All About Beltane

April's showers have given way to rich and fertile earth, and as the land greens, there are few celebrations as representative of fertility as Beltane. Observed on May 1st (or October 31 - November 1 for our Southern Hemisphere readers), festivities typically begin the evening before, on the last night of April. It's a time to welcome the abundance of the fertile earth, and a day that has a long (and sometimes scandalous) history. Depending on your tradition, there are a number of ways you can celebrate this Sabbat

Rituals and Ceremonies

Depending on your particular tradition, there are many different ways you can celebrate Beltane, but the focus is nearly always on fertility. It's the time when the earth mother opens up to the fertility god, and their union brings about healthy livestock, strong crops, and new life all around.
Here are a few rituals you may want to think about trying -- and remember, any of them can be adapted for either a solitary practitioner or a small group, with just a little planning ahead.

When Margaret Murray wrote her ground-breaking God of the Witches, in 1931, scholars quickly dismissed her theory of a universal, pre-Christian cult of witches who worshipped a singular mother goddess. However, Murray wasn't completely off-base; a number of individual cults existed in pre-Christian Europe which honored mother goddesses of their own. In Rome, the cult of Cybele was huge, and the mystery traditions of Isis soon took on a mother-goddess status. Take advantage of the blooming of spring, and use this time to celebrate the archetype of the mother goddess, and honor your own female ancestors and friends.

Here's How:

1. This simple ritual can be performed by both men and women, and is designed to honor the feminine aspects of the universe as well as our female ancestors. If you have a particular deity you call upon, feel free to change names or attributes around where needed. Otherwise, you can use the all-encompassing name of "Goddess" in the rite.
2. Decorate your altar with symbols of femininity: cups, chalices, flowers, lunar objects, fish, and doves or swans. You'll also need the following items for this ritual:
   
   • A white candle
   • An offering of something that is important to you
   • A bowl of water
   • A handful of small pebbles or stones
   
   
3. If your tradition calls for you to cast a circle, do so now. Begin by standing in the goddess position, and saying:
   I am (your name), and I stand before you,
   goddesses of the sky and earth and sea,
   I honor you, for your blood runs through my veins,
   one woman, standing on the edge of the universe.
   Tonight, I make an offering in Your names,
   As my thanks for all you have given me.
4. Light the candle, and place your offering before it on the altar. The offering may be something tangible, such as bread or wine or flowers. It can also be something symbolic, such as a gift of your time or dedication. Whatever it is, it should be something from your heart. You may want to read up on Offerings to the Gods for some ideas.
5. Once you have made your offering, it is time to call upon the goddesses by name. Say:
   I am (your name), and I stand before you,
   Isis, Ishtar, Tiamat, Inanna, Shakti, Cybele.
   Mothers of the ancient people,
   guardians of those who walked the earth thousands of years ago,
   I offer you this as a way of showing my gratitude.
   Your strength has flowed within me,
    your wisdom has given me knowledge,
   your inspiration has given birth to harmony in my soul.
6. Now it is time to honor the women who have touched your life. For each one, place a pebble into the bowl of water. As you do so, say her name and how she has impacted you. You might say something like this:
   I am (your name), and I stand before you,
   to honor the sacred feminine that has touched my heart.
   I honor Susan, who gave birth to me and raised me to be strong;
   I honor Maggie, my grandmother, whose strength took her to the hospitals of war-torn France;
   I honor Cathleen, my aunt, who lost her courageous battle with cancer;
   I honor Jennifer, my sister, who has raised three children alone…
7. Continue until you have placed a pebble in the water for each of these women. Reserve one pebble for yourself. Finish by saying:
   I am (your name), and I honor myself,
   for my strength, my creativity, my knowledge, my inspiration,
   and for all the other remarkable things that make me a woman.
8. Take a few minutes and reflect on the sacred feminine. What is it about being a woman that gives you joy? If you're a man performing this ritual, what is it about the women in your life that makes you love them? Meditate on the feminine energy of the universe for a while, and when you are ready, end the ritual.

Tips:

1. This ritual can be adapted for a group easily; with a little planning it can become a beautiful ceremony for a number of people. Consider doing it as part of a womens' circle, in which each member honors the others as part of the rite.

What You Need

• A white candle
• An offering
• A bowl of water
• A collection of pebbles or small stones

Easy Fertility Spell

For the month of April I had opened up to some of my followers and asked what type of spells do they use and need on a daily bases or just in general - each blog post except for holidays or days of importance I will be posts a different spell every day.

Todays Spell

Easy Fertility Spell

You need:

• 9 White Candles

• You and your partner

Before intercourse or your most fertile time say this chant before consummating

 
“With one mind, we call to thee.
 With one heart, we long for thee
 Child of Earth, Wind, Fire & Sea,
 Into our lives, we welcome thee”

 

 

-The Crafty Witch

 

The Book Of Shadows

The book of shadows or grimoire is used to record your magical workings and strictly speaking may not be considered a tool by all. Traditionalists tend to use the term grimoire and Wiccans book of shadows or BOS for short.

Despite popular movies and television shows, there is no one single book of shadows. A book of shadows, or BOS, is a Wiccan's or Pagan's notebook of information. It usually contains spells, rituals, correspondence charts, information about the rules of magic, invocations, myths and legends of various pantheons, etc.

 Sometimes information in a BOS is passed along from one Wiccan to another (and in a coven setting, there may be a coven BOS as well as individual members' books), but you can create your own with a little bit of effort. A BOS is a very personal thing, and should contain the information you find most important.

-The Crafty Witch

Happy Halloween/Samhain History

Samhain -- The fields are bare, the leaves have fallen from the trees, and the skies are going gray and cold. It is the time of year when the earth has died and gone dormant. Every year on October 31 (or May 1, if you're in the Southern Hemisphere) the Sabbat we call Samhain presents us with the opportunity to once more celebrate the cycle of death and rebirth. For many Pagan and Wiccan traditions, Samhain is a time to reconnect with our ancestors, and honor those who have died. This is the time when the veil between our world and the spirit realm is thin, so it's the perfect time of year to make contact with the dead. You may want to take a moment to read up on:

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Rituals and Ceremonies

Depending on your individual spiritual path, there are many different ways you can celebrate Samhain, but typically the focus is on either honoring our ancestors, or the cycle of death and rebirth. This is the time of year when the gardens and fields are brown and dead. The nights are getting longer, there's a chill in the air, and winter is looming. We may choose to honor our ancestors, celebrating those who have died, and even try to communicate with them. Here are a few rituals you may want to think about trying for Samhain -- and remember, any of them can be adapted for either a solitary practitioner or a small group, with just a little planning ahead.

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Lore

Samhain is the third and final harvest, the harvest of meat. The Old King is dead, and the Crone Goddess mourns him greatly during the next six weeks. The sun is at its lowest point on the horizon as measured by the ancient standing stones of Britain and Ireland, the reason the Celts chose this sabbat rather than Yule as their new year. To the ancient Celts, this holiday divided the year into two seasons, Winter and Summer. Samhain is the day on which the Celtic New Year and winter begin together, so it is a time for both beginnings and endings.

It is also the day we honor our dead. Now, while the veil between the worlds is thinnest, those who have died in the past year and those who are to be reincarnated pass through. The doors of the sidhe-mounds are open, and neither human nor faery need any magickal passwords to come and go. Our ancestors, the blessed dead, are more accessible, more approachable during the time of the dying of the land. Samhain is a day to commune with the dead and a celebration of the eternal cycle of reincarnation.

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Altar

Altar candles should be orange (represents magick of fire and remainder of fire in autumn leaves), black (collects and absorbs light and keeps you warm), white (sends out energy), silver, and gold (represents Moon and Sun).

Incense may be myrrh or patchouli

Decorate with autumn flowers, small pumpkins, Indian corn, and gourds

Cauldron with black votive candle for petition magick (for writing resolutions on a strip of paper and burning in the candle flame)

Divination or scrying devises -- tarot, obsidian ball, pendulum, runes, oghams, Ouija boards, black cauldron or bowl filled with black ink or water, or magick mirror, to name a few

An animal horn, feather or talon as a power symbol (Samhain is tradtionally the meat harvest)

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Herbs

Rosemary (for remembrance of our ancestors)

Mullein seeds (a projection for abundance) 

Mugwort (to aid in divination)

rue, calendula, sunflower petals and seeds, pumpkin seeds, turnip seeds, apple leaf, sage, mushrooms, wild ginseng, wormwood, tarragon, bay leaf, almond, hazelnut, passionflower, pine needles, nettle, garlic, hemlock cones, mandrake root

At Samhain, witches once gave one another acorns as gifts. During the Burning Times, giving someone an acorn was a secret means of telling that person you were a witch. Acorns are fruits of the oak, one of the most sacred trees to the ancient Celts. They are symbols of protection, fertility, growth, values, and friendship.

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Stones

Black obsidian, smoky quartz, jet, amber, pyrite, garnet, granite, clear quartz, marble, sandstone, gold, diamond, iron, steel, ruby, hematite, brass

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Spells

At Samhain, witches cast spells to keep anything negative from the past -- evil, harm, corruption, greed -- out of the future. Cast spells to psychically contact our deceased forebears and retrieve ancient knowledge, thus preserving the great Web that stretches through many generations of human families.

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Happy Halloween from the Crafty Witch family to yours!

-The Crafty Witch

Fav Halloween Movies 7 of 7

Last but not least the 2 remaining movies of the Fav Halloween list. I absolutely love the Halloweentown movies but, if I can have a mini hate fest for a second, I think they should've just stopped with the 3rd one, its not the I hate the 4th but I hate who they replaced Marnie with. Personally I think Sara Paxton is one of the worst actors of all time, and not to mention she looks nothing like Kimberly Brown's original character. Whew okay, got that off my chest! But back to the reason you're here - To end the list please enjoy these movies.

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 Halloweentown High

Rating: G           Length: 83 mins.               Year: 2004

Cast: Debbie Reynolds, Kimberly Brown

Movie Description

The final installment of the trilogy finds young witch Marnie struggling to become a young adult witch while working with her grandmother to prove monsters aren't dangerous. If the daring duo can disguise monsters as humans and successfully enroll them in high school in the mortal world, they can save the family's powers.

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Return To Halloweentown

Rating: PG           Length: 88 mins.               Year: 2006

Cast: Sara Paxton, Lucas Grabeel

Movie Description

Marnie Piper struggled for years with the knowledge that she had been given magical powers from her grandmother that enabled her to be a young witch. Finding a happy balance between being a normal girl and a developing witch had been hard on Marnie. College proves to be another challenging phase as Marnie learns more about the secrets of Halloweentown.

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-The Crafty Witch

Fav Halloween Movies 6 of 7

Now that we are winding down and getting to the end of the Fav Halloween movies I'm saving the best ones for last Movies 6 - 7 in my opinion are the best of all time Halloween movies. (And yes I know both photos are of Halloweentown 2, just use your imagination here people)

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 Halloweentown

Rating: PG           Length: 84 mins.               Year: 1998

Cast: Debbie Reynolds, Judith Hoag, Kimberly J. Brown

Movie Description

A Disney Channel Original Movie that's become a Halloween-season standard, 1998's Halloweentown stars screen legend Debbie Reynolds as the matriarch of what turns out to be a family of witches.

When Aggie (Reynolds) unexpectedly drops in for a visit, her daughter (Gwen) isn't as thrilled as her three children about the surprise appearance. Aggie's drop-in coincides with an argument between Gwen and the children regarding why they aren't allowed to celebrate Halloween. To Gwen's displeasure, the grandmother supports her grandchildren's desires, and Gwen is soon fighting a losing battle.

Against Gwen's wishes, Aggie begins training Marnie, the 13-year old, to be a witch. A huge argument ensues, but Aggie (as always) convinces Gwen that Marnie is needed to help solve a string of mysterious disappearances that only a fresh, novice witch can help with.

From there, the film takes off on an other-worldly adventure filled with spells and teen romance, highlighted by the three siblings discovering and using their previously untapped powers to save their town from an evil demon who ironically was once Gwen's boyfriend.

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Halloweentown 2

Rating: PG           Length: 81 mins.               Year: 2001

Cast: Debbie Reynolds, Judith Hoag, Kimberly J. Brown

Movie Description

Screen legend Debbie Reynolds portrays the grandmother of a teenage witch in the Disney Channel Original Movie, Halloweentown II: Kalabar's Revenge. The film is the first sequel in a series of four films adapted from the original Disney production of Halloweentown.

The grand-daughter, Marnie (Kimberly J. Brown), has unknowingly allowed her grandmother's book of magical spells to fall into the hands of Kal (Daniel Kountz), who turns out to be the warlock son of Kalabar, a fearsome demon. When Aggie, the grandmother, begins noticing unusual magical activity, she becomes suspicious and, with Marnie in tow, depart for Halloweentown to investigate and try to rectify the situation. Upon arrival, they discover that the town has been transformed (via black magic) into a nightmarish version of all things "Halloween."

The film is directed by Mary Lambert, whose resume includes music videos and television as well as feature films, primarily in the horror genre.

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-The Crafty Witch

Key Elements of Successful Spell Casting

Spells are not to be taken or considered lightly. Before performing any spell, there are certain key elements you must meet in order to bring your spell to fruition. 

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1. Faith and Certainty. You must be absolutely certain in your mind that what you want to happen WILL happen as a result of the spell. You can have no doubt; you know it, so it becomes...."So Mote It Be".

2. Like Attracts Like. Be absolutely SURE and CLEAR about what you want. What you focus on is what you attract in the positive or negative. It's all about INTENTION.

3. You. You are a key ingredient to a successful spell. Your intention, energy and focus determine the outcome of the spell....or not. THE TRUTH IS IN YOUR HEART, SPEAK IT.

4. Cast Your Own Spells. Since YOU are a key ingredient in your spells, cast your own. Many people approach me and ask me to do spells for them. While you can do spells for other people, the outcome is more successful when a person does the spell himself of herself. Doing your own spell works best because your energy is closer to the outcome than anyone else.

5. Harm None. Never look to go against another person's free will. We all have the right to choose for ourselves. You cannot make someone love you and never wish revenge or suffering on another. We do not curse. It is all in how you ask for something. For example, You can do a spell to attract a love interest into your life, but you cannot make a specific person love you. Also, if someone is evil person and harms others, perhaps consider a spell asking karma to come a bit quicker (it is up to the Gods what that karma will be), along with sending out protective and healing spells and energies for victims of such a person. If you are unsure whether a spell is considered harmful, check with others in the craft. The statement, "Be careful what you wish for", is very, very true in spell casting and spells should not be taken lightly.

6. Rule of Three. As I stated above, be careful what you wish for. If you go against the right of another or spell cast/curse against another person, the wrath of the spell will come back at you at the magnitude of three times of your wrongdoing.

STUDY, LEARN, and CONSULT with others in the Craft before taking on spell casting. KNOWLEDGE IS POWER. The more you understand the key elements and the more you practice them, the more successful your outcomes will be. This has been my experience.

-The Crafty Witch