To Be A Witch

You are not a witch because you buy witchy stuff from eBay (much as we all love a bit of witchy stuff). You are not a witch because you wear a pentacle, or get a tattoo, or buy and read books on witchcraft from Amazon.com or from a cute feminist bookstore in your town (much as we all love to read some witchy books). Stop allowing your lust to substitute for a daily practice.

You are not a witch because you wear robes or elven jewelry or because you have black fingernail polish or because you burn incense in your apartment or because you learn to read tarot or palms or tea leaves. Stop allowing your physical image and your fear of death to substitute for a relationship with the divine.

Yes, Younger Child loves all of those things. But Younger Child, alone, cannot make you a witch.

You are not a witch because Lady Something Luna Something Hawk Something Ravensomething Moonglow pronounces you a witch or because you complete some on-line "mystery school" course. You are not a witch because you've been scourged or annointed with oil or because you've said some sacred words. You are not a witch because you've gotten the five-fold kiss. Stop allowing other people to exercise power over.

You can BECOME a witch with no paraphanelia at all, just by going outside under the full, or dark, or quarter or half or three-quarter Moon, or under the sun, or at dawn, or at dusk, or whenever, and saying, with intention, "I am a witch. I am a witch. I am a witch." But in order to BE a witch, you must do more. Otherwise, you, as a witch, will fade, rather quickly, into nothing.

In order to BE a witch, you must help to turn the wheel. You must sit down daily with the Goddess and the gods and develop relationship. How scary is that? You must ground. Also, scary, especially when done daily. You must be present, as a witch, as often and as frequently as possible. Ditto on the scary. You must do the work involved in developing a relationship with the land, the watershed, the trees, the herbs, the wildlife, the rocks -- everything -- in your sacred space. Again, scary. You must change the world with magic, challenge those in power, heal the sick and powerless, provide the imaginal and charged image of the wild woman living at the liminal space between village and wood. You must do what is dangerous, you must see and worship the divine in the mundane, you must be willing to allow magic to creep into the modern world through the temporal port of your own warm human, bloody body. It's all as scary as shit if you actually commit to doing it on a daily basis and not just when you feel like it.

It's neither as easy, nor as "fun!" to be a witch as many modern people imagine. Mostly, to be a witch is work, work, work, not necessarily exciting nor technicolor work, although, Goddess knows, on occassion . . . . To be a witch is to wake up every morning, even the mornings when you need to dash into work, and to do a witch's work of relationship, grounding, physical presence. To be a witch is to stop and turn the wheel, even when a million "mundane" concerns call out to you. To be a witch is not to own stuff nor to read stuff nor to wear stuff nor to go to stuff. Sorry. To be a witch is to commit to work, difficult, repetitive, spiritual work and to do it over, and over, and over and from one season to the next and to the next and to the next.

Are you a witch? I am trying to be.

From:  http://hecatedemetersdatter.blogspot.com/

How true these words and they should be required reading for everyone who contemplates being a witch.

At http://hecatedemetersdatter.blogspot.com/

she calls our attention to the that witch hunts and witch killings are now global and spreading.  Another site in which this is posted about is: http://wildhunt.org/blog/2009/09/witch-hunts-are-now-an-international-epidemic.html

  There it says:  Witch Hunts Are Now An International Epidemic

Yesterday a coalition of U.N. officials, NGOs, and representatives from affected countries addressed the United Nations asking for governments to face the full extent of witch hunts across the world. Far from being a localized phenomenon in “primitive” or isolated villages, witch hunts and witch killings are now global in nature and spreading.

“Murder and persecution of women and children accused of being witches is spreading around the world and destroying the lives of millions of people, experts said Wednesday … “This is becoming an international problem — it is a form of persecution and violence that is spreading around the globe,” Jeff Crisp of the U.N.’s refugee agency UNHCR told a seminar organized by human rights officials of the world body.”

"Some religious practitioners make a living from exorcising alleged witches and charging exorbitant fees to those who request the ritual. In Foxcroft’s experience, the most vulnerable members of society – children and the elderly – are often the victims of these accusations.”

“Witchcraft is still widely practiced in many countries in Africa by witchdoctors who often use human body parts in their spells. Some witchdoctors employ gangs of young men to attack and kill victims, often young children, for their body parts, which are frequently removed while the victim is still alive. An estimated 300 people are killed each year in South Africa alone as a result of this practice. But horrific though this practice is, it is only part of the problem. In Nigeria, in both the Muslim North and the Christian South, witch hunts are not uncommon and this has led to a second form of abuse. Some unscrupulous pastors, many linked to Pentecostal churches, have a lucrative trade in making unfounded accusations of witchcraft against young children. [The pastors then agree to “cure” the witches for a substantial fee. Many children are being ostracized and abandoned by their parents as a result of these accusations.]“

These Christian pastors aren’t isolated to Africa, they tour churches in America bragging about their battles with the occult, and have established ministries in Ireland and the UK. Commingling with an increasing anti-occult fervor among some Western Christian groups. Meanwhile, actual modern Pagan communities in places like India and South Africa are facing the possible ramifications of intensifying witch-hunts and witch persecutions.

Hecate's says in her blog: "This is a serious problem and it calls for serious actions. As Jason notes, signing a few internet petitions isn't going to cut it. I'd like to call on the Pagan community to -- in addition to serious political action, donations, and pressure on our own elected officials -- plan to do some magic on this topic at Yule, when we turn from the dark to the light. What can you do --as a solitary, a member of a coven or grove, a worker of magic, a shaman, a worshipper of the old gods, a priestess or priest of a public ritual, as one who moves between the worlds where what you do between them affects them all -- what can you do to put a stop to this modern day slaughter of witches and those labeled "witch"? If you plan an action at Yule, please share it in comments; if we can collect enough ideas, I'll do a separate post on the topic a bit closer to the Sabbat."

We are drawing closer and closer to the Autumn Equinox and Mabon..... and the Celtic Spirit essay this morning is about a favorite
subject of mine that is appropriate to this season..... thresholds. Therefore I am going to post the essay here and ask you to remember that doing this Mercury Retrograde that we are wise to 'reflect' on our past actions and what we can learn from them.

  Today the moon moves into the last quarter phase for this lunar cycle - signals us that this cycle is drawing to a close.... 
.... the keywords for this phase are: relaignment, revision, integration, cleansing.  It is the time in a lunar cycle to take closing action, to follow-up and complete the activities begun at the New phase. During this phase you become aware of what is and is not working with respect to the achievement of your goal for the cycle. The movement is toward integration. Open to your success(s).  MANIFEST YOUR GOAL. Be responsible.

  This promises to be a much better day weather wise than yesterday - I can actually see the rising sun peeking through leaves of
the big maple outside my window.  And in fact it is supposed to be the beginning of a several days of sunshine... maybe not real
warm (in the 70's) but it sure beats what we have been having for the past week or so. 

 And so a greeting to Sun



  Now I can understand how around the world there are early morning rituals to greet the incoming day, the greet the sun as it rises...



Person performing early morning ritual on Shiva Linga



Early Morning Prayer





Greet the day with Tai Chi








 

Father and son greeting a new day









Erica Greeting the Morning Sun, Estes Park, Colorado




One of calcutta`s older citizens, greeting the morning sun at the Southern Avenue Lakes 





We are one with our Mother. We are one with the Earth.

We are one with each other, by our lives, by our birth.

-Chant by Ani Heartsong

 

 

Today is Moon Day on the old Gregorian calendar - the Day of Remembering and Feeling.... The waxing crescent moon moves into the Fixed Water sign of Scorpio. The moon's transit
through Scorpio is a time of death and rebirth, (not necessarily physical death, just like the Death tarot card does not necessarily mean physical death), but it is a time of intensity,
extremes and heightened sensitivity. It is good for focusing, being sexual, and doing psychic work because of the deep emotions and desires Scorpio brings.  While Patriarchal astrology
paints a grim picture indeed of the Scorpio transit, I find it to be a good time when I can feel the Goddess most intensely, especially the Dark or Crone goddesses. During Scorpio moon
opinions and feelings are intense and penetrating. Strong desirs, especially sexual yearnings run deep with emotions at their peak.  So hang for the next couple of days. The moon will'
leave Scorpio on Wednesday at 2:34PM EDST and later that evening enter the Mutable Fire Sign of Sagittarius.

Even tho I went out and looked at about 9:15PM I still missed seeing the waxing crescent moon but will try again tonight.
 

   It is already four days into this lunar cycle - the moon reaches the Crescent stage today at about 2:00PM and I probably could have seen the waxing crescent night as the skies seemed to have cleared, but I was too lazy to haul myself off the couch...I was in one of my snitty moods.   But I could get another chance tonight as the moon won't set here until around 9:30PM.... hoping to see it.  As usual we have
been having way too much cloud cover and while there was some hot humid weather the past week or so I think when that hurricane passed
up the east coast it sucked up all the warm weather with it.  We are back into the cloudy and cool weather.  Looking at the little pic at the top of this entry, the one of the hazel nuts -- they almost look little boobies nestled in the leaes.  LOL 

Crescent Moon:

Phase 2 - CRESCENT
The Crescent phase is Receptive and Deliberating. It is about developing resources to protect and sustain the vision of the New. This phase pertains to the
 instinctive body. Intuition, reflex and basic survival mechanisms preserve the imprint established during the New phase. At this stage, a commitment is made
 to be responsible for attaining the desired goal.

The energy of this phase is stimulated by the senses of taste, smell and touch. There is a struggle to gather adequate information to support the continued
 development of the cycle. Understanding the motivation behind the desire is vital to the function of planning for its fulfillment.

During the Crescent phase, open yourself to information and plan for action. Ask yourself: What need does my goal fulfill? and How can I guarantee the
survival of my vision? Let your instincts guide you. Nourish yourself with your favorite foods. Relax in a bath with essential oils. Allow yourself plenty of hugs.
 Review your resources, finding the qualities that will help you thrive.
http://zodiacarts.com/articles/Article_MM8Phases.shtml

Following the period of New Moon darkness, a shy smile of moon appears near the western horizon at sunset. Still hidden within Earth's shadow,
the moon at this stage presents a fleeting, tantalizing vision. It brings a phase of instinctive, youthful, unconscious, and irrepressible activity. Thus it
corresponds to the Maiden's passage in our lives-- a time of self-determined realities, untouched by worldly limits; filled with potentialities, as yet
uncorrupted by society's conventional judgments.
http://www.ebsqart.com/Artists/cmd_584_profile_portfolio_Moon+Series_1_2_G.htm