#witch sabbat

[villagewitchery]

[magdalene-spirit]

The (Witch’s) Sabbath

We participate in traditions & maybe we become curious about its source. The idea of tradition is itself curious. Some suggest an ancient, arcane or primordial tradition. But is this tradition this-worldly or otherworldly?

Does it exist on a higher plane from where we draw down cultural expressions & therefore find similarities between different cultures as expressions of the same idea, as suggested by Plato with his theory of eternal forms (or the Jungian archetypes of the collective unconscious), in other words, the gods/goddesses, or deities.

The Sabbat has to do with the relationship & contract between the deities & humans to the aim of preserving order & prosperity in a civilisation.

Order vs collapse & chaos is a concern at all times & is a foundational law of creation or Nature, around which everything else regulates.

In the arcane tradition, the understanding of this law, was called magic; that only through observing the law can prosperity come about.

The law is expressed in the regulatory workings of the cosmos, the sun & moon cycles, for example.

The ancients were concerned with measure & the measuring out of the creation, with for example mathematics & geometry.

Mother is measure/metre etc.

From measure we get ratio, which is the considering of a portion/part in relation to the whole.

The moon, measures out, the portion of sunlight reflected to the earth over a month. With seasonal rotation the amount & intensity of sunlight that reaches the earth waxes & wanes.

All life on earth & prosperity is dependent on the sun. The sun & moon are the primal ancient deities that must be observed; in any civilisation, to survive & prosper.

To have a harvest & surplus for scarcity, the work/rest ratio is paramount. Energy is expended with labouring in the creation & is reconstituted in rest.

Surplus makes offerings & festivity possible.

The 1/7 work:rest ratio is a universal pattern or law of Nature. Abundance (for which gold is the symbol) can only be secured by toil & receiving.

It is the wheel of creation itself, & not coincidental that the ratio’s are found in the wheel (invented in Sumer), as circle/primordial form of completion & Mother.

[nikkas-cottage]

Sipping tea & planning for Imbolc 🌱🌞

[debora-goth]

[uni-magi-nation]

Ostara

Ostara lines up with the Spring Equinox, this year falling on March 19th.

Being the last festival in the dark half of the Wheel of the Year, the spring equinox represents revival, rebirth, and resurrection. A common theme here is fertility, with the earth being fertile for life to spring from the ground. This is continued through us and our magick as well.

A common practice is spring cleaning. Creating a physical space that reflects our mental state. If our space is cluttered, then typically, our minds are too. But don't declutter just because it's a common practice or because it's Ostara, declutter to allow space for spiritual growth.

During Ostara we are coming out of our dormant stages of winter, it's important to revisit any goals created during Imbolc and follow through with them. Identify the habits you've started and see how they align with your goals. Do you need to motify any of them? Create or erase them?

Many gods and goddesses are worshipped during this time, coming out of winter to rejuvenate the earth, such as: Eostre, Pan, Triple Goddess, and Persephone (Kore). Some other associations with the Ostara are the hare, toad, cat, owl, fox, daffodil, borage, bluebell, wild garlic, jasper, serpentine, citrine, and lapis lazuli.

This year, unfortunately, I'm busy with work, so my Ostara activities will take some days.

Sources:

1. Year of the Witch by Temperance Alden P.gs 123-132

2. The Witch's Yearbook by Clare Gogerty P.gs 57-69

[kawaiigrimoire]

🌱 Imbolc 🕯

Just look at those sprouts!! Spring is just around the corner and Imbolc is almost here. Here are some correspondences and ways to celebrate ☀️🌱

Foods 🍱

Milk, Honey, Cheese, Pancakes, Bread, Seeds, Nuts, Crepes, Micro greens, Sprouts, Chamomile tea, Poppyseed muffins, and Golden milk

Colors 🌈

Green: new plant growth💚

White: melting snow🤍

Brown: the earth and soil🤎

Gold: the return of the sun☀️

Red: fire 🔥

Altar Decorations 🎊

Brigid’s cross, Seeds, Nuts, Plants, Colorful candles, Brigid’s bed, Snowdrops, Crocuses, and Groundhog figures or plushes

Crystals

Amethyst, Clear Quartz, Bloodstone Garnet, Ruby, Onyx, and Obsidian

Activities 🪴

Make a Brigid’s cross out of straw, grass, or paper. Weave your intentions into it

Plant seeds with intentions and watch your intentions manifest as the seeds grow

Bake seeded breads and cakes

Go on a nature walk and look for signs of spring. Listen to birds and look for sprouts

Clean your house/room with the windows open to let out negative energy

Cleanse your technology! Get rid of old files emails and pictures, clean keyboards, wipe down screens

Have a bonfire, a fire in your fireplace, turn on all the lights in your house, or light lots of candles to celebrate the return of the sun

Set goals for the upcoming year

Perform Sabbat divination using tarot, runes, a pendulum, or any other items you usually use

Take a ritual cleansing bath to get rid of old energies

Wear clothes in the colors of the sabbat

Write a list of what you need to release and burn it

^Here are some poppyseed muffins I made last year

I hope you have a wonderful Imbolc and let me know if you try any of these 🌱

[lifeofawitch2020]

Samhain

History & Correspondences

What is Samhain? Many may know it as All Hallows’ Eve or Halloween; however the name means Summer’s End. The word is pronounced “Sow-in” and it always starts at midnight on October 31st and lasts until daybreak on November 2nd every year. This Sabbat stays the same date versus a few of the other Sabbats that vary on year to year dates we celebrate. Earth has acknowledged that summer is coming to an end, and the dark times are approaching of winter. This is also our Witches New Year,; the Wheel of the Year started in the Dark and finishes in the dark time.

This is also a good time to contact spirits, fae, and your ancestors due to the veil so very thin as it is also at Beltane. We in the Northern hemisphere have Samhain and in the Southern hemisphere have Beltane. Due to the veil (the separation of our realm -Middle Realm & the Underworld contacting your Ancestors is prime opportunity. Set up your choice of divination and perform it at the Ancestral Altar. Remember to treat the dearly departed well as they do for us still. Traditionally the malice of spirits were kept at bay from home by leaving food outside the door as offerings and by carving turnips with grotesque faces and lighting them up. This has evolved into a fruit that we now carve, the pumpkin- yes it’s a fruit as it grows as a flower. Now onto the candy begging....

Traditionally small cakes named Soul cakes were given to the beggars that came to the doors in search for food. With time this has evolved into a huge marketing campaign to sell candy for people to give to trick or treaters on Halloween. We can incorporate some of the lost traditions into our practice today. Bonfires were part of the Old Ways and now we can make a cauldron fire.

Speaking about a cauldron fire or bonfire, you can write down wishes for the upcoming year. Use a leaf outside and write in the current tense verbiage. The smell of the burnt leaves of wishes is Magickal in itself. We focus on dissolving the old and bringing forth the new on Samhain. Try your hand at some other form of divination that you haven’t yet, the time is perfect.

Just like at Beltane, bonfires are lit iand it becomes a festival. During this group ritual, people would take flames from the bonfire and use them to relight the hearths of their homes. They did this to bind the community together and for good luck during the upcoming harsh winter season. They would also use these fires for divination in their rituals by fire gazing and telling stories gathered around it.

Other activities included apple bobbing. (Apples are strongly associated with the departed/ancestors.) Some maidens carved an apple and not to loose the peel and keep it in one twirl; they would toss it over their shoulder and think of the Man they would marry and the letter would be exposed in the shape of the peeling on the floor.

During Samhain it is traditional to have a Dumb Supper; this is where a place sitting is made for each departed member, you eat your meal in silence. Don’t forget to light a white candle and place in the window to lead them to your home. Yes, you can use an electric one due to safety concerns. Now let’s delve into the decor ideas...

Decorating ideas & Altar(a)

Pumpkins, gourds, corn with the dried sheathes, apples, Mum flowers, candles, lanterns, cauldrons, leaves, skeletons, bats, ravens, crows, owls, divination tools, hay bales, spirit representations, pine cones, acorns, bones, mirrors, corn husk dolls (same at Lammas) burn that one now and burn this one next Lammas.

Colors: black, white, orange, red, white, dark yellow, dark greens, brown, grey, gold, purple,

Spices, herbs, & etc: nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice, ginger, aka=pumpkin pie spice & apple pie spice, witches black salt, Rosemary, mullein, rue, mugwort, calendula, tobacco, sage, wormwood, yarrow, tarragon, bay leaf, almond, hazelnut, garlic, mandrake root, yew, sandalwood, pumpkin, oak bark and leaves, acorns, pomegranate (fruit of the Underworld), pennyroyal, turnips, pine needle, cedar, apple, chrysanthemum, & hemlock.

Food & Drinks: Apples (or foods with apples baked in), potatoes, corn, nuts, turnips, pumpkins, mead, cider, mulled/spiced wine, tea, yams, pumpkin pie,

Incense: scents that invoke mysterious and warming vibes, such an Myrhh, Frankincense, or Potchouli. Oils work just as well, too!

Stones & Crystals: Black Obsidian, Onyx, petrified wood, hematite, smokey quartz, bloodstone, clear quartz, garnet, carnelian, amber, sandstone, Black Tourmaline, amber.

Animals: Black cats, owls, bats, stags, ravens, crows, spiders and black dogs.

Bonfire or cauldron fire, divination, spirit communication (be experienced), hold a seance (same), give offerings to the dead, elements, spiritual beings, Honor the Crones. Do protection if not wanting Spirits to come near you.

Make moon water (oh boy Samhain moon water) is the bomb! You don’t have to only rely on a Full moon to make moon water.

Make or purchase a new Besom , many stores sell the cinnamon scented ones (Easy protection).

We honor life / death / life, death is rebirth. Use something to represent these: an egg, live plant, and “dead” leaf, then seeds planted in soil, make an Ancestor Altar. Being the outside inside. Take your inside and put outside to work your Rituals, and Spell work. Focus on all the progress you’ve made this year, as well as goals for the new year. Make a vision board, do a yearly tarot/oracle/rune spread for the new year. Make a new pentagram for your Altar or wreath.

Don’t Throw Away The Pumpkin Seeds! (pumpkin); fertility, femininity, immortality, resurrection, balance) Use them for spells, Make little charms or pendants , plant them, Roast them in the oven/pan or caramelize them, use them in sacred grids or mandalas, make into runes, place on your Samhain altar, Put one in your shoe for an easier day.

**Additional Notes

I would like to add a note to be cautious on Samhain. If you have a black pet please keep it inside, lots of sick people will harm these animals on this night. Please be careful with spirit work as well, the veil is very thin, as you would normally with spirit work protect yourself, but x10 on samhain. Carry a gris-gris, create your circles, Keep blessed salt around, Make sure you end conversations with spiritual communication. Keep a piece of iron on you if you don’t feel safe.

Check out the Necromancy/hedge rider/spirit worker post I made for more info on Spirit work.

❤️🧙🏻‍♀️🖤

[herbwicc]