Wiccan

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

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 

How Wicca Changed My Life – As a young girl

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Wicca Wheel Mandala

Wicca Wheel Mandala

How Wicca Changed My Life

As a young girl I was shy. I’m not talking about just a little quiet shy, I’m talking about no friends and couldn’t talk to people shy. And not only that; but my self-worth wasn’t only in the toilet, it was nonexistent!

If I needed help I couldn’t ask for it. This left the door wide open for bullies. I was teased and tormented mercilessly. Day in and day out, the torment never stopped. The worst was at home. Home was supposed to be a safe place, mine wasn’t.

Three years older and much bigger, my brother beat me and even held me underwater in a swimming pool at a friend’s house. He finally let go when I stopped struggling.

My parents didn’t do a thing to stop the abuse from my brother, even when the abuse was blatantly in front of them. This was an even bigger hit to my self-worth. “If my own parents don’t think I’m worth saving,” I thought, “I must be not worth anything.”

As I grew up, these messages further gripped my reality. I was alone against a heartless world. I was beyond miserable.

Then I found the gods. The first book I read about the craft was a breath of fresh air to someone who had been suffocating for years. I found something that spoke the truth to me. As I continued to read the books it hit me: Goddess doesn’t make crap!

It was not that I wasn’t worth anything; the truth was the complete opposite of my thinking. I was unique and special to the gods just the way I was created. If the gods loved me because of the way I was, then I could love me, too! And I was worth standing up for!

At first people got mad when I stood up for myself. But after a while they did start to treat me with more respect. Not everyone changed, but that’s their loss. I am a beautiful, loving person. And no one deserved to be treated the way I had been. It is just wrong and not the way the gods want us to treat one another.

We are all loved of the gods. We are all unique and therefore special, no matter what anyone says, even yourself!

The Tools of Wicca: The Athame

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Merry Meet. In my last post we discussed a little about what Wicca is. Now, lets discuss how it is practiced.

How do I practice Wicca?

We as Wiccans attune ourselves to the seasons and use the Sabbats as one of those tools to help us do so. I will be discussing the Sabbats later. I think you should know about the tools first, so let’s talk about the tools we use to help us practice the craft. We will start with the athame.

Tools

The Athame

The Athame

One of the most used tools in Wicca, the athame is a ritual dagger that we use to channel and direct energy. It is used to bless and consecrate other tools, such as the elements on our altar, which we will also discuss later.

The athame (as you can see above) usually has a black handle. It has a double edged blade. One of the most important things about the athame is that it is NOT used to cut physical objects. You never cut physical objects with it. That is what the boline is used for. We will discuss the boline later, too.

The athatme is used to channel the energy you raise to where you need it to go. This could be sending energy to bless something or in some cases even casting a circle. However some covens use the sword for that purpose. Yes, some Wiccans use a sword in their rites. The sword is just like a large athame.

The athame is generally held in your dominant hand, because, this is usually the hand most people use to “push” energy out of. So pushing the energy out and directing it with the athame is the natural next step. Each tool can either represent the masculine or the feminine. The athame is a masculine tool.

In the next post I will discuss the cup or chalice.

Blessed be

Moonwater Silverclaw

Merry Meet!

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Merry meet and welcome to the Hidden Children of the Goddess blog. I am here to answer questions about Wicca that you may have and to inspire the practice of Wicca to all who are interested in the Craft. Therefore this blog is meant to educate and to inspire the student of Wicca.

I started on the path of Wicca in 1992. Slowly learning the Craft as a solitary Witch, I finally found a mentor in 2002. Now that I am a High Priestess I want to give support to those who are seeking information on Wicca.

So this blog is for the Hidden Children of the Goddess, for those who seek knowledge in the practice of honoring the gods and creating positive change in one’s life and in the world.

Blessed Be
Moonwater Silverclaw