Archive Page 8

Witch Doings at the Full of the Moon

The altars or "Old Woman takes over my bedroom"

There is so much going on and so little time to write of it. I spent the morning of the full moon with the lovely LadyHawk from WiccanWeb (where I once admin’ed years ago) who’d driven all the way out from Ontario to visit us West Coast witches. She came to tea with me after having spent time with my friends behind HerbalCraft and WiccanWeb and before she went to the island to visit another mutual friend. We had samosas and peppermint tea and chatted about our common state of being outside witchcraft traditions, loves lost, and lessons learned. In the afternoon I was off to see the witch I’d left to harvest my henbane, belladonna, and nightshade before the frost took them. Then I walked through the forest to visit my former neighbours – the King of the May and his lovely witch-wife for dinner.

House blessing incantation from the Carmina Gadelica

That night, on the full hunter’s moon, I brought out the incense, my spirit-candle, and the Carmina Gadelica to bless my house. First I banished with the burning smudge of volatile oils blowing smoke into every nook and cranny and laying down the rules for spirits and doors. Then I circled through the rooms sunwise with the spirit-candle on its clawed pedestal bringing  light to the dark while chanting the Beannachadh Taighe – the Blessing of House:

“Gods bless the house,
From site to stay,
From beam to wall,
From end to end,
From ridge to basement,
From balk to roof-tree,
From found to summit,
Found and summit.”

Deer skull of Old Woman's altar Feathers and jasmine incense

Grandmother crow rests in an ancient wooden bowl from the forest

And then I marked crosses over every window, door, and other subtle entrances with holy water… “by silver and stane may the water be sained”. I wasn’t done with the full moon yet – I burned jasmine incense in offering to her beauty and also to cleanse the rooms of the pungent smudge. I brought out my cards and spread them before the newly set-up underworld altar. With hard work, skill, and balance I will accomplish my goals and dreams, they whisper.

Tarot at the cthonic altar

Old Woman takes over all my altars reminding me that no matter who else I may court, I am hers above all. Old Man laughs because he still gets the roast chicken and an altar all to himself.

Lady Death and the Council of Owls

My New Home

The bone altar

I found a home, a good home not too far from my mountain. I’m in New Westminster (the oldest city in British Columbia) now a short walk away from my fellow witch Saturn near a gorgeous park, lots of mature trees (there are blackthorns and holly trees outside my windows), and beautiful old arts and crafts homes. My new home is in a small two storey apartment building from the 1940s. It still has its antique charm; the original oak floors, newly sanded and polished, the moldings, and the beautiful door knobs with equal-armed crosses on them. The rest is new; the kitchen appliances, the lovely linoleum that looks like slate tile, the entire bathroom, along with new windows, blinds, and curtains. My Finnish landlord is a very handy man and I can tell he put a lot of time and effort into renovating the apartment. I only needed to see it once to say yes. I gave the old fellow mead so I think he likes me.

The bone altar for Old Woman and Old Man now sits on the oak floor of my bedroom, newly rededicated to the spirits of the earth, the waters, the skies, the ancestors and gods. I haven’t decided on where to put the ancestral altar yet… mayhap I’ll incorporate it all into one big altar I can sit next to on the floor upon a blanket and work my magics. I told Papa he would get his own though –probably on top of one of the bookshelves. Once everything is in its place I’ll perform a blessing… tomorrow’s the full moon so that would be perfection.

My blue kitchen

My blue kitchen with its vintage tile. I’m rather enamoured with the little shelf and the new flooring. My dishes just happen to coincidentally match my  blue kitchen…

My dishes

Mead!

The kitchen is just as big as the bedroom and living room – that means there’s lots of room for meadmaking!

My books

My books have found their homes again on bookshelves custom-made for me by a carpenter friend of my mother’s many years ago.

My new bedroom

My bedroom looks luxurious with the tapestry, my grandmother’s quilt on the other wall, and a handmade quilt from Maiwa. As always I keep my antique and first edition books close to me and far away from damaging sunlight. The bedroom will be my altar and sewing room. There’s also a tv tucked in a corner, but no cable, just movies and tv series on dvd for this witch trying to escape the time-sucker that is television for books and business instead.

The living room is still under construction – half will be for pleasure with my book and a dining area to hang out with friends and the other half is the computer area with all of my business stuff. Now to get the business back up and running so I can keep this beautiful place! I had to spend the money I was saving for rent on a laptop as my old Dell didn’t survive the move and my livelihood is on the internet.  This week I’ll be crafting my little heart out so keep your eyes peeled here or at The Forest Grove Blog for a notification of Forest Grove Botanica opening again with new goodies. I still don’t know if I’ll open Stang and Cauldron again or incorporate it as a smaller shop into the Witch of Forest Grove website… I’ll let you all know when I do.

I hope you enjoyed the tour – look for posts on herbal craftiness coming soon!

Help, I’m Possessed!

Possessed Kitty

Not too often, but usually about once a month, I get emails from people begging me to help them because they are cursed, possessed, or surrounded by evil spirits, or all of the above, or someone else they know is. Are they really? I mean, how do they know they are and how do I know they aren’t schizophrenic or had a bad reaction to prescription meds and are hallucinating? Now if it was a fellow Witch or Pagan or a very sane sounding person who wrote me a rational email with examples I might take them seriously, but the emails I usually receive are rife with spelling errors, craziness, and no specifics other than wild claims that come off as paranoid. If you send me an email like this I will most likely not respond as I don’t want to feed the paranoia.

If you think you are cursed, possessed, or surrounded by evil spirits do me and all Witches and Rootworkers a favour and do divination first to see if you really are. Not a magical person? Find a tarot reader with a good reputation and DON’T tell them what your issue is, just tell them it’s a yes or no type of question. Some readers are shady and will tell you what you want to hear so they can charge you even more for other services. Don’t let the reader fish, just wait for them to tell you what the cards say. If you get a yes and all kinds of creepy cards then maybe you really are – but it’s still a maybe. If you get a resounding no, maybe it’s time to take a trip to a local therapist to find out if it could be a psychological disorder causing the issue. Mental illness is far more common than we all like to believe  and it could be something easily remedied once you seek evaluation and help.

Now even if you really think you are, you still don’t need to bug a Witch –it’s time to hit the books. Pick up a copy of one of the many manuals of defence against the dark arts, aka Dion Fortune’s Psychic Self-Defence, Draja Mickaharic’s Spiritual Cleansing, Paul Huson’s Mastering Witchcraft, or Jason Miller’s Protection and Reversal Magick. Each has many spells and rituals for curse reversals, banishments, and protections and you don’t have to be a Witch or an occultist to use them, especially Draja’s book which is meant for the everyday Dick and Jane. Actually perform the spells and rituals that pertain to your situation and give them time to take effect – some may need to be repeated for days or a week until your situation improves. Follow instructions to the letter and don’t be lazy about it.

If it doesn’t work and you find yourself in way over your head with things you don’t understand and that scare the crap out of you – then call a professional Witch or Rootworker to help you out. A good one won’t be cheap so save your money. If they try to charge you over a few hundred dollars or only repeat what you’ve told them and don’t give any new information or clarity about the situation, run away and find someone else.

I personally don’t do long distance work except for divination, so I’m not the one to run to. I do hope to offer spell consultation services once I’m settled where I will give you a spell or ritual custom tailored to your situation (and maybe some supplies), but you will be the one performing it and doing all the work.

If you are thinking of hiring a Witch, read this amazing post by Deborah over at Charmed I’m Sure first – Etiquette Lessons: Magic Is Not for Free (Sometimes)

If you are a Witch or Rootworker who offers such services you will quickly learn how to spot which clients are sane and need your help and which ones suffer from paranoid delusions and won’t believe anything other than the opinion they’ve formed in their head. It’s important to be able to distinguish the difference as you’ll make a lot of money off of the crazies, but your magic will be wasted and they will just keep coming back to you for more and more and never get over the initial paranoia. I personally do a tarot reading or have a quick chat first with my spirits to see if I should take on the client or not. Shut them down and say no right away and don’t try to be nice. As much as we’d like to think we are and as often as we need to act like them, we are not therapists or psychologists and cannot replace them.

October Smells Like Woodsmoke

Dark grey storms of strong winds, lightning, and thunder roll in leaving behind trails of broken branches and the scent of rain on pavement and decaying leaves. The foggy air takes on a chill with sharp notes of delectable wood smoke. Blackberries become as dark as the night sky and the Devil’s tomatoes shine vermillion red like Snow White’s poison apple. The days grow short, the nights grow long, and we become closer to the darkness and to the spirits of the dead. October is here; it is officially the season of the Witch.

 

Goodbye Mountain

View of Burrard Inlet from Burnaby Mountain

Goodbye secret garden of poisons, healers, and bees. Goodbye old Rowan, Hawthorn, Birch, and Holly; guardians of the forest. Goodbye Poplars whose leaves rattle like bones in the wind. Goodbye creatures of the wood and plants of the wild. Goodbye home. Goodbye mountain of the warrior.

My life seems to be a series of fairy tales. Before I left the island I was Vasilisa escaping Baba Yaga’s clutches. Since I have been King Henry weeping in sorrow over Tristan and Isolde. But, unlike Henry, I’ve left that tragic tale to find my own story -hopefully one with a happily ever after this time. Real fairy tales seldom do end in bliss, but maybe I’ll get lucky in the next chapter (although with the advent of my Saturn return, probably not so soon).

I’ll need to put Stang and Cauldron on hold for a bit while I find a new home and settle in. I may incorporate it into this website; I haven’t decided yet. Once I’ve found a new place to begin my own story I will reopen Forest Grove Botanica and expand it quite a bit. For now I’m in the place of my birth marvelling at how much things can change in twenty years. Please bear with me in the meantime. It may be quieter around here than usual. I’m currently working on illustrations for Witches&Pagans (which I’ll share with you soon) and an article for an upcoming issue.

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