Goddess Squat

Happy Samhain 2022

/ Moonwater / Leave a comment
Jack-O-lantern

Jack-O-lantern

Recently, I was thinking about Samhain and death and rebirth. Sometimes we can look at death as a release. Is it time for a new chapter in your life? Is there something you need to release?

We, witches, know that beyond this life are the Summerlands. Many of us choose rebirth. If your going into a new chapter of your life, what positive energies do you want reborn in you?

Samhain

Samhain is the final harvest Sabbat of the year. At this time the last crops are gathered and put into storage for the cold winter’s months. The God makes His ultimate sacrifice at this time. But fear not His sacrifice is a willing one, for he does this for his children. The God is symbolized by the last of the harvest. He (the God of the harvest) is cut down (sacrificed) at this time so that we may have food to last us through the winter. The “Johan Barleycorn” songs came from this.

At this time of the year, the cattle and pigs are culled keeping only the ones strong enough to weather the harsh winter months. The meat is then salted and cured so that the people would be able to survive the long winter.

Samhain is also known as the witches’ New Year. The Celts felt that this was the beginning of the year. The reason for this is they believed a new life started at death. You needed to die to be reborn into a new life. That is just what the God has done with His sacrifice. He now resides in the underworld awaiting birth at Yule.

Samhain is also the time to communicate with the dead, The Veil between the worlds is the thinnest at this time. The Veil is the doorway or curtain that separates the land of the living with the land of the dead. Contact between the two worlds is now easily accomplished. So contacting past loved ones is common on this Sabbat. The dead are honored at this time. An example of this in today’s modern society is Mexico’s Day of the Dead.

The Wheel turns to represent death at this Sabbat, only to continue turning at Yule, to the beginning, representing life and rebirth. The eternal cycle of reincarnation is celebrated during Samhain. The old God dies to be reborn at Yule.

Blessed be,

Moonwater Silverclaw

What is a Magick Circle?

/ Moonwater / Leave a comment
Stone Circle

Stone Circle

A witches’ magick circle is one we create out of energy. We set up this circle, or “cast a circle,” before any spell or ritual. By the way, we apply the label “a working” to any spell or ritual.

Here are reasons we use a magick circle:

  1. To hold all the energy that we create, we use a circle to contain all the energy we raise within it. Therefore, no energy dissipates before we can use it.
  1. As a sacred space, the circle functions as a temple to worship the gods in.
  1. The circle moves us between the mundane world and the realms of the gods, so that we may communicate with them easier.
  1. The most important thing that a circle does is function as a protection or barrier from unwanted entities that may want to “feed” off the energy we have raised.

When do we raise a circle? For rituals, meditation or handfasting ceremonies (Wiccan marriages). You always close your circle when you are done with it. If you leave it up the energy will eventually become unstable and will become dangerous.

A circle forms our sacred space for doing our workings. We can set up our circle as our temple wherever we find ourselves in the world.

Blessed Be,

Moonwater Silverclaw

The Wiccan Altar

/ Moonwater / 2 Comments
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

Happy Samhain

/ Moonwater / Leave a comment
Jack-O-lantern

Jack-O-lantern

Samhain

Samhain is the final harvest Sabbat of the year. At this time the last crops are gathered and put into storage for the cold winter’s months. The god makes his ultimate sacrifice at this time. But fear not his sacrifice is a willing one, for he does this for his children. The god is symbolized by the last of the harvest. He (the god of the harvest) is cut down (sacrificed) at this time so that we may have food to last us through the winter. The “Johan Barleycorn” songs came from this.

At this time of the year, the cattle and pigs are culled keeping only the ones strong enough to weather the harsh winter months. The meat is then salted and cured so that the people would be able to survive the long winter.

Samhain is also known as the witches’ New Year. The Celts felt that this was the beginning of the year. The reason for this is they believed a new life started at death. You needed to die to be reborn into a new life. That is just what the god has done with his sacrifice. He now resides in the underworld awaiting birth at Yule.

Samhain is also the time to communicate with the dead, The Veil between the worlds is the thinnest at this time. The Veil is the doorway or curtain that separates the land of the living with the land of the dead. Contact between the two worlds is now easily accomplished. So contacting past loved ones is common on this Sabbat. The dead are honored at this time. An example of this in today’s modern society is Mexico’s day of the dead.

The Wheel turns to represent death at this Sabbat, only to continue turning at Yule, to the beginning, representing life and rebirth. The eternal cycle of reincarnation is celebrated during Samhain. The old god dies to be reborn at Yule.

Blessed be,

Moonwater Silverclaw

Offerings

/ Moonwater / Leave a comment
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

Squat the Parking Goddess

/ Moonwater / 14 Comments
Car in parting spot

Need To Find a Parking Spot?

All hale the Goddess Squat! Please tell me you know Squat. If you don’t know Squat, you should.

Squat is the Parking Goddess. She gives you parking spaces to park in. I love Squat. I always ask for her help when I can’t find a parking space. She is obviously is a modern goddess. When I ask Squat for a space, 90% of the time she finds me one.

How do you ask Squat for help? Recite this little chant:

Squat, Squat,

Find me a spot!

I have done this and I kid you not, I don’t even finish the chant and someone pulls out of a space right in front of me! I immediately say with gratitude: “Thank you, Squat!”

After the day is done, and Squat has given me parking space(s), I go home and light a candle for her to thank her for her help. So invite her to help you. Now you can’t say you don’t know Squat!

Blessed be,

Moonwater Silverclaw