Pantheons..

Selecting a Pantheon is something that takes a little soul searching. As Silver instructed I have tried to take some time in meditation It's hard to do it right in the two days I have given myself for these posts.

Spending time with each Deity is part of my end game, not something that I accomplished by the time I wrote this post. But I will continue to work on it.

Will I change my personal Pantheon? I dont think I will. But it is a worthwhile exercise and one that I plan on revisiting frequently.

Its more than just deciding that you are Celtic and want to work with Lugh. Its settling into your own mind and getting to know Lugh. And like all interpersonal relationships that can take a while, you are learning what they like and don't like. What are their favored offerings? You can find some of that in other books, in the myths. But how much better would it be from the horse's mouth?

Picking Deities?

"One of the most pivotal choices in Witchcraft is your choice of the deities (Gods/Goddesses) you will work with. The key thought form here is "with" The Craft is not a religion of supplication. If you intend to grovel before a God form, please stop here and throw this book away."

I have never called on the Deities that I consider to be my patron/matron duo. I have never had that need. I was comfortable with Airmed and Arawn. To me they were the perfect duality of life and death calmly watching over me and guiding me on my path. My studies in crystals and herbs, the angel of vengeance mentality that I have had most of my life.

But when I see a Goddess and God figure in my mind it isn't them. It is the nameless Old Gods.

The Goddess has a narrow build and stands a little taller than me. About 5'7". She wears a gown the color of blood but it shimmers like starlight. Her eyes are are blue leaning towards violet, like the palest of lilacs, striking from a tanned face with rich black hair that floats about her hips bound only by a fresh-water pearl circlet, across her hips is a girdle of more pearls. Her feet are bare.

The God is athletic, wiry; standing about 6'1". He is wearing medieval hunting leathers in natural tones and deep brown, trimmed with mink and sable. His eyes are imperceivably dark, set in a sun kissed face, his hair is brown bleached by the sun, held back by a piece of braided leather at his brow.

Lunar Celebrations

Magick is at our core, as Witches, magick and spells have taken the place of prayer. In my family and coven at the Sabbats we give offerings in gratitude and celebrate the fire festivals and the myth that document the history of our faith. The Esbats are when works of magick are performed.

Full - A time of Banishing, banish debt, banish illness

New - A time of Increase, draw in health, wellness, wealth, love and strength

Waxing - A lesser Drawing force for more subtle magick.

Waning - A lesser Banishing force for more subtle magick.

Special Days.

I love the idea of keeping a calendar in fact, my coven has one printed every year that includes not just the dates and times of gatherings but which member is assigned to which Esbat or Sabbat. I used to buy a Witches Datebook and loved having it. Maybe I'll have to buy another one.

My Sabbat List starting with Samhain and ending and Mabon 2016

Samhain - October 31st Saturday
Yule - December 21st (Observed) Monday
Imbolc - February 1st Monday
Ostara - March 21st (Observed) Monday
Beltane - May 1st Sunday
Litha (Summer Solstice) - June 21st (Observed) Tuesday
Lughnasadh - August 1st Monday
Mabon - September 21st (Observed) Wednesday

Good thing that my days off are currently Sunday and Monday.

Religion Vs. Science.

Science: Answering the most difficult question in the universe since 1564. Sometimes you cannot accept something as fact based on blind faith. Science looks for "Why" and then explains "How" which is essential to some people.

Religion: Everything happens for a reason, God works in mysterious ways. Simple acceptance of things that have no obvious answer.

Religion vs. Science: Science is not the opposite of religion. In a lot of cases it helps explain how its possible for a spell to work. But in the end Spells are just a different kind of prayer. So it tells us that Prayers can be answered. I use physics to explain a great deal when it comes to magick. Its sad that some faiths find the question of "Why?" to be a blasphemy.

The Lingo..

Jargon is perhaps one of the most subjective ideas in any group. If you have a good vocabulary or own a Dictionary/Thesaurus you can manage just about anywhere. Silver wants us to copy her list of Jargon down for future reference, but I know where to find it so I am skipping that exercise, as I have most of her terms memorized and have had them in my everyday vocabulary for a long time. I tend to get really dismissive when people bring up Jargon, that includes professional jargon.

That said even I think that there are a few words every Witch should know. My Jargon consists of the few words that I cant find in just any conversation.

ANIMISM - Belief that a spirit or force residing in every animate and inanimate object, every dream and idea, gives individuality to each. The related Polynesian concept of man holds that the spirit in all things is responsible for the good and evil in the universe.

SIGIL - A symbol with some occult meaning that may be used in magickal workings. Often a seal, sign or other drawing, it may be carried or otherwise used to control the power symbolized.

WARLOCK - Derogatory term for a Male Witch. It’s original meaning, derived from the Old English “waer logga,” is “oath breaker” and it was used in reference to a traitor to the Craft during the Burning Times.

Its also important to be able to give a quick definition of Cleanse, Consecrate, Dedication and Initiation.

Getting Acquainted...

With all the traditions out there, I would classically label myself as three things. Celtic, Family Traditional and Faery Faith. Silver suggested that I copy down the different traditions and leave room for more. And I agree, I have the different traditions highlighted in so many other places that I'm not doing it here.

What influences me is Celtic, Faery, my Family and some Asatru. My Gardnerian Lineage is traced from my coven Initiation back to ( a few people and) Doreen Valiente.

My ancestors did not bleed for a wide range of Gods, they bled for Cailleach, and a few bled for Bran. My ancestors are Scottish on both sides, with a dash from Saxony/Hessian Germany, Belgium, and Sweden. This gives me a fascination with Asatru, the ritual structures, I hold a Blot once a year but would never call on Odin or Baldur. I found a statue of Freyja at a local thrift store and couldn't resist her, but candles on that altar are unlikely, she may end up being gifted to a student. I adore the Roman practice of household gods but on I Hecate I will not call.

Faeries? A huge part of the lore held by the Scottish Clans, I have seen Faeries for as long as I can remember. They introduced me to real magick even before my parents talked about anything like that in front of me, they have been my Guardians as I have been theirs.

There is a lot to be said for the simplicity of an Eclectic Altar, it feels a lot more primitive, more genuine that the highly commercialized statuary on the market over priced cast resin statues with a bronze finish. It feels to me like I'm placing an action figure on my altar. The less detailed figures reach a place with me, they can be anyone I need them to be. Does this make me Eclectic? Not in my own eyes. In someone else's eyes? Probably.

How did I get here?

This is a hard one. Everyone has a past, the lives our parents and grandparents lead shape our direction. Every Witch out there feels a thrill when they hear a story that is almost mystical from within their own line.

My father's grandmother was an astrologer who did a chart on the even of my father's birth, it said that he would have three great opportunities in his life to be a great success and that he needed to be careful as these chances would be fleeting...

My mother's grandmother was once arrested for reading tea leaves.

For me it was my mother's mother, who one year after thanksgiving dinner and the traditional game of Scabble, pulled out a book on the I-Ching. Suffice it to say, the family was up late that night. It left an impression, and afterwards before we left to go home the next day Grandma gave me a small oyster jar about a third of the way full with ashes. "These belonged to your great-grandmother Weaver, (who read tea leaves in parlors..) I want you to have them." I found out later that they were a portion of her cremains. I don't remember the I-Ching reading, but I remember Grandma Goggs and that jar of ashes. My mom has the jar, but later after Goggs passed, mom gave me a small mayo jar with a portion of Grandma's ashes and Grandma's jade bracelet (she wore it every day of her life) As well as a few other personal effects and pictures.

Grandma Weaver's ashes were gifted to me before I read my first Pagan book, at a time when I was only a little fascinated with the symbols in my Dad's Astrology books. But within a year of that night I was mixing herbs and tinctures after about two years I was making soaps and oils, Grandma Weaver's Ashes are why I read Edgar Cayce's works.

Many years from that time, I have read countless books and done my share of Tarot or Rune readings, performed rituals and helped a co-worker banish a malignant spirit. I talked about my faith every day, performed devotionals.

My best friend had her boyfriend move in with us, and he had no faith in anything. In fact he had a sort of hate and anti-faith that became poisonous and made our practice shift more towards secret, and finally it became almost a non-practice.

At his urging we moved from Utah to Pennsylvania, we lived in West York, by the fairgrounds. I was able to set up an altar in an armoire and had started getting involved in my faith again. There were no full scale rituals but I could meditate, light incense on my altar, work on my magical tools and write. It was starting to get better for us as they decided to be friends and not date anymore..

But my Father is a pretty major cornerstone to my spiritual growth, he had a heart attack and stroke right on Thanksgiving 2013, so I moved back to Utah (long story short) 2 moves that close together I lost a lot of my ritual supplies and so forth, which started my path stagnating.

I am really, really hoping to find my way. I have lost my path and feel like I'm wandering in a strange forest at night. I need a light in the darkness again.

13 Goals of a Witch...

Silver asked that we read every word and not skim no matter how long we've been practicing. This was hard for me, I had to read it three times. She then asked that we write down what we didn't agree with or what we had questions about. I think I already have a copy in this blog but I'm doing it again. All 13.

1: We practice rites to attune ourselves with the natural rhythm of life forces marked by the phases of the Moon and the seasonal Quarters and Cross Quarters.

2: We recognize that our intelligence gives us a unique responsibility toward our environment. We seek to live in harmony with Nature, in ecological balance offering fulfillment and consciousness within an evolutionary concept.

3: We acknowledge a depth of power far greater than that apparent to the average person. Because it is far greater than ordinary it is sometimes called supernatural, but we see it as lying within that which is naturally potential to all.

4: We conceive of the Creative Power in the universe as manifesting through polarity ~as masculine and feminine~ and that this same Creative Power lies in all people, and functions through the interaction of the masculine and feminine. We value neither above the other, knowing each to be supportive to each other. We value sex as pleasure, as the symbol and embodiment of life, and as one of the sources of energies used in magickal practice and religious worship.

5: We recognize both outer worlds and inner, or psychological, worlds sometimes known as the Spiritual World, the Collective Unconscious, Inner Planes, etc. ~and we see in the interaction of these two dimensions the basis for paranormal phenomena and magickal exercises. We neglect neither dimension for the other, seeing both as necessary for our fulfillment.

6: We do not recognize any authoritarian hierarchy, but do honor those who teach, respect those who share their greater knowledge and wisdom, and acknowledge those who have courageously given of themselves in leadership.

7: We see religion, magick, and wisdom in living as being united in the way one views the world and lives within it ~a world view and philosophy of life which we identify as Witchcraft~ The Wiccan Way.

8: Calling oneself "Witch" does not make a Witch, but neither does heredity itself, not the collecting of titles, degrees, and initiations. A Witch seeks to control the forces within her/himself that make life possible in order to live wisely and well without harm to others and in harmony with Nature.

9: We believe in the affirmation and fulfillment of life in a continuation of evolution and development of consciousness giving meaning to the Universe we know and our personal role within it.

10: Our only animosity towards Christianity, or towards any other religion or philosophy of life, is to the extent that its institutions have claimed to be "the only way", and have sought to deny freedom to others and to suppress other ways of religious practice and belief.

11: As American Witches, we are not threatened by debates on the history of the Craft, the origins of various terms, the legitimacy of various aspects of different traditions. We are concerned with our present and our future.

12: We do not accept the concept of absolute evil, nor do we worship any entity known as Satan or the Devil, as defined by the Christian tradition. We do not seek power through the sufferings of others, nor accept that personal benefit can be derived only by denial to another.

13: We believe that we should seek within Nature that which is contributory to our health and well-being.

Its not that I disagree with anything written above, or that I question it is 10 through 13. Are all very defensive and in my opinion superfluous after have read the first nine, those four points feel to me like an attack on other faiths. All faiths at one time or another have been persecuted, there is no real need to highlight our persecution. The best defense for the kind of negative attention Witches still receive is to not acknowledge it at all.

Is everything people say about you true? No? Well what makes everything that others say about my faith true?

Letter to Silver..

12th May 2015

Dear Silver,

I hope this letter finds you well. I am writing in response to your request that I make clear a few definitions. In my experience, a Witch is a Priest of sorts, acting as both advocate and advisor while embracing all that is sacred in the flux and flow of the natural world. While Witchcraft is the ceremonial practice and reverence of the world around us through the use of magick and ceremony.  I know that I am not splitting these definitions as you requested, you see this is because a Witch is a Practitioner of Witchcraft, very rarely do you have one without the other.

Discussing society as a whole is more difficult for me, while being a Witch is not nearly so faddish as it once was, it is still disconcerting enough that when someone compliments me on my pentacle I cringe a little inside, and wonder if I am going to have a nice conversation or if I'm talking to a reformed goth who wants to "be cooler" than me. While Paganism is generally accepted today, people are still leery of Witches. Not a month ago I got some new furniture and one of the young men delivering it asked about our besoms and looked worried at the disclosure of being Witches.

As a personal goal in reading To Ride a Silver Broomstick, I want to recapture some of the passion I had for my path, I have a wonderful heritage in the craft. Ranks of initiation and a Coven to prove it. However, my Dad was a major influence on me magickally and following his stroke its as though the well has gone dry. I am hoping that doing this experiment as a Back to Basics can help me bridge that gap.

Yours,

Piper Robertson

Picking up the Broomstick

"The 'Charge' comes to each of us in a different manner." Is the first sentence, which has stuck with me since the first time I read the book, in 1995. I was thirteen and my parents had just started taking me "A Paganing" with them to various Witchy shops. Up until that point I had been limited in my reading, I had read my Dad's Astrology books and the works of Edgar Cayce, my older brother had loaned me DJ Conways "Celtic Magic" and I had stolen my Dad's copy of John Matthews "Celtic Shaman" and was virtually monopolizing my Mom's "Celtic Tarot." However, "To Ride a Silver Broomstick" was one of the first books that was purchased just for me and the reason I wanted it? That first sentence.

"..., this text may also be used for training initiates in the different traditions, as well as a useful learning tool for Pagan children who are nearing their dedication ceremony, which usually occurs sometime around puberty."

Dedication isn't something that my parents ever discussed. My mother is a veteran of many religions, if there is a book on it she has probably studied it. It was always just known that us kids would find our own paths, this idea of dedicating to what had always just felt like the right path, to me it was tantalizing. So I followed every exercise she wrote. Which is again, exactly what I am doing now. Only this time instead of using a binder I am blogging with all of you.

I am even considering the option of a new name, and hoping that I get the most from this journey!

The First Adventure

So to start my Back to Basics it took me a little while to settle on a book; I am re-reading Silver RavenWolf's "To Ride a Silver Broomstick" this was the first Pagan book that a lot of my peers ever read, and I find it troubling how many of them today are so comfortable speaking ill of the Author and her books.

I met Silver in person when I was in my teens attending the Heartland Pagan Festival, I liked her and so I would never feel comfortable talking bad about her or her work. A friend of mine had Dinner with Silver and her family and says that it was a really fun experience. But I would be lying if I didn't say that public opinion has poisoned me, I haven't read many of her books since I finished college. Part of that is because I felt that I had outgrown the beginner books and was looking for more, but its also because I was poisoned against reading her. There were people I didn't want to know that I had any of her books in my library. It only occurred to me about eight years ago how wrong it was for me to allow anyone to make me feel ashamed of where I come from. Of the things that I have used to build my path.

I want to emphasize that. It is WRONG to allow anyone to make you feel like you have to do something in secret, or not do what you want to do out of a sense of shame. As Witches we have to be true to ourselves.

If you want to go Back to Basics with me, grab your copy (or buy a new one here: To Ride A Silver Broomstick: New Generation Witchcraft) and post a link to your blog below!

Pathing a Challenge

I really couldn't get into writing spells and discussing spell work. Thats part of personal exploration and research that you can accomplish on your own. For the last year or so I have felt driven to get back to basics. Some of this drive stems from being forced to down size my personal library twice in the last year, the rest has been capitulated because during the subsequent moves after downsizing my library I have found that a great many of my ritual tools have been damaged, broken or lost.

That strikes me as a sign from the universe that I need to re-evaluate my path.

This doesn't mean that I am no longer a Witch, just quite simply when I am filling these needs I need to make sure that they mesh with who I am today, not the girl I was almost twenty years ago.

Now many of us notice these changes as we transition through life, sometimes it takes us onto a new path, others it takes us back where we started. Which is where I feel that I am. I want to take a look at the information that I have available to me now and start over.

I will not be rereading:

Raymond Buckland -- The Complete Book of Witchcraft
Janet and Stewart Farrar -- The Witches Bible

I will be revisiting authors that may not be well thought of by the community at large, to actually work my way through some of their books because those are the first exposure to the craft that many seekers first find.

I want to both recapture from when I first got started, and be able to give a fair review of the books. By following the exercises and sharing them with all of you.