The Everyday Witch
Onagh Hopke February 1st, 2009
The Everyday Witch notices the magic in the mundane and uses the images of her environmental space to conduct effective Spelling. In order to get to that point in our daily lives, where the magic is obvious, we must have the tools to visualize our space and experience the magic.
For my introductory column, I am supposed to write some flowery stuff about me and my heritage and what I know. Instead, I will direct you to my new MySpace and The Everyday Witch website to give you the update on me. I would much prefer for you to be thinking about
Correspondences
Correspondences
The first thing one must possess to practice effective Magic is Belief. Correspondence Witchcraft gives the Witch an edge on Belief. The corresponding ideas work together to form a synergy which aids in the visualization. What I would like to focus on for my first column is to give you something useful and relevant to the
Correspondences
Correspondences
While you are deciding between the journal and the box, I will tell you that I have always considered the world around me in a relational sense. This is related to that through this relationship. It’s like an odd “six degrees of separation”. For me,
Correspondences
I think it is best to say that my column is about the magic of ordinary things. In the 1970’s, the Scholastic Book Club carried books by Ruth Chew. What the Witch Left and The Wednesday Witch. This genre of fairy tales that best describes Witchcraft are those of ordinary household items being magical tools. The Folk Practices of the 1600’s Scotland included this tradition of Kitchen Witchery for the benefit of healing and family prosperity. It’s not just a kettle, it’s a magical cauldron! That is the stalk from which I am raised. The Hippie Love Flower Child of the 1970’s with a spiritual philosophy of LOVE and The Brother’s Grimm Fairy Tales are the tacky metallic wallpaper which cover the walls of my sacred space. I am a city witch, growing up primarily in the crowded apartment complexes and “designed neighborhood community”, with summer visits to the Southern California Desert and teenage years spent roaming the fields of the Silicon Valley… before it was the Silicon Valley.
You will find a book list in the coming months which focuses on the beginners path, and hopefully there will be some more “advanced” discussions on religion, magic and the need for Ritual in our ordinary lives. To start with, I use the Seasons of the Witch Planner from 7th House, as I find the information interesting – the mundane stuff like Planetary Hours can be found anywhere on the internet. Having a good calendar geared for Moon phases, Sabbats, and other helpful information like Astrology and Tarot is very nice to have in practicing the Craft. I’ve used a lot of them, Seasons of the Witch is by far my most favorite.
The candles, the incense the altar, the chalice, the bread, the wine, all are part of the Witchcraft ritual. For people on the Catholic path, Witchcraft should appear familiar and easy. Witchcraft is very ceremonial – but it is not the ceremony which makes the magic, it is the belief and our ability to visualize our intentions. The ceremony is simply the descriptor for our Sacred Space.
Correspondence Witchcraft takes advantage of the visualization, providing a 6 sided “space” with which to define our environmental space. Correspondence Witchcraft can be likened to the work of Carl Jung. The importance of imagery and visualization is very central to both his psychology and his other writings. The Correspondence Table for my personal brand of Correspondence Witchcraft is included with this column, as mentioned above.
.htm">Here’s the link again. Keep in mind that you will most probably have a different path, a different set of Correspondences
Correspondences
The Beginning is very important to one’s beliefs. While the Wheel of the Year is a pretty picture, there isn’t a lot to guide an inquiring Witch to understanding how the Wheel is read. So, “ Where do you start?” I personally start in the East. When I finish my circle, I want to be standing firmly on the ground, therefore I end my Quarter Calls in the North, or Yule. Or think of it as, I start on the shoreline with the rising sun on the East and I end on the shoreline in the North. This makes Imbolg the first ceremony of the new year. It also makes Imbolg a Cross Quarter Sabbat. But we will get into all that in a future column.
Only you can decide the start of your Year. Is your path more Wiccan, does your Wheel start at Samhain, making your first Sabbat of the year Yule? Or is the wheel not a consideration and you begin every Ritual facing East? There are a multitude of justifications for where your box should “begin”. Pick one that is right for you.
My background in
Correspondences
Correspondences
For the month of February, you should be preparing and gathering items to make your box, your 6 scrap book pages or your 6 journal entries. The craft store Michael’s has some lovely sized affordable boxes to decoupage or paint. Your thoughts should cover what you want to do – box, panels – how involved you want to be – easy glue on or in depth detailed painting – and of course the visualizations.
I will let you be the guide to your own creativity. However, may I suggest using the Google Image Search to gather and meditate on your
Correspondences
Using basic Wicca concepts, your 6 panels will become the visual representations of North, East, South, West, Above and Below. Not everyone likes to do Below since the box is sitting on that panel. For the Ceremonialists reading along, please, note I am including this portion especially for you.
Starting in the East, you will want to sketch out the 4 cardinal points and their correspondences. You can also use the Season and the Sabbat correspondences to the cardinal points.
All of the panels should be sketched out as you want them by the first weekend of February. Decide where on your box or object the elementals will be placed, color choices for each Element should be identified and any photos or pictures you want to glue/decoupage on the box should be printed in color and ready for application. The first Elemental Panel (your choice) should be traced or outlined on the box at the very least. Ideally you should be well underway with painting or applying the first panel. If you are using a journal or 6 scrapbook pages, you will want the Elemental panels sketched out, and your visual materials ready to be glued or stapled in place.
The Dedication Full Moon is February 9th. You will want to have the majority of the Elementals Sketches complete by now and well underway. If you are using a box, the material should be prepped – base coats applied, etc and so on. During your regular February Full Moon observance, you want to hold each of the elemental panels in your mind and meditate on their magic. As you attend Full Moon Circle for February, reflect on the images you have chosen to remind you of the Elemental Beings, the Animals and the Star Watch Tower. In your mind, go through all of the Elemental Beings and the ritual tools and the colors, for East, and for South, for West and for North. Hold these images in your mind and let them interact, let their synergy mingle. Hold this synergy in your thoughts and dedicate it to your future spells and intentions. This energy should be channeled into your box, your journal or your pages, for the seeding and planting of the magical tool which will aid your future intentions in magic working yet to come.
For the remainder of February, the Elemental Panels should be completed and/or applied. Instead of playing Solitaire this month, spend those 3 hours a day researching the Goddess which corresponds to West? This is the “get your hands dirty” kind of Witchcraft preparation work that inspires the mind. Spelling is not just about words. Spelling is about visual images and 3 dimensional ideas we can hold in our mind.
For the March column, we will cover the structure of a Full Moon Spell used in conjunction with a Sabbat Ritual. You will need your box or your panels as Correspondence will be a central component.
Correspondence is the foundation, Spelling is the structure.
Book List and URL References
The Everyday Witch – http://www.geocities.com/girleegeek/
The Everyday Witch at Myspace – http://www.myspace.com/theeverydaywitch
Correspondence table –
.htm">http://www.geocities.com/girleegeek/TheEveryDayWitch/Witchcraft_Correspondences
Correspondences
To Ride a Silver Broomstick – Silver Raven Wolf http://www.amazon.com/Ride-Silver-Broomstick-Generational-Witchcraft/dp/087542791X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1232566860&sr=1-1
To Stir a Magic Cauldron – Silver Ravenwolf http://www.amazon.com/Stir-Magick-Cauldron-Casting-Conjuring/dp/1567184243/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1232566860&sr=1-3
Moon Magik – DJ Conway
-Llewellyns-Practical/dp/1567181678">http://www.amazon.com/Moon-Magick-Recipes
Recipes
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