To Stir a Magic Cauldron ~ Ch. 4

Ok, jumping right on in on this one.... 

Josephine Wall: Spirit of the Elements

Calling the quarters, the elements, the elementals. What do you want the quarters to do? Witness, protect, add power? Silver noted the importance of telling them, whoever you call, what you need or want them to do. When I go back through my own written rituals, I found I do this anyway, that just came naturally to me when opening my circle, performing my rituals or spells. It's not something I would have thought of having to mention. Maybe it's the teacher in me, make sure everyone knows what they are doing, why they are here. Hmmmm. She gives some great, very imaginative ways to call quarters.... I was I intrigued as I read through them. Enjoyed them. Complicated, I am more for simple but loved them. Some great ideas and visualizations.

The differences between elements and elements was interesting. I did not realize that they were different, always saw one as part of the other, an element is the manifestation of the elemental. Have to think about this one a bit. She compares the elemental to a spirit and the elemental to the actual thing such as Tue element earth a dirt. She does not see the dirt as living thinking being which it's very different then my own druidic way of thinking - everything has spirit, life.

Watchtowers was also a be idea to me. she calls Watchtowers in addition to laments, to guard her circle, again, making sure they know what they are there to do. So read her information, I picture something like gargoyles standing at the corners (yes I realize circles are round, so does she) standing guard protect the rites as they happen.

She tasks some about faeries but I will leave that for you to check out, I had never heard of the Airts so I would rather touch upon this. What's an airt? Well, I learned that an airt is a word that means the point off the wind, at least as far as I can tell. She makes a lot of a sense here, we here in the USA read so much information that comes from elsewhere that we forget to take into account our own environment, what is on out area. Remember, our areas are very different then Europe and other places around the world. When talking about using the winds, we need to study what we each have in our own areas. What does the north wind bring, the south. How often and when do the different winds happen? How do the animals respond to the winds when they come ? How do/should you respond? These are all questions we need to study when working with any elements in our respective worlds. She hours on and I highly recommend this section of reading.

I have always loved this painting.... 

She talks about Angels... How different people from different traditions might view them if they do at all. The differences between the various beliefs in angels is huge depending on who you talk to. Do I believe in angels? Yes I do. Do you?

She then goes on to talk about totems, and them archetypes. The ancient ones is another area she covered briefly before moving on to chapter 5. And I am moving right along.

Ok, so this has been sitting in my drafts box for a while now. Want to get this one posted. Don't think I have it done yet but will come back and add more to it. But, you all can't read it if it's sitting in my drafts box so watch for more... It'll get added hopefully this weekend...

Ok. So something else I felt needed a word or two. Have you ever heard of Airts? I hadn't until now. Webster's defines airt as a "new direction. channel into a new direction." Silver talks of Airts noting that it is a Gaelic term used to describe compass points and the directions of the winds. She makes a great point about using the "airts" from our own areas. As a rule, we tend to study magic and ritual from Europe so when we start to use the winds and directionals  we use them as we seen them in books. Now I had not thought about it before but duh! If course the winds and such would be different here in Seattle then they would be is say, Glastonbury. Makes total sense. She recommends taking time, spending time out side. Making notes in our journals about wind directions at different times year. Noticing what is happening around you at different times of year. This is how you determine what elemental to use, to know what is coming "on the wind" at any given time in the year. To know what the wind bring in the spring when it blows in from the North, or what it brings in July when the slight breeze blows in off the Pacific ocean. It all makes sense, doesn't it? Hmmmm. Truly got me thinking....

I kinda gleamed over it when writing this a few weeks ago but decided today to come back to it. Totems. Do you have a totem? I would love to hear about other people's totems if they would like to leave comments. Things like how do you know. What brought these totems to you or you to them. I find this topic fascinating. My own totems consist of the horse, whom often guides me through the dream world and takes me to areas away from my sacred grove when I'm in mediation (which I am having difficulty making time for lately ~ can't wait until summer).

Silver talks about using totems animals when calling quarters. This is not something I do. In fact, usually my totems are something completely not associated with my circle casting. Not that they do not appear when I cast, but usually that is on their own accord, not because I call them. My totem animals usually come to me when they feel there is something I need to know or do, or when they feel I am in need. Where I live, there are several old oak trees outside of my apartment, both off my front door and off my patio. At any given moment, there are at least 100 crows in these trees. Early in the mornings when you leave my house, the sound is hypnotizing and they chatter above. It's amazing. the amazing thing is, from what I understand, they were not here before I came. How fun is that? To interesting. They follow me. When I am out and about, i see them everywhere. They stay outside the windows that I am close to when I am inside. When I send healing to others, they start seeing them outside their windows too. Even family members who do not know about my crows have reported seeing them when they know I have done a healing on them. And people insist on not believing. 

To Stir A Magic Cauldron: chapters 2 - 3

Chapter two starts out by talking about sacred space. What is sacred space? Depending on your path or "religion" as Silver calls it, it is where ever you feel the most safe, a place that has been cleansed and blessed as a place for ritual and spell work. Silver is a lot mroe formal in these things then I am in my own practice and she is very into the ritual and all of it's components. She has some great ideas here and a lot can be learned from her.

She discusses shrines to the areas where you sacred space might be. In your home, your yard, etc. I love how she talks about walking the land, your space, getting to know the area where you live. Learn the weather patterns, learn about the energies that are there, learn which way the winds blow and what comes and goes with them. Some really great information here. Introducing yourself and speaking with the earth energies in any given place is a great idea and will help you not only in your work, but also give you a better understanding of the spirit world would have availble for you to work with in your area.

One of the "Your Work" sections in this chapter asks you to think about what makes you feel sacred and what makes you feel no so sacred. This was a difficult task for me an it took a lot of thought. Things that make me feel sacred are the love from my family and friends, but I am far away from my family at the moment and really do not have many friends. Unfortunately, due to axiety issues and being quite shy, friends are difficult for me and I find that I am not a very good friend to even the best of friends. I try, but lately times have been difficult and I find that I tend to be on my own most of the time. I also feel sacred when I am in my grove, when speaking to my druid guide, completely my bardic grade studies through OBOD, and/or working on my own personal studies such as working throught this book. When do I not feel so sacred? When I am angry or frustrated which recently has been often. I do not feel very sacred when I am sick (as I am today) or when I feel that I am not accomplishing or able to accomplish the things I need to do.

In this chapter she also talks about centering yourself and then seeing yourself from outside of your body. I would say that this is the beginning of an astral travel kind of thing. I am looking forward to trying this but am not at a place in my home where I can at the moment. My mom is going to be leaving, going back to Spokane and then I will have more time alone, lots of time alone, where I will be able to focus more on these types of skills. The idea of astral travel has always scared me but I feel that I am ready to try and the way that Silver approaches it is easy and slow paced. Sounds like a plan to me.

She goes on to talk about various salutes and triggers. The salutes are really not soemthing I am intersted it but the triggers, I think, is something that we all do maybe without even realizing that we do it. Triggers are movements of things you can say that bring you to a specific feeling, spot, or idea. For example, to calm yourself you might have a hand movement or a quick prayer or saying that automatically brnigs calm to your being. I love this and know that I do it often.. especially in my car when I am having a bad day... "goddess bless me with peace" does it and I immediately feel that peace and calm throughout my body allowing me to smile a bit and move forward with whatever it is I need to do.

Silver loves speeches and shrines. If I have learned nothing else (I have learned a lot from this book by the way) from this book, I do know this. There is one shrine idea that I love and plan to do myself once my home is all my own. the Eternal Flame House Shrine sounds amazing. Decorating your shrine to your goddess/god of house and home sounds amazing and like a great way to keep things in your home as they should be. My goddess of hearth and home is Macha (one aspect of the Morrigan, my patron Goddess). This will be an amazing project to do.

The information about the meditation fo the five winds was interesting and there is some great information here. I loved reading about it and plan to learn about the winds, the directions they come from, and what each directions does for us. This could be so usful when wanting to bring things into being or rid ourselves of things we do not want. Can't wait to get started on this reasearch project and be able to use it in my own spell work.

Laughter. We all know that laughter has healing powers. When performing rituals, spells, whatever, we need to remember to laugh at ourselves. Everything does not have to be all serious all of the time. I would not start laughing if your priestess is perfomring a great rite that you are part of, but knowing when to laugh, espicially at yourself, can be a wonderful thing. We all make mistakes and the Gods know this. They are not going to strike you donw because you get the giggles during the calling of the directions or the closing of the circle. Don't take youself quite so serious all of the time.

Important: Remember, it's all about intent. What does this mean? It means that reading a ritual from a card means that you are probably going to spend more time on reading it correctly then the feels, the intent, the focus of what you are trying to do. Intent is everything. Not tools, not works. intent. Memorize what you want to do. It's not a race, take your time, visualize, focus, see what you want. Spend time with each aspect of your ritual or spell... It's all about intent. Without strong intent, strong will, your spell or ritual will not have the power you want tor need to do what you desire.

I'm not going to tell you about the Robe of Star because I want you to read about it. it's awesome! Check it out.

This is a full chapter... I have skipped talking about much of it, touching on parts that I found interesting for my own practice or that I found particularly cool... I highly advise reading this book so far so that you can see what I have neglected to discuss here.

Choosing your patron dieties. This, now, is a serious matter. You do not have to choose a patron diety if you do not want to. However, many prefer to have one diety or set of dieties to work with. This can help to bring specific qualities and powers to what you do. I myself was chosen by my patron Goddess, The Morrigan chose me a little over a year ago. Well, actually, she chose me before that but told me who she was a little over a year ago... I call to her three sides, Macha, Anu, and Badb. She covers all areas of my life msot of the time and we work well together. Don't get me wrong, she is touch on me. Definitely not all peaches and cream and she has kicked me in the butt to straighten me out on more then one occassion.. But she also leads me, protects me, and watches over me as I move through my days.

Well, you are not caught up with me in this book, all the way through chapter three. I have actually read chatper four too but will catch you up there next time. Have to say I am loving it so far and wish I could spend more time with it... It will most definitely become a new go to for info along with my my Scott Cunningham and Anne Moura books. Can't wait to delve deeper into Silver's work.

today today today

So here I sit today in a scence class watching a movie... the typical movies you see on education channels at home. Fun stuff here.

So I got a long term teaching position, April 22 through the end of the school year, should get me through the summer as long as I get enough hours at Sylvan. Yay!

What's with the blog post today? Boredom, no other way to put it. Sitting here with nothing to do will do it every time. Lol... Kids are suppose to not talk during the video or they have to write an essay about the movie. That always works.... the same who I am sure talk all of the time are talking but they are quiet, so I just let it go. I know that if I assign the essay, they will not do it anyway.

So for the first time ever I am about to be living along. I have always had someone in my house with me from my family, to my husbands, kids, and last mom. I'm not really worried about being alone, I am however worried about financial stuff... The summers are always so hard I am not sure how that is going to work out. I think I have it under control, with the long term sub position I mentioned, should set me up well for this summer but we will see what happens.

To Stir A Magic Cauldron

Chapter one was great. Along with taking about how this book relates to Silver's path, it discusses devotionals. There is a mediation here, the tapestry meditation, that connects you with the God above and the Goddess below that us amazing. I can't wait to try it.

The definitions of her views of fictional according to her wiccan tradition were wonderful and enlightening. She recommends having meditations, either written by you which is always more powerful, or other, in the morning and evening during times when you know you have a bit of time and will not be interrupted. Then again during the day at some point. Meditations to not have to be formal rituals and such. They can be as much as stepping outside to connect with the Go above and the Goddess below, taking a few quiet moments alone in your office during lunch, or taking a walk in the park during the afternoon. There is no set way to do this, it is up to you and what works for you. 


This book. like so many others, is a bit of a workbook with including activities to try on your own. In this one they are called "Your Work." For this section she wants you to write a few of your own devotionals and start using them during your days. She also would like us to try the devotionals included in this chapter, several of which she wrote for use to use as guides or ideas to write our own. As we know, things that we write ourselves adds and extra power to them as they come from us for us. We should all try to write our own spells, rituals, and devotionals when we can. Of course, journaling about your experiences is the a witchy thing to do. 

To Stir a Magic Cauldron by Silver Ravenwolf

So I needed something different so tonight I started a new book. Well, actually it's an older book that has been sitting on my self I just decided it's time read. I already know that Silver Ravenwolf is funny & writes well so I guess it's about time. I have several of her books that I have picked though but this will be the first I have read through. If you're ever looking for a great book of info and correspondences, Solitary Witch is fabulous. Anyway, if to bed with me and my book.

The Book if Spells by Gregory Branson-Trent

Ok, so this was a quick read as I didn't read page for page through the spells. It's a great book for the basics. It has some wonderful how to information for the person just starting out. What I can add is to remember that this is a very private practice. No matter what book you read, make it your own. What works for one person may not work the same way for someone else so when you find something you like, make changes, make it personal, make it what it needs to be fore your own use.



Some really great info I found that is not always in other books was how to make a BOS. It gives great instructions on how to create the book and what you might wan to put in it. I have always loved the binder idea. As someone who is really over organized, being able to add items in the middle is amazing. However, if you are wanting that leather bound journal look, you just learn to deal with some chaos, lol...



It also discusses how to write spells. It talks about "props" or tools and intent, chants, and other components  However remember. These things are all to show intent to make your will and focus as strong as it can be. That is what spell work is about, intent. If your intent is strong, you can perform spells with only your will. No props are necessary.



The book goes on to give information on simple spells, great places to start. Consecration and cleansing spells are always a great place to start. Though I know people do it all of the time, i was a bit concerned that the astral projection section was right at the beginning. I feel that astral projection is something that is mroe advanced and should be done with care. That is just my opinion however and to each their own. If you do try this, despite the fact that the book states that it's easy and that there is no danger, please be careful here.

The rest was basic simple spells. It's a great resource for ideas, spells to manipulate and change and make your own. If you do decide to pick this book up to read, I hope you enjoy it. It's quick and easy, maybe a couple hours at the most unless your read through every spell.... 

The Book if Spells by Gregory Branson-Trent

Yes, I am reading two books at once along with my Druid studies. Crazy, well, maybe. Honestly, I have this book on my kindle and am reading it when I am away from my house. So much easier to carry around me Kindle then the big book Path of Druidry. So I read that one at home and this one else where.

What do I know about this book? I saw it months ago and thought, that is one I need to read at some point. Why? Not sure, just had a feeling so here we are.

As I have done with other books, I'll tell you about thing that I find interesting and informational and you'll have a good idea of it's something you might want to read yourself.

Enjoy! Hope I do!

The Path of Druidry Ch. 2

Chapter 2 delves more into getting started with communing with nature, getting out into the natural world where ever you may be. If you are in the city, you can still find nature in a park, or even just by having plants, a balcony garden, something of the sort where you can go to be quiet and peaceful.

Walking, as many of you may already know, can be like a meditation. Walk with clarity and open mindedness. See what you cannot see. Listen to the sounds, feel the air, the area, the spirits, the animals and plants as you walk. Refrain from using your eyes so much as we have already learned to depend on them to the point of missing the things that lie deeper. Walk with your "soft eyes" on so that you feel and hear what is around you. Do not depend solely on your vision.

To get started, concentrate on breathing, bringing yourself into a meditative state. Do not go completely under, remember, you are going to be walking in nature. You need to be safe first and foremost and not watching where you are going is not safe. This is a time to "get out of your head" and focus on what is around you. Hear, touch, and feel what is happening around you as you walk.

Sacred space is a key word in this chapter and it is defined as any space around you which you help high. Any space can be sacred and as a druid, generally we consider all space sacred.

The book goes on to talk about the guardians of the place, the older more mature trees that have been around to watch over all around would be considered guardians of the territory. Are there any in your area? Do the feel different then other trees  Does the space around them feel different? Can you feel what energies stronger from some trees then others?

The chapters discusses it's idea of the different realms, heaven, etc using Annwn, Arbred, and Gwynvyd. It talks about the circle with Annwn in the middle, the cauldron of nourishment and life. Arbred being where we are, the circle around Annwn, and then Gwynvyd being the realm of wisdom and light, around the outside.

So, in completion of this chapter, the Nature Ray is fulfilled by walking every day, even if only for  a few moments, to recharge and get your "green self" moving... The knowledge Ray for this chapters is your walks taking you deeper into your knowledge of your area and your oneness with nature. and the Devotional Ray is your relationship with your landscape, your natural area. 

The Path of Druidry Ch. 1

So, this is another workbook. She starts out explaining what Druidry is and how it can fit into modern day life. Great place to start. We are not all long white beards and grey robes carrying staffs and chanting spells.. Well, maybe we chant spells and some of us have beautiful staff, but i promise I do not have a long white beard. My grey cloak is very cool though. My sister made it for me. :-)

The first exercise is a basic meeting with your/my druid teacher, or my druid in my grove. This is something that I have been doing for a while now so I felt a bit like a cheater but followed the lesson anyway and met with you druid. Yes, he is the white beard and grey robe. Calm, quiet, and wise with an air of peace to him. We sit on either side of the fire burning in the pit surrounded by water with a ring of stones holding it, as is always at the center of my circle. The book wants us to think and meditate on the word Druid. What does it mean to you/me. What experience does this invoke... Then it has you/me wake up and take notes about the experience.

So what came to me. This druid is my teacher, my guide. I did not leave this meditation just to this as I have done this previously. What I hope to get out of Druidry is peace of mind, peace in general and an understanding and way to make it through this world as whole and complete as I can. In this meditation i did, however, ask for guidance as it is what I have been seeking for a long time. I envisioned myself helping someone. Flashes if my shop, which does not physically exist at this point. I still have a feeling of young people or children around me which makes me so happy. and I see myself doing what I want, not what is expected of me. This is exciting for me as I have always ended up doing what is expected, not what I wanted. Even when I try to hard to do what I want.

Notes I took at the end:
What are my goals in the study and practice of Druidry?

• peace within myself and in this world
• security of mind and spirit
• life friends
• confidence and courage
• to be ok and at peace with me. 

Here's the start of something that it seems, did not get finished. 

Hear the rumble deep within

low deep, a tremble, deep sound

resonates, the flicker of a leaf

stone, sing together, a hum of the earth

Chapter 1

The basics of Druidry. sacred space. meditation, Nwyfre - energy connecting us to all things - dragon energy.

This chapter talks about what to keep around you to be druid. What it means, how to start this path, this journey. It talks about talking time each day, green time I think that book called it, to be in nature. Even if you are in the middle of the city, look out the window at a tree. Take time, the book says, three times a day, for yourself to commune with nature, to be one with it. What a beautiful thought but at this point in my life, not really possible. I am, however, working on twice a day, in the morning and in the evening. I have not managed it yet though. For me, committing to something like this is difficult. Why, not really sure, but it just is. I will though. Something I want so badly to do. Hoping that if I don't get it right away, I will once the weather is nicer and it isn't so cold.

A journal of what we see each day during each medition or green time. did you walk in a park, sit under a tree. How did you spend your time. what was the weather like, what did you feel. Keeping a journal will help to bring this all together. you will also start to notice the patterns in the world around you. Over the next year, you will learn the path of the green. When the leaves sprout, fall, when things turn green, yellow, are birthed, die. Everything runs in a circle again and again each year. You will learn this circle for your area.

This course is presented in Rays... as in the rays in the druidic symbol below...

The nature ray - the study of nature and our surroundings, often practiced in the open air.
The knowledge ray - the study of myth and the inner realms
The devotional ray  - developing an appropriate relationship with the worlds.

The exercises will be given pertaining to these three rays...

Watch for the next post for Chapter 2!!!  

The Pulse

The pulse surrounds
I hear the music
Through my feet
The sound of time
The history of being
Moves me along
My path of ages
The rhythm beating
The voices calling
As the leaves spin
And twirl their dance
of longing
Under the touch of the sun
The view from above
The prism of a drop
Of water as it
Travels through the breeze
Crawls down the green blade
To reach the deep dense
Earth as
The pulse surrounds

written by Mystical Journey