Samhain “When the night drifts into stillness, past the witching hour’s toll, Where the shadows fall in silence and darkness reaches for my soul.” I stand before the large iron cauldron, waiting. Colder, heavy air settles down upon my robe and I breathe deeply. Patiently I wait, my senses spreading out, reaching into the night searching for the moment, listening for Her ancient whisper. Slow are her old ways, subtle is her deep touch as she presides over the decaying memories of yesterday. I imagine her walking through the forest laying her hands upon the trees she passes, reminding them its time to sleep. The last few golden leaves drift…

Mysterious Mushrooms ÓSusun S Weed As summer nights lengthen into autumn, the forests of the Catskill mountains in upstate New York fill with magical, mystical, medicinal mushrooms. “Toadstool” is a quaint name for the many mushrooms that spring forth between rains, while “fungi” is the more technical term. Fungi are plants, but plants without flowers or roots or chlorophyll (which makes plants green). Strange shapes (some quite sexually suggestive), the ability to grow (and glow) in the dark, and psychedelic colors make mushrooms an obvious addition to any witch’s stew. But you will want some other reasons to make mushrooms a steady part of your diet. Is outwitting cancer a…

Journey of a Witch Indeed, the journey of any spiritual path can be difficult to maneuver. Whether you are seasoned in your craft or just beginning, questions and self doubt can bite at your heels. Sometimes those pesky creatures create such an imbalance you fall. Many times those just embarking on their journey feel overwhelmed with the abundance of information (or sometimes lack of information) and feel they must know it all yesterday in order to be where they think they should be. What do you do? Call upon your fairy godmother? If only! Having someone else do just some of our work takes from our experience of what a…

Samhain is a time to honor our ancestors. The veil between here and Summerland is at it’s thinnest and we can commune and communicate with our loved ones who have moved on to the next phase of their lives.  It has become traditional to have a “dumb” supper. This is a meal that is eaten in silence by candle light. Each food can be as simple or as gourmet as you wish it to be. I like mostly simple made with foods from my garden or local farms. I will add the correspondences before the recipes. Symbols: Third Harvest, wisdom of the Crone, death of the God, reflection on our…

The Hermit (9) “Your visions will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.”  ~ Carl Gustav Jung Image Description: The Rider-Waite deck portrays an old, bearded man dressed in dreary robes, standing on a desolate peak high in the mountains. His head is bowed and his expression speaks of wisdom and serenity. In his right hand he holds a raised lantern high in the air, casting its illuminating light into the darkness below him. Within the lantern is a brilliant six-pointed star. Symbols: Long, White Beard: Age, wisdom Lantern: To guide those below; “inner light” shared openly with…

Ares It’s probably human nature to want to understand why. I’m no different. Life should be going great for me, yet I find myself plagued with the same old problems. To say it’s frustrating is sometimes an understatement. As I’ve said before I don’t have a full grasp of the Athenian calendar, but I choose to honour Ares with a regular libation this month. This year it will fall near to Veteran’s Day… hhhmm… appropriate. Maybe this would be a good time for me to meditate & try to get a handle on the nature of war & strife. He’s typically painted in a bad light, but who was he…

One Mage’s Opinion: We Are All Eclectic! I have no spirituality. Or at best I am a dabbler and a dilettante. At least that is what some people both within and without the Pagan community think of me. Why is this you might ask? Simple; because I am what is known as an Eclectic Pagan. An Eclectic Pagan is one that has shaped their beliefs and practices by drawing from a wide array of ideas, systems, and practices. An Eclectic might work with a Patron Deity from a Greek Pantheon, yet might do magickal workings in the style of a Shaman, and regularly practice Buddhist style meditation. Or in the…

A Victorian Samhain Through the years Witchcraft has evolved as Magick and divination have become more creative. In the Victorian Age the craft was discussed openly without any consequence. Spell casting would soon become old Wives tales at least that is how it was told. How convenient for the women of that time who still wished to cast. Some spells were printed on Post Cards and sent on the proper Holiday to friends and Family. No one was any wiser to the truth. One way of divination was Apples. The spells and Fortune Telling with the Fruit were altered to the use of being a Game. Apples are a fruit…

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 Ceremony & Spirituality by ©Mama Donna Henes, Urban Shaman A Question of Ceremony with Children Dear Mama Donna, I am not a follower of the Goddess, but I was walking around in downtown Brooklyn with my six-year-old daughter, Beatrice, when she said to me, “Mommy, I don’t believe in God. I believe in Mother Nature and the fairies in the woods. That’s why I make circles with the rocks.” Clearly she is on a spiritual path and I would like to support her, but I…

The Call of Death Because I could not stop for Death, He kindly stopped for me; The carriage held but just ourselves And Immortality. We slowly drove, he knew no haste, And I had put away My labor, and my leisure too, For his civility. We passed the school, where children strove At recess, in the ring; We passed the fields of gazing grain, We passed the setting sun. Or rather, he passed us; The dews grew quivering and chill, For only gossamer my gown, My tippet only tulle. We paused before a house that seemed A swelling of the ground; The roof was scarcely visible, The cornice but a…