Blessings, Darlings!
So, after I explained lots of times I do NOT cast circles or otherwise create sacred space, what ARE they great for, and when DO I do it?
In olde-tyme magick, circles were used to keep the nasties out. Many of the nasties in this case were what the magickian was invoking. They were a safe space to work in while the mage called up something to bend to her/his will. If them nasties ever got unionized, it would be REALLY ugly.
Most modern magick-users don't do that type of working today.
Now circles and other forms of sacred space are primarily (but not exclusively) rather a portal to the Otherworlds. In the case of a circle, you build your own universe with the Elements and often a God or Goddesses or both. In the Muglit ritual (the one we used in Mugwort Grove of ADF), we created our own universe with a Triad (usually Earth/Sea/Sky or Nature Spirits/Ancestors/Gods, and added The Well, The Fire, and the World Tree) then opened a gate between the worlds.
The sacred space might be called "between the worlds", it might be the creative center, whatever. You leave the created and go where all things are possible, all things are mutable. To the hidden reality behind our consentual reality. One step .... not beyond, but one step closer to Truth.
A cast circle will 'mute' or at least turn down the distractions of the mundane, and thus help a person move energy, do magic, feel energy, hear the God/dess/es, more clearly.
But a fully cast circle is time intensive, and far more 'formal' than the workings I usually do. Most magic is closer to Tweeting on Twitter than filling out a government RFP (request for proposal).
There are places for both, no question about it. But not everything requires doing a RFP, and not everything can be handed in 140 characters or less.
Frondly, Fern
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Do You Need To Cast A Circle To Do Magic?
Blessings, Darlings!
In my sometimes-desperate searches for blog topics, I've seen a lot of 'experts on magic' say that you should never do magic unless you do it within a cast circle. I rather disagree on this point, and feel that for thaumaturgical magic - magic aimed at 'miracle working' - circles are totally optional. For theurgical workings it IS useful to create some sort of sacred space, circles being one common way of creating that. (Ivo Dominguez, Jr., goes into lots of ways to cast sacred space for Wiccan rituals in his book "Castings", if you want to look at those). Goetia, clearly, needs circles and triangles and probably demon-extinguishers, and Ceremonial Magick is, well, fully into ceremony.
That said, you might have notices that in both of my recent blog posts on doing magic The Healing Cauldron and Steak Sans Sizzle no circles were involved. In the case of 'steak', casting a circle would have taken away from the magic in several ways - first by drawing attention/odd energy from the rest of the folks in the store, second by being repeatedly violated by children running in and out of it. For my Cauldron work ... well, let's just say that I know myself. I'm FAR less likely to do daily work there if I add circle casting to the working, and I don't think that creation of sacred space would add much if anything to the work.
Tomorrow - what ARE circles and other forms of created sacred space good for?
Frondly, Fern
In my sometimes-desperate searches for blog topics, I've seen a lot of 'experts on magic' say that you should never do magic unless you do it within a cast circle. I rather disagree on this point, and feel that for thaumaturgical magic - magic aimed at 'miracle working' - circles are totally optional. For theurgical workings it IS useful to create some sort of sacred space, circles being one common way of creating that. (Ivo Dominguez, Jr., goes into lots of ways to cast sacred space for Wiccan rituals in his book "Castings", if you want to look at those). Goetia, clearly, needs circles and triangles and probably demon-extinguishers, and Ceremonial Magick is, well, fully into ceremony.
That said, you might have notices that in both of my recent blog posts on doing magic The Healing Cauldron and Steak Sans Sizzle no circles were involved. In the case of 'steak', casting a circle would have taken away from the magic in several ways - first by drawing attention/odd energy from the rest of the folks in the store, second by being repeatedly violated by children running in and out of it. For my Cauldron work ... well, let's just say that I know myself. I'm FAR less likely to do daily work there if I add circle casting to the working, and I don't think that creation of sacred space would add much if anything to the work.
Tomorrow - what ARE circles and other forms of created sacred space good for?
Frondly, Fern
Monday, January 10, 2011
Too Sweet?
Blessings, Darlings!
The Chubby Hubby and I aren't into desserts that hit you with intense sweetness and nothing else. We prefer desserts with lots of flavor and moderate amounts of sugar. The Spawn rather despairs at my habit of cutting the sugar in half in chocolate chip cookies and pies.
So I make things like well-spiced Oatmeal Raisin cookies typically, which we all enjoy.
But this holiday season, when every time the Chubby Hubby planned to make the Crescent cookies that I gave the recipe for last week something came up and he had to abandon the plan for that day, I hit the cookbooks to look for a cookie to make myself. Having moved 3 boxes of cookbooks (yes, I DID get rid of some before we moved!), that took a while. And deciding which recipe to try took a while, too.
I ended up making America's Test Kitchen's "Best Chocolate Butter Cookies", and they SO totally rocked that they seem destined to be a family favorite for years to come! They take little sugar in the recipe, which is well to our taste, I could form them into a roll and slice and bake them which suits me better than rolling and using cookie cutters, and a simple glaze (or a dusting of powdered sugar) kicked them up for presentation.
The recipe is in America's Test Kitchen's "Family Baking Book" - we've nicknamed that one "Big Blue" (we call their "Family Favorites" cookbook "Big Red"). I love all their cookbooks, most of which we even have autographed by Christopher Kimball! And all of which we bought ourselves, since ain't no one sending me review copies of ANYTHING for this blog. Alas.
Frondly, Fern
The Chubby Hubby and I aren't into desserts that hit you with intense sweetness and nothing else. We prefer desserts with lots of flavor and moderate amounts of sugar. The Spawn rather despairs at my habit of cutting the sugar in half in chocolate chip cookies and pies.
So I make things like well-spiced Oatmeal Raisin cookies typically, which we all enjoy.
But this holiday season, when every time the Chubby Hubby planned to make the Crescent cookies that I gave the recipe for last week something came up and he had to abandon the plan for that day, I hit the cookbooks to look for a cookie to make myself. Having moved 3 boxes of cookbooks (yes, I DID get rid of some before we moved!), that took a while. And deciding which recipe to try took a while, too.
I ended up making America's Test Kitchen's "Best Chocolate Butter Cookies", and they SO totally rocked that they seem destined to be a family favorite for years to come! They take little sugar in the recipe, which is well to our taste, I could form them into a roll and slice and bake them which suits me better than rolling and using cookie cutters, and a simple glaze (or a dusting of powdered sugar) kicked them up for presentation.
The recipe is in America's Test Kitchen's "Family Baking Book" - we've nicknamed that one "Big Blue" (we call their "Family Favorites" cookbook "Big Red"). I love all their cookbooks, most of which we even have autographed by Christopher Kimball! And all of which we bought ourselves, since ain't no one sending me review copies of ANYTHING for this blog. Alas.
Frondly, Fern
Sunday, January 9, 2011
The Healing Cauldron
Blessings, Darlings!
EARLY LAST WEEK:
Early last week, during the waning moon, I cleaned out my healing cauldron, readying it for another year of use.
YESTERDAY:
Midday yesterday, e-mail went out from the Wiccan Trad I'm in that a member's family needed prayers/energy/magic. So I finally found a location for the cauldron and a candle (yes, refer back to the chaos caused by moving), and did a quick working.
I went back to the computer. The news started rolling in about the mass shooting in Arizona. Back to the cauldron, more working.
None of my other altars are up in the house, and clearly I was running late in setting up the Healing Cauldron ... and I still need to find the candle supply. Having a dedicated Healing Cauldron, however, is always a good idea.
THE HEALING CAULDRON
For most of the folks I know, 'the healing cauldron' is a useful phrase, an abbreviation for a working. For me, it refers to a literal cauldron, on an always-erected specific altar, one which usually (like, except during moves) gets daily attention.
The altar I use is simple. It features a 4-inch cast iron cauldron, a candle, a candlestick if I'm not using a glass-enclosed candle, and some Bridget's Brats, blessed in years of working with Mugwort Grove, ADF. Given the affinity of us AMOKs for hot tubs, I had really wanted to use a doll house hot tub, but resisted that temptation - mostly because I already had a couple of small cauldrons.
Having this ALWAYS set up, any time a request for healing comes my way, I don't have to be distracted by setting things up. And every morning I light a candle and send energy and prayers for those already in it.
BTW, I usually use Hanukkah candles for this. They burn about 20 minutes, so I rarely have to handle issues of untended candles left burning!
At times, usually the full moon, I make offerings as well, to keep the energy flowing well. Grain, honey, butter, wine, oil usually. Sometimes canned goods that will later go to the food pantry for the good of all.
In a way, it's part of my 'prepper' lifestyle. Illness, injury, death, etc WILL happen to those around you. Being able to spiritually and magically handle those things is part of the drill.
Frondly, Fern
EARLY LAST WEEK:
Early last week, during the waning moon, I cleaned out my healing cauldron, readying it for another year of use.
YESTERDAY:
Midday yesterday, e-mail went out from the Wiccan Trad I'm in that a member's family needed prayers/energy/magic. So I finally found a location for the cauldron and a candle (yes, refer back to the chaos caused by moving), and did a quick working.
I went back to the computer. The news started rolling in about the mass shooting in Arizona. Back to the cauldron, more working.
None of my other altars are up in the house, and clearly I was running late in setting up the Healing Cauldron ... and I still need to find the candle supply. Having a dedicated Healing Cauldron, however, is always a good idea.
THE HEALING CAULDRON
For most of the folks I know, 'the healing cauldron' is a useful phrase, an abbreviation for a working. For me, it refers to a literal cauldron, on an always-erected specific altar, one which usually (like, except during moves) gets daily attention.
The altar I use is simple. It features a 4-inch cast iron cauldron, a candle, a candlestick if I'm not using a glass-enclosed candle, and some Bridget's Brats, blessed in years of working with Mugwort Grove, ADF. Given the affinity of us AMOKs for hot tubs, I had really wanted to use a doll house hot tub, but resisted that temptation - mostly because I already had a couple of small cauldrons.
Having this ALWAYS set up, any time a request for healing comes my way, I don't have to be distracted by setting things up. And every morning I light a candle and send energy and prayers for those already in it.
BTW, I usually use Hanukkah candles for this. They burn about 20 minutes, so I rarely have to handle issues of untended candles left burning!
At times, usually the full moon, I make offerings as well, to keep the energy flowing well. Grain, honey, butter, wine, oil usually. Sometimes canned goods that will later go to the food pantry for the good of all.
In a way, it's part of my 'prepper' lifestyle. Illness, injury, death, etc WILL happen to those around you. Being able to spiritually and magically handle those things is part of the drill.
Frondly, Fern
Friday, January 7, 2011
Schedule
Blessings, Darlings!
A friend of mine has an interesting approach to menu planning - she has decided on what species for every day of the week, and then decides on how to cook it from there. So, Friday night is always chicken, Wednesday night is always veggie pizza delivery since she and her husband work late that night, etc.
OTOH, I build my menu around what's for sale that week, and can serve lots of something if it's cheap. Like chicken 4 times in a week!
Since we have a big old freezer (literally old - we bought it in 1979), I am considering combining the two ideas - menu by species but purchasing LOTS on sale. It might not work perfectly, but then again it might.
Have any of you tried this yourself? Do you have other ideas for the menu planning part of life?
Help!
Frondly, Fern
A friend of mine has an interesting approach to menu planning - she has decided on what species for every day of the week, and then decides on how to cook it from there. So, Friday night is always chicken, Wednesday night is always veggie pizza delivery since she and her husband work late that night, etc.
OTOH, I build my menu around what's for sale that week, and can serve lots of something if it's cheap. Like chicken 4 times in a week!
Since we have a big old freezer (literally old - we bought it in 1979), I am considering combining the two ideas - menu by species but purchasing LOTS on sale. It might not work perfectly, but then again it might.
Have any of you tried this yourself? Do you have other ideas for the menu planning part of life?
Help!
Frondly, Fern
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Seeds Found!
Blessings, Darlings!
In my never-ending work to unpack from the move, I've FINALLY found the bulk of my stored seeds Sunday evening. I was having the hardest time finding them, and feared the guys had put the boxes of them in the detached garage. I didn't want to have to look for the right boxes there (among the 200 other boxes there), nor would the seeds have been happy in single degree temperatures.
But, no - they were in mislabeled boxes, mostly in the living room.
I still haven't found the herb seeds, but I'm greatly cheered and hopeful that they will soon be found.
See, it's just about time to start onion seeds indoors (and parsley, but as noted, those seeds haven't yet been found). So it was going to be an ISSUE soon.
I have a 3 year supply of seeds on hand. They don't take up much room, especially compared to everything else that I struggle to find room for merely a ONE year supply of.
Having found the seeds that meant that on my trip to town I picked up some soil to start the seeds in (the ground here being frozen). Tomorrow I hope to have time to get them started, if not, then Sunday is my aim.
Have you got/ordered seeds for your garden yet this year? This is prime time to order them!
Frondly, Fern
In my never-ending work to unpack from the move, I've FINALLY found the bulk of my stored seeds Sunday evening. I was having the hardest time finding them, and feared the guys had put the boxes of them in the detached garage. I didn't want to have to look for the right boxes there (among the 200 other boxes there), nor would the seeds have been happy in single degree temperatures.
But, no - they were in mislabeled boxes, mostly in the living room.
I still haven't found the herb seeds, but I'm greatly cheered and hopeful that they will soon be found.
See, it's just about time to start onion seeds indoors (and parsley, but as noted, those seeds haven't yet been found). So it was going to be an ISSUE soon.
I have a 3 year supply of seeds on hand. They don't take up much room, especially compared to everything else that I struggle to find room for merely a ONE year supply of.
Having found the seeds that meant that on my trip to town I picked up some soil to start the seeds in (the ground here being frozen). Tomorrow I hope to have time to get them started, if not, then Sunday is my aim.
Have you got/ordered seeds for your garden yet this year? This is prime time to order them!
Frondly, Fern
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Steak Sans Sizzle
Blessings, Darlings!
It was a Tuesday evening some 6 years ago. No one recalls what the phase of the moon was or any of the other astrological influences.
It was an evening magic was done.
The women met not in the woods, or meadow, or sea shore. They met at the Borders Bookstore in a centralish location, on a highway, surrounded by lots of other big box stores.. They brought their tired having-worked-all-day bodies, and their children. After all, no ritual was planned, no worship, no workings. It was going to be a social evening, a group of Pagan friends sipping coffee and talking.
They certainly did drink coffee and talk.
N's daughter was pregnant again, a wonderful thing. She had miscarried once already, a devastating loss. Yes, a likely cause had been identified and mundane medical folks were working on solutions, but the reverberations from the miscarriage were very much alive for N, her husband, her daughter, and her son in law.
It's NOT fair to say that the women SPRANG into action. No, the magic that followed was not a bustling, high-octane kind of energy use, a fact that is a little surprising given all the caffeine flowing.
Two of the group walked next door - among the other big box store was a craft store. Sneaky God/dess/es! From the supply of 3 or 4 inch tall sturdy wooden letters they selected the one that began the daughter's name. They picked up 9 feet each of ribbon, in traditional baby pastels of white, green, and yellow. Then they returned to the pushed-together tables at Borders.
Centers of the ribbons were tied to the wooden letter, and the women began braiding. Intentions of full term pregnancy, blessings for mother and child, simple goals, braided by each woman in turn. Conversations continued. The women's children came in and out of the cafe, showing the books they were reading, asking questions, talking with their mothers and the other women, sipping cocoa, nibbling dessert. Other tables had other people sipping their drinks, reading their books and magazines, having their conversations.
Oh - yes, in due time N had her healthy, full-term grandson.
Frondly, Fern
It was a Tuesday evening some 6 years ago. No one recalls what the phase of the moon was or any of the other astrological influences.
It was an evening magic was done.
The women met not in the woods, or meadow, or sea shore. They met at the Borders Bookstore in a centralish location, on a highway, surrounded by lots of other big box stores.. They brought their tired having-worked-all-day bodies, and their children. After all, no ritual was planned, no worship, no workings. It was going to be a social evening, a group of Pagan friends sipping coffee and talking.
They certainly did drink coffee and talk.
N's daughter was pregnant again, a wonderful thing. She had miscarried once already, a devastating loss. Yes, a likely cause had been identified and mundane medical folks were working on solutions, but the reverberations from the miscarriage were very much alive for N, her husband, her daughter, and her son in law.
It's NOT fair to say that the women SPRANG into action. No, the magic that followed was not a bustling, high-octane kind of energy use, a fact that is a little surprising given all the caffeine flowing.
Two of the group walked next door - among the other big box store was a craft store. Sneaky God/dess/es! From the supply of 3 or 4 inch tall sturdy wooden letters they selected the one that began the daughter's name. They picked up 9 feet each of ribbon, in traditional baby pastels of white, green, and yellow. Then they returned to the pushed-together tables at Borders.
Centers of the ribbons were tied to the wooden letter, and the women began braiding. Intentions of full term pregnancy, blessings for mother and child, simple goals, braided by each woman in turn. Conversations continued. The women's children came in and out of the cafe, showing the books they were reading, asking questions, talking with their mothers and the other women, sipping cocoa, nibbling dessert. Other tables had other people sipping their drinks, reading their books and magazines, having their conversations.
Oh - yes, in due time N had her healthy, full-term grandson.
Frondly, Fern
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