The Double Magick of Lilacs
“When lilacs last in the dooryard bloom’d, and the great star early droop’d in the western sky in the night, I...
Power Animals
The term ‘spirit animal’ is fairly well-known. Humorous claims that cartoon characters or celebrities ‘are my...
Lammas or Lughnasadh?
The Wheel of the Year, the Circle of the Season, Esbats and Sabbats, High Holy Days – an inevitable part of becoming a Pagan and/or Witch – lead to the addition of many more holidays (in the traditional sense of holy-days) into your life! As a new practitioner, this can be confusing. Many new witches, especially if they do not have a mentor or a coven, go to the internet for answers to these questions: What do I celebrate and when? Why is this particular celebration “holy” to me now? What does this day mean for my new spirituality and magickal practices?
The Power of Gold
More than any other substance, gold has captured the imagination, and desire, of people the world over for hundreds of years. The sheer value we have placed upon gold, the ends we’ve gone to attain it, and the romanticism that grew up around it, are enough to lend gold a lot of power in the universal unconscious energy. As witches and all practitioners of magick know, we are all connected. Linking our magickal energies into the universal unconscious flow of the human spirit can be a powerful action.
Freyr, God of Summer
In Norse mythology, there are two tribes of gods: the Vanir and the Aesir. The Vanir tribe are fertility gods, while the Aesir are warrior gods. During the Viking Age, the people of Scandinavia relied heavily on farming for their survival, so the Vanir gods played a crucial role in their worship. As the son of Skadi, a frost giantess, and Njord, the god of the sea, Freyr is a sun god who is a member of the Vanir, associated with fertility and peace. His twin sister, Frejya, is also well known for her cunning and beauty throughout Norse mythology.
Customs, Traditions, and Folklore of Litha
As the sun reaches its zenith, Midsummer celebrations abound across the globe. People celebrate the balance of the dark and light while paying homage to sun deities in a variety of different ways. Litha is the Midsummer Sabbat as the wheel of the year turns. There are many customs, traditions, and folklore surrounding Litha.
Growing Your Coven Membership
Growing your coven membership can be difficult in a practice that does not proselytize or actively recruit. Plus, with paganism being a new religion that is often misunderstood by the general public, many practitioners don’t blatantly display their faith, so others might not even know they are a practitioner. But if pagans and Wiccans don’t recruit, how can they find new members? The majority of people learn about paganism and Wicca through books, online, or from close friends.
Drawing Down the Moon
The moon is a sacred symbol to Wiccans and Pagans as it is imbued with feminine energy and plays a central role in honoring the goddess. The moon is a physical representation of the goddess, her energy, and the divine feminine. While there are many beautiful and powerful rituals within Wiccan and Pagan practices, drawing down the moon is one of the most sacred and magnificent rituals for practitioners. While Sabbats celebrate the wheel of the year turning and Esbats pay tribute to the phases of the moon, drawing down the moon is a ritual in which the practitioner melds with the divine allowing them to talk and interact with the goddess herself.
