Samhain (the Withches’ New Year)  is almost here.  It is a good time to review the past, cleanse away the old, release old hurt, pain and sorrow and prepare for a time of reflection.  It is also a time to honor loved ones who have crossed over, to release our grief and honor their memories, send them our love and good thoughts, and take time to be still and listen for their quite whispers of love and support in return.

Yesterday (Oct. 18, 2009) was the New Moon.  The new moon before Samhain (Phasma Priscus – days of ancient spirits) is the first day of the Witches’ Lunar Year.

This a time of year that can be very good for healing and taking time renew one’s spirit. As the days grow shorter, the wind more cold, take time to find rest and peace within the darkness and renew your strength mentally, emotionally and physically. Take time to reflect and draw wisdom from the depth of all that as happened before. Release all that holds you back and weighs you down to the Goddess, let your fears, guilt, pain, worry fall away like the leaves falling from the trees. Allow the Goddess to transform it all within the darkness of her cauldron, and allow yourself be transformed and connected to life, the earth, the turning of seasons, and stand between the worlds empowered and enriched by past, present and future.

Here is lovely poem I found that seemed to fit the season:

“Between the heavens and the earth
The way now opens to bring forth
The Hosts of those who went on before;
Hail! We see them now come through the Open Door.

Now the veils of worlds are thin;
To move out you must move in.
Let the Balefires now be made,
Mine the spark within them laid.

Move beyond the fiery screen,
Between the seen and the unseen;
Shed your anger and your fear,
Live anew in a new year!”
- Lore of the Door

May you walk in the light of your true nature, may you be at peace with an open heart and mind, may your spirit be strong and empowered with the wisdom of your ancestors.

Wishing one and all a truly blessed Witches’s New Year, Lady Rose

Written by Lady RoseTags:new moon, samhain, wiccan beliefs, wiccan calendar

This is an outline for a  guide to being a Witch as a way of life, in balance and harmony, connected to the Life Force, guided by inner wisdom, able to navigate the road of life, and manifest the magical, fulfilling potential within you.  In time I hope to develop it and expand it to inlcude lessons, meditations, affirmations, etc.

Outline:

As Above So Below

Foundation – 3 Essentials. Feet need to be firmly planted on the earth.

• Health – physical, emotional, mental and spirit
• Shelter and basic needs (finances, etc.)
• Support – family, friends, community

Triad of Spirit – mind, heart, and spirit

• Connection to web of life, life force, Goddess
• Connection to community, all living things
• Manifestation of true self, divine purpose, “gift”

As Without So Within

Sacred Space – Inner and Outer Temple

Personal Pantheon:

• Wise One, Mentor, Guides, Teachers
• Warrior, Guardian, Protector
• Nurturer, Parental Figure (Mother\Father)
• Support, Friends, Peers

Tools & Five Elements

The only tools a witch needs are Focus, Will, Desire, Actions and Spirit. Breathe, meditation, mantras, affirmations, symbols, ritual, and various symbolic physical tools are all methods to sharpen and develop the true tools of one’s focus, will, desire, actions and spirit.

Focus (of thoughts) – Air, Wind, SwordAthame, Yellow, Feathers, to know

Will (intent) – Fire, Flame, WandStaff, Red, Candles, to will

Desire (enthusiasm) – WaterWave, ChaliceCauldron, Blue, Seashells, to dare

Actions (physical body) – EarthSoil, Pentacle Plate, Green, Flowers, to be silent

Spirit (all is working in harmony connecting the dream to reality, manifesting spirit in the physical world) – Goddess symbol, White, Crystals, to be One with the Divine

Exercises:

Journal Work (Know Thyself)

Visualizations – creating sacred space, temple, pantheon

Bright Blessings, Lady Rose

Note: This outline is based on a post Witch Renewed and Rediscovered. I think it reflects what I would like to do with the Reclaiming the Witch In You project. This is a work in progress, and will grow and evolve. It will contain the essence of what have found works for me to create an empowering, magical way of life that reflects what it means for me to be Witch. It is my hope that it can be a useful guide along your journey to creating your own personal and unique expression of the Witch In You.

Written by Lady RoseTags:pagan, wiccan beliefs, witch in you

First Church of Wicca featured on TLC’s My Unique Family (tv show) – The show and the church are definitely inspiring. I look forward to reading more about what they do and their courses, etc.

Hopefully, now that my daugther is a bit older (she is almost 11) I can find ways to be more open again and come out of the broom closet. In my 20s and 30s I was very open about being Wiccan, and even lectured on college campuses, but for the past 12 years or so my life has been focused more on my family and being a mom, but I am feeling the urge to at least attend some events and gatherings once again.

I wish there was something like the First Church of Wicca near me.  I’ll just have to keep an eye out and see what there is in my home state.

Bright blessings, Lady Rose

For those located in Massachusetts First Church of Wicca is located at the Tarkiln Community Center on Route 53, Summer Street in Duxbury, Massachusetts

Exerpts from their site:

“Our Congregation meets the 2nd and 4th Sunday evening of every month to
celebrate Sabbats and Esbats and is an opportunity for families and
individuals of any age to explore Wicca. In these church rituals, we will cast
circles, personalize our altar, practice magick, consider moon phases, raise
the cone of power, sing, dance, meditate, create our Book of Shadows, and
much more!”

“We believe that our church should be a safe and loving environment for
people of all faiths and traditions to explore their spirituality and personal truths”

Suggested Reading:
   Pagan Theology: Paganism as a World Religion

Written by Lady RoseTags:wicca, wiccan beliefs

On of my goals for this year and beyond is to get back to my wiccan roots and acknowledge the Sabbats and Full Moons more often on a regular basis, even if it is just in some small way as part of my journey to reconnect with the Wiccan path and to “live” my life as witch in a more concrete and meaningful way.

In order to do that I find myself examining old believes, thought patterns, habits and what keeps me from doing it on a regular basis now, in order to find ways that will overcome my procastination, not add stress to my life and be meaningful and renewing to my spirit.

When I first joined a coven way back when I was about 18, the group met at the exact time of the sabbats and full moons – so if that meant 2:17 a.m. you got up and drove to where ever the circle was being held in the middle of the night regardless of the weather, regardless of how you felt physically.  Back then I even missed work a few times because Circle came first!  I remember forgetting to set the alarm clock once and waking up late for a sabbat, and I cried for hours feeling like I was the worst witch in the whole world.  Our high priestess pretty much felt the same way, so missing a circle usually meant being scolded and reminded of one’s obligations to the Goddess.

The reasons for leaving that group are to complicated to go into now and perhaps that story will be another post some day.  The day did come when I decided to form my own circle (my spiritual teacher at time thought it would be good for me and that too is another story) - it  started out has a couple of close friends.  I also lectured on Wicca at local colleges and eventually a few new friends joined our circle (Mama Kelly being one of them).   We met near the times of the Sabbats and the Full Moons, mostly weekends and if someone was ill they were welcome to stay home if they needed to.  As the priestess for the circle I vowed I would never make someone feel like a “bad” witch for not coming to circle because they were sick or make someone miss work.

The time came for that circle to end (again another long story for another time) and I found myself  a solitary once more.  Life got complicated over the next 15 years or so with good things and bad, slowly getting to the point where all my wiccan things were packed up, I didn’t attend the annual wiccan conference we used to go to in Jan. any more, and I didn’t even light a candle any more.

Leading to now, being 51 and having for the past 4 years or so, since life has finally settled down and we have a nice home and less stress I have been trying to get back to celebrating the Sabbats and Full Moon.   I have changed, what I believe has changed, what I value has changed and that means how and when I celebrate will change.

I still want to get the spare room cleaned out and set up as my sacred space.  It was done about two years ago – but slowly hubby starting putting boxes back in there and now I can’t even move in there again with all the stuff piled back up to the ceiling – but at least my books and other wiccan things are in there (I just can’t get to them – though one of my goals is to clear out the room again).

However, not having my witchy things available, not lighting candles and not chanting in a circle doesn’t make me a bad witch.  When I had my own circle I taught that it is what is in your heart and mind that is most important – and that you don’t really need the witchy props (though they are very nice and help us focus).   So not having my room and my things is really just an excuse.

Having my room and setting time aside for a sacred circle, meditation, ritual, etc. would be nice, and would even be beneficial to me spiritually to help me reconnect with my inner wisdom, to make a quiet time to hear the heartbeat of Mother Earth, to nourish my soul. 

However, to celebrate the Sabbats in a meaningful way I find myself wanting to do so in a much different way.  A way that is not only personal and helps me to be more attune to Nature and the Year Wheel – but that also connects me to others. 

So as the seasons change, whether it is on the day or around the day of a Sabbat or any day, I plan to find ways to do something meaningful such as making a donation to the good will, cooking a meal for a friend or family member, lighting a candle with a prayer for peace, doing something that needs doings, helping someone, giving a hug or a smile, spending quality time with my family, planting some herbs and sharing them when harvested, or doing something that nourishes my heart and spirit. 

In a nutshell, I am going to try to live each day with gratitude and joy, and more in tune with nature, with myself, and connected to others.  The Sabbats and Full Moons will be days to reflect and give thanks (and when possible light a candle or hold a ritual).  They are the reminders on the Year Wheel to take time out from our busy lives to give thanks and connect with our spirits and the web of life, replenish our soul, and to help others.  

Keeping the Sabbats and full moon circles isn’t what makes a good witch, it’s how you live your life each and every day.

Bright Blessings,  Lady Rose

Note: For Candlemas this year, I am blessing the pumpkin seeds I ordered that arrived yesterday (the seeds are for mini pumpkins that grow on a vine tree).

Written by Lady RoseTags:goals, sabbats, wiccan beliefs, witch

This past weekend Mama Kelly and I had an awesome visit, and as usual we discussed where we are along the our individual path. We both felt we had reached a point in our lives where it felt “right” to begin again, to re-explore and re-learn and refresh our spiritual interests.

I had a sort of revelation the other night before our visit that I shared with Mama Kelly — that even though we felt like we had fallen off our spiritual paths, and that we disconnected from our inner witchy selves and felt lost (after the past decade of our lives being stressed and in crisis) — that actually another way to look at it is we had been at a rest stop (which is still part of the journey) – we got married, we had children, we dealt with financial and family issues, we lived – that is all part and parcel of the spiritual experience too. Now that our lives were calmer and we are working on getting our lives and our selves healthier and in balance, that we have actually grown, gotten stronger, gained insights, and wisdom. We need to do some inner house cleaning and make repairs to our inner temples, but we have and always will be on a spiritual journey and the Witch within is always there (though some times she falls asleep) even when we are totally unaware of it or consumed by what is going on in the real world around us. It was very healing and empowering to look at it from this perspective.

As I begin the first steps back on to the highway and leave the rest stop for a little bit – I find the need to do a lot of inner searching and getting to know who I am now and where do I want to go. For me I don’t feel as if I resonante with the current form of popular “wicca and paganism.” Do I still want to be a witch? I’m know I don’t want a religion in my life, but rather a spiritual path. I find that I feel drawn to Buddhism, Native American teachings, Unitarians, Science and even sometimes atheist. Do I need a label? What do I really believe in – as probably truth (for me), as possible, as nonsense?

The answer to whether or not I want to be a Witch is definitely a Yes – I still want to be connected to the history that is associated with being a Witch. However, what that means to me and how I want to express it in my life is though similar to when I first began the journey over 30 years ago, has grown and evolved and doesn’t fit any particular model of wicca that I am aware of.

Do I need a label or to belong to a particular branch of wicca? Probably not. It is nice to visit and enjoy large group rituals to recharge the inner batteries and enjoy the company of others who are like minded, and there is always great opportunity to learn from others and expand one’s thinking. But I’m not sure I want or need to fit into any one else’s mold.

I know I believe as my truth – We have one life and no matter what happens before or after we are born – living to be your best in the here and now is what is important, I believe that the spirit continues to exist after death (in what form I don’t know); that there is a Life Force which connects all living things and that in Nature there is peace, power, and wisdom; that focused thought, emotion, will and action can cause change and affect the world within and around us; I believe we are each responsible for our actions and that those actions have reprocussions. I think its very possible that there is an afterlife and if so what a spirit experiences in that after life is most likely determined on how they lived their lives (though I don’t think it’s possible and is total nonsense that any one can KNOW for sure what happens). I believe it is very possible that our souls reincarnate (but again I think its nonsense to think any one knows for sure).

For me Witch means living my truth, living my life to the best I can be, (and forgiving myself when I am not), being open to new ideas and experiences, learning, growing, respecting Nature and others, keeping the connection to the Life Force (symbolozied as the Goddess and God) open and flowing,

Will I one day seek out a group or start a new one myself or with Mama Kelly? – that is a question to ponder at a much later time. For now, I am content to explore on my own and reawaken the inner Witch and reclaim the power and magic within, and follow the Goddess where ever she may lead, and share my journey here so that it may of use to someone else one day.

Blessed Be, Lady Rose

Written by Lady RoseTags:about Lady Rose, spirituality, wiccan beliefs, witch in you