Moonwater Silverclaw

Happy Samhain

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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

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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

Your Thoughts

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As I sit in the local coffee shop writing this post, enjoying a smooth mocha, I stop and think, “What’s the top three things my readers want to know about Wicca?”

My mind whirls with possibilities as I sit, staring at my reflection in the window of the coffee shop. Then it hits me like a bug on a windshield. I’ll just ask you. What do you want to hear about first? Give me the three topics you can’t wait to hear about. You can leave your suggestions in the comments box below. I can’t wait to hear your thoughts!

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

Squat the Parking Goddess

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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

Blossom as the Real You

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Blossom as the Real You

Blossom into the New You

Starting Wicca is like cleaning a dirty car for the first time. Before I left for a trip I decided to get my car washed. Why? My car was “the dirt clog on wheels.”

Though it’s supposed to be white, my car remained a splotchy palomino gray, for most of its existence.

So at the car wash center, I lined my vehicle with the others and left the keys in the car for the attendant. I sat down in the waiting area and watched car after car coming out of the other end of the giant cleaning machine.

I was sitting there for a while. Vehicles emerged from the cleaning machine, one after another. Soon I’m thinking, “Where’s my car?!” I recognized the car that had been in line in front of my car. But then, it took me a moment to realize that the gleaming white car behind it was actually my car!

This, believe it or not, is like the beginning of your practice of Wicca. Throughout your life you collect “dirt.” This can be in the form of unhelpful thoughts from people who think they know what’s best for you. This degrading process can lead to bad self-esteem. You might even doubt your worthiness in the face of deity and others. “How can I be loved if I do “X?”

All this buildup up of  degrading thoughts is like the buildup of dirt on my car. Soon you cannot even recognize the goodness and value you began life with.

Here are some examples of degrading thoughts:

“God won’t love me if I don’t pray three times a day”

or

“God will punish me because I’m gay.”

and

“I wont go to the promised land if I don’t go to [church, temple, the Mosque and so forth].”

All of these thoughts and other people’s “shoulds” are crap–like the bird crap on my car.

The world places unrealistic demands on us. “Nice girls don’t make trouble.” and “Men don’t cry.” This is simply “Crap!”

How does Wicca fit in? Well, all that crap you are carrying can be cleaned out and washed off. Just like my car.

Coming into Wicca, you carry the world’s crap upon you. The practice of Wicca with its car wash of meditation and self discovery will help you rid yourself of the unwanted grunge the world places on you.

When we practice our meditation techniques we get rid of the world’s “cling-ons.” And when that happens a whole new world opens up to you. Just like I didn’t recognize my car at first, your family and friends may not recognize the new you either.

Be aware too that many people do not like change. So when they see you happier they may give you resistance. This is normal. Don’t be discouraged if this happens.

Only you know what’s best for you. Eventually, some people will accept you. Others won’t. But the most important thing is for you to accept yourself and enjoy your new clean and bright experience of life.

Tools of Wicca: The Wand

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Merry meet and welcome!

So far we have seen the athame, cup, water, salt, fire, and incense representing the element air. Now let’s talk about the wand.

Wand

The Wand

Wands come in just about any shape, from strait to bendy like a twisted tree branch.  People form wands out of almost anything from stone to various forms of wood–and even metal. We may wield a wand formed with a combination of these materials.

As a masculine tool, the wand functions much like the athame. But where the athame is  a forceful tool, the wand is gentler and softer in its approach. You use the wand, like the athame, to direct energy from you to a thing or place. You can direct energy to a candle, a person, and in some cases, you can cast circle with the wand. I feel the athame is a much better tool for casting circle though; it gives you much more protection than the wand.

Sometimes, Wiccans use a wand, instead of the athame, for handfasting (Wiccan marriage). Using the wand makes the circle semi-permeable, which allows small children to go through the boundary without too much disturbance to the circle itself. The wand brings a softer energy, which is nice for this type of ceremony.

In our next post we will talk about the different candles Wiccans use.

Blessed be,

Moonwater Silverclaw

Past Lives

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Renaissance Pleasure Fair

Renaissance Pleasure Fair

This weekend Casa de Fruta is where I will call home. I’m off to the Renaissance Pleasure Fair for more adventures and hopefully more stories. What does the Renaissance fair have to do with Wicca?

In a previous post, I mentioned how coming to Wicca was like coming home. And the first time I went to the Renaissance fair it was also like coming home. The ambiance was very familiar to me. I felt comfortable in my own skin there. This of course begs the question, “Was one of my past incarnations during this time-period?”

Since I haven’t done my past life work yet, I don’t know. But it makes me wonder: If this is so, what was my life like? Was I practicing Witchcraft then too?

Have you had any dreams or maybe a feeling of deja vu sometime in your life? Have you had any hints about what may have been a past life of your own?

Anyway, it will be fascinating to me to find answers to my own questions about past lives–when I delve into that journey. But for now I will just have to ponder.

Well I’m off to Casa de Fruta, see you next week.

Blessed Be,

Moonwater Silverclaw 

Why Wicca?

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Why Wicca?

Pentacle of Balance

The Pentacle of Balance

Why Wicca? Why not choose some other spiritual path? Well for me, I love nature and the natural world. Its beauties and wonders, they all surround me and fascinate me. In other paths you need to go somewhere to be with deity. But with Wicca the gods are not only everywhere around me, but they are within me too.

I am literally the goddess and god, and these gods don’t judge me! They love me for who I am and what I already look like. I don’t need to change or alter myself to be loved, no diet or creams required. And to go with all that spiritual “yummyness,” wicca is all about nature. The thing I love most. There are the trees, the birds, the stag, the earth itself. They all represent the gods in different forms.

Also the natural world is what I live in, it is reality and I’m not trying to get to some euphoric place I’ve never experienced or been. I’m not trying to jump impossible hurtles with the rules that can never be followed without failing. All I got to do is be me.

We are rewarded with love and kindness when we give love and kindness. What we put out into the universe, the universe gives us back three fold. This cycle, among all the others is all natural. Angry vengeful God, not included! And that’s the way I like it.

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