Wicca/Paganism

[DoctorShoe]

Bright blessings to all!

Wiccan here. Just wondering if there are any more of us around. :) I don't have a coven, and there doesn't seem to be too much opportunity for it in Ireland, even in the medium sized cities.

DP is not a Wiccan. I'm a hospital doctor. We enjoy Dr. Who and Star Trek. I was raised Catholic.

I have had a lovely Beltane. Didn't get to celebrate quite as soon as I'd have liked, due to work, but it was beautiful.

My sick orchid is budding, my Book of Shadows is growing... Thinking about a nice walk in the woods tomorrow afternoon.

Would love to hear from others. :) I have so many questions.

I'm new to mumsnet and have just found this thread

One of the intentions that I made at Mabon was to make some herbal sweets and syrups for the coming winter, which I am going to charge with some healing magick. I like the thought of using ingredients that I find in my local landbase - I have elderberries but am looking for any suggestions for other ingredients that can be foraged and which I could use. Bright blessings!

I unfortunately didn't make my elder rob early enough to fend of the autumn viruses, so haven't been around here very much lately. Nice to see the thread still ticking over.

Sloes, rosehips and hawthorn berries lend themselves very well to syrups. Mulberries are also great if there are any near you. You could try whortelberry jam, if you have any heath or moorland in the vicinity. There's also still a fair few herbs around you could harvest - thyme, mint, yarrow etc, and of course good old nettles.

I've just stumbled upon this thread too. I am a pagan, more of a hedge witch than anything really. I just wanted to suggest Rosehips for syrups. Delicious, particularly on ice cream
My active practice and celebration of the Sabats has waned since having my dd and working f/t. But it's all still in my head, even if my poor old dusty book of shadows is hideously neglected

Lazy, lazy pagan here. At present, doing nothing but life has thrown me a lot of curveballs lately.
I used to celebrate esbats/sabbats with a friend but she moved away a couple of years ago, then I moved, and so I'm likely to be finding my way as a solitary.

FWIW, OH is agnostic, and we've a DD who is at the curious about everything stage. At school they do prayers. DD says she doesn't believe in God, so I told her she doesn't have to say prayers, just sit quietly and be respectful that other people want to.

I'd like to get back on track a little, but I really don't want to be in a coven with a heirarchy.

I'm taking a similar approach with dd. I'm not teaching her that any beliefs are wrong, just that people have different ones. She seems to enjoy nature and is learning about the way things move in cycles over a year. Trees are her current obsession. She is only three though
She is also very interested in Halloween so I am approaching that is a pagan kind of way! So, less commercialisation and skeletons and more about the time of year and explaining how some believe that it is the time that those that have passed are closest to us. She lost her great Nan earlier this year so seems to like this idea.

Thank you for the suggestions. Yarrow grows in profusion around where I live but it's plant that I don't know much about so I'm off to do a bit of research.

I suppose if I had to describe myself it would be as a hedge/kitchen witch and a solitary practitioner - like Pedestriana I don't like the idea of hierarchies and power-trips (have enough of these in my working life) so haven't tried to join a coven.

Yarrow is an amazing plant.

It's name Achillea millefolium comes from the legend of Achilles, who is supposed to have used yarrow as a healing plant. In other versions he is said to have covered himself with yarrow to make himself impervious to arrows, but of course he missed his heel ( i think the usual version is that his mother dunked him in the River Styx as a baby but missed his heel).

It's definitely worth researching yarrow's properties. It can be used for all sorts - treating wounds and infections, colds and fever, inflammation, bleeding, periods. It's not one to use if pregnant though and there are other possible restrictions so do the homework first, but it is definitely one worth having to hand.

Thank your for the information about Yarrow, it is very interesting.

What beautiful autumn days we had this weekend. I went out on Sunday to Herefordshire where they were celebrating the apple harvest with the "Big Apple" event. It was lovely to walk among apple trees thanking the Goddess for blessing us with her bounty, and to raise a glass of locally pressed cider to her, to ask for her blessings for the harvests for to come.

Yes, here. I'm afraid most of MN think that what we believe is a load of bollocks.

Hello pagan here in the south west.

Im a partially practicing witch when the occasion requires it. I mainly believe in Greek deities and worship gaia in particular.

Havent been able to follow the sabbats this year unfortunately way to busy unfortunately and life has got in the way. Im hoping to start again at samhain.

My dh is agnostic and thinks my faith is a tad nuts but supports me.

Hello, I just stumbled across this thread , good to find it :-)
I'm aTraditional Hedgewitch in the far North of England, I have been through the degrees of Initiatory Wicca in the past but became disenchanted (!) However it was useful to find that more people who thought and believed similarly to myself were out there, and I did learn things that were a good foundation to build on in my own practice.

I'm lucky enough to live very rurally, and this very much shapes what I believe in and do, working closely with the land, ancestors, ancestral deities and spirits. I've been asked in the past what path I follow, and the answer is - mine own :-D

Lassie

Oooh, I'm bumping this thread up! I came into this section hoping to find like-minded goddesses, and I found you!

I practice Traditional British Witchcraft. I've known I was a witch since I was a very small child; my connection and understanding of nature was always so much deeper than the other children around me.

I'm not Wiccan, I do not follow the reed, the 3-fold law or attach my belief to the Lord and Lady. I am not a white witch because life is not black or white; it is not fair. Sometimes people need healing and care, others might need to be 'taught a lesson'. Nothing I do is without just cause. That said, I do have Wiccan friends and would never dismiss their beliefs. I regularly attend an Open Circle with them as I feel it does me a lot of good to be around spiritual 'witchy' people.

I can't wait to teach my currently unborn child, the ways of nature; to look at a meadow and not just see plants, but a huge expanse of ingredients. I can't wait to teach them not just to look, but to truly see with open eyes.

This thread has gone very quiet but...Happy Imbolc everyone!
We are having creamy fish pie and a chocolate cake tonight in celebration!

I am the only Wiccan in our house but the rest of the household are happy to go along with my beliefs if it means they get cake.
I've got my altar prepared for tonight and am looking forward to ritual tonight.
What is everyone else doing to celebrate?

Not sure if anyone will pick this up in time, and I know this must be your least favourite topic of conversation, but do you have any advice for the following:

Really what I want is a love spell, but that involves possibly manipulating another, and I can do that. Is there anything that would work on me that at least I could feel I had given it my best shot? Placebo, if nowt else. I already have Rose Quartz. Am going somewhere that has crystal shops and the like, so for once could buy over the counter rather than online.

Please don't laugh at me. At least, not out loud. Ta!

Rabbits I can't advise, being a newbie, but my gut says Love yourself. Others more versed in these things may be more helpful in a practical way.

Anyway, glad to see this thread renovated. I'm struggling with a suffering DD who is miles away - I thought the wind last night was a good force to tune in with whilst I stirred my soup. Thankfully DD had a better night (mental illness). Still a total novice and love reading back on this thread.

Hello,
I'm in the North East I hope everyone is enjoying the spring equinox!

North West here and been a practising pagan since I was 14 (I'm 30 now) I have two children of whom I intend to teach the sabbath, esbats, stories too etc but in no way am I going to force my religion onto them. My DH isn't really anything but he's accepting of my beliefs and will join in with things.

Hi

I'm an eclectic pagan living in WorcestershireI tend to do my own thing based around goddesses, the moon and the wheel of the year as well as lots of work with angels. I am a psychic too and give Angel card readings and help with manifesting.

Occasionally I meet up with a few friends to celebrate Beltane etc and love calling down the moon with my husband and kids!

Hi treeagate I'm not sure there's many of us around of late, the pagan threads have been quite quiet for a while.

I'm in the Staffordshire moorlands. I'm a solitary hedgewitch using herbs and plants. I cook a mean chilie con carne too

Hi rosesandrubies

Not far from me then. I'm an eclectic pagan / solitary but struggling to find a forum for a good chat.

My local pagan moot is an hour in either direct so not helpful!

Solstice blessings and full moon blessings to you x

Wow so I've read the whole thread. Very interesting and edifying.
I'm currently on the path to a Wiccan journey. It's something I've thought about for years and now decided to do it.
I love nature the fields the sea the hills it's where I feel I belong. Strangely I dislike wooded areas and always feel a sense of unease. I've never been sure why it's just something that makes me uncomfortable.
I randomly offer words to the wind and to the sea. I'm beginning to see these could be simple incantations. Something I need to look further into.
Off to do so more reading and blessings to you all.

Strangely I dislike wooded areas and always feel a sense of unease. I've never been sure why it's just something that makes me uncomfortable.

I don't think that is unusual. OH and I were discussing that subject last week, he and I both feel that way. I too feel a little vulnerable in a wood, maybe it is instinctive, predators can easily hide, our culture is full of fairy tales of being lost in woods, ambushed or killed in woods, Snow White, Hansel and Gretel etc. You are not alone.

Hello all,

Can I ramble to you please & have your thoughts, I need a space to talk about this & I haven't found one until this thread.

OK, I've never fitted in, as a teen I was the one who dressed differently (all in black with piercings), I've never fitted in, have sometimes wanted to but mostly am happy on the periphery. I'm lucky enough to be fairly attractive & have had a few relationships with both men & women, I used to be sexually curious & open to new things however now I'm older I've settled into a happy relationship with a man & I have 2 children.

But there's always been something unspoken in me & something that's unfulfilled. I have a deep interest in British folklore/old wives tales/herb lore & this translates into an interest in nature. Our family holidays always include standing stones or somewhere that I feel drawn to in our landscape, I'm not a beach or sun holiday kind of girl, I'd much rather be crawling through burial mounds or walking in deserted or ancient places. I have fanciful thoughts that when I stand barefoot in a windy field that I'm connected to the earth & that I'm aware of all the bodies buried below my feet & am standing on those who went before us. I could never move from this country as its where I belong & I have a deep sense of having roots here & my soul belonging here.

I have ideas of energy in places, there one road that we use when we go camping & its got a really bad energy to it & the trees crowd in on either side , its menacing and I cant wait to get back out to the open road. On Boxing Day last year I went for a walk in some woods & told dp that they were happy woods, he was & didn't really understand but I felt at ease amongst the trees & they made me smile with their happiness & the quality of the light.

I'm frightened of the dark, I close my eyes so I can't see things in it & I have to sleep with the duvet around my ears so I can't hear things in it. My mother was the same & on our maternal side we have a relative who was a witch 2 generations back (she lived in a northern mining village & was the one people went to with childbirth or with the laying out of the dead, she used to provide healing potions for people). I grow my own veg & herbs although I only eat them, I don't try to make anything out of them particularly. I have a vivid imagination that tends to the macabre & on the stairs behind me I have family photos & sometimes imagine that all the eyes go black & watch me then I can't look at them as I'm afraid. I like ghost stories but they make me afraid so I have to be careful when I read them & make sure there's enough time between the story & bed.

I wrote half a horror book with nature themes but had to abandon it to go back to work in an office as we need the money. I still dream of finishing it.

I did think I was drawn to paganism & bought the books on being a solitary practitioner of Wicca but I identify as an atheist & the idea of having gods or deities put me off. I still have the books, but I have an aversion to worshipping gods in any form. I'm confused about nature, on one hand I think that there's no sentience & its purely science & evolution. On the other hand I sometimes wonder whether there is something that listens to you & draws you close to the forgotten sacred places. Something that we have lost through time.

What do you think, should I look more closely into paganism or is it not right for me?

I relate to much of what you say. I think if you are someone that is happy to be on the periphery, then there is no need to nail your colours to any particular spiritual or religious mast. I think a lot of people feel the need to because it helps with their sense of identity, and also there unquestionably is something to be said for having the support of a group or community of like minded people, in real life or virtually.

If however you are the sort of person who is happier walking your own path, then do that. Only you know if paganism is right for you. Explore the philosophies that appeal to you - that might be paganism, eastern traditions or just explore what thoughtful people have to say about the world - I love Carl Sagan for example for his ability to make the world seem wondrous just by being what it is.

I tied myself in knots for a long time trying to label my world view. There are pagan atheists out there, and sometimes i've used that as a description as it probably comes closest, but i prefer no label at all.

An atheist is simply someone with an absence of belief in a god or gods. Many pagans don't believe in literal gods and goddesses but see them as a way of describing elements of nature and abstract ideas about ourselves. I lean towards the idea that there is a spiritual connectedness between all living things. I'm not sure i would call it a belief as i'm open to changing my view on that - it's more of a personal working hypothesis that fits with my experience. Being an atheist says nothing about your beliefs on other matters - ghosts, alien abduction, spirituality - only about your lack of belief in god.

Thanks fellow Velvet, for your considered reply, I appreciate it :)

off to google Carl Sagan