Monthly Archives: December 2011

……..kinship.

There is nothing quite like spending time with people who share the same beliefs and values as you do.  Granted, there are some righht twerps out there who love seeing others suffer, believe me when I say I have encountered many – both in real life and online.  But I have also met some really lovely fellow witches/pagans, both in real life and via the many forums, online groups, Facebook and twitter.

There is something really special about spending time – in whatever capacity – with like minded others, our kin.  They really can and do bring us great joy.

………………jewelry.

Many witches have at least one piece of jewelry that represents their beliefs.  Whether it be a pentacle necklace, a crystal adorning a necklace, bracelet or ring, or some other item that has some significant meaning.  Personally I prefer a simple piece of jewelry that  is very understated,  this is because I am very much still in the closet and everything else I have ever seen just screams

“LOOK AT ME”

The piece I have is  a silver celtic band ring.  It is simple, yet elegant and doesn’t scream WITCH.

……..intuition.

We have all had that gut feeling about someone, something, and so on.  Intuition is that inner knowing, that feeling you get at the centre of your being – your gut – when you know something to be right – or wrong.  We should listen to that inner voice that is always right about such things.

…………….hexing.

Many non witches believe that a hex is an evil curse, but the word actually just means to cast a spell.  It’s hardly surprising though that non witchy folks believe spell casting and hexing to be evil, given the bad press witches have had over the centuries.

If you look the word up in the dictionary, most tell you that a hex is an evil spell or curse, but as we witches know a spell in itself is not evil, it is the intent behind it.  Many witches practice what they call hexcraft, but this doesn’t mean that everything they are putting out is evil; far from it, they are using an old word for working magick that is all.

………….grounding.

When we witches ground ourselves, it doesn’t mean we have put ourselves in time-out and banned ourselves from going out, using phones, internet etc.  It describes what we do to reconnect ourselves to Mother Earth.  There are many techniques you can use to do this, but I have always felt most comfortable with this one:

Take a few minutes to relax yourself.  Slow your breathing down to a normal rate and just feel the tension flowing out of you.  As you allow the tension to flow out of you feel your body becoming relaxed and loose.  If you haven’t already closed your eyes now is the time to do so.  Spend a little while longer, with your eyes shut, just feeling relaxed and at peace.
Now, visualise yourself standing outside on the ground.  Feel your feet physically connected to the ground and then imagine that roots are emerging from the souls of your feet, reaching down into the ground below you.  See those roots reaching into the centre of the earth and taking hold.  As these roots take hold, feel the power of Mother Earth flowing back into you through your roots.  Spend as much time as you need doing this exercise and when you feel ready, slowly come back into yourself by slowly becoming more aware of your surroundings.

You can also ground yourself by working in a garden, feel the soil in your hands.  Rubbing your hands in the soil connects you to the earth, as does working in your garden, weeding, clearing leaves, planting flowers etc. Also going for a walk in nature is a good way to feel grounded.

There are many techniques, including the use of certain crystals, opening chakras, or even eating certain foods, but the methods I have described are pretty simple ways.

………familiar.

A familiar is a creature/animal that is a magickal helper.  Mine is my cat Rocky.  It doesn’t matter where he is if I am doing anything magicky he will come to me.  He has also started doing this with my daughters who are now practicing witches too.

My familiar is a stereotypical witch’s cat – a big black cat.