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I’m so excited! The start of the Christmas season has begun! Not because I celebrate as a Christian or even celebrate it as a secular holiday. It is because it signals my favorite time on the wheel of the year. Winter. Just saying “winter” brings to my mind clear, crisp, cold nights standing outside looking at the stars, the darkness falling by late afternoon. The smell of wood burning in fireplaces and snuggling inside surrounded by the quiet of the night. Truly, Silent Night bliss. Our home prepares for the decorations of the season in November with Thanksgiving. Cleaning and making room for family and guests is step one. Preparing…

My Dad always told me that life is how you see it. As a witch I know that how I see the world is the most important tool I have to change it. Focus, will, and intent are the foundations that any spell/ritual/working are built on, but you have to see what you are trying to effect and you have to have the imagination to really see and believe in the change you are trying to bring about. With out the focus to see the world as it is, and the imagination to believe it can be different then we cannot change it. But luckily we’re witches so we have…

Lesser Sabbat – Winter Solstice, circa Dec 21 Other Names: Jul (“wheel”, Old Norse), Saturnalia(Rome ~December 17 & 18), Yuletide(Teutonic), Midwinter, Fionn’s Day, Alban huan, Christmas (Christian~December 25), Xmas, Festival of Sol, Solar/Secular/Pagan New Year Animals/Mythical beings: yule goat (nordic), reindeer stag, squirrels, yule cat, Sacred White Buffalo, Kallikantzaroi-ugly chaos monsters(greek), trolls, phoenix, yule elf, jule gnome, squirrels, wren/robin Gemstones: cat’s eye, ruby, diamond, garnet, bloodstone Incense/Oils: bayberry, cedar, ginger, cinnamon, pine, rosemary, frankincense, myrrh, nutmeg, wintergreen, saffron Colors: gold, silver, red, green, white Tools,Symbols, & Decorations: bayberry candles, evergreens, holly, mistletoe, poinsettia,mistletoe, lights, gifts, Yule log, Yule tree. spinning wheels, wreaths, bells, mother & child images Goddesses: Great Mother,…

Esthetic lines of precise weave, Arousing magick on this eve. Feel the flow that It creates, Compelling words that It dictates. Its been a long and wanting time, For this focused, forceful rhyme. Awakened powers, evolve in her, Complex spells Begin to stir. Phantom thoughts run through her mind, A careful blend to her design. As she weaves, the power grows, Through her veins this passion flows. Imagery enshrouds her back, Mystic sigils all in black. She has the power to command, As she takes this final stand. She spins around, her power grows, Deadly magick, for her foes. Her arms raised up into the sky, A quick release shows…

The Ghosts beneath the Mistletoe The days are increasingly shorter, the air chills to the bone, and nature slumbers beneath a blanket of sparkling snow. This is the time of year when we gather with friends and family to talk, share life’s adventures, and relive the year’s memorable moments. If you’re like many folks, you’re also gathered around a television to enjoy classics like It’s a Wonderful Life and Dickens’ immortal A Christmas Carol. But take a step back and look at these holiday classics through the lens of a seasoned investigator and you’ll begin to see them in an entirely new light. It is, after all, a fairly spooky…

God Of The Mistletoe Mistletoe has been around for many years, giving others an excuse to lock lips under the doorway that it hangs.  It’s interesting to think that an innocent plant of the holidays could cause the death of a noble God. It all started with the Norse God Baldur; son of Frigga, the Goddess of marriage and divination, and Odin ruler of Aguard.  Baldur lived in a place called Breidablik, with his wife Nanna.  Breidablik was believed to have the power to cast away all lies because it was home to the God of truth and light.  Baldur was well liked by everyone, Gods and men both.  He…

The children of the Craft of the Wise Look greatly forward to this day When the time is nigh for this beloved Sabbat We know the light is on it’s way Through this longest night we celebrate Knowing now the light will grow And the joy that every spirit feels Proves that the heart does also know As the sun goes down And the Yule logs burn Our loved ones gathered round And even Earth’s creatures participate As they do not make a sound When the fires cold and the night grows short This sacred time comes to a close And the flames, and joy that come at Yule In…

The Diary of a Drug Fiend by  Aleister Crowley  © 2010 Weiser Books  ISBN:  978-1-57863-494-1 Paperback        384 pages $18.95  (U.S.) Crowley’s first published  novel (1922) explores a world which is familiar to many of today’s society (albeit from a slightly different perspective) – that of an abuser of cocaine and heroin.  Many modern users are not in a position of being able to indulge their every whim,  nor are the drugs as readily available as they were in post- Great War Britain.  They can, certainly, relate to the effects of the drugs – the exhilaration of the cocaine and the obsessive focus of the heroin (and no, I haven’t indulged,…

Power Place My thoughts had been drawn to a question asked previously and without warning off my mind pinged to a few lines of a book by Phyllis Curott, one I had read awhile ago.. The chapter was on finding your own power place. Reading this chapter I felt enthralled by such a place and also slightly envious, for while I had visited places where I felt close to what felt like the very core of the Goddess I had never found that one place, where I just knew the energy in the area and I connected, a place of power – my power place perhaps. It never ceases to…

Dry Spell Stupid dry spells. They happen to the best of us, but that is little comfort when one is sitting with a pout on their face, and deep longing in their heart, waiting for their next trip. I can go for weeks, dare I say months, of astral traveling every single day. Inevitably, I start feeling good about myself and darn near brag about how easy it is for me. “I’ve got a system,” I’ll say. “A system that works for me, without fail,” I’ll say. There is a gleam in my eye, a stroke of confidence in my tone, and a skip in my astral step. And then…