American Witchcraft

While surfing the web the other day, I came across the website of an independently produced movie. It really caught my interest, and when I started to watch it, I was amazed. Part 1 is about how the sun was the object of worship for all cultures, and their deities were created around that concept. It goes on to talk about the main similarities between the deities of different cultures, and how the zodiac plays into the equation. The movie ties all this in to bring us up to the current state of religion. It is well worth the time to watch part 1. Even if you know a lot about many ancient cultures and religion in general, I guarantee you will learn at least one new thing. There is an interactive transcript of part 1 at the website, with all the sources listed, so you can delve into the subject matter further.

Parts 2 and 3 go on to talk about the 9/11 conspiracy theory and how it ties in to the government and the World Bank. These parts are thought provoking as well, but part 1 was eye opening for me and really put things in perspective.

http://zeitgeistmovie.com/

Blessings,
Nocticula

A while ago, our coven was having a craft day, I think we were making besoms. Everyone showed up with their craft items, and as we were about to get started, everyone started to talk about where they had gotten the craft items that needed to be bought. Just about everyone had raided the craft section at Wal-mart. Then one of the ladies mentioned that we were Wal-Mart witches.

This statement really stunned me.

Living in the South in one of the areas that was devastated by Katrina, for the longest time the only place where you could actually get all that you needed was Wal-Mart. Since then there are quite a few other choices, however sometimes things become a habit, like shopping at Wal-Mart. But it struck me as so strange, I had never really thought about it before. Here we are making magickal crafts, and we have to go to a multi-billion dollar retail giant that has a reputation for violating workers rights and has ruined countless businesses and communities, just to get supplies? I have hated Wal-Mart for the longest time, and avoided it until I moved here and had to shop there.

Which leads me to, why? Here we are, witches, practicing a nature religion, making natural crafts, and we go to Wal-Mart to buy supplies for it. The irony is laughable really, but it shows just how dependant we are on the retail world.

I am lucky enough to live in a somewhat rural area, so I have been making a conscious effort since then to try and wild-craft supplies I may need. It has been a challenge sometimes, but well worth the effort. The world is just a little more magickal to me now.

Blessings,
Nocticula

In our daily lives we all have good days and bad days. Spaces where people are present, whether it is living, working or even just visiting, will collect all sorts of energies, some positive, some negative. In fact every person who visits a space, if even for a brief period, will leave energies behind that will linger. Doing a regular cleansing and purification, preferably every month, will clear these energies that accumulate and make for a much more peaceful and balanced abode.

This ritual should also be performed whenever there is any major event, such as a death, an intense argument, or even if one is moving to a new dwelling so that all the negative energies can be cleared.

Make sure that all windows and doors are closed. Take a sage bundle and holding it over a fire proof vessel, light it. Walk counter-clockwise (also referred to as widdershins) around to each room in the entire home. Each room you come to, walk counter-clockwise around the room, while waving the sage bundle in a counter-clockwise circular manner. Fill the rooms with sage smoke. Once the entire home has been smudged, taking extra care to get all closets and cabinets, let the smoke linger for a few minutes. When you feel that the negative energy does not want to be present anymore, go around the home counter-clockwise and open all the windows and doors to allow the negative energy to leave.

When the smoke has completely cleared, now in a clockwise (deosil) manner, close all the windows and doors. Light a sweetgrass braid or a protection incense such as dragons blood, sandalwood, or frankincense. Fill a bowl with sea water if it can be obtained. If not, make salt water with spring water and sea salt. Again, going clockwise, in every room and at every window and door, as well as every other possible opening to the house such as outlets or phone jacks, draw an invoking pentagram using your finger dipped in the salt water. Draw the pentagram at every possible opening while saying:

With Water and Earth,
I consecrate and protect this space.

Then wave the protection incense clockwise around the room and over each opening while saying:

With Fire and Air,
I consecrate and protect this space.

Repeat until the entire house has been consecrated in this manner. Repeat monthly, preferably at the new moon, or as needed.

Blessings,
Nocticula

Also known as the law of three, the Wiccan Rede, and Karma, this “rule” or “law” has it’s origins in Hinduism and Buddhism and was foreign to Witchcraft in every part of the world until the arrival of Wicca in the 1950’s. Wicca’s founder, Gerald Gardener was an English civil service worker that was assigned to the Far East as an opium inspector, and developed an interest in Eastern spiritual beliefs.

The law of three which seems to be unique to Wicca and some strains of neo-paganism states that what one does, for good or ill, comes back on them 3 times. While this may be comforting to some, and extremely restricting to others, what I would like to know is, who actually keeps tabs on every action that every human ever commits? Are there “Karma gods” whose sole purpose is to keep score? I tend to think not.

It seems that there are many neo-pagans and Wiccans that tend to feel right at home with this law of punishment and reward, many of them coming from Christianity not too long ago. To me, it smacks of fundamentalism, and it manipulates the free will of those that believe in it, because it induces paranoia and the fear of retribution and punishment. I have seen many a Wiccan or neo-pagan become vehemently angry whenever anyone suggests that the 3 fold law or Karma is not true or that they don’t believe in it. I have seen some who feel that they should not eat meat because it is a violation of the 3 fold law, I have seen some who will not kill harmful insects or even walk on the grass because of fear of the 3 fold law. If one chooses to have these beliefs it is their business. But what I see happening more often over the years is that those who believe in this law tend to ridicule and put down others who don’t believe the same as they do. As if just because they believe in the 3 fold law or Karma that it somehow applies to everyone else. Very much like Christians believe that their concept of heaven and hell applies to everyone, even those of different religions who do not have those beliefs.

The law of three or Karma also makes the assumption that there are absolute good acts and absolute bad acts. For example, here in America, to even think of a girl under the age of 18 being married off to a man that is much older is unthinkable, and is referred to as statutory rape. But in other countries this is tradition. Sometimes girls as young as ten years old are being married off to men old enough to be their grandfathers. Does that make these people bad? No, it is just their culture. Now how would Karma differentiate between the two?

My personal opinion is that the law of three, Rede, or Karma, however one wants to refer to it, really has no place in Paganism or Witchcraft. It is an Eastern concept that was only put there by Wicca’s creator because he liked the concept. Also one has to realize that Gerald Gardener borrowed from so many traditions, and Wicca was pieced together little more than half a century ago.

One of my favorite lines from a movie called Practical Magic was, “Curses only have power if you believe in them.” This is so true. Those that believe that they will get 3 times back what they put out are just manifesting that in their own lives, because they believe in it. Belief can be a very powerful thing. Those that say they have seen it time and again, maybe they are causing it to be so, by believing.

Am I saying to just go crazy and do whatever one feels like because there is no accountability? Definitely not. Sometimes if we don’t make the right choices it can come back to haunt us. A wise witch always knows in his or her heart if something is a wise decision, then acts accordingly. One of the best rules I have heard and personally live by was by Aleister Crowley who said ‘Love is the Law.” You just can’t go wrong with that one.

Blessings,

Nocticula

A biodegradable coffin called an Ecopod that was developed in England is now available in the United States through the Portland-based Natural Burial Company. The seed pod shaped coffin is made to dissolve and replenish the environment with its contents. They are made from a variety of materials, including paper, formaldehyde-free plywood, fair-trade-certified bamboo and hand-woven Somerset willow. Many options are available to choose from as well, including multiple colors, designs, symbols and colors to reflect the customers tastes. The first burial in the United States utilizing an Ecopod took place in July 2007.

Green Burials are fast becoming an alternative to traditional burials and cremation, and is viewed as the most environmentally friendly. As compared to regular burials, there is no embalming of the body with harmful chemicals, the body is not in a steel hermetically sealed coffin that keeps nature out, nor are rare trees being chopped down for their exotic wood to create elaborate coffins that will only be seen for a day or two before being lowered into the ground, or worse, a cement vault that will take up valuable space.

Each year, 22,500 cemeteries across the United States bury approximately:
30 million board feet (70,000 m³) of hardwoods (caskets)
90,272 tons of steel (caskets)
14,000 tons of steel (vaults)
2,700 tons of copper and bronze (caskets)
1,636,000 tons of reinforced concrete (vaults)
827,060 US gallons (3,130 m³) of embalming fluid, which most commonly includes formaldehyde.
(Compiled from statistics by Casket and Funeral Association of America, Cremation Association of North America, Doric Inc., The Rainforest Action Network, and Mary Woodsen, Pre-Posthumous Society)

There are growing concerns with cremation as well, long viewed as the more environmental choice. The biggest issue is that it burns fossil fuel. Mercury pollution is also emitted when a person with dental amalgam fillings is cremated, though just how much is widely debated.

No matter how you look at it though, a green burial in a nature preserve using a biodegradable Ecopod and no embalming is certainly the best environmental choice. For more information please visit:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3076642/
http://www.ecocoffins.com/
http://www.ecopod.co.uk/
http://www.greenburialcouncil.org/

Blessings,
Nocticula

“We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.”
Martin Luther King Jr.
US black civil rights leader & clergyman (1929 - 1968)

The same is true not only of people of different races, but different religions as well. Only when we can come together in respect and unity despite our differences, will we be a strong nation.

Blessings,
Nocticula

We had a wonderful Norse ritual this evening written and performed by one of our coven members. We focused on manifesting the things that we want in our lives, followed with a shot of whiskey. Then we banished those negative aspects we want to get rid of over the course of 2008 by writing it on a slip of paper then burning it. Some of the papers did not want to burn, but we made sure they did by dousing them with some more whiskey and lighting them up! Some of us have definitely chosen things to work on that will be challenging for us, but that is what witchcraft is about, manifesting change for the better in our lives to be the best human beings we can possibly become. Not only for ourselves, but for our family, our friends, and our community.

Blessings,
Nocticula

A good (Wiccan) friend today reminded me of one of my favorite websites of all time. It is no longer online, but it can be found in internet archives at:

http://web.archive.org/web/20030621193239/ whywiccanssuck.com/index.html

It is called Why Wiccans Suck. I know some readers might get offended by the title, and even though the author comes off as a little angry and cynical, I love the points that are made. What makes the website so classic (and funny) is that it is so true. In the words of the author: “I have no problem with Wicca. It’s the Wiccans I can’t stand.”
Not all Wiccans are like this, some of my very good friends are Wiccan, but unfortunately there are enough of the ones that Why Wiccans Suck talks about out there to create a stigma about the Wiccan community. So many wannabes think that it is part of Wicca to bash Christians, wear offensive T-shirt’s that insult others religions, wear five pounds of occult jewelry (namely pentacles), talk about “the burning times” when they have no clue about the real history, make veiled threats at people all the while spouting the law of 3, and generally be in peoples faces about Wicca, then cry religious persecution when anyone says anything to them. Wannabes need to get a grip on REAL history, not the watered down, and at times completely false history that is so prevalent today, especially on the internet. News Flash: There were no witches in Salem, except for the maybe Tituba, the dark skinned slave woman that was practicing her native religion. Witchcraft and Magick is practiced throughout the world, in almost every culture, and is known by many other names besides Wicca. What about all those others that were hanged (not burned, mind you) in Salem as Witches? They were not Witches at all. They were outsiders of the community, easy targets. A little non-Llewellyn based research would clear this right up, but unfortunately many wannabe Wiccans don’t want to put in the effort. Sad. I certainly hope this trend reverses over time, but unfortunately I don’t think it will. Many Wannabes or “Fluffbunnies” have become almost exactly like the Christians they despise. Uppity, know it all, my way is the only way and everyone else is unenlightened, I want to be told what to believe because I am too lazy to do the research myself types. But then again, you can find people like this in every religion and every walk of life. Maybe it is just human nature.

Blessings, Nocticula

Last night was our first coven meeting of the year. We had a delicious dinner prepared by one of our members. Then we were supposed to do a new moon ritual, but we ended up just sitting around the fire and chatting over wine. It just kind of happened that way, but those are the best meetings. I think we got more accomplished than if we would have had a ritual. We got some things discussed, we shared our personal views on a few subjects, but most importantly we bonded. That is so important for a group has a magickal working relationship, and I consider myself extremely fortunate to have found not only a coven, but a group of friends as well.

Blessings,

Nocticula