Magickal Circle

Imbolic will soon be upon us with the date being February 2nd. I plan to write a ritual to do with my sister-in law and husband. This will be the second ritual I have written. I take what I like from several different books and combine them. I make sure I include all the elements required but it makes it mine. When I did it before, it was for a group of friends and they really liked what I did.  Maybe it’s a sign or something. I like writing so it was kind of fun.  I’ll see how it goes since I only have two days to write it!

Well, I guess before I get involved too much further I need to think about the dedication ceremony. It will force me to make the decision about whether I am truly serious about the craft. 12 months and a day is the time one should spend under the investigation phase. According to my Solitary Witch book by Silver RavenWolf the purpose of the ceremony is to provide “a protective net while one studies”. The same ceremony can be repeated both for dedication and initiation, which occurs after the 12 months and a day.

I am somewhat concerned about the the protective net issue. I do worry a bit about the spirits and such interfering and getting in the way. Developing power and not knowing how to use or harness it. It reminds me of the Carlos Castaneda books and his studies and how he aquired power and  his experiences. An interesting read if you’ve never read his books. But he had some run-ins with some power issues during his studies.

She does talk about the fact if you cannot bring yourself to do the ritual that you are not ready. Maybe that’s why I’ve had so much trouble getting around to doing ritual as I’ve not been truly ready to accept the craft into my life.  This is something to think about.

Has anyone done a dedication ceremony? What about an initiation ceremony? I would be interested to hear about your experience with your ceremony if you would be willing to share.

I think every witch should have their own dragon. I own 5 personally. None of them breathe fire or anything. Now maybe you’re saying, yea, right, you own a dragon. I’m talking about a bearded dragon. They come from Australia and are a desert species. Quite friendly and personable. The are about 20″ to 26″ long including tail. They eat greens like collards and kale and green beans, snow peas, snap peas, squash, peppers. They also eat crickets and I feed mine superworms. Once you set their cage up right, they are easy to take care of.

Now, can’t you imagine walking around with this prehistoric looking lizard sitting on your shoulder, looking around, happy as can be. That’s part of my way of getting in touch with nature, I guess. I’m looking forward to summer when I can take them outside again. I perch one up in a small tree and she just enjoys hanging out. The others like hiding under a bush after a nice warm up in the sun. I’m planning on a car ride next. I think that would be fun.

This is a bit off topic but my prior post talked about my given name. I did one of these things on the web where you look up the meaning of your name. Boy, did it hit me on the head. It said my name means Famous. It said that I am well equipped in a managerial sense; I would be good at running a business. Funny as I ran my fathers insurance business for 14 years. It also said I could be impatient when things didn’t happen fast enough. I am rigid and stubborn and I am materialistic. That’s sort of true. I like stuff and live by the motto “The one with the most toys when they die wins”. And I know I get impatient when things don’t go fast enough.

The information also said that I have a hugh capacity for responsibility and usually take on more than my share of the load. It also says that my priorities are friendship, love and affection to have a happy life.  So what does your name mean? If you want to know, go to http://www.paulsadowski.com/ and look up you name. Share with us what you name means.

Many of my books on Wicca discuss choosing a magickal name.  It can be based on an animal totem or after a goddess that is admired. I have yet to chose a name because I guess the time is not yet right for me. I have not decided where I belong in the great scheme of things. I have thought about using my given name, as I have gone by a nick name so much of my life. It is only in the last 10 years that I have really used my given name. It is a very appropriate name for me if you look at the meaning of the name. I have changed so much in these past 10 years and somehow these changes are reflected by the use of the given name

However, I think I still want a magickal name that somehow reflects my journey down this path.  At some point I am sure it will come to me, during my studies, in the middle of the night, in a dream or in some other way that the Goddess sees fit. I’ve decided not to force the issue, because then the name won’t be right for me. It will be fun to see what it turns out to be.  

Do you have a magickal name? How did you come about finding yours? Please share your story.

I will be discontinuing this section. If there is a specific birthday you are interested in finding out personality information about, please let me know and I will get the information for you.

Altars are always a big topic of discussion. At least I think so. Do you have one? is a question heard from time to time.  I personally don’t have one yet but I still haven’t gotten the ritual thing down yet either. I think if I could decide where I wanted to put it, it would help a great deal. I want to be able to leave mine up full time. I’ve been thinking about using my dresser  and setting up altars side by side, one for me and one for my husband. Boy, he sort of got upset. We are married, we should be using the same altar. To my way of thinking, just because I got married doesn’t mean I can’t have my own stuff. And that includes things like athames and chalices and Book of Shadows. I still want my own space. I though it would be cool to do stuff side by side.  But I digress…… oh- he now doesn’t remember and has no problem with this.

Silver Raven Wolf in her book  The Solitary Witch talks about altars, from a very basic bare bones to a more elaborate set up.  It all depends on what you want and what you feel comforatable with. Then you have to clean your alter, best done at full or new moon.

What should an altar include? according to Silver Raven Wolf, only the basic four elements are required. The a deity may be added as well as a candle representing the God and Goddess. A centerpiece for focus and if appropriate, an athame.  You can go for the more traditional set up that I won’t go into here but I think you get the idea.

So this should be a space for you to connect with the Lord and Lady. Make it your own. Please tell me about your altar or your plans for one.

There are various tools out there for divination. Tarot, runes, scrying just to mention a few.  However, tarot seems to keep coming back to me.  I have had an interest in it for a while but somehow it keeps coming upat various times so I decided it was time to get serious and study tarot. So now I am studying Tarot for Dummies which is about my level at this point. I just started it but it is interested. The book talks about interpretation of the cards and all the influences on the interpretations. The weather, your mood, whether you are hungry- these things all affect the tarot meaning.

The tarot also means different things to different people depending on outlook on life and their individual situation. Tarot to me is a way to find answers to the questions that I seek. Or questions to the answers I seek. I am not sure which at this point.  Please share what tarot means to you. Do you use tarot cards? What other tools do you use?

I am thinking about the upcoming holiday of Imbolic and want to get it together enough to perform ritual. My friend and sister-in-law came over and I got out by Book of Shadows during our discussion. The person who showed me the Wiccan path was right for me, gave me a Book of Shadows that she had started for me that I could add on to. We were looking through the book and I came across the section on Imbolic and I though I would share some of it.

Celtic Imbolic or Brigid is a time for purification or new beginnings. The word Imbolic refers to the pregnant condition of ewes at Midwinter. Their fertility was a good sign to the Celts who depended on the sheep for food and clothing.

The Sabbat is also called Brigid in honor of the Celtic Triple Goddess, a strong woman symbolized as leading and providing for her people. She is a war goddess, a patron of martial arts, the goddess of fire, poetry, fine arts, smith craft, and the healing arts including midwifery.

Purification rites were performed by the ancient Romans who celebrate Lupercalia in honor of Lupa, the she-wolf who nursed Romulus and Remus. Orgiastic rites were performed to honor her to insure fertility in the coming year. After these rites, naked youth were said to have traveled to local towns to purify them.

The Christian clergy tried to suppress Lupercalia and so they substituted the Feast of the Purification of the Virgin or Candlemas.

For Wiccans today, this can be a time where negative personal relationships and bad habits can be discarded at Imbolic. Those relationships worth saving can be renewed and it is a good time to start new ones. This is a time to clean the house and get rid of the clutter.

Do you have your own ‘rituals’ that you do at this time of year such as cleaning house, visiting friends, making plans for new additions in your life? Please let me hear about what you do to celebrat this holiday.

I apologize-a comment was left and I deleted it by mistake. If you care to post again- it should post right away.

Information taken from The Secret Language of Birthdays by Gary Goldschneider and Joost Elfers(SLB) and The Power of Birthdays, Stars and Numbers, The Complete Personology Reference Guide by Saffi Crawford and Geradline Sullivan(BSN).

January 15:  It is interesting to note differences between these two personality profiles. SLB says people born on this day tend to have a hero, and to have a heroic nature. This lends them to mentoring later in life. They have innocent exteriors which hides their inner strengths. They also tend to overindulge and give themselves over to the pleasures in life. BSN on the otherhand says that these are determined individuals. Tend to be generous with time or money with excellent communication skills and pays attention to detail.

January 16: Born on this day you are charming and have a strong sense of yourself, according to BSN.  Honest, sociable with good communication skills you tend to learn quickly. By contrast SLB says that these individuals are in need of fulfilment. They need the satisfaction of completions of tasks and need to learn their limitations.

January 17: Accordling to SLB, these people learn early what makes other people tick and use this to their advantage.  They can be intimidating individuals and can be quite aggressive. BSN also feels that these individuals are very determined and success oriented, but not with quite the aggressive tendancy, yet they can be quite demanding.

January 18: Smart and charming is how BSN describes people born on this day. Good leadership qualities and business sense as well as creativity makes for strong individuals. SLB says these people are lighthearted and child-like and make great parents. They enjoy having fun and don’t particularly care for more important matters.

January 19: Those born this day are said to be creative and can lead others through their magnetism. Subject to emotional problems, these people can lead difficult lives. They need to associate with more stable  individuals to help groud them, according to SLB. However, BSN contrasts these people to be strong willed and determined and want recognition. One similarity is that they also mention emotional sensitivity and need to overcome difficulties.

January 20: The last day of Capricorn- Pervasive and charming, Pratical and hardworking is how BSN describes these individuals. By contrast SLB states that these are vibrant people with a good sense of humor, able to improvise yet have a nasty temper at times. But they have a positive attitude towards life and perservere.

These two books show a tremendous difference in personalities for these dates. Who then is right? Is there really a correct answer? Is there a little bit of truth to both descriptions?  Some people find these more accurate that others. Stay tuned as we look at more birthdays. Next up is Aquarius January 21- February 19.