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Brighid       I am Brighid-nam-Bratta: Brigit of the Mantle, but I am also Brighid-Muirghin-na-tuinne: Brigit, Conception of the Waves, and Brighid-sluagh, Brigit of the Faery Host, Brighid-nan sitheachseang, Brigit of the Slim Faery Folk, and Brighid-Binne-Bheule-lhuchd-nan-trusganan-uaine, Brigit the Melodious Mouthed of the Tribe of the Green Mantles.   From Brigit Speaks by Fiona MacLeod     She is Goddess, Saint, and Faery Woman; She is Healer, Poet and Smith; She is Mother of Songs and Music, The Flame in the Heart of All Women and Mother of All Wisdom.1   Brighid, Goddess of the Hearth Fire, has many names known throughout the lands She was once worshiped and honored.…

Acts of Power for Sabbats – Imbolc   There are so many different types of Acts of Power (Magical Activities) you can do within a Sabbat Ritual – after you have created Sacred Space, Cast a Circle and Called the Quarters… Each Act of Power is usually geared to the specific Ritual theme, whether it’s an Esbat, a Sabbat or a specific Ritual. Ultimately, the Intention behind the Act is more important.   I would like to share an Act of Power we use in the Coven for our Imbolc Sabbat. We call it “Banishing the Winter”.   Quite simply, we make paper snowflakes. After folding and cutting them, each person…

Divining by Playing Cards       As the sun gains strength moving toward Imbolc, the increased light shows all the dust and dirt that hid within the shadows of Yule’s darkness and it is time to clean.  Mercury’s retrograde provides perfect opportunity to reorganize our closets and our drawers, getting rid of what no longer services us and finding ways to recycle old things into new.  After a day of cleaning, quiet time with a cup of herbal tea and a fragrant candle can be productive while re-reading one’s Book of Shadows.  Mine started as a small notebook and is now divided into three giant loose-leaf notebooks.  Last night,…

February 1, 2 Other Names: Imbolg (im-molc)(em-bowl’g) (Celtic), Candlemas (Christian), Brigantia (Caledonii), Oimelc, Festival of Light, Brigid’s (Brid, Bride) Day, La Fheill, An Fheille Bride, Candelaria (Mexico), Chinese New Year, Disting-tid (Feb 14th, Teutonic), DisaBlot, Anagantios, Lupercalia/Lupercus (Strega), Groundhog Day, Valentines Day. Animals & Mythical Beings: Firebird, dragon, groundhog, deer, burrowing animals, ewes, robin, sheep, lamb, other creatures waking from hibernation. Gemstones: Amethyst, garnet, onyx, turquoise. Incense/Oil: Jasmine, rosemary, frankincense, cinnamon, neroli, musk, olive, sweet pea, basil, myrrh, and wisteria, apricot, carnation. Colors/Candles: Brown, pink, red, orange, white, lavender, pale yellow, silver. Tools,Symbols, & Decorations: White flowers, marigolds, plum blossoms, daffodils, Brigid wheel, Brigid’s cross, candles, grain/seed for blessing, red…

It’s been a heck of a week for the world. It’s been a heck of a decade, really. So I started thinking about my crystal specialty and felt it important to share what I know about crystals can help with grief and healing.  The following crystals are good for managing grief, keeping memories alive and how to heal every kind of broken heart, no matter what the reason .. you have (and had) experienced with your loved ones. The most common for grief is the Apache Tear. It is used to sooth a heavy heart, heal grief in all ways, and ultimately healing the sadness felt after a significant loss. …

Brigid As I sit here writing this column, it is only a handful of days until Imbolc, which makes it easy to choose Brigid as this month’s Goddess.   She is known today, by many, as St. Bridget of the Christian church.  Oh, but she was and is so much more.   Brigit, pronounced “Breed” started at a triple goddess in Ireland and surrounding areas.  In England, she was known as Brigantia; in Scotland, Bride; in Celtic France, Brigandu.  Her name means “bright one” or “bright arrow”.  A great flame went out from her head and into the sky on the day of Her birth.  This flame, tended at a…

Everyday Rituals   Merry meet! Washing dishes. Folding clothes. Sweeping floors. Making soup. Taking a bath. Setting the table. Weeding the garden. While you might think of these as mundane chores, they are actually everyday rituals. Birthday parties, Memorial Day parades and bedtimes stories are also rituals. So are ceremonies such as graduations, weddings and funerals that mark stages of life. The Catholic church in which I was raised was ripe with ritual, and when I rejected the religion, I also rejected ritual. It took me decades to realize its importance and to add it back into my life. Pagans have no doubt experienced of the power of ruitals as…

This month, we will return to the Major Arcana, and talk about The Devil.  Let’s take a moment to review some general information about the Major Arcana.   There are 22 Major Arcana cards in a Tarot deck, with numbers from 0 to 21; the Majors usually deal with broader and more far-reaching life experience issues, archetypes that are easy for us to identify with and connect with at some point in our lives.   An archetype (pronounced “ark eh type”) is a generic, idealized model of a person, an object, or a concept which can be copied, patterned, or imitated.  In psychology, an archetype is a model of a…

Notes from the Apothecary: Horsetail Last month we discussed the comforting and familiar sage; soft, sweet and strong in the right hands. This month I want to look at a herb that may be less familiar to some of you, and all too familiar to others! From despised weed to treasured medicine, the horsetail (Equisetum) is never overlooked by those who know it- even if that means they are constantly dragging it out of their beloved herb gardens. This plant is fairly unusual in that it is literally a living fossil; a throwback some 100 million years to the Palaeozoic era, when species as high as 30 metres would have…

Witches Soul Work Part 3: The Path of the Bolline   “If that which thou seek thy find not within thee, thy will never find it without.” Doreen Valiente ‘Charge of the Goddess’   The Craft involves deep soul work leading to understanding the authentic self, the connection with the divine, and understanding the Mysteries. If you were Buddhist you might called this enlightenment. What is enlightenment for Witches? Many people new to the Craft read the beginner books and think that that is all there is. I would like to share with you some of the ways that Traditional Witches do soul work, the way they approach and understand…