Weekly Oracle

Faith 6 - Adoration from The Wisdom of Mary Magdalene by Sharon Hooper

Major Arcana 24 Purpose - Empylios from The Hekate Tarot by T Bebout & H. Ezerins

Mary Magdalene and Hekate. What am I doing, you may ask. I don't know, but was inspired to choose a card from each of these decks and so here we are. I will explain the cards and what they mean for me, what I think they mean for anyone who is brought here today or any other day. You decide if the messages resonate for you.

Adoration - being in the presence of a guru or teacher, a wise one; searching for the wisdom, for that  ecstatic place of the Divine. Most people become caught up in finding "THE" teacher who will give them all they are looking for. As it is written in the Charge of the Goddess, If that which you seek you find not within yourself, you will never find it without - an important message to always hold on to. From the lore we have, Mary thought she had found her guru in Jesus, but perhaps she was the wise one? I certainly believe she was and still is. I think Mary Magdalene came to that realization too and that is why she is still with us in divine form today.

So who/what is the teacher for us? Who or what will assist us in reaching that place of ecstasy? It could be an Ancestor, the forest, anyplace that makes one feel their bliss, their ecstasy. Where is our bliss, our ecstasy? That ecstasy is in the pursuit of our spiritual journey, and the guide, be it a person, Ancestor, place, ourselves, will assist us if we open to that influence, if we can believe that it may very well be within. 

Caution when dealing with someone who labels themselves guru or teacher. Make sure you give offerings and gratitude to the spiritual beings that may be your teachers. Treat yourself well, you are the wise woman. And who deserves your adoration? These are important questions to explore when searching for the next step of our journey... and we are being directed to step off the current path and delve into another place. That is why the card of Adoration and all it symbolizes has presented itself.

A more perfect card could not have been chosen from The Hekate Tarot if I had gone through the deck looking. I simply asked for a message from each deck. Hekate presents Her Major Arcana card, number 24 - Purpose. 

Her message is that She is calling us to Her temple and the Divine within us. Her torches shining, showing the way to our own light in the darkness. Our psychic abilities are being enhanced as we choose to give ourselves over to divine service. This is our purpose. We must finally see the wisdom within, the Divine within, the torch within; we are ready for all of it to awaken. Are we ready to step through the gates of that temple?

Blessings nine!

Hag Stone Lore

I stumbled upon this blog post about hag stones. Interesting post so I thought I would share:

What is a Hag Stone?

A Hag Stone is simply a stone with a natural hole through it.  In folk magic systems, these are often believed to ward off the dead, curses, witches, sickness, and nightmares. They are also used as windows or doorways to see 'otherworlds', invisible spirits, or how a being 'really' looks beyond their glamour.

Read the rest here: http://cauldroncraftoddities.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/hag-stone-lore.html?m=1

Blessings nine!

Witchy Wordless Wednesday

Witchy Wordless Wednesday

Blessings nine!

Witchy Wordless Wednesday

Blessings Nine!

Twas The Night Before Yuletide

The Snow Queen by Emily Balivet

https://www.etsy.com/shop/EmilyBalivet?ref=pr_faveshops

Twas the Night before Yuletide 

Twas the night before Yuletide and all through the glen,

Not a creature was stirring, not a fox, not a hen.

A mantle of snow shone brightly that night

As it lay on the ground, reflecting moonlight.

The faeries were nestled all snug in their trees,

Unmindful of flurries and a chilly north breeze.

The elves and the gnomes were down in their burrows,

Sleeping like babes in their soft earthen furrows.

When low! The earth moved with a thunderous quake,

Causing chairs to fall over and dishes to break.

The Little Folk scrambled to get on their feet

Then raced to the river where they usually meet.

“What happened?” they wondered, they questioned, they probed, 

As they shivered in night clothes, some bare-armed, some robed. 

“What caused the earth's shudder? 

What caused her to shiver?”

They all spoke at once as they stood by the river.

Then what to their wondering eyes should appear

But a shining gold light in the shape of a sphere.

It blinked and it twinkled, it winked like an eye,

Then it flew straight up and was lost in the sky.

Before they could murmur, before they could bustle,

There emerged from the crowd, with a swish and a rustle,

A stately old crone with her hand on a cane,

Resplendent in green with a flowing white mane.

As she passed by them the old crone's perfume,

Smelling of meadows and flowers abloom,

Made each of the fey folk think of the spring

When the earth wakes from slumber and the birds start to sing.

“My name is Gaia,” the old crone proclaimed

in a voice that at once was both wild and tamed,

“I've come to remind you, for you seem to forget,

that Yule is the time of re-birth, and yet…”

“I see no hearth fires, hear no music, no bells,

The air isn't filled with rich fragrant smells

Of baking and roasting, and simmering stews,

Of cider that's mulled or other hot brews.”

“There aren't any children at play in the snow,

Or houses lit up by candles’ glow.

Have you forgotten, my children, the fun

Of celebrating the rebirth of the sun?”

She looked at the fey folk, her eyes going round,

As they shuffled their feet and stared at the ground.

Then she smiled the smile that brings light to the day,

“Come, my children,” she said, “Let's play.”

They gathered the mistletoe, gathered the holly,

Threw off the drab and drew on the jolly.

They lit a big bonfire, and they danced and they sang.

They brought out the bells and clapped when they rang.

They strung lights on the trees, and bows, oh so merry,

In colors of cranberry, bayberry, cherry.

They built giant snowmen and adorned them with hats,

Then surrounded them with snow birds, and snow cats and bats.

Then just before dawn, at the end of their fest,

Before they went homeward to seek out their rest,

The fey folk they gathered ‘round their favorite oak tree

And welcomed the sun ‘neath the tree's finery.

They were just reaching home when it suddenly came,

The gold light returned like an arrow-shot flame.

It lit on the tree top where they could see from afar

The golden-like sphere turned into a star.

The old crone just smiled at the beautiful sight,

"Happy Yuletide, my children," she whispered. "Good night."

The author is unknown, however 

it may possibly have been written by C.C. Williford.

Blessings dark and deep!

Healing

I jotted this down one day, before I was going to facilitate a Reiki circle in the evening. I shared it with everyone who attended and it seems to be appropriate to share it today. Whoever needs it will find it.

When we are experiencing periods of self-doubt, insecurity, pain, fear, anxiety, depression - whatever challenge it may be - it would serve us to remember that we are releasing aspects of ourselves that were created based on what we have been exposed to in our lives, yet no longer need. All of these feelings are keys to a process of transformation. We can stay in the same place or move through the feelings, acknowledging them, releasing, forgiving, be it ourselves or someone else, then moving on, free. This is healing.

Underneath these experiences of transformation, which can be frightening and difficult sometimes, and at other times easier to work through, we benefit by remembering self-love and self-awareness is where to find relief and a more clear reflection of who we really are. When we see who we truly are through love, the pristine essence that we will find is the Wise One or Higher Self, the one who, while knowing fear, defeat, or suffering, is the one who is Light, Power, Force, and Liberation. Finding that Wise One and allowing ourselves to move through the experiences as part of a learning process, sets us free.

Don't become too caught up in the journey to "arrive" - remember that all these experiences benefit us in some way by moving us along our path. We may not consciously know exactly what that benefit is, but we have evolved thanks to those experiences. Would we have liked to skip some of them? All of them? Sure, they aren't always pretty or nice, they are frightening. But that's what we are here for, to experience and heal. This process is for our progression - if we allow it to be. 

Winston Churchill said it best, " When you are going through hell, keep on going." In other words, keep going, you will get to the end and make it through.

Blessings dark and deep!

Invocation of the Circle

I love this circle invocation by Doreen Valiente, found in "Witchcraft, A Tradition Renewed" by Doreen and Evan John Jones. I'm always writing, rewriting, and searching out invocations, prayers, quarter calls, for my circles. I like to change it up all the time. This is a favorite.

Invocation of the Circle

By stang and cauldron, cup and knife,

By right of office that I hold,

Ye ancient powers of death and life,

Forgather to the circle's fold.

Kinship to kinship, blood to blood,

By wild night wind and starry sky,

By heathland brown and darkling wood,

To this our circle now draw nigh.

In likeness of a henge of stone,

Stand guard around this circle's rim,

While looming through the dark alone,

Stands in the east the Hele-stone dim.

I summon forth the fairy hounds,

Sharp-fanged, white-coated, red of ear,

To prowl beyond the circle's bounds,

And put intruders' hearts in fear.

Ancestral powers of this our blood,

We are your people, guard us well,

By earth and air, by fire and flood,

By magic mime and spoken spell.

Our craft's own Goddess I invoke,

And Ancient Ones of hill and mound.

With fire aflame and drifting smoke,

I dedicate this circle's bound.

By three times three,

Thus shall it be!

~Doreen Valiente, Witchcraft: a Tradition Renewed~

Is It Still A Mystery Tradition?

There will be many people who will not agree with what I have to say about this subject. Lady knows, some of my own friends, practicing witches, Pagans, and Polytheists, all for many, many years, don't all agree. We simply agree to disagree and go our own ways, down our own paths, because we are friends, and we truly respect each other's right to practice as we see fit.

Respecting others' right to practice as they choose is very important. How I choose to practice is none of anyone's business. However, if you are attending one of my rites, you will not be able to bring your children. I know many who have their children attend rites for sabbats, full moons, and other rituals. I don't attend those rituals. I don't attend large open rituals, especially with people I don't know. If you are invited to attend my rituals you will not be a man, you will be a woman who was born a woman, and you will be expected to be respectful of the Goddesses, Spirits, the Ancestors, the other women, and the way this coven practices. You will be expected to wear simple ritual clothing, not some outlandish, silly costume. You will come with the mindset that this is a mystery tradition for women, it is not open to just anyone; my coven, my choice of who belongs.

Why? Well, there are a few reasons. I see my practice, my artes of magick, communion with the Goddesses, as sacred and private. I feel, and again, this is only my opinion, my way for me, that a very large ritual generally ends up as dead space with many people who do not focus, are not respectful because they think it is a party, a freaky thing to do - not all, but many I have attended in years past. I want to know who I am practicing with and where they are coming from spiritually. I want to know that they are serious about their journey.

I also want to create a place where women are not intimidated or judged by standards that society has chosen. I want them to feel safe to open themselves to the Goddesses, to each other. I want them to find that sacred safe place.

We have sacrificed the Mystery for acceptance and popularity; with that we have lost a great deal. I do not give a rat's patootie  how others' judge what I do. It isn't open for discussion or opinions. And that is a good thing. While I share many things on this blog, there is much more that isn't shared and will never be. However, I want to give women who are searching for something more Goddess-centered, more woman-centered, a safe place for spiritual expression. I want to share a basic foundation for them to build their own practice, away from prying eyes and judgement.

For some reason, at this Hallowstide season, I felt the need to share this.

Blessings dark and deep!