Chop Wood, Carry Water
It’s amazing how the mind (and the rest of ourselves) falls into routines and patterns and learns to prefer certain methods over others. I am truly a creature of habit.
The majority of my adult life has been spent living on acreages of one sort or another, having access to large tracks of land, privacy and all that comes with it. As such my most effective methods for inducing trance states, (and any or all altered states of consciousness) which would be the step towards Crossing or full on ecstatic work, are built around a rural life. Or at the very least, having a yard or garden.
I am a repetitive motion Witch. Raking leaves, shovelling manure or snow, washing the floor, chopping firewood, pulling weeds, and other similar tasks have been my main methods of entering into trance states for much of my time as a Witch. I can quite easily gradually slip deeper and deeper into an altered state as I dig rocks out of the earth with my hoe until the task is completed and then leaving my tool in the shed, wander off to a pre-prepared ritual spot waiting for my arrival.
This style of trancing… Continue reading
Mastery
There is no such thing as an expert Witch.
There is no mastery of the Craft.
The more you learn, the more you see that one mortal Witch can know nothing compared to all there is in this many layered and multi levelled universe.
There is no need to achieve perfection. In fact if there be any sin in Witchcraft it would be just that. For it is impossible.
One should always be learning, experimenting, adjusting and making the appropriate corrections.
We should always be striving to do better, reach higher and go further. However: You never stop.
There will never be a time where you say; “I can learn no more, I can do no better. I have achieved all there is to achieve. I have reached the highest height.”
There is no such thing as an expert Witch.
There is no mastery of the Craft.
One should never claim to be such, never assume that another is such. Nor should one ever accuse another of being such in any manner, but certainly not as an act of spite or nastiness.
In fact such words as expert, guru, master and so forth should not be in our vocabulary at… Continue reading
Annoyed
Don’t smack-talk me about Darkness and Death, kid. I’ve killed, slaughtered, skinned and field dressed animals. And ate them. I’ve walked into disease ridden kennels where puppies lay dying on the floor shitting their guts out.
So you have a skull on your altar and the background for your blog is black. You say met a demon once, eh … am I supposed to be impressed?
I’ve disembowelled things. I’ve buried stillborn animals.
Oh? Did you think being a farmer and working in animal husbandry/rescue is all about goodness and light, petting fluffy critters and tending pretty green things?
People wonder why I don’t glorify Darkness and Death like so many “REAL hardcore” Witches.
They can fuck off.
Sweet beast, I have gone prowling,
a proud rejected man
who lived along the edges
catch as catch can;
in darkness and in hedges
I sang my sour tone
and all my love was howling
conspicuously alone.~ William DeWitt Snodgrass
(American Poet and Writer, b.1926)
Now You Do It! *poke*
The Witchy/Pagan meme that newbies probably wouldn’t be able to do! *evil laugh here*
Please describe briefly your Path:
Hedgewitch. Shamanic, Nature and animal oriented, some Hearth Craft as well. My practice has a weird flow to it, a push and pull; I focus more on different things at different times. Celtic, some interest in Anglo-Saxon as well.
Please describe briefly how you practice it:
Lots of little things, such as simple around-the-house-magick, a fair amount of spirit work. Ancestors worship, working with the Land, devotional work with my god. Seasonal rites (now often with my ritual group). Working with animals in one form or another. Meditation, trance and shamanic work, mostly for my own self though as I don’t feel quite advanced enough to offer my services to others. Divination. Observation. Making incense and such. Always learning.
When did you first commit to your Path?
In my mid teens and again in my early twenties.
How is your practice different now than it was then?
So many ways! I started as a silly young solitary Wiccan. My practice is much more slow and careful in some cases and much more bold and brazen in others. I know enough to… Continue reading
To Fly By Night
Hoofprints in the Wildwood
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