Gratitude and the Season of Mabon

Magic is in the Air

Yesterday I completed our harvest wreath. I added the flowers that my husband had given me the other day. 

They were withered, but I wanted to include them. The flower bloom at the bottom no longer had its stem, so I pushed it in-between the surrounding stems. 

This morning we found that the flower had re-bloomed as if it were just picked )0(

I've been reflecting on all of the things that have happened over the past year; all of the challenges I've had to face. It's amazing what we are all capable of surviving. I say this because I've had to recreate myself in a matter of speaking. I was diagnosed with a chronic pain condition and have been on disability for almost 2 years now. I used to be able to work full-time, I used to be a dancer; performing professionally. Many things have changed in my life and it's been difficult at times to not live in the past. But during this time I have been able to seek income assistance, I met and married my husband, I moved from Arizona to Ontario, Canada, I continue to care for my son and now a step-daughter. I have my faith and I've been able to concentrate on writing; something I've been wanting to do for years. I've always wanted to move from Arizona, to be close to water...and now I am. I have a husband who adores me and cares for me on my bad days. We don't have a lot, but I cherish everything we do have.

And now, I've been blessed with a community who have opened their arms to me. Sharing my writing and giving great feedback. Mostly good, but even the not so positive comments have made me think about what I've written and how I'd like to present my thoughts and experiences in future writings. So I suppose I'll be grateful for them too.

In the beginning, I was only going to have a little blog that I would use to post my thoughts on, but now that I've been able to really put my time and energy into interacting with so many communities, seeing all of the questions, issues and advice everyone is requesting, well - I'm hoping that my 2 decades of experience in the Craft will help me give some answers and advice to those who want it. I'm also hoping to learn a lot from everyone as well. I began my journey on this path when I was 15 years old. I've studied a lot, practiced as a solitary as well as in a coven. I've met with teaching coven's and attending rituals with a number of other coven groups. I'm a High Priestess and ordained minister, but I know that my education is far from over.

My son is 6, my step-daughter 3. I'm experiencing what it is like to be a Wiccan parent and trying to find my way through passing on my knowledge and spiritual path to my kids. I've connected with many Wiccan and Pagan parenting pages - this has led me to create my 'Raising Witchlings' series. I'm hoping to teach, but also to learn from all of my readers.

The journey to where I am now has certainly been bumpy; but I wouldn't have gotten here in any other way. Even with my health issues, I am grateful for what I have and how far I've come. I'm blessed to have the life I do. I hope all of you can see the many blessings you each have in your lives.

Brightest Blessings this Mabon season!
the Witchy Writer ☽✪☾

Having Exactly What We Want

I'm working on a number of articles right now, but I'm also reading a lot of material on living a life of abundance and joy. I'm currently reading from "The Vortex" by Esther and Jerry Hicks, and this page really seems to sum up what I'd like to say today:

'Since everyone wants to feel good, but there are so many things that others are doing that, as you observe them, do not feel good, it is easy to understand how you would come to the conclusion that your path to feeling good is through influencing or controlling the behavior of others. But as you attempt to control them (through influence or coercion), you discover that not only can you not contain them - but your attention to them brings more like them into your experience.

Your current society is waging a war against illegal drugs, a war against poverty, a war against crime, a war against teenage pregnancy, a war against cancer, a war against AIDS, a war against terrorism [a war against hate]... and all of them are getting bigger. You simply cannot get to where you want to be by controlling or eliminating the unwanted.

And who among you gets to decide which way of living is the "right" one, anyway? Is the largest group the one that holds that "knowledge," or is the group with the greatest capacity to kill the other groups the one who is "right"? Do poor people have the answer? Do rich people hold the key? Which religion is the "right" religion? Which way of life is the "right" one? Is it right to have children? How many is the correct number? And if a woman has children, is it appropriate for her to think of other things? Can she have a career, or is she now obligated to think of nothing other than her children? How should a man treat his wife? How many wives should he have?

The flawed premise "My group's/our way is the only correct way, therefore all other ways must be stopped, because when I look at what I do not agree with, I feel bad" is the basis of the majority of unhappiness on your planet.

Not only do those being pushed against feel the pain, but those doing the pushing feel it as well. In fact, the unhappiest, least fulfilled among you are those who are pushing against others, because, in doing so, you are disallowing the most important relationship of all; the relationship between you and You."

We are bringing to us all that we have in our lives and by pushing against the things/people/organizations, etc. that we don't want in our lives we're just screaming 'GIVE ME MORE, GIVE ME MORE, GIVE ME MORE' of what we do not want.

To get what you DO want...put your energy, thoughts and feelings to what you want more of in your life. Let go of what you do not want, your thoughts and energy are better placed on good feeling things. Let others deal with their own negative manifestations into their reality, don't make their pain your own, you deserve so much better.

Something to meditate on tonight...

Brightest Blessings!
the Witchy Writer ☽◯☾

Witchy ALERT: Pagan Hate Group on Facebook

UPDATE
As of 8/21/13 the Facebook site 'Witches must die by fire' has been removed.

However, this page was only one of many out there that incite violence towards Pagans / Witches / Wiccans. There are places in this world that are still torturing and killing people accused of Witchcraft. This is a current global concern. If you would like to help, my suggestion would be to send your energy to the victims. See them healthy, happy and safe within their communities. And if you choose to join a group to lend your voice to this cause - find an organization that stands for peace. Keep the positive goal in the forefront of your minds. See and feel the happiness and safety of these people. Join peace rallies, talk only of peace and safety. We get more of what we think and feel. So bring these people peace and joy.

Blessed Be!
the Witchy Writer
___________________________________________________________________________________

My pagan and Witchy friends, I have seen a lot of talk about a hate group on Facebook called "Witches must die by fire". It is so unfortunate that there are still individuals so disconnected with Spirit/God, but they are out there. I am glad however, that they are NOT the majority.

There are many, many pagans keeping an eye on this site and many who have reported this site to Facebook as 'hate speech' (myself included), but FB has made the decision that this page does not fall under that designation and have allowed the site to remain online.

One of the bloggers on 'Witches and Pagans' is staying on top of this story and has gathered the information for anyone wanting to report the site to Interpol in an effort to have it removed. My take on the site is a little different:

REQUEST TO ALL PAGANS/WITCHES

Rather than responding to the many ignorant comments of the sites administrator, let's use the Law of Attraction to find a better solution.

First: Do not respond to any of the negative and ignorant comments from the site admin or any others whose responses are negative or hateful.

Second: Deluge the site with images, articles, comments, responses etc... of the positive aspects of who and what we are.

My hope is that the site will be so overwhelmed with the positive and good of our path that anything negative will no longer be seen. Or, the admin will be so overwhelmed with trying to respond to, block and/or delete the positive posts that he/she will see how futile their site is and delete it themselves.

Let's put the Law of Attraction to work. Please do not concentrate on the negative of this site, only the positive impact we can have on those who need our sympathy.

Blessed Be!
the Witchy Writer

Finding Peace in Turmoil

Like finding the sun shining through in the midst of a storm, we all want to be able to find peace when we are facing turmoil in our lives. So we keep asking ourselves how we can find any kind of inner peace when a storm is raging within us. Our chests are tight and hurt, we become overly sensitive to everything and everyone. One minute we're crying and the next we are exploding over something small and usually meaningless. So how do we do it?

I've been asking myself this very question over the past few days. My husband has a daughter from his previous relationship. She is 3, and beautiful, and wonderful, and smart, and so many more things. I can already see the trouble she is going to cause us when she's a teenager, but I welcome it because I love her so very much. Well - and I already know all the teenage girl tricks because I used them all myself. And I'm going to thoroughly enjoy watching my husband's flustering frustrations as she becomes a young woman. It's going to be quite entertaining.

The turmoil however, is with my lovely step-daughter's mother. I suppose it isn't usual for women to like or get along with their ex's new wife, and I'm not expecting her to like me or my husband. What I do expect is that she control herself in front of her daughter. But she is very angry and upset over our marriage and has made it very obvious the she is unable to control her temper. And unfortunately she dragged her daughter outside with her in order to yell at my husband. I just watched as she looked around in despair. She started by hitting her mother over and over in the stomach trying to get her attention. But I look up and all she can do is flail her arms around with her eyes about to bug out of her head while she ignores her daughter completely to continue the tirade. The sadness in that little girls face absolutely broke my heart. We received texts from her throughout the night saying how her daughter was screaming and yelling; all in an attempt to make my husband feel bad. But she can't see it. My step-daughter is perfectly fine with us. We don't discuss her mother or show our anger or frustration with her immaturity in her presence. We expected the same from her mother, but that isn't happening. Why is she so angry when she is with her mother? Because she is insulting and yelling about her father in front of her. She screams and yells at her mother and grandparents because they can't control themselves around her. A 3 year old only has one response to listening to someone tear her father apart. She screams and yells, she throws tantrums, she isn't nice to anyone. But she doesn't do any of this with us. So that is what is currently going on. You can see why my level of frustration is high. But what to do about it.

Step One - identify what I don't want so I know what I do want. I don't want to ever see my step-daughter in that kind of pain again. So what I want is to know that she has peace and love in her life regardless of what her mother and grandparents are doing. I want her to know and feel that we all love her so very much. That it is okay that her mommy has a home and her daddy has a home. I want this with all of my being.

Step Two - let what I do want be known to the universe. This is the easy part. I know what I want, so the universe knows it also. I don't have to worry about it.

Step Three - allow the truth of what I want to manifest into my present reality. This is the harder part. It requires that I project and think about what I do want, not what I don't want. That's hard when we are constantly bombarded by my husband's ex and her immature and outrageously childish behavior. Sometimes I feel it just never ends, getting more and more out of control. But, it does that only because I'm not in the right state of mind. The more frustrated I get at her, the less I'm concentrating on my step-daughter's peace. I'm concentrating on her lack of peace. And as the Law of Attraction tells - we get more of what we think and feel. I feel frustration, so does my step-daughter.

Changing this pattern will not be easy, but is extremely important. I really really want my step-daughter to be at peace - so this is what I need to concentrate on. I have to FEEL with all of my being that she is in peace, that this is the only state of being she can be in. I cannot concentrate on what her mother is currently doing. This only brings more of what she is doing into being.

This holds true with anything we want in our lives. These steps can be put to anything. The point is that we decide how we want to feel and feel that way now before we are able to physically see the manifestation for ourselves. The universe hears and answers our requests, but if we turn around and feel the opposite the universe will hear that as well, manifesting what we don't want instead. It takes practice. Start with something small that is easy for you to feel good about right now - you'll see it manifest for you. The faster we are able to truly put ourselves into the good feeling place of already having, the faster the universe will deliver. Do the best that you can. Find things that you can redirect your energy towards that will keep you feeling good. Whether it is meditation, looking at pictures that make you feel happy and good, exercise, music, art, writing. It doesn't matter, just do it and you'll see.

So wish me luck as I give my step-daughter the best gift I can. Peace of mind, joy, laughter, love, family. And if you have a few moments, please send your good feeling intentions to this amazing and most deserving little girl. She is so worth it.

Blessed Be!
the Witchy Writer

This is a great video to watch that gives you wonderful information to take with you if you find yourself at the end of a relationship...especially if you have children.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TeJ9s7XmS4

How do Witches Cast Spells?

 

Those who know nothing about the religion of Wicca or the various pagan paths that deal (not all of them do however) with magickal work are often curious about how exactly a 'spell' works. I once had a young woman in an english class as me how she can do a spell to get money. She wanted it right that second. To somehow magickally appear. Well, let me just wave my trusty wand that I have right here in my back pocket and bippity boppity boo! Money! It would be great if that were the way it happens, but it doesn't. And the young woman was very disappointed when I pointed these facts out to her. I guess I just wasn't the right kind of Witch for her.

But for those who are truly interested...a spell is a very focused and concentrated prayer. It is no different from any other person in any other faith sending their request out to the Universe, or God, or Source or what ever name you personally choose to use in reference of the higher power in your life.

Now I know this doesn't sound very glamorous or mystical. We ask for things to come into our lives all the time. The difference however, is what happens after the spell is complete. Every Witch does their spell-work differently. We all have some kind of alter where we place items to represent the various forces, energies and deities we wish to work with into a physical context for us. Many religions do this. Priests where specific robes and use specific tools during services; think of any image of the Pope. Their dress and tools are meant to put everyone into a specific state of mind. To open up your awareness to Source, to God. This 'mood' helps bring the collective thoughts whirling around into alignment with a specific purpose. Witches do the same. Our alters are very special and specific to us. To what visually brings us into alignment with our goals. Covens use this just as any church; to bring everyone into a focused alignment with the previously chosen goal of the particular gathering. By bringing our collective thoughts into alignment we add the energy and momentum needed to manifest our goal into our physical realities.

There is no right or wrong way to conduct a spell. If it feels right and good to you, then you're doing it right. But, there are plenty of online information, books and teaching covens and other groups out there that can help point any novice in the right direction. There is however, one stead fast rule that we all MUST adhere to. The Wiccan Rede, 'An it harm none, do as thou will'. We NEVER do any kind of spell work for the intention of harming or taking away from anyone or anything. We know that what we put out there will always come back to us. So if you do a spell to harm someone, bend someones will to what you want, to change someone or something by means of force to be what you want, you are working against the Rede. And trust me, it will bite you in the ass...big time. (More on that in a future post).

So once you have figured out what you want to do, focus your thoughts and project them out into the Universe...what's the next step? Your intentions in the present moment will determine how easily your desire will manifest. Say you did a money spell; if your thoughts and intentions following the spell-work are that of how you lack money, how you can't pay this or that, your spell isn't going to manifest any time soon.

You need to maintain the same good feelings after the spell is complete. You have to use your imagination to see your desire already manifested in your life. You need to FEEL rich NOW.  If you keep thinking about the lack of money...you will always lack for money.

This also involves regular work on ourselves. We need to find an inner peace with ourselves and our present. It's the only way to see our desires manifest. To see our spell's work. Individuals from all walks of life and faiths do this to find their own inner peace. Many use meditation as a way of finding the peace they need in their present lives. This is the fastest way of doing it. When you slow down and quiet your mind, step within yourself, you see the world in a different light. You can travel anywhere you want simply by closing your eyes. Money isn't a problem, time isn't a problem, the day to day issues that appear in our physical realities are no longer issues. We simply are, and we can be or do or go anywhere. There are no limitations. Astral projection, meditation, communing with God or Source - all of these are accomplished through a meditative state. And the best part is that absolutely anyone can accomplish this with practice.

We must keep our projections (our thoughts) in alignment with our goal. It's all about Law of Attraction. Like attracts like - not the opposite. Want money...see and feel your richness now. Want love...see and feel your love for yourself and others now. Want a new job...see and feel your dream job now. We have absolute control over how we interpret the things around us. Other people don't make us sad, angry, heartbroken or any other emotion. We allow it. So if you catch yourself falling into a negative thought (basically - if you are no longer FEELING good), just stop yourself, take a deep breathe and rethink how you are viewing what ever it is. 

Just because you had the thought does not mean you have ruined your spell. You have to allow it to have your undivided attention to build momentum in order to stop your goal from manifesting into your physical reality. So just work on catching the thoughts and bad feelings, breath through it and change the thought into a positive one. The more you practice this the better you'll get. And the better you get at it the more magickal your life will become because you will know exactly how to manifest anything you want into your life.

Happy Spelling!

Have any of you had a spell go horribly wrong or wonderfully right? What happened?

Blessed Be!

the Witchy Writer

Working and the Law of Attraction

Are you tired of working a job that makes you miserable? I can relate. I had been working for a major university for many years and wasn't finding the job that made me really want to come to work every day. I had glimpses of it from time to time but it never stayed that way. Then after years of searching, learning and applying my various skills I found it. I was no longer just working a job, I had a career! I was excited about coming up with new ideas, pitching new marketing strategies, coming up with new designs. I was learning from a group of amazing mentors who kept my creativity flowing and reaching. I received 2 promotions (title and pay) within the span of 1 year. Practically unheard of in such an economically hard time. But, as has happened time and again, things began to change for the not so better.

Policies started changing, people left jobs and moved on, new people came in who didn't know how to manage groups in a positive direction. I wasn't happy any more. So, I was back to just working a job. I didn't know where to turn...and I began to feel sick. I thought it was nothing but a little stress in the beginning but it soon spiraled out of my control. So by the time the most awful happened (our director was terminated unjustly), I was dealing with a debilitating chronic illness.

I was shocked and outraged. How could all of this be happening to me NOW? Well...let's break it down:

• I'm feeling great in a career I love...I'm going places.
• Things start to happen that I allowed myself to feel crummy about. I was angry and fearful about the future.
• I start to feel sick.
• Situations worsen and I continued to allow myself to feel angry and fearful.
• Bam! Chronic illness arrives.

Did I do this to myself? The answer that I (and no one for that matter) wants to hear is YES. Now, some of you may be thinking, how did I do all of this to myself? I wasn't in total control of the others around me. And my answer would be no, I cannot nor did I try to control the others around me. But I did nothing to control my negative emotions either.

This is the biggy. How we feel can tell us what we are going to attract into our lives. Yes, things are going to happen around us that are not always positive. But how we react to it is completely within our control. And the more we practice staying within the positive the less negative that we will see around us. Negativity cannot survive around those with an enlightened state of being. The term misery loves company is absolutely true. It needs other negative emotions to feed off of. If you don't give it any negativity, if you don't help feed it, it withers into nothing.

So what should I have done? Looking back there were numerous cases of me allowing my anger to get the best of me. I fumed to myself about this person or that person. I joined in on the office gossip and complained until I was blue in the face. I let what a small group of others were doing to directly affect my present. I fed the negativity. And in the end I lost. I lost my career. I lost my health.

For those of you who have followed the Law of Attraction (LOA) you're probably saying, 'Well that's just a shocker'! Well, for me in that moment it was. I could have chosen a different route. I could have continued to network with my mentors, meditated to help keep my inner peace intact, sought advice from those I trusted, listened to my instincts and moved in the direction that FELT better to me. But I didn't. Lesson learned.

But that certainly isn't the end of my story. I'm back in the game with new knowledge. I look at things around me differently. I catch the negativity trying to creep in earlier and actively squash it under my foot like the nasty little bug it is. My ideas of what I want have changed and I'm moving in the direction that feels good. So my spark is returning and because I'm making these choices my life is turning once again into the feel good, joyful, happy to be here place that I've been missing.

So what should you do if you find yourself in a similar situation? Here are a few tips to put you back onto the positive, joyful path you deserve to be on (so this is the part where I am waving my magick wand directly over your head to impart my lessons into your being):

• Acknowledge that you are beautifully imperfect. Having a negative emotion does not mean that it will immediately manifest something horrible in your life. You have to give it momentum (aka your continued attention and thoughts) to allow it to creep into your reality.
• Make a feel good list. Do this today. Make a list of all the things that make you feel good. A place, memory, vacation trip, family, friend, music, meditation, yoga, a hobby. Anything that makes you feel good. Then figure out how you can utilize one or many of these at any time or place. Keep your iPod on you at all times, carry pictures or affirmations in your purse or wallet. Take a minute to do some deep breathing. Just figure it out and start putting these into practice every time you feel a negative emotion creeping in. Don't give it the momentum.
• Regroup. Look at the situation/thing/person from an outsiders point of view. Is there something you might have overlooked? Are there other options you didn't try? Have you considered the side of the other person and what they are experiencing? What would happen if you simply refused to add to the negativity of what appears to be going on? There are always options; what you need to do is find out which feels good to you (or in some cases what feels the least bad) and head in that direction.
• Pay attention to how you are feeling as the situation progresses. Change tactics in order to keep yourself moving in a good feeling place. Do you need to talk to a manager or HR, do you need to seek some advice, maybe have a group discussion to find out what is at the heart of the matter, or maybe you need to consider a new job or complete change of career. All of these ideas are options. 
• Never settle. Life is not meant to be something you just settle for. If you aren't living in joy, you aren't living within the LOA. Keep searching, keep digging, keep exploring. You will find your way.

Do you have any similar experiences? Share them...

Blessed Be!