#30DaysMagicalRoots Challenge Day 30

The Forest Witch © 2017

Day 30: Make a Commitment to Yourself
What practice are you going to continue past this month? Take a few minutes today to write about your journey over the last 30 days and see how this challenge has affected your spiritual practice. Are there things you want to keep from this challenge? How have your thoughts changed about yourself and your Craft?

Although it took well over a month, I have really enjoyed getting back to performing some sort of spiritually or witchy nourishing thing each day. It’s funny, because as I look back over the 30 days of things to do, the first ones are the most important to me: grounding & centering/breath-work. I think those have always been important for how I handle myself not only in spiritual situations, but just everyday situations as well.

I always think that I’m not doing enough, and it turns out that actively thinking about all the things that I do do… well, it’s enough. Being spiritual doesn’t have to be a big dramatic thing every day. That’s what creating a ritual is for. Even spellcraft doesn’t have to be dramatic, mine usually never is. It’s quiet words spoken over candles, incense, herbs, and crystals deep in the night, and soft music in the background.

I do enjoy more formal ritual, but I have to finally admit to myself that I enjoy it much more if I’m with people (how I miss the Cov <3). So this whole process has really just let me see that I already am doing what I need to do to keep my foundations strong. That I have a lot of power within me, and can work with the power inherent in everything else just as easily. With many thanks, of course.

Thanks so much to Plentiful Earth for this wonderful challenge! ❤

Dark Moon Tea

Take a walk in the starlit sky, there’s no moonlight to illuminate your path this night. The scent of earth and crushed berries will guide you to your place of power.

Honeybush tea provides a sweet and fruity base, complimenting elderberries, and a hint of raspberry. Mugwort adds a subtle earthy herbiness to the blend, ensuring you know that this is a cup from the wild, dark wood, meant for midnight rituals among the trees.

You can find my Dark Moon tea here, and more magickal teas here.

 

Also!! I have created a separate listing for samples as having to issue refunds for shipping overages just takes up way too much time! You can find the listing here. In the listing, you will find a list of all teas I offer as samples, then once you know what you want, order the number you want, and leave a note to seller at checkout of which blends you’d like sent your way! Pretty simple, and much more efficient!
Efficiency is very important. *nods*

Full Moon Tea

A lovely warm drink for your Full Moon rituals or observance (no ritual required!). Green tea blended with mugwort, plum, fennel and jasmine. For a floral and fruity tea, it is surprisingly full flavoured.

Sold 20 teaspoons to a bag to bring you 20 cups of tea. Just add it to 1 cup of almost boiling water.

You can find the Full Moon tea here, and have a gander at other magical teas here.

 

February for Manannan- 7 A Ritual to Pay the Rent

by Erwan Seurelebihan http://erwan.seurelebihan.free.fr

Traditionally, the Manx people offered Manannan reeds, meadow grasses, and yellow flowers at Midsummer. They would pray for His aid and protection in fishing as well. This is known as “paying the rent”. Manannan mac Lir is considered the first King of the Isle of Man, and all subjects of His would pay their due to the King.

The following is a solitary Midsummer rite, but could very easily be adapted to a group rite.

Midsummer Rite of Mannanan mac Lir

by John Machate

NOTE: Anything in italics is a note to the ritualists.

This rite is written for solitary individuals who have access to a space where they can dig a sacrificial pit, preferably neara river or stream bank. I made it as simple as possible since mystream is in a public area I do not want to alarm others nor damage the local flora with lots of ritual and things. Thanks to Erynn Laurie. The material here is based on her Midsummer Rite of Mannanan mac Lir which is for groups.

Items needed

shovel
image or symbol of Manannan
alter cloth
Symbols for Land, Sea and Sky (I use my Circle of Stones to represent all 3)
milk or other offering liquid
libation vessel
The item you wish to offer Mannanan (you will not get this back)

Preperation

Dig a small hole, about 1 foot deep near the space you plan to work. If you are working near a river bank or stream then the hole should go as close to the water as possible. Place your alter cloth on the ground with the Realm items arranged as such: Sky object is at the north. Sea is at the southwest. Land is at the southeast. If using the Circle of Stones, place it in the southeast, as it takes up a lot of room. The symbol of Mannanan should be to the north. Place the libation bowl, with the liquid offerng in it, nearby. I put it in the southwest.

The Center Point

Stand quietly facing the north and relax with your hands resting at your sides. Clear your mind and concentrate on your breathing. Breathe in and out slowly and follow along with this meditation, which will place you in the center of the cosmos.

“I am at the center of the world” 
Exhale, move to one knee with palms on the ground before you 
“I stand firmly upon the land” 
Inhale and rise to your feet, moving the hands behind at hip height, palms up, cupping. Exhale and move the hands in an arc until they meet in front. 
“The sea always surrounds me”
Inhale, move the hands to the sides, spread the fingers wide, palms forward. Exhale and raise the arms, bringing the hands together above the head, thumb & forefinger meeting to create a triangle.
“The sky spreads itself above me”
Inhale, lower the hands to the heart again.
“I am at the center of the Three Realms.”
Exhale and lower the hands to the sides

Invocation

Manannan mac Lir, Lord of the Mist, Ruler of Tir na mBam, Guardian of the gate of the Otherworld. I come to offer you tribute and thanks. I ask you to open the gate and come forth to receive my tribute.

A good place to pause

Family and spirits, join me in this tribute and stand as witness to my offering to the Lord of the Mists.

Sacrfice

Moving to the pit

On the day of Midsummer, the people of the Isle of Mann go to the top of the highest hill to pay rent to the first king of their island, Manannan mac Lir, Lord of the Waves, Son of Nine Mothers.

On this day of Midsummer, I stand before Manannan as well, to give tribute and sacrifice in honor of him who keeps the Gates between the worlds.

Mannanan, accept this, my sacrifice and tribute to you.

Drop the tribute into the pit and fill the pit back

Family and spirits, accept my offering of (insert liquid here) with thanks for allowing me to use your space.

Pour offering into the ground

Close

Manannan a Thiarna, accept my offerings and bless me through this year as I depart from your blessed realm. Allow my family to return to the Otherworld as you close the Gate and I close this rite.

February for Manannan – 2 Ritual of the Mists

by Peter Zoeller http://fineartamerica.com/featured/county-kerry-ireland-fog-over-kerry-peter-zoeller.html

Ritual of the Mists

by John Gibson

This ritual is intended to be done when there is lots of fog in your area. This Ritual and prayer is to bring you closer to Manannan Mac Lyr, Keeper of the Mist, Ruler of Tir Na Og, and keeper of the Well of Wisdom. Personally when I have done it I have felt strangly drawn into the mists as if the Ancestors were calling me into them to join them. Someday I might go ahead and go but as of yet, I haven’t. If at all possible, try to do this ritual in a place with trees and open land. I have done it outside my home but my home is too connected to this world. I have done it in a park, and the effects are much much cleaner and crisper there.

Items needed:

Staff 
Robe 
Object w/ Double spiral 
Object w/ Triskele 
Bread as a sacrifice to the land spirits

First thing to do is to feel the mists around you, Alert your senses to it. Remember that the Mists are an Inbetween area, not sky, not water. Get your bearings, realize that you are in an inbetween state. At this time you should be wearing your robe.

Becoming aware of the Center of the Three realms

The first thing to do, is to become aware of the three realms. Land, Sea, and Sky. 
Hold the object with the Triskele firmly in your hand and do the following: 

Bend down and touch the ground, and say – “I stand firmly upon the land.” 
Stand up and hold your arms out to the sides – “The sea surronds me.” 
Bring your arms over your head and finally say – “The sky spreads itself above me.” 
Bring your hands down over your heart and say – “I acknowldge the three realms.”

Acknowleding the Mists:

Take the staff and pound it on the ground three times. Take the staff and hold it straight out from your body (like it is an extension of your arms) and turn around three times (counter clockwise) as if you were cutting the mists in half.

Bring the staff and wave it over your head three times. (This movement is like acknowledging the three realms. Hitting the ground with the staff contacts it with land, cutting the mists gives it contact with water, and waving it over your head give is contact with the air

Next face North (the direction of the four cities, and the place that the Tuatha de Dannan came from)

Take the staff and draw a double spiral in the air, and say the following words:

“Manannan Mac Lyr, Lord of the Mist, Ruler of Tir na mBam, Keeper of the double gate of the otherworld. I am here seeking knowledge of the mists and the otherworlds. I come bringing sacrifices for the land spirits. I come in complete awareness and in harmony with the three realms. Watch over me as I travel the mists, keep me from harm as I travel here in the inbetween. Grant me, oh Manannan, the gift of knowlege from the well which is yours to protect, from which the five rivers flow, into which the nuts of knowlege drop, into which swim the salmon of knowledge.”

“I acknowledge the shroud of the mists,
The mists that protect the otherworld,
the otherworld where the Well of Wisdom lies,
the Well of Wisdom that contains all knowledge,
knowledge, which is the key to our lives,
our lives that are in service to the Gods,
The Gods that live in the otherworld,
The otherworld that is protected by the mists,
I acknowledge the shroud of the mists.”

Take the sacrifice, break it into several parts and then put them on the ground as a sacrifice to the land spirits.

At this point the formal part of the ritual is over. What I will do is I will begin walking through out the park or the place I am at and seeking the mists. Becoming familair with how different the land is when the mists come and envelop it.

When I am about to leave the place I am at, I then end with a prayer to the Gods and Goddesses of the Tuatha De Danann to keep me save as I travel the mists back to my world.

Full Moon Shenanigans

It’s the Vine Moon, and I am working with some grapevines tonight for some nefarious deeds. Ok… not so nefarious, but some thing for which I would like a little magical boost for.

So I sang in offering to the grapevine in my backyard after asking for some of itself, had an interesting interaction with it, and took what I was allowed. It was pretty enchanted as the sun was behind the pine the grapevine is growing up on, and the sun was filtering golden light to dance across my eyes as the rest of the world seemed not to exist for a few seconds. I love moments like those.

I hope your Full Moon is fruitful and the Moon, Gods, and Spirits enjoy your worship, watch over and aid in your magic, and bestow Their blessings upon you.

Pagan Blog Project – S is for Skyclad

Luis Falero – “The Witches Sabbath” 1880

 

Going to the Sabbat and getting skyclad is still something some witches fear. We have a very odd way of hating the human body, and enforcing that with all the ads of Photoshopped images everywhere of what the “perfect” body is.

However, whether or not you choose to keep your robes on in group settings, even if you’re just alone, there’s something to be said for the feel of the candles’ warmth, or the almost static of your sacred circle lifting the hairs all over your body, and the fact that you are in that moment, just yourself with none of the cultural and social expectations of what you should look like; it’s all very freeing.

I tend to be someone who balks at the obsession people have with appearing perfect all the time, and I relish the time spent in my circles where I can just throw away what the worry for clothing that will “flatter my shape”, make me sexy, make me demure, etc. It’s a time to adorn yourself with jewels that connect you with their purpose, or scents that resonate with your magic to be worked. You can even paint your body with images that will help you manifest the things you want in yourself, or help energy to move through and within you more effectively.

When the skin is involved in sensing the energies being roused in circle, it can help to solidify the effectiveness of what you are doing, and even intensify it. It’s completely sensual, and allows for us to get out of our heads and physically experience what we are doing magically.

I’m thinking you can probably tell by now that I enjoy working skyclad. If you’re shy about it, try it alone, try it a few times. You never have to do it with a group, but being skyclad is most definitely a powerful tool for witches.

Pagan Blog Project – Q is for the Quill

Q seems to be a letter of communication for me, as it has again brought me a subject that requires words. Writing is a most important human development, allowing for our ancestors to speak to us through the ages, so long as their etchings have not been destroyed with time, or by others.

The act of writing, especially on paper, forces us to slow our minds, slow our thoughts, and ensures we take the time to write out what we really mean. This is part of the reason why I journal in a paper and pen way, as well as write out rituals or spells. I don’t want to rush through the processes, and as far as ritual or spellwork, I don’t want to be able to easily Google something and copy and paste. That doesn’t make for good magic, even if I do put a lot of effort into the act of it.  Finding your own words, your own rhythms, adds another layer to your magic weaving as you take out the time to focus on the precise words that convey the thing that you would make manifest.

The other part I adore about writing with pen and paper is the fact that it’s meditative, introspective; the movements of the pen soothing. It allows for me to let out ick energies, running from my mind, through my head, neck, arm, hand, fingers, and through the tip of a pen. I send out the jumbled thoughts in my head, where I can re-read it later and sort it out. I can realize that I don’t really feel the way I did in that moment, or that I don’t want to feel that particular way, so I get to think about it, look at it from a different perspective, and change it.

The Merry Month Of May

Cernunnos The Golden King Stag – by Sapphire Blackrose

What a busy month it has been! My trad had their Beltaine celebrations on the first weekend in May, which was wonderful! The old Stag King died to regenerate into our new Stag King; the May Queen’s crown was passed on to the renewed May Queen. On this same weekend, a friend of mine said she was in town for the night before my trad’s Beltaine, and the day of our celebrations, so we were very busy having fun with her, perusing our huge mall, lol, eating good food…

Then it was my birthday on the Monday after that weekend, I went and hung out with my HPs while my man was at work. What a lovely day it was! It’s so nice to be somewhere far away from your family, but have people here that feel so much like family. I am feeling the love 😉

Then this past weekend was a camping trip with a local pagan group for Beltaine! What a weekend! I am so lucky that a coven member of mine put on the rituals for the weekend, and how absolutely beautiful they were! The Friday night, we all walked out into the night darkened woods, cast our circle and enjoyed a very sensual ritual 😉 Then there was much merry-making and couples walking away from the light of the sacred fire to go a Maying 🙂 On the Saturday, they held another ritual to charge two new gifts that my coven-mate had made as gifts for the May Queen and Stag King. The energy pulsing through all of our bodies and through our held hands to our neighbours was powerful, warm, strong. The energy raising definitely took much of my energy out to be imbued in the items!

Venus Verticordia – Dante Gabriel Rossetti

A half hour after that ritual was done, it was time for the men and women to separate to experience each sex’s mysteries and to choose the May Queen and Stag King for the year. I enjoyed a small group of the women having a meditative time making something to wear by the fires that night; we chanted and raised more energy while the Goddess was choosing who would represent Her for the coming year. It was such a beautiful afternoon, very trance-like, and very much full of love.

When the time came, the men came back, the God within them all, the fire of the season all in their eyes. The new Stag King came forth to combat the other men, then finally to combat the Old Stag King who was to be sacrificed. When the battle was won, He came towards us women who were protecting our Queen, pushing his way through until they finally came together. A passionate kiss was shared, and all were rejoicing! Hail the King! Hail the Queen! Hail! Hail! Hail!

Image from Wikipedia

The May Pole was picked up by the men and the Stag King, raised and penetrated the earth. We chose our ribbons to dance the May Pole dance. We skipped and twirled, laughed and flirted, made a horrible of the weave until our Queen stopped us to begin doing it the right way 🙂 As we danced, we got closer to each other, there were winks and sexy propositions, warmth and touch.

Dancing and singing continued by the fire, and before the sun went down, we un-danced the May Pole, it becoming a veiled phallus in the night while couples came and went from the fire again.

After this weekend of ritual, magic, love, friendship, kisses, and sex, I am feeling very much connected with the Gods… the energy still courses through me. I am in bliss.

Hail the King! Hail the Queen!

Get Out of Your Head

My own picture on a walk in my neighbourhood the other day.

It’s difficult to feel comfortable with ourselves, body and mind, in our current climate of media driven images of what we should be, how we should look, what we should like, etc. I’m going to go ahead and assume that even though it is wide-spread now because of television, radio, and internet, it’s always been so, especially in large settlements, cities, etc.

What I’m really getting at is that it’s hard for us to just accept who we are, what we look like, how we compare to others, and the like. So really, our heads are filled with this constant, automatic stream of criticism over every little thing you say or do. This can be an incredible mountain of an obstacle to overcome when you need to focus on your path’s practice. While we are all mostly capable of amassing information, when it comes to the practicing part, the rituals, the raising of energy, the releasing of energy, calling the Gods to be with you, calling spirits and entities to be with you… well, it just gets in the way and makes for a practice that is very unfocused, and very unclear.

I feel I have been quite fortunate to not have been one of those who is incredibly concerned  24/7 with all the things I should be saying and doing. My mama raised my sis, brother and I to be fairly confident in ourselves (not full of our own hubris, however 😉 ), to be able to recognize our strengths and weaknesses, and be honest about them, at least with ourselves. I feel as I’ve left my teen years behind, I feel more and more comfortable around people, talking to those I don’t know, just being able to enjoy myself in the face of others’ snickers and such.
I heard from a friend at school (as I’m not in this semester), that in our Music History class, there was a girl who judged us for laughing all the time at our teachers’ teacher jokes. My friend is the same age as I am, plus a few months. We don’t care that it “isn’t cool” to laugh at the lame jokes; in fact, I was laughing and enjoying myself despite others’ judging since high school. I was shy as a young girl, but after getting to know you, I felt pretty comfortable in myself. I feel happy that I am not bound by this nagging in my head of having to look “cool”. All those other people just look miserable all the time trying to conform… it’s boring… it’s sad… it suppresses who you are… it takes the joy out of interactions with others.

But back to the spiritual bit, it’s hard enough trying to free your mind *geeky Matrix reference FTW!* while holding ritual for yourself and truly experiencing your craft, your path; but if you’re in a coven with, Elysian fields forbid, other people, it’s nigh impossible to turn off the criticism because you’ll be constantly correcting yourself for mistakes you think the others think you’ve made. THIS IS NOT ACCEPTABLE. First of all, no matter how much you may think everyone’s eyes are always on you, they’re not. What you may feel is the hugest, most embarrassing mistake during circle (or whenever), usually is a small trifle that others might notice, but won’t take heavily as they are building up the energy in circle (and as we all should know, what happens in circle is meant to happen).
Secondly, if you continue this constant criticism, you are just cutting yourself off from creating a deep connection to the Divine, to the deities you worship, to the magic you make, to the rituals you hold. If your mind is constantly running on this criticism and correction, then you have no room left to focus on the spiritual path you are trying to work on.
Thirdly, because your mind is so heavy on the criticism, there’s nothing you can do but criticize others. Every seeming mistake they make, every odd thing they say, you catch it, you hold on to it, and you can’t move past it because you think you could do better, or you think of how you would react if you were them, or you… The point is you continue to think on the thing that is not supposed to be thought about.

I challenge those of you who do find themselves burdened by this to use meditative practice with these thoughts: when you find them in your head, let them float away. Stop over-analyzing every interaction you have, every move you make. When you feel like others are judging you, well, they very well may be, but it isn’t the focus of their life, and if they don’t know you, then who cares? There’s way too many people in the world to care about and try to please every single one. Choose the people who you love, or enjoy the company of in your life, and choose your actions and words wisely with them, they’re the people that should see the very best in us because we choose to cultivate that relationship, because they make us aspire to be better people, because they have reciprocated our love in return. This holds true for our relationships with the Gods. If we give them our very best, in a joyful, honest, and criticism free way, they will reciprocate our love, our adoration, our wishes.

Be yourself, enjoy who you are, enjoy the company of others freely. Love all that is within you, the light and dark, work on what you want to work on within and without, balance your body, mind, and spirit; for in balance, we can achieve greater things for ourselves, for the Gods, and for love of all.