illegal to "knowingly establish" sleeping quarters near defecation unless that "deposit" is made in an appropriate sanitary facility. It was passed unanimously by the Las Vegas City Council as part of a bill making it a misdemeanor to go to the bathroom in public.

Knowingly establish sleeping quarters near defacation? Um... DUH! Do you know anyone who wants to sleep near urine or feces?

I'm laughing my ass off all the way to the fridge where I'm going to take out that bottle of wine I have chilling and pop that sucker open. It's almost 5.

TGIF everyone! (and watch where you sleep tonight!)

Posted by Angela-Eloise at 4:46 PM | Comments (1)

Sometimes you read something and the cognitive dissonance is enough to make you want to bang your head in frustration. When we have a blog, we get to rant. Bjorngrímnir at Expanding Inward writes about a new spying device being developed by the US Department of Defense. They're calling it ISIS.

From recent news coverage:

Several companies have begun design work on a prototype airship that could hover at an altitude near space where it would be able to track ground and aerial targets for up to a year at a time. Whether the program, known as Integrated Sensor Is Structure, or ISIS, moves beyond the design stage anytime soon, however, will depend on the final version of the 2007 defense budget.

The U.S. House of Representatives funded the full $16.3 million request for the effort in its version of the 2007 Defense Appropriations Act, which passed the House in June. The Senate Appropriations Committee, however, has recommended denying the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s entire $16.3 million budget request for the program in 2007. The bill is currently awaiting a vote on the Senate floor.

If the program does go forward, the airship will feature a radar sensor of “unprecedented proportions,” according to a Pentagon document.

DARPA’s 2007 budget justification materials, which are posted on the agency’s Web site, describe ISIS as a sensor capable of conducting surveillance and tracking hundreds of time-critical targets in both urban and rural environments.

Isis is the feminine archetype for creation - the goddess of fertility and motherhood. Isis was, for almost 3,500 years, the principle Goddess of Egypt. She was the wife and sister of Osiris and the mother of Horus, and the personification of the faithful wife and devoted mother. Isis is the Mistress of The Words of Power and the Goddess of Nature. She is the embodiment of nature and magick.

Isis is the most important goddess in Egyptian mythology, who evolved from a local goddess in the Nile Delta to a cosmic goddess all over the whole ancient world. The cult of Isis eventually spread outside Egypt throughout the Middle East and Europe, with temples dedicated to her built as far away as the British Isles. Pockets of her worship remained in Christian Europe as late as the 6th century. Isis' name is still a beloved name among modern coptic Egyptians and many modern Wiccans and Pagans are devoted followers.

In the Book of the Dead, Isis was described as She who gives birth to heaven and earth, knows the orphan, knows the widow, seeks justice for the poor, and shelter for the weak.

It strikes me as incredibly perverse and profane that a weapon created by the US government for the intended purpose of spying on its own citizens - the same US government that has demonstrated time and again its contempt and lack of compassion for the poor and the weak, for anyone who is not white, rich, male and Christian - would be named after the ultimate mother, the ultimate symbol of care and nurturing.

Some of Isis' many other titles were:

• Queen of Heaven
  
• Mother of the Gods
  
• The One Who is All
  
• Lady of Green Crops
  
• The Brilliant One in the Sky
  
• Her Latin name was Stella Maris, or Star of the Sea
  
• Great Lady of Magic
  
• goddess of magic, fertility, nature, motherhood
  
• underworld Mistress of the House of Life
  
• She Who Knows How To Make Right Use of the Heart
  
• Light-Giver of Heaven
  
• Lady of the Words of Power
  
• Moon Shining Over the Sea
  

Posted by Angela-Eloise at 10:10 AM | Comments (1)

Cross-posted at A Pagan Sojourn.

Believing as I do that nothing is coincidence, it was fitting that an issue of New Witch magazine I bought the other day mentioned Pagan beliefs about the afterlife - namely that not all Pagans believe in an afterlife or in reincarnation. It was a lucky accident for me, because other than learning about certain gods and goddesses who are associated with the underworld, none of my Wiccan training or reading has addressed the question of what Wiccans do believe about the afterlife.

Personally, I have always believed in reincarnation. When I was a lonely college girl, I spent many hours on a project to research past lives so that I could find my soul mate - I was determined that if I could learn how to identify who he was I would be able to locate him in this incarnation. I have a number of friends with whom I initially made such an powerful connection that I know we are associated from a past life. As I delve into astrology, I am beginning to learn how to look for signs of past life relationships. I have asked my very-Christian sister to promise she will attend my death bed to light candles and play soothing music and ring bells in an effort to calmly direct my spirit to the place it is meant to be next. (This is a practice based entirely upon a Tibetan Buddhist belief that I learned from studying Tibetan mandalas - the best theological education is to study art history - but more about that in another post.) What does any of this have to do with the Wiccan view of the afterlife? Nothing. And everything.

Most Pagans do believe in reincarnation of some sort. Some don't. Depending what pantheon they follow, most Pagans believe in a place - Summerland, Tir Na Nog, Valhalla - where spirits go when they die. Some believe that it's just a resting place and some believe that it's the destination. While researching the web on this topic, I found this excellent overview of different afterlife beliefs by pantheon.

© 2005-2006 Sithean, at deviantART

Because of my hereditary connection to ancient Scotland, I have chosen to follow a largely Celtic pantheon (with a few Hindu and Buddhist beliefs thrown in, as you've seen already). Not much is known of the Celtic beliefs of the afterlife. The Celts and the Druids didn't write things down, so our knowledge of their faith and practices comes from third-party sources (namely the conquering Romans) and archaeological evidence. The Celtic Otherworld was sometimes considered an underworld, and sometimes considered a great misty island such as Avalon or Tir Na Nog, or in some cases simply a universe parallel to our own. Wherever it is, the Celtic Otherworld is a happier place than Earth. Though physically it closely resembles the world in which we live, everything is peaceful and healthy, people are joyful and there is no pain.

As with many aspects of Neo-Pagan and Wiccan spiritual practices, issues of the afterlife are largely left to the specific tradition or individual. This is partly due to the fact that Wicca does not have a "bible" to guide the witch in matters of faith, such as the afterlife, and partly to do with the fact that modern Wicca is still a young religion. While those who are Wiccan share adherence to The Wiccan Rede and The Threefold Law, they are not necessarily bidden to share any other particular beliefs.

Silver Wolf's Lair has the most complete discussion of a particularly Wiccan viewpoint on the afterlife I have seen and rather than attempt to recreate their collection of information, I will merely point you to them: The Afterlife: The Wiccan Viewpoint.

Pagans place significant emphasis on our exercise of free will, and this extends to beliefs about the afterlife. As opposed to the Buddhist idea that we continue to be reincarnated until we reach enlightenment, after which our souls will be free, many Pagans believe that we choose to reincarnate and that we select our new life for the lessons we know we need to learn and that our new incarnation will stand to teach us. One prevailing attitude among many Pagans is that to spend too much time thinking about what will happen in the afterlife takes our attention away from what we are doing with THIS life. It's an intriguing idea.

On the subject of reincarnation, I am reminded of a funny story. A dear friend of mine - witch, tarot teacher, pan-pantheon goddess worshipper - was addressing one evening the belief that many fundamentalist Christians seem to be sporting that the world is about to meet its end. By way of reassuring the assembled company that this was anywhere from near the truth, he pointed out that in order for the world to come to an end, all of its souls would have to reach enlightenment at precisely the same moment. And, he continued, with the current batch of souls we have running the US government, there was hardly any chance that EVERY soul currently on Earth would be attaining enlightenment for quite some time to come.

In setting out to write this post for A Pagan Sojourn, it became clear to me that beyond my own point of view I knew very little about what Wiccans believe about the afterlife. I turned to Witches' Voice as a source of information and inspiration, and there found a number of excellent essays on the topic:

Nietzschean Existential Panentheism
Author: RuneWolf

...we cannot look to the fanciful rewards of an afterlife that may or may not exist – we need to live life here and now, the good and the bad, the bitter and the sweet, the pleasant and the painful. We need to face life, not try to pray it or spell it away, and facing life means taking responsibility for our actions, and not trying to find a scapegoat on whom to hang the responsibility when “stuff happens, ” as it often will in an “implacable universe.” This, of course, leads right into the Existentialist part, again reinforcing the birthright and power of human freedom, choice and responsibility.

Living In The Summerlands: A Treatise On Reincarnation And Life
Author: Ashtaroth

Well, Carpe Diem! I believe that the purpose of life is to live. Isn’t that simple? To live in abundance, in love and magic, to celebrate the life around us and to celebrate every day that we experience – that is the point. Recall the charge of the Goddess as written by Doreen Valiente: “Let My worship be in the heart that rejoices, for behold – all acts of love and pleasure are my rituals.” Those rituals are the actions that we perform in the Eden that we create every day.

Knockin' on Heaven's Door
Author: Diotima Mantineia

There may [be] some Pagans . . . who simply [substitute] the Summerland or Valhalla for heaven . . . but Pagans, most of whom have some kind of psychic training, generally understand the reality of the non-physical better than most. As a group, we also tend to be well read, computer-literate, and have a better-than-the-average-bear's understanding of current scientific knowledge. Our mythology, rituals, and stories reflect this knowledge, as they reflect an understanding of the Infinite that comes only from inner experience. It is a measure of the sophistication of Pagan thought that our belief systems seek to incorporate the discoveries of science, not deny them. For the majority of Pagans, physical reality and spiritual reality are seen as intertwined, not as two separate realms.

Here's a memo for those who are looking for a manifest heaven: You are not defined by your body, mind, thoughts or emotions. You are able to be physical because you are ultimately not physical. You are a creator, part of God/Goddess/All That Is, and you...yes, you...can create all the heaven you need with just what's inside you. Welcome to the real world. Welcome to heaven's door.

I Came Back For The Coffee
Author: Gilamere

. . . why would I come back? I would come back because I have hope and faith in people, in the Spirits and Gods, in Creation, and the Creator/trix. I love life. I love the simple things about life, the feel of being all comfy and cozy in bed in the mornings, a good cup of coffee, having a laugh with a friend, making love, experiencing the seasons come and go. I would come back, because I am part of creation no matter what I do. I want to take part in it, and step up to the plate of life. To honor those who leave this plane, and those who are newly born into it, to teach, and be taught, to love, and struggle, this is all life and to be part of that is one of greatest things I could do.

Posted by Angela-Eloise at 8:35 PM | Comments (0)

Today, Cafe Astrology says that this is what the Stars have in store for us:

The Moon is in Taurus all day. and we are motivated by the desire for serenity, security, peace, and comfort. The Moon is at her most sensual and constant in Taurus. However, the Moon squares the Leo Sun tonight. The Last Quarter Moon phase points to a crisis of consciousness, of sorts. After basking in the awareness symbolized by the full light of the Moon at the time of last week's Full Moon, we disperse our knowledge and come to a point when we need to sort out what works for us—and what doesn't—in preparation for next week's New Moon, when something new is born once again. This is not the best time to start a major project, as the decreasing light of the Moon symbolizes a descent into unconsciousness. It's time to begin finishing up the details of that which was conceived at the last New Moon on July 25th.

How this is manifesting chez moi? That Taurean desire for comfort is being translated as an utter lack of desire to get out of my pajamas (I'm a Taurus, btw). Glad to hear I'm not supposed to start any new projects, but forget finishing old ones! I can't seem to muster the energy today to do much of anything. Unconsciousness indeed. Maybe I'll just go back to bed!

Posted by Angela-Eloise at 11:31 AM | Comments (3)

Okay, so I needed a little fun on a Monday afternoon (along with a cool glass of rosé).

stolen from heima.

1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the next four sentences on your blog, along with these instructions.
5. Don't you dare dig for that "cool" or "intellectual" book in your closet! I know you were thinking about it! Just pick up whatever is closest.
6. Tag five people.

The Urban Primitive, by Raven Kaldera & Tannin Schwartzstein

The shield sign supposedly belonged to a "lost tribe" of Africa; apparently the neighboring peoples still see this symbol marked into stone or wood, but they claim to know nothing about the lost tribe's history. This is unusual, since the people that we know as the Yoruba and the tribes they conquered kept extensive oral histories that are still used, but this one tribe has been effectively erased from living memory, so that tattoo is a reminder to me of fate.

Over my left breast I have a picture of Chiron the centaur, teacher of many famous heroes, instructing a woman in the use of a lyre; it symbolizes lyrical poetry and the arts. I focus on this tattoo when I have to do a difficult artistic work.

Coincidence? You know me better than that!

Posted by Angela-Eloise at 5:30 PM | Comments (4)

Cross-posted at A Pagan Sojourn.

The practice of Pagan faith holds at its core a reverence for nature. The very word pagan means "of the earth" and generally referred to peoples who lived on, with and from the land and honored and celebrated the spirits they perceived as dwelling within. Pagans lived on every continent around the Earth and from them we draw on a rich multiplicity of myths and spiritual traditions to inform our more modern religious philosophies and practices.

For the most part, once nomadic tribes turned to a more agrarian way of life, early Pagan traditions centered around the peoples' dependence upon the seasonal cycles of the earth to provide sustenance. Many Pagan gods and goddesses had dominion over these cycles of nature and ancient peoples developed customs and rituals designed to appeal to and please these deities. In some traditions, there also was a certain belief that performing these rituals held a custodial purpose - that if the people did not perform the various rites associated with the growth and harvest seasons that the the wheel of the year would cease to turn and life on earth would cease to exist.

Here I must say that Neo-Pagan faiths include modern interpretations of many different ancient cultures and traditions. While they share a number of similarities, each has its own unique approach to ritual, deity and nature worship. Although I certainly have read about other pantheons and traditions, I can't presume to speak with any intelligence about any Pagan practices other than my own. As a Wiccan, most of what informs my practice is based on Western European traditions in general and many rituals are Celtic in particular.

The Earth's seasonal cycles are what the modern Wiccan Wheel of the Year is based on and they create the eight sacred holidays, Sabbats, that most witches observe: Yule (winter solstice), Imbolc, Ostara (vernal equinox), Beltane, Litha (summer solstice), Lughnasadh, Mabon (autumn equinox), and Samhain. Each one represents a different stage in the Sun's movement around the Earth and a different place in the agricultural cycle. Now that most of us are not personally farming the land to provide our food, the meanings behind creation of life, planting seeds, nurturing growth, harvest, and destruction so that the cycle can begin again take on a more symbolic tenor. We see these cycles in nature as metaphors for our own spiritual growth and for the journey of the soul.

Beyond the observance of holidays based on the cycles of nature, Pagans in general and Wiccans specifically believe that everything in nature is imbued with divine spirit. Many see the Earth as Mother Gaea, from whom all life comes. Animals, trees, flowers, rocks all possess energy and are connected as part of the web that makes up the universe and contains the divine spirit. It seems to be an almost Buddhist belief that we are all one small part of a larger whole. A responsible Wiccan acknowledges the divine in nature and expresses appropriate respect and gratitude in all aspects of spiritual practice. This may take the form of calling upon the elements to aid in the performance of a ritual and it may be as simple as pausing to offer thanks to the spirit of the food we eat for giving of itself to nurture our body. It is this deeply-felt reverence for the Earth as Divine Mother that leads many Pagans and Wiccans to become environmental activists.

Yet another Wiccan view of nature is the magickal correspondence that all things possess. Everyone has heard of witches working with herbs, mixing potions, wearing crystals, evoking animal totems. This calling upon and working with the spirit and the essence of plants, minerals, and animals to aid in our magickal work is part of the science and art of spellcraft. For a witch, a spell is something of an active prayer; it is the use of energy to direct one's will to manifest change. Asking nature to aid our magick by adding its energy to our own gives our spells more power and knowing the correct correspondences to use makes our magick more accurate. As I learned how to perform spells, my teacher encouraged me to meditate and experiment with various elements and spirits from nature to determine those that would best resonate with my own energy and to develop my own relationships with the nature spirits around me. It is far more likely that spirits with whom a witch has developed a personal connection through the investment of her own time will be able and willing to aid in the manifestation of her will. And as with any contact that we have with nature, Wiccans approach nature spirits with the greatest humility, gratitude and reverence when we ask for their aid with our magickal work.

Posted by Angela-Eloise at 2:14 PM | Comments (2)

When I saw this photograph, it struck me first as an amazing, beautiful image. (Frankly, I wondered what kind of camera the photographer was using to capture such a remarkably detailed portrait of this skipper butterfly on a sunflower.) Since the sunflower is an image associated with our recent Full Moon, the timing seemed particularly significant. It also made me think about the butterfly's magickal powers and what it represents as a totem animal.

Photo by Robin Loznak of the Great Falls Tribune appeared in SFGate's Day in Pictures.

Throughout history the butterfly has been admired for its delicate beauty. As a creature that undergoes a dramatic and complete physical metamorphosis, the butterfly as a symbol for transformation is obvious and universal and it is a powerful character in myth and religion. For early Christians, it represented the soul itself. In China it symbolized conjugal bliss and joy. Native Americans call upon the butterfly for guidance in change, color, and happiness.

Scientific research has shown that the butterfly is the only living being capable of entirely changing its genetic structure during the process of transformation: the caterpillar's DNA is totally different from the butterfly's. This suggests that the butterfly's magick allows us to make a total transformation - to literally change from one being to another. The implication of this for us as spiritual beings is profound.

The butterfly is a symbol of freedom and creativity. It holds the gift of transformation and soul evolution. A butterfly represents a need for change and greater freedom, and at the same time it represents courage: one requires courage to carry out the changes necessary in the process of growth. The butterfly's magick is related to the air and the mental powers. It teaches us to find clarity in the mental processes, to organize projects or to figure out the next step in our internal growth.

If the butterfly is your power animal or if you feel in any way attracted to it, this means you are ready to undergo some kind of transformation. When a butterfly appears to you, make note of the most important issues confronting you at the moment. What state of change are you experiencing in regard to them? Examine which stage in a butterfly's life that resonates with you the most:

The egg is the beginning, the birth of some project or idea - think of the Aces of the tarot and their symbolism as gifts or seeds for a new beginning. The larva is the decision to manifest something in the physical world - think of the Seven of Pentacles, which represents our diligent work towards creating something for ourselves. The cocoon has to do with "going inside", either through insight or the nurturing of the project or idea - think of the Hermit, whose light illuminates that which is within and guides us through personal transformation. The breaking of the cocoon deals with sharing the splendor of your creation with the whole world - think of The Sun as it represents basking in the glory of our accomplishments and the soul's happiness. Once you understand the stage of the butterfly's life that you are sharing, you can discover which is the next step to make in the completion of your own journey.

If you are going through changes or transitions in your life right now, study the butterfly to make these changes beneficial, joyful, and rewarding. All change is good - even if it may not seem so at the time. Change is what life is made of and is necessary for growth and accomplishment.

To the Native Americans the butterfly is a symbol of joy. Butterflies remind us not to take life so seriously. They feed on flowers, aiding pollination thereby further spreading beauty. They represent the element of air, quickly changing and ever moving, so graceful. Butterflies are messengers of the moment. They come in a variety of colors. To understand the message that the butterfly holds for you, a study of its colors can be helpful.

Butterflies have a pair of large compound oval eyes made up of thousands of individual lenses. They can see a single image clearly and are able to perceive ultraviolet wavelengths of light. This suggests clairvoyant abilities for those who hold this totem.

The antennae of the butterfly have small knobs on each end, which are believed to play a role in orientation. When one antenna is missing the butterfly will fly in circles, unable to find its way. Those with this medicine need to stay consciously connected to spirit at all times in order to arrive at their desired destination.

Whenever an eco system is damaged, the butterfly is usually the first to leave. Butterflies are especially sensitive to the harmony of the earth. If a butterfly comes to you in a hurt, trapped or ill way, you are being asked to stop disturbing the natural design of life and to flow with events in a more gentle, natural way.

Posted by Angela-Eloise at 2:20 PM | Comments (3)

For the uninitiated among you, Mark Morford is a wonderfully irreverent, wickedly humorous and uncommonly clever guy who writes a column for the online version of the San Francisco Chronicle, SFGate.com. He certainly embraces the refreshingly open, wacky and inclusive vibe that you come to recognize if you have ever spent any time living in San Francisco.

sigh I miss it so much.

Tonight I read his most recent column and it was one of the most thought-provoking things I've read in a while. Ostensibly about China's horrifically brutal killing of thousands of dogs to stave off a rabies epidemic, it reveals itself to be a beautifully crafted question about which lives are okay to take and which deaths should be cause for our horror and righteous indignation.

We know this much: There appears to be a line somewhere. We all seem to sense it, though no one can quite put a finger on it. We know this line speaks to us as a supposedly enlightened species, as the creatures with the most advanced brains and (presumably) most nimble and sophisticated souls.

But if we're honest, it makes us all a little uneasy, a little uncomfortable as the line often seems to demarcate not how enlightened we are but how far we truly seem to be from any sort of true evolution or advancement of spirit. Because so far, the best we as a species seem to have come up with is this: Do not kill innocent things in broad daylight with large sticks.

The rest is, to say the least, still more than a little murky.

READ ME

Posted by Angela-Eloise at 11:06 PM | Comments (1)

Tonight we will have a Full Moon in Aquarius. The Full Moon is a time of culmination and the promise of fulfillment of that which was started at the New Moon. Our last New Moon (in Leo) fell during a Mercury Retrograde and many people may not have been starting new endeavors at that time, but working to complete those already in motion or revisiting old projects or issues. In any case, looking to what was happening at the time of the New Moon gives us a clue about what will be manifesting now.

Image by Ereshkigal at deviantART

It's always interesting to me when the Full Moon, essentially an emotional time full of romance, fertilization, and relationships, falls under the influence of a sign whose energy is more intellectual and less personal. Aquarius is just such a sign. While the Moon is in Aquarius, public affairs become more important, with an increased interest in social welfare. This is a time that promotes social gatherings, dealing with group ideals and goals for the future, brainstorming, new ideas, and progressive changes. We are open to new methods of doing things and we have our eye on the future. The Aquarian energy of this Full Moon brings the desire for freedom, we are lured by the innovative and unconventional, and we have an instinctive need for improvement. It can be hard to stick to schedules now, as personal freedom is most important to us.

Perhaps the best way we can utilize the intense energy of the Full Moon in Aquarius is to find ways to express our love for our communities, both local and global. Now would be a wonderful time to make plans to become more politically active and to generate ideas for bringing other sorts of progressive change into our lives.

The August Full Moon is known as the Grain Moon, Green Corn Moon, Wyrt Moon, Moon of Encirclement and Moon of Polarity.

Spell Work

The Moon will be completely full at 6:54 am EDT. Although the Moon technically will still be waxing at Midnight tonight, that would be the perfect time to use the building Full Moon energy for spell work, especially for anything that you want to build or bring into being. Some things to keep in mind when planning your Full Moon magick: After 6:54 am the Moon will begin to wane, so if you wish to use the Full Moon energy for any spells that have to do with releasing or banishing something, plan to perform them during the day on Wednesday after 7 am. But the Moon goes void of course at 6:58 pm so you'll want to have your spell work completed by then.

During the Full Moon, the Moon's energy is considered to be at it's maximum and magickal powers are at their greatest. This is the perfect time for spells that increase psychic abilities and fertility, for divination and problem solving. With the Moon full and bright in the sky, symbolic illumination occurs in our own lives.

Since Aquarius rules the ankles, the circulation, the electrical forces in the body and the nervous system, this Full Moon is a good time for healing spells pertaining to these parts of the body. During the remaining Waxing hours leading up to the Full Moon, it also is a good time for performing spells to bring luck to unusual or radical undertakings, social pursuits, and group projects, trying something new, or joining a group. The Celts believed that the August Full Moon was a good time to work magick for animals, protection and prophecy.

Correspondences

Some common correspondences with the August Full Moon are listed below.

Deities: Ganesha, Thoth, Hator, Diana, Hecate, Nemesis

Nature Spirits: dryads

Sunflower by enchantedraisin at deviantART

Herbs: chamomile, St. John's wort, bay, angelica, fennel, rue, orange

Colors: yellow, gold

Flowers: sunflower, marigold

Scents: frankincense, heliotrope

Stones: cat's eyes, carnelian, jasper, fire agate

Trees: hazel, alder, cedar

Animals: lion, phoenix, sphinx, dragon

Birds: crane, falcon, eagle

Power Flow: energy into harvesting; gathering, appreciating. Vitality, health. Friendships.

Posted by Angela-Eloise at 4:50 PM | Comments (1)

One of the things that I struggle with daily is treating myself with the respect I deserve - recognizing the divine within myself. So this struck me with particular power when I read it among the book quotes at zaadz.

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.

We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be?

You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.

It's not just in some of us, it's in everyone.

And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

from A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of "A Course in Miracles" by Marianne Williamson

Posted by Angela-Eloise at 7:33 PM | Comments (2)

Describe your preferred symbol of spirituality (pentacle, celtic cross, triquerta, etc). Explain what it means to you.

As a witch, the pentacle is my primary spiritual symbol. For me, the five points of the star represent the four elements (earth, air, fire, water) and spirit. The star is also an unending knot, like a Celtic knot, that represents the unending connectedness that we all share. The five points also represent fivefold divinity: the triple aspect of the goddess and the gods of light and darkness. The circle that encompasses it represents the world, the universe and our place within it. It also represents the creative force, great spirit and divine mind.

My teacher, Christopher Penczak likes to place Magicians, Messengers, Tricksters and Travlers in the center of the pentagram. He says that these beings are the walkers between the worlds and that they represent the change between lightness and light and darkness and death, passing from from one realm to another. In nature, there is a time of light and a time of dark, literally and symbolically. With the fivefold divinity and the walker between the worlds, the archetypal beings manifest, and from the archetypal beings come the godforms, the deities of pagan mythology.

Within a magickal context, the pentacle is very powerful energetically. It can contain the energy that we need to use for healing and manifesting positive change and it can protect us against energy that would harm us. We can use it to invoke or to banish

In the tradition of the craft I am studying, it is customary to receive a pentacle pendant after completion of the first stage of training and a pentacle ring after the second stage. (Since that is as far as I've gone with my formal classes, I don't know what comes after stages 3, 4 and 5.)

Here is a great article on the meaning and history of the pentacle.

The Blogickal triskelion.

Christopher's teachings take a very open approach to the craft and leave us lots of room to explore and incorporate those things in our practice of the craft that have the most power and meaning for us. Over time, there are other symbols that have come to resonate strongly with me: the triskelion and the spiral. As I discover more and more about my hereditary connection to ancient Celts and Picts, these symbols' significant presence in Celtic mythology gives them more meaning for me.

The triskelion is the Celtic triple spiral, or triskele, and is sometimes called the spiral of life. The triple spiral is an ancient symbol of Celtic beliefs, and was used consistently in Celtic art for three millenia. The Celts believed that all life moved in eternal cycles, regenerating at each point. Celts also believed that all important things came in three phases, for example: birth, death, and rebirth; or mind, body, and spirit. In neopagan religions, the triple spiral is also used to represent the triple goddess.

Spiral courtesy of Phillippe Wautelet

The spiral is the most common shape in nature and is an ancient spiritual symbol of growth and evolution. Spirals occur naturally in shells, galaxies, DNA, whirlpools and countless other instances, and the human history of the shape stretches back beyond the ancient Celts and Greeks. In two dimensions, a spiral is a curve that winds around a fixed point at a continuously increasing or decreasing distance from that point. Thus the spiral represents the bringing forth of life from a central point as it unwinds, or a return to the center of creation in the other direction. In this latter aspect it embodies the labyrinth that leads to the divine center.

As a symbol of evolution, self-transformation and the forces and patterns underlying creation, the spiral is becoming increasingly important to me as I enter a phase in my life where I am seeking to transform myself and create the person I am destined and hope to become.

Thank you to Witches Weekly for the Q&A.

Posted by Angela-Eloise at 10:18 AM | Comments (3)

Someone somewhere said that Woody Allen's new film, Scoop, is likely to be of little interest to anyone but tarot enthusiasts. Well, that person obviously didn't actually see the film before making that comment because, for one thing, tarot is a decidedly minor character in this story.

The plot, such that it is, revolves around a young journalism student (Scarlett Johannson) who is given the scoop of her life when the ghost of a veteran reporter visits her in the middle of a cheap disappearting act being performed by hack stage magician, Splendini (Woody Allen). He gives her the name of the Tarot Card Killer, a notorious serial killer, who just happens to be the son of a Lord, and tells her to go break the story.

Sound silly? It is. But it is my personal belief that not all movies have to be plot-driven in order to be good. And despite what a few reviewers have had to say about this film, it is. Good. And funny as all hell.

Funny like you walk out wanting to tell your friends its best lines. Funny like you're walking down the street and remember a moment and start laughing like an idiot. - Mick LaSalle, Movie Critic, San Francisco Chronicle

I'll say! This is one of those movies that you have to see at least twice because you were so busy laughing the first time you missed some of the lines. Like these:

I was born into the Hebrew persuasion, but when I got older I converted to Narcissism.

You may be dead, but that's no reason to be disillusioned.

Hugh Jackman, as the suspect and love interest, is given little more to do than to stand around and kiss Scarlett Johannson, which was perfectly fine with me. I'll take eye candy like Hugh Jackman any time.

Now, let me go check to see when the next show time is.

Posted by Angela-Eloise at 11:01 AM | Comments (1)

That Anne Johnson at The Gods Are Bored is one smart cookie. Her Lughnasadh post today brought up a most excellent point:

So, if I may be so bold as to predict why Green Corn and Lughnasahd evolved into such revelry-filled events, it's because you can't always count on a harvest, and when you get a good one, you are as relieved as all bloody git-out.

I come from a long line of hillbilly farmers, and they were a fretful bunch indeed until they got the hay made and the apples picked.

The point of this rambling? We're a nation that takes harvests for granted in an era when we should be fretting. Those amber waves of grain may be baked before they leave the field. And the corn'll be as high as a jackrabbit's eye.

If we keep on hacking down forests and pumping CO2 into the air, a Lughnasahd may arrive with no barley.

Are we smart enough to keep that from happening?

Are we indeed. What do you think? Have you seen An Inconvenient Truth yet?

Today, in Lionette's Market, the neighborhood market where I spend way too much of my money, they were displaying a card from The Food Project encouraging people to EAT LOCAL. They host numerous Slow Food events throughout the year and do a lot to support local farmers and to promote sustainable and organic sources of produce and meat. This is one reason why I don't mind spending a little extra to support them - they share my beliefs about where food should come from and how it should be raised and grown.

Lionette's has some beautiful organic blueberries. I'm going to use them to try my hand at making blaeberrry jam for Lughnasadh.

Imagine no blueberries. Imagine no grain. Imagine no harvest. Tailtiu help us save our planet so we can save the harvest.

Posted by Angela-Eloise at 4:04 PM | Comments (1)

The Hills of the Heart

In the hollows of quiet places we may meet,
the quiet places where is neither moon nor sun,
but only the light of amer and pale gold
that comes from the Hills of the Heart.

There, listen at times,
there you will call,
and I hear.

There will I whisper,
and that whisper will come to you,
as dew is gathered into the grass,
at the rising of the moon.

Fiona MacLeod

Posted by Angela-Eloise at 10:23 AM | Comments (0)