A Year of Wicca: 52 Inspiring Essays on
Wicca and Witchcraft
Amethyst Treleven
Oak and Mistletoe
South Australia
This edition published 2012. Smashwords Edition.
A Year of Wicca: 52 Inspiring Essays on Wicca and Witchcraft © 2009 Amethyst Treleven
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National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry
Author: Treleven, Amethyst.
Title: A year of Wicca: 52 inspiring essays on Wicca and witchcraft / Amethyst Treleven.
Edition:1st ed.
ISBN: 978-0-9805818-6-7
Subjects: Wicca. Witchcraft.
Dewey Number: 133.43
For all my wonderful students. You teach me much more than I
could ever teach you.
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Table of Contents
3 simple ways to strengthen your magick
Can I cast a circle on the new moon?
Clairvoyance; what is it and do I want it?
Conducting rituals in public places
How long does it take to learn Wicca?
How to shield yourself from psychic harm
Is a full moon esbat ritual really necessary?
Ritual is an outcome of Wicca as well as a practice of it
The difference between a handfasting and a marriage ceremony
10 ways to determine the right coven for me
Are Wiccans the party faithful on polytheism?
‘Being’ Wiccan instead of ‘doing’ Wicca
Circle etiquette; what to do and not do in the circle
Cut the history lessons; just teach me the Wiccan juicy stuff!
I’m a solitary; how do I get invited to a coven’s festival?
How to dedicate yourself to the Wiccan deities
If finding Wicca is like going home, where’s the floor plan?
Choosing a Craft or magickal name
Do you really need Wiccan ritual tools?
Learning about Wicca without being in a coven
Winter Solstice/Midwinter/Yule
Do I have to do Wiccan rituals naked?
Questions to ask a prospective Wiccan teacher
The dangers of being too eclectic
What’s the difference between divination and Wicca?
Some of the best Wiccan and Witchcraft websites
The Book of Shadows and how to use it
Christian versus Wiccan ritual
The Wiccan obsession with ‘stuff’
We don’t just ‘do’ magick; we ‘are’ magick
Discrimination of non-Christian faiths
The differences in the southern and northern wheel of the year
We learn Wicca and Witchcraft with our soul as well as our brain
Free access to Wiccan information and training
Which books are great for newcomers to Wicca?
Wiccan magick meets “The Secret”
Summer Solstice/Midsummer’s Eve/Litha
What does Christmas mean to a Wiccan?
Other Books by Amethyst Treleven
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Acknowledgements
I have been blessed so much and with every day that passes my amazement and awe continues. The Goddess delivers to me daily the blessing of a loving family, a spiritual community that gives me as much as I give it and a life I am truly grateful for.
To all my loved ones, thank you for your ongoing support, encouragement and love. I am sincerely grateful.
With smiles and blessings, Amethyst
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3 Simple Ways to Strengthen Your Magick
Magick is beautiful and something I not only have immense respect for but also use in one way or another almost every day. So with universality in mind, I thought I’d pass on these three simple tips I’ve developed over the years which help me significantly strengthen the magick I perform each and every day.
For me, magick is a way of harnessing my own inner energies and also focusing those of the universe around me to bring about a specified outcome. The key is having the specified outcome though in the first place. If you don’t have a very clear, very well defined and easily articulated outcome, how on earth will the universe know exactly what you want? It’s a bit like saying that you want to take a drive; but where to? If you don’t know where you’re going, how will you know when you’ve arrived? Similarly if you can’t really describe exactly what you want from your magick, then how will the universe know what to get for you?
Tip 1
Before you start, really make sure you have absolutely clearly defined your expected outcome. For me the easiest way to do that is to write it down. Even dot points will help:
• What exactly are you expecting?
• What colour is it?
• When will it happen?
• What date?
• What size is it?
• What model is it?
• What does it look like?
• What does it feel like?
• What exact impact does it have on your life?
The dot points are obviously determined by what the magick is about but essentially the key here is to be absolutely specific.
Tip 2
Write those dot points down and stick them to your bathroom mirror or somewhere similar where you’ll see them every day. Magick comes about as a result of focused thought, concentrated energy and that focus, that concentration, that repeated and continued referral to your desired outcome makes the magick that much more potent. Depending on what it is you’re doing the magick for, you may need that note up there for a day or so, a few days, several weeks even. If for example you’ve decided to use magick to help you lose weight then you may need that note up there for a few weeks or even months to keep you tightly blinkered to your weight goal and to keep the magick clearly focused on that outcome. The more you see that outcome in front of you, the more the universe knows how important it is and this magnifies the effort to bring it about.
Tip 3
Double check again why you want your magickal outcome. This is probably the most important step you’ll ever use in magick and if you never do anything else, please do this. Ask yourself again why do you want this particular outcome? Why do you want to lose weight? Is it because you want to be healthier? Then OK, but perhaps then you should also be asking for better health. Is it because you want to feel happier about yourself? There’s nothing wrong with that at all, but perhaps that’s what you should actually be asking for. What I’m saying here is that sometimes we get caught up in doing magick to bring about the easy bandaid solutions rather than addressing the real and often harder underlying issue. If all we ever do is try and solve something with bandaid solutions, we’ll soon run out of bandaids, the wound will remain and what’s more, may gradually become infected.
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Can I Cast a Circle on the New Moon?
It’s quite true that many Wiccans conduct their main esbats on the full moon but many also celebrate the new or dark moon with as much celebration and joy. The question for new students is often “why?” Let’s look at the differences between the full and new moon so we can see why the new moon can be as important as the full moon.
When the moon is full, her energy is at its height and of course the pull and strength of the moon is reflected in the tides around the globe. There’s even more evidence that a full moon signals the time of the strongest, global energy. Statistics clearly show that more murders, violence and unusual events occur during the full moon part of the lunar cycle than at any other time. If you couple that with unusual heat or humidity then suicides, crime, episodes of insanity and unruly behaviour skyrocket. The police force, welfare agencies and support services like Centrelink (Australia’s Social Security) know and prepare for this cyclic rise in events. Many years ago I used to work for Social Security and staff would always know that there were more incidents around the full moon period than at any other time of the lunar cycle.
So what does this tell us? It highlights that the moon has a direct influence over our behaviour and over the strength of our magick. Conducting magick at the full moon injects just that little more power into it and is a perfect time for doing ‘diminishing’ types of magick. Diminishing magick is spell-craft that makes something go away, get smaller or reduce. Banishing magick is a great example of that. If you want to give up smoking, then that’s an example also of diminishing magick. You want your cravings for cigarettes to diminish for example. So when we want something to go away, or get smaller, if we do it when the moon will also be getting smaller, we’ll be doing the magick in tune with the natural forces of the lunar cycle.
The new moon by contrast is the time when the lunar energy level is at rest and is about to slowly and gently climb again. As such it’s a great time to do ‘expanding’ magick. As the moon and its energy expands, so too can your magick and its results. Expanding magick is spell-craft conducted to create something or to increase something. For example you might want to increase your self-esteem of bring more love into your life. The new moon is a great opportunity to match your need for more of something at a time when there will also be more and more of the moon and her powerful energy to bring to your spell-craft.
For many covens, the new moon becomes the night for training, either for Outer Court students but often for those more advanced and initiated members looking to improve their skills and work towards higher degrees. Given the lower energy levels of the lunar cycle, it forces the magickal practitioner to work harder, to test themselves more strongly and devise more intense means of creating and directing magickal energies. Thus it’s a fabulous time to really push skills towards more advanced levels of competency.
With the light of the new moon so limited as well, covens and solitaries are much more likely to work outdoors perhaps in forests or by the ocean because it’s less likely that outsiders can spot them and watch what they do. With such bright light at the full moon, it’s easier to be spotted than it is when the moon’s light is dim and softer or virtually non-existent.
Finally, and probably most importantly, is that it actually doesn’t matter when you conduct your circle casting. The main reason for casting a circle is to honour the Lord and Lady and you actually don’t need a moon to do that. She’s a wonderful symbol of the feminine aspect of the universe’s Divine, but you can still honour and respect deity regardless of whether the moon is full or dark, whether it’s hidden in clouds or extenuated by the smoke of a harvest bonfire. Many covens don’t adhere to a schedule of full and new moon cycles at all, but instead meet on the first Saturday of each month because it’s easier to get everyone together on a Saturday than on a Tuesday work night when the moon might be full. Still other covens, and solitaires in particular, will just cast a circle and honour the Divine when the feeling takes them regardless of the date or the passage of the moon. Whilst it’s nice to use the splendour and delight of the full moon to aid your circles of worship, your prime objective should always be to love our Lord and Lady and you can do that anytime.
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Clairvoyance; What is it and do I Want it?
Did you know that over the last 20 years at least one third of people in the USA believe in clairvoyance? This is really amazing when many folk don’t actually realize that there is also clairaudience, clairsentience, clairalience, claircognizance and clairgustance. But let’s focus on clairvoyance first before we get too carried away.
Clairvoyance comes from the French language spoken during the 1600’s and means clear (clair) and visibility (voyance). In other words, if someone is a clairvoyant, they have an ability for clear sight that others may not have. In our current lifetime, clairvoyance is much more associated with people who are generally able to gain information or an understanding about people, events or activities that might not normally be available through usual channels. Genuine clairvoyants the world over have an innate but trained skill that enables them to tap into a wisdom and knowledge source many people don’t have the same keys for. Technically speaking, folk who have clairvoyant skills can see, literally, pictures and scenes of events and people and places in the future, in the past and across different continents. They have an ability to reach into portals and view different life movies that most people simply can’t register.
Clairaudience by contrast refers to that skill whereby people can hear information about people or events or places. They report that the sounds are either ‘in their head’ or all around them and in listening they’re able to connect with untapped wisdom and provide that to others.
Clairsentience is the ability to feel or touch and receive otherwise unknown information. More usually clairsentients feel a sensation like cold or warmth, or the touch of a spiritual hand, or the feel of the spray of the ocean or another event that provides information and wisdom. They’re then able to interpret that and understand the messages provided.
Then we have clairalience which is the more unusual skill of receiving information through aromas and smells and scents. A practitioner may be able to smell the lavender that Great Aunt Josephine used to wear, or perhaps they can smell the scent of newly mown grass. Maybe they can smell the famous cakes that their neighbour used to bake before they passed on, or perhaps smell the hospital room that their friend or client Susan passed over in. Aromatherapy tells us that smells are powerful tools for changing our moods but they also bring back old memories or generate new ones for the practitioner smelling the relevant aromas of their client.
Claircognizance is a skill many of us have but that we mistake for the more general term of clairvoyance. To be claircogizant is to ‘know’. How often has something happened to you and you ‘just know’ that it’s your Mum on the phone before you answer it, or that your friend needs your help, or that one of the kids is unwell even though their 50 miles away. That’s claircognizance. Probably one of the most prevalent forms of this skill set and yet almost always mislabelled.
Finally clairgustance is the much more rare skill of gaining information, wisdom and insight from taste. Very often we remember special events by familiar and well loved tastes. When you indulge on that gorgeous trifle, does it not remind you of Sunday family lunches when Mum used to always make trifle? Remember how you used to poke your tongue at your brother at the table while Dad wasn’t looking and how he used to kick your shins under the table? That’s clairgustance when you can taste the foods of other people’s events that perhaps you were never present at.
But would you want one or more of these gifts? Most of us actually do have one or more but we’ve lost the use of them and if we wanted to rekindle them, we’d need training in them. The key is to be able to use the gifts ‘on demand’ rather than have them thrown at you at the whim of the spirit and universal world. They can be destructive when not controlled and thus that training is very important. That’s usually part of your second and subsequent degree studies in Wicca although you can find local specialists who can help you develop those skills outside the religious framework. Just trust your instincts when choosing a teacher and then enjoy the sensations of your extra perceptions.
References
Carrol, Robert (2003), "Clairvoyance" - Sceptics Dictionary. http://www.skepdic.com/clairvoy.html accessed 2nd February 2009.
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Conducting Rituals in Public Places
It’s often wonderful to get a group of people together (or even for the solitary) to conduct a ritual or two in a beautiful public area like a forest, the beach or even the local park. Sabbats in particular a wonderful occasions to get out and about and share the ritual with friends and loved ones at a park close to everyone or a peaceful patch of farmland or whatever. There’s something very special about honouring deity with friends and loved ones amidst the splendour of the mountains, trees, grasslands or the sea. However, to make sure that the occasion goes well, and that there are no legal, journalistic or embarrassing consequences afterwards, the following tips might prove very helpful.
• To avoid curious stares or visitors, don’t wear ritual robes or elaborate clothing unless the place is very private.
• However, do wear clothing to avoid police intervention and charges of nudity!
• Always leave the area cleaner than you found it.
• If the area is run by a municipality or similar, seek permission to use the area first.
• If you are allowed to light a fire, keep a hose, water bucket or safety materials close by.
• Keep the noise down.
• If erecting equipment like a maypole or similar, make sure this does not damage the area.
• Be aware that any loud, supposedly socially unusual behaviour or singing will attract attention.
• Dancing around a circle area may well attract onlookers so either keep dancing to a minim or choose a very private area.
• Rituals done during the evening and night will often need candles. Be aware of fire bans and safety or use battery lanterns instead.
Essentially your aim with a ritual in a public place rather than at home is to conduct the rite with respect for not only deity, but also for the owners and users of the area in question. You wouldn’t want people coming in and leaving scorch marks on your lawn from a ritual fire or leaving their lolly wrappers and empty drink cartons all over your neatly weeded flowerbeds! If you wouldn’t be happy with that at your place, neither would anyone else at a public place either.
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Crystals or Crutch?
OK, I know this will be controversial but I was never one to shy away from a discussion! I had a thought this week which concerned me. Anyone who knows me will know that I love my crystals (amethyst ,what a surprise, and clear quartz particularly) and that I usually carry some crystals with me. I’ll often have a small smooth crystal or two shoved discreetly down my bra (a lot more comfortable than it sounds) and I often carry a drawstring pouch with my favourite crystals nestled within it. The pouch hangs off my shoulder even at work.
Why do I do this? Because it feels comforting, because I like to draw strength from them when things get tough particularly at work and because I can. I find that holding a crystal when I’m feeling a little stressed, perplexed, worried or frustrated helps me focus and can keep me calm. All great stuff I reckon until I wondered if my crystals had become a crutch rather than simply a tool to refocus my inner strengths. I really questioned myself here and searched my motivation and reasons for using my crystals. Had I become so dependent on them that they had replaced my own strengths? Horror! Was I actually a ‘cyrstalholic’? Did I have a crystal dependency problem? Was I a crystal addict?
Seriously now, and no offence intended to anyone (heaven knows in reality my very real addiction is chocolate – just ask my partner!) I came to the conclusion that my crystals were still a tool rather than a crutch. I realised that I could live my life quite easily without them and in fact I don’t have them with me every day, most days admittedly but not every day. The more I thought it through, the more I realised that we all use a variety of objects, rituals, habits and behaviours to help us steer through life’s challenges. One of my best friends is clearly addicted to coffee and that’s something she absolutely needs in order to get going each morning. My partner loves reading the paper on a Sunday morning and apart from that having become his Sunday morning ritual, it’s something he frets for if it doesn’t happen. I bet we all have behaviours or little objects we use regularly that have become our ritualised ways of coping or at least support mechanisms. But having said that, most of us still have enough inner strength to cope even when our much loved object or behaviour is missing. I love my crystals but I also equally have enough self strength to get through life without a crutch if I have to, well maybe with the exception of chocolate.
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Lughnasadh/Lammas
A Greater Sabbat and an Earth Cross-Quarter Day
Northern Hemisphere July 31st
Southern Hemisphere February 2nd
Seasonal Relevancy
Some of the flowers are already beginning to fade while the late bloomers are coming into their fullness. The new life that came in spring is fast developing toward adulthood and we’re beginning to see the outcomes of the fertile energies sewn earlier in the seasonal cycle and year.
This festival celebrates the first harvest being brought in from the fields and from the fruit trees and so rituals tend to focus
on the theme of harvest.
Mythological Relevancy
Lughnasadh (pronounced ‘Loo-nar-sar) is a ritual often held in honour of the ancient Celtic sun God Lugh and it marks how he annually sacrifices his life so that the fruits can ripen and the crops can grow toward their harvests. Lugh is a revered God of harvest and light.
Popular Rituals
Bake bread from many different grains to honour the harvest and celebrate the food of the Gods.
A Contemporary Lughnasadh/Lammas Ritual
Everyone should begin gathering at the ritual site late in the afternoon so that the ritual can commence close to sunset. The circle is to be marked out with a trail of grain. The altar is to be decorated with the flowers that are currently in season (Iris, Lilies, Frangipani, Lavender, Jasmine etc) and with the bread rolls that each person has been asked to bring with them. Cakes and ale should be small bread rolls and red wine. Each person is to bring with them their ingredients for summer pudding (see below).
Cast the circle as normal if there are no visitors present, otherwise, omit the circle casting.
The ritual leader commences by explaining Lammas “Lammas is an ancient Celtic fire festival that celebrates the first grain harvest of the season and also marks the turning point between summer and the commencement of autumn. In times gone by, people would have used this opportunity to give thanks for the bounty of the harvest and to begin the preparations for the coming dark, winter months. Winter was a harsh time when many animals and people did not survive either because of the cold, through hunger or through illness. The harvest was therefore extremely important because the grain helped ensure adequate supplies of food through those coming months”.
“Lammas comes from the Anglo Saxon word, hlafmas or loaf-mass and shows us that a thousand years ago, the grain crops were of immense importance to the ongoing survival of village life. Many cultures across the globe celebrate a similar concept at this time. The Irish honour the solar God Lugh with their Lughnasadh festival. Lugh was the king of the Tuatha de Danann, the God of light and of the harvest and this festival marks the point at which he begins to die in sacrifice to ensure an abundant crop. The Scots call this event Lunasduinn, the French honour the God Lugus while even the Christians adopted this festival to celebrate St Peter’s release from prison.”
“As a celebration of the grain harvest that delivers increased opportunity to survive the coming months, bread is the icon of Lammas. Bread is the product of the grain and thus the embodiment of continued life. Christians see bread as the body of Christ while Greek mythology sees bread as a symbol of mortality. Bread, like wine, is a food substance that undergoes a fermentation process and as such bread, and wine, are separated from the usual fruits of the harvest which need little preparation before consumption. Apples, oranges, nuts, berries, vegetables and many other fruits of the land can be eaten almost straight from the tree, the vine, the bush or the ground. They may require washing or even simple cooking but grain and grapes undergo a process of modification in order to become the revered produce they are and this process symbolises civilisation, community and the intellectualisation of man.”
“Bread is thus the symbol of life, of man’s ability to survive but also of the separation between the immortal world of the Gods and the mundane and harsh world of mortal man.”
“As we celebrate this festival, let us each consider what we have to be grateful for today. What are the things you are reaping now that you began last year? What are the bounties that you are grateful for? What are the blessings that have enriched your life? Moreover, what are the things you need to do now in order to prepare for the darkness of winter? What are the things you must think about that will bring you happiness and peace during the next six months? What processes do you need to start right now that will help you reach your goals?”
At this point each person present is given a bread roll from those that were placed on the altar prior to the commencement of the ritual.
The ritual leader says “each of you has brought to this rite some bread which is a symbol of enduring life. The bread you hold in your hand is like the bread that came from the grain harvests which enabled our ancestors to live through the extremes of winter. The Irish-Gaelic God Lugh gave his life for the harvest so that the cycle of life could continue. Break your bread in half now and before you take a bite, consider the bounty that you have for which you can be grateful. If you would like, please share your thoughts of thanks.”
Each person can then share what they are grateful for with the group and take a bite of their bread roll.
The ritual leader now continues “while each of us has issues of concern and problems that we face, the likelihood that we will die from starvation or cold through the winter is not strong. We are blessed to be part of a community that has bread, that has heating, supermarkets, jobs, money, transport. It may not always be a bed of roses, but we are blessed more than many others. Take one more bite of your bread and as you do, give thoughts to those who do not share in your blessings.”
Each person can take one more bite in silent contemplation. The ritual leader completes this ritual task by asking the group to place their left over bread pieces back in the altar bowl and explains that these left over pieces will go to feed the local chickens and birds so contributing to the continued cycle of life.
Consecrate and then have the cakes and ale then close the circle. Follow up by making summer puddings together.
The ritual leader says “while grains are abundant now, so too are berries. The supermarkets are awash with blueberries, mulberries, blackberries, strawberries and so on. The season is brief and the fruits are so yummy that it would be a shame not to incorporate these into our Lughnasadh/Lammas event. So each person is going to make a summer pudding using the berries, bread and bowls they brought with them. (To help with this, a recipe is included below.)
The ritual leader explains how to make the pudding and why it is significant “the berries are abundant now but the season will be over within the month. The redcurrants, strawberries, raspberries and so on are the colour of dark fire, the colour of the fire Gods, the colour of blood which is the universal liquid of life. The bread that surrounds the berries within the pudding bowl incorporates the bread aspect of this festival and envelops the berry red blood of life within a symbolic bread shell of enduring life. The summer pudding is thus our symbol of survival.”