Green WitchCraft by Ann Moura (Aoumiel)

I can't believe I am just now getting around to reviewing Green Witchcraft by Ann Moura (Aoumiel)!  It is the third book I delved into when first exploring my own witchy-ness and it runs neck and neck with Scott Cunningham's Earth Power in the race to be my favorite book.  For a magickal person looking for an intuitive, earth based path this book is essential.  Aoumiel shares three generations of witchy wisdom and lays out an easy to get started outline for ritual while sharing bits of witchy history along the way. 

When I opened this book, I knew that I had no interest in organized Wicca.  It just didn't suit me, but I had no idea where to go from there.  This text is what gave me the confidence to define myself as a witch and to initiate ritual practices.  I refer to it often and have used it in conjunction with another of the author's works as a magickal textbook of sorts.  There is so much to learn from this book, that it is once again on my reading list for summer. 

 

A Witch is Free

The move and all the business that comes with the seasons changing has had me feeling a bit uninspired in the blogging realm.  Thankfully, this morning I saw a post from Nar's Witchy Kitchen in which she used a blog prompt from Mom's a Witch.  Just what I need!  This is a new project that was started in February and like Nar, I am going to go back to the original post and choose one of those prompts.  Next week I will visit the March prompts and post from them.  Then I will be all caught up and try to make the monthly post with in the first seven days of the new calendar. No promises though, I have toddler. 

Pagan Blog Prompts: February 2015

 
My favourite thing about being a Witch/Pagan is... the confidence I now have that comes from the ability to take control of my own life and situation.  No matter how much talk goes around about free will, as part of a mono-theist religion, one is completely at the whim of a fickle and somewhat sadistic higher power.  The effects of this is a feeling of immense helplessness and the sensation of being tossed around like a straw hat loose in a cold wind.  As a witch, I no longer make pleading petitions and then hold on to the edge of my seat hoping that the world goes my way.  I don't have to leave it all up to "god" and hope he doesn't pull the rug out from under me once again.  These days, I make life happen.  I bring positive changes to my family and cushion us from the inevitable ups and downs of life.  I fall asleep quickly and sleep soundly because I know that my home and family are warded and we have nothing to fear.  Being a witch is being free. 

**The image for this weeks post is borrowed and I honestly have no idea where it came from.  I pulled it out of my tattoo inspiration file.  It is certainly lovely and I thank whoever shared it originally.  If it belongs to you, please let me know and I will gladly give you credit. 

Making Do

I grew up making do and using what ever was available.  My parents didn't spend money unless they absolutely had to, so their artistic child had to make art with items already found around the house.  Thankfully, my mother was a seamstress so I had a fair amount to choose from.  Being resourceful is something I take great pride in and actually love doing: it is a fun challenge, expands my creativity, and is good for the earth.  I even incorporate making do into my magickal practice.  About 90% of the resources I use for creating magickal items are post consumer and nearly 75% of the resources I use for spell crafting fall into that category as well.  The trick is knowing what to save and how to use it.  My best rule of thumb is to think outside the box. 

 

Items I recycle on a regular basis and how I use them in my magical practice

• Broken Jewelry: creating charms or amulets, embellishing handmade magickal items, decorating my altar
• Brown Paper Bags: creating spell packets you intend to burn, writing spells, drawing spells for sympathetic magick
• Candle Stubs: sealing spells or containers of herbal concoctions
• Chicken Bones:  crafting, opportunity/positive change spells (wishbone)
• Coconut Shells: creating amulets, peace/healing spells
• Coffee Grounds: enhance energy with in a spell, fixing the nitrogen in my altar plants, creating exfoliating scrubs
• Crown Royal Bags: crafting, storage, spell bags
• Egg Shells: energy/life/new beginning/fertility spells
• Fabric Scraps: crafting, spell and mojo bags, making twine, creating poppets, making herb pouches
• Glass Jars and Bottles (with lids): storing herbs and herbal concoctions, creating witches bottles, impromptu candle holders, containment spells
• Hair Clippings (with permission): personal magick
• Scraps of Wool Yarn:  tying spell packets, making witches ladders, knot work, stringing amulets or talismans
• Tin Cans:  to use when melting down wax with out creating a huge mess
• Toilet Paper Tubes: making large spell packets to burn

Items I collect from nature when they are presented to me and how I use them

• Animal Bones: species specific workings and mojo bags/talismans
• Drift Wood: crafting
• Fallen Leaves: crafting, decorating, clearing negative energy, wind magic
• Feathers:  crafting, attracting energy, representation of the Elemental Air
• Pine Cones: protective spells, holiday decorating
• Pine Needles: protective spells, holiday decorating, creating incense
• Pruned Tree Limbs: crafting, starting fires
• River Rocks: crafting, representation of the Elementals Earth and Water (body/strength and blood/emotion), soothing/healing spells
• Shells: crafting, representation of the Elemental Water
• Shed Skins (snake or beetle): new life/growth spells
• Stones: crafting, representation of the Elemental Earth, soothing/healing/protection spells

Of course, this is not an exhaustive list of items used in my magickal practice and the way I use these items may not be textbook, but results are what matter and magick is very individual.  I also use a lot of herbs from the health food store and some that I wild harvest locally. 

Most of my crafting items wreaths, thread, buttons, picture frames, mirrors, beads, and even fabric are purchased post consumer at yard sales and thrift stores and then cleansed.  I have read that using secondhand or post consumer items can contaminate ones magick, but I do not find a significant difference in the energy coming from the majority of the items I find used in comparison to those coming from a factory. Honestly, factory work is no fun.  How many factory workers do you know who carry around a ton of positive energy?  Rather they are new or used, items that have an icky feel to them just don't come home with me. 

Rewriting the Script

Hindsight is 20/20
Broken window in an abandoned shack outside West End, NC

Last week while I was in the hospital having Little Bitty Baby I didn't get to birth at home, Superman just couldn't come to terms with the plan I had the chance to discuss Paganism with two of the nurses.  Living in a rural area with very little outside influence, neither of them really knew what a Pagan was beyond "not a Christian." 

The first to ask was "K" the sweet nurse assigned to my care.  She had seen the listing under my religious preference and about mid morning just had to ask,

"What is a Pagan?"  Having a strong community of Native Sioux in the area I responded, 

"Paganism is a nature faith similar to the Native beliefs and is based on a reverence and oneness with the Nature." Very basic and simplistic, but I didn't want to overwhelm her. When she appeared to understand, I went on to tell her a little about my belief in The Power or Universal Energy and the inner connectedness of all that is in the Universe.  All of which she related to the faith of a Scientologist family member note to self, look up what Scientologists believe. 

"Don't you worship multiple gods and goddesses?" 

"Some Pagan's do," I responded.  "I am Pantheistic, meaning I worship no deities.  To me, deities are a way to break down the different aspects of The Power into more relatable units or personalities.  I reverence The Power as a whole." 

To tell the truth, I was pretty proud of the conversation.  I held my end and didn't flub around for answers too much.  Later we talked about auras and how science can now see the electric and magnetic energy the body emits. 

The following day when I returned for Little Bitty Baby's weight/ bilirubin check I convinced the doctors to let us go home the same day I gave birth I had a second, less successful conversation with "D".  Apparently the listing of "Pagan" on my chart had led to quite a bit of discussion among the nurses and "K" had done some explaining on my behalf, but "D" still had some questions.  After reiterating what "K" had told her, "D" asked,

"What does Pagan mean?" 

"Really, Pagan is the umbrella term for all European based Nature faiths.  The word pagan itself really just means rural.  It was the country people of Europe who held on to their ancient beliefs the longest during the spread of Christianity."  It was an answer straight from a witch's textbook, but she still looked confused so I continued.  "Druidery and Wicca are both forms of Paganism." 

At the mention of Wicca, the light went on. 

"Oh, I use to work with a Wiccan.  She was strange, she even did magic."  Uh-oh, this is definitely not the time to announce that I'm a witch.  I pulled a quick answer out of my hat. 

"Witchcraft is a part of Paganism, but not all Pagans are witches."  She seemed satisfied with the answer and the conversation moved in a more neutral direction-the baby, but on my way home I couldn't help but start rewriting the script. 

What I wish I had told her was this. 

"Magic and witchcraft really isn't anything like what you see in movies and on TV.  You know how Oprah talks about releasing intent into the Universe to make positive changes in your life?  That is the basics of spell casting:  using your own energy to communicate with the Universe about what you would like to see happen." 

I imagine she would have looked quite shocked and I would have finished up with,

"Anybody can cast a spell, but not all spells are successful.  You've probably cast a few yourself with out even realizing it." 



How comfortable are you about explaining your beliefs to others?  Do you sail right on through or flub along as I do?