Monthly Archives: November 2011

………elementals and elements.

Elementals are beings such as fairies, gnomes, sprites, slamanders, elves, pixies and so on.  They are nature spirits and we should respect them for that.  We should not try to bring them under our command, they will not tolerate such behaviour.  Instead we should respect that they live among us, and just because we do not always see them does not mean they are not there.  I will look at each individual one in depth at another time.

Elements.  The elements of Air, Fire, Earth, Water and Spirit are ruled by the elementals directly linked to them. Witches often work with the power of the elements, using that specific power to boost a spell or ritual.  We often have representations of the elements on our altars or in our homes, such as feathers for air, candles for fire, plants or something from the earth to represent earth and so on.
There is much debate as to whether Spirit should be classed as an element, but I believe that it is the force that joins the other elements together.  It is as much a part of the group as the other elements and should always be included.

………………divination.

Divination means to forsee, to predict the future.

I use tarot and pendulum mostly, with pendulum being the tool I feel most comfortable with.  I also have a crystal ball, but I rarely use that, although when I have used it the results have been pretty good.  I have tried scrying with a mirror, but couldn’t get the hang of that.  I have rune stones, but rarely use them.

Besides the tarot and pendulum I am also a very good dream interpreter and have forseen many things this way too – most notably the deaths of four loved ones.  Symbolism in dreams can be confusing with people not understanding what connection random symbols have with each other.  But if you look at what symbols in dreams mean to you and then spend some time thinking it over you have your own divination tool that is hugely personal to you.

………cauldron.  In days gone by a cauldron was one of the main tools a witch used.  She cooked meals in it, she brewed potions for healing and she would have also made potions for other purposes.  The cauldron would have been housed on the hearth, the centre of the home.

Nowadays we have shiny electric or gas cookers (or if we are lucky enough we have agas and other stoves) and microwaves where most of our cooking gets done.  If we need something for healing purposes we go to the GP or buy something over the counter in the pharmacy.  Some of us might visit an alternative health practitioner to, but rarely do we use our cauldrons and concoct our own remedies.

Of course there are those of us who do have a cauldron and do use them as they are intended.  And it could be argued that the pots and pans that we use to create meals are our cauldrons.  The cauldron though is frowned upon by many as a thing that can bring misery, by evil witches casting spells upon the innocent.
But all a cauldron is just a piece of equipment that allows us to cook or create.  It is not an evil item at all.

As I have said in a previous post, I have a huge mortar, (and pestle), which sits underneath my altar shelf.  It symbolises my cauldron, but rarely gets used as it is so big.  I do have a smaller mortar and pestle which are better suited for use.  I also have a small dish that sits in a stand and I use this to burn stuff in for spell purposes and for that reason I refer to that as my cauldron.
I don’t really make an awful lot of potions, though that is something I may change in the near future.  I doubt very much that I would go out and buy a specific cauldron as advertised in new age shops.  Most are just for decorative purposes anyway,and those that are fully working can be really expensive.  With this in mind I am highly likely to use an old  pot, most likely sourced from a charity shop or car boot sale.

……..Book Of Shadows.

I have always wanted a huge Book Of Shadows, not unlike that awesome book on Charmed.  Instead I have a book I bought around eight years ago when I first started writing my own spells.  A Book Of Shadows is a place, as I am sure you all know, where a witch records her work, spells included.  It can be a huge book, beautifully written and decorated; or it can be a smaller affair that houses your work.

Something like this maybe………..

This is by no means a new concept, the whole A-Z thing people do on their blogs.  I thought it was a good idea for my blog, not because it seems like an easy option for a post every day, but because this whole 366 days of witchery is all about me reconnecting with my spiritual beliefs and an a-z of anything witchy is a good way for me to think about a witchy thing.

I am going to start with an A-Z of Witchcraft and it is likely that I will pick only one item beginning with the specific letter of the day, this will help me focus on that particular thing rather than trying to find good enough info on a lot of items.

So without further ado I am beginning with the letter A.

A is for Altar.

I do not have an altar in the traditional sense, I have a shelf where I have my crystal ball, a couple of candles and an incense stick holder.  It suffices.  I have tried to have a full altar in the past, but the lack of space has always meant that I have ended up putting my chosen items away.  Of course a lot of witches do this, but I found it particularly time consuming to have to set everything back up again when I wanted to spell.  As time is of the essence for me it just became easier to use the shelf and have the items I always use left out.  Underneath the shelf I have a few ornaments that represent different things for me, such as a lady that I call my Goddess, a wizard, a Cherished Teddy figure (Merlin who is holding a wand), a huge pestle and mortar that I use as a representation of my cauldron.  I also have a little dish underneath the shelf that I use to burn things in and for all intents and purposes this is my cauldron.
I have an emu feather that I found a few years back at a wildlife park, I have a small dish with some pretty pebbles in it and on the shelf I have some artificial flowers – you know the type that women wear as button-holes at weddings.

My altar suits me just fine and the items are personal to me.  I often read and hear about new witches who are anxious to get their altars just right.  They take a great deal of time and effort to get everything suggested and then still feel unhappy.  I always think that using your own personal ideas works better than what an author has told you to get.
Some things are just way too pricey and hardly ever get used, so it is always much better to have a good think about what you really need and what you will actually use before going ahead and paying out crazy money for items.

Altars can be as simple or as elaborate as you wish.  It is what matters to you that counts, not what everyone else has, or is doing.