What Happens When you Put Down your Books...And Do Magic.

Most people get too hung up on books. We run from one book to the next looking for that magical power, that one perfect ritual, that spell to end all spells. We buy the book waiting for it to come in the post, fantasizing of all the glorious wytchery that will be presented to us. We can hardly wait with excitement of all the secrets that will be revealed as we check our USPS tracking waiting for that glorious day. Then the book arrives. We delve into it, tearing it apart frantically searching for what we have so long been waiting for. Yes, there are many great books out there, but they only become property of the mind. Once the feast of knowledge is complete, it retires to our shelf, where it joins its hundred of companions and awaits it's next new neighbor to arrive in the mail.

We look back at our investment and try to recall what we have taken away. We learned a few new things. The feeroine like this and the Witch God is associated with that. Oh, and I got three new recipes for incense in this one. And the one last week gave me a great oil to mix for banishing negativity.

Then the faithful day comes. A friend and one of her friends shows up at your front door. You've never met the other lady before. She says she's sick but no one can figure out what's wrong with her. She comes to you out of desperation...this is your moment to shine. Your close friend knows that you've been in "this stuff" for years, and you seem like the perfect person to help. I mean after all, you're a witch right. This is what you do.

But as you recall all those recipes, history points, and associations, you think to yourself, "What the hell am I gonna do?" NOTHING in this wall of books has the answer!!!

That's when you have to look deep down inside...and realize where true magic comes from. It doesn't come from all the words on those pages. You don't even think of the thoughts, ideas, and opinions your beloved authors put to paper. They disappear into nothingness as something takes over. As you gaze upon the lady, you feel a calm sensation come over you. An almost trace like state that brings a slight smile to your lips. You "feel" the answers rolling out of your thoughts and across your lips into words. This feeling of absolute understanding of what ails her comes into your mind. Without any thought of it, or doubt, you begin to tell her what's wrong with her. You feel like this knowledge is coming from somewhere else. A spiritual consciousness you've never felt before. As you ask her to lay back on your couch you begin to almost unconsciously grab cords, candles, stones, and other implements from your collection. The motions of your art and the words you speak come to you with ease as you balance the discord in her body. To her and your friend it seems that you have done this many times and know exactly what you are doing. But in your mind you are thinking, "Wow...this is really working!"  In what seems like only a small moment in time, your work is done. The woman tells you of feeling a strange "buzz" around her body, physical sensations of warmth and lightness. She says she feels better than she has since her problems started. After some time your friend and the lady leave for the evening. You find out weeks later that the woman's symptoms have never returned since the night at your home when they came to you for help.

This is magic...not the cool witchy things we wear, not the books we read. It's that moment when we create miracles. When we make the impossible, possible...with the help of the Good Folk, The Lord, and his Lady.

Tools of the Craft: The Gods don't shop at Hobby Lobby

What tools should I use in my witchcraft? How should I acquire them? What should they be made of? How should they look? These are important things we all need to ask ourselves before beginning to collect our tools of arte. Modern pagans are bombarded with hundreds of ready made tools, trinkets, and other supplies which come straight off the boat from China, right into the warehouses of Azure Green and Hobby Lobby, all for your buying pleasures.

I myself am guilty of spending a fortune through the years on resin statues and cheaply made ritual tools. It wasn't until I really began to delve into the world of Traditional Witchcraft that I realized that I strayed from what I was trying to achieve. Well, how can we determine what is needed and what it not? What is a good buy and what should I hold off on and make myself? First we must understand what we are trying to achieve with our tools.

First and foremost, ANY and ALL tools of witchcraft are unnecessary to perform a rite of magick. We have to remember that before the 1950s, witchcraft was mostly illegal. It is still illegal in some places of the world today. One could not freely use tools that would  make others suspicious of their use in "the workings of the Devil". This would mean incarceration for the witch, and in many cases death. So tools had to be simple rods of wood, brooms, pots, and stone markers. Nothing with symbols, and certainly nothing that would have been out of the ordinary in any home.

Now that we have covered that tools are unnecessary, let me say that they do help. In fact they help tremendously. They are used by creating a certain mental environment for the witch to do his or her works with. They, in a sense, put the witch mentally where they need to be to strengthen their magickal practices. So, we need to buy, fashion, and acquire tools and other religious items that create an environment that connects us to the "feel" of traditional craft. Its like using specific herbs at a certain time for a certain spell work that coincide on what your are trying to achieve. Would you use herbs that are suitable for a love spell to do a binding? Of coarse not, it would be counter-productive.

The "feel" of Traditional Witchcraft is primitive, simple, and powerful. Its spiritual connection comes from otherwordly spiritual beings. Its the same feeling you get from imagery of the deep dark forest where man rarely treads.  It exudes colors that are neutral, deep, and dark. Shiny bright colors seem to hinder the environment one tries to create for their workings. Where these bright and sparkling colors may work well in Wicca, its a big hindrance in Traditional Craft. It's actually better to not use anything, than throw in a bunch of tackiness into your magickal world. Keep things simple, earthly, and as natural as possible. Use real stone, bone, bronze, and copper. Don't use polyester blend yarn for your chords; get some linen yarn instead. Sure it's easier to go down to your local Wal-Mart or Hobby Lobby and pick up some cheap run of the mill yarn. Hell, it's even easier to braid than linen yard. But we have to keep its properties in mind. Robert Cochrane even says that when using linen yarn; the act of braiding linen (flax) yard without any extra intent, creates a powerful tool in itself. We should strive for the very best in our craft, and if we can't get what we need immediately, we should wait till we can. This shows patience. It's shows the Gods that we take pride in everything we do, and present to them. It shows them that we know our path, and we will never settle for "That's good enough".

There are times when we do find things that will fit in our world of magick that are worth purchasing. For instance, most of us are not blacksmiths and have no experience building an athame (knife). But we have to remember; let's pass on that fancy plastic handle, and settle for that simple wooden or bone handled athame. Let's etch that handle ourselves with images the Gods will adore.

Also remember, your altar and tools are an expression of you and your craft. If you walk around wearing a clown suit, people will only see you as a clown!!!

The Witches' Ballad: A Small Look into the Life of a Doreen Valiente

 Although Doreen Valiente became famous from being part of Wicca, there is another side to her practices that a lot of people my not be aware of. Doreen was not only a member of Gerald Gardner's coven where she trained in Wicca, but she was also a member of Robert Cochrane's coven where she practiced Traditional Witchcraft. It would be interesting to have seen how that played out. It's pretty well known that Robert Cochrane and Gerald Gardner were not fond of each other in any way. They had pretty harsh words back and forth criticizing each others religious practices. I can only imagine the drama Doreen had to endure being a member of two feuding covens. Even if she was with them at separate times in her life. I'm sure drama still endured. Either ways...the stories this wonderful woman must have had. And what a legacy she has left behind. To be at the forefront of the birth modern day Wicca and Traditional Witchcraft. I bet that was an amazing journey.

The Witch's Ballad

Oh, I have been beyond the town,

Where nightshade black and mandrake grow,

And I have heard and I have seen

What righteous folk would fear to know!

For I have heard, at still midnight,

Upon the hilltop far, forlorn,

With note that echoed through the dark,

The winding of the heathen horn.

And I have seen the fire aglow,

And glinting from the magic sword,

And with the inner eye beheld

The Horned One, the Sabbat's lord.

We drank the wine, and broke the bread,

And ate it in the Old One's name.

We linked our hands to make the ring,

And laughed and leaped the Sabbat game.

Oh, little do the townsfolk reck,

When dull they lie within their bed!

Beyond the streets, beneath the stars,

A merry round the witches tread!

And round and round the circle spun,

Until the gates swung wide ajar,

That bar the boundaries of earth

From faery realms that shine afar.

Oh, I have been and I have seen

In magic worlds of Otherwhere.

For all this world may praise or blame,

For ban or blessing naught I care.

For I have been beyond the town,

Where meadowsweet and roses grow,

And there such music did I hear

As worldly-righteous never know.

-Doreen Valiente

Ancestors: The Pale Ones Under the Mound

                                        “O’ Where O’ where have the Good Folk gone!!!”

We all have a history…a physical bloodline that can be traced back hundreds of years. As a wytch, we acknowledge this bloodline. We pay homage to those of our ancestral past. Without this bloodline, we are just dust and ash. Upon birth we are enlivened by the cunning fire bestowed upon up by the Great Wytch-Father. Our blood is made red with the same fire that exists within the land. It warms our bodies with the essence of life. The blood that flows through the veins can been seen comparatively as the serpent fire which coils and twist within the land.

So what happens upon death…what has happened to our beloved ancestors who have passed on? Upon the time of death, the fire which has been given to us is taken by Fate. The fire returns to its source back into the land. Our body becomes cold and absent of life. The spirit moves on to a mysterious place to be cleansed of all impurities though fire and water. After this baptism of fire and water, the spirit or shade becomes “Feeorin” or “Faerie”. Because of the absence of life, the spirit is seen as pale or white; Just as the body becomes white as the bone. This state of faerie should not be confused with the fantastical stereotype of glittery winged creature which was created and made popular by Victorian literature.

The Feeorin are powerful in many ways. They can and should be called upon for any workings of magick. It would be egotistical to believe that a wytch’s greatest power comes from within the individual. The true key to magickal practices is to have a strong connection with the fetch and the feeorin. Great magick is worked by the wytch with the assistance of the fetch, feeorin, and deity.

The feeorin are obsessed with the red meal. Being that the feeorin have lost their reddened life force, the red meal becomes the most powerful offering which gives spiritual nourishment to them. In fact, this is just a personal theory, but this may have been the origin of the myth of the vampire. For the comparisons are virtually identical: An immortal pale being which solely is nourished by blood i.e. the symbolic red meal. If one is wondering, an offering of your own blood may be suitable in urgent and desperate situations; however, by giving your blood you open yourself to the dangers of being controlled. Your blood should only be offered during oaths to the Lord and Lady and to reddening or bring life to your magickal implements. A houzel or red meal should be done once a week to establish a proper connection with the feeorin. I have personally called upon the feeorin once over the years, and it was one of the most powerful moments of my magickal life.

The feeorin is truly a force which will bring you love, joy, and protection, if you are willing to faithfully and sincerely work to create and maintain the proper connections.