Return to Magic

I've had a lot of shit go down in recent years and as it progressed, and got worse, I worked magic less and less. Now, as I look back, I realize I haven't worked magic in over 3 years. I've spoken to the moon, I've prayed, I've begged mercy of the gods but I haven't lit candles and gathered tools, raised and focused energy or any of it in ages. I wonder if I even remember how to do it; I imagine (hope) it's like riding a bike and it will come back to me. It's going to take some rehabilitation to get me back in the swing of things. I feel the need to brush up on just about everything. I feel the need to read through lots of funky spells on Lucky Mojo. I feel the need to gather all my magical tools, my gemstones and minerals, my candles, my mojo bags and all my stuff and just start creating. I'm so far gone I don't even have a particular goal in mind. I just feel the need to do something and reclaim my status as the witch of the family.

It's funny how sorrow and rage and grief can just totally bog me down so that I no longer feel capable of working magic. It's been as if so much of my attention has been focused on all the bad stuff happening in recent years that I forgot I could take steps to improve it. Or maybe I've been hurting so bad that I felt no amount of magic could make any difference. There's a lot of reasons tied up with the issue I suppose. There's only so many lies, and instances of theft, and general shitty treatment this witch can take before my magical conduit to the stars/gods/spirits gets clogged up with pain.

I'm hoping this will soon change. I feel the need to empower myself even if I just do a small candle spell or something else simple and sweet. I'm not ready for a full out, scripted, choreographed ritual, not that I've ever done many of those anyway. I want, no, I need simplicity more than ever. If I try to overdo it I may just scare myself away from doing magic at all. But first it's off to study, to read, to learn and soak up some magical information and maybe get some inspiration. Here I go!

Springborn Altar

I got a new keyboard, yay!!

The above image is my first outdoor altar that I've put together just for myself. The table top is actually marble that a good friend brought over from his place of work; it was left over after an older building was torn down or renovated, I can't remember which. The wood is from our sycamore tree that The Great Ice Storm of January 2007 took out. Since sycamore is a soft wood these blocks won't last more than a couple of years but there are always trees coming down around these parts somewhere and I have an "in" with someone who has access to trees removed by city cleanup folks. So, it's not going to be an everlasting altar but is semi-permanent. It's hard to tell from this image but most of the rocks on the ground have little, or lots, of quartz or gypsum, or both. These are rocks I took from the little stand of trees down the hill from house; it was hard work but worth it! There are also some rocks with interesting fossil imprints, a few holey river rocks and a couple of (to me) unusual rocks from Minnesota. Since I'm such a rock hound I will, of course, be adding more as time goes by. The little black thing that kinda looks like a knife is actually an old railroad tie that I saved with rustproof black paint. Ever since I found it I thought it would make a great ritual tool perhaps as a stand in for a knife or wand. However, I don't really use either in my workings so I don't know what I'll use the tie for. Maybe I'll leave it there to add to the rustic look.

I don't know why it took me so long to finally put together an outdoor altar. I've been thinking about it for year and years. I've mentioned before my disinclination, or inability, to use fancy, store bought ritual items and it still holds true. I just don't care much for the expensive, or even expensive looking, ritual tools. All of that sterling silver and brightly polished stuff usually leaves me magically cold. Yeah, it looks nice and if someone gifted me something like that I would be eternally grateful. But I just prefer old, weathered things I find along the way. The rail road tie came from the bottom of box of auction items. And many of my magical items have come from an old pickup truck that was left to rot way back behind our house. It's a really old funky truck that's at least 70 years old and chock full of treasures. Inside it was a veritable shitload of horse shoes and the remains of a big 'ol glass thermometer which I plan to dig out and add to the outdoor altar.

The vase holds a few of our roses and a bit of honeysuckle and it's just a small sampling of the wonderful blooms and blossoms to be found in these hills. I simply love how all of our neighborhood flowers are opening up. Our compost roses are going wild and our other rose bush will be covered with blooms in another week. There's pretty, but scentless, honeysuckle next to the chimney and delicious wild honeysuckle along the driveway. The peonies, planted several years ago, have finally put forth two large and intoxicating blossoms over the grave of our dear, departed Dalmatian Missy. The multi-flora wild white roses are popping out too. I love them so much and still can't believe it when people go to great lengths to kill them. They have pretty foliage, gorgeous, copious white flowers and they seem very resistant to mold and bugs. And, as if that weren't enough, they smell heavenly! Once bush can perfume an entire country yard!

Since we were nearly drowning for a few weeks everything is growing by wild leaps and bounds. We just finished mowing the other day and will have to start again this weekend. Now that we've had some dryer days folks are cutting hay like mad. All of the grasses and trees and foliage paint the landscape with a multitude of gorgeous greens. There are deep, forest greens, and vivid emeralds along with bright, yellowy-greens and every shade in between! And the sky is so brilliantly blue that just stepping outside is like falling into a painter's palette replete with the freshest scents. It's absolutely heavenly. I'm so glad spring has finally taken hold; it's healing my battered and bruised heart and psyche. Spring; it does a body, mind and soul good!

P.S. We now have bats and lightning bugs, double yay!!

Gambian Witch Hunt

This is some scary shit folks. The witch hunts of Africa have been going on for ages now and are usually a pretty isolated event involving only a few people at a time. Well, apparently efforts have been stepped up.

Authorities in Gambia have rounded up about 1,000 people and forced them to drink hallucinogens in a witch-hunting campaign that is terrorizing the tiny West African nation, an international rights group said Wednesday.

Amnesty International called on the government of President Yahya Jammeh, who seized power in a 1994 coup and has claimed he can cure AIDS, to halt the campaign and bring those responsible to justice...

"Once there, they were stripped and forced to drink 'dirty water' from herbs and were also bathed with these dirty herbs" that caused diarrhea and vomiting, the witness said. "I stayed there for five days ... I cannot believe that this type of treatment is taking place in Gambia. It is from the dark ages."...

In 2007, Jammeh declared he had discovered a cure for AIDS and began treating patients inside the presidential palace, using herbs and incantations. His dictatorial regime has cracked down harshly on critics, especially the press.

Now, any regular reader of this blog knows I'm all for entheogenics, the use of plants to not only heal but to bring about an altered mental state for the purpose of spiritual growth. But this is just fucking sick. Forcing people to ingest an hallucinogenic herbal drink, after kidnapping them and stripping them naked, is just way beyond twisted. And who could miss the obvious fact that the use of herbs and incantations to "cure AIDS" is in itself witchcraft?! I guess what Jammeh wants is what so many other assholes in power want: a stranglehold on any kind of power, be it political, medicinal or magical.

Banishing Update

After much thought and consideration I have decided not to employ the use of graveyard dirt, and its accompanying spirit, in a banishing spell. There's just too many aspects about it that make me uncomfortable. Surprisingly, the bit I have the least problem with is the idea of using actual soil from a dead person's grave. That didn't make me squeamish or give me the willies or anything. I was much more worried about the living seeing me buying the dirt and raising a ruckus. In fact, you would be justified in calling me chickenshit in that respect. I was really, really worried about being arrested. I could just see myself on the front page of our little local paper "Local Woman Disturbs Grave" followed by an spine tingling article on the evils of modern witchcraft.

More importantly, I've never worked directly with any kind of spirit and I felt that the spirit of a dead stranger was probably not the best way to begin using that kind of magic. In fact, I'm not sure how I feel about employing any kind of spirit for any kind of magic. Don't get me wrong, I fully support anyone who wishes to employ a spirit. But, for me personally I think I prefer using rocks and stones and altogether material, earthbound things. I'm a watery, earthy person with very earthy magical tastes. I'd much rather take a walk in the woods and use what I find on the ground in a magical working. I'd much rather invoke the strength of the deer whose antler I've found than call on someone I've read about in a book or found in a graveyard. I've always been that way and I guess I always will.

I was also uncomfortable with my attempts to tweak the traditional hoodoo usages of graveyard dirt to assuage my fears. I had considered using the dirt from the grave of my grandmother or a lost pet for a banishing spell but that doesn't really fit the bill according to the history of hoodoo. Graveyard dirt from a particularly feisty person, like a soldier or policeman, would have suited that kind of magic best. And I just wasn't comfortable with the idea of employing a stranger.

With one thing and the other, I've decided not to use graveyard dirt. The only way I could make myself feel at ease about it was to adulterate the tradition somewhat and that just isn't cool. As I said in my previous post about graveyard dirt: "It is what it is and if you can't handle that you've got no business dealing with it." So, I've decided to take my own advice.

Rather, I'm going to stick with what I know best, that is, the mojo bag. I've been making these for ages, since long before I ever read about hoodoo and knew they had a name. I use little bags of all sorts though as I've never had any flannel handy for cutting up. I fill them with various herbs, stones and minerals, charms pertinent to my intention and seal them with wax and breathe life into them. I used to breathe cannabis smoke on them but since I can't do that anymore I'll feed them with incense smoke. After the initial spell working I keep them around my person for a while before entrusting them to the soil of the Earth Mother. They've always worked for me and I figure there's no sense trying out an entirely new form of magic just because I've got a different sort of intention. So, I'll stick with what I feel most comfortable and let you know the results.

P.S. For those of you who may be wondering, my hand is a lot better. It still gets sore but there's been vast improvement. FYI: in a battle between human hand and basset hound jaws and teeth, the basset hound wins. That big, long snout is powerful!

Graveyard Dirt for Magic

[Most of the following facts can be found at Lucky Mojo. And while my opinions and ideas are liberally sprinkled throughout the ultimate source is the Lucky Mojo page. I'm blogging about this mostly for my own sake; once I write about something I have a much firmer hold on it.]

I'm researching various magical methods of removing a particularly negative person from my life and that of my family. One of the things I'm currently thinking about a lot is the use of graveyard dirt in folk magic, specifically hoodoo. In hoodoo there are three uses for graveyard dirt: for protection work, for a trick involving an enemy and love spells. But there's more to using graveyard dirt than just the trick at hand. First of all, you've got to realize that by using dirt from a grave you are invoking the spirit of the deceased. You are seeking to employ the spirit of a dead person to do magical work for you. You must be prepared for this. If you use dirt from the grave of one who died violently, for instance, there's no knowing what kind of result you'll get. Some say that if you use dirt from the grave of a child the spirit will be more docile. Still others say that the grave dirt from a child will be weak, magically speaking. Most of the time, you just can't be sure. According to the Lucky Mojo section on graveyard dirt:

Unless the spirit of a grave mentally reaches out to you first -- which often happens -- the only way to learn what that spirit will or will not do for you is to approach the grave, state your proposal, and *listen* to what you are told.

If possible it is beneficial to decide, based on your intent, whose grave dirt you'll need. If you're intent involves love, protection or something positive for yourself then it's considered best to use dirt from the grave of a loved one who will kindly work for you. If you wish to do harm you might consider the grave dirt from an individual who was unjustly executed and would be filled with a desire for vengeance. The grave dirt belonging to a soldier is said to be particularly brave, strong and obedient. It really depends on your intent and what you can learn about the deceased.

Once you've made your decision, or been invited to a particular grave, you must buy the dirt. By doing this you are also employing that spirit to help you in your endeavor. There are several different forms of payment according to hoodoo lore. Some say a bright, shiny dime is appropriate, some say three pennies, some say 13 pennies, and some say a shot of booze. At any rate, the price is minimal. It is the asking and the gesture of offering payment that seems to be important.

As an aside, there is a weird story perpetuated by some new age authors that the term "graveyard dirt" is a euphemism for mullein or other herbs and has been such for hundreds of years. This is total bullshit. There are several problems with this "theory". First of all, this idea sprang from occult suppliers in the 1940s that feared the legal problems involved with interstate commerce and grave tampering and so discontinued offering real grave dirt through their catalogs. One could still buy grave dirt at a local shop, or through the local root worker, but not through the mail. What's more, there are many accounts of the use of actual, factual graveyard dirt.

Against a few modern white authors claiming that "graveyard dirt" is a secret code for mullein herb, we have evidence that the folklorist Harry M. Hyatt interviewed hundreds of black people in the late 1930s who told him the proper ways they knew to collect and pay for graveyard dirt -- and NONE of them mentioned mullein.

Take the dirt from the seventh grave from the gates, they told him, or from the third grave on the left, or from any grave; make sure you get it from the grave of a murderer, from the grave of a baby, or from the grave of someone who loved you; collect it at the foot of the grave, the head of the grave, from the head and foot both, from over the corpse's heart; pay for it with a dime, with three pennies, with a measure of rum, with a measure of whiskey; dig it with a silver spoon, dig it by hand only and use no tools -- their instructions vary, but they ALL are speaking quite frankly of literal graveyard dirt -- some even calling it "that old yellow graveyard clay."

The reason this myth has been perpetuated into the modern neopagan movement is kind of tricky. See, Europeans and Americans of European descent have a cultural taboo against messing with graves. And part of their way of dealing with that is to rewrite traditions from other cultures to make them more palatable. This is, in a word, bullshit. It is what it is and if you can't handle that you've got no business dealing with it. The way I figure it grinding up dried mullein or using talcum powder can in no way substitute for the employment of a spirit who will work for you. That seems to be a no-brainer. So, if some author makes the claim that the term "graveyard dirt" is a euphemism you can be sure they are only regurgitating what the unlearned have told them, have no real scholarship to back up this claim and are full of shit. Oh yeah, and they're probably in it for the money and their magic isn't very effective.

So, that's the basics regarding the magical uses of graveyard dirt in hoodoo. And while I think it sounds very worthwhile I have a dilemma. I live in a teeny tiny town with more churches than stores. And while I happen to live just down the road from a cemetery just across the quiet, little road are a whole slew of newly built houses full of yuppies. And I'm quite nervous about being seen, questioned and perhaps even arrested. There's actually another tiny graveyard a little closer to me, but it's fenced off out in a field. It's one of those little old family plots from an old farming family. I find those to be the most interesting cemeteries as they're usually very old and only include a half-dozen or so graves. I would like to perhaps use dirt from that particular spot but it's totally inaccessible. So, I'm in a conundrum.

After rereading the Lucky Mojo page about graveyard dirt I came across something I apparently skimmed over the first few times.

An African-American candle store owner in Oakland, California, back in the 1960s -- said to use the dirt from the grave of someone who had loved you in life. He said, "Your grandmother, mother, father; your lover, husband, or wife who passed on before you -- you get dirt from THEIR grave only, and not from anywhere on the grave either, but from over the HEART."

When I told him that all my relatives who had died were buried far away and I could not get to their graves, he said, "Everybody has had at least ONE person to love them, even if it was just a little yellow spotted dog." I told him I had once had a cat who loved me and that I knew where she was buried. "Then you can use the dirt from her grave," he said.

Now, the above is in reference to a love spell but I've been thinking about it and decided that I think I would prefer to use the grave dirt of some person or animal who had loved me for this, or any, working involving grave dirt. It just seems that, no matter what the magical intent, a loved one would be much more willing to work for me than a total stranger. Also, this idea of using grave dirt from a pet's grave could make things easier. Being that I have always lived in a zoo-like environment with many, many critters we have our own little graveyard. And as I consider animals to be just as important as humans I don't see why their spirits couldn't be of magical help. That said I'm also considering approaching my maternal grandmothers grave in the next town over. I feel pretty certain that she would be willing to help me with this particular problem. So, I've got some thinking and deciding to do.

What do you think?

Magic to Repel an Enemy

Without sharing too many gory, and somewhat boring, details I find myself in the position of wanting to rid myself, my home and my family of a very negative, poisonous leech-like person. I haven't talked about spell work much in the last year and there is a good reason for this: I've been so emotionally victimized that I've felt broken and helpless and incapable of working magic. I've prayed a lot but I have barely touched my altar in over a year. I haven't lit a ritual candle and I haven't picked up a gemstone or crystal except to clean it. I haven't done a lot of things because I just honestly feared/felt there was nothing I could do in the face of such overwhelming greed, self-centeredness, selfishness, discourteousness, laziness and general disregard for anyone unwilling to shell out more money for drugs. I kept waiting/hoping things would get better and instead they've only gotten worse.

Well, I've made a decision: no more of this shit. This person has got to go. Or, at the very least, this version of this person has got to go. I've spent the last year waiting for the situation to improve on its own and it hasn't happened. A year is long enough; its time for some magical intervention. So I've decided to employ what some people would call "negative" or "black" magic in order to make this person change or make this person leave. To me, a student of hoodoo, this is not an evil or taboo idea. It is what it is and it is necessary to preserve what's left of my family. I'm no longer of the mind that it is best to turn the other cheek. Anyone who has ever been grossly taken advantage of by a so-called loved one knows that turning the other cheek to preserve the peace can and will eventually turn into becoming a career or serial victim. Well, I'm sick and fucking tired of being the victim.

Now, before anyone starts commenting about the free will of others I have the following little rant to share. I don't think I ever was of the opinion that one should never seek to influence the will of another person through magic. Why shouldn't we use magic to influence the will of others? We try to influence the will of others through mundane means every day. Don't believe me? You ever try to talk your spouse into attending a gathering for someone they disliked? You ever try to convince your boss to give you a raise or a schedule change? You ever try to get your kids to eat their veggies? Ever try to get someone you love to stop doing drugs? You see where I'm going with this? We influence the will of others all the time through mundane means. Some people do it constantly, all day long as part of their jobs. By typing these words I'm trying to influence your will, dear reader, by attempting to bring you over to my way of thinking right now. We use words, reason, logic, body language, gestures, tone of voice, examples etc. to influence the will of others all the time. Why shouldn't we include magic in our arsenal of persuasive techniques? To exclude magic from our methods of persuasion is downright silly in my eyes. Also, don't bother telling me that this kind of magic goes against the Wiccan Rede because I honestly don't care. I'm not Wiccan. I'm not even Wiccan-esque. Using the Wiccan Rede to convert or condemn me is just as pointless as overzealous Christians throwing Bible quotes at any type of pagan. It does not compute; it is irrelevant. And, lest you wonder, I'm not planning magic to bring any harm to this person. I merely want this person to either change their ways or go away and leave my family in the peace we had before this person came along.

Now, normally when I work magic I create the ritual and spell out of thin air. Or, rather, I consult my pineal gland and use what I have on hand. I've always detested the idea of copying, word for word and ingredient for ingredient, the exact workings of another. I make up a rhyming chant, I make use of readily available gemstones, crystals or rocks, I use some herbs that I grew in my own garden, I light my altar candles and tea candles, I put on my ritual music, I invoke the elements, ask for the blessings of my patron deities and I go to town. But this time is a little different. Firstly, I'm out of practice; my confidence isn't at its highest. Secondly, I'm wounded in spirit. Thirdly, I've never wanted to do a working of this sort before. Sure, I've worked a little magic revolving around a specific person before but never something that was so important for the well being of my family. Never have I deliberately set out to get rid of someone. So, this will require some extra thought. This will require some research. And for that, I'll head over to Lucky Mojo for some ideas. Stay tuned.

Secret Lives of Women: Occult

If you've never watched the WE (Women's Entertainment) show Secret Lives of Women you should really give it a try as it's a fascinating look at lifestyles that most people don't know much about. They've done episodes on body modification, polygamists cults, plastic surgery addicts, phobias, BDSMers, cutters and many other so-called "minority" groups.

I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised at the treatment witchcraft and Wicca received from their recent episode that dealt with women in the occult. There were three women featured on this episode: a Wiccan witch, a Satanic witch and a self-proclaimed vampire. (I say "self-proclaimed" because I'm not sure I buy the whole otherkin philosophy. I'm not saying it's BS, I'm just saying I don't understand it even though I've read about it on more than one occasion. I just can't quite get my head wrapped around it.)

The Wiccan witch featured in the episodes was, of course, from California and had the immense good fortune to practice at a local and beautiful Goddess temple. (I'm so jealous! If there was something like that around here it would be burned to the ground before it was even used!) The pentagram, directions and elements were clearly explained as was the ideals of "perfect love and perfect trust". Also stressed was the reverence for nature and the feminine. A group ritual was highlighted as was a small, personal money spell which I thought was interesting as it entailed burning a check.

The treatment of the Satanic witch was pretty good too. That said, I'm not an expert on Satanism so I could be wrong. A fairly decent explanation of the principles was featured that included the idea of not wasting one's love on someone who doesn't deserve it. Also filmed was a Satanic witchcraft ritual which struck me as being very similar to other forms of witchcraft rituals, especially the use of the bell and the sword.

The segments about the vampires and otherkins was somewhat lacking as it didn't clearly explain the difference between, for instance, a psi-vampire and a sanguine vampire. There was, however, an effort made to stress that only willing donors are bled and only sterile, single-use blades are used to draw blood. Also included was a bit about wood alcohol and play fire which, while interesting, seemed kinda weird being attached to the vampire segments. Again, I'm not very knowledgeable about vampirism and otherkin so I could be wrong but I thought the presentation of the lifestyle was pretty good.

Overall, I'd say the treatment of the occult by Secret Lives of Women was the best I've ever seen on TV. It wasn't sensationalized, it wasn't flashy and filled with cheesy graphics or Vincent Price-like scary narration. There wasn't a lot of flashing lights, images of smoky, moonlit deals with the devil or stupid sound effects like wolves howling or banshees screaming. It was just a good, honest and straightforward look at three women involved with the occult. If you have the chance I recommend catching it on WE.

Pietre Dure

Believe it or not but this isn't a painting. It's an example of pietre dure which, in Italian, means hard rock. A new exhibit of art from European palaces is showcasing this unique and amazingly beautiful art form. From the article: hard rock or hardstone, refers foremost to an intricate inlay of finely cut, highly polished slices of semiprecious stones: agate, lapis lazuli, jasper, carnelian, alabaster, rock crystal, amethyst.

Pietre dure could be flat. Fashioned into radiantly colored geometric patterns, floral designs, landscapes or mythological scenes, it was incorporated into tabletops, cabinets of all sizes, wall panels, portable altars, jewelry boxes and other furnishings. Such works could also be in the round: carved hardstone sculptural busts, statuettes, vases, snuff boxes, cameos, jewelry and miraculously thin-walled bowls.

I'm just loving this style of art, which had its golden age during the Renaissance. As a wannabe-artist and lover of semi-precious stones this seems the perfect blending of the natural beauty to be found within the earth and the ingenuity of the human creative spirit. And strangely enough, finding this article was very timely as I've just recently begun considering adding some stones to a wood burning or possibly to a collage. I couldn't do things like the above picture of the Parthenon as I'm not a lapidary nor do I have access to a great quantity of stones. But I'd still like to utilize the magical properties of gemstones in a creative way. I'm still figuring out the logistics of such a prospect but am greatly inspired by pietre dure and will pursue my plans.

Hallmark: "The Good Witch"

The Good Witch starring Catherine Bell from JAG as the title character turned out to be, like so many things regarding witchcraft, an over-hyped bit of fluff. Yes, the title character was something of an herbalist and proponent of aromatherapy. And she liked masks, crystals, Celtic jewelry and always had a broom handy and candles burning. Aside from that, the only thing she had in common with real-life witches was that her witchy store was vandalized and many of her neighbors sought to run her out of town. I was, to say the least, disappointed in the original film from Hallmark. It was geared toward a family friendly crowd and I can understand that. But I found much of it trite and downright silly in its oversimplification. The antagonist, wife to the mayor and head of a local citizens group, was a very transparent and unoriginal villain with textbook tunnel vision. The only truly interesting thing about the entire film was that said villain was played by Catherine Disher of Forever Knight fame. It was good to see her on the screen again, even though her role was lousy. But she made the best of it, as did all the actors. Bell's character never came right out and said she was a witch but the word was thrown at her enough in the form of an insult to make me wonder if Hallmark would take a stand. Instead, they wimped out and left things in an ambiguous state, which is understandable I guess, if frustrating. It is Hallmark, after all, not exactly an alternative network. And even though I wish the film had gone further I do grudgingly applaud Hallmark for taking this small step in an effort to promote understanding and tolerance. It wasn't great, nor horrible, just okay.

Hecate Night

Tonight is Hecate Night in honor of the Great Goddess Hecate. Although She has other sacred days within various cultures, the Romans especially honored Her on the 29th of each month, this is the day I and others mark as specially meant for Her. Although considered by many to be a Greek goddess She actually originated from Asia Minor, Anatolia to be exact. She later became somewhat incorporated into, but independent of, the Greco-Roman pantheons. She is a goddess of many guises including a mother goddess, sorceress, Queen of the Underworld and Queen of the Night. Though She is considered a crone goddess by most neopagans today She is herself a Triple Goddess and thus a Great Goddess. According to one myth She shares the moon duties with Artemis and Selene, as maiden and mother respectively, and is represented by the dark of the moon. But as the moon itself produces no light of its own it is in fact always dark. As such, Hecate is the moon goddess of all phases and stages as well as goddess of sky, Earth and Underworld. Without Her we would quite possibly have no seasons as, out of all the gods, only She heard the pitiful cries of Persephone and took steps to ensure Her part-time freedom from the land of the dead. Her sacred symbols are the key, as a guardian goddess of the Underworld; the scourge, as a herder and sometimes beater of souls; and the dagger, symbol of Her ritual power as well as Her ability to take life, especially that of babies who would otherwise suffer worse fates. Dogs are also sacred to Her as they are able to sniff out good souls from evil souls and as such Cerberus is especially Her friend. Crossroads, as metaphors for the past, future and present, are sacred to Her and offerings to Her are to be left in these magical places. In the past victims of violent or otherwise questionable deaths were often buried at crossroads so as to encourage Hecate to quickly take the deceased away to the Underworld.

The more modern understanding of Hecate is that of patroness of witches and mighty crone goddess. She is a wise, stern and sometimes cruel goddess who does not suffer fools gladly and will gladly kick you in the face if you deserve it. She does not coddle or baby Her followers but rather She challenges us to challenge ourselves, to incorporate the darkness within us into our larger souls and thus become whole. She is not to be trifled with, She cannot be fooled and She reigns over the unconscious land of dreams and that of the Underworld. She is a Great Goddess, some would say, The Great Goddess. All hail Hecate!
For a more exhaustive history of Hecate visit Wikipedia. Original art by Luis Royo.

Altar Box in Progress

I think this old box may have been used to hold horseshoeing equipment or similar. It's never been treated so the wood is really cracked and funky.

The Wanga Bottle

Back in February I posted about the European style Witch Bottles and now I turn to the African style of bottle magic. I had the great pleasure of learning about the Voodoo practice of Wanga Bottles this weekend at Pagan Pride Day. It's a fascinating practice that dates back hundreds of years to African slaves taken to Haiti. It seems that the white folks thought they were just pretty bottles meant for decoration and because of this misconception they would even have these items in their own homes not knowing magic was being used against them! The bottles themselves must be covered completely from top to bottom so that noone may see what is inside. This weekend we at the workshop used scraps of brightly colored cloth. Once covered many decorate their bottles with beads, shells, gemstones, mirrors, feathers, symbols or just about anything you can imagine. Ideally, the colors used to decorate the bottle should reinforce the intent of the bottle but as I didn't have a clear idea in mind I just aimed to make mine pretty, hence the batik look. Items placed inside the bottle are likewise corresponding to the intent and are only limited by the size of the opening of the bottle. These items are similar to what you would put in a mojo bag like herbs and gemstones. There should also be a very specific note of intent. It should be noted that once the bottle is sealed, either with wax or glue over the cork, it is not to be opened--ever. So whatever you put in the bottle you should be prepared to keep it there. When sealing the bottle it is important to restate your intent then place it under, or very close, to your bed for three nights. As you lay down each of these three nights you should focus on your intention. After the three nights have passed you have a choice to make. The bottle can either be kept until your intent comes to pass or you can bury it. Once buried, however, it should not be dug up. And in case of the unforeseeable accident, if the bottle gets broken it and its contents should be consecrated by fire. The idea behind keeping the bottle sealed, buried and burning it if it gets broken is that the powers that be in the universe are not at your beck and call forever and should not be expected to honor your wishes if you are careless. If you do not choose to bury your bottle it can be kept around the house for decorative purposes or stored away, whatever you choose.

Hoodoo

I've recently reacquainted myself with the ways of hoodoo and I realized that without meaning to I've become more of a folk magic practitioner than a straight up neopagan witch. According to Catherine Yronwode hoodoo is an African-American tradition of folk magic. It is not to be confused with Voodoo or Santeria as they are specific religions. Hoodoo is quite different in that it is not a religion and thusly should not be capitalized. Hoodoo is a fascinating mix of the folk magic brought to America by African slaves, the herbal knowledge of American Indians and the folklore of European immigrants including Christian, Jewish and pagan influences. The core of hoodoo is centered on the idea of personal magic with no specialized intermediary between the individual and the magical world and no hierarchy. Thusly, it does not have a strong connection to any one religious tradition and can easily be practiced by followers of any religion. There are, however, echoes of African pantheons in the form of "the dark man" or "devil" that is not to be confused with the Judeo-Christian Satan.

As in most forms of folk magic great importance is placed on the magical uses of herbs. Also utilized are roots, minerals, animal parts, personal possessions and human bodily fluids. The one thing that really sets hoodoo apart from other forms of folk magic is the use of mojo bags, also known as mojo hands and many other names. It should be noted that the word "mojo" is a hoodoo word that has nothing to do with the libido; it is a word for magic. These items are fairly small bags made of cloth, usually flannel, filled with various items such as herbs, roots, minerals and charms related to the desired effects. Interestingly, these bags must be "fed" before they can take effect, either with whisky, perfume, smoke or human breath. They are usually kept on the person and great emphasis is placed on no one else touching them as it would spoil the magic. Practitioners of hoodoo can have several different names such as conjure worker, or conjure man/woman, root worker with "worker" sometimes replaced by "doctor", reader or sometimes simply "a hoodoo". There is much, much more that I could say about hoodoo but Yronwode's site Lucky Mojo is the ultimate source.

As I've become reacquainted with hoodoo I've realized that I am more of a folk magic practitioner than a straight up neopagan witch. For instance, I have little use for my athame, wand or chalice. In fact, even though they are still on my altar I haven't touched them in a long time except to clean them and have considered removing them altogether. Similarly, hoodoo workers don't use these neopagan tools. Instead, they focus on candles, incense and the aforementioned herbs, roots and minerals, charms and other items from nature. I think I'm a conjure worker as my sole form of spell work is the mojo bag and I've come to rely on it and have gotten very good results. And now that I've come to this conclusion I'm going to start learning more about hoodoo, especially foot track magic and honey jar magic.

Illness and Magical Energy

I've been sick with bronchitis and, as much as I wanted to, I haven't been able to drag myself to my altar to even beg for healing energy. There have been times when I was sick but not so sick that I couldn't work a little magic to help speed my healing. But not this time. I was so sick that I did what I only do when I'm really ill. I became so emotionally and psychologically drained that I broke down and had a good cry or two. I always do that when I'm really sick; I feel depressed and sad and just feel the need to cry.

I don't know why exactly, other than that there is some obvious mind-body connection within me but that it might be messed up a little. Does anyone else get like this when ill? And what are your thoughts about ritual work during times of sickness? If it's physically possible is it even advisable? I tend to think that it should be avoided unless absolutely necessary because it just seems logical that any magic performed would be automatically weak and therefore have little effect.

A Rainy Blue Moon

It seems like it's been raining for over a week straight. It's so wet and muddy that no garden work can be done. And it's somewhat risky to wear shoes outside as the soggy ground tends to suck them down. But everything is growing well and the air is crisp and clean, if a little steamy. I like to think of this time of year as the Goddess' way of washing the slate clean, preparing for a new growing season. One of the most uplifting and spiritual experiences is walking through the cool spring rain. This afternoon I enjoyed a break in the rain and listened to nature’s songs: the crickets, the frogs, including a bullfrog for the first time this year, birds of all chattery kinds and the occasional bark of a dog.

Meditating on the sounds of the outside world is one of the simplest pleasures and I fear many people don't take the time to enjoy it and reap its benefits. This full moon I didn't do a full ritual for the sake of the bees. Instead, I prayed to the moon and asked, not for a sudden quick cure, but for the balance between the bees, humans and the rest of the world to be restored naturally in time.

Ritual Tools: To Buy or Not to Buy

Within the framework of our little pagan group I've come to the realization that I prefer ritual tools of a more natural or rustic form. Don't get me wrong, I admire beautiful sterling silver chalices and jeweled wands just as much has the next witch. But being a perpetually poor person has led me to use what I have around already and only on rare occasions have I actually purchased a ritual item. I've also learned to be crafty in my shopping as you can find amazing things in garage sales and flea markets. I love occult and pagan-themed shops and I support them as best I can, but let's get real, they can be very, very pricey. Some of the once-mundane but now magical items I've found include the glass tube of a large thermometer that I've used as a wand. I found it in the ancient, rusty truck in the back of our acreage. I've also got an old railroad tie that, after a quick spray with black rust-proof paint, serves as a great athame. It came from the bottom of a box from an auction. And you know all those amazing crystals and big chunks of semi-precious stones you see in the occult shop? I never had the money for them so I just used what I had around me. And it's amazing the rocks one can find in their own backyard.

My most favorite rock in the whole world has the fossil imprint of an ancient snail, that's right, a perfect spiral. It's a permanent altar item and I found it in my garden. Also, every year in Springfield there's a big gem and rock show that benefits mentally challenged kids and they always have these great $1 grab bags full of discarded rocks and semi-precious stones. It's so awesome as the bags are chock full of over a pound of rocks; once I even got a bit of a low grade ruby! That's where my spell work stones have all come from as I just couldn't afford the big fancy stuff. I've also been lucky enough to have many ritual items given to me as gifts. My athame, a beautiful blue Depression glass knife, was a Christmas gift from my mom. My wand is a plain, clear glass towel rod that my dad found in the trash (he's a trash truck driver). My altar incense burner was a birthday gift from my friend V., one member of our little pagan group. I've been given countless candles and incense from friends and family as well, as has many an out pagan I suppose. So, even though I've never had as much money to spend on witchy items as I would like I've been lucky enough to receive and discover some great magical items. What I'm getting at with all this is my weird little theory that goes something like this: magical items are best when they come to you, as opposed to when you go into debt to buy them. Now just bear with me here, I'll try to explain it.

Now, as pagan we don't proselytize, that is, we don't preach. We don't seek converts. And the reason for this, as I understand it, is that if someone is meant to walk a pagan path, they will find it when they are ready for it. Well, that's how I feel about items used in ritual. Now, I'm not saying that it's wrong to go out and buy that beautiful cauldron you've been lusting after; I've bought a few things myself from time to time. What I am saying is: before you spend a chunk of change on something shiny go outside, dig in your backyard, dig through your garage or attic, dig through a neighbors garage sale boxes. You never know what treasures may be hiding just waiting to be found and cherished.

Ozarks Witchcraft

I've got quite a vested interest in the lore and magic of my area, the Ozarks and I'd like to share some of that with the blogosphere. For those of you who don't know, I'm referring to the Ozarks highlands area that encompasses the southern half of Missouri and northern Arkansas as well as extreme southeast Kansas and northeast Oklahoma. This area has the culture and folklore very similar to that of Appalachia, with most of the locals being of Scotch, Irish or English decent. There's also the fact that the people of this region held on to their old ways longer than in other parts of the country. Unfortunately, I've never met anyone knowledgeable about the actual practice of witchcraft of the Ozarks. There may be some old folks who remember things their elders did but I've never met them. So I've had to turn to other sources. The primary written sources of information about the old Ozarks are the books of folklorist Vance Randolph. Luckily, I happen to own two of his books "Ozark Magic and Folklore" and "Pissing in the Snow and Other Ozarks folktales". These books are rich with superstitions, magic, herb usage and other interesting bits of Ozark culture. And, wow, what a culture it was.

First of all, the reader must understand that these folktales were collected and written down around the 1940s, so the mindset of these books is very different than from our modern neo-pagan movement. For instance, the author held most of these beliefs and practices he recorded in disdain and his writing style and word usage expresses that quite clearly. So if you ever decide to pick up any of his books you'll have to get past his sometimes derisive tone to get to the meat of the matter.

From the Ozarkers point of view in the first half of the last century the risk of being bewitched or otherwise negatively affected by witchcraft was a very real issue. The magic practiced by some is considered evil but the magic of other people is considered protection against evil. And as is often the case when studying witchcraft I've found that there are many tales in which the interested parties condemn magic of all kinds then turn around and speak an age-old rhyme while hanging up sometimes gruesome good luck charms. There were many different types of magic folks: power doctors, witch masters, white witches, faith doctors, goomer doctors, conjure folks, water witches, witch wigglers and yarb doctors. Now the water witches and witch wigglers were concerned with finding ley lines and water sources but the others specialized in fighting off the harmful magic of evil witches; the yarb doctor was the local herbal healer. The most fascinating aspect of this old time magic is to be found in the chapter entitled "Ozarks Witchcraft" from the book "Ozarks Magic and Folklore". In it, a witches' initiation is described as a ritual repeated over three nights. As a part of initiation the would-be witch must renounce Jesus and the Christian church. Also included is intercourse between the new witch and the devil, i.e. the high priest. Sounds familiar doesn't it? It seems that the old witchcraft of Britain really did survive in these hills, just as it did in Appalachia.

First Group Ritual

We had our first group ritual this weekend and I think it went pretty well. It was very simple and comfortable. The outdoor ritual area is going to work out fine, except for the pole light. It's very distracting from the moon and sky. But we're gonna have to get used to it as it will cost a fortune to replace it with a light that can be turned off. There are just four of us in the group, for now anyway, and amazingly enough we each correspond to a different element. I'm water/west, Lil' Red is earth/north, V is east/air and Big T is fire/south. And since there are just us we could all say something and each walk the circle and participate in our own way.

Our altar is a gorgeous old slab of marble on top of two big chunks of a tree that we had to cut down after the ice storm. And in the four corners we have more tree trunk chunks on which to set various elemental items. It's very earthy, very country and just plain feels good. I'm looking forward to witchyfying the ritual area, which is in an old cattle corral, with hanging goddess rocks, wind chimes, feathers and other things. I've already got a few things out there but I'm hoping to have more decorations and good luck charms, etc. from the rest of the group. At our next meeting we're gonna work on the indoor ritual area at Big T and Lil' Red's house. I don't think I can express how positive I feel about this group.

Prayer vs. Spellwork

Deborah Oak over at Roots Down recently made an interesting post in which she discussed, among other things, the difference between prayer and spell work. She states: "Prayer is one form of asking, as is spell work." This got me thinking, and has forced me to define what prayer and spell work actually mean to me. Then I got to thinking about how we relate to the gods, because if you only think of the gods as metaphors then you're probably not going to approach things the same way as those who see the gods as real, living, breathing individuals. So I gave myself a refresher course in various terms and ideas. I decided to start at Wiktionary and here's what I got:

Prayer: a practice of communicating with one's god; a request; petition

Spell: words or formula supposed to have magical powers; a magical incantation

Rite: a repeated set of actions

Ritual: related to a rite or repeated set of actions

Immanent: naturally part of something; inherent; integral

Transcendent: surpassing usual limits; being beyond the range of normal perception

Seems pretty cut and dry, right? Well, maybe not. Plenty of folks consider spell work to be a form of prayer and, in one way, I can agree with that. Most of the time when I work a spell I do it within a larger ritual that includes invocation of the elements and the gods, among other things. But the spell itself, to me, is the combination of the actual words (chants in my case) and appropriate tools used to bring about a certain goal or desired outcome. But prayer can be found within a spell even without the larger, full ritual. Some folks pray and work a spell but do not include any ritualized actions. It's a way of saying: "I want/need such and such to happen, but you, the gods, know best and I will respect your decision." So I guess a spell can include a prayer but if a prayer includes a spell it's no longer just a prayer.

Another difference between spell work and prayer is the fact that spell work allows us to get past our daily, speaking, "rational" minds and get in touch with our subconscious mind, the childlike or more primitive part of our minds. I consider spell work as somewhat akin to lucid dreaming. It enables us to learn about our deepest selves and hopefully, make positive changes. With time and effort we can learn to access our psychic energy and realize our magical potential.

After considering the human side of prayer and spell work, etc. I think it's also important to point out how these things might possibly be interpreted by the gods, or whoever you might pray to or invoke. These ideas are contingent on what kinds of beliefs folks have about deities. Some neo-pagans consider deities, as least theirs, to be real walking, talking, corporeal beings. Others think of them only as metaphors and symbols. And still others, like me, believe in a mix of both; the gods are essentially too "big" or complex for us to really, fully understand but in order for us to have a relationship with them they allow us to put them in boxes so that we might communicate with them. In effect, they can be heavenly beings or they can reveal themselves in smaller ways; it depends on the specifics. When someone prays to a god, and does nothing else, no ritual or spell, they are putting the ball in their court. When all you do is pray you are asking for their good will; it is up to them to answer or not. Obviously, if your only communication with the gods is just to ask for stuff your chances might not be that good, but that's between you and your god(s).When ritual spell work is performed the practitioner is depending on their own will playing a part in the magic, not just the will of the gods. Then there are those who don't include any mention or idea of gods and do the spell work using their own will and energy and nothing else. I have to wonder how effective that kind of magic is but that's a topic for another time...

Witch Bottles: Then and Now

Another witch bottle was recently found in England. It's an interesting little bit of history and I decided to delve into it to find out more, especially since, if the comments on witchvox are any indication, not many modern pagans and witches understand the rich history or meaning of these old bottles. It turns out that many of the 200 or so witch bottles that have been found, and found their way into museums, came from a part of England called Anglia. Witch bottle usage was prevalent throughout Europe but especially high in Elizabethan England and the people of Anglia long held onto their beliefs about the evil witches can create. Oftentimes, of course, there was probably no witch around to stir up trouble. But many things that most people today would chalk up to human error or simple bad luck were considered the work of a witch. So, the common folk would make a witch bottle that would, ideally, solve their problems. (As an aside, I must admit I find it highly amusing that the steps folks took to deflect witchcraft were themselves just as magical as anything we'd call witchcraft.) The earlier more traditional bottles were usually quite small, about 3 inches tall, and were made of glass, often green or blue. Later bottles, that could be as tall as 9 inches, were made of brown or grey stoneware and often had scary bearded faces on them. For this reason some of this type of bottle was called Greybeard's. Others of this kind were called Bellarmine bottles after a particularly evil Inquisitor by the name of Robert Bellarmine. He was a great persecutor of Protestants and thus became identified by many as a devilish individual. The first of the Bellarmine bottles was found in the Netherlands but the practice spread all over Europe.

The theory behind witch bottles was that, if someone felt that someone else was working magic against them the evil spell could be tricked by the bottle into "thinking" it had found it's target (especially if it had a face on it) and so become trapped inside it with its contents. The bottle would have broken or bent pins and needles and some personal items/fluids from the individual seeking help: so as to confuse the spells intent. There was usually a hair or two and, of course, urine. Of all the bottles found so far all of those that were intact were found to have urine inside. It's gross for sure, but has a pretty rich magical history, especially in African and Italian magical systems. In fact, almost every culture on the planet had folk magic that included some magical use of urine, as well as other bodily fluids and parts. After being filled with these various items the bottle would be sealed and ideally hidden inside the walls or underneath homes. The idea with the usage of the witch bottle is that as long as they stayed intact and undisturbed they will continue to be effective. That idea makes the history types who open them up for analysis seem like they're doing something they shouldn't. But after hundreds of years I guess it's safe to say that the person who made the bottle might not need the help anymore.

Nowadays, of course, witch bottles made by neo-pagans are usually very different from their historical cousins. They might have anything from herbs (often rosemary), flowers and seeds to gemstones, minerals, feathers and glitter. And while they may often still contain bent pins, needles, hair and nail clippings, the urine is gone and is replaced by red wine. I don't know who made that decision but I guess neo-pagans can be forgiven for giving up peeing in a bottle. I can't help but wonder, though, what kind of magic is being missed without the urine. At least the hair and nail clippings haven't been completely forgotten. And instead of being buried inside or under homes they are nowadays buried in back yards, thrown in lakes or kept on windowsills and altars and reused. It's quite amazing to think how far they've come and how their usage has evolved.