Here is some good news—some comforting news: Goddess is with you through your entire journey.
“I have been with thee from the beginning; and I am that which is attained at the end of desire.” – Doreen Valiente (speaking in the voice of the Goddess—from The Charge of the Goddess)
The last part of the above quote has a couple of meanings to me. “I am that which is attained at the end of desire” implies that the Goddess’s love is what you receive at the end of your life. I believe we go to the Summerlands at the end of this life. You get to rest and enjoy time with your family and friends. The Gods will be there to give you love and support.
Another meaning is that the “end of desire” is actually a revelation that it is Goddess’s love that we really want. By this I mean, that what we want, including inner peace, joy, fun and comfort, are all manifestations of Goddess’s love. One of my friends recently bought a high-end, new car. What did he want? Some form of fulfillment. A car or a hug is just an expression of the blessings from Goddess. We notice that the car or a hug opens the door to good feelings.
Here is a prayer for times when you’re feeling overwhelmed.
A Prayer
Lord and Lady Give me strength To be compassionate to myself. From that well may I draw The love of the Gods to Persevere on my path And be kind to others.
So Mote It Be.
May this prayer empower you to joy and fulfillment,
“I told her that I trust her with something that, in my local community, I have to keep confidential,” Julie began. “I made her promise me—but she told my secret to everybody. And now they shun me!”
“She told them you are Wiccan,” I said, realizing.
Have you had a similar situation in your life? Has someone betrayed you and now you just can’t get the painful thoughts and feelings out? Does it feel like you’re being ripped apart?
To heal after betrayal, we notice a process …
Stages:
Identify the betrayal
The point here is that you need to acknowledge to yourself that you have been wronged. This person made a decision that caused you harm. Before my divorce, I put up with bad actions of my then-husband. Part of gaining the strength to leave him was for me to put my foot down and declare in my own mind: “This is wrong. I will not endure this, anymore.”
Feel the pain
Acknowledge the pain. Feel it. Until you do, you can’t grow and move past it. Additionally, until you feel the pain you might not have the energy to push through and move on. My then-husband would drain our joint account of money to buy his video games and there would be no food in the apartment. He would feed himself with fast food and think nothing of me.
I had to feel the pain and gather my strength to get the hell away from him. (By the way, I’m so glad because after the divorce, I was free to find my soulmate. It’s so much better now.)
Perhaps, you’re like me, and you’d like a break from feeling so much pain. In fact, I had a recent meditation session in which I asked the God and Goddess, “Why do I have to be in such pain?”
Their answer made me pause. They said, “Pain is to grow.”
So, feeling the pain is where growth happens. I know it sucks. But pain is the fuel that creates growth.
Protect yourself from more trouble
This is where you need to cut all contact with the person. You can do the ritual below for this.
Here are the steps of True Separation:
Verbally end the relationship
Stay away from the person.
Ground yourself.
Cast circle.
Do the Separation Ritual (see below).
Do the Cakes and Wine ritual.
Close the circle.
Finally continue to have no contact with the toxic person.
You will need your usual ritual items to cast circle and your altar. As I mentioned you will also have a length of yarn or piece of red string. The yarn/string must be long enough to encircle your own waist and to encircle the object (that represents the toxic person).
The Separation Ritual
Take the object. First, your will asperge it. Asperge means to sprinkle the holy water with your fingers onto the object.
With the holy water, asperge and say:
I cleanse and consecrate you by water and earth.
Next you will cense the object. Cense means to waft incense smoke over the object.
With the incense smoke, cense and say:
I bless and charge you with air and fire.
Then take the string/yarn and cense and asperge it as well and say:
I cleanse and consecrate you by water and earth.
I bless and charge you with air and fire.
Take the red string/yarn in your hands saying:
Tiny bundle of String/yarn
You are now the same as the bonds between me and Name of person.
Tie one end of the string/yarn to the object and then encircle your waist with the other end of the string/yarn, while you say:
You are the bonds that connect us now.
From me to Name of person and from Name of person to me.
Our connection is by thee.
Sit and concentrate on the bond between you both and see it as the string/yarn that now connects you and the object. Once you have a firm connection with that thought, take the boline and cut the string/yarn, seeing in your mind’s eye the astral bonds being cut along with the string/yarn.
Once you complete the cut, say:
I am now free of the ties of Name of person as he/she is of me.
May my happiness expand, and may Name of person’s happiness expand.
Blessed be.
Finish up with the Cakes and Wine part of the ritual and then close the Circle.
Call upon the God and Goddess to assist with your healing
Meditate and pray to the Gods for strength. Here is a prayer you can use.
Heal my heart and mind, Free me of violence that binds Keep me safe and sane from [his/her] madness, Let me stay centered and stay strong as my own badass. So mote it be!
Circle the Wagons with Friends
Keep your true friends close to you. Confide in them and let them build you back up.
Move into Inner Peace
Now that you are centered and have had your friends strengthen you, you can now move into peace. You now know that you have separated yourself from the betrayer, and you have surrounded yourself with the love of your true friends and the God and Goddess.
Keep in mind there is a difference between acceptance and approval. You do not approve of the betrayer’s actions. Eventually, you might get to the point of acceptance. What would you be accepting? You would accept that the person was caught up in their own crap, and you weren’t even a fly on their windshield. We notice that people can be seriously self-centered and cruel.
But acceptance is not approval. Acceptance is realizing that you went through an event, and today you are not ruled by it.
May this material support you and bring you peace.
“This is so disturbing. All the rich and powerful men who gang together to protect themselves when we see evidence of their sexual abuse of women,” my friend, Jessica, said.
“Yes. And I realize that this is a crucial moment in history,” I replied. Jessica and I continued with a significant conversation. From this conversation and others like it, I have thought a lot about what is going on.
Use Anger as a Stepping Stone for Positive Change
When I was a child, I felt like I did not matter. My brother was given preferential treatment. He tormented me, and my parents’ neglect gave me a clear message that he was worth more to my parents than I was. My brother even went so far as to hold me down underwater (at a neighbor’s pool), terrifying me because I needed air! His friends, all boys his age, did nothing, to help an eight-year-old little girl. They just watched me being assaulted.
With the #metoo movement and with a woman testifying Thursday about the sexual assault she endured, we, women, are now taking our place as worthwhile people who will not stand by while such abuse continues in our society.
Perhaps, like me, you were taught to just swallow your anger.
Now is the moment for a new approach.
Use anger as a stepping stone for positive change.
We, Wiccans, know that there are times when we must stand our ground and even actively defend ourselves. During one of my meditations, I used my astral-sword to defend myself.
Methods of Defense and More …
Here are some suggested actions you can take.
Meditate and keep yourself strong – Keeping your spirit whole and healthy is the foundation for everything.
Call Upon the Goddess – In meditation and prayer, ask the Goddess to strengthen you.
Volunteer in the community with an organization that helps women in need.
Find a quiet space, place your feet flat on the ground and breathe deeply.
Feel the tension and stress in your body. In a moment, you’ll use the following Tree of Life Meditation to release this tension.
The Tree of Life Meditation
(You can record your voice on your phone and play it back so you can concentrate on this meditation.)
Slowly breathe in and out.
Breathe in the energy of love and peace (envision this as white energy). Breathe out all stress and negativity (envision this as black smoke).
Keep taking deep breaths in and out.
Concentrate on the white energy being breathed in and filling up your body with loving energy. Then let go and breathe out the negative energy you see, in your mind’s eye, as black smoke. As you do this, release the stresses of the day. Repeat this breathing cycle at least three times until you are comfortable and relaxed.
As your body and mind begin to relax, continue deep breathing and focus on this image:
Envision roots made up of energy that sprout from the bottoms of your feet. With each breath, extend the roots farther and farther down toward Mother Earth.
Extend them down through the floor, down past the plumbing of the house and down deep into Mother Earth’s body. Reach down to her core, to the center of Her heart.
Once there, with each breath in, pull up the energy from Mother Earth. Breathe out the stress and breathe in the blue-green energy of Mother Earth.
Pull the energy up through your roots, up past the plumbing of the house, past the floor and into your feet. The energy feels clean and refreshing.
Breathe in deeply. Pull the blue-green energy up into your legs and past your knees. Pull it up, up into your Root Chakra at the base of your spine. Let it fill your body, up into your Sacral Chakra and continuing to your Solar Plexus Chakra. Breathing in deeply, draw the energy up into your Heart Chakra. Let the energy flow down your arms and into your hands. Feel your body relax as the energy fills it.
Breathing in, draw the energy up into your Throat Chakra.
Concentrate on the blue-green energy filling your body. When you are ready, with another breath in, breathe the energy up into your Third Eye Chakra.
Using your breath, draw the energy up into your Crown Chakra. Feel the energy flow throughout your body.
With another breath in, pull the energy up and out of your head. The energy forms like branches toward the Sky above you. Continue and let the branches flow up and out into the cosmos.
Draw down the golden energy of the Sky and universe into you. Continue to let the Sky energy intermingle and mix with the Earth energy that is already there. Pull it down through your body and into your arms.
Continue breathing deeply, mixing and pulling the energies down to your Heart Chakra.
Breathe in again, pulling the energy of the universe down into your Solar Plexus Chakra.
Continue pulling in the energy. Let it flow into you. Pull it into your Root Chakra. Breathing deeply, pull it down your legs and down to your feet.
Feel the energy from both the Earth Mother and the Sky Father that is within you.
Now focus on pulling this mixed energy out from the top of your head once more. But this time let it cascade down all around you like a waterfall until it completely surrounds you.
With a deep breath in, take the energy and push it out in all directions into an egg shape around you. This is the Cosmic Egg of Protection.
Keep breathing and push out more and more energy into your egg.
Your egg gets stronger and stronger.
When you are satisfied with the strength of your egg stop and relax.
In a moment or two, slowly start to pull your branches back within you, pulling them in with each breath.
Let any extra energy dissipate through the roots that you had placed into the Earth from your feet, keeping the egg intact.
Now breathe in, pulling the roots, up, and back into your body just like the branches that were above you. Give yourself over to the total relaxation you now feel.
In a moment or two—and when you are ready—open your eyes.
On the astral plane, I breathed easily, talking with the God and Goddess. In the midst of my meditation, I knew that standing in the Stone Circle was safe.
Just as I took some steps to leave the Stone Circle, the God moved like a flash and barred my exit.
Then I heard a gut-wrenching fight between Jerry (my protective animal spirit) and some thing—outside the protective Circle.
Apparently, Jerry won. He came back to my side and guided me safely back to the earthly realm.
Soon, I opened my eyes. My meditation was complete.
The next day I talked to a friend, and she told me that “All religions have prophesies foretelling this.”
This what? The Veil between the earth and the astral plane is currently quite thin. Around the time of Samhain, The Veil usually does become thinner. However, at this moment, The Veil appears thinner still.
What can we do?
Put up extra wards and protections around your home and your life.
Employ Witch’s Bottles.
I begin with revamping my witches’ bottles. Learn to make you own Witch’s Bottle here.
Bless Salt or Stones for Protection
You can bless salt or stones (particularly hematite) and pour or place them around doors and windows. Wiccans pour blessed salt across thresholds, doors and windows. Wiccans place blessed stones next to such areas, too.
Here is a prayer to instill protection on your chosen substance (salt or stone):
By Sun and Moon, by stream and sea may protection come unto me. I ask the Lord of Death and the Lady of Reincarnation to take any negative or rough entity back to where they belong. May this salt [or stones] protect me and my home. So Mote It Be.
“So much doesn’t make sense now,” my friend, Jacob, said.
“I can guess some of what you’re referring to,” I replied. “Is there something specific that really bothers you?”
“I … I guess. I don’t know why things have to be so screwed up. I feel really bad,” he said.
This began an extended conversation that left me thinking deeply.
So much of what bothers us comes down to asking “Why?”
And then the big question: “Why am I here?”
I have often looked on the earth as a classroom.
So, then the question might take on a new tint, “What am I here to learn?”
The next thought is: “To find out what you must learn, think of… What triggers you? What makes you sad, scared or angry?”
Deep meditation holds the key to the mystery.
Triggers Meditation
Find a quiet somewhere you know you will not be disturbed. Turn off your phone and choose a place to sit comfortably. Keep your back straight.
The Meditation
[Consider recording the following words on your smartphone, and then you can play the recording back. In this way, you would be guided through the process by your own voice.]
First, close your eyes. Notice that the light begins to fade around you. Slowly at first, then it gets darker and darker. Until you are in total darkness, where you feel safe and secure.
(Pause)
Then, just as the darkness came, it leaves. The light returns, slowly at first. Gradually, it gets brighter and brighter. Notice you are in a new place—standing inside a great temple. In front, you find a large stone altar, and you step up to it.
On the altar’s right, you see a large cauldron. Within it, fire burns brightly. It is warm and soothing.
Turning back to the altar, you view three objects resting on the smooth surface. Each of these objects represents a trigger in you. They can represent any belief that keeps you sad, scared or angry.
Picking up the first object, you examine it closely. It is round and light.
(Pause)
You aim the object at the cauldron and continue to feel the warmth of the fire. Toss the object into the fire, and watch as it is consumed by the flames.
Smoke rises from the burning ball. You marvel as you see something in the smoke. Realize that this object in the smoke represents an unknown trigger inside you. Perhaps, it is the source of your sadness or fear—or anger.
(Pause)
Go to the altar. Pick up the second object. Examine it and notice it is round and light.
(Pause)
You aim the object at the cauldron and continue to feel the warmth of the fire. Toss the object into the fire, and watch as it is consumed by the flames.
Smoke rises from the burning ball. You marvel as you see something in the smoke. Realize that this object in the smoke represents an unknown trigger inside you. Perhaps, it is the source of your sadness or fear—or anger.
(Pause)
Turn to the final object on the altar. Pick up this last object and examine it, finding it to be round and light.
(Pause)
You aim the object at the cauldron and continue to feel the warmth of the fire. Toss the object into the fire, and watch as it is consumed by the flames.
Smoke rises from the burning ball. You marvel as you see something in the smoke. Realize that this object in the smoke represents an unknown trigger inside you. Perhaps, it is the source of your sadness or fear—or anger.
(Pause)
Step back from the cauldron. Notice something that you didn’t perceive before. Now resting on the left side of the altar, you find a small silver chest—about the size of a shoebox.
Feel something in your pocket. Pull out the object—the key of knowledge and truth. You find the place to insert the key into the chest. Upon using the key, you hear a quiet click, and the chest opens.
Inside, you see three new and different objects. Pick them up and then find a comfortable place to sit down. Realize that these objects represent three positive truths. These objects are the keys to learning how to grow beyond your old triggers.
(Pause)
Your time here is done. Place these new objects safely into your pocket.
Breathe deeply. One … Two … Three. Notice the light begins to fade around you. Slowly at first, it gets darker and darker. Until you are in total darkness, where you feel safe and secure.
(Pause)
Then, just as the darkness came, it leaves. The light returns, slowly at first. Gradually, it gets brighter and brighter. The light is back. Now open your eyes and see you are back from your meditation. You are safe, feeling refreshed.
May this meditation empower you to find your personal purpose.
“Sometimes, it feels like there’s so much going on and friendships can get hurt along the way. I mean—we all get stressed out,” my friend, Joyce, said. “I’m wondering if there is a magickal way to strengthen a friendship.”
I gave this a lot of thought, and here is a True Friends Spell.
What you will need:
One pink candle
Candle-holder
Rose Incense
Rose oil
Two rings
Ritual tools
Cast Circle in the usual manner.
Dress your candle by rubbing your oil from tip to base. Cleanse and consecrate your candle and rings. Place the pink candle on your altar in its holder. Place the rings by the candle. Take your friend’s hands and both of you say over the rings together:
I swear upon my soul,
Honesty, love, and kindness I shall show.
I State my true name (_each state your name_),
That I am a true friend to you through and through.
That I will be most honest with you,
As I so will, so mote it be!!
Each person places a ring on the other person’s hand other and says:
True friends, true as can be.
Together now so mote it be!
Do the Cakes and Wine Ceremony
Close your Circle
May this True Friends Spell strengthen your bond with your close friend.
I opened the large box that contained my holiday gift. Inside, I found a brewing kit. “Perfect!”
When I was in my mid-20s, I brewed mead. However, I lost my equipment in the move from my childhood home.
It had been a long time since I brewed anything, so I needed a refresher. So, I purchased a book about mead-brewing.
I eagerly read the book—and that takes some doing since I’m dyslexic. Learning about Vikings and how they brewed mead had my attention.
Today, I am once again excited to try my hand at brewing mead. However, this time I am trying an open-air brewing technique I found in the book. It’s brewing done old school—like our ancestors did long ago. Along this line, Wiccans like brewing mead.
Instead of using commercial yeast, I will be harvesting wild yeast. This is something our ancestors did at the beginning of their brewing exploits.
So, I gathered up all the equipment and ingredients that I needed, including a rod to mix my brew. I would dedicate my mead-brewing efforts to the God and Goddess. I wanted to make the mixing rod a sacred tool. Therefore, I wrote a blessing to imbue my new mixing rod with the powers of the God and Goddess.
Mixing Rod Blessing
Blessed Be this Sacred Rod May it Bestow with Healing Energies of the Gods Let my Rod mix my brew With Health, Wealth, Peace, and Joy anew All who taste the brew mixed with this Rod May Find Everlasting Blessedness from the Gods As I will, So Mote It Be
In the next days, I’ll see how my renewed interest in mead-brewing goes.
Are you considering adding something new to your daily activities?
Wiccan initiations vary a great deal. In today’s guest post from Angus, we’re invited to see his personal journey.
Many initiations follow a set ritual structure. However, some of the strongest initiations are guided in the moment by the God and Goddess.
Here is Angus’ guest post:
Well Water and Bubbles: Angus’ Initiations
My first initiation was also my first exposure to Witchcraft. It happened at the Chalice Well in Glastonbury, England in the summer of 1996.
I was visiting with 5 friends who were traveling across Southwest England via canal boat. For a week we had been working closely with the land, guiding our narrowboat up and down 44 locks. We barely saw a car as we journeyed, aligning ourselves with the rhythms of this ancient, energetic landscape—and put-putting along at 2 mph. It was like spending a week on the Jungle Cruise at Disneyland, except with stone and crop circles littering the landscape.
I walked into the Chalice Well gardens as an agnostic, but I immediately felt a presence on the grounds. A warm, inviting, HUGE personality that wanted IN. I acquiesced, separated myself from my group and made my way up to the top of the garden, where the Chalice Well is located.
Sitting down at the top of a short staircase above the Well opening I dropped into a lotus position—something I can’t normally do without 10 minutes of stretching—and the presence entered me through the back of my neck (throat chakra, the one about Communication).
And I was suddenly in all-time, all-space. I was everywhere, everyone, everything. Secrets and mysteries of the ages were downloaded into my aching brain. And then shining out of this mind-bending chaos was Her. She spoke to me in a 1,000 voice choir singing in perfect unison and across harmonies unknown in our reality. Female voices, male, and everything in between and beyond, with an age range from conception to long after death.
Her presence was the purest Love.
My friends found me at the Well 45 minutes later, on my hands and knees, completely unconscious, and twitching and crackling with energy. Eventually, I slumped over to my side and when my breathing returned to normal I arose and staggered out of the garden, right past my friends, and ended up across the street at our B&B, draped backwards over our pile of luggage. At least, that’s what my friends told me. I remember none of this.
I awoke there, alone, but not alone. Never ever alone. I had been chosen, dragooned, enlightened…initiated.
One of the things I woke up with was a mental picture of a storefront, back home in my town in California. I knew the place, and so when I returned from England I went there. It was the same storefront, but there was no triple moon sign out front…yet.
I knocked on the door and could hear movement from the back of the store. Finally, the door was opened, and before me was a beautiful woman with long blonde hair and piercing green eyes. She was dressed in a hooded black cloak that was trimmed with emerald stitching. Behind her was a bare room with black walls. The woman regarded me carefully. “Yes?” she said, finally.
I hadn’t planned this part. I shifted from one foot to the other, thought of a thousand things to say, rejected them all, trusted in the Universe, and just opened my mouth. “I’m supposed to be here.” I heard myself say.
Branwen surveyed me carefully from foot to head and thought for a long moment. “Yes,” she said again, breaking into a smile. “Yes, you are.”
I was her first employee and the manager of “13: Real Magick”; the first witchy store in Santa Cruz County.
My second initiation was a formal one on August 15th, 1998—in a bathroom I shared with my housemate down the hall.
I had been in the Craft for two years by that point, and I learned the ways and means of the Occult via “Retail Trad.” My covenmates were all of my customers, my sanctuary was the little black store with the triple moon sign out front. There was also a local ad-hoc group that did public rituals in parks and halls and so I had a loose tribe to celebrate the sabbats with.
I did not need to seek out all of the various trads—they all came to me, via the shop. I wasn’t tempted by them, however. My focus was on helping my customers and learning all I could. I was so completely immersed in studying the Occult that I did not feel the need to be formally initiated into it. I was already living it, whether that was intense solo rituals that left a stain on the ceiling, or long walks in the forest that left a trail of happy tears on the ground.
But, all good things must come to an end. For two years I had been living in a tent in my backyard, having rented out my own room so I could afford to work at the Magick Shop. But then that house got renovated and I had to get another place, which meant paying rent again which meant getting a job that paid a whole lot better.
And so, I left my Tradition of Retail. Also, about this time the local public group was slowly falling apart. I had lots of witchy friends, but no framework left in which to study or celebrate together.
I had been a Solitary up to that point—but now I was also a witch on his own! Being “away” from the external stimuli reminded me that I was never alone: The Love of the Goddess that I felt at the Chalice Well would always be with me. Solitude also gave me the time and space to really think about my practice—what I did and why I did it that way.
I discovered that everything I resonated with really distilled down to two pillars: Helping others—and a personal relationship with Deity. That was my Trad. MY Trad. And I felt strong enough in my devotion to these pillars to formally recognize myself—nobody else need be present, because nobody else had what I had: The authority.
On the night of August 15th, a Saturday, waning half-moon (same as initiation #1 at the Well), I rode my bike home from my new job at the world percussion store. Inside my new studio I was hungry and tired and there was laundry and suddenly whoa! It was TIME to do this initiation thing.
Oh…okay. Yes, Ma’am! I didn’t have a plan for this, but I had all of the resources I needed. Plus, the guy in the other studio down the hall was gone for the evening.
I grabbed an armload of herbs and candles and headed for our shared bathroom. I arranged and lit all of the candles around the tub while I ran the bathwater.
I was going to make a witch’s brew—with me in it!
Not having to follow a liturgy meant that I could improvise. I had done many solo rituals by then and had learned to follow my instincts—and my nose. So, all of my herbs, oils, resins and rocks were unlabeled. What went in to that bath I can’t rightly say, but it was perfect.
I got in the water, cast the circle, called the quarters and Whoosh! I was transported. The walls of the studio faded away, the ground faded away, the ceiling, sky and stars faded away…I was in allspace and alltime. And I was in Their Holy presence.
And I told the Goddess that I was initiating myself. And She replied (with that same 1,000 voice choir I had heard at the Chalice Well): “To what will you dedicate yourself?”
I hadn’t expected a quiz. I thought being a solitary meant that you didn’t have to take any tests! But having a relationship with the Gods means that you never actually Work alone.
“Service” was my spontaneous answer. “I will Dedicate myself to Service.”
And Her voice was the purest love. “And so you have, and so you are.”
Soon after that, the old public pagan group disbanded formally and then reformed as a much more organized and decentralized group of witches serving the local pagan peoples.
And I have been a part of Community Seed since its inception, and my rituals are now sometimes attended by 80 people. My practice, however, is still solitary (even though I have been part of an informal coven now for 6 years), and my focus is still the same, 20 years later.
Ever since my Initiations at the Well and in the bathtub, my witchcraft is always dedicated to the Tradition of Service.
GoddessHasYourBack.com 