Rowan, I need some help.  This year will be the first year that I’m celebrating Yule.  I’ve been Wiccan for a few years now but I’ve never really celebrated Yule before and have just acknowledged it in my mind and carried on with the usual Christmas traditions with my family that I’ve done my whole life.  I’m 27 and living home right now because I lost my job last year.  My family knows I’m not Christian, and really they aren’t terribly religious, but they also aren’t all that open minded either.  So I don’t know what to do.  Do I tell them I’m not celebrating Christmas but Yule?  Do I still get, give, and accept gifts?  Are there any other areas that I need to consider because I’m still trying to figure out where the line between Yule and Christmas even is.
Thanks for your help!
Deb

Hi Deb! Happy Yule to you!

Let me start by saying that what you’re going through and trying to figure out is one of the most common things that people wrestle with during their first Yule.  Especially if they’re a little older and just starting to celebrate the Sabbats.  So don’t worry, this is normal. 

First, keep in mind that many of the traditions and things that you do now and have done your past 27 Christmas’s are more or less rooted in Pagan traditions.  Christmas is very much an appropriated Pagan holiday.  There is little that you need to change, especially if your family isn’t religious and trying to get you to go to church or honor the holiday from a Christian perspective. It’s really all a matter of how you look at it and how you approach it.

Giving gifts is something that we do in the Pagan Yule tradition as well.  We may not give the same kinds of gifts that others might and we may not give as many, but we do give gifts as a way to show appreciation and good wishes for the coming year.  The practice of gift giving at the holidays is believed to come from the Romans and their festival of Saturnalia.  During Saturnalia, as part of the celebrations to Mithras, the Sun God, people created special celebrations meals and created and gave gifts to one another to celebrate the joy of the new year.  This was a tradition that continued and carried on to other parts of the world as people traveled and eventually the Christians made it part of their Christmas celebrations.

The reason that most in the Christian faith see for giving gifts is because they were given to the baby Jesus at his birth, but they are still gifts given as an act of joy and good wishes.  This is the real reason for gift giving and therefore shouldn’t be something that makes you feel uncomfortable, really.  The biggest difference that you might see in the Pagan Yule tradition, and among many Pagans in general, is that we are more likely to give homemade gifts, gifts that are spiritual in nature, or gifts that have a really specific purpose or intent behind them rather than just giving someone a gift card because of an obligation to give a gift.  We also sometimes will forgo physical gifts to on another and instead opt to make donations on someone’s name to a favorite charity.  The idea is that whatever the gift may be it is something that fosters positivity and embraces the ideals of one’s Pagan faith.

When it comes to what to call your holiday and what greetings to use, I say it really doesn’t matter.  For example, if someone says “Merry Christmas” to you there’s no reason to make a federal case out of it and get upset saying “I don’t celebrate Christmas, I celebrate Yule.”  The meaning, intent, and well-wishes are what truly counts.  You can mostly wish someone a “Merry Yuletide” and most people will know what you mean and probably just think it’s a cute and different way to say “Happy Holidays” since most people don’t really know that Yule is its own spiritual and religious holiday in modern day.

Just keep in mind one thing; the holidays are about family, friends, love, and joy.  This isn’t a time that we need to create dividing lines but a time to come together and look past those differences.  If your family knows you have another spiritual preference but aren’t really open to you sitting down and explaining it to them, that’s fine.  Your faith is for you and not something you have to explain to others unless they ask.  But if someone does ask, be honest and explain it the best you can from where you are on your path.

Since this is your first Yule, don’t forget that in the hustle and bustle of the holiday season to make time to honor your holiday too.  On December 22nd at the Winter Solstice do a small ritual, or even just a small meditation, but do something to honor the still point of winter and to honor the turning of the Wheel.  As we move through the rest of the 21 Days of Yule I’ll be talking more about rituals and ritual ideas to consider.  So stay tuned!

When is there more energy? All hallows Eve? or Halloween? If one was going to go for a walk and soak up this energy which day would you recommend to do so?
- Adriane

Actually, Halloween is All Hallow’s Eve.  The name All Hallow’s Eve is a reference to the night before All Hallows (“hallows” meaning “holy”), also known as All Saints Day which occurs on November 1st.   October 31st went from being called All Hallow Evening to All Hallows Eve to eventually being known as Hallow’een giving us our modern day name for the night, Halloween.  So if you really wanted to take in the energy of Halloween, October 31st is the night!

I will have another post coming in the next few days though that will explain a little bit about some of the confusion about Samhain, Halloween, and when they occur.  The actual date of Samhain, while we celebrate it on the 31st, it actually occurs in November when the sun reaches the point of being 15 degrees Scorpio.  I’ll talk more about this and explain that and how it impacts the energy, especially magickally, in a few days.  But there is certainly a lot of energy to soak up, work with, and interact with on Halloween.

What is your favorite spell to cast on Halloween?
- Teresa

I actually don’t really work much magick on the Sabbats.  I reserve the Sabbats specifically for honoring the God and Goddess and celebrating the turning of the Wheel.  Samhain is one where I might sometimes do a small spell here and there but I don’t have anything specific that I do or that I prefer to do for Samhain.

The types of spells that I would recommend for this time of year would be things for drawing protection, bashing things that are weighing us down, spells for luck and drawing new opportunities, and anything that either is meant to enhance or open the psychic channels.  I really think that if you want to do something but you don’t know what to do, do a spell designed to bring you luck and good fortune for the coming year.  When you do this, do it by calling on your Ancestors for help.  They are your blood and your family, even if you’ve never met them, but they care about you and want to see you do well because you are part of that bloodline.  So since this is the time of year for connecting to the spirit world and working with them, as well as being the beginning of a new year.  Make offerings to your Ancestors, specific things if you know who liked what in life, and ask for their blessings.  You can light a white candle, write down your desires, and then burn it in the candle and scatter the ashes in the morning to the winds.

One thing that I do do on Samhain is a reading with a 12 month wheel spread with my tarot cards to see what is going to be coming for the next cycle of the Wheel.  This is the perfect time for divination so I always make a point of doing this for myself during the Samhain season.

I always have read that the veil between the worlds is “thinner” on this day…. Do you have any suggestions on the best/easiest way to contact someone on the otherside?
- Lori

The easiest way to contact and communicate with a loved one who has crossed over s to just talk to them.  Talk to them just like you would have in life, there’s no reason to treat them any different than when they were alive.  While Samhain is one of two times in the year when the veil is particularly thin (the other time being Beltane on April 31st/May 1st), that doesn’t make it the only time you can do these things.

What you can do is set up a small place in your home to honor your loved ones who have passed on.  A table top, a shelf, a small end table set aside just for them is perfect.  Place pictures of the people you wish to connect with and leave them little gifts (a candle, some flowers, things they liked in life).  I have a space that encompasses everyone, but when it’s someone’s birthday, I tend to clear things away and just put them there and do something special for them.  But you can go to this space and sit down and talk to them if you wish like you would have in life (sit down and bring your grandma a cup of tea, that sort of thing).  You can do this stuff anytime!  We should remember our dead all year long, not just on Samhain. 

What’s the best use of Samhain energies for ritual? Is it best for contacting ancestors, or is there a different, more creative use that the energies surrounding Samhain can be put to? For example, since the veil is thinner, is looking for truths that are clouded from us an appropriate ritual goal? Similarly, what about the idea that since its a day that “doesn’t exist” you can work magic without repurcussions? (I don’t believe that myself, but I hear it a lot… Three-Fold always holds true in my view!)
- Cassandra

There is no such thing as magick without repercussions.  There is no time of the year where the laws just cease to exist.  I guess that would be kind of nice, but it doesn’t happen. 

As for what to use with the energy of Samhain, there are really a few specific things that the energy is best used for:

1. Connecting with the Ancestors, Mighty Dead, and the spirit world
2. Divination
3. Cleansing and making the way for new things

Seeking truth through divination is an excellent way to work with the energy of Samhain because you can basically try and pull back the veil in your own life and your own situations.  You can call on the spirits to help you find that truth.  How creative you want to get with these things is naturally up to you. 

So, while for some Samhain is come to end tonight, it’s just getting started for me.  Over the rest of this week you’ll see me posting some more information about Samhain, explaining the differences between Samhain and Halloween, and talking more about the ways you can work with the energy for this night in the Witch’s Year.

In the meantime you can check out some of the previous Samhain posts I’ve had like this one, this one, or this one.  And over this week, if you have other questions about Samhain and the Dying Half of the year, please feel free to send them in to me and I’ll be happy to lend my knowledge and insights!

Hello, i have a simple question and can’t seem to find an answer in the books and research i have done. I am going to be casting a banishing spell. But it a spell to banish some one from another person not myself to much. Should i banish them from this person, or from my life or both. They are adversely affecting my life in a very negative way even though i do not have direct contact with them. Just need to know how the spell needs to be worded.

Thank You
Cearúilín Mac Gearailt

There are a few things to consider with this.  For the sake of making this discussion a little easier I’m going to call the person you want to banish Sally and the other person involved Jill.  Do you have Jill completely on board with your plans to banish Sally from her life?  Is she going to be part of the magickal work?  If not she should be, even if it means she’s just sitting in the circle doing nothing; she should be there since this involves her more than you.  What is your problem with Sally?  Does your problem with Sally in any way involve or reflect on Jill?

Ideally Jill wants you do this to help her and she wants you to banish Sally for good.  But also, if Jill is serious about wanting you to do this, she’ll be involved in the work too, even if it just means that she’s going to be sitting there observing.  Her issues aren’t your issues, no matter how much you care for her and want her to be happy and well.  If you have an issue with Sally then you are in the right position to banish Sally from YOUR life for YOUR purpose, but really you don’t have the right or place to banish Sally from Jill’s life, especially without her permission.  Even with her permission it can be a bit of a tricky situation.

With banishing spells remember that you’re sending someone away, most likely for good.  And if they do end up coming back to you the chances are that things are going to be ugly.  So be sure that you’re completely sure you want to send this person away.  Banishings are not spells to do half-ass or half-hearted.  Be positive you want this person gone.

Also, for the best effect, start your spell as close to the waning moon as you can.  By the time the moon is new Sally should be gone for good.  If she’s not, prepare to do your spell again at the start of the next waning moon.  Sometimes banishings take a few times to take full effect so be patient.

But to really answer your question…
No, you shouldn’t banish this person from your friend’s life.  If you have reasons to send them out of your life, that’s one thing, but your friend needs to be responsible for their own situation.  If your friend doesn’t do magick and specifically asks for your help, then that’s different.  In that case I would do it but I would do it with them.  It’s not at all difficult to involve someone who isn’t a practitioner in a spell or ritual, especially if they are the person it concerns.  If your friend wont participate I would be a little hesitant to do the work; they may not be 100% sure that this is what they want.

The wording of the spell itself is not as important as the intent.  I can’t word the spell for you, you need to do this yourself.  The thing to keep in mind is that your words have extreme power, especially in an emotionally and intent charged ritual.  So be sure that you’re aware of what you’re saying.  I don’t know the specifics of your situation so I can’t give you any real pointers there but just know that your words are going to have a lot of power.  Also the way your planning to deliver the spell will have some weight to the words you’ll use.

hello,
I have been enjoying your blog, you are a wonderful and clear writer. My question is; is there a real distinction between black and white magic?

~ Elizabeth

Honestly, the simple answer. No.

Now the more complicated answer…
Magick is all about intention.  The intention in the heart of the person that casts it is where the “black or white” resides.  There is also the issue of personal ethics and the ethics of the magickal tradition that a person practices.  What might be labeled as black magick to some might be perfectly find for others.  Frankly I feel that all magick is a grey area until we put our intentions behind it.

So what would be “black magick”?  To many practitioners it would be something that is designed to intentionally cause harm, be it physical, emotional, or spiritual, to another person.  It can also be something that is meant to take away someone’s free will.  Basically we’re talking here about magick that would make someone specific fall in love with you, magick that would cause someone to lose a job or get evicted from their home, anything that would change someone’s life situation for the worse.

“White magick”, as you would imagine, is going to be something that is meant to help heal someone or improve their lives or situation.  Spells and magick for sending love to someone who is in need or support, spells for finding a new job, to find new friends, and to help bring peace to a difficult situation might all be seen as white or positive magick.

But here’s where things are tricky.  For many people one of the big things that makes the difference is: Are you casting the spell for another person, and if you are, did you ask them for permission to do it?  This is where the freewill comes in.  It doesn’t matter if you have the best intentions behind it, but if you haven’t asked them if you can cast this spell for them then you’re violating their ability to make decisions about how their lives will go.  Healing is an example I use a lot to explain this.  We tend to have this idea that all healing magick is OK and positive and so people will cast healing spells for anyone in their lives who is dealing with a health issue without asking for permission.  Sometimes we might want to do a healing spell for someone that is dealing with a serious illness because we want them to get better because we don’t want to deal with the possibility of losing them.  In these situations we tend to not stop and think about the fact that this just might be an experience they need to go through and it might be their time to move on to the next part of their soul’s journey. It’s not up to us to decide that for them.

I think some people take this a bit too far though.  I know some people feel that all magick that would improve your life, especially in any sort of material way (like spells for money) are wrong because there might be someone else that needs it more than you. Frankly I think that’s silly.  The Universe provides for everyone who wants to be provided for.  There’s no reason that you shouldn’t do work for what you need and what you want to create the life you wish to live.

Ethics are the other thing that play into the black and white magick issue and these will vary from one practitioner to the other based on the tradition they practice.  For example someone who’s Wiccan will have the Wiccan Rede and the Threefold Law to consider.  Someone else might just keep into mind the idea of Karmic Return.  And others, like myself, have their own personal ethics that they have formed over the life of their practice that are their own.  What might be white for me will quite likely seem black to someone else.

So, is there a clear way to define black and white magick?  Not really.  But it’s not hard to know which side of things your on if you have your personal ethics defined and you stop to think about your true intentions behind your magick when you cast it.

You might also want to check out this post from a while back…Of Hexing and Cursing.

Today’s question comes from Elizabeth.  She writes…

hello,
I have been enjoying your blog, you are a wonderful and clear writer. My question is; is there a real distinction between black and white magic?
elizabeth

Hi!  Thanks for your question!

Personally I don’t feel that it’s really possible to divide magick into such simple and cut and dry things such as good or bad, black or white.  Magick really is a grey art; there are so many degrees of what we might call “black or white” that it can be hard to really say something is black or white magick.

First, there’s the issue of what black and white means.  In our culture and mindset we have come to see black to mean bad and white to mean good.  This can have some really negative connotations to begin with, this idea of divination by color.  This isn’t just a magickal issue but a cultural one.  I know a number of magickal practitioners that don’t like to use these terms because of how far reaching the idea of black as bad and good as white goes in our culture, including racial issues.  But even just looking at the idea of good and bad we have to question this a bit.

Black is a color that is used in magick to absorb energy and can be used for banishing things such as negative energy, unwanted habits, and to release anything no longer wanted.  White is used for all kinds of magick, but it most commonly used in work such as blessing, healing, purification, and cleansing.  By looking at the properties of each of the colors neither is necessarily good or bad.  The properties of black have a lot of positivity to them.  Who doesn’t want to banish a bad habit?  Looking at white you have the aspect of cleansing and sometimes that be a very painful process even though it might be necessary.

Now, considering that, let’s talk about white magick.  Healing is a form of magick that most who classify their work into such divisions they might call it white.  But unsolicited healing could, by some, be considered “black” because it would be done without permission and possibly go against their free will.  We might want to see a friend who is very sick be healed and get better, but your friend might be so worn down, so tired, and just so done with this existence and my be looking for this to be their exit.  This might be the time for them to go and your magick to make them well could keep them around longer than they really want to be here.

On the flipside, something that might be considered “black” magick could include a binding curse to stop someone from committing a violent crime that might befall you, a friend, or a relative.  You would work a spell to bind and prevent the actions of this person, something that many people would consider to be “black” or “bad” but the intention would be a positive one to actually stop something even worse from happening.  You might cast such a spell asking that this person be stopped or be caught before the bad thing happens in order to get them help, to heal whatever it is that would make them want to do these things, and so on.

So, is there a clear line between black and white magick?  No, definitely not.  Magick is truly a grey practice but it’s the intention of the Witch or the spell caster that makes the difference.  If you work from an ethical standpoint or from a place of justification then you are doing what is right for you.  It’s important to keep in mind that magickal ethics, even if they are your own personal ethics and you aren’t following something like the Wiccan Rede, become the gauge by which you determine what side of the line your intentions fall on.

And, just as a last note, my thoughts on Black Witches and White Witches are pretty much the same; there really is no such thing in my book.  We’re all Grey Witches and we often walk a very fine line between the two and, more often than not, we have one foot on one side of the line while dipping our toes in the other to test the waters.  Honestly, I think that’s how it should be.

Rowan,
I see you post a lot of music videos on Facebook and they seem to really stretch over a variety of types.  I like rock music myself and I was wondering what your 5 favorite rocks songs are.
Take Care!
Kurt

Hi Kurt…thanks for the question!

Yes, I listen to a lot of different types of music.  Music has always been a big part of my life.  I took piano lessons for about 5 years as until freshman the 8th grade when I wanted to play softball instead (frankly, I would have been better off sticking with the piano) and in high school and college I taught myself to play guitar and bass (neither of which I’m terribly good at).  I love to do hand drumming too and have a nice little collection of djembes at this point.  But in college I was a DJ and played a lot of goth, industrial, electronic, and weird music (if it ever scared someone then I felt like I did my job).

With that said I do like good old rock music but I’ll admit that most of my favorite rock songs fall more into the alternative realm.  Hopefully these five songs don’t disappoint!  But here are five of my true favorite songs from some of my favorite bands!

Say Anything – Wow, I Can Get Sexual Too

Coheed and Cambria – A Favor House Atlantic

Clutch – Electric Worry

Alkaline Trio – Private Eye

We Were Promised Jetpacks – Quiet Little Voices

Ok…I can’t help it…I have two all time favorite Alkaline Trio songs…

And two bonuses…
I’m a big Weird Al fan and this is one of my favorite’s of his…
(and not surprise for anyone that knows me…lol)

And for those that don’t know me personally, here’s a little trivia about me. One of my heroes and life inspirations is Henry Rollins. I just love everything this man ever does from acting to writing to his pseudo-stand up to his music. This is one of my favorite Rollins Band songs…

And there you have it! Hope you enjoyed that.

Yes my husband and I have been looking for a home for our big family and we have found one . but now I need you help to get him to really get this one home he really likes.

Barbara

I emailed Barbara after getting her message just to make sure I completely understood the angle she was coming from and found out that they have been looking for a home to purchase so they can stop paying the high cost of rent.  There are a number of people that are involved including their children and a grandson.  They are going to see a house this Sunday that she feels her husband will really like and might buy on the spot but there seems to be a little hesitation because naturally she wants them to pick and purchase the right place.

First, Barbara, thanks for your question!  Having been a homeowner myself I know how it can be tying to make sure you’re buying the right place, but you have an even bigger thing to worry about because there are so many other people involved, not just you and your husband.  So what i would suggest is approaching the situation from the point of trying to find the right place for your whole family, not just something that makes one person happy.

I would say doing a spell to find the right house for all involved would be the best thing to do. Here is something that you can do, and you might want to do this tonight or tomorrow, before you go to see the house you’re looking at on Sunday.

I also feel my guides directing me to point out that there is a difference between “house” and “home” and that you need to focus on “house”. A home is wherever you are with your family and what you want to keep in your heart and in your intentions is to find the right HOUSE to make your home in.

Get the following items:
1 brown candle
1 piece of brown paper (ripped, not cut, from a brown paper bag)
A pen
A pin or knife
Attraction Oil
(if you don’t have attraction oil or there isn’t a shop or botanica where you can get it from, you can make a real quick oil at home…get a bunch of fresh bay leaves and break them up in your hand and place them in a cup or jar and cover with olive oil. Let it sit at least over night…you might want to do this today and then do the spell tomorrow night if you go this route. )

On the paper draw the shape or outline of a house…like what you would see a child draw if they were drawing a picture of the house they life in. Do not draw doors, windows, etc…just the general outline of a house. Inside the house write the full names of everything that would be living there. Anoint the corners of the paper with Attraction Oil. Fold the paper in half, folding it toward you.

Take your candle and with the pin or knife etch into the side the words “Find the right house”. Anoint the candle with the Attraction Oil in long strokes from the top of the candle to the bottom. While you do this visualize your family in a house that is just right for them. Don’t picture a specific house, but just the image of everyone somewhere that they will be happy and everyone will have the room and space they need.

Place the candle in a holder and put it on top of the folder paper. Light the candle and let it burn all the way down before going house hunting. Before you go to look at houses, take the paper with you and carry it in your pocket. You can repeat the spell with the candle, using the same piece of paper, as many times as you feel you need to during the house hunting process.

When you find the right place and you purchase a home, before you physically move in and start living there try and get inside to clean the home by smudging it and washing the floors from the back of the house to the front of the house with Chinese Floor Wash. Get some Peace or Happy Home oil and on your paper with the everyone’s names anoint the corners and now bury the paper by the front door.

Hopefully this helps and will give you some direction on how to work with this.  And good luck with your house search!

Hi Rowan!

I recently started reading your blog and your Facebook page and I love the stuff you do!  I find you really inspiring and interesting.  Since you don’t write about yourself a lot on your pages I was wondering if you’ve talk a little bit about yourself?  Could you tell us 25 things about you.  They could be about your life as a Witch or about your personal life but stuff about you that we don’t know so that we could get more of an idea of just who Rowan Pendragon is.

Love and Light!
Cathy

Hi Cathy!  Thanks for writing in and thanks for a question that I know so much about. 
Wow…25 things…well, here we go, I’ll give it a shot!

1. I got started in the Craft when I was 13.  At least that’s when I made my first dedication.  I discovered Witches and Witchcraft when I was 8 and started reading whatever I could find about it from that point on but this was when I had discovered Wicca and decided that this was the path that I was destined to follow.  Years later my path would move away from Wicca after spending time studying BTW traditions and I have since become comfortable in being an eclectic solitary Witch who is very influenced by Wicca in a spiritual sense but magickaly I am much more of a traditional Witch.
2. I am Italian, German, and Native American in heritage.
3. On of the first adult movies I remember ever watching was when I was about 7 or 8 years old and my Mom showed me “Night of the Living Dead” which is one of her favorite movies.  There is a scene where one of the woman in the movie gets killed with a garden trowel but to me it looked like one of those square cake knives/servers.  For years I got freaked out by seeing someone pull one of those out at birthdays and holidays to serve cake.
4. When “The Craft” came out my Mom wanted to go and see it so she took me with her.  We bought our tickets and went to have them torn so we could go into the theater and the ticket taker looked at me funny and said “What movie are you going to see?”  I told him we were going to see The Craft and he looked down at my shirt and back at me and said “That makes sense”.  I was wearing a Marilyn Manson shirt at the time.
5. I am planning to go to Paris for my 40th birthday (that’s 4 years away for those counting).  It will be my first time out of the country.  I’ve never even been to Canada.
6. I got my first cat when I was 6 years old.  She was a beautiful calico kitty that I picked out from the pet store in the local mall.  I picked her because she was the one standing the back away from all the other cats and looked lonely.  I named her Cindy after Cindy from the “Brady Bunch” which was my favorite show when I was a kid.  For some reason though I couldn’t always say Cindy and she got the nickname ChiChi soon after.
7. I love playing video games though I’m especially found of games like Call of Duty.  I can’t play driving games unless I’ve been drinking; surprisingly I’m much better at those when I’m a few steps away from being sober.
8. I took piano lessons as a kid, starting when I was about 10, but stopped when I was 14 because I wanted to play softball and since they were on the same nights I had to pick one.  I was really good at the piano and I soon learned that I sucked at sports and that I was not meant to be put in clothes made of stretchy material.
9. If I could be anywhere in the world right now it would be sitting at Cafe Du Monde in New Orleans having a cafe au lait and an order of beignets.
10. When I was 15 I went through a six month or so phase of being fascinated by Satanism.  I had started listening to a lot of metal thanks to discovering the college radio stations and I fell in love with Slayer.  I have found my time reading and learning about Satanism was helpful for me to be more open to people from different paths in the occult.  I still to this day find Anton LaVey to be quite an interesting guy.
11. I failed my drivers test the first time I took it when I was 16.  I went on a weekday morning before school and, after failing, begged my Dad not to make me go to school because I was so embarrassed.  My friends were waiting for me when I got there thinking I’d have my license and I broke down in tears when I had to tell them I failed.  I ended up getting my license when I was 18 the morning before leaving to go to Rhode Island to attend my first Lollapoloza festival.
12. If I could only have one book on Witchcraft it would be “The Element Encyclopedia of 5000 Spells” by Judika Illes.
13. I had my first computer with an internet connection when I was 19 and I had an account with Prodigy that my Mom paid by the minute for.  I was on there all the time.  I was addicted to the chat rooms and message boards.  I ran up a $700 bill one month.  That wasn’t pretty.
14. I was a communications major in college and worked on the school newspaper as a writer and editor and I was a DJ on the radio station.  I had two different after hours radio shows.  We weren’t like a lot of college stations where you could do whatever you wanted; were were in an actual radio market and had to follow certain FCC rules and regulations.  One of these was the reading of the station sign off at the end of the night.  I did the last show of the night, signing off around 2am.  We were supposed to read the station sign off over silence after playing the last song of the night.  One time I was extremely over caffeinated and very anxious to get out of there and go party and decided to goof around and read the sign off over the theme music to “Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure”.  I got in a lot of trouble the next day.  I also once laughed during a news story I had to read during a news break and I got suspended for three days for that.
15. I was one of 15 people to make it into the honors program my first year of college because of an essay I wrote.
16. I decided I wanted to be a writer after doing an exercise in my junior year creative writing class where the teacher had us listen to Pink Floyd and then write whatever came to mind.  She was highly influential on my junior and senior years of high school and it was because of her that I wrote that essay that got me into the honors program in college.
17. I love all different kinds of music.  Favorite bands of mine include Godsmack, Clutch, The Decemberists, Arcade Fire, Nine Inch Nails, Lady Gaga, Lorenna McKennitt, Dead Can Dance, Kellianna, and Michelle Mays.  I just love music.
18. I’ve been vegan and I’ve been a vegetarian about 4 different times in my life.  Typically my love of a good burger draws me back in to eating meat.
19. One of my all time favorite moves is “Goodfellas”.  I went through two copies of it on VHS and the DVD I currently have is started to skip and is going to need to be replaced soon.
20. I’ve seen Les Miserables on Broadway four times.
21. I wanted to be Wednesday Addams when I was little.
22. When I was 10 one of the very first magickal chants I ever learned was one you would say while visualizing yourself being surrounded by purple light that went “Thirce round, the circle’s bound, evil sink into the ground.”  I still use it when I feel panic attacks coming on.
23. One of my favorite meals is my Grandmother’s Italian sausage and string beans.  My other is my Great Grandmother’s Italian stuffing that involved 18 eggs, 4 lbs of sweet Italian sausage, a whole loaf of stuffing bread, and Parmesan cheese (which I never measure and just go by taste).
24. My first car was a Geo Metro that I bought after graduating college.  I got in an accident driving it back home from Boston one weekend.  I would go to Boston to stay with friends for the weekend and would usually come home on Sunday very tired from too much drinking and too much clubbing.  One Sunday in particularly bad traffic on the Mass Pike I heard my Spirit Guide at the time talking and I couldn’t hear her very well and when I asked her to be more clear she started laughing.  It was coming from the back seat it seemed like so I turned my head and drove right into the back of a mini van.  I had to drive all the rest of the way home with a crushed up hood to my car. I stopped at the deli down the street from my house to tell my Mom before I pulled into the drive way because I knew she’d freak out.  And she did.  She took the car away from me, had it fixed, and sold it.
25. When I was 16 I went to my first Witch shop.  I went with a bunch of friends from school.  The woman that ran the shop came right over to me when we walked in and she started to talk to me about the stuff in the store, telling me that she felt as though I’d been practicing my whole life…she asked if I’d been raised a Witch, which I hadn’t been.  She was convinced that I would go on to do special things as a Witch; she blessed a piece of snowflake obsidian and gave it to me telling me to always keep it as a reminder of the need to be balanced in the Craft.  I still have it and carry it in my Witch Bag.

And there you go…25 things!  If there are any specifics that you’d like to know about that I didn’t mention, please feel free to ask!

I want to find out if i have a ” supernatural” power?
~ Ansonette

Hi Ansonette…thanks for your question.  Hopefully some of my thoughts and my take on this subject will be able to give you some things to think about.  One thing I will say is that my answer to your question is going to be somewhat general because I don’t know exactly what sort of “powers” you have in mind.

First of all, I have to admit, I don’t believe in “supernatural” powers.  At least not in the way that most people think of supernatural powers.  To say that someone has supernatural powers is to essentially say that they are superior to the power of nature.  There are several different dictionary definitions for the word and typically when people are talking about powers in this sense they are probably thinking of the definition that says “departing from what is usual or normal especially so as to appear to transcend the laws of nature”.  So to have supernatural powers would be to have power above and beyond those of nature and the natural order of things.  This is something I personally don’t agree with or believe in.

This isn’t to say that people don’t have the ability to access some special abilities.  Everyone has innate psychic abilities and intuitive senses.  The difference between someone that is seen as psychic and someone that isn’t all lies in practicing skill development.  You have to learn how to develop these skills and you need to use them regularly.

Secondly, when it comes to many of the things that people want to learn to develop as supernatural powers they are really more what we often call “movie magic” and literally the same as what we do in real magickal work.  For example the ability to shapeshift from human to animal form in a moment of crisis.  Shapeshifting is a very real practice and shamanic technique.  The difference between actual shapeshifting and what you may know from movies, books, and television is that it isn’t a process that causes you to suddenly physically turn into something or someone else.  Your spirit body shifts.  You might take on the personality or traits of a certain spirit animal, like a personal totem or power animal, for the purpose of learning their lessons or to use their skills as you need them.  Typically you would do this in meditation or while doing shamanic journey work.  This is a skill that anyone can learn and develop and it works within the bounds of natural law and isn’t really “supernatural” but it’s pretty powerful.

But when it comes to things like shooting fire from your fingertips and things like that, again, in an energetic sense these are all things that are possible but you’re not going to shoot actual fire from your fingers.  You can certainly build up a concentration of energy in your hand and then push it out through your finger at something.  This is actually one way of casting a magick circle without the use of tools.

So, while I don’t believe that anyone has “supernatural” powers in the sense that most people think of them, I certainly do believe that certain people have extraordinary psychic and metaphysical or magickal skills because they have taken the time to study, practice, and develop them.

I’m a 14 year old Witch, and I’m not aloud to use incense, though I love it, because of my mom’s allergic to it. Also, I can’t light candles because of her boyfriend. He’ll yell and hit and whatnot because of fire and the fact that it’s religious related (he hates everything) and blah blah blah. Well here’s the question I suppose: Is there any good substitute for incense and candles?
~ Ivory

Thanks for your question Ivory!  It’s actually not an uncommon question.  When I was in college I wasn’t able to use incense or candles in my dorm room and had to have other ways to work with them when I wanted.  So I know that sometimes you just have to get creative.

One thing though that I just have say, from looking at your question, is that if your mother’s boyfriend is hitting you, or anyone for that matter, there is absolutely nothing that makes that OK.  Please, please make sure you tell someone and get some help if this is going on in your home. You might be a minor living under your mother’s roof but this doesn’t make you a literal or figurative punching bag.  So just something that I would be remiss to not comment on.

OK, so back to incense and candles!

Incense is easy to replace.  There are two different things you can do here and both work well depending on the material you’re working with.  If you’re using fresh or dried herbs as incense, or if you’re working with powdered incense, you can place it in a bowl or dish and place it on your altar.  The essence of what, the energy that it carries, will still be there.  When we burn incense we see the smoke carrying our wishes to you Gods and to the Upper Realms.  It can be seen that the smell of the herbs on the altar are still carrying these things, even though we can’t create the smoke.  The energy and the power from the scent of the herbs or incense is still there and will still be able to carrying our wishes to the Universe.

Another option is to create ritual misters.  These are great and the smell will be there but it will be faint and shouldn’t bother anyone that isn’t directly in the line of the spray.  For this you’ll need a small spray bottle (you can get this at drug stores and places like Target or Walmart quite easily).  Fill the bottle with water (personally I use bottled spring water) and then add about 15-20 drops of essential oils that go along with your work.  For example if you were going to burn sage and lavender herbs for incense use about 10 drops of each in your bottle of water.  I would use a small spray bottle like the kinds you might find in the health and beauty section, not the big kinds that you would find with cleaning supplies.  You may need to test and play around with the amount of oils used for the bottle that you buy.  This same technique can be used with magickally blended oils too; if you would have used healing incense you can use blended healing magickal oil to make a healing mister. Then just spray it around your space in place of incense.

As for candles. it’s a little tricky because it would depend on what it is that you’re using them for.  If you’re planning to use them just for light or symbolic purposes on your altar there are a number of different options for flameless candles.  There are LED tea lights, votives, and pillars and they come in all kinds of colors.  If you were going to use them for spells then you’ll just need to find another method of spellcasting.  There are many, many spell casting techniques out there that do not rely on burning candles at all such as herbal magick and mojo bags, poppet spells, and working with spell jars.

It can sometimes be a little tricky to have to rearrange your magickal work because of things like this,but as the saying goes “Where there’s a Witch there’s a way!”  You can always find a way to work around this if you are willing to experiment and be creative!