You Are What You Eat.

I have tried to eat healthier for years, as do many. I even had some success but it was a constant fight. Like so many, I yo-yo’d. In January I changed my methodology. Worry not, this blog isn’t about that. The new way of eating changed something in me; it became less about trying to be healthy but more about devotion, but then again, almost everything as of late has turned into an act of devotion for me. I began to truly feel, and not just intellectually know, the sacredness between us and what we eat.

Our bodies are a temple.“As above, so below,”

or as some modern practitioners would spin it and say, “As without, so within,” we are the cosmos and it is us. We are both the image in the mirror and the projector of the image. Confuse not the Self with the carriage. The body is a vehicle, our egos, and even the incarnated mind is transitory. These are not the Self.

However impermanent these are, let us not forget that they are sacred and spun of the divine. My flesh is the reflection of the substance of the Lord of our world. When the body is treated as such, health will be a byproduct, not the goal. The goal is and will be, to honor and offer devotion through our own microcosm back out into the macro. Herein a relationship is built and the two become one at the heart.

Inwardly, we reflect the Moon upon the pool of the Self.

The flesh, bone, and blood are a temple, a vessel that is wide open for the reception of the Lady. Just as we reflect our Lord, so too do we reflect our Lady. Our devotion is apparent when we show proper maintenance and care of the Body Altar unto which we invite her to fill.

This manner to devotion is not for everyone. Don’t think this blog is a denouncement of the approach any choose in how to live. I am simply reflecting on my own personal experience about diet, devotion, and my understanding that is developing.

Boidh se!

-Spanish Moss

"Lost in a thicket bare-footed upon a thorned path."

Teachers

In the Contemporary Pagan community, there are two common themes when it comes to the importance of having teachers. Usually, there is either a lot of emphasis on wanting/seeking/finding someone to teach or the individual is emphatically against needing a teacher; the truth of the matter falls somewhere in the middle of this spectrum.

A teacher is not needed to be spiritual. As humans we do this already, it is just a part of our nature. Even atheists, though they would use much different wording. The core truth of the matter is that a teacher is not needed to embark on a spiritual journey; it is going to happen regardless. The point in a teacher is not so as to be able to take the first step.

The point is to have someone lay before you their experiences and to teach the particular praxis of a Tradition. The spiritual rabbit hole can go very deep alone, but with the momentum gained from working with a teacher and group, the bottom of that hole drops even deeper. This truth is something that cannot be explained in full to someone that has never experienced the shift in energy from working solo to working with guidance.

In the BTW and TIW communities, there is a proverb used. Let there be no doubt that this proverb originates in Buddhism,

but as with many things of spiritual truth, we have claimed it and made it our own. It goes like this, “When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.” A teacher may be desired and even sought after, but until the Gods deem it right, that pathway will remain blocked, even if it takes decades. Sadly, this can cause many to become dissuaded and discouraged.

Be wary and be discriminate when approaching someone as a teacher. Likewise, don’t settle on just anyone, just because they are the only local person found. Verify that your prospective teacher is trained themselves and vouched for. A vouch means two things, which is often only thought of as only meaning one. It means, that someone has the lineage claimed, and that the person vouching (make sure the vouch comes from a reliable source) is giving their word that the person is reputable. On rare occasion I have been asked for a vouch, but the best I could do was say, “Yes, they have that lineage.” I was not able to, in good conscious, to give a vouch for their being a reputable teacher. Remember, it is the job of the teacher to bring you to their level, and nothing else.

A good teacher strives to help you down the path, not to walk it for you.

It is their goal to have the student surpass them, to eventually take flight and leave the nest.

Just as a teacher will not appear until ready, sometimes they appear when not expected. Recognize when this happens and embrace it or the opportunity will pass by. Cease the moment and allow the experience to broaden the spiritual horizons.

Boidh se!

-Spanish Moss

"Lost in a thicket bare-footed upon a thorned path."

Maps and the Lonely Road

The Path of the Witch is often referred to as the Lonely Road. As a deeply esoteric path, only we truly walk it. Granted, we share many of the same experiences as others that have trod the way we have gone, but that is not the same. Eventually though, every Witch will find themselves feeling alone. It is a part of the path.

It is also part of the internal spiritual process, that on occasion we find ourselves at a crossroads, conflicted, and unsure where to proceed forth to. This is why it so important to not walk the path without the assistance of others that have been that way before. Of all that arguments that can be made in favor of working within an established Tradition, this is the biggest, in my opinion. The way through the brush does not have to be cleared, someone else has been there and though you walk alone, they can recall the trials and how they overcame them. Long standing Traditions even develop about them, as part of their egregore, lore and practices that act as a map.

It is a map that was built upon by each person that has gone down the lonesome trail; even you will leave the trace of your hand upon it when you need to pass it to another.

At some point even the experienced will find themselves in need of a push in the right direction. Perhaps they are blind to the road ahead for some reason, or they do not want to accept the truth that is sitting before them. Don’t be afraid to say as such and see. Learn to recognize these moments, so that action can be taken.

Joining a Coven is a very involved process, it is long, and may result in either the group or the Seeker deciding that they cannot continue to pursue. There must be great trust forged, in order for those experiencing a Branding to open up to others, likewise those that have already felt that particular sting of severity, must also have that bond. It is no wonder that Traditional Covens seem to be standoffish. It is not because they think themselves better; it is because trust must be built over many long hours, weeks, months, even years; much like joining a family.

So who do you have that can hand you an occasional map down the path? Teachers? Friends? Is there only one or many? Every Witch needs to know, for everyone needs at some time or another a helping hand.

Boidh se!

-Spanish Moss

"Lost in a thicket bare-footed upon a thorned path."

Living in Two Worlds

The various Witchcraft Traditions are mostly comprised of converts. Not everyone fits this bill, but most do. So regardless of which branch you subscribe to, whether it is BTW*, TIW*, TW*, or DRW*, it is by choice. I am of course speaking about those forms of Witchcraft that are religious in nature, there are folk traditions but those are a different beast. Granted, a beast that sometimes we ride around the corral.

Our devotion is by choice.

It is ridiculously easy to just exist in the world of form and pursue only the mundane. Instead, the choice was made and continues to be made every time our decision is engaged through action. This action is inward. The choice could be made to only worry about the tangible and minimal spiritual requirements for existence. Why bother claiming the title then? It is the work, the inward work of the initiate that is the approach of the Witch. Ours is the path of the mystic digging into the depths of what is hidden, to see what mysteries may be learned.

Tasting the seeds of truth that the mysteries offer is for many, enough to ensnare them, but to tend only to the spiritual will leave the profane world barren.

If though, one is only concerned with the mundane, the heart crowned in the holy will not only long for integration into our life but will in a crisis of neglect bring winter to our lives. Surrounded by untamed shadows that were feed by denial of their existence, the innocent folly will find itself the bride cloaked in darkness, with reign over a heart in ruin.

The extremes of living solely in the profane or the sacred will defeat the Witch and every step forward will leave the other leg anchored or at best dragging. It is via devotion to living fully in both worlds that the Witch finds they are able to walk with both feet.

How do you do at walking with both feet down the thorned path?

Boidh se!

-Spanish Moss

"Lost in a thicket bare-footed upon a thorned path."

*BTW: British Traditional Wicca
*TIW: Traditional Initiatory Witchcraft
*TW: Traditional Witchcraft
*DRW: Dedicatory Religious Witchcraft

Guest Post-Peter Paddon: What is Traditional Witchcraft?

Defining Traditional Witchcraft is a tricky business. For starters, witches are notoriously individualistic, and asking any three witches to define a word will result in five definitions, so you can imagine the range of opinions on the word “Witchcraft” itself…

Many people certainly hold strong beliefs on what Witchcraft is, not least myself, so I’ll try to give an overview of the main ones, before explaining why my own definition is, of course, the correct one (just kidding, even a Brit of Welsh extraction such as myself can’t be quite that pompous!).

First of all, we have to look at whether Witchcraft is a religion or a practice. There are very vocal proponents on both sides of this particular conundrum, mostly intractably locked into their favored argument. But objective evidence is strongly in favor of Witchcraft being a practice, albeit one that is expressed through the religion of the practitioner. In the western world, that means that historically witches have frequently been Christian – perhaps the most famous historical sect of Witches are the Stregha, who are all practicing Catholics, even if their Catholicism is decidedly heretical by Vatican standards. In the modern era we have the luxury of being able to add Paganism to the religions that Witchcraft can be practiced with, and so I am able to say that my magical practice is Witchcraft, expressed through my Welsh Celtic Pagan spirituality. In this context, Wicca is an Earth-Based religion that includes – for most of its adherents – the practice of Witchcraft. Most Wiccans are witches, but not all witches are Wiccan. As you can probably guess by now, I’m not a fan of those who say that Wicca and Witchcraft are synonymous.

So what, then is Witchcraft? Some will say that it is a form of western shamanism, and in its classical form it does certainly share many of the attributes of shamanic spirituality. Technically, as the word “witch” derives from Anglo-Saxon,

purists might say that it is a specifically Germanic practice, and that is almost certainly how it began. But nature abhors a vacuum, as they say, and all things either grow and change, or wither and die. When the Angles and Saxons settled in Britain, they quickly merged with much of the Celtic culture that was already there, so by the time of William the Conqueror, the Normans identified the “locals” in England as Saxon. So Witchcraft came to incorporate aspects of Celtic Druidism, along with the earlier Pictish practices that the Druids had adopted when in turn they invaded the Blessed Isles. At the same time the predominantly Celtic nations of Wales and Ireland incorporated some of the Saxon techniques and lore into their own magical traditions.

People talk a lot about Witchcraft Traditions, and in modern times there are a lot of them. What we don’t have is any truly unbroken lineage – though there are some in the Balkans, where by a quirk of fate Witchcraft was never persecuted the way it was in the rest of Europe. What we do have are various traditions that became family traditions, broken and missing much, that were passed down through families, often hidden with a veneer of Christianity, that in most cases became a sincere incorporation of Christian mysticism as time went by. The result is a bunch of fragmented traditions that come down to us as a mixture of Welsh Wizardry, English Cunning Arts, and Scottish Sorcery. Gerald Gardner attempted a reconstruction from the fragments he was handed, and with additions from the Golden Dawn, Aleister Crowley and Freemasonry, created modern Wicca. Others, such as Cochrane and Pickingill used folklore to fill in the gaps, and yet others turned to other sources from the Occult Revival, such as Spiritualism or Mesmerism and Theosophy, and the Middle East (Crusaders brought back Sufi mysticism that was used to fill the gaps already existing in the 12th Century).

That brings us to the modern age, and what Traditional Witchcraft is today. For many of us, it is a recreation, a synthesis. Rather than try to reconstruct what our ancestors did, we try to take the fragments and recreate the Traditions

as they might have evolved if they had never become fragmented. Using academic research, experimentation, and “tapping the bone” or conversing with the Ancestors, we work to recover what was lost, and build a Craft that is current and relevant to the 21st Century Crafter. There are others who are strict reconstructionists, and yet others who eschew the archaeological and academic material, preferring to draw on what their hearts and ancestral memories tell them, but these are just different flavorings in the same basic recipe – to create a living, breathing, evolving tradition that will stand the test of time.

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Thank you Peter for taking the time and indulging me by contributing your opinion on the definition of Traditional Witchcraft.

Boidh se!

-Spanish Moss

"Lost in a thicket bare-footed upon a thorned path."

Prudence's "Husband Gone Wiccan"

If you haven’t seen this video yet, take a peek. Essentially it is an advice video for an advice column. There are a couple of things this video got me thinking about.

I fully understand that the individual asking the question has a relationship concern. I would be lying if I said that I had not seen my fair share of relationships strained because each partner was on a different spiritual path. I have even been in a few such relationships. Contemporary Paganism is saturated in mixed faith relationships, and it is our fault. I mean this collectively and in no way negatively. The simple truth is that religions grow in two different ways; either by conversion or by birthrate. The former has been the standard for our movement. The latter is now only beginning to truly come onto the scene.

We didn’t seek any of the converts, and sometimes we have even tried to dissuade them, pushing them in another direction. Nonetheless, they came to our stoop and knocked upon their own inner door that would lead them down their path. Collateral damage to this process is that sometimes those within a relationship don’t take their partner down the path with them. It is for this reason that most traditionally operated Covens ask whether or not an individual’s partner is accepting, accommodating, and understanding of their involvement with the Craft. This is important, because any potential drama can destroy a Coven.

I agree with Prudence, our columnist in question, that the two individuals need to sit down and figure out where they are going. I also agree that perhaps their paths are now separate, depending on what conclusions the two form, but that is their business. I don’t think it has to be the end of the road, many times these multi-faith relationships can work, but it is going to take a helluva lot of dedication and work from both partners.

Now onward to the unpleasant part of my thoughts in regards to this video. It is unprofessional, offensive, derogatory, and a reinforcement of the stereotypes we as a community work so hard to fight.

As a professional, it is one’s duty to carry their self, and anything their name is place upon, in a manner that is respectable to their position. In this case, that role is that of the giver of sound advice. With the highly bias, judgmental, and apparent disrespect shown towards the husband’s choice of spirituality, regardless whether it is agreed with it or not, is downright unprofessional and demonstrates that the advice given is neither objective nor fairly given. It is clear the research was not done. It is as if no one knew anything about Wicca, did a twenty second search on google, saw the word Witch in a couple of headings, and without any further research ran full ahead with every misunderstanding of the word in its modern context.

Throughout the entire video, anytime our Wiccan is mentioned, there are pictures and images displayed that are without any doubt offensive. I understand, that they are meant to be fun, but the nature of the images used are very much on par (hypothetically) with displaying images of Hilter when simply discussing someone that may be of German descent. They are offensive to the individual, this being the woman’s husband, and all Contemporary Pagans whom by their inclusion are insisted, by the choice of images, must be simultaneously a Hippy and a goat blood drinking Satanist. I realize an advice columnist cannot determine what wording is used by the person seeking advice. However, the choice of what presentation is offered to the public is well within the means available.

So at the end of the day, I am not surprised. I am aware of the depictions those in the Contemporary Pagan, especially Witchcraft, are common within the majority of our society. Because of this, I cannot take it to heart or allow it to fuel bitterness in return. This video is simply a reminder that though we as a community have come a very long way, there is a very long way yet to go. Though the path is littered with obstacles, may the cunning fire grow within our hearts illuminating the world around us.

Boidh se!

-Spanish Moss

"Lost in a thicket bare-footed upon a thorned path."

Cooking with Magick

There has been a lot of talk lately in several of the magick based blogs that I read, about whether or not magick works simply based on belief. This notion is fairly new to the Witchcraft scene and is not something a traditional worker would say, but the idea has gained support in the last twenty years or so.

The working of magick can and usually is a fairly simple process. Now don’t get me wrong, sometimes very complex rites can yield extraordinary results. Generally though, magick is straight to the point and is a simple combination of four things.

Yep, all magick is made in a large metaphorical cauldron that has just four signs on the side, these are what make the magick stick. As the mental theory would indicate, one of those is psychology. All four of the signs are present anytime magick is done, and they are the reason it works. We just don’t always remember to give credit to all aspects of the process.

So in no particular order, here are the other sigils that would line that would be cauldron birthing forth the magick. There needs to be energy… yep, energy.

Everything has its own essence, own energy, own mojo, as the Southern Conjurer* would say. Magick makes use of energy, sometimes it is our own and sometimes it is from the tangible, and sometimes it is celestial or cthonic. This, I believe brings us to the next inscription on the cauldron.

The next is the aide of outside agents. This can be the aide of spirits, Archangels, some God or Goddess, or anyone/thing else that has its own will, whether that will is created or not is irrelevant. Typically, this aspect of magick is neglected in discussion in modern forms of Witchcraft, or at least in the outer circles of Witchcraft. Just remember, that every time we do work, there are other wills that are at our aide.

Every successful worker of magick very quickly, intentional or not, gathers about themselves allies in their work.

The last of the four is knowledge. A Witch, or any magick practitioner, must know how to effectively combine the above three towards one coherent objective. Far too often, failure in spellwork comes about as a result of defeating ourselves by not having a consistent, logical, balanced, and patterned iconic system that is the framework from which the work is molded. I recommend before reinventing the wheel, that the individual turn toward any of the many centuries old systems that many others have built the foundation for.

There is one last thing that I failed to mention that is needed. All of the above is great towards getting results, but without the Witch to stir the magick to life in the cauldron, that which comes out the cauldron will not have transformed from what it was going in.

Boidh se!

-Spanish Moss

"Lost in a thicket bare-footed upon a thorned path."

*Note: Basics for magick cooking metaphor shamelessly stolen (cause I like it) from Crossroads Joe (go read his blog, listed on the right), and then added upon by me.