Excerpt from Altars by Twilightgirl
Autumn Equinox/Samhain 2008  issue

Excited about setting up your altar but confused how to do it? Then read on...

Altars come in a variety of shapes and sizes, some traditional in their set up and others more free spirited. Altars can be a permanent or temporary fixture such as for a celebration or ritual. One thing to keep in mind is that there isn't a right or wrong way to have your altar.

When you set up an altar you are creating a sacred space within your home that connects you to the divine within and around you. Your altar will be an expression of yourself and a focal point for your spiritual work. If space is limited you can set up a temporary altar that you bring out for the occasion you need it, or you can have a simple altar that is out of the way or inconspicuous, such as on a windowsill, a shelf, in a drawer!

Altars can be simple or elaborate. A lot of how your altar looks will depend on your personal taste and what feels right for you. Learn to listen to your inner voice and this will guide you with the placement of your altar and altar items. You don't have to buy expensive equipment to grace your altar either, you can use whatever is meaningful to you, whether it is found in nature, bought or something you've made. Not only does having an altar create scared space in your home, it can be a place where you sit and mediate, perform magic, divination, or celebrate the Wheel of the Year. You can also have an outdoor altar if you choose to or several altars at various locations such as an office altar on your desk.

What you use for an altar can vary from a small table, cabinet top, kitchen worktop, desk, bookcase, dinner tray etc. But if you live somewhere that makes it impossible for you to have an altar set up permanently, you can spread your altar items around, such as grouping items on shelves, in corners, windowsills, on coffee tables etc. Just about any niche in your home could be used to hold items for your altar. It's always good to remember that it's your intention that is most important when choosing items for your altar, not how expensive or large they are or where they are placed.

If you are going to have an altar that represents the Wheel of the Year, there are many websites online or books that show the correspondences for the Sabbats.

Your altar doesn't have to be static in its contents; in fact having a static altar couldn't be worse. Your altar will grow and change as you do. Don't be afraid to remove an item from your altar if it no longer has any meaning to you. You will probably find that the altar energy will start to reflect your life. If your altar is cluttered, unloved and dusty, you'll find your life reflects this, where as if your altar is tidy, clean and loved then your life will be.

A question that troubles many a beginner is placement of your altar. Every book you read, every website you visit, will more than likely tell you a different placement for your altar and the items on it. It's no wonder there is confusion! But as mentioned earlier, there isn't a right or wrong way. If you are still unsure as to the placement of your altar ask yourself the following questions.

1. What do I plan to use my altar for, and how big/small do I really need it?
2. Do I want to keep my altar private or am I happy for others to see it?
3. Do I feel a spiritual connection to the altar in this area and is it pleasant to look at?
4. Is this area where I want to place the altar safe enough to leave candles burning? (if it isn't and you still feel this area is the best location you could always use flameless candles).
5. Is this area safe from the reach of the tiny inquisitive hands of children and pets and will the area withstand being knocked accidentally?

You can also move your altar around. Don't think to yourself that once you have set it up in one particular place or direction that it has to stay there. You could move it around to various locations in the room every Sabbat if you wanted to. From personal experience I know my altar only feels comfortable to me if it is facing either East or West. North sometimes feels okay but South to me really doesn't feel comfortable, yet I couldn't give you a reason why this is!

To read the full article download Autumn Equinox / Samhain 2008 issue

Excerpt from Astrology and the Wheel of the Year by Beith-ann
Summer Solstice / Lammas 2008 issue

As we go through the Great Gateway to Summer, we are going to look at the signs that the Sun is going through in that season and the element of Water, the element of the sign, Cancer, which is at the height of that season.

The Element of Water
Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces.

Throughout time WATER has symbolised emotions. This is exactly where the Water signs live, within their emotions. If you think about it, we use quite watery language to describe emotions. "A love as deep as the ocean, as wide as the sea" `Tides of emotion' `sea of love' `cry me a river' `emotional depths'. I could go on, and perhaps you could think of a few more.

In order for this element to be kept under control it needs to be contained and is liable to take on the shape of its container. It can also take on a form of two of the other elements, (using the third, or lack of it, as a catalyst) in the form of ice (solid, earth) or water vapour (gas, air). Therefore it is the most versatile of the elements. As Liz Greene points out in her book 'Astrology for Lovers' (Rubbish title, great book) "The greater percentage of the human body - something like 85% - is composed of water. Water covers two thirds of the earth's surface. And from water, the Koran tells us, all life begins"

There is an almost primitive power with Water, underrated because there is a tendency to equate the watery type with being wet. However, when you look at valleys formed by the erosive properties of the river you can see that there is a persistence with water which will not be ignored. I have a pervasive image from a film of a dam being burst after it was weakened by just making small cracks in the structure. Water finds weakness and takes advantage of it, breaking down the structure, wearing it away or bursting through.

Water finds its identity within an EMOTIONAL relationship with others, either being dependant or having  someone to depend upon, usually both. It's like the patient needing the nurse in order to get well, but the nurse needing the patient in order to validate them. If there is one thing that Water needs, it is that sort of containment, to feel needed for something. Why else should they get the reputation for self-sacrifice? Cancer is the ever devoted mother (even the men), Scorpio tends to become enveloped in intense emotional experiences (and yet they are scared to death of them as well) and Pisces just wishes to make the world a more acceptable place for everyone, but chiefly for themselves.

Like the creatures that symbolise the water signs, the members of the water trinity can live in places that are inhospitable to humans. Not only in the physical sense, because water can endure hardship beyond all other signs, except perhaps for Capricorn, but also existing within the realms of instinct and feelings, something that the other signs find harder to cope with. The experience of life is the most real to them. It doesn't matter if you cannot theorise about it or touch it, if it can be experienced it exists. Water signs have a well honed sixth sense that the other elements have buried through lack of use.

Because of this existence in the world of the intangible, Water signs tend to have a better idea than most what is real and what is imagined, but sometimes prefer to escape into a world of imagination. Don't ever underestimate how much water signs really know, they have a wisdom that comes from an inner knowing and a connection with all realms, sometimes not even knowing where their thoughts and 'knowings' come from.

These signs tend to get a bad press now days because what they are concerned with is not the concern of society in general. The psychic realms and areas that are covered by instincts and feelings are something that tends to be knocked out of people at a young age. We live in a Fire/Air orientated world whose priorities are not those of the Water signs. Their empathy makes them the healers and the prophets, the counsellors and the psychotherapists, the nurses and even the prison warders of this world.

To read the full article download Summer Solstice / Lammas 2008 issue


Excerpt from Gaia or Gaea by Andy Norfolk
Ostara / Beltane 2008 Issue

Gaia, Gaea or Ge was the ancient Greek earth goddess and mother of the Titans. I have just heard on the news that our Government has decided to give the go ahead for a new generation (pun intended) of nuclear power stations. I feel that this is a mistake. OK - I'm probably biased; I've belonged to Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth for many years and been involved in environmental campaigns since the late 1960s.

In January 1972 the Ecologist magazine was full of "A Blueprint for Survival"; a primer for a post industrial society. It said "The principal defect of the industrial way of life with its ethos of expansion is that it is not sustainable. Its termination within the lifetime of someone born today is inevitable, unless it continues to be sustained for a while longer by an entrenched minority at the cost of imposing great suffering on the rest of mankind. We can be certain, however, that sooner or later it will end (only the precise time and circumstances are in doubt) and that it will do so in one of two ways: either against our will, in a succession of famines, epidemics, social crises and wars; or because we want it to - because we wish to create a society which will not impose hardship and cruelty upon our children - in a succession of thoughtful, humane and measured changes." At this time there was talk of spaceship earth and the stupidity with which we, its passengers, were unplugging essential life support systems, wrecking our chances of survival.

Regrettably we seem to be on the brink of the first outcome with climate change bringing about even more disasters than would otherwise have occurred and wars over oil, water and other resources becoming more likely in the future.

Where does nuclear power fit into this? Well recently James Lovelock, a scientist who proposed the Gaia theory in the 1960s, has said that he thinks nuclear power may be necessary to help us reduce carbon emissions and control climate change.

0

Excerpt from The Magic Circle by Blacksaber
Autumn Equinox/Samhain 2009  issue
What is a Magical Circle?

The first thing that we must remember when we talk of circle casting is that the phrase itself and the descriptions for the activity written in many of the craft books are inaccurate.

"As she casts the circle, the priestess projects power from her solar plexus through the blade. Meanwhile she and her coven visualise a violet or golden light flowing down the blade and forming the edge of the circle."   V. Crowley, 'Wicca'

The main problem with this sort of description is that people without practical experience may not realise that when we talk about casting the circle, we do not create a 360 degree 'circle' around us but rather a 720 degree SPHERE. We should not just visualise the outer edge of the circle being cast but rather we should visualise a sphere being created both around us horizontally and above and below us.

Our circle acts as a barrier between the space inside and the space outside it. There is an oft-quoted phrase that is very appropriate in that casting a circle creates "A place that is not a place, in a time that is not a time."

This essay is on Circle casting in general; it is not specific to any one tradition of the Craft and in fact contains material taken from a number of different traditions, the author would remind the reader that whilst the information may differ from their own personal practice, the material includes information that is in current use, and is taught to neophytes from traditions that may practice in ways quite different from the readers own. Likewise information is included from sources outside of mainstream Wicca, including Ceremonial Magic.

Why do we conjure a Magical Circle?

I would like to begin with discussing the reasons for why we would cast a magical circle; there are many reasons for doing this and different individuals put varying degrees of importance on each. Bearing this in mind I have listed a number of reasons with a detailed explanation in each case. The following list is in no particular order of importance.

1.    Firstly when performing a Wiccan ritual, we will cast the circle to create a sacred space, one that is cleansed and purified to show the honour deserved to our Lord and Lady when we invoke them within the circle.
  
2.  Secondly, the act of casting our circle aids us in shifting the focus of our minds from the realms of the physical up into the spiritual realms; this helps us to prepare for the ritual ahead by focusing our minds on where we are and on what we are doing.   
   
3.  Thirdly in a Wiccan ritual, our circle helps us to "Preserve and contain all the power that we shall raise within thee." The circle acts to keep the energy we raise within its confines. It actually increases the amount of energy we raise by more effectively focusing that energy into the task at hand. This could be for empowering a candle or a poppet; or it may be directed by the HPS to then be sent to a specific target - such as when working a healing ritual. In the first coven in which I was a member we either focused the raised energy into a specific object - candle, cords, etc or if the energy was to be sent to someone that was not present the HPS would at the end of the ritual direct the energy to that person.
   
4.   Finally the circle acts as an excellent form of protection for those within "A rampart and protection between the world of men and the realms of the Mighty Ones." This seems to be a subject for much debate dependant upon the reader's personal opinion. I believe that for many of the Wiccan rituals - such as celebrating the Sabbat's - the protective properties of the circle are not the most important as we are not engaged in any activity which would require magical protection. Certainly the circle will not protect us from any entities that we have specifically evoked into the circle with us; such as Elementals at each of the cardinal directions, though it will certainly keep any that are outside from entering the circle.

There are however certain instances, such as when we believe that we are under psychic attack, the protection that a properly cast magical circle provides is invaluable. As the words of a commonly used circle conjuration states, it is "A shield against all wickedness and evil." In Ceremonial Magic, it is often the case that the operator would stand within a ritual Triangle and then evoke an entity into the circle and in this case the circle would act to keep the entity within the circle whilst standing in a triangle would provide protection to the operator.

What types of Magical Circle are there?

There are many different types of magical circles; not all are used by every Wiccan tradition. Though most traditions will use most if not all, and will use many variations of them. For simplicities sake only the basic types are listed here with some discussion, otherwise the list could be practically endless.
   
Personal Protection

These circles tend to be small and mobile, centred around the person(s) who they are intended to protect. There are many methods for conjuring such a circle, one of which is the 'Blue Egg'. This method was given to me by the High Priestess of my first coven; I do not know conclusively where she obtained it from, however something very similar is mentioned in The Order of the Golden Dawns' lesser banishing of the pentacle ritual, the text of which is included beneath the description given to me.

This method requires you to visualise a root growing up out of the ground beneath you and into the base of your spine passing all the way up to the top of your head. Breathe in through your nose and as you do so visualise yourself drawing energy up from the Earth along the root passing through your body.

With each breath out, visualise that energy coming out of your mouth as a blue mist, form that mist into a layer surrounding the whole of your body around your sides, your front and back, above your head, and beneath your feet. Visualise it as a thick layer, at least a foot thick, then see the edges harden and form a crust. Visualising a golden mist forming at the outermost crust of the Egg can further strengthen the Egg. One drawback of this form of protection is that people will instinctively keep their distance from you and be less inclined to interact with you socially while you are within the Egg.


0

Excerpt from I've Been Here Before by Twilightgirl
Autumn Equinox/Samhain 2008  issue
 
Déjà vu is a French phase that means "already seen". Now I'm sure that just about all of you have experienced déjà vu at some point or another, that feeling of "I've been here before doing this" or "I've said that before", when you know for a fact you haven't. It can be kind of unnerving. No one knows exactly what causes déjà vu, but there are a number of theories floating about.

Déjà vu when experienced normally lasts approximately 10 seconds and is experienced the most by those between the ages of 15 and 25 years old. Research tends to show that the experiences of déjà vu decrease as we get older. Déjà vu is experienced through the senses, such as seeing, hearing, taste and touch.

Emile Boirac, a French psychic researcher gave this phenomenon the name déjà vu back in 1876 when he started studying it.  Since then many have studied déjà vu in an attempt to explain exactly what it is.  Sigmund Freud concluded that déjà vu was the result of repressed memories or desires. He thought that the mind had repressed the memories so deeply that the normal conscious brain was unable to recall them. This theory has been used by many scientists throughout the 20th century. They call it paramnesia.

Déjà vu can be broken down into two main categories - associate déjà vu and biological déjà vu.

Associate déjà vu is the most common type experienced. Many researchers think that this type of déjà vu is based on memory experiences. It is where you see, hear, smell or experience something that triggers a feeling that you associate with something you have seen, heard, smelled or experienced before.   

Biological déjà vu is common among people with temporal lobe epilepsy. When people are about to have an epileptic seizure they will often experience déjà vu. When biological déjà vu happens, researchers are able to study the brain more easily to find out where in the brain déjà vu happens.

Arthur Funkhouser went on to define a further three types of déjà vu experiences. Déjà vecu (already experienced), déjà senti (already felt), and déjà visite (already visited). The most common of these is déjà vecu, where you have the sensation of having done something before or being in the exact same situation. Often people who experience this are able to predict what will happen next. Déjà senti is the experience of remembering something that is triggered by a voice or thought and déjà visite is when an actual place feels familiar, like you have been there before, but you never have.

Interesting there is jamais vu, which is the opposite of déjà vu. You could be in a familiar situation, such as sitting in your lounge and suddenly everything will seem unfamiliar, like you are sitting in the room for the first time and viewing your surroundings with new eyes.


Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)