Any Witches Here ? Part 2

[speakout]

Or Wiccans. or Pagans? Or anyone who is interested in a magical path or feels some magical stirrings.

A place for support, learning, swapping ideas and magical inspiration

All welcome.

Elphame I hope you are all OK x

Zaphod it’s fascinating how it all interconnects isn’t? And it’s not just limited to the spiritual and religious discussions. Similar themes present themselves in the ‘wider’ world too. Like you say, CBT, Flow Psychology, etc.

I was thinking (as I was getting my Autumn on the other evening) how even the concept of ‘hygge’ touches on similar ideas and themes. The intentionality, the appreciation of the present moment, the mindfulness, finding and feeling the magic in the seemingly mundane. The power of candlelight. The comfort and power of simple rituals. The appreciation of the balance between light and dark. Sharing love and friendship through food and comfort. The important stuff.

I believe there’s a handful of key, core truths to human existence. And yet there are a billion interpretations and representations of those truths. So it’s inevitable parts will sound similar.

I guess it’s like music. There’s a billion songs in the world. And yet only a handful of chords that form them all. So it’s inevitable parts will sound similar.

Hmmm.

Can I de lurk and join? I have rekindled my interest after a few years out following losing twins. I work solo and have a particular interest in herbs, runes and tarot.

Loyaultemelie welcome and I’m so sorry for your loss

I like runes too but I’m still learning all the meanings etc.

Evening all, I am in my holidays after a very busy family focused day I have just been for a solitary therapeutic walk along the seafront. It gave me chance to do some much needed thinking and mindfulness.

As I was walking along I noticed the moon was red, I need to look up the significance as this. I also looked down and found a hagstone, which I'm absolutely delighted about. It's coming home with me and will live in my herb garden.

@Zaphod & FitzsFool **
It is uncanny how that underlying message seems to be repeated by so many great thinkers, movements and yet most of us either ignore or refute it. . The power of thought is phenomenal. I think that is why I am becoming more drawn to this path because of the precision and discipline of the mind.

@Loyaultemelie

FitzsFool I love your words. and yes I agree.

For me though there is a huge key element - and that is to do with power. Anyone who has read Starhawk will understand what I mean.

It's to do with immanence, and power within/power without.
The idea of a boss god ( usually male) controlling, governing and judging sits in my throat like a fur ball.
I have a very religious ( christian) family.
While Abrahamic religions are not without their spiritual dimension I do think that there is a fundamental conflict.
And I know the church doctrine agrees with this.

• Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live" Exod 22:18

Indeed in my home town in Scotland the church executed thousands of women, burned at the stake, tortured and drowned.

In Europe nine million women were burned for daring to be bold.

sockportal what a wonderful find- and a beautiful photo. Thanks so much for sharing!

Morning all,

Loyaultemelie welcome, it's lovely to have you here

😍 To the hagstone, the moon and the gorgeous wilko hare 😊 The moon looked beautiful here last night- I stopped to appreciate it and was treated to seeing a bat too. Magic.

I'm loving this interconnected 'truths'/common themes discussion, and Fitz , you put it so beautifully into words. You've got a real gift there. You could produce a lovely blog...

Totally agree about the power coming from within rather than some 'boss god' (love your description there speakout) By its very nature, empowering. A big part of the reason why I love this path.

Lots of lovely food for thought as always. Thank you wise women. I'm going to look into hygge and Starhawk

Yes..totally agree with that speakout. I still rage at the injustices suffered by females in my own family. So sick of shame based doctrines.

I will definitely check out that reading reference.

The mention of the Burning Times, although not thought of as strictly historically accurate, brings this song to mind... I'm not quibbling over numbers, we all know that awful shit happened to women, and still is...
Viva Christy!

m.youtube.com/watch?v=lNoKxrjyiWM

Just popping in to wish love, light & blessings to everyone here around the Full Moon Aga
The moon looked fantastic last night, rising out from behind the giant oak.

@sockportal thank you for sharing that peaceful beach photo with us. Been feeling SO desperate to be near the sea this week. Have always found it very healing.

Thank you for your comments @Zaphod. I found them very helpful. This is all a bit (a lot!) new to me so it’s always good when people recognise things that I’m struggling somewhat to articulate.

If you’re interested in hygge I can recommend The Little Book of Hygge by Meik Viking. It has a lot of self care in it and also lots about making nourishing food yourself from scratch (and with intent!) to then eat with friends and family. I enjoyed it.

speakout you’ve hit the nail on the head there - “power”.

Much of modern religion is a force for control. A way of keeping the masses in check, enforcing hierarchy and ensuring the Status Quo is never challenged.

In Christianity, God’s role is judgement. And life is a quest to earn enough brownie points to get in with God’s exclusive club: heaven. If you are naughty, you are punished. You go to hell.

The difference with paganism, for me, is that the role of the Gods is not to judge, but to guide. You reach out to them, they’re not constantly observing and judging you. Life is not about collecting enough tokens to get into the Afterlife.

Paganism is about becoming the best possible version of me that I can be. It’s very instrincally motivated. I strive to bring out the good but to do that I have to acknowledge and work with the darker parts of myself.

Christianity is about being trying to reach a state of perfection defined by others. It’s extrinsically motivated. It’s about being all good because any badness is the devils work and a ticket to ‘hell’.

FitzsFool absolutely.

And in paganism we are the goddess. Or god.
Every one of us is a manifestation of the divine.
When we honour the divine we honour ourselves.

In christianity that is blasphemous.

Love this discussion.

I’ve always been a bit baffled by the argument that nature is so incredible surely someone [male🙄] designed/made it all. Why can’t we wonder at and appreciate the power and magnificence of nature just as it is? Makes far more sense to me.

fitzfool- exactly.

Having that external control stunts us.

I have heard my family tell me that " none of us are perfect". "we are all sinners", we are all flawed.

Would you look at a herd if elephants and say " not one of those elephants are perfect?

No it's a nonsense idea.

Every single elephant is perfect- at being an elephant.
Some elephants may be clumsy, some may have a temper, some may be overly dominant, but that doesn't mean they are imperfect.

Same with humans. Our "flaws" are what make us human.

We are perfect homo Sapiens.

And even so called "flaws" are simply manifestations of character.

I am a great initiator, I have a huge amount of energy to get things started, to energise, to motivate myself and others, I a very mercurial.
Part of that same aspect means I can rise to anger a little too easily, ( although rarely lasts more than two minutes!) but that is the same energy. So can be viewed two ways. I do work on the anger side of things and it doesn't cause difficulties in my family or relationships.

Similarly my OH is the most tolerant person I know. He accepts when people make bad choices, it doesn't diminish his view of others, he is accepting easy going and laid back.
But part of that energy means he can be lazy, two sides of the same coin.

Imperfections? I doubt that.

Sin? Most definitely not.

Phew- recovering from a MIL visit.
Once a stern and unforgiving character she is mellowing and has lots of health problems- I feel sorry for her.
She knows I am a witch- she is so accepting which is lovely.

She has bad arthritis, her knees particularly, I laid my hands on her knees - they felt like ice, so cold, she smiled at me and said she could feel warmth and fire through my touch.
I looked through my crystal collection and picked a dark orange carnelian stone to give to her- it picked me actually!!
I also suggested that eating warming foods may help, cinnamon, turmeric, ginger.

It's so nice sometimes to be able to put differences to one side and have a close communication.

Hi everyone! Have name changed (ReginaOcarina) but thought I'd check in!

We have just got home from our weekend in our lovely ancient camper. While we were away we explored the woods, made moon water with my babies, and while they slept I practised with my tarot cards on my lovely DH (which couldn't have been more accurate to our current situation!) Am feeling very content and recharged! I hope you are all having a good weekend and am sending healing thoughts to your dad @Elphame

BelladonnaKebab

Thank you so much for sharing.

Full moon has brought big shifts for me.

Again - thanks for all the good wishes. I'm home having left them to it tonight. I have my fingers crossed that all now goes well!

I have a load of catching up to do everywhere but the book I use @BillywigSting is this one www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0738704709/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00?psc=1&tag=mumsnetforum-21&ie=UTF8

( Raven Kaldera is quite a controversial figure in the pagan world with a bit of a reputation. However this is a very useful tome and streets away from his BDSM work!)

Good morning all my lovely witchy friends. Hoping for good weather as my son has gone camping with friends for a few days. And gives me some time to focus on my daughter who will be off to University in a few weeks.
I need to do some cleansing today, my cats hate guests coming to our home, they are both familiars, spend the whole day following me around. except time the spend outdoors.
I am lucky to be able to work from home, I live surrounded by ancient woodland, and doors to the back of my house are open permanently at this time of year so cats have constant access to outdoors or indoors.
The goddess has been so kind to me this week, I have had necessary but unenjoyable work project to complete, my normal business is crazy busy, but I have had a respite for a few days which has allowed me to complete the project.
She knows I needed the space.
I hope everyone has a fruitful and fun week.

Good morning everyone

Have been studying more on spells and experimented with a calming spell for myself, using a candle and an incantation. Found the energy powerful and immediate.

I have read on the pitfalls of using the incorrect words..for example, to ask to lose weight could result in losing something you'd rather retain!! It makes me consider all the involuntary, hidden narratives running through people lives that can cause so much anguish and how important it is to take control of our own minds... sorry if I'm not expressing this correctly but I think it has hit a nerve in me, especially following on from the power discussions.

Incidentally, if anyone can offer up a good weight loss spell I'd be more than grateful

Insomma1 you are right, although I am not too hung up about words- if you have a powerful intention and a positive energy than I don't think bad things will happen!

Re the weight loss, I have helped a few people with this challenge.
working with Neptune can help- the restrictive and banishing/shedding energies.
Sun energy works well too, using the strength of the solar force for willpower and determination.

@speakout Thank you that's good to know regarding intention vs incorrect wording and not to get too hung up on that.
Interesting that you've worked with people in that particular area and had success. I would like to try this out so will look into Neptune and Sun meditations.