I have been so consumed with moving plans that I completely forgot that tomorrow is Lammas until I read this post from Hecate. I'm feeling like a very bad, bad witch these days. May I refer to my posts one, two, three and four from last year?

One of my favorite comments on the spiritual side of this Sabbat, also known as Lughnasadh, comes from Christina Aubin at Witchvox in herLughnasadh Overview:

Lughnasadh is a time of personal reflection and harvest, of our actions and deeds, events and experiences, our gains and losses. A time when we begin the cycle of reflection of that which is our life. A period for personal fertility magic to ensure the bountiful harvest of life's gifts and experiences, that which we have reaped though trial, tribulation, enjoyment, joy, love and loss. As my Elder once said to me, "We can not know what we have not experienced." Such is the truth of life - we become not by chance but by experience. Each experience opens a window into ourselves, into who we were, who we are, and whom we are choosing to become.

I am about to embark upon a new phase of my life wherein I am placing my faith in the very idea that "we can not know what we have not experienced." I am hoping to move into a phase of great personal abundance, full of enjoyment, joy and love.

I also find this part of Lughnasadh tradition, as provided by Celtic Spirit, particularly intriguing given current circumstances:

This was also an occasion for handfasting, or trial marriages. Young men and women lined up on either side of a wooden gate in a high wall, in which a hole was carved, large enough for a hand. One by one, girl and boy would grasp a hand in the hole, without being able to see who was on the other side. They were now married, and could live together for year and day to see if it worked out. If not, the couple returned to next year’s gathering and officially separated by standing back to back and walking away from each other.

I know very well who is on the other side, without the protocol of grasping a hand in a hole. I do hope that our relationship is successful for more than a year and a day!

In the midst of my hectic schedule, I will make sure to take time tomorrow to offer blessings to those forces who have supported me along the path to reaching this personal harvest. Wishing everyone happiness and abundance at this blessed time of year.

More about Lughnasadh:

At Lammas, also called Lughnasadh, the hot days of August are upon us, much of the earth is dry and parched, but we still know that the bright reds and yellows of the harvest season are just around the corner. Apples are beginning to ripen in the trees, our summer vegetables have been picked, corn is tall and green, waiting for us to come gather the bounty of the crop fields. Now is the time to begin reaping what we have sown, and gathering up the first harvests of grain, wheat, oats, and more.
This holiday can be celebrated either as a way to honor the god Lugh, or as a celebration of the harvest. Grain has held a place of importance in civilization back nearly to the beginning of time.

Grain became associated with the cycle of death and rebirth. The Sumerian god Tammuz was slain and his lover Ishtar grieved so heartily that nature stopped producing. Ishtar mourned Tammuz, and followed him to the Underworld to bring him back, similar to the story of Demeter and Persephone.

In Greek legend, the grain god was Adonis. Two goddesses, Aphrodite and Persephone, battled for his love. To end the fighting, Zeus ordered Adonis to spend six months with Persephone in the Underworld, and the rest with Aphrodite.

By celebrating Lammas as a harvest holiday, we honor our ancestors and the hard work they must have had to do in order to survive. This is a good time to give thanks for the abundance we have in our lives, and to be grateful for the food on our tables. Lammas is a time of transformation, of rebirth and new beginnings.

Posted by Angela-Eloise at 8:52 PM | Comments (0)

When I was once in the process of losing weight, a sister witch cautioned me against getting too thin. I would, she insisted, lose too much chi should I lose too much weight. While being a size two might be the fashion ideal, what would losing enough of myself to achieve that aesthetic goal do to the integrity of my magickal self? Much like many an opera singer believed that having a massive body provided a better home for the instrument of the voice, is there something to the idea that the kind of physical body we manifest has the power to affect our magickal selves?

As a Wiccan I subscribe to the philosophy that the divine is found in everything, including ourselves. From that perspective it is important to remember that our bodies are deserving of as much respect as we would give any other divine space. It’s certainly easier for me to be mindful of what I’m eating when I think of my body this way - I want to be healthy both to feel good and also to honor my own divinity. This has not so much to do with the size of my body as with the quality of what I put into it. It's easy to extend this approach to more than healthy eating. One could argue that maintaining good physical fitness, minimizing stress, and addressing other bodily concerns are essential parts of maintaining a healthy home for the divine that lives within us. This then leads to another question. Once we've made suitable temples of our bodies, do they serve as more effective vessels for magick? Are we better witches with better bodies? And what, then, is the definition of better?

Two of my favorite bloggers have written lately about the issues of body image and the connection between our spiritual selves and our physical bodies.

Slade Roberson at Shift Your Spirits invited a guest blogger, Kara-Leah Masina, to discuss Understanding How You Manifest Your Physical Body Kara-Leah writes:

Our bodies will always seek balance - when they are too hot, they crave a cold drink. Too cold and they want a warm fire. We can understand and appreciate this on this physical level.

But our bodies are always moving through the different elements:
- earth (physical body)
- air (mental body)
- fire (energetic body)
- water (emotional body)

By knowing where you are, you know how to balance yourself.

- If you are too much in the energetic body - as can happen if kundalini is active for example - taking a bath draws the excess energy off.

- If you’re too much in the mental body and need to ground, anything that connects with the physical body is useful - eating, walking, sitting on a big rock.

- If you’re overwhelmed with emotions, you often reach for the comfort food because you need to have something solid to ground yourself. But just as effective is to ground via a walk, or to fire up some energy and turn the water into steam by running, cycling, or dancing. Using the mind is also an effective way to get out of the emotions - so many of us pour ourselves into our work rather than face our emotions.

- If you’re feeling lethargic and dull, all earthed out, then you need to fire yourself up and get the energy flowing - you don’t feel like moving, but when you do, the energy moves within you.

The key is balance, each of the elements equally represented and supporting the fifth element - ether, our soul. In this way, a balanced person can be walking with a friend, talking, and sharing emotions. The physical body is engaged, the mind, the heart and the energy ... all is present.

Witches work with the elements all the time; these concepts should have been self-evident. But for me there were serious revelations in Kara-Leah's straight-forward ideas. Even though I'm acutely aware of achieving elemental balance in my surroundings through the use of feng shui and of building elemental balance into spell work, I had never considered the importance of manifesting elemental balance in the physical body. It makes perfect sense. Not only does balancing the elements in the body help us to be physically and spiritually healthier, it provides a solid foundation for functioning more effectively as a magickal being.

Dianne Sylvan, who devoted an entire book to the subject in The Body Sacred, recently shared this poem in a post on her blog Dancing Down the Moon. I love this part:

That fat girl you're looking down on

As the two of you walk by

Is a Goddess of Earth and Fire

Calmly eating her sundae

Licking the spoon

In a way you'll never be licked.

She is laughing at you, boy,

You can feel her crawl up your spine

To breathe a silken "Fuck off" in your ear

She has better things to think about

than your views on dessert

She is softer and stronger than Tinker Toys

far more likely to break you than be broken

She has a universe inside her

You would bow down and pray to

If you were man enough

To look her in the eye.

This certainly supports my friend's belief that a small body would make a poor container for the "universe."

I now understand that the key to manifesting a magickal body is not about size, but balance. It's about achieving physical health as a channel for spiritual health. It's about creating the shape that's most powerful and effective as a vessel for your magick, and that shape will be different for every witch.

Thinking about the body this way is liberating, letting us appreciate that the best body is one that can support us in the work we need and want to do. It also changes how we define "healthy body image" because it expands the evaluation criteria beyond self confidence and acceptance to include magickal appropriateness.

My point is that I believe, as witches, it's important to think about how the physical manifestation of our bodies affects how we function magickally. For some that may mean losing weight so that Earth isn't keeping the witch from accessing the full power of other elements. For others, like the woman Dianne Sylvan describes in her poem, divine power comes from reveling in the body she has, even if others don't appreciate it. We choose what is right for us, guided as we are in so many things by striving for that which best reflects our highest Will. As above, so below. As within, so without.

Posted by Angela-Eloise at 11:13 PM | Comments (4)

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Book 7)

Posted by Angela-Eloise at 9:18 AM | Comments (1)

Saturday's New Moon in Cancer signals a fresh cycle of peace and transformation. Cancer is an emotional, sensitive, and caring water sign and a Moon in Cancer brings much healing potential. Emotional security, a sense of belonging and nurturing are all issues we experience now, and domestic activities - things that involve awareness of personal needs, home decor, and family get-togethers - are of particular interest. Feelings run deep and our intuition is strong, making this an ideal time to get in touch with what motivates us.

The New Moon in Cancer is a good time to commit to personal goals that express Cancer's positive energies. These include honoring our deepest, most irrational, and intimate feelings; recognizing the sense of security and safety we derive from whatever it is we call home; allowing ourselves to accept support and offering support to others; and starting projects aimed at improving our domestic lives. With this potent Cancer energy, we have the chance to make important changes in our lives that will benefit us well beyond this Moon cycle.

The sign of Cancer rules the fourth house in Astrology, which concerns family and the home. On this New Moon, and in the coming month when the Moon is Waxing, we should concentrate on new ways to enhance family life and domestic affairs, and to build feelings of security and safety. This might include home improvements and other physical transformations like organizing, painting, and redecorating. It could represent a golden opportunity to enhance family life in other ways, like finally taking the step to move in together or improving relationships with family members by taking a risk to reveal feelings. Security and safety mean different things to different people, but whatever is important to you, this lunar energy has the power to support you.

This entire upcoming lunar cycle is excellent for healing baths, purification, a trip to the sea, and appreciation of family and loved ones. Even simple things like cleaning up, putting a vase of fresh flowers in your home or office, or lighting a white candle can yield significant results. It's a wonderful time for blessing home and loved ones.

Once again I find myself in the position of having a perfect lunation for magick that is oh-so-relative to what is going on in my life but experiencing circumstances that are not quite so perfect. The question is, can I lasso the power of tomorrow's New Moon in Cancer? Of course I can!

I want to work magick that will support healing and success for a relationship and a new living situation. Shall I charge a vial of salt water? Make a charm of a piece of moonstone and herbs in a silver bag? Create a sigil? Any of these options would work. The keys to success are in choosing which option will best serve my purposes in terms of later use and in working the magick at the optimal time. The New Moon occurs at 8:04 am EDT on July 14. Once I decide the form that will best hold it's energy, I will assemble my materials and create a sacred circle within which I will call down the New Moon and work my magick to save its power for later. Since I want to manifest something, I'll start at 8:04 and work into the Waxing part of the New Moon cycle.

This magick doesn't have to be complex but to make it most effective it is important to choose items whose correspondences are most closely aligned with the intent and with the energy to be captured. So, what are Cancer's correspondences? What things are associated with new beginnings? With manifesting? Relationships? Home? You see where I'm going? The trick is to decide what is most important to you and to choose what best represents the aspects of the New Moon in Cancer that you hope to use for your magick.

There are any number of websites that offer lists of magickal correspondences. Spelwerx is one of my favorites. Of course there are many books on the subject of correspondences as well. On my wish list? The Complete Magician's Tables by Stephen Skinner.

May you lasso a New Moon full of the Crabbiest peace, love and blessings. (And I mean that in the best way possible!)

Posted by Angela-Eloise at 8:59 PM | Comments (0)

I had a lovely time with my family in Tucson. It was nice to have some time with my father and mostly we just hung out around the house. My twelve-year-old cousin once removed and I were the "kids" so I spent a lot of time playing in the pool and listening to stories about horror movies and boys. I was deemed appropriately cool. My aunt and I got up early most mornings (the only time of day when it was tolerable) to go walking/hiking on a nearby trail. One morning we saw two families of quail - teeny little quail babies are very cute. We also saw mule deer, lots of lizards and birds, mercifully no rattlesnakes. Before I arrived my aunt had fished two scorpions out of the pool and I spent the few days I was there terrified one was going to bite me (I never saw any others than the dead ones my aunt carried around in a baggie and trotted out to scare me.) One day we all went to the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum, a zoo, natural history museum and botanical garden all in one. It's a place I remember enjoying as a child and it didn't disappoint this trip, despite the heat. Every day was in the 100's. Tuesday it was 109 and the day I left promised to be just as hot.

Now I'm back on the East Coast. After a brief overnight stopover at my apartment, I'm off to the woods of Connecticut. More hanging out. Different climate, different scenery, different company. Just as enjoyable I anticipate. It's raining now, but the weekend will be warm and sunny. Maybe we'll take the boat out on the lake.

I'm certainly getting my fill of nature this week. And family. And fun. Yay!

Posted by Angela-Eloise at 7:02 AM | Comments (0)