Finding Your Guiding Goddess

Exercise: Finding Your Guiding Goddess

When starting out in the oath if spiritual discovery? Whether alone or with friends, it is good to have speedo all companion on the journey to guide and direct you in the way. The object of this exercise is to introduce you to your guiding Goddess. This is a goddess who will remain with you throughout your early days on the path , and to whom you can turn for advice and guidance. She is a Goddess who is also *the* goddess, and this is part of you. Try to keep an open mind about who will come to you - the more fiery among you will expect a Boudicca-like figure may well be attended by a water deity, while gentle souls expecting a quieter aspect of the Goddess may get a thundery storm-goddess. Be prepared to accept whoever, and whatever comes to you. She is also part of you, so trust your own inner wisdom. ~ for this exercise, you will need a safe place where you will it be disturbed for about 30 minutes and a notebook and pen.

1) sit or lie on a comfortable position. Relax and slow your breathing. When you are relaxed and ready to begin, close your eyes.

2) Concentrate on your breathing, and with each breath in, draw in strength and energy. With each breath out, breathe out stress, fatigue, and anxiety. Keep exchanging wholesome energy for harmful feelings until you feel recharged.

3) Keeping your breathing regular, listen now to your heartbeat. It should be slow and regular after your relaxation exercise. Listen to the pulse that pumps life-giving blood around your body. It is telling you to "listen, listen, listen......"

4) imagine you are deep beneath the ground, under a great tree, whose roots spread around to for the rafters that hold up the roof of the hollow where you are sitting . The heartbeat you are hearing comes from around, and below, as well as within you. This is the pulse of nature. Touch the ground to feel it's beat, and the roots that tap into the water and minerals in the earth to nourish the living tree above you. With each beat, your heartbeat will slow to match this much larger, deeper pulse.

5) Above you, the earth begins to crack and daylight appears. The roots are breaking through the surface soul as they grow and the pulse running through them grows stronger. The earth below you heavens upwards, and you are delivered through the crack in the earth, to the world of daylight above you.

6) You are standing in a green forest clearing. The clearing is in the shape of a circle, and around it are oaks, hawthorns and ash trees. These are a particularly magical combination of trees, so you know that you are standing somewhere special - somewhere between the everyday world and the Otherworld. This is the threshold of the realm of the Goddess Consciousness - a pale that you will one day visit. Go to the centre of the space and seat yourself on the floor.

7) On the ground, and to the side of you, you find a think stick or club. Take it in both hands and bang it on the earth in front of you three times to summon your guiding goddess.

8) Before you, in the clearing, a figure of a woman will appear. Take careful note if her appearance, any symbols, totems, animals that accompany her, and if anything happens to the clearing for the surroundings, for example, a sudden nightfall, or the appearance of particular flowers. This is your guiding goddess.

9) you may ask the goddess her name. Do not be disheartened if she does not offer it at first - she may offer you clues instead. Make careful note of these - try not to forget in your excitement at finding your personal guardian.

10) Tell the Goddess that you accept her as your guide and teacher, and wait to see if she wishes to offer you any advice

11) The figure will quickly fade one she has spoken, but se may leave a trace of her identity, or purpose in your life behind her.

12) When you are ready, return to the lace on which you are sitting or lying. Before you eat or drink something ground yourself, quickly write down some notes in her appearance, anything you noticed.

13) if the goddess offered her name, and it is one that you either recognise, or find in a reference book, you can research her history, what she represents and learn about her totems and symbols. Otherwise, you may need to research her identity in a more roundabout way. Meditating often to recall the figure and try to build a working relationship with her.

Text: Way of the Goddess

Witting, M 1985 quoted in Harvey 1997 pg 85

Working with the Base Chakra

I decided to work with my Base (or Root) Chakra today. I have a few health problems at the moment, and it is important to me to keep myself going, and not give up because my body hurts, or I am suffering from fatigue. I was looking at the Chakras today and tired to work out which would be the best to work with. It took a while, believe me, but I finally settled on the Base Chakra, because of it's 'physical' associations rather than the metaphysical.

Now, what can you see on my altar? As always my craft is very intuitive, and what I have here I was guided to have on my Base Chakra Altar. (If you decide to create your own, you may be guided to have something else). First, you can see the altar cover. When i was in Scotland a few years ago I fell in LOVE with this material, and for a very long time, I didn't know what to do with it - but I was looking in my box and found it this morning and WHAM perfect for what I wanted for my altar cloth. Red is the primary colour of the Base Chakra. Next you can see that I have items to represent the elements.
* Chalice - At the back - this represents Water
* The Rock (Smoky Quartz) - on the right - this represents Earth
* Incense - at the front - represents Air
* Candle - to the left - this represents Fire.
In the centre of the four elements you can see a blue ring with a red card. The ring is an Agate Slice - for me, this represents Unity and the Spirit. The Red card in front is one of my Chakra Cards about the Base Chakra. This gives me something to focus on.

In front of the Red card you can see a red candle, this is scented with Cassia, Clove and Nutmeg - it's a really spicy and invigorating scent, (it reminds me of Christmas at my grandparents house). To the right of the red candle you can see a selection of red stones. They are: Red Calcite, Garnet, Red Jasper, and red Tiger's Eye. To the left of the red candle you can see a selection of different types of Clear/Rock Quartz. In front of the incense holder and to the right of the card is Obsidian, Elestial Smoky Quartz and Hematite. To the right of the card is Obsidian, Jet and Onyx crystals.

Finally, you can see that I have drawn three cards, they match the reasons why I am working on my Base Chakra quite well. They are from the Goddess Oracle. They are Shakti, Pachamama and Kali. On the left Shakti represents ENERGY. In the centre Pachamama represents HEALING and on the right Kali represents FEAR. These are all very important to me right now.

~ Info on the BASE Chakra ~

The Base Chakra is located between at the very base of your spine, (pretty much your bum). The colour that is largely associated with the Base Chakra is Red. The metaphysical themes that are connected to the Base Chakra are Survival - Physical needs - Connection to the Earth - Materialism - Self-Defence. The physical themes that are connected to the Base Chakra are Skeleton - Bones - Blood - Cell Structure - Spine - Large Intestine - Teeth. The glad that is associated to this Chakra is the Adrenal gland.

~)O(~ Rainbow Love, Light and Blessings ~)O(~

Full Moon Blessings

Charms, Amulets and Talismans.. oh my!

Charms, Amulets and Talismans are in the most basic terms like uncharged batteries, it is when you give the words or object meaning and imbuing it with your energy does it have any magical power. Nowadays the three terms are used interchangeably, however from a historical perspective they are not the same. 

To begin you need to respect the traditions in which they originated and understand why each is unique and it is important to learn this, so you can make an informed decision on which you may be using.

Here are the meanings to wrap your head around. When presented in a clear manner they are pretty easy to distinguish and define them. 

Charms

Charms are probably the basis for the original forms of portable magic. The word Charm most likely comes from the Latin word Carmen which means incantation and maybe even song. This gives rise to the theory that at least in the beginning they were simply words uttered by a witch with her intent clear in her mind and heart. 

Much later the word was coined to small symbolic objects you could carry on your person, to ward off evil and to inspire good luck to come your way. Whether they are a spoken word or a small symbolic object, once they have been created and (unless you intend otherwise) they remain active, and typically the energy you have placed into them lasts less than a year. 

Quote:
Charms play an important role in many various magical traditions. In many tribal cultures, a person could not all themselves a Shaman until he or she knew how to contrive dozens of different traditional charms

Amulets

Amulets on the other hand are passive until something external gives them a purpose for their energies and therefore their energy tend to last a little longer than that of a charm. The main purpose of an Amulet is to give the wearer protection; more specifically it wards of any unwanted or harmful magic or any other influence that could be baneful to you. In some cases, amulets have been created for purposes similar to that of a charm; such as improving strength, adding to personal wealth and augmenting. The word Amulet comes from the Latin word amulet which means, if you haven't guessed it charm.

No wonder people have trouble keeping the definitions straight in their heads.

Talismans

Talismans are used as active participants on magic. A witch’s wand is a very good example of how the Talisman operates; this is because the wand transports energy and in so doing helps them with casting a spell. A witch’s wand is a Talisman of power (not to different from The Staff of Moses). Many stories of old tell us that many talismans had spirits dwelling within them, who were commanded by the person using the magic to do specific tasks. 
It is extremely rare to see instances of this in nature today, the word Talisman is now used to refer to any token or item that has been created in important astrological times, and using the right materials. 

Quote:
Aladdin's lamp was a kind of Talisman. The lamp held a genie (jinni), which is a VERY powerful spirit, constrained to obey its owner

The Rainbow Witch 17-09-2013 ~)O(~


~)O(~ The Rainbow Witch 03/07/2011

Prayer

Prayer

You may have childhood memories like I do, of praying at the side of your bed, or at mealtimes. As the years have passed, that practice may have faded away and got lost under all the hustle and bustle of daily life. Nonetheless, prayers offer much to Wiccans/Witches and Pagans (especially when directed to a specific god or goddess). Prayer can also become a useful tool for Witches, if used as a mechanism for reconnecting with the psychic self, and the collective unconscious.

??? What is prayer ???

The answer to this actually depends on who you ask... When I looked it up I found that a 17th Century preacher and writer John Bunyan thought that prayer is “sincere, sensible, affectionate, and pouring out of the soul to God”. However, in comparison Ralph Waldo Emerson, an American essayist and poet described prayer as “the study of truth”, which implies a more meditative element.

So, for this, I am going to say... that prayer is defined as a means of communicating with Spirit (or the deity of your choosing), which in part also means listening. Whether that communication take the form of a request, thankfulness, worshipfulness, or simply opening up to Spirit (or deity) in truthfulness, if you do not listen as well as talk; a great deal of the effectiveness of prayer remains unrealized.

The role of Prayer in Wicca and Witchcraft.

It has taken a while for Witches on the whole to integrate Prayer into rituals and daily magical practices. The problem for many has been the connection the idea of prayer and organised religion. Since many witches come from a past steeped in a faith to which they had no strong personal connection, it’s been hard for them to reclaim the power of prayer. Nonetheless, it is happening, albeit slowly.

This change is in part due to a realization that many prayers are really a kind of respectful deity-directed spell. Think of it this way; when we pray for something, we are indicating our desire for something to manifest. In spell craft, the Witch does the same thing, adding will and an awareness of how to build and direct energy into the equation. A Wiccan/Witch/Pagan can also invoke the quarters, or Spirit to bless and guide the energy – by all definitions, these invocations qualifies as a prayer.

Many Witches/Wiccans/Pagans approach prayer as a personal construct. If a practitioner doesn’t follow a particular deity, (s)he may not feel the need to pray, and will likely substitute this with meditations or other thoughtful practices. If a practitioner honours Spirit, or a particular deity, prayer will certainly have a place. This is to say, that just because someone may not have a deity, they cannot pray... because they can and I know some who do.

What to expect from Prayer?

According to Socrates “God knows what is good for us”. Prayers are filled with good intentions, yet often good intentions, pave the way to trouble. It’s a fact that we as human beings have a limited spiritual vision, and frequently don’t realize that a ‘good’ idea may have terrible consequences. Thus, the Witch may end a prayer (spell or ritual) with a phrase similar to “for the good of all, and it harm none”. This small phrase releases the energy of the prayer’s energy to the Powers so it can be guided for the best possible results. Even if those results, aren’t what we first expected

The Rainbow Witch 27-05-2012

Seven Steps to Effective Prayer

Seven Steps to Effective 

Prayer 

When you choose to adopt prayer as a personal way of communicating and connecting to the gods, (or your higher self/spirit) the first question most people ask is; how do I begin? This isn’t exactly the easiest of questions to answer, as you are dealing with an individualised vision of the Divine and a belief system that is different from person to person.

Nonetheless, many Witches/Wiccans/Pagans choose to follow some kind of generic outline to creating a prayer. Here is a very basic guideline to effective prayers in seven steps.

1) MEDITATE ON YOUR FAITH AND FIND WAYS TO SHARPEN IT; WITHOUT FAITH PRAYERS ARE IN FACE USELESS. – First thing to do is to ask yourself what do I believe? How strong is that belief? Belief and Will sort of go hand in hand in magical workings, and if you lack one or the other, the results will fall flat. Faith is very much like a muscle, it requires exercise to get stronger.

2) CONSIDER THE PURPOSE OF YOUR PRAYER, IN DETAIL. – By clarifying your purpose, you will begin to develop a multidimensional pattern for your wishes, into which you pour your power and magic into it. Purpose also helps to drive your will.

3) ADJUST THE WORDS OF YOUR PRAYER TO MIRROR YOUR PURPOSE, SO THAT IT HAS PERSONAL MEANING. – Remember you are the co-creator of your present and your fate. A Witch doesn’t see the gods as a source to blame off of lives ills on. Every mundane effort made open doorways though which the Universe and the gods to begin to answer your prayers.

4) MAKE DAILY AND PURPOSEFUL EFFORTS TO HELP THAT PRAYER MANIFEST. – After all, the Gods help those who help themselves.

5) MAKE PRAYER A PART OF YOUR DAILY LIFE, LIKE A SPIRITUAL VITAMIN, REPEATING ANY FOR WHICH YOU THINK YOU NEED. – As with any spiritual practice, the more you pray, the more effective your prayers become. Repeating a prayer doesn’t mean you have a lack of faith, it simply reiterates the sincerity and supportive energies that you are sending out into the Universe.

6) TRUST YOURSELF AND THE DIVINE, AND KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN FOR POSSIBLE ANSWERS. – This step is possibly the hardest of them all, and it is the one that many have trouble with. Trust isn’t something that is easy to have in this day and ages, especially the blind trust that is need for prayer. Many find that trusting themselves is also a difficult task.

7) WHEN A PRAYER IS ANSWERED, REJOICE AND BE THANKFUL!! – If you have asked for help or intervention from the gods, it is only polite and good manners to say thank you. . As a race, humans are quick to blame the gods when life gets hard or goes bad. But when the good things happen or prayers are actually answered, we as a race are woefully lacking in thanks to the gods.

The Rainbow Witch 03-06-2012