October 29, 2018

Simple Ritual

By JL

As I move further along in my journey of  aging, along my path to becoming Crone, I notice that my life is less and less compartmentalized. Every aspect informs every other aspect. This doesn’t feel like an energy of diminishment, or downsizing. It feels like expansion, like the dissolving of walls, the removal of masks. It feels like integration and simplification, like becoming the one true self.

I haven’t exactly made my spiritual practice these past years a secret, but I also didn’t wear it like a tattoo. I’m still doing neither, but I am acknowledging it as a part of my complete picture. In case you’re wondering what my practice might all involve, this short video that came across my social media feed is close, although a little heavy on the ritual side even for this old Catholic girl raised in the rites and regalia of the Roman Church.

My spiritual practice is a connection to the Divine, whether called by Great Sprit, God, Goddess, Yahweh, Allah or the many names one may choose from. It is a partnership with the natural world and laws of nature that contain me in this life. It is a reverence for the existence of the Divine signature in all living things, especially humanity. It’s an ongoing endeavor to rise above ego and seek the greater good.

You can call me a witch, I won’t be offended, but I hesitate to call myself that. I’m not what you see in pop culture portrayals. Neither am I an epitome of evil, caught in satan’s grasp as most religions would have you believe. I am not Wiccan—which is a recognized religion. The saying goes: All Wiccan’s are witches, but not all witches are Wiccan. It means we don’t all practice as religion.

I like to keep it that simple. I know all the magic, how to use the props, how to conduct a high ritual—I am in fact an initiated Priestess. But don’t need any of that. I can just as easily go to the forest, or the shore or hillside and open my heart, mind and soul to the messages that will come. I can sit at my kitchen table, light a candle and listen.

I can do this, because I have learned the more intricate ways, because I have sought out spiritual knowledge on many levels, because I have done this since I was that child in Catholic school, and then that young adult who wanted to know more about other faiths, and that mature woman who wondered how and why the feminine aspect of divinity was lost. In my searching I found the common threads woven through all faith beliefs.

And now the lines that separated it all into this or that religion are dissolving and it is simply faith. Faith that there is something bigger than me, bigger than humanity, bigger than this life. It doesn’t matter what I call it or how I aspire to connect with it because when I do, when any of us does, we are woke to the knowledge that God and Love are one and the same.

But I am not through learning. I will not be through learning until this life is done, and I suspect not even then. To be a witch is

  • To Know
  • To Will
  • To Dare
  • To Keep Silent*

Blessed Be and Journey Well

A Simple Samhain Ritual

*In times and places of persecution to keep silent is for protection. But it also means to refrain from arrogance, to keep your own counsel, and most importantly, never to proselytize.

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October 17, 2018

Family Recipes & Simple Magic

By JL

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Scrolling my social media today, I saw a photo of absolutely delicious looking meatballs in a saucy gravy. Someone had already asked for the recipe share.

“Sorry, It’s a secret recipe.”

When it comes to simple witchery at my house, most of it is in the kitchen. Literally, cooking is alchemy—a seemingly magical process of  combination, transformation and creation.

If you want an example, try combining milk, butter and sugar over heat. Depending on the temperature reached and briefly maintained, you’ll be rewarded with smooth caramel sauce, soft chewy caramels, melt in your mouth toffee, or (if you let it get too hot for too long), a hard-as a-rock, burnt mess and a pan you may as well recycle into a planter.

But there is something else that goes into the preparation of food, the final element of magic if you will, and that is the intention and energy of the cook. As with all magic, the more thought and mindfulness you give it, the better the results.

If you’ve made chicken soup for a soup-562163_640sick friend or family member, you are practicing kitchen magic. And why? Because even if all you do is open a can, add water and heat it up, you approach it with the intent to make somebody feel better. If you have a secret recipe,  add things like garlic, extra pepper and a dash of lemon juice—oh baby, there is no denying you are a kitchen witch!

That magic in cooking is especially present in traditional recipes handed down through generations, secret or not.

My grandmother’s peanut butter cookie recipe turns out delicious cookies every time, tender like shortbread (as opposed to soft and chewy), just the way I like them. Recently I wanted to make a batch and didn’t have all the ingredients I needed. I decided to practice a little kitchen magic of my own.

I was short on flour, but I had some finely ground almonds I’d processed for a paleo pancake I tried out. I added the almond meal to my flour to get me up to snuff. I was also short on butter, so I added some coconut oil. The batter seemed a bit loose, so I pulverized a cup of potato chips in the food processor and tossed that into the mix.

The potato chip magic is one I learned from my best friend’s mother as a young girl. They add a bit of bulk, a hint of salt, extra fat, and starch. Yeah, I know—but cookies aren’t exactly health food to begin with.

Talk about magical, those cookies disappeared!

Honestly, I have to say the little bit of tweaking, the personal energy I put into those cookies, elevated them beyond good to exceptional. I can’t give you the recipe because I didn’t accurately measure anything. If you have a peanut butter cookie recipe you like, and you consider yourself a kitchen witch, you’ll figure it out.

Chicken soup, pot roast, spaghetti sauce, bundt cake, and even Jello salad with tiny marshmallows; the meals you bring to your table, that once graced the tables of your ancestors, are magical. The act of preparing and partaking of them unite you through time and place.

Near the end of October and early November we have special days to honor our deceased loved ones—Samhain, All Hallow’s Eve, All Souls Day and Día de los Muertos.  Try cooking up some of your traditional family favorites, and set an extra place at your table in remembrance of the generations that came before you and their love that created you. Honor them, and the nurturing and nourishing that has sustained you thus far.

~ Blessed Be Your Journey

Interested in learning more about Simple Witchery?

 

3 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | posted in #kitchen-witchery, MUSINGS, Recipes, SIMPLE WITCHERY, WITCHCRAFTING

October 15, 2018

Here . . . Hold My Brew

By JL

 A post in a witchy ways social media group I belong to called my attention to an intriguing proposition. The Witch Kit Challenge was issued by Fire Lyte on her blog, Inciting a Riot.

The challenge to those who choose to accept it, is to pull together a witch kit containing everything necessary for a basic ritual, on a budget of $50 or less, all purchased from one store  accessible to most people. The choice of stores includes:

      • WalMart
      • Target
      • Goodwill
      • Dollar Tree
      • Dollar General
      • Home Depot
      • Lowe’s
      • HomeGoods
      • Ross
      • Michael’s
      • TJ Maxx

The contents of the kit is open to personal interpretation and imagination, but must include a representation for each of the four elements, a representation of spirit or deity, a knife or carving implement, an offering dish, a blank book and a magical activity.

Fifty dollars? Here, hold my brew!

I was confident I could pull together a fabulous kit with less than half that amount. With list in hand I headed to Dollar General.

I knew I’d be buying candles, and there’d be plenty of choices for an offering dish. As I expected, the most difficult was finding representations for the elementals. Then in the craft isle I found thin, 3-inch wooden letter cut outs. I envisioned painting and decorating the initial of each direction, north, east, south, west, to reflect earth, air, fire, and water. And bonus—that could be the magical activity part of the requirement.

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Unfortunately, there was not and E or W to be found. I moved on to wooden tags, and then found black cut-out letters that I thought were cardboard. When I got them home, it turned out they were paper, three of each letter of the alphabet, stuck together like a sticky-note pad. It worked, but I doubted it would last long. Still the wooden tags were a great blank canvas.

I ended up using my alphabet stamps to print each element on one side, and the cardinal directions on the reverse side. As I recall, I bought the stamps in the dollar bin at Target, an approved store. Personally, I’d also add a bead that corresponds to each element using ribbon looped through the tag hole. But hey, that could be another activity for ritual.

The dollar store offered several blank books to choose from. I nearly bought a three pack of tiny composition notebooks, the size to tuck in your pocket or purse, because—hello—I’m obsessed with them. Instead I chose a Jumbo Little Book, with a rigid plastic cover that could be painted or decorated with tape or stickers for a mini BOS. I couldn’t resist the cool green pen at the check out counter, it has a sort of cosmic vibe to it.

Witch KitTo represent spirit or deity, I choose a mandala magnet that can be left as is, or colored in with markers—yet again an activity. To me, the mandala represents the cosmic circle, the cauldron of of creation as the source of all life. As a meditative practice, creating or coloring a mandala accesses inner knowing and higher consciousness, so it covers secular witches too.

I was on such roll I wanted to include an activity that stood on it’s own, apart from being used as another item from the list. I went for a bag of paper clay, perfect to make a little poppet or a classic Goddess form.

The rules for the challenge prohibited using seasonal items, specifically mining the halloween isle. But with all the requirements met, I couldn’t resist a little Samhain booty. I chose a Day of the Dead tattoo sheet because—just too cool to pass up (please, don’t inundate me with your thoughts on cultural appropriation—if it’s not for you, just pass on by).

Finally, I purchased a sturdy wooden box to hold the kit.

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Here’s my breakdown:

  • Wooden Tags. There were 8 in the $1.50 package/used 4  = .75
  • Stamp set (previously purchased) 1.00
  • Tea Lights 1.00
  • Notebook 1.00
  • Pen 1.00
  • Bowl 1.50
  • Knife 1.00
  • Paper clay 1.00
  • Mandala. Two in $1 package/used 1   .50
  • DOD tattoos 1.00
  • Wooden Box 3.00

That gives me a sub total, before tax of 12.75

I’m stoked. I think this is a kick-ass witch’s kit if I do say so myself, and I’ve decided to give it away to one of my readers. FOR EASE OF SHIPPING, THE KIT BEING GIVEN AWAY WILL NOT INCLUDE THE OFFERING DISH. It doesn’t fit in the kit box and you can purchase an inexpensive dish or use something you already have.

The winner will receive these items:

  • Wooden box, stained and waxed, with pentacle burned on the lid and colored with gold permanent ink.
  • 6 tea light candles
  • Mandala for coloring
  • DOD Tattoos
  • Blank Book and Pen
  • Wooden tags with elements and cardinal directions.

This was all such fun I got carried away and added these awesome bonuses from my personal stash:

  • Multi-purpose tool (instead of a a dollar store paring knife.). The multipurpose tool is small enough to fit in pocket or purse. It’s great for cutting stems, plants etc, when foraging. It also has a small screw driver, a knife blade, scissors and a bottle opener.
  • Small mirror for scrying, and use in deflection spells
  • Clear quartz crystal point to increase or hold energy
  • Ritual Oil to dress candles or ritual tools
  • Lavender balm (handcrafted by me) – because it smells nice and feels good 
  • Sage wand (organically grown in my back yard) – for cleansing and purifying space
  • Dragon’s Blood incense – also for cleansing and purifying, or simply as fragrance to enhance your rituals.

HOW TO WIN THIS FABULOUS WITCH KIT

To qualify for the drawing: You must have a Facebook account and a U.S. shipping address, and do the following three things:

  1. Share this post on your Facebook account and leave a comment below.
  2. Go the MAD Goddess Facebook Page and leave a comment in the pinned post (the one about the witch kit), telling me why you’d like to win the witch kit box. This is the important part, it’s how I’ll contact you if you win.
  3. Visit my Patreon site, read the free post you’ll find there and comment “sharing link”. Then be sure to share my Patreon site on at least one of your social media accounts and include the hashtag #SimpleWitchery. (Again, the hashtag is important, it’s how I’ll know you shared the link. Best practice is to copy and paste for accuracy).

To repeat, share to your Facebook account and comment here, go the the MAD Goddess pinned post and comment there, visit Patreon sit and share the link site on at least one social media account using #SimpleWitchery hash tag.

When you do all three of these things, your name will be entered into a drawing to be held on October 30.  And as long as you’ll be at my Patreon site, take a moment to look around there—there are free posts!

DRAWING WILL BE HELD OCTOBER 30, 2018

May luck be yours!

3 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , | posted in MUSINGS, SIMPLE WITCHERY, WITCHCRAFTING