Showing posts with label fire. Show all posts

Witchy Wednesday - What is Magic?

So what is magic? If I had a dollar for every time I had been asked that question...

I have been writing about magic for quite some time.  One of the things I like to use to break it down really simply to others is that magic crosses over religious guidelines.  It crosses into Santeria, Catholicism, Wicca and Witchcraft.  As a direct comparison think about a prayer. Prayers are a staple in most organized religion.  To me, the real difference is that while prayers are a plea to a higher power to "fix" something for you, a spell is taking matters into your own hands and putting out the energy to make the changes yourself.

Here are two photos taken one after the other during "Rite of her Sacred Fires", a worldwide rite to the Goddess Hecate.

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson


Healing for example is something that every path seeks to provide to their followers.  For a millennia you can find healing spells/potions/prayers in all forms.  For example recently some of my work was the focus of a post related to the healing powers of copper.  You can see the full article here.  The same can be said for related magic such as fertility, love and yes even revenge. I have always believed that a witch that cannot curse cannot heal. In watching some of our modern day practitioners some could learn a think or two about cursing and remaining silent!

This photo was taken as part of a binding ritual. I am not the only one to call upon Hecate for banishing or cursing type magic.  You can find a great article about it here.

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson

So what is magic?  Magic is something that comes from within. It is the ability to recognize and harness the internal energy you have and use that energy to change things in the physical world. Magic can use candles and totems.  It can use herbs and flowers.  It can use crystals and stones, but all of those things would simply be objects without your ability to guide your energy with these objects and create that magical connection.

Take a moment.  Connect with that energy and focus on making a change.  Focus on sending that healing or aiding in a prosperity ritual.  Take that time to send out that energy and focus on that change that is required.

Here are a few other blog posts I have written regarding magic.

M is for Magic - Pagan Blog Project
Practical Magic - Witchy Wednesday
Spelling with Witches - Witchy Wednesday
What is a Witch - Confessions of a Modern Witch




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Throwing Thursday - Bisque & Glaze

Here are a few pics of bisque and glaze fires

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson

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Pagan Blog Project - T is for Torch

T is for Torch

When I think of a torch I think of a flicker in the night. A drop of brilliant light in a wall pitch black.  The light does not shows me new things, rather it just reveals what is already there.  Things that are right in front of me, but I cannot see.

Photo Credit - Renee Olson


Goddess Hecate has many titles. Dachouchos means torch-bearer while Phosporus  means light-bearer.  (From Hekate Liminal Rites pg 20) To me, these are very similar, what does a torch bearer do but bring light.

Historically Hecate is generally depicted with torches.  As early as 5 Century BCE she can be seen standing next to Kybele holding a torch in front of her and a vase shows her holding out two torches.

My hubby recreated this altar tile for me based on an image we found on the internet. You can see it here on my altar.  It shows a three headed Hecate with her torches on each side.  It sits on my altar next to my bronzed Hecate sculpture.

Photo Credit - Hecate Statue - Artist Renee Olson


Modern artists often show Hecate with her torches high.  Either in paints or clay these are very common images. 

The image below is used with the artist, Danielle Suplicki permission.  While researching for this piece I found this image while looking for art related to "The Torchbearer".  To me the stars shown in the sky in this painting remind me of Asteria (The starry one) looking down on her daughter, watching her and guiding her torch through night.  Seeking out those night wandering souls that are looking for entrance in to the underworld or perhaps the misguided looking for the correct path to continue their journey.

The halo around the body and drifts away into the dark shadows fall behind her as the torch lights the three paths ahead.  Truly stunning.


Photo Credit & Artist - Danielle Suplicki of HeartRoot Studio
If you're interested in contacting Danielle for custom work or would like to see what she currently has available in her shop check out her Facebook Page and her Etsy shop.


This is a piece I created out of wet clay.  Here the Goddess is shown in triple form, with a torch held on opposite sides of the sculpture.  Her midnight blue form showing under a bronze crescent moon joining with the torch light to guide her path. The back filled with a deep black to show the darkness left behind and the torches light up what comes ahead.

Photo Credit & Artist - Renee Olson of Sosanna's Closet

To me, one of the most specific things that speaks to me about torches and Hecate is the annual event I participate in called “The Rite of Her Sacred Fires.”  I've always been drawn to fire and as a child could easily get lost in the dancing flames.  I would sit for hours staring at the fire as it burned and burned.  At time it was almost as though I could see little movies playing in the embers.  To me that attraction and seeing those images in the fire make me believe that even as a small child, seeking out an answer in the flames, she was there for me.

Each year on the full moon in May devotees and followers of the Goddess Hecate join together in their own sanctuaries and around their own altars to complete a single right.  Spoken with one voice the chorus joins together to pay honor to the Hecate Dacouchos, the torch-bearer, Hecate Phosporus, the light-bearer.
Below is a recording shared on YouTube filmed by TaraSanchez in 2010 showing Sorita d’Este completing the Rite of Her Sacred Fires.





I believe that when you are open to answers they will be revealed to you.  Much like the way a torch opens up the darkness for you to see what is really already there in front of you.  Over the last few weeks I've been reaching out, searching for answers related to the paths I want to take next in my life.  I've been presented with roads that lead into directions that are worrisome and unknown.

When preparing for our last vending event, hubby commented that I was making too many *Hecate specific* items.  Over the weekend I had five or six people come in and mention her by name.  Others asking for items that could be related to her.  Keys, Owls and graveyard dirt.  I think of each one of these people came into my life in a moment of darkness, like that torch showing me the answer to my question.  I've decided that I put too much emphasis on some things in my life and not enough on others.

Over the next months, maybe years, I will be focusing on Hecate.  Learning as much as I can.  I plan to be more active in the CoH and begin to study at what I hope will lead to a Torchbearer role within the covenant. 

I am confident that if this is not the right path, the Mistress of the Crossroads will guide me with her torches to my right destination. 


Namaste & Blessed Be
Sosanna
)O(



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Pagan Blog Project 2012 - X is for Xylomancy



Xylomancy is divination of the past, present and future using wood, twigs or fallen tree branches.  In biblical times seers would divine based on the pattern fallen tree limbs or other pieces of wood made when lying on the ground.  Like Dendromancy and Tephramancy (divination of ashes in burned tree trunk) it is thought that it has its origin in the tree worship.

I’ve searched the web and found several sites that are related to Xylomancy.  Most have the statements above and then links to various resources on trees.  Art of Divination for example has a list of trees correspondences.  For example it lists the Blackthorn for unexpected change and Beech for stability and energy flow.  

Some ways to practice Xylomancy include stripping the branches of ½ the bark and tossing them on ground to examine the random patterns made.  Further watching the way logs are arranged in a fire place while they burned was another form of Xylomancy.

I found this video of Yule logs burning if you'd care to give it a try.

 

I found that Llewellyn lists this as divination by observing the pattern of thrown sticks or staves.   To me this sounds slightly different then the first definition which makes it sound as though we’re looking at random tree limbs falling in or around someone’s property and the second like throwing of bones. 

I then discovered that if I could only get my FAFSA to recognize Hogwards as a valid college I could go take a course on Xylomancy and learn divination by analyzing pieces of burning word.  Again slightly different than the original definition and in my mind leads more to fire scrying than “wood scrying”. 

In my reading I’ve found that generally people ancient times (and sometimes me when I find my mirrors turned faced down) look at things that are out of the ordinary or different as an omen.  For example, if a baby died and a midwife was present she was sometimes accused of witchcraft and held accountable for the baby’s death.  If a black cat comes to your house, it brings difficulties, and breaking a mirror would be considered a bad omen.  


So there you have it, a very basic introduction to Xylomancy.  I’d like to thanks my dearest sister Kallan, for a wonderful suggestion of this word and to remind you to head over to check out her blog!

Namaste & Blessed Be
Sosanna
)O(
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NaBloWriMo - Witchy Wednesday 4 - The Altar


For this week’s Witchy Wednesday I've decided to focus on one of the most popular tools in the witch’s possession.  The altar can take on many forms.   From an outside space to be joined with nature to an inside private area to complete chants, the altar can be as complex or as simple as desired.

I’ll start by dissecting my own altar.  I am Hecatean, which means I am a follower of Hecate (Hekate).  I do not have a consort or a male deity that I set alongside of her.  She is my only deity. 




Photo Credit - Renee Olson


Above is my altar to Hecate.  I have a red candle plate that holds round dishes that my tea light candles go on.  These are for the directions. When I call the quarters I light each tea light starting in the North and circling around to the West.  In the center is a large red taper. This is my candle for Hecate.  To the left is a painting of the Goddess and incense burners which hold my sage are here as well.  To the bottom right of the photo is my chalice.  This is to represent again the feminine on an altar.  Many accompany this with a wand or a dagger/Athame.  I do not have either of these on my altar but I do have a large wooden walking stick that sits on the back behind the triple Goddess emblem. I'm still searching for the correct dagger for my altar. This is the only “phallic” type object that I keep.    To the top right there is a small tin of salt, a wooden pentacle and a ceremonial broom that I made to help “sweep” the negativity out.

Photo Credit - Renee Olson


This next photo shows a close-up of the red candle and the Triple Goddess symbol that is carved into the back of the wooden Altar.  I have a bell in the rear for air and to the right there is a small bottle of water and some dirt.   Just next to the red candle dish is a small green candle that I've added for prosperity.  To the back right is my hand fasting cord.   Hubby and I plan to renew our dedication to each other on Samhain, our ten year anniversary using this cord.  It’s been on my altar for a month now collecting energy. 

Photo Credit - Renee Olson


Most altars will have representation of the particular Deity.  I have several of Hecate on my altar. I've the painting above of the Goddess in Red.  I have a key, a piece of Lapis Lazuli as well as a small red bag that contains the cord I used in the “Rite of the Red Cord”.

The representation can be something as simple as a small stone or a candle or as complex as a huge statue.  Many believe that making the object yourself adds more power to it, however I believe that if this is something that speaks to the individual, which gives it a power of its own.  Selecting an image for your deity is a completely personal decision and can take years to complete.

Here are a few examples of some of the Goddess representations I've created.




Photo Credit - Artist - Renee Olson
Purple Goddess

Photo Credit - Artist - Renee Olson
The Goddess & Offering Bowl

Photo Credit - Artist - Renee Olson
Golden Goddess

Photo Credit - Artist - Renee Olson
Natural Goddess

Photo Credit - Artist - Renee Olson
Small Red Goddess


Creating your sacred space to work with the deity of your choice is a very personal process.  Each item can take years to find its way to you.  You will know when you find it.


When I’m working with my altar I use a playlist on Youtube to help me get in the Witchy state of mind.  Recently I found a new chant called “The Charge of the Goddess”.    I’ll leave you with that now.







Namaste & Blessed Be
Sosanna
)O(



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