Incense

The Wiccan Advantage When Dealing with Worry

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“I am so worried,” Zoe said.

“Tell me more,” I said.

“My whole household is down with the flu. Except me. Well, I’m starting to cough. I don’t how much longer I can take the pressure,” she said.

Saying “Don’t worry” won’t do Zoe any good at this moment.

When’s the last time you have been seriously worried? Is it happening now?

I’ve noticed that worry gets more intense about things we really cannot control.

What can you do?

We, Wiccans, have an advantage: We can do an empowering ritual.

The “Let Go” Meditation/Ritual

What you will need:

  • One white candle
  • Banishing oil or extra virgin olive oil
  • Banishing incense or your favorite scent
  • Ritual tools
  • Cakes and wine

This is a truly simple candle ritual you can do to get some relief from worry.

Cast circle in the usual manner.

Consecrate and charge your candle with your holy water and your incense. Dress your candle with your oil.

Start belly-breathing (taking big breaths in and out—slowly) and light the candle.

Envision all your worry and fretting going into the candle’s flame. That is, envision all your worry as a black smoke flowing out of your mouth with each breath out. The flame draws all the black smoke.

Say:
In this moment,
I let go.
Goddess take this from me.
God strengthen me.
So mote it be.

Continue your meditation on the candle, breathing out all your worries as the black smoke.

When you’re done, thank the God and Goddess for Their support. Let the rest of the candle burn out.

Warning: Never leave a candle burning unattended.

Do the Cakes and Wine ceremony

Close circle

May this ritual bring you relief and peace.

Blessed Be,
Moonwater

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Goddess Style Weight Loss: Wiccans — Happy, Healthy and Confident

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Be a Wiccan Badass: Become More Confident and Unleash Your Inner Power

As a Wiccan I found this an inspiring read. Written in a way that makes it accessible to everyone irrespective of their current knowledge. – Shona Cathro

 

 

Goddess Reveals Your Enchanted Light: Peace, Prosperity, Possibility Along Your Wiccan Path

I don’t generally write reviews on books I’ve read…but this time i feel lead to. This book spoke volumes to me, as if the author knew exactly where I’m coming from and what I’m struggling with. It’s not often a book can make me cry, but this one did by making me see the many blocks I’ve put up in my life. I knew they were there, but I’ve gotten skilled at pretending they’re not. Thank you for helping me see I’m not some freak because of circumstances throughout my life that have caused the blocks, and that i need to stop hiding from or burying them and face them one step at a time. – Crystal Sparks

 

Real Magick

Beyond the Law of Attraction to Real Magic: How You Can Remove Blocks to Prosperity, Happiness and Inner Peace

This book is a must have for all of those starting out on the spiritual path of Wicca and for all of those who are just looking for some light and love in their life. MoonWater SilverClaw uses her knowledge of Wicca and her personal experiences to not only teach the Law of Attraction in a clear manner but to help you use the Law of Attraction to better your life.

Through simple guided meditations and tips on living a happy healthy life this book takes you on a journey that will teach you how to love yourself, better your self image, and rid yourself of the negative energies that prevent you from reaching your goals.

This book covers many wonderful topics that will teach you basic magical practices as well as the theory and idea of “like attracts like” From setting up an alter to casting a circle and how to perform and find the magick that you are seeing in your life this book has so much to offer.

MoonWater SilverClaw is truly an inspirational writer for a newer generation of Wiccans and those seeking to use the natural energies of the earth to make changes in their life. Her writing style speaks from the heart because she has been where the reader is, she has used these techniques and steps to better her own life and now she is helping the reader use the Law of Attraction to better theirs – Amazon Customer

 

Goddess Has Your Back

Goddess Has Your Back: How Wicca Can Help You Raise Your Self-Esteem and Make Your Life Magickal

This is an absolute gem for the witch with issues. Rituals for things like self-esteem are something i have never seen before. Moonwater’s writing is engrossing and draws the reader in. I am a witch with PTSD M.S. and other issues and this book made me feel hopeful and capable. – t’air

 

The Hidden Children of the Goddess Book

The Hidden Children of the Goddess Embrace Wicca, Become Strong, Be at Peace with Yourself and the World Around You

Ms. SilverClaw has written a book that is really great for the beginner wanting to learn about Wiccan or wants to start practicing the art of Wicca. I found this book wonderful, easy to read, and extremely helpful and informative. It covers everything from what Wicca is, the history of Wicca and how Wicca became misassociated with evil, along with how Wicca can help/save people’s lives. Ms. SilverClaw also discusses practicing Wicca either in a Coven or Solo, and all the things you need in order to have in order to perform your ceremony, and she explains what each item means. She explains how to create spells and gives examples to use, and explains the pitfalls of creating certain types of spells. Ms. SilverClaw has truly created a book that is a cast all net the seems to cover everything that I needed to know to begin practicing Wicca. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is searching for their first book on the topic and wants to start practicing the art of Wicca or is just curious about the topic. This is truly a Must Have book. – Tamra L. Shipman

 

Goddess Walks Beside You: How You Can Listen, Learn and Enjoy the Wiccan Path

This is a terrific book! It is like talking to the author over a cup of tea like one of the bloggers says. –  Kitri

 

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Dedicating Your Labors to the Gods

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PinecrestTrail

Perspiration dripping from my face, my ankles shaking due the rocky trail, I gasped for breath. Two miles into this hike, and I had a good idea: I’d dedicate my journey on this trail to the Gods. I offered my hard work as a gift to them. You can make such an offering with many things. Still, a struggle has a special element. When you struggle, you put more energy into the activity. The God and Goddess appreciate such devotion of energy.

Upon hearing about this process of dedicating my hike, my friend Sandra said, “That sounds like the Catholic idea of ‘offering up one’s suffering.”

“No,” I protested. “The Gods don’t want your suffering. They want you to be happy.” I explained. Doreen Valiente wrote The Charge of the Goddess and in it she noted the Voice of the Goddess saying: “All acts of love and pleasure are My rituals.”

You can do many things to honor the Gods. Some suggestions include:

  • Create an art project
  • Volunteer for an organization, especially one that helps the planet or animals
  • Accomplish a physical feat, like my hike
  • Write a book and dedicate it to Them
  • Clean your ritual space and altar on a regular basis

Dedicating your labors is a great way to honor the God and Goddess.

Blessed Be,
Moonwater

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Looking for gifts?

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See my designs at Redbubble. For more of Moonwater SilverClaw, consider some of her books:

Goddess Reveals Your Enchanted Light: Peace, Prosperity, Possibility Along Your Wiccan Path

 

 

Goddess Has Your Back

Goddess Has Your Back: How Wicca Can Help You Raise Your Self-Esteem and Make Your Life Magickal

 

 

The Hidden Children of the Goddess Book

The Hidden Children of the Goddess Embrace Wicca, Become Strong, Be at Peace with Yourself and the World Around You

 

 

Real Magick

Beyond the Law of Attraction to Real Magic: How You Can Remove Blocks to Prosperity, Happiness and Inner Peace

 

 

Goddess Walks Beside You: How You Can Listen, Learn and Enjoy the Wiccan Path

Experience Freedom Through The Power of Forgiving Yourself

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CandleMirror

“You need to forgive yourself,” my new therapist says. Nice words, I think. How am I supposed to do that?

I have been through many hours of therapy. I’ve experienced hours of meditation.

Here I’m going to talk about the truth and the reality of Forgiving Yourself.

Why do you need to forgive yourself?

Because feeling guilty and blaming yourself is a damn prison. I know this prison well. At times, I have been mad at myself for somehow allowing others to harm me. How can you hold a 10 year old little girl responsible for being held underwater by her sadistic 13 year old brother?!

Still, in later years, I had an abusive husband who had a hold on me until Wicca saved my life.

I’ve been furious with myself for “being a victim.” I’ve said, “I know it is not my fault.” But deep down I still felt it was my fault. I let it happen. I gave certain people power over me. I did this.

Whenever I go to this dark place, my heart bleeds tears of sorrow.

All of this self-blame and failing to forgive ourselves is a crime we are committing against ourselves.

Before I go further, I need to make something clear. Forgiveness is not pardon. A behavior could have been mean and negative two years ago, and it is still wrong today.

I learned from Dr. Fred Luskin (co-founder of the Stanford Forgiveness Project) that “Forgiveness is the end of the cycle of blame and suffering.”

It is time we stop and forgive ourselves for the things we did to ourselves. We may also need to forgive ourselves for what we may have allowed to happen to us.

I’ll now share an exercise that I’ve found to be powerful.

Warning: This is exercise IS powerful. Make sure you have someone to talk to afterwards – a loving friend whom you trust, a counselor or a trusted psychologist. You might just save this exercise for a time when you can do the exercise in the presence of a trusted helper.  

Version One:

Have a friend you trust and who loves you sit in front of you. Be close enough to see into his or her eyes.
Get comfortable. Light a candle and some incense. (Place the incense to the side so you avoid the smoke obscuring your view of your friend.)
Set a timer for 5 minutes. Then for 5 minutes, look into each other’s eyes and think about how much you care about the other person.
Do this several times over a month. It may take longer or less time. Your plan is to get to the point where you feel relaxed and accepted.

Version Two:

Sit in front of a mirror and get comfortable. Light a candle and some incense. (Place the incense to the side so you avoid the smoke obscuring your view of your own eyes.)

After setting a timer for 5 minutes, concentrate as you look into your own eyes in the mirror. Now you begin the process of forgiving yourself for all of your past mistakes that caused you to suffer . . .

Say:

I forgive you for ______ and anytime I failed at __________.

I forgive you for ______ and the times I was wrong. 

I forgive you for ______ and the times I let things happen to you. 

I forgive you for ______ and the times I hurt others.

Do this as many times as you need so you start to relax into your personal forgiveness of yourself.

During the week, if you start to feel fearful or frantic, you likely need another session of self-forgiveness.

(Some traditions refer to this process as “mirror work.” Some people practice saying, “I love you” to themselves as they gaze in a mirror. Many report that it takes about a month of practice until they feel better and a degree of real healing.)

After any session of self-forgiveness, eat something. You’ve used up personal energy. It takes energy to focus during your self-forgiveness session.

And then make sure to talk to someone you trust.

This is a very powerful exercise. Remember there is divinity in you.

As you do this self-forgiveness exercise, you will likely feel the presence of God and Goddess. How will you know this? You’ll experience a degree of peace that is new and different than your regular daily experience of life.

Remember, you are loved by the God and Goddess.

Blessings,

Moonwater SilverClaw

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**The Experiential Workshop** Wednesday October 14, 6:45-9:45 pm. Share the news with friends. Thank you. Many blessings.

 

For more of Moonwater SilverClaw, consider some of her books:

Goddess Has Your Back

Goddess Has Your Back: How Wicca Can Help You Raise Your Self-Esteem and Make Your Life Magickal

 

 

 

And

The Hidden Children of the Goddess Book

The Hidden Children of the Goddess Book

 

The Hidden Children of the Goddess Embrace Wicca, Become Strong, Be at Peace with Yourself and the World Around You

 

 

 

 

And

Real Magick

Beyond the Law of Attraction to Real Magic: How You Can Remove Blocks to Prosperity, Happiness and Inner Peace

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Wiccans Handle Stress and Prejudice

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Bring Peace to Yourself

Bring Peace to Yourself

How Wiccans Can Handle Stress and Prejudice

We all deal with stress in our lives. However, members of a minority religion face additional stressors. Many Wiccans and Pagans in general have experienced some form of prejudice and some have even been the victims of hate crimes. These and other terrible acts upon us can really take a toll.

Although I am fortunate to live in the San Francisco Bay Area where there is more acceptance of people with differences, I have still faced prejudice. I have lost friendships and suffered the actions of intolerant people.

So how can we combat the stresses of such actions?

First, assess the situation. Can you educate the offending person? I have been in situations when the offending person thinks he’s right and will hear nothing that differs from his beliefs.

Make sure no one is being harmed. There is a big difference between offensive words and physical violence. One may need to take action. Maybe you need to quickly get to a place of safety. One might even have to call 911 for police intervention.

Take care of your own feelings. Before I get caught up in an aggression tornado, I remember to simply breathe. Concentrating on your breath is a great way to help yourself calm down. Then you can take control of the words that come out of your mouth. You can’t control what they say, but you can control what you say and do.

Find your way to compassion. The Gods and Goddesses love their children (all of them) so become the Goddess in her nurturing state. Let her energy flow within you. Let the Goddess help you select your words. Avoid words that sting, instead say something constructive and nurturing to the conversation. How would this sound? One way to respond is: “I heard what you said. That’s not what my life is about. I’m leaving this room.”

When I say compassion, I do not mean let them walk all over you. The idea is to make space in yourself to understand those who are ignorant of your beliefs. They don’t know what they are talking about. To take their words personally gives them power. Do not let that happen. Do not give these untruths any power.

Renew yourself. Once the incident is over, take some time to do a Breathing Meditation. I know how much it helps as a salve to the wounds their words have left.

Find a quiet place where you know you will not be disturbed. Silence your cell phone or home phone. Get comfortable and relax. You can burn some of your favorite incense and light a candle. I find dimming the lights to be helpful.

Here is the process:

As you relax, close your eyes and concentrate on your breathing. Breathing in and out deeply, envision a beautiful white light shinning down and surrounding you. Next, deeply breathe in that light, pulling in the beautiful cleansing properties of it. Hold this breath for the count of three.

When you breathe out, picture a black smoke made of those toxic words, actions and emotions. You expel the black smoke from your body. Imagine the black smoke absorbed and purified by the light around you. After your exhalation, hold your breath for a count of three. This is where you acknowledge the transformation of energy.

Continue this process until you feel you have expelled all of the negative comments/feelings/energies that were placed upon you. Finish this meditation by thanking the Gods for their shinning light.

May this meditation renew you and free you of any negative effects created by prejudice.

Once free of toxins, you can experience the blessings of life with the Gods and Goddesses.

Blessings,

Moonwater

Offerings

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Offerings

Offerings: picture by David O.

Offerings

Why do we give offerings and what are they?

Offerings are small gifts we present to the Gods. They can be many things from candles to wine. You can even offer up your time to a good cause for a deity. I used to volunteer at an animal shelter, for example. More often I offer candles and incense up as offerings. I take a candle and hold it up and say something like: “Here is a candle, please take this offering as thanks for ______”.

Then I light the candle and place it on my alter to burn down completely. Never extinguish a candle once you have lit it for an offering to the Gods. This is considered taking back the gift and is insulting to the deity. Always let it burn down completely down and out on a safe heat proof surface.

You can also do this process with incense and other herbs. Burn incense and or herbs to the Deity you want to honor. Besides burning candles, incense and herbs you can pour a libation (a liquid offering) out onto the earth. You can use anything: wine, juice and blessed water.

Why do we present offerings to the Gods? We say thank you for the Gods help on things we have asked for. After a spell is successful, we will make an offering to say thank you for their help.

Some Popular Offerings:

  • candles
  • incense
  • wine
  • herbs
  • seeds
  • ground corn
  • hand made objects
  • fruit
  • milk
  • bread (cakes)
  • time (volunteering at an organization)
  • crystals
  • coins
  • donations of clothes or other things to a shelter (animal or human)

So say thank you to the Gods.

They help us every day.

Blessings,

Moonwater SilverClaw

Cakes and Wine Ceremony

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Wine

Wine

Cakes and Wine Ceremony

What is a cakes and wine ceremony? It is the process of using food and drink to replenish the energy spent doing the working or ritual. Food also helps you to ground. Why is grounding important? It helps you shed the extra energy that you may have accumulated during your working. We raise energy to do our workings and when we are finished we need to shed that energy. For that we use this ceremony, which also helps replenish your body of the energy it used to do the magick. So the ceremony has a dual purpose.

For this ceremony you first must bless the food and drink. You begin with the wine or juice.

1)      Take the cup from your altar and pour the wine or juice into it. Then take the athame and dip its tip into the wine or juice. Say:

As the athame is the male, so the cup is the female, and so joined bring union and harmony.

2)      Pour some of your blessed wine or juice into the offering bowl or plate on your altar. While doing this say:

To the Gods!

You can now partake in the beverage.

3)      Take your athame and point it over the cake. Say:

Blessed be these cakes that they bestow health, peace, joy, strength, and that fulfillment of love that is perpetual happiness.

4)      Take one of the cakes (or just a piece of the cake) and place it in the offering bowl or plate. Say:

To the Gods!

You can now partake of the blessed cakes.

Note that this ritual was written for someone practicing alone. If it is conducted in a group, pass around the cup and the cakes, each person taking a sip and one of or part of the cake. As each person passes the wine and cake, they should say to the next person:

 

As you hand the cup to another say: May you never thirst.

The person replys to this: Blessed Be.

As you offer a cake say: May you never hunger.

When the cake(s) is offered to you reply: Blessed Be.

The Element Air

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Air

Clouds Represent Air

Air

Associated with the direction East, air is a masculine element. Air represents the flowing thoughts of our minds. We take in new thoughts like we take in a new breath into our lungs. Air goes hand in hand with fire, which is also a masculine element. Without the air (specifically oxygen) to support it, fire dies.

What is the elemental of air? It’s the sylph, often depicted as a human figure sporting wings. Numerous people report seeing Sylphs in cloud formations.

Representations of Air include feathers, birds of all kinds, clouds, dust devils, wind chimes, and incense smoke. Any of these items can be placed in the East quarter of your circle. Be creative.

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

The Tools of Wicca: Incense

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Merry meet and welcome!

We talked about salt in the last post. Now we will talk about air.

Incense

Incense

Incense represents air when burned, and is the last of the four elements represented on our altar. We burn incense in an incense burner, which we will also talk about in this post.

There are many types of incense which we will discuss in later posts. But three main forms include raw, cones, and stick incense. You have a choice of various burners, used for burning each different type of incense. Incense has these forms:

  1. Cones – You can use a specific type of burner specifically made for cones, or you can use a generic fireproof container. Fill it with sand or small stones. Such a fireproof container can be used with all types of incense.
  1. Sticks – Sticks have specific burners, usually with a hole at one end. You can slide the bare end of the stick into the hole, while the coated end remains visible. Tending to be long in shape, these burners catch the ash of the incense as the stick burns.
  1. Raw – Raw incense usually comes as a form of resin, but not always. Myrrh and Frankincense are well-known resin incense. You need charcoal to burn resin incense, and you can pick up some at your local metaphysical shop. The charcoal usually comes in a round tube shaped package. Each piece of charcoal looks like a round pad with a indent for the raw incense. Raw incense should be burned in a fireproof bowl or a cauldron. Be sure to fill the container with sand or small stones. Then place the charcoal on top of the sand and light the charcoal. Now wait until the whole charcoal piece smolders. Then carefully drop the incense on it.

Now back to air, which is a masculine element. We combine our incense with the other masculine element, fire, to create the smoke that represents air. This incense smoke is then used to charge and bless things and people. Each element on the altar proceeds to be  blessed and combined with the sibling element. Add feminine salt with feminine water. Apply masculine fire to masculine incense to create smoke. The process is you cleans with salt and water, and you charge with fire and incense. Both are utilized at the beginning of our rituals, to help clear the mundane space to make way for sacred space.

Now we’ve completed our discussion of the elements that we use on our altar. But we are not done. There are still other tools to discuss. Next will be the wand.

Blessed be,

Moonwater Silverclaw