Category Archives: Witchraft

Full moon and covens

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As you all know, we have a Cerridwen’s Veil coven, however, High Priestess Tala has moved to a town 250 Km from here. That makes things rather difficult. Not that coven is going to be closed, far from it. We are still not just connected over internet, but connected energetically as before. It just makes joint work rare and difficult.
It also makes us kinda lazy.
Lazy witches, yes. More often than not some of the esbats and sabbaths are missed, rituals are done sometimes in a haste and sync over net is scarse.
Tonight’s full moon ritual and Drawing down the moon was no different. We haven’t even go to the attic where altar is, but instead, we have just placed candles on living room’s table and did it. I do not think we pleased the gods and the goddess this way, but it was better than not.

When my wife was initiated, Druantia chose her and took her under her’s wing. Druantia is also my goddess, so I guess, we should be creating new coven honoring Druantia and her ways. This doesn’t mean Cerridwen’s Veil will be dissolved, but work will be done mostly remote, except cases when we physically meet.
So…
IDK, await news soon.

Full moon – 8th August 2017

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After some break due to RL thingies, we were back to Tala’s attic.
This one was short. Tala did some different rite which is quite nice, by the way. There were only three of us, so went pretty fast.

After the rites, Goddess apeared to me in usual fashion. Touching my hands with the light, staring at my face. I allowed her to enter me and she did. Danced as the candle flames moved. I felt filled by light, but it was kinda exhausting. She exited my body, made circle around and said through smile: “We are all one. Anakh rah nun. We are all one, anakh rah nun. Anakh rah nun.”

I lay down to rest as I felt tired, but it was great.

Dark moon ritual with Hecate – Noumenia

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Noumenia is held a day after the new moon usually, as the first sickle of the moon shows.

This is a separate celebration from the new moon celebration and Deipnon held in honor of Hecate.

This is a smaller scale celebration, than the ones held in public in the ancient Greece, where all the Gods were invoked and the offerings brought to them.

Noumenia is the day where no other rituals were held and it was known as the day of incense burning. Different resins and herbs were burned in front of the depictions of Hecate as a sacrifice. Additionally, different food connected to Hecate was also placed on the altars: garlic, honey, cheese, sometimes fish and eggs, olive oil, wine, honey cakes, bread.

Prepare a paper for writing down your intentions for the next month, and possibly a symbol or sigil that will represent your goal (a stone, chestnut, a couple of seeds, drawn sigil, clay figure, dried or fresh flower, garlic clove…)

Before opening the circle, cleanse the area. For new moon, the water was used, sometimes bowls with water were left in front of the shrine entrance, for the attendants to wash their faces and hands. At home, it is enough to sprinkle water and salt and to smudge around the circle. Walking around the circle deosil is important even before the ritual starts, since it symbolizes the movement and passing of the previous month, and stepping into the next.

Cast the circle and invoke Hecate as you do so.

There are many invocations, so I’m leaving this one to you. I have my own invocation that I use, and also a hymn, used later in the ritual. If you’re working with single deities, it’s always better to write your own hymns and prayers, since they hold the most of your energy and relationship with the deity.

Mine goes as following:

Hecate Triodia, I call upon thee, step into my circle, Dark Mother. Bring your light in and touch me with your Wisdom,
open the gates that I need to step through,
feast on the meal that I laid before you,
join me tonight, in the night of New Moon and new beginnings.

Light the incenses in Her honor or place the resins on the charcoal and take some time to feel the Goddess and connect.

Place the offerings on the altar or Hecate’s shrine, if you have one separate from the altar. Light the candles (I am using a dark grey or purple candles when working with Hecate on new moon). Bless the offerings.

This is the time to perform the rite with your hymn.

For me, each part of the hymn is sort of a lead on what to focus. Roughly divided, one part focuses on the past and my path toward meeting Hecate, another part reminds me of my goals and what I strive for in life and the final part is focusing on the present. To be into here and now, to question if I’m doing it right, to remember that life is about joy same as about growing through suffering. That all comes from the Dark and wise Mother as a lesson.

After first part, I usually take time to reflect on the past obstacles I overcame and what was left of them in me.

After the second part I usually write my intention down, short form, mostly minimized into a single sentence. I use no negative definitions when doing this. Remember, saying “I don’t want to… ” pulls energy toward the past and gives energy to the exact thing you don’t want. If you define your wish as: “I want..” or “I want something (different)” and there lies your focus, you’ll be moving forward.

After the third part of the hymn I connect the object or sigil to the intention I wrote before. Then I thank Hecate for taking part in my ritual and (in my mind) hand her the offerings. After that I burn my written intention for the next month. As it’s important to write down the intentions and have a clear definition of them, it’s as important to also let them go. If you cling onto them, you’re in the way of them coming true. Yet you can wear your object or sigil with you, or you can leave them on the shrine to remind you of your way.

Different practitioners do the rite differently and there are endless possibilities. I tend to keep everything simple with Hecate. She is the wise Mother. She doesn’t need (in my humble opinion) hour-long hymns, seasoned with bows, butterflies and shiny stars. She is straight forward and realistic, and I am keeping it the same. From almost 20 years of working with her and worshiping her, I’ve had a bunch of experiences, and too nicely packed up stuff tended to make her uninterested or sometimes unresponsive – other than being present.

As said, this might be different for everyone, it’s just important to find and keep up your relationship with the Goddess (or any deity you choose to work with).

After the rite is over, I thank Hecate for being there and if performed within the coven, we usually share some of the offerings (not ones on the altar, but separately prepared ones for us – you don’t use same plate as you put the offerings on, nor you take the offerings from the Goddess). This is the Noumenia feast part, and can also be performed with a whole family after the circle is closed.

After I close the circle, I leave the offerings a little longer on the shrine and then take them to the nearby crossroads and leave them next to a tree that I chose. The ashes from my burnt intention and a lit incense are also placed next to the offerings. Some old writings advise that one doesn’t turn around after leaving the offerings, but should head straight home.
In the following night, I am usually having many unusual and realistic dreams. It became a common thing for me, and I’m always looking forward for more messages from Hecate, in any form.

Blessed be!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lammas – Tala

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We’ve (my family) had a short but sweet celebration.

I’ve set up the altar way simpler than usually, due to us not being at home. Some grains, a loaf of flatbread, bees wax candle, incense, beer (wine is also a possibility), and some usual magical tools.

Since I like writing my own rituals, I’ve decided to honor god Lugh as a craftsman and as a god of harvest. To me, those two aspects are most essential for a human to be able to survive: to grow food and to make all the tools they need. And if they can craft something more and with greater skill, that is even better.

First we did meditate about how our lives looked since last year and we were thankful for having enough for life. We also thought about what our talents are and what we did with them.
I will share the ritual with you:
My corn husk god and goddess are ready to be added to my Lughnasadh altar. I'll do a little blessing first. 🌾 My helper Merlin was on hand to oversee the creative process😻 🌽 I have a few corn husks still soaking, so will sa

You can find the whole ritual here:

Lammas

The thing that always makes me think a lot are the moments that follow the invocation of this kind, same like days after. I can clearly feel the traces of fresh energy (or entity) and how they grow stronger in me and take shape.

This is what I cherish the most and what true magic is for me.

 

19th July 2016 – Full moon, by Voxin

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Last night we gathered in the ‘attic of awoken’ to perform ritual for the full moon and do some clensing of Tala’s daughter, remotely. As usual, we performed all of this in ‘the village’ (refer to previous posts). While we were bathing Tala’s daughter in a creek, her mother saw a green wound on her shoulder. I saw a leech and suddenly shapeshifted to a fox (again) and ate that leech.

Not caring at that moment for the people around, Tala or her daughter, fox, well me, but as a fox, snooped and sniffed around the village. It’s very strange feeling when I am in fox’s body. I am small, grass is tall, smells are beautiful and enhanced. I can smell all grass, flowers and trees, moist, rocks and all that surrounds me. I also see differently. More like infra-red green shade layers. My body feels well and strong, slick and agile. Fox found a tunnel below the tree I used to pass in elemental meditations, ended up in another plain, near the waterfall where I first shifted into a fox.

Afeter some snooping around, I returned to path, shifted back to my human shape created portal to return me back to the village and passed through. Guys were already finished so I went back to this world.

Tala performed full moon ritual, and later, Drawing down the moon. This is were we speak to goddess and goddess to us. So far she was only channeling through Tala, as usually women draw her attention and graces easier.

normal_David-Roberts-The-Temple-At-Dendera
This was the first time she spoke to me at the very end of vision, where she was holding a door knob of an egyptian temple, to not a door, but a wall. I clearly saw pillars and a wall between them. I knew that this was a door, to her perhaps, but to me it looked like a solid wall. She spoke to me something Tala took note as I was saying “Akhmon ra aniet ra, tukush, kaniet ra“. This morning she found a translation. It was arabic and should be written like “Akhamon Ra aniet rah, toukush kaniet rah” which translates to “Brother of Ra he claimed, had claimed the rituals“.
I still do not know what it means and why I was told this. I just know goddess and other deities speaks to us in languages that we spoke before.
Awesome experience.

Drawing down the moon – 22nd April – Tala

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The evening was chill and very relaxing from start.

After helping our fifth member, who was not present last week, to get in touch with his familiar, we did our full moon rituals and of course drawing down the moon.

Sometimes (well often) I just get overwhelmed by all the energy and the goddess presence, and I end up writing/channeling random stuff. This one was rather interesting, since I’ve heard 2 voices, but thinking that one of them was mine.

drawing-down-moon

Goddess: Out of their way you should never go,
for trembling (scared) arms the cure still exists.
As it is not the nightly herbs or bitter pills that help,
but it’s the words you speak that create and extinct.

2nd voice: Over the fire I stand
and watch down on questions of yes or no,
to end or start it over,
in another body and another life.
Too long have I waited
to push the beasts away,
too long they’ve stepped on my lips,
rendering them silent,
too long I’ve been closed in
unable to scream.
A scream I let out, a scream
that shakes the Earth,
and breaks the boulders and bones
of legs that thread.

Goddess: From life thy stand up
and life you become,
to be on all the places
and to be on none,
to love all the souls that are yours
and to lose none.
As mother has spoken so will it be,
as words have created so will she leave(let be).

I don’t know the meaning of the second part, even though I could connect it to my life, but same to lives of many other people I know have suffered a lot.
Unlike on other nights, I felt also a rush of anger while writing. It was not mine, it came from outside. Wild anger over injustice and oppressed anger to that.

The people in the circle were already chatting about what they’ve experienced while I was still writing, and I know it was nobody of them. All in all, a very interesting experience, that I’ll have to study through a little more.

Blessed be!

19th April 2016 – Conjuration of familiar

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Eurasian Lynx

Tonight, among other things, we conjured a familiar. I saw mine helping me from time to time, but I never bothered to call it. This time I decided that we should conjure it in proper Celtic ancient way, to stay. I was leading the conjuration chant, other three were repeating after me. No familiar stayed hidden. Each one of us were visited by their own. Finally, I got a good look of mine. It’s Eurasian Lynx. I knew the shape before, just it was transparent green all the time until now. Once, during meditation, I even shapeshifted into it.

It was a good night. We all got our summons answered.

11 April – Guided visualization – Tala

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We’ve met with the intention to do a guided meditation with the clear goal to find out more about ourselves.

I’ve started the narration like last time, yet every time symbols used and the way the intro is made depends on the people in the group. Leading the meditation makes one slightly less focused sometimes. This night, the outcome was very interesting for me as well.

When everyone leaves the circle, I’m still there. I can see them all leave. For some reason I chose to make another circle, just to choose my way in peace. Walking around, I’ve turned into the same nymph, that I turned into while exploring the fire element, almost 6 months ago.

This was surprising. I stood tall, having way different movements made me feel so light and careless. Walking didn’t feel the same way for me and I also enjoyed a way more nimble but also stronger body. Very strong actually, and still lean and effortlessly light.
I turned my head and picked the path that went south-east. Right where the tall old marble pillars ended, started a hill slope, overgrown in wild flowers, and I could see a forest on the bottom of the hill.

Suddenly, I felt like running, and from sprinting I even made a few leaps like a cheetah would do them, using my hands. That confused me a bit, since I clearly didn’t have paws but it felt so natural, that I didn’t think about it further. After few more long leaps on only my legs, I spread my arms and started flying. I had no wings, I flew just from the speed I reached and I reminded myself that flying with wings is for the real world, but there, I could do anything I wanted, and it didn’t need to make sense.

Under me, there was a seemingly endless forest, and I was looking for something interesting to explore. At that moment an old round roof appeared through the canopy and I instantly landed right on it.
At this point my focus must have been broken a little, since images of secluded huts that I knew and saw somewhere were trying to pop up in my mind. I calmed myself and made myself look what is REALLY there. Then the distracting images disappeared.

A round stone house. The roof was made of black stone slate and it was perfectly round with a chimney in the center. It was a very old house, front half was made of stone, back half was covered in soil all the way to the roof, like old viking houses, and the soil was long overgrown in grass and moos. The scent of forest soil and stone warmed by the sun was very real.
I entered the house and found myself in front of a half-circle shelf, which was made of massive wood, but the signs of time were all over it.

I’ve rummaged through the bottles and jars, and found one jar, filled with blueish salve that I instantly knew what to use for. Before opening the circle I burned my finger a little, on a candle and a blister already started to form, and it was painful as well. I’ve dipped my finger in the salve and slowly spread it over the burned area and the pain started diminishing, to fully disappear by the end of the meditation, same like the blister.

Near the jar was a flask, with a long thin neck, closed with a plug and sealed with bee wax. It was mine, I knew it and I took it. There was old leather bag hanging from the side of the shelf, I took it and stored the jar inside and hung the flask from the leather belt, obviously made for it, on the side of the bag.

Then I found a book. Looking through it, I could see writings and drawings but also some dry herbs, stuck to some pages. That was my book as well. The nice words, written with black ink simply burned themselves into my mind, and I knew that I should take it with me.
Outside, the dusk already started and I looked for a light source. As a human I’d look for fire. Yet as a nymph, rays of sun, still reaching the ground through the trees, were enough.

I sat down and started reading. As I progressed, I’ve started catching different scents and sounds around me. And I’ve realized that there is a tiny thin creek moving through the grass near me, on the forest clearing, with a small round pond, maybe rather deep puddle. I’ve packed the book and went on my knees and elbows down, so I can look at my face.

Big black eyes, without the white around, but not animal eyes. Cute face, with half wild features, nice small mouth, mouth angles pointing down, but otherwise proportional and familiar.

I’ve seen myself blink a few times in the water and was captured by the face that was looking back at me. Then I decided to get up and look around a little. Looking toward one edge of the clearing, toward the forest, I’ve spotted some light, like fire light, but behind something, rather someone.

There I’ve seen me, real me, sitting toward the forest, with a fire in front of me, and with my back toward the nymph me. I approached the familiar body and decided to have a better look at it. She was sitting near a small fire, deeply focused on something while meditating. And nymph me came closer, sat behind the real me and embraced me around the arms and upper body, leaning the head with fire dreads on my back and neck.

Then I heard myself saying: I’m choosing you.

And I shifted from the nymph, back to my real body and the circle in the room, where everyone was sitting.

It was surprising, that such a strong healthy creature would choose a body that I’m not too happy with and that needs some improvement in health. On the other hand, it made it more clear for me, that I’ve consciously chosen the totally imperfect body and I could feel all the love that the nymph had for it, before shifting back into it.

It made me think about the ways we take our bodies for granted.

I’m thankful to the fire nymph for guidance and the strong love she showed me.

 

11th April 2016, group meditation – by Zela

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The Souls Of Millions Of Lightyears Away

Obično u grupnim meditacijama unutar kovena ne vidim ništa. Dobra sam da sama ili sa dvoje, troje random ljudi vidim šta hoćeš, ali kada dođe trenutak da nešto ”moram” sad i odmah, eto drugarice blokade.

Ovog puta je bilo drugačije.

Kada je Tala otvorila krug i rekla nam da uzmemo baklju i uputimo se ka putu koji nas zove, instinktivno sam se okrenula ka severu iako sam minut pre bila uverena da je jug moj put za večeras.

Moja staza se uvijala odmah iza severnog stuba stapajući se sa nečim što je podsećalo na srednjovekovni krajolik pred sam zalazak sunca. Stisla sam baklju i zakoračila napred. Ono što je delovalo kao kaldrma iz daljine sada je više podsećalo na stazu po kojoj bi rado hodala Doroti iz Oza. Staza je očito vodila ka manjem gradu ugneždenom između dva brda. Kada sam prišla jedan deo mene je jako voleo da siđe stazom pored gradskih zidina do dela koji je podsećao na mesto na kom je mesec dana pre već bio Voxin. Međutim, ono što je mene maltene dozivalo bila je kula. Visoka, u sred samog grada. Stoga sam ušla u grad, prišla vratnicama kule, otvorila ih (nisu bila teška, to je čudno, zar ne) i odmah krenula da se uspinjem stepeništem koje naizgled ide do u beskraj. Sve vreme mi se ispred očiju smenjuje nečija duga zlatna kosa sa repom.. Nečeg. (Manje crtanih filmova za mene). Dolazim do odaje koju znam da tražim večeras. U njoj je već neko. Ili neki. Ne vidim ih dobro (kao kad zaboravim naočare), ali se ni ne bavim time. Jedino što svetli usred odaje je kolevka. Već znam šta ću naći u njoj. Ili barem mislim da znam. Od tog momenta kao da sam pripojena na Izvor čiste ljubavi. To traje sekund, možda dve, i nestaje. Prilazim, uzimam bebu. Deluje poznato. Devojčica je. I spava. Okrećem se od odaje i brzo silazim sa samo jednom mišlju u glavi – moram da izađem odavde i ne smem da padnem. Stepenice deluju kao da su od meda. Imam utisak da ću se srušiti svakog trena, ali ipak nastavljam. Na izlazu iz grada ne srećem nikog (što je čudno, veče je, idealno vreme za šetnju). Nešto me vuče da uđem u odaju pored izlazne kapije. Tamo se susrećem sa mladićem i starcem. Prvi me samo gleda, drugi je nagnut nad nekim spisima. Imam utisak kao da mene čekaju. Ali ništa ne govore. Okrećem se oko sebe. Levo od mene je metalna konstrukcija na kojoj će jednog dana biti haljina. Ne znam otkud mi to. Na stolu pored starca leži srebrni lanac sa priveskom. Ali oblik ne raspoznajem.

Odlučujem da je bilo dosta zabave za mene i odlazim sa detetom pravo nazad, do kruga, Ona sve vreme spava, gotovo da je nečujna. U krugu vidim ostale (okej, ovo je onaj morbidni deo na koji se ili navikneš ili ne). Na tren imam utisak da im vidim misli, ali brzo se otkačinjem od toga i prilazim svom mestu. Sedam. Beba se integriše sa mnom baš u onom momentu kad se ”vraćam u realnost”.

Na zidu naspram mene titra samo jedna reč. Zela. Ona koja zna put.

 

Snow Moon, 22nd – Tala

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The atmosphere between the five people that gathered was very good this night.

After we opened the circle, we took a while to reflect on what we want to achieve and to calm down. Then took a while to concentrate and get to the village, where we meet.

That village is on another plane. It’s safer and nicer to do rituals in a place, where you set the rules. For that reason, village is perfectly safe and distractions from around don’t get to us. It’s like having a circle within a circle, except that this “circle” is expandable and using methods similar to astral projection or trance induction, we can travel where ever and do whatever we have to do.
Like this, setting and solving the goals is easier. Regular methods require that one makes an attractive image, because images are stronger than words or wishes. Yet, stronger than images are fully lived moments, where we are already in our desired situations, places, goals.
Usually the walk to the village requires some leading, yet meanwhile everyone just has their own way to arrive there.

Since the group has grown together even the newer members are able to fully follow a person that is describing where he/she is and to see the places they see, even to smallest details.

We started the full moon rite and after that drawing down the moon, in our original circle. Since I was leading the rite, I felt all the energy shifting way stronger than usually. I was also on a medical fast for a couple of days, which made my body very harmonic and resonating with even the smallest tingles.

The moment the Goddess Moon stepped down among us was enthralling. Having our arms up, every single one of us could feel the energy rise, even light that built up around us, and the fingers started vibrating and tingling. And in the next moment it took over all of us.
Using the strength of a clean body, I turned into an amplifier. The light was pouring into me and I had too much of it, so I left a pillar of light over each person in the room. I could clearly see and feel each one of them, as their stories happened, and all their interactions with the Goddess, as if I was watching 4 screens at the same time.

In the next few moments, as Voxin was describing his adventure and asked me to lead him to the water, I was simoultanously writing a chant that just came into my mind.
And right after that I was sitting still, following still what everyone is experiencing and at the same time I was there in me, and all over my skin was a layer of light 4-6cm, it formed sort of a hull around me.
Under that hull, I felt VERY relaxed and almost like floating. I felt like my facial bones are being moved and molded, and that went on so long that I thought, if I look in a mirror now, I’ll see a different face, and not my own.
That was first time that I felt something that clear and it was very intriguing.

Next thing, the shell of light, that was the Goddess in and around all of us, moved the attention to each person in the room. She started plucking dark spots off everyone, without sorry or without being careful. She just pulled out and picked all that she didn’t like.
I’ve let her do that, since I was able to see those spots in everyone. Some were real physical illness residue, some were emotional boulders on the shoulders of people. Voxin even told me a couple of times that I can let him go and that he’s ok. And at some point he didn’t feel right when she went for his dark spots, but has decided to not interfere and let her do what she did.

When that was over and everyone was freshly plucked and happily clean, she, or rather her arms of light, returned to my body and I felt intoxicated by that relaxing warm light for quite a while, even days after.
After all was done, I was able to feel where every person in the house is, even in other apartments, which was very strange and interesting at the same time.

For me, it was a great gift, to be able to share the light with everyone in the room (specially since during Drawing down the Moon the women feel way more and our male members don’t get to feel all of it). And as always I crave for any line on that paper, when the channeling begins and fully formed poems or chants take over my mind. It’s a totally different level of trust and calmness.

The group said goodbye way closer than we were just a few hours earlier.