mabon

Mabon

Mabon sabbat is once again upon us. It is the second harvest of the year and the autumnal equinox. It is the completion of the harvest that began at Lughnasadh. At this time of the year grapes are harvested. The Greek God Dionysus who is the Lord of the Drink is honored at this time. The autumn equinox marks the first day of the Fall season. It occurs when the sun enters 0 degrees into the zodiac sign of Libra. At this time day and night are of equal length. So this is a time to celebrate balance in our lives. During this time we notice the day light begins to decline and nature slows down her bounty. We start to sense the impending dark that is to come with the dark part of the year approaching.

Many cultures around the world celebrate this second harvest just under different names. In Celtic countries, the main crops harvested are grapes and apples. This was the original American Thanksgiving until it was moved by Franklin Roosevelt to the second to last Thursday in November. In Africa the crop of the time is yams. The South Americans harvest corn around this time. Whatever the crop, it is a time of celebration and thanksgiving for the bounty that he earth has given.

Mabon Activities

There are many ways to celebrate this harvest festival. Some of them are:

  • Making wine
  • Offering libations to the trees
  • Leaf rubbings
  • Decorate the altar with leaves, apples, seeds
  • Make apple cider
  • Apple picking
  • Bonfires
  • Nature walk
wicca witchcraft altar

Witch’s First Aid Kit For Emergency Magick

Do You Need a Witch’s First Aid Kit?

For life’s little magickal emergencies every witch should have a witch’s first aid kit. Since our mundane lives do not adhere to a specific set of rules then we can’t expect our magical lives to either. Emergent situations will arise.  For this reason I like to keep on hand certain items that I can easily store away and quickly get to. This kit should contain all the herbs, oils, curios and tools needed to cover nature’s little contingencies.  Emergency hexing?  Quick protection?  Urgent healing?  Whatever the case, let’s get ready for it. 

Witch's first aid kit

Your Witch’s First aid kit should first and foremost be light and portable.  We need to be able to take this kit and go on short notice.  While it may seem like a good idea to pack in several items for various problems that may arise, it is not necessary.  Many herbs and curios serve multiple purposes and can be used in various situations.  

Next, we want our kit to be organized. Everything should have its place.  You don’t want to be fumbling around and frantically searching for the perfect root when time is of the essence.  

Lastly, keep it simple.  In an emergency, there is no need for elaborate spell work or complicated rituals.  Stick to the basics.


Here are some of what you will find in my witch’s first aid kit.

Crystals.  While we can’t include all the crystals in our collection we can have the two most versatile.  Clear quartz can substitute for almost any crystal or gem and is a must have.  The other stone would be a grounding stone.  Whether it be hematite, smoky quartz, obsidian, carnelian, etc we need a stone to ground out the various energies and help us stay focused.

Candles.  A black candle and a white candle.  No need for all the various colors in between.  The darker the spell or ritual, use the black candle.  The lighter the spell or ritual, use the white candle.  Additionally by having a black and a white candle these can double as your god and goddess candles representing the polar sides of nature itself.  

Matches or Lighter.  Self explanatory. 

Herbs. Sage. It clears the energy of a space.  Rosemary.  Rosemary can be used for many purposes like protection, love, and healing.  Because of the sturdy nature of the sprig, rosemary can also be used as a wand to direct energy in spells and rituals.  Five Finger Grass (cinquefoil).  This is an all purpose herb.  It basically helps you attract anything the five fingers can hold.  Excellent for love, luck, money, power and wisdom.  Hyssop.  Good for purification and exorcisms.   Graveyard dirt.  This powerful curio will add power to your workings and give the support of the ancestors.  Goofer Dust.  This powder is used to curse, harm and hex.  While you may not use it often it is a good resource to have just in case.  Cinnamon. This spicy herb will speed up a spell working.,  Honey. This will sweeten any spell.   

Charcoal. A small charcoal disk can be broken and used to keep herbs and resins burning without the need to keep reignighting.  

Pendulum.  Great for dowsing and receiving answers from your higher self or ancestors.

Knife.  Great for cutting herbs and inscribing candles.

Cauldron.  Use this to burn and mix your herbs.

Cloth.  An altar cloth can be used to create sacred space and as a palace to set up your magickal working.

String.  String or ribbon can come in useful for tying together herbs or binding an object.  

Salt.  Although it can serve many purposes, salt serves as a purifier and also as a boundary marker to separate the sacred from the profane as in creating a circle of protection around yourself or an object.

Olive Oil.  This is an all purpose anointing oil. 

Tarot or Runes.  A small tarot deck or rune set to help discern a situation is invaluable.  

Box or case.  A container to hold all of your objects.  This can be a shoe box, small chest, old purse, backpack, etc.

The list for this witch’s first aid kit could go on and on but this is a good start.  As you develop your practice you will no doubt want to add to this list or even subtract.  That’s the beauty of the Craft.  It’s yours.  Make it unique.

incense

Lughnasadh Incense Recipe

A quick and easy recipe to honor the holiday.

1 tbsp lavender buds

1 tbsp calendula

1 tbsp rosemary

1 tbsp rose buds

a few drops of sandalwood

shaved pieces of palo santo

Mix all ingredients together and burn over charcoal. For a stickier incense, add a resin like dragons blood or frankincense as a binder.

Lughnasadh incense recipe
Lughnasadh Incense
lughnasadh

Blessed Lughnasadh

Lughnasadh (Lughnasa) also know as Lammas is one of the 8 Wiccan Sabbats that make up the pagan Wheel of the Year. It is the first of the three harvest festivals and marks the beginning of the dark part of the year. This magickal celebration is dedicated to the god Lugh (pronounced Loo) and is celebrated by reaping the first fruits of our harvest. Corn and wheat are some of the first crops to be harvested at this time and serve as symbols of this Sabbat. In honor of this, breads are traditionally baked and corn dolls are crafted. Lammas means “loaf mass”.

lughnasadh altar
Lughnasadh Altar
lughnasadh corn dollies
Corn Dollies
rosemary lughnasadh bread
Rosemary Bread
lughnasadh craft
Corn Husks

Shadow Work and the Winter Solstice

The dark part of the year is once again upon us.  The Winter Solstice! This is the time of the year when the trees begin to lose their leaves, the days grow shorter and the animals prepare for hibernation.  It is a time of quiet reflection.  As the grass and the trees go dormant or turn all their energy inward, we are led to do the same.  We reflect on the events of our lives that have come to past.  This is also a great time of year to do shadow work.  One of my favorite authors is Debbie Ford.  She has an excellent book called, The Dark Side of the Light Chasers.  It is a book that I highly recommend at this time of the year.  She explains how we deny and hide the darker side of our nature rather consciously or unconsciously and reject that part of ourselves we are not comfortable with, thus creating an inauthentic self.

So, as the Wheel turns, the night stretches on and the days grow shorter culminating on the Winter Solstice (December 21st), it is an excellent time to do some shadow work.  Get in touch with that part of yourself that you try to hide from others.  As workers of Light we must know that our light casts a shadow.  Sit and have a talk with this shadow. Get to know and LOVE her. Embrace her.  Welcome her and become a whole person.  When you do this, you find your inner light.

A tradition that you can incorporate into your practice that helps with this is creating a Solstice spiral.  The spiral can be made of stones, shells, crystals or whatever you have on hand.  As we walk this spiral it helps us to go inward.

Almost Springtime!

As we approach the midpoint of February there is a little bit of Spring anticipation in the air.  With the first  Spring Sabbat having already passed (and do I hope everyone had a blessed Imbolc/Candlemas), you can definitely feel the gentle stirrings of Mother Nature as she begins to awaken.  This year so far in the South we have had a very mild winter.  The Temperatures here in Tennessee stayed in the high 60’s to low 70’s for about 3 weeks which was awesome.  Unfortunately, there has also been the blooming of many early spring bulbs including Daffodils which I am hoping are not destroyed by a late frost. But with all of the beautiful weather for the past few weeks I am in full on Springtime mode.   And what do I like to do best in the Spring?  Gardening!  Yes.  Realizing it is too early to start my garden or even my seedlings at this point, I have decided that now is the perfect time to plan the layout of my garden as well as check up on my seed stores.  This year I plan on making my garden a bit bigger.  Not only will I continue to do my container gardening on the back deck, I also want to expand my front flower beds to include more herbs.  Maybe, I’ll even include a fairy garden bed.

So in the coming months look for some before and after pictures of that along with a video.

Paying For Graveyard Dirt and Asking Favors

There comes a time in every practicing witch’s life that you have to make a little trip to the graveyard. For some, I know this can be a very anxiety laden chore and for others it’s quite exhilarating. I tend to fall into a different category. Visiting graveyards for me has always been a very peaceful, calming and grounding experience. There is a certain calm that exists only in a cemetery. I find that most reassuring. Most people like to go to a park and relax, have a picnic lunch or just commune with nature. Me, I would much rather enjoy and share my lunch with the spirits of those who have passed on. I see this as a perfect way to establish a relationship with the spirits who live there in the cemetery.
If you are new to this practice then this is a great way to ease into it and become acquainted with it. Coming to the graveyard to pay a visit and ask nothing of the spirits at the time, but just to take the time to get to know them. Doing this breeds a relationship of trust. Get to know those who have passed on before you. Have a conversation, share a snack, sing a song and just be with them. Over time you will have established a relationship of trust. You will begin to know who you can talk to and who you can’t, who you can ask a favor of and who you can’t.
When the time comes that you have to do a little “work” in the graveyard then there are certain things you should do and certain other things you should be mindful of. Now, everyone has their own way of going about this. Here is my method.
Upon entering the cemetery I ask Baron Samedi’s permission to enter. Once granted, I proceed on. The best time to collect or “pay” for some graveyard dirt is between the hours of 9:00 pm and 12:00 midnight. There are occasions when you would need to do your work between Midnight and 3 am. I usually reserve that time for my “dark energy” work. Most cemeteries close at sunset so you would need to be very discreet in your actions. Always bring flowers. Most times if you’re caught at the gravesite after hours the simplest explanation would be that you are simply there to pay your respects to a loved one as you are on your way home from work. At that point you would simply leave the flowers on one of the gravesites and exit the cemetery quietly and call that little trip a wash or a “water haul” as my Mama used to say. If you don’t attract the attention of those passing by or security then it’s time to get to work. Locate the grave of the spirit you are most comfortable with and ask their permission to collect a little bit of dirt from the site. Upon getting that approval then proceed to collect a small bit of dirt into a clean bottle. Don’t be greedy, take only what you need. After collecting I usually deposit nine dimes in the disturbed dirt and gently cover it back over. Thank the spirit for the help and quietly leave the site.
If you are at the grave site to ask a favor of the dead or to solicit the help from a spirit then the payment is slightly different. If you are trying to bury an item in the grave (asking the spirit of the deceased one to help you with this certain chore) then ask the permission of the dead and ask them to help you with this matter. If permission is granted then quickly bury the item. I usually deposit petition paper in a small hole that I make with a spoon at the site and fill the hole up with a little rum and a cigar. Afterwards, petition Baron Samedi for his help, thank him, tell him of the offering you left and exit the graveyard. Do not look back. Looking back is doubting the efficacy of your work.
There are numerous reasons you can go to the cemetery to do work, this was just two reasons I shared in which I visit. As you become more comfortable with communing with the dead you will develop your own ways of doing this blessed work. As a general rule however I make it a point to thank Baron Samedi as I enter and as I leave the graveyard. He is after all the keeper of the graveyards and of the crossroads. Also it’s important to remember to never look back. Don’t doubt. Trust that the work you have done is sufficient and trust that your will be done.

Yuletide Apple Pie

This is a family favorite recipe for Yule.

 

Ingredients:

8 apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced

2 pie crusts

3/4 cup of sugar

1 tbsp cinnamon

1/4 tbsp nutmeg

2 tbsps flour

2 tbsp butter, sliced

 

Preheat oven to 450.

Put sliced apples in a large bowl, add cinnamon, sugar, nutmeg and flour  and gently toss to coat the apples.  Pour apples into one of the prepared pie crusts.  Apples should form a mound in the pie crust.  Place sliced butter on top of apples.  Use the second crust to completely cover the apples and pinch to close any gaps between the two pie crusts.  Add vent holes along the to of pie.  Place pie on cookie sheet and put in oven to cook for 15 minutes.  Turn oven down to 350 and continue to cook for 30-35 minutes. Serve warm.

 

 

Meditation Routine

meditation

Meditation Routine to Start the Day

Lately, my meditation routine has become an integral part of my life.  It keeps me calm, reduces my stress and helps with my tarot card readings.  Only recently have I rediscovered the benefits of this wonderful discipline.  When I say discipline I do mean it in the most sincere use of the word.  Upon coming back into my practice and making it a part of my daily ritual (just like my morning coffee and mid-morning yoga), I have discovered new and amazing talents within myself.

One of the abilities or enhancements that I’ve noticed is my level of patience has greatly increased.  I’ve never really been a short tempered person, but I have noticed that as I’ve aged, my tolerance or patience with others has begun to wane.  After a steady period of morning and evening meditations I have noticed that my patience has returned to me.  There has also been a marked change in my health in general.  Since taking this practice back up again I have noticed that I have more energy, more restful sleep, lucid dreaming, increased stamina, lower blood pressure and a lower resting heart rate just to name a few.  All of that is just the physical side of my improvements.  On the mental and spiritual side of things I have noticed that it is much easier now for me to get in contact with my spirit guides as well as a great improvement in my precognition.

Along that same line is my newly increased ability to better see auras.  Ever since I was a child I have been able to see auras around people.  This came so naturally to me as a youth that I would call people by the colors I saw around them instead of the names I knew them by.  As time went by I stopped seeing these colors so vividly and eventually as I approached adulthood, I completely lost the ability to see the auras constantly.  As an adult I was only able to see the auras of others if I concentrated and tried hard to see them.  Only then could I see the faint base color that was closest to the body of the person I was viewing.  This has all changed now.  After picking up meditation again I am once more able to see the auras around people the way I did as a child.  I am also able to see this aura energy around objects as well, especially buildings.

There have been many more benefits coming from my practice and I’m sure many more I’ve yet to discover.

How My Day Starts

mala beads

So let me give you an example of how I meditate.  Upon rising in the morning which is around 6:00 am.  This time fluctuates depending on the time of year because I wake up when the sun rises. After waking I drink a full glass of water and go outside to sun gaze for about 5 minutes.  I will write an article on my sungazing practice at a later time.  After the sungazing I go into my office/ schoolroom / altar room and do my morning meditation routine. Now, I don’t go by anyone’s particular method but my own.  This is what works and feels comfortable to me. Once in the room I sit in the lotus position on the floor in front of my altar. Sometimes, I just lay flat on the floor), light a candle, burn some incense and invoke the elements.  After finding a comfortable position I then do yogic fire breaths for I guess about 15 minutes.  I do this type of breathing while concentrating on the space between my brows. I continue until I see a violet colored flame or light. This light lets me know I am ready to go to the next part of my ritual. 

I don’t time any of this so I’m not really sure how long this part of it takes.   It is also a part of my daily practice to do positive affirmations throughout the day.  In the morning however when I am doing my meditation I use my mala or prayer beads to do these affirmations.  After going around the complete circle of beads 9 times while doing one affirmation per bead I then chant or drum for about another 15 minutes.  Next, I do more controlled breathing to a 10-7-10 count. This is done by inhaling to a count of 10, hold for a count of 7 and exhale to a count of 10. Repeat.  This I do for about 10 minutes.  During all of this there will be random thoughts that will come to mind.  I simply acknowledge the thought and gently dismiss it.  This takes some practice so I don’t mean to make that part sound easy. Lastly, I close to the Shushmana mantra which is about another 10 minutes.  There is not particular mudra I do here.  I just do whatever feels right for me at the time.  Finally, I sit in quiet contemplation for the remainder of the time. I thank and dismiss the elements, and drink another full glass of water.  By that time my 6 year old is up and calling my name.

So that is my morning meditation routine.  I do an abbreviated version of this at night as I sit in my bath tub right before bed.  This has been my daily ritual for about two years now.  Like I said this may not be the correct way, but this is my way and it has worked wonders for me so I thought I’d share.

As with any information take from this what is usual to you and kindly disregard the rest.  Any questions please feel free to drop me a line or comment.  Blessed Be.