Herbal Bliss

I could not be happier. I found a place here in town to buy herbs at. Anacortes Health and Nutrition has a wonderful bulk herb section that made me incredibly happy.

What's in a Book of Shadows?

Something I have been wanting to do for quite some time is create my own Book of Shadows. I have many books on my shelf that I use as resources, but I wanted my own book that kept all of the knowledge, rituals, spells, etc that I use in one easy to find place. I actually started making my own a year ago or so. I got a non-descript black book and wrote down the 'Charge of the Goddess' and the 'Witches Reede.' I felt these were good starting points to start my BoS off with. However, from there I am not sure how to proceed. How do I want to organize my BoS? What should I put in it? How do I factor in room for things that I have yet to learn and may wish to include at a later time?

To help me plan and undertake this endeavor I turned to the internet. I found may great sites talking about the ordering, layout, and creation of your BoS, but relatively little about the exact information mentioned in a BoS. As a solitary and someone still learning the pagan ways, being able to see what is inside someone else's BoS word for word would be extremely helpful.

I had bookmarked the Internet Sacred Text Archive over a year ago when I first did research for how to make a BoS, but I had never really looked into it that much until today. with little effort I was able to find both the Internet Book of Shadows and the Gardenieran Book of Shadows. Both are full text copies and in 12pt Verdana the IBoS is 447 pages long in MS Word. So now I have a lot of material to review.

Lesons From Last Night

The ritual I performed last night was eye opening. I learned a few very important lessons about conducting a ritual that I need to work on.

First off—plan your ritual ahead of time! I had a general idea last night of what I wanted to do, but the exact order was not planned out and found myself constantly going outside my circle to get something I forgot to place inside the circle before I started. I'm sure this alone aded to the overall length of such a simple ritual.

Second, I need to rehearse my wording. I'm still learning and growing and have not yet memorized the invocations and wording or written my own ritual. I kept tripping over my own words and invoking the same things over and over while forgetting other. This too added to the length of the ritual.

The third things was to have a raised up working space. I'm currently using a try placed on a cloth on the ground to define my scared working space. While I have no issue sitting on the ground for the ritual, bending over everything all the time took it's toll on my back. Even a small, low table would work and make doing magical work more efficient.

My Samhain Altar

Lastly, I found that I need to test how any herbs I use will burn before I burn them. I wrote down negative aspects I wished to be gone in the coming year on bay leaves and attempted to burn them. The leaves didn't burn well and they smelled atrocious. I ended up grinding up my leaves, aded some patchuli and put that mixure in the fire this morning (we heat the house with a wood stove.)

I feel that overall my ritual last night was a resounding success and something much needed. It has given me strength and motivation, both things I was lacking in recent weeks.

May the Lady and Lord watch over us all in the new year!

A Hallowed Eve

My Cat-o-Lantern

This year I have felt a strong yearning to participate in Samhain rituals and observances. I've felt it very keenly for the past few weeks, even before my move. I think it is a way of my spirit telling me that it needs to realign itself with the natural world and start the new year with a grounded perspective. As a result I've been doing some Samhain research and looking for ways I can celebrate it in my highly Catholic parents' house without offending my mom who blames people falling away from the Church as a result of "new age" and "occult" ideas. I already had to fend her off years ago and try as I might  I have yet to properly educate her on the differences between "new age," "occult" and "paganism."

My ideas so far are consisting of:

• a private ritual in my room this evening
• baking pumpkin bread as a celebration of the harvest
• placing candles in my window to guide spirits on their way
• offering apple cider
• scrying, tarot reading and/or runecasting
• making incense or bath salts for the sabbat

I would love to dress up, but I don't have a costume and my silly stupid game has an event I'm hosting at 7pm tonight. That and I told we don't get many trick-or-treaters around here so I'm not too sure of what will be going on around here this evening.

Whatever your plans for Samhain are I hope you fair well this hallowed eve.

A Sign?

A really cool thing happened. The day after I arrived in my new town (Anacortes, WA) the local paper had an article about a pagan group in the next town over, Forest Moon Grove. I found this a bit of a sign that I'm supposed to be here. Here was an article about paganism and active pagans in my new home. Granted there's not much on their page, but it's definitely something for me to look into and get involved with. My parents are highly involved with the Catholic church here so not sure how open they would be if I did get involved wit this group. First I have to let them in on my pagan leanings and see how well that goes over.

The Need For Compassion and Knowing One's True Self

Something that has always truck a chord with me is the advocation of compassion and tolerance touted by Tibetan Buddhists, particularly by His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama. I was reading a statement made the other day by His Holiness which reminded me of some of my early studies that have lead me down my current path.
While the religious tradition in which I was raised does believe in love and compassion for all I rarely see it manifest in it's followers. If you are not on the same path that they are then rather than being tolerant and loving, they criticize you and strongly encourage you to take up their path as your own.

I knew several years ago that the path I had been taught to walk was not my own true path. This was an issue it took a long time for me to reconcile with, yet every time I doubted myself I would hear the words of my college roommate in my head, "is that what you believe or what you were taught to believe?" Almost ten years later that simple statement still has a profound effect on me. She was not trying to force me to believe anything specific, but rather to get me to think for myself and come to my own conclusions regarding the views I claimed I had.

Roughly three and a half years later I came across a book in the local Tibet-Nepal shop while browsing jewerly. The book was small but it spoke to me. It was The Power of Compassion: A collection of Lectures by His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama. The little book was the first book I ever picked up about a religion different from the one I was raised in, yet the words it contained did not contradict what I had been taught. Rather they expanded upon the teachings and values I grew up with and gave me a view of the world that was more humbling and awe inspiriting than anything I had previously known. The lessons and values contained within its pages helped me to understand that compassion and tolerance of the world around us was key to making the most of life and living happily.

In the years since I first read this book I have strayed from the path of tolerance and compassion. My ex's work with the drugged-out, self serving homeless has me made less inclined to help those that would abuse the help they are given. In looking back I now see that I have been self servant myself during this time. I find that I am drawn to Paganism for my own selfish reasons and that is probably why I have difficulty fully incorporating it into my life. I'm not sure if I will ever fully embrace Paganism as my own, but just like the teachings of the Dalai Lama, I'm sure that I can incorporate it's teachings into my own path.

I have lost sight of myself in recent months. I need to work to regain who I am and make sure that I never lose sight of myself again.

Autumn Thoughts

With Mabon approaching I have been trying to do some research in preparation for the coming change of season. Yes, I know that Mabon is not traditionally considered a major sabbat outside of the states, but I feel that the significance behind it is important. All too often in modern society we forget to be thankful for the bounty that the Earth gives to us. With the assault on our senses that digital media and technology combine with our societal push to consume everything that we can there is almost no room for reflection and thanksgiving in modern life.

Autumn has always been a time of  re-energizing myself and of creative stimulation. I have the most drive of the entire year during autumn. It is a season of hard work to prepare for the coming of winter and a time of reflection on how far we have come during the last year. This year I want to capitalize on the changes I have made this year and to show my thanks for all that I am blessed with. I think these are appropriate goals and attitudes going into this season.

Paddling in Awe

I love the feeling of magic and spirituality that permeates this world. It both invigorates me and humbles me. During a recent kayaking trip on a lake near my parents house I felt as if I had paddled into a mystical realm. Fallen trees lay just under the surface of the water and as we paddled over them I felt that I should be reverent and respectful in such a magical place. I wish I could have remained there longer than our trip allowed and meditated in such a special place. I can feel the fringes of that same magic present in my house and yard. Perhaps that was one of the things that drew to this dwelling place. I firmly believe that one's home should be their sanctuary and the environment it holds should speak to their soul. I should like to find such a home that suits me on a lake similar to this one. The idea of daily meditation sessions and communion with water spirits speaks to my soul.

Cranberry Lake, the portion that we paddled through as seen from the shore.

My Tree Itch

My best friend says I have a "tree itch," meaning I'm having a prolonged intense desire to go be among the trees. And she's right.

Spiritual Identity

It's the middle of summer and I've been feeling a strong connection to the element of fire this year. (Last year summer brought a strong connection to the element of water for me.) I began the day by looking for a list of fire dieties as I have yet to feel a connection to a particular Lady and Lord and thought my strong connections to the fire element might be a good starting round for a meditation point after some research. While I failed to find a list that I was looking for, I did come across serveral articles on Witchvox that spoke to me about what it is and isn't to be a Pagan or Witch.

I still consider myself in a learning stage of the Pagan and Witch traditions rather and a devoted follower. I do feel strong connections to various elements and feel a connection to the Goddess within my soul. I know I am on the correct path. This is not something I question. But aside from a few close friends I am reluctant to tell anyone how I feel about religion and the spiritual path that speaks to me. It is good to know that I am not alone. I consider myself a fairly "normal" person. Normal being subjective, but I'm well educated, amibitious, I don't dress out of the ordinary, and am respectful of those I am around. I do feel a yearning to be freer than I am in many ways, but out of respect for my family I hold myself in check. I don't want preconceived notions and incorrect assumptions to hinder my path in life. I want to live peacefully and follow my own path. I don't think that's too much to ask or too much of others to allow you to do.

Fire Burning in the Heart

I have been horrible about updating this and keeping to my spiritual development. For awhile I felt like perhaps I was losing interest in witchcraft, but the recent trip I took to see my parents combine with my experiences at the Berkeley Pagan Festival this year have reminded me how much witchcraft speaks to my soul and brings me comfort.

At the festival I remember being quite moved by a specific speaker who was talking about how other people who don't understand witches and pagans tend to judge us unfairly when all we want is to live in harmony with what nature gave us and happily worship our gods and our trees. (That's the simplified version that I remember.) Then I spent three weeks with my parents in Washington. This being my very Catholic parents. My dad is less strict than my mom, who thinks that every idea that doesn't line up with Catholicism is "new age" or "occult" even though I doubt she really knows anything about witchcraft or paganism. I have made it no secret that I have pagan friends and I'm sure it makes her a bit uncomfortable, but every time she starts going off about Wicca, witchcraft or paganism I feel uncomfortable as I know she is unfairly judging something she doesn't not know much, if anything about.

That being said, now that I'm home and with Litha fast approaching I feel as though I need to renew my own commitment to my spirituality and Litha provides a perfect opportunity for this. Sadly this year I do not have access to a fireplace and I'm not sure my landlord would appreciate me lighting a firepot in his yard, so my celebration will have to rely less on large scale fires (would be so cool) and more on observances, small fires, and things that represent fire. Thinking about how I can go about doing this makes me feel at peace with myself and isn't that what religion and spirituality are supposed to bring out in you?

Imbolc: Renewal Time

Having no formal affiliation with any specific tradition celebrating the sabbats is an interesting undertaking with me. As each sabbat passes I am more and more involved with my celebration of it. Tonight I have made a purification bathsalt and am about to make a spirit light to then light and take my bath by. I feel good doing these things—cleansing my spirit of the negativity it's dragging around and shining a light on where I want to be going.

Imbolc reminds us that light of spring is emerging from the dark of winter. So too must we bring ourselves out of the darkness we carry with us and emerge into the light of our true selves. This is done by renewing our goals and rekindling the fire that burns within each of us.

Follow My Path

Welcome to the Green Path!

Please enjoy my thoughts and ramblings as I endeavour to learn more about herbs, being an herbalist and green witchery.