Witchcraft and Magick

Originally posted by Full_Vision
i have noticed over the years that a lot of the time its simply for the show and image the persons looking to attain..if that makes sense..

Yes it does. Which goes along with the focus of the mind. The show and image part of it enhances the focus IMO. Merry Meet my friend. Although I don't consider myself wiccan per say.

reply to post by Nutter

Warm greetings to you as well, i don't consider myself a Wiccan either, though i began studies and practicing under the title when i was 13 or so...I tend to use the label Occultist, though i strongly dislike labels! I do agree that most 'tools' for ritual are used to focus the mind, a good thing apart from the strong possibility of a person becoming too dependent of these tools used which can greatly hinder future workings..

Is there any specific path/sect you follow more than others, if i may ask out of curiousity ?

Originally posted by Full_Vision

I couldnt agree wtih you more

Especially the importance of knowing, getting to know ones self..ones being as a whole..is a very serious initial step for many things in life, and in Magicks

KNOWING the Self, YOUR true self, is the greatest Magick there is.

It's a pure wonder to regonise the patterens of your thoughts, how it influences the EGO (acts / behaviour) and to have enough power to not act on what this ego wants. The ego knows a lot of tricks and is very good in luring the spirit in and fooling the mind and body.

For me Wicca is more of a Nature Religion. It comes close to being one with Nature in all its aspects: biological, wind & rain, sunshine, moonlight, knowledge of plants, animals, knowledge of the waters, minerals and even of the stars in the Universe and the secrets of the Cosmos.

The challenge for me lays on one side to gain kowledge of everything around me and on the other side to let everything go ....... a weird sense of balance do some people say ...

Namaste!

Originally posted by Full_Vision
Is there any specific path/sect you follow more than others, if i may ask out of curiousity ?

General Earth Religion. If you can call it a religion as it's just what I have come to realize for myself through meditation and such. So, I guess ecclectic?

Been a witch my whole life. Was seeing imaginary friends as a baby and collecting mosses and making potions at 5. Witchcraft related activities made up all of my play. No one knew where it came from, we didn't even have tv back then.

Always had a big love of science and reading too. Always. Made all As but people always said I was weird. Hated it until I learned to bask in it.

So I am weird and I'm in my mid 40s and I am still a witch. Got initiated on the path by Lady Sintana who comes down from Leek, someone mentioned her. Both great ladies in their days. Lady Sintana wanted energies balanced but had no problems at all with homosexual practitioners, the task was just finding where their energies lay so it could be balanced in a circle.

I had enough of that group stuff myself though, and quit calling myself a wiccan years ago. I won't be bound to any tradition or rede. My heretic heart is my authority.

Married another nice pagan and we had a pagan baby. He's now bigger than both of us. At 3 he was calling the sun Ra instead of the sun - IE RA is so bright today - and could name every god in the Egyptian pantheon. Thing was, we didn't teach him that. I took him to a museum of ancient history when he was 8? and he ran around the Egyptian exhibits telling me what everything was. It was his first time there.

Nothing wrong with reading Llewelyn. Read it as long as you can stand it.
The path of witchcraft is the path of mysticism. It isn't a revealed path. You practice, you suffer, you learn. Once you figure that out, you'll have on good shoes to travel with.
I could write down the secrets of the ages and post it all on twitter and everyone would just ignore it.

Originally posted by Melyanna Tengwesta

Originally posted by Full_Vision

KNOWING the Self, YOUR true self, is the greatest Magick there is.

Now I'm going to go and be difficult, because I have not found that to be 'the greatest magick there is.' It's just the easiest magick there is. It's very accessible. I mean, here I am, and here I am. There I sit, And there I go. What's not to know?

But complete compassion and empathy for others - WOW, there's you some power. When you can look at a little flower, and feel how much it likes the sun and know what it is like to be that tiny little flower, and you stretch, and the flower stretches, and you bend, and the flower bends....well, for me that's the greatest magick I've found.

But like I say, I could post the secrets of the ages on Twitter and everyone would just ignore them, or maybe put them here and if I am lucky I get a meaningless star. Cackle.

Every man and every woman is a star.

reply to post by Merkabah


Hey there Merkabah, been away for 7 months and it's as if it were yesterday ... different names (don't recognize a one on this thread lol), but same great family.

Anyhoo, like 'hadriana' (well met my friend) said, I've been a wytch all my life too. Remember though that witches and wiccans are slightly different depending on whether you're traditional / neo respectively.

As for reading there is much rubbish out ther but both Buckland and Cunningham are two names worth a looksee.

I kind of agree with a lot of what 'InterstellaBurst' said ... tools / manual analogy. It's a bit like choosing a good suit of clothes ... whatever fits you best !

Good luck and enjoy the journey ... tip of the day always keep a toe on the floor at all times.

Woody

reply to post by Merkabah


The advice you will recieve from this moderately wise man is to ignore the gender divide as that is the only way to beat it. To assume and look for only wisdom from "wise women" is limiting yourself and perpetuating the very thing that help create that rise of patriarchy you dislike.

You will save yourself a great deal of time if you first read Professor Francis A Yates':
"GIORDANO BRUNO and the HERMETIC TRADITION"
University of Chicago Press

it will also totally blow your mind...

trust me, I went to woodstock..

[edit on 29-10-2009 by seataka]

The main thing is, study and read. The very word Witch means one who is wise, and you cannot be wise without a great deal of learning first. The word Witchcraft means Craft of the wise. No wisdom, no witch. Second, forget everything you have seen on TV and movies, it is not like that at all. Sabrina is a good example here. All of her magick was used for personal gain, which is a big no no in the real craft. The craft is used to help one's self only in health ways, and to keep well and safe. Never for money. And remember this always...magick, true magick, works, so be very careful what you do, say, and how you act. My very first big spell cost me my wife, a nice home, and $10,000. All because I didn't word it correctly, and forgot a few things.