Any Witches Here?- Part 17.

[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..
This is the 17th thread- anyone looking for a deep dive into juicy magical topics may like to browse previous threads.....

It is a long list!!

Part 1 //www.mumsnet.com/Talk/philosophy_religion_spirituality/3241689-Any-witches-here?pg=1
Part 2
//www.mumsnet.com/Talk/philosophy_religion_spirituality/3338025-Any-Witches-Here-Part-2?pg=1
Part 3
//www.mumsnet.com/Talk/philosophy_religion_spirituality/3366411-Any-Witches-Here-Part-3?pg=1
Part 4
//www.mumsnet.com/Talk/philosophy_religion_spirituality/3404406-Any-Witches-Here-Part-4-Edited-by-MNHQ?pg=1
Part5
//www.mumsnet.com/Talk/philosophy_religion_spirituality/3437092-Any-Witches-Here-Part-5?pg=1
Part 6 //www.mumsnet.com/Talk/philosophy_religion_spirituality/3482023-Any-Witches-Here-Part-6?pg=1
Part 7 //www.mumsnet.com/Talk/philosophy_religion_spirituality/3520269-Any-Witches-Here-Part-7?pg=1
Part 8 //www.mumsnet.com/Talk/philosophy_religion_spirituality/a3568622-Any-Witches-Here-Part-8?pg=1
Part 9 //www.mumsnet.com/Talk/philosophy_religion_spirituality/3637696-Any-Witches-Here-Part-9?pg=1
Part 10
//www.mumsnet.com/Talk/philosophy_religion_spirituality/3726266-Any-Witches-Here-Part-10
Part 11
//www.mumsnet.com/Talk/philosophy_religion_spirituality/3850635-Any-Witches-Here-Part-11
Part 12
//www.mumsnet.com/Talk/philosophy_religion_spirituality/3997761-Any-Witches-Here-Part-12
Part 13 //www.mumsnet.com/Talk/philosophy_religion_spirituality/4116107-Any-Witches-here-Part-13
Part 14www.mumsnet.com/Talk/philosophy_religion_spirituality/4213962-Any-Witches-Here-Part-14
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/philosophy_religion_spirituality/4328830-Any-Witches-Here-Part-15?msgid=113505801
www.mumsnet.com/talk/philosophy_religion_spirituality/4435233-Any-Witches-Here-Part-16?page=40&reply=118807589

Thought I would pop in and give the place an airing, plump up the cushions and put the kettle on..
all welcome.

Plopping down on a comfy cushion with some nettle tea to finish sorting the jar of random beads I bought in the charity shop this morning. Most seem to be useable but there are a load of pearlescent sequins I will need to rehome somehow

So glad the last thread is full! It was really glitchy for me. Nothing would bookmark and the thread would load, disappear and then re-appear at a random point. Even scrolling down to the bottom was "interesting" at times!

Thank you for the shiny new thread Speakout

Bringing jugs of homemade lemonade and elderflower cordial with lots of ice.

The beads sound like a good find Elphame . I do love beads, as a child and a teenager I used to love sorting and collecting them and using them for random crafts.

I have a cup of thyme tea - allergy induced earache treatment.
There will be carrot cake later/tomo. Will happily drop off the spares. I think bread would be a good thing to get sorted later. No current access to the kitchen yay building work /sarcasm /somuchsarcasm

I am not sure what i would define as a magical person. Perhaps someone who can see the magic in the world around them. But that is a complete over simplification, and i don't think it actually even covers it in the slightest. Especially as i am trying to figure out what magical practise looks like for me.

I'm enjoying about how you all practice your crafts. When we've had this discussion previously, someone used the phrase 'eclectic witch', I feel this describes me well.

I work with spirit guides and use divination - tarot, a scrying, a bit of astrology in my practice. I also dabble with using herbs and incantations in my cooking. I have strong connections with nature and enjoy working with plants and incorporating the elements into my practice. I'm very in tune with the lunar cycles and any spell work I do is normally aligned with the moon phase (although I don't do a lot of spell work).

Like Speakout much of what I do is so closely entwined with my day to day life, it's almost second nature to me.

Glad you could make it over sisters!
Elphame I hope the glitch goblins are well and truly gone, I love the sound of your beads, what a lovely way to spend a few hours.
HillsBesideTheSea tea coming up- sorry to hear of your earache.
Your magical work does sound similar to mine, so intertwined now that I have to actually think about the practices I do, they are so common place and part of a normal day that I often don't give them much thought.

Part of what draws me to a "pagan" type path is the fact there are few rules unless you choose a mored structured craft.
I have a problem with authority, dislike dogma, the idea in most religions of having an almighty ruler, regarding being judged, somone in control, having power- bleating gently like a lamb-that really bristles my feathers.
I would not make a good christian- I would ask too many questions and heckle from the back.
I do love having a spiritual aspect to my life, and I love that I also get to make up my own rules!

Hello to you all. I've lurked for a long time, reading the all posts linked to this thread and for longer than I care to acknowledge. You all sound so welcoming that I thought I would at least say 'hi' and let you know how much companionship and normality you have brought to me without even realising!
I'm not sure whether I am ready to call myself a 'witch', or indeed if I ever will be. I was raised in a strict Catholic family, am loosely Christian, but for as long as I can remember have had a real affinity for what I see as mother nature and the natural energy all around us. It makes much more sense to me than organised religion.

As I've read more on the subject over the decades I've realised that I do seem to have a few natural 'gifts' (reading people, accurate predictions, a guiding voice within me etc) that I've hidden away and naturally do a lot of rituals to celebrate nature and the change of the seasons. It's very hard to put this all into words. I do know that my grandmother and great grandmother, who were very tough, no nonsense women, used to be the midwives of their rural village in their day - apparently they were the 'go to' women when you entered the world (midwives) and left the world. Perhaps there is something more in that.

Thank you for listening. This all feels like a calling that won't go away!

Hi Ellami "for as long as I can remember have had a real affinity for what I see as mother nature and the natural energy all around us. It makes much more sense to me than organised religion."

I have that now. I didn't when I was younger though. Maybe it would have struck before I hadn't had such a city bound life and very long hours.

Ellami thanks for taking the time to post- I am glad you have joined us- all together in our magical kitchen.
Your view on the world sounds very interesting, it is often difficult for people who were raised in a church family- the religion become stuck, hard wired, often hard to get past.
Happy to have you here- please keep posting!

Hi EmmaH2022 and thanks for your reply. I moved out of London 12yrs ago and it made a huge difference. I spent most of my spare time there hanging around rivers and parks whenever I could. I then moved abroad to a (hot) place where there were no real 'seasons' and found that totally miserable.

Hello Speakout and thank you for your kind reply. Yes, it was very hardwired!

“I would not make a good christian- I would ask too many questions and heckle from the back.”

I am a fully paid up Christian @speakout but still do this! I hope you don’t mind me posting - I love this thread and like @Ellami have silently warmed myself by the fire and shed a tear here many times. I too celebrate the wheel of the year in my own ‘natural’ way in conjunction with the church year but I’m so spiritually inspired here.

Hear hear! It's good to ask questions, never stop asking questions.

Hope everyone's okay

still feeling the sense of everything stuck

I think on the previous thread someone mentioned astrology. Is this a period where things are considered stuck?

was out with a friend who reminded me of the poem "The Way Through the Woods". I find that poem very magical 💫

www.kiplingsociety.co.uk/poem/poems_woods.htm

That's a lovely poem EmmaH2022, thanks for posting.
Yes there are times in astrology when things can get "stuck", but hopefully today's new moon will herald a fresh start, energy for new beginnings, fresh energy and ideas.
I am up early for a morning soak in the bath. Normally I prefer a shower in the morning, but sometimes a bath seems just right. And of course it will be a magical practice with herbal salts made by a dear witch friend, to awaken the goddess within me. The house is asleep, the only sound outside is birdsong. I so love solitary time.

Wonderful! A new thread! I shall get baking. I am probably going to be baking bread this week for Lughnasadh so shall make extra for our spiritual kitchen.

Eclectic witch sounds perfect for the modern age! I use Tarot, am learning the runes, listen to my inner voice and am developing going into my internal space to communicate with ancestors and guides. I am trying to relearn palmistry as a busy life means I haven’t maintained that skill. I do a small amount of spell work but I am very cautious about what I do as I believe our intention must be fast and secure. I have a herb garden and use herbs and flowers in spell work.

This is a huge thing for me to write: until this year I would have described myself as a Christian but I don’t any longer. I still believe in a universal energy of some kind but I cannot reconcile that to a faith that has done what it has and still makes me uneasy with decisions. I love churches and cathedrals but have realised those places have been made sacred with prayer and thoughts and it’s that energy that makes the spaces special. I always held to my own type of “Christianity” but now I have removed that label. I don’t know what I am any longer but I am easy just being myself with my own beliefs in looking after the world and doing the right thing. It feels strange to not be what I was raised to be and what so many members of my family were and are adherents of. My favourite parts of Christianity were always the pagan ones anyway! I don’t have all the answers, but I will always be happy to learn.

I love churches and cathedrals but have never been religious. I went to a school that was very vaguely C of E so that in part explains my fondness. That, and the English church as part of the landscape.

it can be hard to say that. My sister has a strong feeling against all elements of all religions. I'm not sure she'd even enter a cathedral.

Lughnasadh feels really wrong for me this year. As if there is nothing to harvest. I am not quite sure what to do about that. I feel like I want to do something.

Going to be honest churches always summon a dark oppressive feeling. So much harm, hurt and ill-will lingering within them. Hypercritical environments that they are. Do as i say, not as i do. I'm better than you. We'll ignore this bit because it is inconvenient. You'll never be good enough because i said so.

The history of the Church of England in the UK is a bloody one. which in combination with catholism lead to most of the civil wars (yep we have had many many civil wars, and pretty much all of them in the name of religion, we just don't call them civil wars and give them fancy names like round heads and cavaliers; war of the roses etc etc.)

But in a country that was raped and pillaged so so so many times in history the generational trauma legacy is always going to be huge, and hard to heal. There are some interesting discussions i have heard in American based circles surrounding the issue of this, how to start the healing process etc. I should probably find time to return to them and dig a little lot deeper.

Brought me to thinking of the generational trauma healing work you have done previously wrt those accused of being witches Speakout have you had chance to return to the areas and has the healing helped?

I am still decidely under the weather. But am feeling a little better today. Fed up of the earache nonsense though. But the thyme tea has been a blessing. I should consider carefully my need for the internet this week as i am on the argumentative fragile side, and as am currently without a car or energy - cannot escape into the hills for a little magical healing by the elements/nature.

Ah meant to say I totally agree with the repeated worship/practise bringing an energy to a place. You can feel it in many places that are not churches too. Which is an interesting concept when you apply it to an alter and only do workings at it. it might partially be why when i go out on the hills for a working i tend to return to the same spaces. I am drawn there by the energy of past workings iyswim.

Many christian chuches were built on places that were sacred in pre-christian times.
I do agree that the years of worship bring a certain amount of energy, there may be energy in that spot of the eart- perhaps an anomaly in the telluric or magnetic field, a point in the Lay line grids of existing henges and monuments.
blanktimes may be able to tell us more! She is our resident expert in things ancient.

@speakout i just came on to say the same thing! Yew trees in churches are relics of the pagan sites that the church appropriated. Many were built over key lines as well I believe.

Sorry, deliberately built over ley lines as part of converting the populace by taking the existing sacred sites.

There's a church in Wiltshire which has some trap doors in the floor - lift them up and underneath are Sarsen stones like the ones used to build Stonehenge. The church is also surrounded by Yew trees. You have to know about this as there is nothing in the church to tell you!

I must admit to loving some of the symbolism in churches. St Mary's Redcliffe in Bristol is full of greenmen if you think to look up.

I've been busy doing my least favourite job - uploading images to my sales site. I did have time to play around a bit and make a few more bit's and pieces. Sadly the Chakra earrings proved to be too heavy so I'm going to have to abandon the idea of using gemstones but will keep my eye out for some suitable beads for another go.

I love your jewellery Elphame- looks a lot of fun too!
And yes lots of pagan symbolism in our older local churches.
Near me is Rosslyn Chapel, an old church and also a visitor centre thanks to Dan Brown, which has around 100 carvings of the Green Man in the interior stonework.

That’s beautiful @Elphame ❤️

Hi I’ve also been lurking for a while. I try not to label my practice and pull bits from Wiccan/Pagan/Witchy practices but would really like to join in with the chat. I’ve been properly practicing since I was about 18 and when I was pregnant with our eldest we were really lucky to buy some land in a beautiful part of the world and build our own home. We have our own mini homestead and I incorporate my witchy practice every day when tending to it. It’s made me closer to Mother Earth.