Showing posts with label practical_magic. Show all posts

Witchy Wednesday - Practical Magic - Part 2

This week we're looking at part two of Practical Magic (Kindle) by Nikki Van De Car. Instead of a traditional review I thought I would take the next few weeks to go into each of the chapters with you at my first read as opposed to reading the entire book and then giving a review.  You can find several of her publications at Running Press.


Photo Credit - Book Cover



Part two of the book is called Magic for the Weekend Wiccan. Again the author takes us to a lighthearted look at magic and paganism. Here I could see where some more dedicated practitioners might be offended by this approach. Good information is often loss because no one looks past the title. I encourage my readers to bypass the possible uneasiness of the section header and check out the actual meat of the book.  While not necessary for an advanced witch I can see how this may be used as an introduction into the magical world. Remember not every Witch practices Wicca.





The weekend chapters offer a brief (limited) view of herbs. We all know there are entire books dedicated to herbs so to expect this book to be a main resource would be misleading. There is a part on making tinctures, oils and poultices however I would again use this as only an introduction.

Our next section is on plant based magic.  There are two pages of listed plants and in does point out that you should avoid belladonna. This is an extremely good idea. As this is a beginner book I would be surprised to see any other reference to it here.  Frankly too many people do not take the warnings of herbalist seriously and end up getting sick.  Herbs are nothing to muck around with and shouldn't be something that a beginner starts with. Interest in herbalism is a process. I recommend beginning with YouTube and find some great teachers to follow.







Next the author reviews the Wheel of the Year.  These are are the holidays that are celebrated by many of the Pagan people.  Not everyone celebrates these holidays but most have some sort of festival/ritual honoring the lunar and solar cycles.  The author provides a brief history of each of the days including ways to celebrate and other correspondences such as the herb, color and stones for each.




The final part of this chapter talks directly about magic. The section header is called White Magic.  My brain was like ... Hey, what?? No!  Just stop, there's no such thing as white mag......

Then the author nipped that in the bud in the very first sentence.  I was glad to see that. She boldly stated the fact, Magic is magic.  It has no color. YES!  Thank you,  Nikki!

She goes on to break down, albeit briefly, the types of spells out there and even provides a simple spell for beginners to follow. I was pleased to see how she handled this section. It could have truly been a train wreck.



Next week I'll review Section 3 on Causal Clairvoyance and then wrap up this review.  Remember you can grab your copy by clicking the links above and I will be compiling a giveaway from all the comments on this blog series and  I'll do a giveaway with this book, the matching kit and another book called Feng Crochet all by the same author.



Disclaimer:  I do not practice Wicca.  I am not an expert on any of the traditions of Wicca. I am giving this information as a review of a book written by Nikki Van De Car. Feel free to message the page with questions, however do remember that I am a witch. Without a deity and without an specific tradition.

Witchy Wednesday - Practical Magic - Chapter 1 - Part 2

This week we're looking at the second part of part one of Practical Magic (Kindle) by Nikki Van De Car. Instead of a traditional review I thought I would take the next few weeks to go into each of the chapters with you at my first read as opposed to reading the entire book and then giving a review.  You can find several of her publications at Running Press.

Photo Credit - Book Cover



The author continues part one by talking to us about Crystals and Auras. Being a wire weaver I spend a great deal of time working with different types of crystals. This book offers a list of some of the more common crystals, their chakra association as well as their most common uses. An example would be Amethyst for calm and Citrine for success and money.  Though not mentioned in this book, one of my favorite stones is a Labradorite.  Labs are considered to be a stone of transformation and magic. (source) It helps in reducing stress and anxiety as well as intuition and psychic development. 

Here is one of my favorite Labradorite pieces. At the time of publication this piece as well as many others are available on my website.




She also talks about how to choose and activate a crystal.  For years owning my shop I have often been asked to "charge" a pendant or pendulum for clients. There are several methods for prepping crystals. Often you'll want to start with a good cleansing.  Several methods include leaving them on a window sill in the light of the full moon or burying them in the ground over night to soak up the earth's energy. Choose a method that works best for you and remember, if you don't have a yard improvise. Get a little pot and put some potting soil in it and set it in the a cleansed area of your space.  One popular method is to dip your crystals in a running stream or river.  While I'm lucky enough to live right next to a river not everyone has that luxury.  A few alternatives would be to request some river water from someone living near a river and then simply pour that water out over your crystals or use sage smoke to symbolically pour the smoke (water) over/around your crystals. We have to remember that witches worked with what they had on hand.  When all else fails, improvise.

The remainder of part one is dedicated to Auras. It reviews the basic layers and colors associated with aura reading. Auras are basically colored fields that begin around two inches from the skin and continue outward.  There are seven separate aura fields and according to this author the color ranges from red to white.  With three shades at each color level.  For example this author suggests that orange indicates a healthy, vibrant personality.  Red orange is confidence, yellow orange is creative, intelligent perfectionist and muddy orange is indicating this person is in a "clogged" stage and is unable to move forward.  To cleanse these auras she refers back to the chakra section and recommends alignment to ease/erase these blockages.  

I found this video related to auras and thought it might be useful in learning about this process.  This video is not related to the book.




I became really interested in learning about aura reading after I noticed that I could look at people and see things about them.  Things they were hiding inside themselves. Just after my 20th birthday I noticed that when I would walk into stores I could see people who were abusive. I could actually see them hitting someone or hurting others as they walked past me in the store. It became very frightening so I started "turning it off" as much as I could.  To this day when ever possible I wear sunglasses so no one can see my eyes when I look at them.  When I see their secrets and we make eye contact they know I see their secrets. I decided to just not look at people. Today, I offer reading services on photos instead of in person readings. Still being that close to someone and being able to see what lies below is a bit scary for me.  One person a few years ago, showed me a picture of her husband's mistress but didn't tell me who she was.  She asked for a reading on her.  When I told her that the girl was very much in love but was being lied to by the man she loved she person got very upset. Not too long afterwards she ended our friendship.  I can only assume it was because my words hit too close to home for her.  Around that same time, I referred to what I was doing as aura reading. However after speaking with a very gifted reader I know now that this gift is very different from aura reading.  I cannot quite figure it out yet and will continue to work to figure it out. (link)

Next week I'll be going into Part Two of Practical Magic.  Remember you can grab your copy by clicking the links above and I will be compiling a giveaway from all the comments on this blog series and  I'll do a giveaway with this book, the matching kit and another book called Feng Crochet all by the same author.  





Pagan Blog Project 2012 - W is for Witch


W is for Witch

witch/wiCH/
Noun:   A woman thought to have evil magic powers.
Verb:     (of a witch) Cast an evil spell on.

Synonyms:
noun.  hag - sorceress - harridan - hex - beldam - enchantress
verb.  bewitch - spellbind - enchant - fascinate – charm



Many of my friends have embraced the word Witch.  Even the title of my blog shows that I too identify as the word.  However what does it really mean to be a witch?  And what do we say about ourselves when we use it?

Over my lifetime I've been in many minority categories.  I've been called a Dyke, White Trash and Witch.  As many in these groups I took these words (reappropriation) and tried to embrace them as some form of empowerment.  Recently in a discussion group I belong to we talked about reclaiming these words as a way to take away the oppression that usually goes along with them and “take back” the power that is lost when a minority is singled out and ridiculed for a particular attribute.

Even though I sit and claim to be a proud witch, one of the most hurtful times in my life was just this past year when family members used it against me.  Posting on Facebook the words, you crazy WITCH still sting like fist to the gut.  Being called names is never a good thing but when someone so close to you takes something so near and dear and stabs you with it, the pain is unbearable.

So have we really taken the word back?  Are we really better off by calling ourselves witches.  No one can really say for sure, it’s a very individual process.  I do feel good about using “Witch” as a descriptive word for myself.  I think that even though it is empowering, there is still that little one inside of us that is hurt when people attack and words that we've chosen to make us stronger can still cut deep.

So what do you think, have you claimed a derogatory word as your own and then had it come back to bite you?  I’d love to hear your comments.

Until next time my pretties –



Namaste and Blessed Be
Sosanna
)O(