Ignorance

I may be asking for trouble by making this statement but I just needed to vent a little.  I really hate living in area where people are so closed minded and think that Christianity is the only right religion.  An older woman with her granddaughter had the book "Marked" by P.C. Cast and I was saying how much I liked the book and how they explained the Pagan rituals in a way that made it sound not evil and the woman said, "But Pagan rituals are evil."  More later.

Modern Ingredients

There are a lot of Pagans and Witches both, who insist that tools and supplies for magical work should be home-grown, hand made and natural. Metal is kind of in the middle....some tools, like a blade, are acceptable in metal (though some still stick to the fact that you should forge your own blade). Plastic is typically shunned.

I'm kind of on the fence about this one. Some things I really like with natural and more traditional supplies, and some I really embrace our modern equivalents. Part of it is practicality...my BOS is a three ring binder with a canvas cover (the cover was made for school useage, so it has handy pockets in it). Part of it is affordability...I can buy a packet of incense or a bag of tea candles at the store for much less than it would be for me to make my own. Part of it is time...sometimes I use birthday cake candles because I don't have an hour to let the candle burn down.

Don't get me wrong, I love hand made things, and I'm one of those people who likes doing things the long way. I like cooking from scratch, doing crafty type things like making paper or binding books, and even have a strange fascination with sanding wood. But life is hectic and I'd rather do what I need to do then feel I can't do something because I don't have the ideal tools or supplies.

I've found that I love dental floss for things requiring string. It's strong, and I like the fact that you can get it waxed (and mint if that matches what I am doing). I remember a lot of cord magic that I first was exposed to included sealing a working with wax, and to my mind, if the cord is waxed, you have that covered already! Plus, it is easy to tuck away in a purse or small magical kit and have a ready supply on hand without needing a lot of space to carry it.

I love working with birthday candles. They come in lovely colors and are also easy to carry. I have a small 'on the go' kit that has a couple in there. I also keep a few packets of salt (like you get from fast food places) and some chunks of rock salt (which I gathered one winter when I was a teen and a neighbor salted his walk). It's an easy way to have a small amount of salt handy without needing a special container to carry it about in (although I also have two wooden boxes that seal really nicely to carry loose salt in when I need to go out).

I'm not the most herbally oriented person, but everything I use magically comes from my kitchen cabinet. And not just the more traditional sage and rosemary. I think a lot of food has wonderful magical capabilities, from honey to pepper to rice.

In fact, I was thinking about it the other day, talking to a friend who walks a shamanic path and offers up cornmeal and tobacco every morning, but to me cornmeal doesn't have a special significance...rice, however does. I think that is part of the key to approaching modern supplies: think about the meaning behind the item and not just the item itself.

Living with non-witchy types

So I’ve decided to take the next step and move in with my non magically inclined boyfriend. Yay! But after thinking over things as I stare at my altar I must admit that I’m a little apprehensive about it.

The reason for the tiny little butterflies that seem to be having some sort of aerial display in mid-section, Well that would due to the fact that although I’m openly pagan my wonderful boyfriend happens to be an ex-Mormon. Needless to say on some fronts we clash. He has also kinda of adopted a “Don’t ask Don’t tell” policy about my heathen ways, and so far it hasn’t really been an issue. But it got me thinking about how actually living with him is going to change how I practice. Am I going to go back into the proverbial broom closet? Is it going to cause problems in our relationship when I display my obviously witchy artifacts? (By the way please note that we have had this talk but application and theory sometimes do not coincide.) He has says that he no problem with my altar, or me wearing pagan influenced jewelry, But I can’t help but wonder if hanging a broom over the door or smudging the house will make him think twice about living with a witch? How do you all handle the loved ones in your life that just don’t get it?

Letting go of perfection

One of the things I struggled most with, when I was first starting out (and indeed still wrestle with from time to time today), is reconciling my expectations and my experiences. When I read about a new practice, almost always it includes suggestions of what I might experience as I go through the activity. And almost always, my personal experiences are very dissimilar to what was described.

I'm a pretty analytical person in a lot of ways. If someone tells me to close my eyes and imagine a blue triangle, and there is a picture of an equilateral, royal blue triangle, that is what I will try to see. If I end up with an isosceles turquoise triangle, my first response is to try again, to get my mental image to match my expectations.

But I think that one of the great benefits of being a solitary practitioner, is no one can tell me that my triangle is wrong! A lot of what I do has ended up very different from what I first started out practicing. I don't ground envisioning myself as a tree. I have a wand but I rarely use it. I am as likely to cast in the bathroom as I am in a circle in front of my altar.

I don't feel constrained to do the same thing the same way every time I do it. In fact, I have found that if I do things exactly the same, they begin to become rote, and I find myself going through the motions and not investing in them.

Magical practice is a rainbow. We can all look out the window and say "look, there is a rainbow!" We don't separate the red from the green from the blue. The colors bleed together, one to the next, with no set lines and no boundaries. Each one of us is a spot on the rainbow, and we each do things in a slightly different way. My way is a shade off from your way, but we are both part of the rainbow. When we stop trying to be someone else's color, we can grow into our own.

Astral Travel

When I turn into a spirit and start my astral travel,
I hope the angels pick me up and guide into the Light.
On the other side, I'll be strong enough to defy evil,
Flying across the universe into the moonless night.
I'll be searching for the souls of my loved ones
To say how much I missed them, fighting the solitude.
Free from pain, we could soar under the nameless suns.
In selecting bodies we'll be allowed a lot of latitude.
I wish I unchained the souls which had expiated their sins:
They also have a right of the succeeding birth.
I wonder if mutation is harmful to our genes.
If I get back too late, will I find humans on earth?
~ By Aram Stefanian

Dealing with other people's negative energy.

Crystal Prescriptions: The A-Z Guide to Over 1,200 Symptoms and Their Healing CrystalsPatty and I had a wonderful discussion about how to deal with other people's negative energy and it's effect on you yesterday.  She had some wonderful suggests about pulling from the Earth's energy and meditations which have had an interesting effect.  What started the conversation is that I am having a problem with the powerful negative energy from a person living in my house.  Unfortunately circumstances will not really allow for either of us to leave permanently so I needed to find a way of dealing with the negative energy within the situation and within myself.  Surprisingly, today after a wonderful meditation secession I found the this person's energy didn't bother me as much and my naturally strong empathy forces started to play in.  This helped me see this person in a different light which I think will help with dealing with their negative energy.  I was curious as to what other people may have to say about this subject.  Hopefully a lot. :)

What's in a name?

I think that people are predisposed to wanting to label things. We like to know what things are and names give a kind of false sense of security....we feel that if we know the name of something we must understand it.

And yet, there is so much confusion and bickering caused by people using different names for different things, or calling the same thing by different names.

I'm a big fan of names, of titles and of specific words to separate one group from another, but I think it is important to also take a step back and look at the essence of a thing. What really makes it what it is? It's not the name, it's the qualities, the heart of the thing.

One of the biggest arguments I see, and it almost always devolves into a virtual shouting match with hurt feelings on someone's part, is the witch and Wicca debate. There is so much mass media that muddles the two terms, so many books that present a version of Wicca that many people who practice traditional lineaged Wicca disagree with. But for many people out there, that is the only version of Wicca they have been exposed to.

I'm probably not going to be liked much by the BTWs (British Traditional Wiccans), but I think both groups have a claim on the word Wicca. Certainly, lineaged Wicca is the more traditional version, but I think that what some might call neo-Wicca has become it's own thing. What I find interesting is that, the way I understand it, the different lineages of BTW practice things quite differently, so they aren't even really the same, and being able to name (and prove) your lineage is a big thing. So why not let the non-lineaged people call themselves Wiccan?

I also get a bit ruffled when someone tries to tell me I can't be a witch because I don't practice the exact same thing that they do. There are flavors and flavors of witchcraft, and what one does may be quite different from another. This doesn't make one any better, just different.

I know quite a lot of people who practice very different things, the whole range of the occult umbrella. And sometimes it can be very hard to talk between different disciplines because the words we use are so very different. I run into this especially with Ceremonials, who have very specific ways of doing things, with very specific and detailed tools and rituals. I've done some work with some of their rituals, and I don't claim to be an expert by any means, but the Qabalistic Cross feels like grounding and centering for me. Journeying, astral projecting and pathworking are all reflections or variations on the same theme as well.

I think it is vitally important, as we move forward and become a community full of individuals who have a varied and unique practice, that we focus not on what sets us apart but what makes us the same. Look into the heart of things, see their essence and try to connect instead of drawing lines in the sand to show how you (or someone else) is different. It is through these connections that we sometimes find the most growth.

Relax and Bubblemancy

(Sent to me by Papa Oloyade)
People in America are too stressed and focus too hard on everything they do from the mundane to the magical. We often forget that we live in a magical universe giving us symbols and prophesies every where we turn. One of the ways I begin a spiritual counseling is by lying back in a magical cauldron of water, better known as a bath tub. Yes my friends the bath can be a powerful tool, you create an environment of relaxation to open your upper chakras. 
I start out with my essentials I get the water to a warm temperature, light a few candles for ambiance and light. Open my Vosges chocolates (the magical energy in chocolate is both a grounding and energizing energy; it relaxes and allows the dreaming process to begin.) and I pour five drops of Aura Cacia lavender oil and Aura Cacia Lavender bubble bath (Lavender oil is also a good relaxing oil that helps open the third eye). And then as my Grandma use to say, “Zachęcamy do relaksu i zaczyna się sen” or for you non-Poles “Relax and dream.” Pamper yourself and pamper your third eye, and become one with your state of nirvana.
When the peace has come and the dreaming has begun, you will realize that the water is alive and is speaking to you. Those Tiny bubbles have created a mystical library of symbols for divination. When the bubbles die down from that oh so relaxing foam, I begin to ask questions about the person I am counseling. Recently one of my clients was concerned about a legal matter. A tree appeared in the bubbles and a small bird which was flying away from a cloud. This meant do not hide yourself in unknown territory, go to safety where you can gain leverage and perspective on the matter.
I refer to this form of divination as Bubblebathomancy, it is a personal interactive form of the Victorian tea leaf reading, except you become one with the divination and you get chocolate. Half the reason people can not divine is because they are too stressed to see the collage the universe displays. Relax, and become part of the world while you are living in it.

Glorious Spring

Hello Enchantments world.  It is such a beautiful and glorious spring day.  The gods must be happy today.

iPad and ready!!!

Hello everyone!!! I hope you are having a marvelous Friday!! I recently acquired an iPad and today I added the Blogger app!!! YAY!! Which will make posting here MUCH easier! This weekend I have a tattoo convention I will be attending tonight....extreme excitement! I am a tattoo enthusiast and currently working on a sleeve of artwork on my left arm. So I hope to have some fresh ink to add today! If so....pictures to follow ;-)

Saturday I will be at Octagon Hall in Franklin KY helping clean up the place for the upcoming tourist season. Other Side Investigations (O.S.I.) , my paranormal investigation team, has investigated Octagon Hall and it was quite active! So I am looking forward to helping the Civil War spirits that live there have a clean home ;-) If anyone in the area is interested in joining us for the clean up...it starts at 9am. http://www.octagonhall.com/news.php

Sunday I will be heading to the legendary Bobby Mackey's to investigate! Bobby Mackey's is a bar located in Wilder KY but it has a history of death, alleged murder, spirit activity, entities and demonic activity. Among other stories related to the bar, one of the men that used to work there had rented the upstairs apartment became possessed. An exorcism had to be preformed on him....he moved out after that and never returned! Bobby Mackey's bar as been featured on many paranormal tv shows including Ghost Adventures twice on the Travel Ch. Needless to say it should be quite an experience! I have been mentally preparing myself for weeks to go. It's not a place to take lightly as far as paranormal investigations go! I'm looking forward to collecting evident & personal experiences to be had. I will be joining several other well know investigators in the field as well as a few that have been on several TV shows. It's an honor to say the least. So please check back.....I will be blogging about my experience and hopefully post evidence!