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Candlemas/Imbolc is the re-awakening of the Old Lass within Old
Craft belief and also coincides with the Roman Candelaria and
Fornicalia - a spring corn festival celebrated in honour of Fornax,
goddess of ovens, and observed by each ward of the city. All this
merging of primitive origins and rites, belonging to the European
pre-urban agricultural culture, meant that it also commemorated the
search for Persephone by her mother and the festival of candles
symbolizing the return of the Light. So it continued to be
performed until the Christian era, when it was transformed into
Candalmas in AD494. In pre-Christian times, Imbolc observance began
the night before 1st February, and celebrants prepared for a visit
from Brigid into their homes by crafting an effigy of the goddess
from bundles of oats and rushes. The clothed effigy was placed in a
basket overnight, and the day was celebrated by burning lamps and
lighting bonfires in tribute to her. Traditions from both the pagan
celebration and the Christian observance of St. Brigid's Day can be
found in the modern Imbolc festivities - while celebrants sometimes
make a Brigid's Cross out of reeds, as well as a Brigid corn doll
or effigy.
Keep it Simple A Simple is a philtre derived from a single herb and
was an important element among the natural resources of the
parish-pump witch, wise-women and cunning-folk. Simples are common
kitchen 'stuff' that have been handed down through generations of
country people in the form of family cures for everyday ailments.
Or as William Fernie wrote in his Herbal Simples (1897) The art of
Simpling is as old with us as our British hills. It aims at curing
common ailments with simple remedies culled from the soil, or got
from home resources near at hand. These were no fancy recipes with
magical formulae, and, often given as a tisane, the woman of the
household was able to use the remedies to treat common ailments
suffered by her family. And, this elementary form of domestic plant
medicine can be as simple as a cup of chamomile tea made from
flowers picked fresh from our own garden to aid sleep. This was the
most elementary way to use medicinal plants since no fancy recipes
or scientific acumen was needed. But this element of traditional
witchcraft has long been in the shadows ...
In Sumer is Icumen In we discover new and exciting ways of
surviving (and enjoying) the truly pagan excesses of the Midsummer
Festival. Here we can establish and instigate a new smorgasbord of
traditions of our own for the purpose of celebration and observance
and, in time, even though we must never lose sight of our authentic
history, they may even be integrated into future pagan revels.
A large number of poisonous plants have beneficial uses in both
domestic medicine and magic. Needless to say, when utilising a
toxic plant in magic, we are adding certain extra deadly or potent
energies into the mix and it is inadvisable to start messing about
with deadly poisons unless we've made a thorough study of the
subject - and not just by glancing at a paragraph in a book on
herbal preparations!
One of the most significant social changes in the 20th-century was
the wedge driven between the males and females of Craft as a result
of social media and political feminism. From a purely magical point
of view the battle of the sexes has been one of the most negative
crusades in the history of mankind since everything in the entire
Universe is made up from a balance or harmony of opposite energies.
Men and women are different as night and day but still part of the
same homo sapiens coin, regardless of their individual sexuality.
For the entire Pagan community Christmas should be one of the most
sacred times of the year, but the lack of any formal written
liturgy has consigned the festival to a minor observance in the
Pagan calendar. Have a Cool Yule demonstrates that history proves
the festival to be a wholly Pagan event, worthy of being
acknowledged as one of the Great Festivals along with Beltaine and
Samhain. With all the different strands of Pagan custom brought to
the hearth-fire of the Mid-Winter Festival, we all have something
to celebrate in time-honoured fashion, whether our ancestors are
Briton, Celt, Norse or Anglo-Saxon.
Pagan Portals - The Inner-City Path: A Simple Pagan Guide to
Well-Being and Awareness was inspired by Chet Raymo's book of
similar title that chronicled his own daily urban walk to work and
his observing the seasonal changes with a scientist's curiosity.
The Inner-City Path is written from a pagan perspective, for those
times when we take to our local urban paths as part of our daily
fitness regime or dog walk. It is based on several urban walks that
have merged together over the years to make up a book of the
seasons and offers a glimpse into the pagan mind-set that can find
mystery under every leaf and rock along the way. A simple guide to
achieving a sense of well-being and awareness.
Those who have grown up with Pan as a playmate remember how, back
in the day, it would be possible for a young child to disappear
into the woods with only a dog for company for hours on end without
there being a hue and cry raised in its absence; and it was on
those woodland rides and pathways - summer or winter - that
Melusine Draco often encountered Pan.
Mountains form the most spectacular creations on the planet and
cover such a large amount of Earth's landmass that they can be seen
clearly from outer space. Mountains are also a reminder that humans
count for nothing in the greater scheme of things. They were formed
by tectonic plate upheavals of such magnitude that the fossilised
remains of prehistoric sea-creatures can be found on mountains
tops; in fact, many Himalayan rocks were originally sediments on
the primordial Tethys Ocean floor. In this first of the Sacred
Landscape series Melusine Draco looks at ways of connecting with
the genii locorum that inhabit the caves and mountains of our
world. A companion volume to Sacred Landscape: Groves and Forests
and Sacred Landscape: Lakes and Rivers.
No matter where you live, there will always be a wide variety of
trees in the immediate vicinity, whether open countryside, urban
parkland or municipal gardens. Get to know them, learn to recognise
the different species, and draw on the magical power of the Tree.
Be humbled in the presence of the trees, by their great size and
beauty - and learn to work with them as a witch.
Using archaeology, archaeo-mythology and mitochondrial DNA we can
chart the mass migrations of people throughout the ancient world
and follow the footsteps of the beliefs of Old Europe. But if the
concept of the Old Goddess is at odds with current popular
thinking, how will we feel if we discover that the Great Mother of
contemporary Paganism bears no similarity to the primal Great
Goddess of the Old European world? Is there a `magico-spiritual'
gene that could be traced back to those distant ancestors who
actually worshipped the forebears of the various deities to whom we
claim allegiance today? Are there time-honoured things about us all
as individuals that are bred deep in the bone? Are we what our
roots (our DNA) claim us to be? Perhaps, even though we are now
scattered all over the globe, we cannot escape those ancient racial
memories of where we originally came from.
Much of what passes for 'witchcraft' today was everyday knowledge
to our forebears, especially those who lived and worked in the
countryside. Here were to be found practical household hints,
remedies and family recipes that had been handed down from
generation to generation, some still existing in the form of
treasured journals and notebooks. There is, however, nothing
fanciful or far-fetched about this information - in fact, The
Secret People is a remembrance of times past and a preservation of
'parish-pump witchcraft, wise-women and cunning ways' adapted for
use in the 21st century. It may also go a long way in helping those
present-generation pagans in search of an identity and answer the
questions: Who ...what am I?
A Zen approach to the World, the Universe and Everything. Many of
today's disenfranchised pagans in the West appear to be seeking a
spiritual connection to life without feeling the need to become a
witch, a Wiccan, a shaman, Heathen, or a Druid. Here the Shinto
approach fulfils the basic need for a belief system based on what
we would define as simple animism and ancestor worship in accord
with the world's other, authentic, animistic traditions such as the
Australian Aboriginal and Native American way of life; while Zen
provides the intellectual stimulation rising from the simplicity of
basic folk-belief to elevate the soul to a higher level of
mysticism.
How to find deeper meaning in magical workings with Earth, Air,
Fire, Water and Spirit and connect with the Old Ways. Many
contemporary pagan books rarely go further than describing the use
of the elemental energies as markers in casting the Circle. In The
Power of the Elements we consider drawing on the energy from the
deepest levels of the ocean, the highest peaks of the mountains,
the limits of outer space and the path of the hurricane. And why it
is so important to return to the Classic Elements of the Greeks if
we really want our magic to work.
For the witch whose career confines them to an urban environment,
regular Craft practice may often seem like a futile gesture,
especially if home is a small, gardenless-flat. Even the suburbs
can be magically incapacitating, if there is constant noise from
traffic and neighbours. People work long hour without having the
opportunity to notice the subtle changing of the seasons. Weekends
are a constant battle with family, domestic chores and socialising.
It's no wonder that the urban witch has little time left for
magical and spiritual development. Traditional Witchcraft for Urban
Living deals with the constant barrage of psychic problems that
confront the urban witch on a daily basis. Based on the teachings
of a traditional Craft background, the author successfully manages
to blend the Old Ways with practical contemporary practice. This
book is part of the Traditional Witchcraft Series. Other titles in
the series are Traditional Witchcraft for the Seashore(Jan 2012),
Traditional Witchcraft for Fields and Hedgerows (Mar 2012) and
Traditional Witchcraft for the Woods and Forests (Mar 2012).
Although we are an island race, few are fortunate to live near
enough to the sea to use the shoreline as a regular magical working
area. And yet for the natural witch, born and bred by the sea, the
beach and rocky shore are equally as magical as the inland woods
and hills of more traditional approaches to witchcraft. The author
takes us on a magical journey along the seashore and reveals how to
work with the natural oceanic tides and energies. Learn how to
harness the powers of the deep, and collect flotsam and jetsam for
use as ritual tools. A book like no other.
Both FieldCraft and its companion title, WoodCraft, assume a
certain degree of magical understanding on the part of the reader
with regard to routine divination, spell and Circle casting. For
this reason the text does not include the basic elements of
rudimentary witchcraft that can be found in titles similar to Mean
Streets Witchcraft and Sea Change. The books have been written in
tandem to avoid any unnecessary repetition, and to provide
cross-references where necessary.
Traditional Witchcraft and the Pagan Revival takes us on a journey
into the past, along the highways and byways of our pagan heritage
to discover when the different aspects of magical influence entered
traditional witchcraft. It will appeal to everyone with an interest
in magic, witchcraft and paganism - from grass roots to the more
advanced levels of Wicca - who wish to learn more about the
different traditions and their antecedents.
Divination is only a small part of a witch's stock in trade, and
although a basic introduction to the subject can be learned from
books, proficiency will only come through vigorous practice. This
proficiency comes through the discovery of certain secret matters
by a great variety of means, correspondences, signs and occult
techniques. Before a witch can perform any of these operations with
any degree of success, we need to develop the `art of seeing' and
the ability to divine with rod, fingers and birds. Divination is
what could be referred to as the practical element of Craft magic,
and we don't even have to be witches to be able to read the
portents. But it helps! A companion volume to Pagan Portals: By
Spellbook & Candle and Pagan Portals: By Wolfsbane &
Mandrake Root, from popular Moon Books author Melusine Draco.
Magic Crystals, Sacred Stones is aimed at those who have explored
crystal working as a beginner and who now wish to understand the
mysteries of the Earth at a deeper level.
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