#considering craft

[pastorwitch]

Meditation: Considering Craft

So you wanna be a Christian witch...

Step one of every spell I post is always “Perform any pre-spell rituals.” For me this is often grounding and casting a circle. Others say a prayer or call on the elements. Many of us have a ritual we go through to prepare ourselves for the work we are about to do, and to protect ourselves from anything going awry during the process.

I believe pre-spell rituals are very much like warming up. I start my singing warm-up with bubbles and then do progressively harder exercises, until I am performing exercises meant to strengthen my vocal cords. Finally, when these are done, I am ready sing, to use my voice to cause feelings to percolate in all who listen. The song provides a desired effect, just like the spell does.

Then the man of God said, “Where did it fall?” When he showed him the place, he cut off a stick, and threw it in there, and made the iron float. He said, “Pick it up.” So he reached out his hand and took it.

-2 Kings 6:6-7

Elisha doesn’t have time for that.

Seriously, this passage blows my mind because here Elisha does an incredible miracle without any pomp-and-circumstance. He does not pray to God or listen for Their words. He just throws a stick in the river and a heavy ax head floats to the surface. No big deal, right? Elisha is literally out there making new houses for the people in his prophet school (you read that right, he had a prophet school), and instead of setting a good example for his students by asking God before breaking the laws of physics, he just does it.

Cool.

But it’s important to understand that Elisha lived every moment in contact with God. Elisha understands Them so intimately that he already knows what God’s will is. He is so good at communing with God that he literally heads a prophet school teaching people how to listen for God and perform miracles. Elisha is so familiar with how miracles work, what they feel like in his hands and falling from his lips, that he intuitively knows what to do in this situation. He doesn’t need a warm-up.

May you come to a place in your craft where you are so in tune with God that you feel comfortable occasionally shedding your pre-spell rituals. May you understand Them so well that you can trust your intuition. May you be so familiar with Their power that you can perform Their works without halt or hesitation. May you come to a place where you no longer need a warm-up.

[pastorwitch]

Meditation: Considering Craft

So you wanna be a Christian witch...

There is a lot of need in the world, need that I personally believe Christians and anyone else spiritually inclined have a duty to satiate. Spirituality is meant to connect us. Faith is meant to change our attitudes and practice compassion. Yet, we continually observe apathy in our world, particularly from those who are most passionate about their God.

This flaw is what allows poverty and oppression to continue. Faith has so much power to transform us and redefine our priorities, coloring our actions. Yet, too often we refuse to allow faith room in our lives to do that, regardless of how often we flaunt it.

Someone might say, “You have faith, but I have works.” Demonstrate your faith without doing anything, and I will demonstrate my faith by what I do.

-James 2:18

Paul insists that the appropriate response to faith is actions shaped by faith. As witches we know two things. The first is that our spells are action. They are the movement of energy within our world, the impressing upon the universe of our intent. Being a Christian witch is being a Christian whose religious practices are based on action. We cannot take this path without moving and working in faith.

Furthermore, a witch is well aware of their power, not only in the spiritual, but in the mundane. A witch works amongst the spirits and amongst the people. Their power is in their hearts and their hands. It is important to remember this as we cast spells for this troubled world. Yes, our spells are actions, but they are not the only actions we can take. If we are willing to cast a spell, then we must be willing to offer our resources and time for this. Casting is based on intent. If you have no desire to act in the mundane, then how strong is your intent really? Without the strength of intent, how can you expect results in the spiritual?

[pastorwitch]

Meditation: Considering Craft

So you wanna be a Christian witch...

It is so frustrating to not be able to see the rewards of you work. When you give and give and yet see no produce, it doesn’t seem fair. Hours working on craft and studying Creation can lead to nothing. You sit in your own brine. New witches can hold the enthusiasm and energy you lack.

Sometimes it feels like experience and success don’t match up. The time you put in feels wasted. Others receive the opportunities and results you feel you deserved more. You are left in the dust despite all of your discipline.

You can work hard and still be left with nothing.

The father said to him, ‘Child you have always stood by me, and all that I have is yours.’

-Luke 15:31

This comes from the story of the prodigal son in Luke. The father, in his excitement over the return of his son, prepares a feast and insists on a party. The oldest son, however, is disgusted by the father’s actions towards the younger brother. How could the father give so much to the son who had made it clear he wished the father was dead?

So, the oldest son goes to the father and yells at him. The oldest son has worked faithfully for his father his whole life and has never even been given a goat to eat with his friends. He has never received this sort of welcome in his own home, the home he has diligently worked to build and maintain. He has done everything, but has gotten nothing.

Because he has not asked.

The son might have worked for his father, but he never made his needs known. The father tells him in this passage that he would never have denied the oldest son anything. If the oldest son had wanted, he could have had this party. He could have had the calf. It was all his. He always had the same access to the estate as his younger brother.

But he had never asked for it.

The oldest son had become so involved in his work, in his duties, that he had neglected the father-son relationship. He did not make his needs or desires known. He hid from his father behind chores and responsibilities, performing for his father but never actually communing with him. If he had, he would have known the father’s heart all along. He would never have doubted the love his father felt for him.

And if he understood that he was loved, he would never have denied love to his brother.

When was the last time you asked God for your goals and dreams? Are you maintaining the relationship with God, or just your altar? Are you secure in God’s love for you, or can you still feel yourself trying to draw God’s attention from others because you have this human conception of finite love when God is capable of infinite love? When was the last time you simply asked?

[pastorwitch]

Meditation: Considering Craft

So you wanna be a Christian witch...

I cannot comprehend what a world without God would look like. I tried, but it led to a subconscious response, because the conscious mind could not analyze the totality of it. Lack of existence is so much less than a void. It is less than nothing. Both a void and nothing are concrete ideas and finite enough to name. This lack was beyond names or even feelings.

Creation is the medium through which I get to learn about God. I would argue that Creation is the only medium through which anyone can learn about God. All of our thoughts and beliefs about Him are shaped through the human mind, a finite aspect of Creation. Our souls can perceive Him, but we are so out of focus with our souls. We so often reach for the tangible in place of the mystical, because it is all we think we have.

Nevertheless, Creation is an amazing lens through which to view the Creator. The art speaks of the artist. The more we know about Creation the more we will know about the God who formed it.

The earth had no form and was empty. Darkness covered the ocean, and a mighty wind was hovering over the water.

-Genesis 1:2

The first moments are so important. God has just created the Universe and everything in it. Now, He turns His attention towards Earth, the part of Creation we best understand and have access to. He designed it with life in mind, forming it to produce creatures such as us. He moved over the oceans in the dark.

Tonight is the new moon, and it gives us the unique opportunity. Every new moon we get a chance to experience darkness, such as the darkness experienced by the Holy Spirit over the waters. It is ripe with possibilities, ready to be filled with hopes and dreams. I imagine the closest we will ever get to experiencing that night in creation, would be to go out on the waves in the middle of a night blessed with a new moon.

Tonight is a night to be overwhelmingly thankful for Creation. Take some time to imagine the night when the Holy Spirit sat upon the water. Feel the darkness seep into your skin as your soul moves about like a wind over the expanse. Take hold of the magick of this night and the opportunity it gives you to better know your Lord.

[pastorwitch]

Meditation: Considering Craft

So you wanna be a Christian witch...

The new moon fast approaches, casting darkness over our night skies. During these long winter nights the echoes of the blackened expanse above us seem to go on forever. It lurks around us, ready to engulf us. For humanity, this can be a time of fear and desolation.

But not so to witches. Witches know that when the moon disappears, the cycle begins again. A time of banishing turns to a time of attraction and manifestation. The moon comes and it goes with magick attached to its brightening and darkening face. The moon’s cycle is no time of fear for the witch, but rather, a time of rejoicing.

But even the darkness is not dark to you. The night is as light as the day; darkness and light are the same to you.

-Psalms 139:12

A moonless night is not dark to our Lord. So too, it cannot be dark for us. God’s Creation is always illuminated under the study of craft, because it comes with an understanding that all is precious and perfectly made. To us, the darkest night holds the same value as the brightest day. We see as clearly in the dark as we do the light. We accept the world as God created it.

Take some time today in God’s Creation. Thank Him for the glory that surrounds us. Ask for continued wisdom in coming to an understanding of the value in each moment of Creation.

Desire the moonless night, and treat it as a comfort.

[pastorwitch]

Meditation: Considering Craft

So you wanna be a Christian witch...

First, allow me to apologize for the lack of meditations. It is a difficult time of year for many of us in the northern hemisphere. The Dark Half looms over us, and will continue until the Spring Equinox. On the eleventh we will experience a new moon, making it the darkest of the long nights leading up to the Winter Solstice, the longest night of the year.

The Dark Half has been known to bring with it low mood from the lack of sunlight. I personally have felt not only this low mood, but a lack of energy during this time. My witchcraft has suffered. I am unable to even draw a little energy from the earth or the fire. Especially tonight.

But I know that it is when I am spiritually empty that spiritual practices hold the most meaning. If you are feeling this way too, I hope I can give you some comfort during this time.

God will strengthen you with all power according to His glorious might so that you will not give up when troubles come, but you will be patient.

-Colossians 1:11

The comfort I have to offer is not my own however, but comes from God. Truthfully, how could this old husk offer any solace in these days before the solstice. My craft may feel dried up and my energy deplenished, but I recognize that my God still holds the power and that He is seeking to strengthen me.

Sometimes before you are strengthened you need rest. Paul asks us to be patient when faced with trouble. God’s strength isn’t always just strength to continue, sometimes it is strength to wait.

If you are feeling sorrow at the loss of the sun, as I am, take some time this week to patiently wait for the return of your energy. Rely on the strength God has given you to rest and be renewed during this time. And do not be ashamed to let your craft slide and focus instead on taking care of yourself. You are the most important magickal tool in your arsenal. 

[pastorwitch]

Meditation: Considering Craft

So you wanna be a Christian witch...

I fell in love with music because it can be extremely nuanced. Consider an orchestral song cycle. The singer conveys lines of poetry, truth dripping from between their lips. Words lift into the air and imbed themselves in our souls. But these are just the truths we can consciously understand.

With the singer is a multitude of instruments, each dissonance and consonance, both vertically and horizontally, individually, in pairs, and in community holds meaning and is necessary to understand the meaning of every word of poetry. Truth is plucked from their strings, pounded out of their surfaces, and blown from within metal bodies.

And this is just the auditory element. As musicians, we do not often get to sit idly by. Our faces form to the music and our bodies lean towards its center. The conductor stands at the front, dancing, a visual embodiment of this magick.

There is an outward truth that is easier to understand. But the depth and reality of that truth can only be realized through a communal effort.

Jesus said, “You have been chosen to understand the mysteries about the kingdom of God. But I use parables to speak to other people so that: ‘They will see, but they may not perceive.  They will hear, but they may not understand [Is. 6:9].’

-Luke 8:10

So it is with the Kingdom of God.

There is the poetry, the Word, which we all attempt to portray in our lives. And each one of us comes together in our individual ways to form this community that is the Church. Every movement is meaningful and filled with purpose. Every player is necessary.

There are dangers to playing in an orchestra. For the singer, it is never being able to hear themselves. For the player, it is hearing themselves too closely to understand the power of the greater piece. To make matters worse, the stage is designed to lift the sound out to the audience, and it can be difficult at times to get the full benefit of the performance while playing. Each player is missing something, and their picture is incomplete. The people often best equipped to understand the music, the ones who have studied it and become intimate with its curves and folds, are unable to truly appreciate it.

Yet, how much more is lost on the crowd, who understands the words, but have yet to comprehend the depths of the music? Despite what is lost, they get to live with its sweetness.

One day we will know the glory of the Kingdom of God. We will understand all of its mysteries intimately. Until then we must play our parts. We have a duty to play the Word of God.

Some parts may seem to clash more than others though. You may have found yourself seated in the wrong section, a singer beside the percussion, or a trumpet behind the choir. Your part might make no sense when played in tandem with your neighbor. It might sound ugly. It might seem off. But you part is your part.

Is your part that of a Christian witch? If God has handed you the music, play on.

[pastorwitch]

Meditation: Considering Craft

So you wanna be a Christian witch...

A couple weeks ago, I asked a group of teenagers what they wanted most from their congregation. I told them to write their demands on paper and insist in this letter that their needs be met. They set about writing, and what they asked for broke my heart.

They asked for safety.

They asked for safe adults. They asked for theology that was presented in a safe way. Their main concern was that they would not be invited into this community for who they were. Every person around them would have to be tested to ensure safety. Every theological idea nit-picked to determine if it was truly safe and represented a God who would love them.

For those of us in communities the church has marginalized, this never changes. For most of us, our first thought is whether or not a group will be safe for us emotionally to be open in. Will the lessons they give be safe for us emotionally? Every church we enter we have to wonder and pray under baited breathe that this place will be safe for us. Too many of us stay up at night, wondering if we will ever find a place that is safe.

But the Lord says, “I will now rise up, because the poor are being hurt. Because of the moans of the helpless, I will give them the help they long for.”

-Psalm 12:5

Welcoming communities and safe places are in God’s heart. God is close to you as you lie awake in bed, crying because you don’t know if you will ever actually find people who want you. As you hold yourself, trying to cover all the parts you don’t think will fit in, God is pressing those parts into Him and lavishing them in love.

God knows your sexuality. God knows your brain chemistry. God knows where you are able and where you need help. God knows your talents. God knows your religious path. And He loves you for every piece of yourself.

He is rising up for you today. Take heart.