Flame & Athame

A safe haven for all your pagan and earthly needs

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just some awesome mermaid fantasy art going around tumblr. sharin' the magical livvvv

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one of my favourite faerie pictures

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So this is basically me just trying to sort through my emotions from the garbage that happened at U of T’s Delta Delta Delta sorority. If you’re not interested in reading, that’s fine, and if you are, great. I want anyone who is thinking of joining a sorority to read peoples’ experiences first....

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Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire: it is the time for home.

 Edith Sitwell

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"Unique Days" by Boris Pasternack

How I remember solstice days  Through many winters long completed!  Each unrepeatable, unique,  And each one countless times repeated.  Of all these days, these only days,  When one rejoiced in the impression  That time had stopped, there grew in years  An unforgettable succession.  Each one of them I can evoke.  The year is to midwinter moving,  The roofs are dripping, roads are soaked,  And on the ice the sun is brooding.  Then lovers hastily are drawn  To one another, vague and dreaming,  And in the heat, upon a tree  The sweating nesting-box is steaming.  And sleepy clock-hands laze away  The clockface wearily ascending.  Eternal, endless is the day,  And the embrace is never-ending.

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Yule is approaching!

Fellow witches,

Yule is approaching! This year it falls on December the 22nd. I don't know about you all, but I'm very excited to take a step away from the busy city life and get in tune with nature, my family and all the important things in life I take for granted. Yule is a time to accept the things that have not gone accordingly in the past calendar year and to expect greater things of yourself as the Sun King comes back. The resting period is over and life will be back in full swing again. Perhaps lighting a Yule log is a family tradition that helps you celebrate this magical time. Or maybe snow magic is something you enjoy this festive time of year. Maybe it's something as simple as making cookies with your loved ones and appreciating how much love & compassion is around you. Whatever it is you do as a Pagan to celebrate Yule, make it meaningful, make it count and have FUN!

I hope everyone has an amazing holiday season!

From the bottom of my heart,

Merry Yule & Blessed Be

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Happy Samhain!

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I believe that there is a subtle magnetism in Nature, which, if we unconsciously yield to it, will direct us aright.

Henry David Thoreau

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Samhain Preparation

Fellow peaceful earth dwellers,

Samhaim is fast approaching! It seems like it was only yesterday when summer came knocking on our front doors, beckoning us outdoors to relax and play. Now it's autumn and it's back to school and work -- no more frolicking through the fields!

Just kidding. There's always time for frolicking.

Last year my Samhain rituals were pretty solemn and serious. This year I want to incorporate song, art and dance. 

How are you guys preparing for Samhain?

~*~Blessed Be~*~

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Call upon the Goddess and God to protect you and teach you the secrets of magic. Ask stones and plants to reveal their powers - and listen.

Scott Cunningham

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Look at the trees, look at the birds, look at the clouds, look at the stars... and if you have eyes you will be able to see that the whole existence is joyful. Everything is simply happy. Trees are happy for no reason; they are not going to become prime ministers or presidents and they are not going to become rich and they will never have any bank balance. Look at the flowers - for no reason. It is simply unbelievable how happy flowers are.

Osho

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Prayer to Nut

Goddess of skies,

open and blue,

honest in your clarity.

Cleanse my soul and fill my eyes.

As you provide knowledge,

through the murk of your clouds,

may we one day, old and wise, teach the new and bare.

May I learn from your ever-changing ways,

and never be afraid to alter what need be altered.

As you collect the water and help sow what we reap,

may we learn to be as generous as you.

~*~Blessed Be~*~

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Wicca has been, up until the past decade or so, a closed religion, but no more.

Scott Cunningham

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The Goddess You Identify With

There are so many goddesses in the pagan religion! Even though it can be very confusing at first, not all pagans believe in every single deity. Some only believe in the Egyptian goddesses and some only in their Celtic mothers and fathers.

For me, the gods from mythology represent forces and powers. They simply help me channel my prayers and energy.

I find I relate strongest to the Goddess, "Nut," Egyptian goddess of the sky and celestial bodies.

                                     It's hard to pray to all of them every day, but you'll find that when you study the goddesses you'll be drawn to some more than others. Take advantage of that, they could be your spiritual guardian. You may also find that you are drawn to different goddesses during different times in your life. This is not only normal, but can be very useful. It is a sign that you may need something that that goddess represents at that point in your life.

~*~Blessed Be~*~

List of Wiccan Goddesses:

Amaterasu - Japanese sun Goddess

Annapurna - Hindu Goddess of Food and Nourishment

Aphrodite /Venus- Greek Goddess of love and beauty

Artemis/Diana - Greek/Roman Goddess of the hunt, virginity, and childbirth, twin sister of Apollo, and an Olympian, often associated with the moon

Astarte - Greek Goddess of fertility, sexuality, and war

Athena - Greek Goddess of wisdom, defensive and strategic wars

Bast - Egyptian solar and war Goddess (in the form of a cat)

Baubo - Greek Goddess of mirth, jests, and bawdy humour

Brighid - Celtic Goddess of poetry, healing, and crafts (especially smith-work), holy wells and eternal flames

Cerridwen - Celtic Goddess of transformation, of the cauldron of inspiration, of prophecy

Cybele - Greek Earth Mother

Danu - Irish Mother Goddess

Demeter - Greek Goddess of the harvest and of grain, mother of Persephone

Durga - Hindu Great Goddess, Divine Mother

Eos - Greek Goddess of the dawn

Ereshkigal - Mesopotamian Goddess of Darkness, Death, and Gloom

Flora - Roman Goddess of flowers

Fortuna -Roman Goddess of fortune

Freya or Freyja - Norse Goddess of fertility, sexual liberty, abundance, and war

Frigg - Norse Goddess of marriage, household management, and love, Queen of Heaven, and wife of Odin

Gaia/Earth Mother - The Greek Goddess Gaia is the primordial Goddess of earth, mother and grandmother of the first generation of Titans

Hathor - Egyptian Goddess of the Milky Way, Mother Goddess, Goddess of childbirth and death.

Hecate - Greek Goddess of witchcraft and magick, crossroads, and the harvest moon

Hestia - Greek Goddess of the hearth and domestic life

Hel - Norse Goddess daughter of Loki and the giantess Angrboda, Queen of the Dead

Hera - Roman Goddess of the Hearth, of women, and of marriage

Inanna - Sumerian Goddess of sexual love, fertility, and warfare

Isis - Egyptian Mother Goddess, matron of nature and magick, Goddess of creativity and the underdog

Ishtar - Mesopotamian Goddess of sexual love, fertility, and war

Juno - Roman Queen of the Gods and Goddess of matrimony

Kali - Hindu Goddess of Time and Death, also Divine Mother Goddess

Kore - Greek Maiden Goddess of bountiful Earth

Kuan Yin , Kwan Yin Ma , Quan Yin - Chinese Goddess of Mercy and Compassion

Lakshmi - Hindu Goddess of Wealth and Fertility (Goddess as Mother/Sustainer)

Lalita - Hindu Goddess of Beauty

Luna Goddess - Roman Goddess of the Moon

Ma'at - Egyptian Goddess, personified concept of truth, balance, justice, and order

Mary - Mother Goddess, Queen of Heaven, Goddess of Femininity

Maya - Hindu The Goddess of Illusion and Mystery

Minerva - Roman Goddess of wisdom and war

Morrigan - Celtic war Goddess

Nut - Egyptian Goddess of heaven and the sky and all celestial bodies

Parvati - Hindu Divine Mother, the embodiment of the total energy in the universe, Goddess of Power and Might

Pele - Hawai'ian volcano Goddess, Destroyer and Creatrix

Persephone - Greek Goddess daughter of Demeter, queen of the dead, also a grain-Goddess

Radha - Hindu Divine Mother

Rhiannon - Celtic Goddess of the moon

Rosmurta - Celtic/Roman Goddess of abundance. She is also the Goddess of Business Success.

Saraswati - Hindu Goddess of Knowledge, the Arts, Mathematics, Education, and cosmic Wisdom (Creatrix)

Sedna: Inuit Goddess of the Sea and Queen of the Underworld

Selene - Greek Goddess of Moon

Shakti- Hindu primordial cosmic energy, Great Divine Mother

Shekina - Hebrew, feminine aspect of God, Shekhina represented compassion in its purest form

Sita - Hindu Goddess representing perfect womanhood

Sol - Norse Sun Goddess

Sophia - Greek Goddess of wisdom

Spider Woman - Teotihuacan Great Goddess (Creatrix)

Tara - Hindu, Mother Goddess, the absolute, unquenchable hunger that propels all life.

Tara, Green - Buddhist female Buddha, Tibetan Buddhism - compassion, liberation, success. Compassionate Buddha of enlightened activity

Tara, White - Buddhist Goddess known for compassion, long life, healing and serenity; also known as The Wish-fulfilling Wheel, or Cintachakra

Tara, Red - fierceness, magnetizing all good things

Tara, Black - power

Tara, Yellow - wealth and prosperity

Tara, Blue - transmutation of anger

Tiamat - Mesopotamian dragon Goddess, embodiment of primordial chaos (the Velvet Dark)

Uma - Hindu Goddess of power, the personification of light and beauty, embodying great beauty and divine wisdom

Vesta - Roman Goddess of the hearth

Voluptas - Roman Goddess of pleasure

Yemaya - Yoruban Mother Goddess, Goddess of the Ocean

White Buffalo Calf Woman - Lakota Goddess

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Happy Lughnasadh!

                       Dear Tumblr,

On August 1st, us Pagans celebrate Lughnasadh (pronounced: Loo-neh-seh); a time for thanking the gods for all the wonderful things summer brings us. Originally, it was a thanksgiving holiday to honour the gods that brought the people all the food they needed to survive the upcoming winter months. In Celtic mythology, the Lughnasadh festival began as a funeral feast for the god Lugh. Additionally, physically taxing games were played in memory of Lugh's guardian, Tailtiu, who died of exhaustion after clearing the plains of Ireland for agriculture.

Nowadays in modern time, while it is important to thank the gods and goddesses for all the delicious food that summer brings (hello in-season fruit!) it's also a time to focus on all the things you are grateful for during the warmer months. Maybe it's time off from school or work? Or perhaps you are thankful for the chance to go swimming outdoors? In thanks we give a grain offering to our Lord & Lady and celebrate all that summer has to offer with family & friends.

Wishing you all a wonderful 'harvest'!

~*~Blessed Be!~*~

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Cleansing Bath

Before spells it is advised you purify yourself of any daily thoughts and energies that have tainted you.

RECIPE:

1 small handful of Anise Seed

3 Bay Leaves

1 pinch of salt

(I use hot water for it's stronger purification abilities)

Slowly lower yourself into the bath and make sure you are completely immersed up to your shoulders (at some point immerse your head and hair as well). As you sit in the bath, imagine all the impurities of the world being washed away. Emerge when you feel centered and calm and ready for spell work. You should feel neutral and unbiased.

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An interesting picture that has combined the stag physicality of the God into the feminine attributes of the Goddess.