and open to Her Wisdom."
23rd Day of the 11th Lunar Cycle
Ruled by Medusa
Lunar Tree Cycle ~ Gort/Ivy
Celtic Tree Cycle ~ Ngetal/Reed
Moon Phase: Last Quarter 10:55AM EST
Moon sets: 1:11PM EST
Moon rises: 11:45PM EST
Moon in Leo v/c 10:04PM EST
Ceridwen's Cycle of the Moon
Lunar Meditation: The dormant
life of the seed.
Sun in Scorpio
Sunrise: 7:02AM EST
Sunset: 5:05PM EST
Solar Question for the Day: "What
skills need to come into play in
your life?"
Samhain (Calan Gaeaf) Quarter
of the Year
November 9th, 2009
On http://hecatedemetersdatter.blogspot.com/ she posted another great blog entry on To Be A Witch.
Here is a bit of it out of context yet still quite effective in general message she is giving us:
"And one of the simplest ways to deepen as a witch is to engage in a daily practice: Center. Ground. Breathe. Pull back into the center spot in your belly all of the millions of strands of yourself that you've spun out into the universe. Connect, or more accurately, remind yourself of the connection that you have to Earth, Sky, Fire, Water, Center. Remember that you are a spiritual being having a physical experience and that both of those aspects matter. "
As she says we all live lives that has constant demands on attention - we need to take the time on a daily basis - and ues I said 'daily'... yikes, that probably sounds like too much trouble and work to many of us... but it is necessary in order to become a witch, to live as a witch and to keep hold on our witchy abilities.
Grounding and centering can be done while standing or sitting, and doesn't take very long to do. The more you practice, the faster you will be able to ground and prepare for magick by centering yourself - or just to reconnect yourself to your Witch self.
To Ground: Take three deep breaths in through your nose and out through the mouth. Close your eyes. Imagine that you are a tree and that you feet (your roots) grow deep into Mother Earth. Feel the stable, secure energy of the planet.
To Center: Imagine your energy is merging with that of the universe. Allow the sound and smells of the world around you to pass through you, like you are floating in a magickal pool. Let your concentration center on your solar plexus area. Imagine there is a beautiful sun burning there (some prefer to visualize a ball of light). Slowly allow yourself to become one with the universe. This is the still point. Now you are ready for magick, ritual or just another day in your life.
Now wouldn't this be nice if we could have such a lovely place
as this to do a daily grounding and centering during every morning.
But unfortunately most of us don't. But you can sneak in a
daily grounding and centering while brushing your teeth in the
morning or even while taking a morning shower. You can ground
and center while the coffee maker is grinding out the morning coffee.
Use your imagination and create this simple daily ritual for yourself,
Use your imagination and create this simple daily ritual for yourself,
for the Witch within you.
Making a Wand:
One of the first home-made tools of any Witch is the wand, as it usually relatively simple.
Most Witches would agree that a wand should be made from wood, preferably fallen not cut. This
time of the (Fall going into Winter) is a good time look for fallen limbs and wood. First, find the tree your wood will come from; remember you want it to give you something of itself for your magickal work, so take an offering of some kind by way of introducing yourself. (I like to carry a little bag of
cornmeal with me when I plan a walk such as this.) Selecting the type of tree you are looking for might be helped out by first doing some research on what types of trees/wood have what magickal energies and abilities.
Here are some links to read about the magickal qualities of different woods:
and
http://www.sacred-magick.com/Main.html?http://www.sacred-magick.com/Crafts/The%20Magical%20Qualities%20of%20Trees%20and%20Wood.html
Once you have selected a tree look all around the tree and to see if there is already something suitable on the ground. If there is not, come back at a later date. You may need to repeat this several times.
The piece you are looking for should be fairly straight, about as thick as your thumb, and the length of the area between your elbow and your palm. Once you have something which seems likely, thank the tree, and then take it home to dry. It usually takes around 6 weeks of gentle drying before the wood is ready for working. While you are waiting look several times at your wood and decide if it lends itself to any particular shaping and if you want to remove any bark. When it is ready shape it and remove the bark, if you wish. Using sandpaper smooth down both ends and the length too if you wish. Start with a coarse paper and move down to the finest you can get. Then decorate it in the way you prefer and polish it with beeswax. It is now ready to be consecrated.
Good woods for wand making include Oak, Ash, Rowan, Willow and Hazel.
Here is another website link about making wands: http://www.realmagicwands.com/MakingWands.html
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