Some Types of Contemporary Witchcraft
Kitchenwitch
A witch who works her magick and rituals mostly in the kitchen, who studies food magick.
She studies how to make a magickal home, magickal meals and a sacred kitchen, a witch who practises domestic magick. A kitchenwitch studies herbs and plants that you can eat (culinary), and grows them as well if she can. She is often a source of hearth, food and cooking folklore, customs and traditions.
If she can she will likely have a veggie garden, some fruits trees, and a culinary herb garden.
Her tools are more likely to be kitchen utensils, wooden spoons rather than wands, cooking pots rather than a cauldron.
She will probably have a shrine or altar set up in the kitchen or dinning area.
Her patron deities (if any) will likely be Goddesses and Gods of the hearth, food, agriculture, home, and harvest.
Cottagewitch
A witch who practices her magick and rituals in the home, garden and yard.
She studies how to make a magickal home, kitchen and garden, a witch who practises domestic magick. She knows many spells for the home, such as protection or purification spells, and a bit of kitchen and garden magick as well.
She will… Continue reading
Juniper Cupressaceae Juniperus communis
Juniper
A Juniper with a Spiderweb
Common Name: Juniper (common)
Botanical or Scientific Name: Cupressaceae Juniperus communis
Other Names: Western Juniper, Rocky Mountain Red Cedar, Dwarf Juniper, Mountain Common Juniper, Old Field Common Juniper (there are many names, for many species of Juniper)
Genus and Species: Junipers are coniferous plants in the genus Juniperus of the cypress family Cupressaceae.
Type: An evergreen coniferous shrubby tree of the cypress family. There are many different junipers in the world.
Physical Description: A wide and low tree with an irregularly rounded crown. A knotty, twisted trunk. Often has a “bonsai” look to it.
Needle: Small (1/8 inch), scale-like and tight against the branches. Backsides of needles bear inconspicuous glands. Pale, yellowish green when young, greyish-green, green or blue-ish when mature. Appear in pairs, overlapping but covering the twig in four rows.
Form: Small tree or large shrub; shape is variable but often short with a round crown.
Size: Rocky Mountain Juniper can reach 13 metres in height
Flower: Dioecious; both male and female flowers are small (1/8 inch) and occur at branch tips; males oblong and females nearly round. Males are nearly yellow, females greener.
Fruit: Round, bluish berry-like cones (1/3… Continue reading
What is a Mystery?
What is a Mystery?
So what are these Mysteries Pagans, especially Wiccans, are always talking about? Why does the word get a capitol “M”?
A Mystery is a “Divine Secret” or spiritual truth. It is the very moment of enlightenment. A Mystery is something that causes one of those earth shattering, life changing, spiritual moments that changes who you are as a person. Basically, a Mystery is when something happens that causes you to take a leap or sprint ahead on that development of your soul. The Mystery is the wisdom, knowledge, realization, inspiration etc that comes from those moments in time.
You do not have to be Wiccan to experience such things, nor do they have to occur during an initiation. Mystery is simply the word Wiccans (and most modern Pagans) use to describe a very old thing. A great example of this is the “Shamanic death” it in itself is an initiation of a different sort (and horrifically traumatic), it is certainly not Wiccan, but it is a Mystery that has been part of the human spiritual experience since we lived in caves.
And it’s simply that such things tend to occur during (or shortly before or after)… Continue reading
Some Topics of Study for a Hedgewitch
Some Topics of study for a Hedgewitch
Yes, there are many listed here, and others could probably add more. Obviously, you could never study everything! Part of a Tradition like Hedgecraft is being able to choose what areas you wish to focus on. You are also not expected to become an expert at any thing, unless you choose to. Hedgewitches tend to be jacks of many trades, but master of none or few.
It is important to act with integrity and never misrepresent yourself as an expert when you are not. Be honest with yourself and others about your knowledge, experience and abilities.
Start with what interests, excites and calls to you. Remember that this is not a race.
Herbalism & wortcunning; growing, magickal, ritual and healing
Shamanism & shamanic tecniques
Gardening
Horticulture
Agriculture, hunting & farming
Homesteading
Permaculture
Weather and climate
Nature Magick
Seasons & the wheel of the year
Trance work
Greenhouse; building, running, growing
Environmentalism
Biology
Geology
Animals and animal husbandry
The Elements
The Gaia theory
Evolution
Botany
Plant folklore
Garden Magick
Landscaping
First Aid
Nursing
Natural healing
Homeopathy
Reiki
Aromatherapy
Midwifery
Alternative healing
Holistic healing
Candle making
Incense & smudge stick making
Oil making
Soap making
Crystal… Continue reading
The Turning of Spring to Summer
The Turning of Spring to Summer
The most amazing thing, for me at least, about coming home is returning to the rhythms of the place where I first began to study Paganism, and thus the Wheel of the Year. As a smart-a**ed teenager, I didn’t pay much attention as I followed along behind my garden obsessed Mother. In fact, it took living out in the country, on a small acreage in Alberta, to make me pay proper attention to the turning of the seasons. At first, this was little more than annoyance at the drifts of half-melted snow stubbornly clinging to the shady bottoms of the trees at Beltaine. When I look back, I shake my head at the fact it required snowstorms for Ostara to make me really and truly pay attention to the cycle of the Seasons.
Returning to the Okanagan, a large lake valley in British Columbia, Canada, after nearly 7 years, I was looking forward to learning the rhythms of a much warmer climate. I came back not long before Litha, and with Beltaine almost here; I have now spent nearly a full Turn of the Wheel here. And I have discovered I did not… Continue reading
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