Kitchen Wicca I recently received an e-mail from a group I belong to that stated that a Kitchen Wicca was a Witch who practices his/her art mainly thru cooking and common household skills. Or one who uses common everyday items in his/her art, like in times of old, when it was necessary to hide your working tools from those who would persecute you for their possession. While these images are certainly true ones, Kitchen Witchery goes far beyond magical cooking or using ordinary items as magical tools, it is a way of life, one that incorporates every aspect of your life. And because it is utilized mostly at home it…

Improving Humankind through Sexual Energy **ADULT CONTENT We have covered a fair variety of the different aspects of Sexual Magick; however, one of the most important reasons to perform Sexual Magick is for the betterment of Humanity. Most folks that are interested in Magick or the Occult are aware that ancient fertility rites were performed for agricultural and religious purposes. However, there has been, for long ages, a subtle line of thought that these same types of fertility rites can be used to induce the incarnation of a higher soul into the body of a human infant, heal people, or improve the land. In fact the Sanctity that many standard…

Standing still On the edge of I know not what I take a deep breath and steel my nerves. It is not the moving forward that is scary But the standing still Breathe in. Breathe out Frozen in time, unable to move What is to be? What will follow? No answers, only questions No parameters, no walls Only a knowing that something…something is going to happen Trust. Believe. Know. Standing still, gathering strength Waiting The sounds are louder, the colors more vivid The scents are stronger here In suspended animation I can hear the voices on the wind Taste the rain Sense the tension Clarity in the void, in the…

Painting is a passion. It is what keeps my blood flowing. I’m  full of many visions that coil around my heart. having opened my emotions in a deeper light these paintings are portraits of my inner creature. being a self taught artist for some time now, I realize that it is truly the core of creativity that binds the colors and figures used in my work and feel very proud to make my art come to life. Goodbye Phobia Raven You Can Never Kill the Sorrow of Love

Altared States Last month, I wrote about tools for magick and referred to them as props in a play.  In a similar way, an altar is the stage.  On the surface, an altar may appear to be nothing more than a place to leave your tools and photos of them may look to you like something from an antique shop.  As with tools, there are reasons to have an altar as well as a system behind their use and arrangement. The basic reason for an altar is to have a location to place your tools in a functional way.  Secondly, it also serves as a place of focus, a trigger…

This is the first part in an ongoing experience: My children, spouse and I have been renting the house will currently reside in since July 1, 2008. We discovered that the two story dwelling was built around 1883 by checking the New Bedford’s city assessors’ website. The house has three bedrooms, one bathroom, a living room, dining room and kitchen. We have an attic which is currently full of our landlady’s things that she left behind and a basement which accommodates the boiler, hot water heater and a washer and drier. Off the kitchen we have a deck which leads to a small backyard where we often hold Esbat and…

YOUR SPIRITUAL RELATIONSHIP We have many relationships in a life time. Some mirror many before and others are fresh and exciting providing a new perspective and an opportunity of growth. There is a useful tool called the Wheel of Life that defines all the different areas of ourselves that requires attention and when an even amount is distributed we technically are in balance. The reality is that life likes its ebbs and flows, which means more often than not the balance requires a sense of flexibility. This however, can create a habit where an important aspect of you becomes absent, or even considered a luxury, and omitted from our day…

Are you cyclically confused? In a ceremonial quandary? Completely clueless? Wonder no more. *Ask Your Mama™ The What, When, Where, Why, How, and Who of Spirituality  & Ceremony by ©Mama Donna Henes, Urban Shaman A Question of Path Finding Dear Mama Donna, I want to be able to walk my own path, but I don’t know where I am going.  I am wandering around without a map and that scares me. I feel like I am lost in space. How do I know my place in the universe? Drifting in New Jersey Dear Drifting, As we begin to pay attention to the inner process of our spiritual journey, we start…

Someone once asked me what a typical day was like for a pagan. I hope they weren’t expecting a one sentence response. It humored me how that question could be asked as if all pagans share a “typical” type day. I recall laughing out loud and walking away. Keeping in mind the type of person that was asking me this question, I felt it was better to attempt answering their question once they opened their mind a bit more and realized there were far better questions they could be asking.I can say the same thing on behalf of parents who homeschool their children. Once someone knows you homeschool, a few of…

To Life I was putting my son to bed earlier this evening when he said, in a smaller voice than the one he’d been using moments ago, “Mom, can I tell you something?  I don’t want to die.” He is seven.  He thinks about these things sometimes, usually at bedtime, when there are no distractions.  Some nights he will dwell on all sorts of thoughts that are scary to a seven-year-old, and occasionally this brings him out of his room and down the stairs to where my husband and I are.  Thoughts, when you are seven, are not so scary when you are surrounded by loving parents and bright overhead…