Sunday, September 27, 2015

Tonight's the night


We are just hoping the eclipse will be visible with all these clouds...

Tonight's Timeline


RIP Michael Howard

http://wildhunt.org/2015/09/michael-howard-1948-2015.html


I have several of his books and greatly admire his writing, another truly great gone but not forgotten..

Harvest Moon - Neil Young

There's a bad moon on the rise


I took this pic just before dark last night. She was beautiful and rising. The firepit was lit, and the lanterns were aglow in the shade garden and were waiting on Georgia Southern football on a Saturday night, hell yeah!
O but soon enough, clouds came out of knowwhere and the moon disappeared behind some misty looking cloud formations with slight peaks of light every so often. Then she went away and it started misting, so we moved everything inside the shade tent. Then it started down and outright raining so hard and it was bouncing off the roof of the tent so loud that you could not even hear the radio broadcasting my Ga. Southern game.
But, we had the inside all lit up nicely, the walls of the shade tent kept the rain off so we decided to just stay outside and enjoy the rain as it poured all around us. Just like kids I reckon, but isn't it fun when grown-ups do just that every so often? It was for us anyway.
So this morning it is overcast and more rain on the way. Our much awaited lunar eclipse is tonight after 10PM and by golly if it wants to rain again well we will just have us a lil circle inside the tent. I hope not because i so want to see her in her full light. We need the rain so I ain't complaining, just have to improvise...not like its the first time the weather has crapped witchy plans for a circle.
Brightest full moon blessings all...

Tuesday, September 22, 2015

Key word Sincere


Sincere, what a lost word it is in todays times...

Blessed Mabon


Hieros Gamos or the Great Rite

Before I get started on this topic, let me state what I feel is truly the biggest difference between traditional forms of Wicca and the more modern flavors of today, its the absence of the fertility aspects of the religion. Wicca is a fertility religion and not some hippy-trippy nature religion and if you don't know the difference between the two then you will in no wise understand what I will try to explain as we go on. Yes, fertility as in sex. Our wiccan sabbats revolve around the fertility aspects of the Goddess and her consort, the God. In perfect love and perfect trust, traditional wiccans worshipped in skyclad covens and performed whats called the Great Rite, and no it wasn't usually of the symbolic kind folks.

The Great Rite, in essence, is creation. It is performed usually by the priest and priestess in imitation of the gods at certain circles and Sabbats. It is not actually sex magick, although I guess it can be made into an act of magick, its true intent is fertility. No I'm not referring to getting the priestess pregnant, not the kind of fertility I'm talking about, ha ha, although a priestess wishing to conceive could use the Rite in a magickal act i suppose.

The traditional Great Rite is a beautifully spoken rite as well. I'm referring to Gardners original wording of course. It is a lot to remember if you chose to use it word for word but its story is true and while it does contain some masonic usage, it also includes knowledge of sex workings from many cultures throughout many many centuries.

As for solitary practice, its rather impossible to enact this rite. There is always the symbolic rite and it works as well, intent and projection is always the key. Once again, sex magick would not be a problem but the Great Rite is something different.

The traditional Great Rite is normally performed in private but sometimes the rest of the coven remains present, that depends on the individual covens and their own comfort level. We don't have this problem because its just the two of us. It does seem ideal if the two enacting the rite are in a committed relationship of some kind, even at the coven level and not married or living together, etc.

In a future blog, I will discuss sex magick as best I can, but hopefully anyone who's read this can see that the Great Rite is not so much an act of magick but a reenactment of the wiccan way, an act of love in a circle with the wish for continued fertility in all our lives, and with this I wish you all the brightest blessings...

Sunday, September 20, 2015

Hecate



Our newest Goddess statue is this beautiful Maxine Miller designed Hecate. The artwork is brillant and it makes a nice addition to our others.

all too true


September's Full Harvest Moon


Get with it witches cause this Sunday, the 27th, is the Harvest Moon, also called a supermoon. A supermoon that will also be a total lunar eclipse and the closest the moon will be to the earth all year. It's full at 10:50 pm so set your calenders now. The magick will be at its strongest then but the entire weekend should be bright and beautiful. I am so glad that i have that Sunday and the following Monday off. Now all I gotta do is plan for what all we're gonna do for the weekend...BB



Saturday, September 19, 2015

Mabon Redeux


So we have decided to make the entire weekend a Mabon Sabbat..why not? The highs tomorrow is suppose to be around 93, perfect time for one last day in the pool with a feast later on and more time to celebrate the Sabbat...

"oh witchy woman, you will be wrapped around my finger, when you find your servant is your master..." i am the goat god!!!

Yes indeed witches

Its the time of the Autumn Equinox, celebrate all ye witches and enjoy life.

Mabon 2015


The autumn equinox this year is on a Wednesday so we will have our Mabon Sabbat tonight under the stars and moon, the weather is perfect. At this time of the witches year when once again day and night are equal and we lean towards the darker half of the year, we hope that all our harvests are abundant and that the coming of the darker days brings rest and peace and regeneration of our magickal energies. Lady A and I wish all of you a most blessed Mabon season, blessed be all...

Monday, September 14, 2015


Marilyn Manson - Cupid Carries A Gun (Lyrics)


Tis a witchy time of year


Yea but is it really working?


The other day I was reading an article by a wiccan who was complaining about some pagan "elder". The same ol same ol, this leader wanting control, know it all, drama, etc etc...you know the routine. My question was this, why follow or belong to a group with this many problems? This got me to thinking about magick, real world magick, as practiced by many of us. My thought was, is it working? Examine your life in all honesty, is your magick working? What are the signs that they are or aren't? Can you honestly tell if anothers magick is working for them, and if not, why be apart of their world in the first place???

There are hundreds of spellbooks out there with spells for anything you can imagine. Most of us have a few or more...but are they working for you? When I read of some of the drama that seems to come with certain authors of well intended magickal books, I have to ask myself, if this book is so good, then why does it not seem to be working for them? Think about it for a moment, I don't expect elders to be perfect, but I also question one who's life is in total shambles and generally not someone I would want to be around. What good is their magick eh?

Do you cast spells for money and prosperity? If so are you always broke? Then I'd say something ain't working. Do you cast spells for love and peace? If so are you always unlucky in love and more drama in your life than a soap opera? No offense but I would never take any advice on love from a witch thats been married like Elizabeth Taylor or money advice from someone whos always without. Why. cause it ain't working for them...period.

Listen, my advice is to look at the individual as a whole. Do they seem sane and "with it"? Is there life one of usual joy and peace? Are they sucessful in life and love? Yes I'm talking about judging them, yes I'm talking about holding a witch by the standards of witch they preach. A true witch is one who's magick works! Maybe not all the time, but most of the time. Hold them by the standards of The Charge of the Goddess, do they actually meet those standards? Do they live the true life of a wiccan? Listen to the words they speak and you will know their heart. Flee the evil ones, their path is backwards and their life will always be one of utter failure...

None of us are perfect, we all fail from time to time, we all have our days. A true witch will always have more good than bad days because their magick works, their life shows it. Judge a witch by the life they lead, be honest and look at you own witchcraft, and never ever forget that many of the so called leaders from times past led horrible lives and died broke, alone, and worthless. Dont be like them, try and do right in all things and your witchcraft will work! Brightest Blessings All


Friday, September 11, 2015

2016 Gerald Gardner Calender


http://www.gbgcalendar.com

The 2016 Gardner Calender is now available at the above address. We plan on getting ours, we have loved the 2015 calender and it does contain a lot of useful info on all sorts of pagan/heathen days. It is well worth the money and proceeds go to the Doreen Valiente Foundation and the Museum of Witchcraft.


Monday, September 7, 2015

Mabon Ramblings



I read this poem and thought how cute, I will post it on our blog. It also got me to thinking about wiccan correlation's, in this sense, the passing of the oak king to the holly king, the birth of the sun king, and Apollo and Dionysus. Weird eh? Well let me explain my thoughts...
The last line of the poem is what set my thoughts to wandering. At Yule, the Oak King passes his reign over to the Holly King, and its also the traditional birth of the Sun King from the mother Goddess. Also, Apollo left Delphi for the 3 winter months and left control to his brother, Dionysus. Now Dionysus, it appears, had several festivals during the winter months - strange considering him the Lord of the Vine, but also remember that ivy grows all year. Now to me, this is all a big hmmm?

I also consider that it is said that Apollo stands for the rational and Dionysus the irrational, etc etc...could this also have something to do with the seasons, winter being the irrational? Also, the wine would not have been ready till after the summer growing season anywho, so by the time it had fermented, winter would have been upon us. I seriously never have enough time to do all the research that I would love to do...

Living in South Georgia, I have spoken about my view of the Sabbats and our weather here being different from our ancestors from Europe. The Holly King was said to have reigned till midsummer, which is in the middle of June...Well, its dam hot here so for us, by Ostara, winter has normally passed. We hardly ever have a winter that lasts over 3 months, thank goodness, so for us, the Oak Kings reign is longer.

Consider also the birth of the Sun King at Yule, consider how somehow, Dionysus' birth got fixed in December when it wasn't, much like Jesus. Consider how Dionysus is the son of God, born of a virgin mother, thrice born, God of Wine. Death and resurrection....consider.

Sunday, September 6, 2015


Labor Day and Summer Musings


I would be lying if I didn't say that I am enjoying my 3 day holiday weekend at home with my family. Tomorrow we have family over and with weather permitting, i will be back grilling and chilling...

Today we were in the shade garden and while I was reading the latest issue of Witches and
Pagans magazine, i truly got a sense of the coming of fall. The wind was nicely blowing through the trees, i had a fat old oak log burning in the fire pit and that smell just screams autumn. I look and see acorns on the trees and pine straw beginning to fall, just the atmosphere alone was so peaceful.

Mabon is upon us soon, the second harvest, and yet we have been so fortunate that we have had many harvests already out of our gardens this year and have already planted for our fall/winter beds. Our ducks and chickens provide us with plenty of fertilizer and we have really begun to use compost almost exclusively. Recycle and Reuse is the key, use what is not only better, but already around you. It is apart of the pagan lifestyle anyway, or should be.

There are 2 Wiccan Sabbats during the Fall, Mabon and Samhain, two of the best Sabbats there are in South Georgia for planning outdoor rituals. The weather is perfect, nighfall comes early, and Fall has always seemed to me, the very witching hour. Lady A and I have much to be thankful for this Mabon Sabbat, we have had a great harvest this season and while now is the time where we can slow down some and not have mini heat strokes, lol, we still plan for the future. There is still much to do and a busy witch, is a happy witch..

Mabon


Holistic Tarot


This is a new book I got recently witch I had already read alot of good reviews on. It is a large book (800+ pages) that goes into really good detail on all aspects of the tarot. This book will take me awhile to complete but so far I am really enjoying it and recommend to any tarot student.