Candles

The Direction South

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The Compass Direction South

The Direction South

South

Fire represents South, which is the spark of life and the energy that gets things done. Fire is associated with the will. (The will is defined as: “The mental faculty by which one deliberately chooses or decides upon a course of action.”)

To represent fire, place in the South corner one of these things: a lit candle, dragon figurine, or a hot chilly pepper.

South associates with noontime, the peak of the day’s hustle and bustle. Many people and animals are most active and awake at this time.

Summer represents South. It’s the growing season and hottest time of the year, when things flourish.

South represents the adult phase of the life cycle. We can take care of ourselves and take on more responsibilities. Our lives are at the peak of health and strength.

Blessed Be

Moonwater SilverClaw

Happy New Year

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Happy New Year 2013

Happy New Year 2013

Happy New Year!

Thank you to all my readers. You made this a great year for me. With all the parties and rejoicing that goes on at this time, don’t forget to help others. And what better way to do that than in the name of the Gods and Goddesses.  (You can keep your intentions to yourself if you like.)

With that said, this is a great time to review your commitment and dedication to the Gods. Renewing your original dedication ritual is a great way to further bond with the God and Goddess.

This can be as simple or as complicated as you would like. You could even just sit with a glass of wine or juice, light a candle and talk to the Gods telling them how much you appreciate them and what you plan to do for them in the coming year.

This isn’t a new year’s resolution; it’s a bonding experience between you and the God and Goddess. You don’t promise to do something that’s beyond your capabilities like solving world hunger. Instead, you might volunteer at a homeless shelter, feeding and caring for those who can’t help themselves.

You could volunteer at a pagan festival. Give your time to the community.

Don’t forget the furry, scaly and feathered brethren; you can help a wildlife sanctuary.

You have many choices. Take one step at a time dedicating your actions to the Gods.

Now is the time when you can help others and align with Wicca. Remember helping others is serving the Gods.

Blessed be,

Moonwater SilverClaw

The Wiccan Altar

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An Example of a Wiccan Altar

An Example of a Wiccan Altar

When I first started to learn from my mentor, it took me forever to remember where everything went on my altar. I would feel self-conscious about making mistakes. My mentor smiled and simply moved the item I had misplaced to where it should reside on the altar. So don’t beat yourself up if you need to use this picture for a while.

There are about just as many ways to set up an altar as there are people. Each person or group may have a certain way of doing an altar setup. Here’s an example of a Wiccan altar. Let’s start with the right side of the Altar.

  • As you can see at the top right is the “Cakes/Bread” You can use bread, cupcakes, cookies or a power bar for that matter. It should contain carbohydrates to nourish the body to replenish the energy you used during ritual.
  • Below that you can see the “Censer & Incense“. This incense burner has cone incense inside it. However, you can burn any kind of incense in this burner. Remember that incense, when burned, represents air on your altar.
  • You can see the “Taper (a long wick),” which is used to help light the candles. You light everything from the working candle. You can use the Taper to transfer the flame to another candle to light it.
  • To the right is the “Lighter” which is used to light the working candle.
  • Below that is the “Bell/Chime” that you use for ringing, when appropriate.
  • Continuing around in a clockwise direction is the “Pentacle”. You use the pentacle to help you focus your attention on your goal.
  • To the left of the pentacle is the “Athame” used to cast circle and to direct power.
  • Above the athame is the “Water in Bowl.” Water is one of the four elements and is used with the salt to make your holy water.
  • Continuing around we have the “Salt in Dish“. Representing Earth, Salt is put into the water.
  • Above the salt is the “Wine Filled Cup”. The cup as you remember is a female symbol and holds the wine/juice to be blessed.
  • Above this are the “Offering Dishes.”
  • Next you see in the middle the “Goddess Candle” and the “God Candle,” which are used to represent the deities.
  • Between the God and Goddess candles, find the “Working Candle,” which you use to light everything else during ritual. The Working Candle represents fire on your altar.
  • And flowers are always a nice touch for nature and the goddess.

We will discuss more on how to use an altar later. Have a great week!

Blessed Be,

Moonwater SilverClaw

Offerings

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Leaf Offering

Leaf Offering

Offerings

Why do we give “offerings” to our Gods and what is an offering. When we ask the Gods for their help, and we receive it, we offer them thanks through offerings; so an offering is our way of saying thank you for the Gods’ help.

Now what is an offering? Offerings are things we sacrifice up to the Gods in thanks for their help.

Offerings can be things like:

I find the more I say “thank you” with an offering, the Gods really appreciate the gesture, after giving an offering, good luck often finds me. I have even made offerings just to show them how appreciative I am of all they do for me. Just because.

So how do I make the offering? Take (for example) a candle and state the name of the deity and why you are offering up the candle to him/her.

Here is an example of what you can say:

“Squat, I thank you for the parking spot you gave me! I honor you with this candle.”

Then light the candle making sure to burn it all the way down.

This also helps us create a stronger bond with our Gods.

Offerings, Gratitude and Good News

Many of you have noticed the donation button on the sidebar of the blog. This button is there to help me keep this blog the Hidden Children of the Goddess going. It pays for helping keep the ads off the blog and maintenance fees, and recover registration fees.

Offerings, donations and gifts are an uplifting way to participate in life and in our community. Well, good news has come. Arthur has donated funds so we will be free of ads for one whole year. So I put out a big thank you to Arthur! I know a number of people who feel good when they are kind and helpful to another person or cause outside themselves. Helping others by being of service is why I blog. I am grateful to Arthur for his wonderful donation to help us and to help me continue my service.

Wondering how to donate to this blog? All you have to do is click the donate button on the sidebar and you can enter in any amount you like. It’s that simple, and it really helps the site.

Again, thank you Arthur!

Blessed Be,

Moonwater Silverclaw

The Tools of Wicca: Candles

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Merry Meet. Let’s talk about candles.

Candles

Candles

From tea lights to tapers, Wiccans use candles for many purposes including: calling the four quarters, using them for spells, and lighting the sacred space.

I use tea lights for the quarter candles. What are the quarters? They’re the four compass directions in a circle. Each quarter has specific attributes and entities that dwell in a particular direction.

Each of the quarters (compass directions) has its own candle to honor the beings when we call them to our circle.

Taper Candle

Taper Candle

Consider using taper candles for the God and Goddess candles, which honor the God and Goddess.

On my altar, I use a votive candle for the working candle, which has two functions: a representation for the element fire and a source for lighting all other candles, incense or other objects that need to be burned.

Use your working candle for only one purpose. You’ll notice that all candles tend to only serve one function. Wiccans use quarter candles for the quarters. They choose one candle for the God and then use that particular candle for all subsequent rituals. The same is true for choosing a candle for the Goddess.

Wiccans use candles in spells, too. When doing candle magick, the type of candle and the color of the candle are important. We will discuss candle magick in another post.

Candles provide lighting, too. You can use any type of candle you want for this purpose.

A note on using scented candles. Use scented candles to incorporate aromatherapy into your magick, if you like. Different scents bring up powerful emotions, which is great when focusing on a particular task. Avoid using them for any other purpose.

I wouldn’t mix scents by burning multiple scented candles at the same time. They will mix, giving you unpredictable results. If you are mixing oil to scent a candle try to keep it simple at first until you become familiar with the different results you get with each scent. Then you can slowly mix scents to see what results you get. Be sure to take notes.

Blessed be,

Moonwater Silverclaw