Kaylana Anaya November, 2008

Hope your Samhain went well. This month I said I’d give you some fun, everyday type activities that you can do with your young children that have a Pagan or Mother Nature theme. Later on are some winter activities too.

For the child under one, the only Pagan thing you can really do is to treat them right and keep them healthy to show that you have pure love for your child. You can however and should start introducing him to Mother Nature.  For six months and under I’d probably stick to looking at real nature from a distance and reading nature books or playing with nature toys that are okay for them to manipulate and mouth. Unfortunately there doesn’t seem to be too many nature toys. For six months to one year you can start introducing your child to grass and sun and leaves and twigs and rocks. Try to keep the items big so they can’t be swallowed and NEVER look away. The child should be on your lap facing outwards and you should be manipulating the object together so that as soon as the child tries to mouth the object you can stop her. However instead of pulling it back and saying no, try to redirect her into doing something else with the object (such as putting it in a bucket.)

For the child ages one to three years, you can start to do more. On the Pagan front, your child should be learning how to handle and manipulate their energy, basic Pagan etiquette (such as no touching the altar) and of course more on Mother Nature.  Tell your child that we all have energy inside us. It’s what allows us to move and think. Of course the one year old won’t understand much of this but explain it anyway. They always retain more than we think they will. Then start teaching them about feelings and help them to identify what they are feeling. “You’re angry that you have to put away your toys right now when you don’t want to.” “You feel sad that Mommy has to go to work.” Obviously this will be easier with the older child but a child between one and two can start to learn that when he is crying it means he’s sad.

After your child has learned to identify her feelings, she needs to learn how to deal with them. Teach your child a very simple “ritual” that he can perform with you when he has strong feelings such as anger, sadness, anxiety or fear. This could include scrunching up toilet paper while thinking of feelings then flushing it down the toilet or punching a pillow or jumping up and down.

As for Pagan etiquette, now is the time to teach that an altar is personal and not for random touching, that while we are proud to be Pagan, we don’t shout it from the rooftops or offer the information up out of nowhere and that during a ritual we are quiet and don’t touch anything or say anything unless we are told too.

With regards to Mother Earth, your child one to three can manipulate it more. Teach her to be gentle and never to pick anything off a live tree or plant. Explain how plants are living like us, that they breathe and eat. Now would be a good time to have a plant or two in the house and have your child help you water it and replant it when necessary. They will quickly learn what happens to a plant if it is not taken care of. (Especially if your “green thumb” is like mine.) Read lots of books about nature, go for lots of nature walks and answer his questions to the best of your ability. Don’t be afraid to give explanations but stop if your child seems uninterested.

So what about the child three to five years old? Pretty much everything mentioned for the one to three-year-old still applies. If you’ve been doing the ideas, keep them up. If you are just starting, do what was mentioned before with more thorough explanations for the older child.

Also now is a good time to start introducing the elements. Stick with the four basic ones first: Air, Fire, Water and Earth. Play fun games to get them familiar with an element and then name it. The book Circle Round by Starhawk, Diane Baker and Anne Hill has activities for each element (along with a lot of other great ideas.) Here are a few basic ideas:

AIR – burn incense together, lie down and look at clouds, make a dream journal, take a walk in the wind

FIRE – watch candles burn or have campfires, cook or bake together

WATER – play with water, have a bath together (for same genders), play out in the rain, learn more about feelings

EARTH – make mud pies, take a nature walk, plant a seed and watch it grow, learn what deciduous trees do through the seasons

That should give you a basic idea of what your child should be learning about spirituality wise from birth to age five.

Winter Activities

Yule is coming up and I’ll have more Yule orientated activities next month but this month I wanted do give you a few winter activities. Winter of course starts at Yule so November isn’t winter yet however there are a few things you could do.

Make Bird Feeders – It’s not too late. This activity is often done in the spring but some birds are collecting food for the winter so bird feeders help them get what they need.

Learn About Darkness – the days are getting shorter and the nights longer. Your child will be seeing that it gets darker, earlier every evening. Just because it’s dark and chilly, doesn’t mean you should stay indoors all the time. If it’s not too windy, bundle you and your child up and go outside. Take a short walk in the dark if you live in a nice area. If you don’t, just sit on your porch for a while or perhaps find a way to spend an evening in a safe outdoor area. Have your child point out how things are different outside when it’s dark from when it’s light.

Death – If you didn’t talk about your ancestors during Samhain, do it now. If your child is under 5, they won’t understand what death is so don’t try to explain it too much. You don’t want to frighten your child either. Just show pictures and explain who the people are and explain that they are somewhere else where we can’t see them or talk to them anymore. Don’t be afraid to let your child know that you are sad and miss them. You want them to understand it’s okay to grieve.

Hibernation – read your child books about animals that hibernate for the winter like the bear. Ask questions and listen to your child’s answers, they may surprise you. Make a bear cave and bear with play dough for your child to play with. Search online for crafts and activities to do to reinforce this idea.

All right that’s it for this month, I hope you’ve found something helpful. As always, if you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please email me at callista83@cogeco.ca. I always welcome comments here to of course; it’s great to know my article is being read.

Tags: children, kids, parenting, parents

• Children and Parenting

Kaylana Anaya October, 2008

Welcome back to my column, I hope you enjoyed last month’s article. Please be sure to send me an email to callista83@cogeco.ca if you have a comment, suggestion or question.

Last month I touched on ceremonies for children less than one year of age. This month I’ll give ideas for ceremonies you may want to do with your child aged 1-5. As it’s also October, I will give some ideas to celebrate Samhain with your kids.

Ceremonies for Ages 1-5

A lot of people celebrate the birth of a baby, even if it’s just a congratulatory card to the new parents. It seems like after they get a little older, we forget that their newest accomplishments are just as important.

You can hold a ritual/ceremony for ANY reason. First tooth, first word and first step are at least generally recorded in baby books. However what about first time she put together two words into a sentence? (Me milk for I want milk) What about first time running, first time in big kid underwear, when he knows numbers 1-10, when she can spell her name or first word read? These accomplishments are important too and deserve attention. I’m not talking hour-long ceremonies for each of these accomplishments. A 10-minute or less ceremony will suffice. The child under 5 doesn’t have a long attention span anyway.

So what would one of these ceremonies look like?
Here is a sample ceremony for a child who has learned how to spell her name:

Parents, child and siblings, and perhaps grandparents, God(dess)parents or family friends gather at home of child. Everyone visits first for a while, with refreshments, background music and (I hope) laughter. When the time seems right, a parent (we’ll go with mom) gets everyone’s attention.

Mom: If I could get everyone’s attention please. (Room quiets down) Thanks. We are all here tonight to acknowledge that Aimee can now spell her name! (Note: don’t make the child do a demonstration of any new skill, it puts them on the spot and makes them uncomfortable.)

All: Hooray for Aimee! Good Job!

Dad: Aimee we are all very proud of you. You are getting bigger everyday and we just wanted you to know that we are noticing and that no matter how big you get, you will always be our baby. (Or one of our babies)

Mom and Dad commence hugging and if child is comfortable with it, other attendants can hug her too

That’s it! You can include gifts but I would only do that with certain milestones such as toilet training (package of underwear), first word read (book) or any other bigger one. If you give a gift each time, your child will come to expect the gift, which is not what you want. This works for single parents too, just merge the Mom and Dad parts. For same-sex parents, it doesn’t matter what you are called, just make sure both parents are involved. If you are interested in more ideas, both for your children and for yourself, from birth to death and everything in between, I highly recommend you check out Life’s Little Rituals by Alexandria. It is not a pagan book but can be very useful to a pagan interested in celebrating their life. You can find my review of the book  here.

Samhain

Samhain is just around the bend; boy has this year flown by! Samhain and Yule are the most celebrated of the Sabbats, especially in families with children. This is because of Halloween and Christmas, holidays that were created from Samhain and Yule and so therefore contain many aspects of them. Pumpkin carving and Trick-or-treating are not the only ways to celebrate Samhain though! Here are some more ideas with age suggestions:

• Samhain is the end of the harvest. Discuss beginnings and endings with your child at a level they would understand. Explain how in many ways, an ending is really just the start of a new beginning (as with the calendar year.) Perhaps brainstorm other endings that are the start of beginnings. (4+)

• Dried gourds sound like rattles and are good for raising energy in a ritual. Unless you happen to have already dried some gourds many months ago, you won’t have what you need. You could see if you can find some pre-dried gourds (apparently available somewhere but I’ve not seen them,) or you can get some gourds and start drying them for next year. After they are dried, paint them however you want and they’re done! (2+)

• Samhain is the New Year for many pagans. If this is true of your path, make some new year’s resolutions. A fun way is to write them down (or write them down for the children) and then throw them one at a time into a fire and watch them burn. (3+)

• This is the time of the year when divination works the best. If your child isn’t already familiar with a type of divination, now is the time to introduce it. With this age group, they are not yet ready to actually use a divination system but can be shown them and explained the idea of how it all works. Stick with something simple like crystal ball gazing or scrying or dowsing. Stay away from Tarot, Palmistry or Graphology (handwriting analysis.) Runes might be okay too. Just sit down with them and let them manipulate the objects while you talk. Answer any questions they have and offer a little bit of information. If they seem disinterested don’t force it, they are still young. (3+)

• Finally, Samhain is also the time of year we remember our ancestors and those we know who have passed on. If you did my first suggestion and mentioned reincarnation (if you believe in it obviously) then you’ve already touched on this subject. Now however would be a good time to visit the gravesite, view photographs of relatives past, or burn a candle and leave out a place setting at dinner for your ancestors. (Bury the food in the ground afterwards.) (3+)

For the younger children ages 0-2, focus on fall activities. Read books (yes even to newborns,) collect leaves and have your child arrange them on a piece of waxed paper. Then somewhere away from the child, put another piece of waxed paper overtop and iron it together. Sing fall songs, go apple or pumpkin picking and go on a hay ride. Keep it simple.

I hope that helps you a bit. Next month I’ll touch on some fun, everyday activities you can do with your children that have a Pagan or Mother Nature theme. You will also find some winter activities.

Tags: kids, parenting, samhain

• Children and Parenting

Administrator July, 2006

Removing our Kids from a Violent World

There are violence, crime, pain, drugs and death all around us. It has become a part of society and we have begun the process of normalizing it into our everyday world.

The video games, music videos and songs that depict violence are just unbelievable. So, if you are anything like me, as a parent there is a certain amount of anxiety you carry when thinking of your kids in the “real” world.

You may be thinking, “What does this have to do with Paganism?” Well, it has everything to do with paganism and living a spiritual path. We, as adults, know we make a different and make better decisions when we are rooted in a spiritual path. Why do we automatically assume that kids are so different from us?

Granted, children don’t have the life skills and experiences we do. Children do not have the critical thinking skills some adults have, and notice I did say some.

Children are learning how to operate in the world with every passing moment. Sometimes, in the world of an adult where things seem to move so fast, we forget the true path of a kid and that path is all about learning the life skills to live and make decisions. More often than not, it is about learning to recognize choices and make better choices.

With all of that in mind, let’s go back to the original thought. As humans, children and adults alike, we make different and better decisions when we are rooted in a spiritual path.

So by putting that into its proper perspective, the time is now.

The time is now to teach our children responsibility and accountability, not by preaching but by example. Remember, attraction rather than promotion.

The time is now for spiritual knowledge. Broaden their minds; kids can never have too much knowledge.

The time is now to teach our kids structure. We cannot pretend that our kids will automatically understand that the world is based on rules; some real and some invisible. If we don’t provide our kids structure, how will they learn how to exist in the world?

The time is now to teach our kids to respect life and everything in it. They must begin the long process of understanding that we are connected to everything and everything is connected to us.

The time is now to teach our kids how to think. Children are accustomed to reacting to life instead of thinking things through and evaluating consequences. This is a skill many adults didn’t learn and they are still suffering the effects of bad choices made in the past and in the present.

The time is now to have open and honest communication with our children about life. We think we can save our kids from the reality of the world but, when our kids don’t get the answers from us, they are looking from the answers from others. And sometimes the places our kids look for answers is the last place we would wish.

The time is now to teach our kids that they create their own reality. Kids often immediately think life is horrible or unfair when things don’t go their way. We all need to understand life is hard but I chose how I am going to deal with it or what feelings I am going to accept or adopt. How I chose to look at life will dictate how I feel about my life. There are people who have much less in life than I do and they wake up happy in the morning because they actually opened their eyes to another day. Wow, what a harsh realization at how many of us are self-centered and don’t appreciate our blessings. Guess what? We pass that along to our kids.

The time is now to teach our kids that we cannot control other people’s thought or actions. We just have to learn to live in spite of the outside world.

With all of that in mind, again let’s look at the mission of this article. We cannot actually remove our children from the violence in the world today because, no matter how far away we move, violence is a part of our everyday life. But we can give our kids the tools to understand life in a way that doesn’t promote violence and destruction.

Let’s stop acting like it is ok that our kids are exposed to senseless violence in movies and TV. I am not promoting censorship but our attitudes will help dictate how our children see these things. If we are acting like it is ok or “cool” then why wouldn’t we think our kids would think the same thing?

Sit with yourself and a piece of paper and think of some of the discussion topics that you feel you need to start opening the lines of communication around, and then just start. Sometimes it isn’t about the how but just to do. And don’t forget to incorporate spirituality into almost everything.

Just imagine if all parents started doing the same.

Blessed Be!!

***

author bio:

Rev. Crystal

amethystsage@sbcglobal.net

I am a 29-year-old Pagan mother, been married for seven years. I am very close to my family and my parents. I work full-time in the drug and alcohol treatment field. I have been a practicing Pagan for about four years. I consider myself to be an eclectic Wiccan/Pagan. I try not to limit or label myself. My passions in life are my family, enjoying a good book, learning what life has to offer, connecting with my spiritual self, giving back to my community and spending time with good friends.

Tags: children, Rev Crystal, violence

• Children and Parenting

Administrator July, 2006

Once, long before the age of man and dinosaur, the earth was an enchanted playground filled with magickal beings made up of elves, gnomes, and fairies.

Although they were all different with a variety of talents and looks, they lived together happily. They were proud of their individual gifts and those of their fellow beings. The land was filled with happiness, love, and faith.

The Goddess watched over her children and her heart overflowed with joy and love.

Time began to pass and other feelings began to form between the magical beings. Feelings of envy, greed, and anger surfaced. Fights broke out. Magick was used for harm instead of good.

The Goddess watched this with great sadness. She tried to comfort and guide her children but they could no longer hear her through their hostilities.

Finally, a sort of truce was declared. The land was divided up into three equal portions and fences were raised to mark the boundaries. The gnomes, fairies, and elves would no longer live together as one.

At first this seemed the answer to all their problems. However, they soon began to notice some flaws with this new arrangement.

For instance, the fairies had water but no fertile soil and no farm animals, which meant they could not grow and gather crops. What would they do for food?

The gnomes, on the other hand, had fertile soil but no water source. How would they survive with no water or food?

The elves had farm animals and one well, but no fertile soil. How would they survive with a short supply of water and no means to grow food?

Though each group suffered, they refused to break the boundaries and try and help each other. The Goddess knew if something did not happen soon her children would not survive, but what was she to do? They would not let themselves hear her anymore. Then it came to her.

One day while the magickal beings were all doing what little they could to survive, the earth began to shake and the sky began to darken. The magickal beings were terrified and ran for shelter.

When the rumbling stopped and the light began to shine again, they slowly emerged from their hiding spots to see what had happened.

As the groups all moved toward the source of the rumbling they found themselves at the exact spot where all three communities came together. There in the middle of that spot stood a magnificent tree filled with various fruits that were ripe for the picking.

Each group rushed the tree but was struck back by some sort of invisible barrier. As they lay shaken on the ground, they each thought surely with their magical abilities they could break the barrier.

They talked amongst themselves then each group headed off to get baskets to collect the fruit.

The first group back was the elves. They tried every spell they knew but nothing worked. Exhausted they finally gave up and rested on the ground.

Next came the fairies. They tried everything they knew, but pretty soon they were also defeated.

     

Last came the gnomes and their fate was no different than the others.

As they lay there panting from exhaustion and near starving, they began looking around at the different groups. Finally, with unspoken agreement they all got up joined hands and joined their magical powers.

They did not, however, try to break the barrier this time. They prayed to the Goddess to please hear them. They asked her for forgiveness.

Suddenly the tree lit up in front of them and they looked on in awe. The Goddess spoke to them from the tree as she is in everything and everyone.

She said, “My children, I never stopped being there for you or loving you, you only stopped hearing me. You are all so precious to me and should also be precious to each other. Life is a gift to be celebrated. Please celebrate now with me and with each other”.

Then the fruit began to float from the tree into their baskets. After everyone was fed and drank, they decided to tear down the fences around their properties and their hearts.

They knew that all they needed was each other and faith in the Goddess.

***

author bio:

Debra Clapp

Tags: children, debra clapp, faith

• Children and Parenting

Administrator June, 2006

Well, greetings, everyone! Since this is my first article, I felt we should start with you getting to know me a little and find out what this is all about!

First, the obvious: I’m Squirrel.

About me: I work as a school counselor in the glorious state of New York (Central New York, to be specific, which is a bit of a ways from NYC). I have been in my current profession for a little over five years now. I’ve been Pagan since I was about 14. And that was… well, it was more than ten years ago, but less than 20. It’s impolite to ask a lady her age, you know. I’ve bee involved in Pagan Pride Day since 2005. My hobbies include camping, hiking, amateur photography, traveling, and experimenting in my kitchen. And this is starting to sound way too much like a personal ad. So, I’ll stop there.

In the coming issues, I plan on doing an advice column for all of you wonderful parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, concerned neighbors, and anyone else involved with kids. Let’s face it; it’s hard enough working with kids today. Now let’s throw into the mix that many of us are from a "controversial" religious background, and things get really interesting! So when it was asked for folks to contribute, I thought: "Hey, I’m Pagan, I work with kids. Heck, I’ve even worked with Pagan kids! I should share what I know!"

At this point, this will run like a "Dear Abby", except it’s "Dear Squirrel". Send me your questions, comments, concerns, and I’ll see what I can do for you! Occasionally, I’ll also pass along some interesting research that I learn about in my many travels. And, just because I’m a sucker for homemade crafts and most kids I know like to work with their hands, I’ll be throwing in fun stuff for the kids to do too.

Like this month’s craft.

With it being the season of corn coming up, it’s time for corn dollies! And, since this is a little last minute for me, I’m attaching a link below on how to make them. I would cut and paste, but there is the matter of copyright issues. But this site says it’s "OK" for me to share the link with all of you wonderful people! So get out there and make some corn dollies! Send me pictures of your results and I’ll put them out there! WHEEEE!!

Later days, kids.

Squirrel

How to Make Corn Husk Dolls, by Teachers First. Com

http://www.teachersfirst.com/summer/cornhusk.htm

***

author bio:

Squirrel

Lady_of_squirrels@yahoo.com

Tags: kids, squirrel

• Children and Parenting

Administrator June, 2006

The current political climate in this country has caused me to consider a few things more deeply. Although the Pagan/Wiccan community has made incredible strides in the last few decades, we are seeing ourselves challenged more and more.



Admittedly, with the incredible rise of non-Christian faiths growing like wildfire in the U.S., Christians are most certainly feeling threatened and invaded. I do think we must keep this in mind when dealing with them. However, part, if not most, of the current challenges that the “Christian Right” has levied towards us is due to our own apathy. This “apathy” is at the crux of the issues.



Almost all flavors or Paganism and Wicca dictate an adhering to a non-confrontational communication philosophy. Indeed, the Wiccan Rede, “An it harm none, do as thou wilt” is very indicative to this issue. We try to have a very “laid back” or “easy going” way of doing things. But is this attitude really successful for our long-term longevity?



One of a few things the Christians are really good at is that they are very proactive in defending their faith from outside influences and they are very good at recruiting. These two things combined are surely some of the more significant reasons they have been so successful. Let’s face it; there are a lot of Christians in the world. They weave the two above principals into their very faith. By doing this they form a self-perpetuating religion that depends not on the faith itself, but on the current members nullifying all the competition. For them, its not good enough to be just Christian, but everyone else must be too because anything else is a threat. Indeed, these very principals nearly wiped us out.



For a minority religion such as Paganism or Wicca, the avarice of the Christians to recruit new members and eliminate other faiths must be very alluring. It is very tempting to incorporate these principals and practices in our faith. But is it as simple as that?



If we look at other hugely successful faiths that have widespread success, such as Hinduism or Buddhism, we find that they do not use the same tactics. Granted, there are huge cultural differences between most Hindus and Buddhist contrasted to Christians, but nevertheless, why is Christianity so slow to make inroads in these areas?



Part of the reason is that the cultures that are primarily Buddhist or Hindu incorporate said faiths into a way of life or a life style. You are a Buddhist at home, at work and at play. Their faith is not only their religion, it’s the way they live. It defines who they are, not only religiously or philosophically, but also personally and practically. They have a devotion to their faith that is unquestionable.



The problem with westerners choosing Paganism or Wicca as their faith, is that we are not born into it usually. Most Pagans and Wiccans now days are converts from Christianity. We do not have generations and generations behind us that share our faith. We must break from our family and friends to make this choice. This creates an inherit problem.

Instead of having years of tradition and convention behind us, we must makeup a lot of what we do through trial and error. We don’t have fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters showing us the way. We must make our own traditions, rituals and customs from scratch. We don’t meet in big cathedrals and mosques. We don’t see our rituals being preformed on television every Sunday. We don’t have twenty-four hour Pagan/Wiccan channels. We don’t have a coalition of Pagans/Wiccans controlling one of the biggest political parties in the country. We don’t have an organization or a particular person who can speak for us as a whole. We don’t have millions and millions of followers.

However, even with all of the above we are growing everyday. The demand for Pagan/Wiccan books relative to raising children and hand-fasting is growing. New books dedicated to our faiths are being published. These same books are being distributed increasingly to a more main stream audience. There are more educational and entertainment programs either aimed at us or made about us. We are popping up everywhere. We are becoming more legally recognized and usually we are winning in the courts. Some would even say we are becoming “normal”.

Even with all of our gains and acceptance, we are becoming a bigger target. We have a huge metaphorical bull’s-eye painted on us. As we try to grow people notice, especially the Christians. As far as they are concerned, we have evolved from a bunch of silly kids dressing up in goofy robes to a force to be reckoned with. We are beginning to matter and have influence. And they don’t like it one bit.

So what are we to do? My friends, we need to come together. We need to put aside the differences we have with each other and focus. Focus on making our faith, not something we only do when its convenient. We need to make a pledge that our faith will dictate how we live. We have to create tradition. We need to lead our children by example. We need to show the Christians that even though we do not actively recruit, we are extraordinarily devoted to our faiths. Our dedication will not be shaken by anything. We must not be afraid to stand up for our rights. We must show them that even though our numbers may be few, our resolve is unfaltering.

We are at a crossroads. We will either prosper or disappear once again. We must not let that happen. We owe the ones before us who sacrificed so much for us to be here. We must re-devote ourselves. We have come so far. The idea of returning to the broom closet is too much to bear and too unacceptable. We must never return to the atrocities of the burning days. We must draw the line here and say once and for all, “never again”!

***

author bio:

Autum Witch

• Children and Parenting , Recipes

Administrator May, 2006

Almost every witch has a respect for the kitchen, especially witchy parents. Parents master the art of taking care of their home, cooking and nourishing the family among other things. So why not put those skills in the pot with our spirituality, stir it up and teach our kids some kitchen witchery.

The act of nourishing our loved ones with our magic is an age old tradition that has been passed down for ages and adopted by many cultures.

The roles and responsibilities of parents have continued to evolve and as our society continues to become increasingly more violent, parents are dealing with more unique problems with their children.

We parents must remember where our true power lies and that is in the home. We cannot change society but we can give our kids as many tools as possible to learn to deal with life.

Kitchen witchery can give a unique sense of understanding of our connections to life and our own personal power, in addition to a sense of belonging. Making something that we are required to do daily into a spiritual act can add a whole different dimension to a normal routine.

We can start by explaining the importance of what we do. Taking care of the family and the hearth is the most important job there is. The home is your safe haven, your special domain where you live, worship, love and grow.

Kids connect and respond to what is right in front of them rather than the big picture especially depending on the age. So start small and add onto your lessons as appose to teaching the global perspective.

Two areas of witchery skills that I have been successful in introducing to my kids have been the energetic wellbeing of the home and cooking.

Depending on age, kids understand energy. From a very young age kids respond to energy even before they understand words. Kids know when someone is happy, upset or whether they are welcome or not.

So involve your kids in cleansing the home. Explain what you are doing and give them an active part. You can say something as simple as, “We are going to clean the house so it is not sad anymore.” You’d be amazed that kids know exactly what you mean because they can feel it.

After you are finished you should reaffirm what you’ve just done. You could say something like, “Doesn’t the house feel happier?” Talk to your kids about the benefits of being positive and how it affects everything around us. Talk to your kids about energy, positive and negative. Put it in terms they can understand.

As parents we hold back on many things because we assume that kids will not understand. What we fail to see is that kids are extremely intelligent and know much more than we think. Kids may not be able to explain something in terms that we understand but they feel much more than we think because that is their form of communication and understanding.

So we have to ask ourselves a couple of questions:

1.     What do I want my kids to learn?

2.     What values are important to me?

3.     How can I teach my kids the value of the hearth and personal power?

4.     Where should I start?

Pick one or two things to start with and build onto it from there.

Remember that kids respond to fun. Put on some music, light some candles, plan a cooking adventure and have fun. Explain how these things support the wellbeing of the home and those you love. Mix the food, pray over the food, sing over the food and create magic with your child.

The Kitchen Witch’s Creed

In this pot, I stir to the sun

an’ follow the rule of harming none.

Banishment of bane

when goin’ widdershins;

an’ with water and salt

negativity is cleansed.

Household duties are more than chores.

Magick abounds when mopping floors.

With this broom, I do sweep

to clean my house and safely keep.

Marigold, Basil, Thyme, and Yarrow

my spell is cast for a better tomorrow.

Lemons for joy and apples for health

the pow’r within brings great wealth.

And, in this kitchen I do pray

To truly walk the Witches’ Way

Copyright 1998, 1999 E. Zeigler

***

author bio:

Rev. Cyrstal

amethystsage@sbcglobal.net

I am a 29-year-old Pagan mother, been married for seven years. I am very close to my family and my parents. I work full-time in the drug and alcohol treatment field. I have been a practicing Pagan for about four years. I consider myself to be an eclectic Wiccan/Pagan. I try not to limit or label myself. My passions in life are my family, enjoying a good book, learning what life has to offer, connecting with my spiritual self, giving back to my community and spending time with good friends.

Tags: Rev. Cyrstal

• Children and Parenting

Administrator April, 2006

Lilia

Lilia is a new witch (she is only 4 months old, of course she is a new witch!) but very talented. She has mastered the spell of hair growth and likes to show it off.
She is very fond of chanting, though some may say it sounds more like crying, however, we witches know better! She knows the secret chants to make bottles of milk appear out of nowhere.

She has just begun to learn about conjuring. She is starting with conjuring her hands and feet into her mouth. So far so good!
Her levitation skills are beyond anyone’s fondest dreams. A simple chant and the Lord and Lady who seem to always be about and protecting her, grant her her wish, and poof, she is levitating!
We welcome this very powerful, little witch to our community!

Tags: chilren, parenting, witchling

• Children and Parenting