Monday, November 29, 2010

May It Be


There are some songs that warm you to the soul and give a gift of message that is rare.  From the first time I heard this song it brought that feeling to me.  I am sure many of you have heard it many times yet I'd like to share it once more. 
Blessings

Saturday, November 20, 2010

The Mourning Moon

Sunday, November 21st
Take some time and enjoy the Full Moon of November.
The Full Moon is currently in Taurus and offers a perfect opportunity for any magic one may want to conjour involving love, property or finances.
The Full Moon also offers an excellent time to plant any flower bulbs that you may be wanting to get into the ground if you haven't already.
For water charged with with the power of the Full Moon, place a jug of fresh spring water out under the light of the full moon.
This is excellent for washing or annointing anything you wish to fill with the magic of the Full Moon

Saturday, November 6, 2010

A Knock on the Door

I'm sure a lot of you have seen this video, but I wanted to share it with those who haven't seen it. I never get tired of watching it and Duirwaigh Studios who created this has some whimsical and beautiful treasures to look on at their site. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Friday, November 5, 2010

A Pagan Partnership

Throughout the month of November, the women of eWitch and I will be sharing articles and anecdotes about our personal relationships and how they are impacted by our spirituality.  Since getting back into writing, I have wanted to broach this subject, but have never found the time.  I look forward to reading what our other eWitches have to say about their own relationships.

The perfect place for me to start discussing this topic is with my own marriage.  Mr. Sparrow (aka Danzig) and I have been married for four years.  We have no children at this time.

Danzig is a third generation American.  His great-grandparents came to the United States from Poland and brought their beliefs with them.  While they openly practiced Catholicism, they practiced Witchcraft from their home country in secret.  Danzig had the pleasure of learning from his great-grandmother before she passed away.

I was raised in a Protestant family that has been in America for generations.  My lineage can be traced mostly back to Norway (yay Vikings!) on my Dad’s side, but I have some family that originated in Wales and Germany.  Religion was not consistently a big deal in our home growing up unless my Grandmother, who is Baptist, was around.  I was programmed from a young age that Witchcraft was Evil and that anyone not saved by Jesus Christ was going to Hell.  Oh, how far I have come!

When I met Danzig in 2004, I was coming out of what turned out to be the darkest time of my life.  I was furious at everyone, especially myself.  I didn’t know what to believe and had pretty much shunned Christianity.  There was a gaping hole in my heart that begged to be filled.

Little by little, Danzig introduced me to his Earth-based path.  I soaked the information up like a sponge, quickly beginning my own research into the various practices and paths.  He taught me how to meditate, how to cast a circle, and the basics of protection magick.  He is the one who laid the foundation for my future as a Pagan and Witch.

That being said, I have a unique and wonderful spiritual relationship with Deity that includes my husband.  We each have our own path, but are respectful of the other’s beliefs and work together to honor the Divine.

Next week I will share some ideas of how couples can practice their spirituality together and grow closer in doing so.  Be sure to stop by my blog, The Balanced Witch, to check out the “366 Days of Magick” that is going on all this year.  I also have a giveaway going on now!

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

In Rememberance - All Souls Day

All Souls


A THIN moon faints in the sky o'erhead,
And dumb in the churchyard lie the dead.
Walk we not, Sweet, by garden ways,
Where the late rose hangs and the phlox delays,
But forth of the gate and down the road,
Past the church and the yews, to their dim abode.
For it's turn of the year and All Souls' night,
When the dead can hear and the dead have sight.



Fear not that sound like wind in the trees:
It is only their call that comes on the breeze;
Fear not the shudder that seems to pass:
It is only the tread of their feet on the grass;
Fear not the drip of the bough as you stoop:
It is only the touch of their hands that grope -
For the year's on the turn, and it's All Souls' night,
When the dead can yearn and the dead can smite.


And where should a man bring his sweet to woo
But here, where such hundreds were lovers too?
Where lie the dead lips that thirst to kiss,
The empty hands that their fellows miss,
Where the maid and her lover, from sere to green,
Sleep bed by bed, with the worm between?
For it's turn of the year and All Souls' night,
When the dead can hear and the dead have sight.


And now that they rise and walk in the cold,
Let us warm their blood and give youth to the old.
Let them see us and hear us, and say: 'Ah, thus
In the prime of the year it went with us!'
Till their lips drawn close, and so long unkist,
Forget they are mist that mingles with mist!
For the year's on the turn, and it's All Souls' night,
When the dead can burn and the dead can smite.
Till they say, as they hear us - poor dead, poor dead! -


'Just an hour of this, and our age-long bed -
Just a thrill of the old remembered pains
To kindle a flame in our frozen veins,
Just a touch, and a sight, and a floating apart,
As the chill of dawn strikes each phantom heart -
For it's turn of the year and All Souls' night,
When the dead can hear, and the dead have sight.'


And where should the living feel alive
But here in this wan white humming hive,
As the moon wastes down, and the dawn turns cold,
And one by one they creep back to the fold?
And where should a man hold his mate and say:
'One more, one more, ere we go their way'?
For the year's on the turn, and it's All Souls' night,
When the living can learn by the churchyard light.


And how should we break faith who have seen
Those dead lips plight with the mist between,
And how forget, who have seen how soon
They lie thus chambered and cold to the moon?
How scorn, how hate, how strive, we too,
Who must do so soon as those others do?
For it's All Souls' night, and break of the day,
And behold, with the light the dead are away. . . .

Edith Wharton

Monday, November 1, 2010

Resolutions for a New Year

I hope that each of you and your families had a wonderful Halloween and a blessed Samhain.  Saturday was spent at the zoo and hanging out with friends.  On Sunday, we stuck close to home.  I managed to get some last-minute homework done and snuck in some Halloween artwork.  Mr. Sparrow did a good smudging on our new apartment and some protection work.  Overall, it was a busy, but enjoyable weekend.

As Samhain is known as the Witch’s New Year, my family makes resolutions for the coming magickal year at that time.  We usually write these resolutions down on paper and burn them.  This releases our intentions into the Universe.

My major resolution for this year is to take a trip back to the basics.  Since I have been sitting on the precipice of my 3rd Degree initiation, I have been feeling more spiritually blah than ever.  I’m not sure if it is because I am coming to an end of my “official” training or confusion about where to go from here, but I need something to regain focus.

Another resolution of mine for the year is to write a little every day.  I have wanted to be a professional writer for a while and do quite a bit of it between blogging and writing articles, but it has not been a focus.  Since I began writing somewhat regularly, I have noticed that it is coming easier to me and that I am able to convey my thoughts much more clearly.  I have dreams of writing a Pagan romance and want to be able to make those a reality one day.

In an effort to fulfill both of these resolutions (and because I am a project-aholic) the “366 Days of Magic” was born on my blog, The Balanced Witch.  For the next 366 days, there will be a new post on my blog each day about the basics of Earth-based spirituality and magickal practice.  I just posted the first day and am excited about the next 365!

Did anyone else make any resolutions?

Have you seen this?


This is not what we usually post but my son sent this via email. See the story here at Fox News.  The New York Times wrote about it, too.
Here is the blurb about the label on The Lost Abbey Web site:

The Story on the Label
Whether you’re a wonder healer, a caller of spirits or a lover of black magic, they will find you. And on that day, they will boil your blood, singe your skin and make a point to burn your soul to the ground. From that lonely stake, you’ll be left to contemplate your life of spell casting, obscure texts and a world operated between the shadows of night and day.
Convicted of a dark art, the crowd will gather to watch as they raze your earthen existence. An intolerable pain is the cross you’ll bear that day as you are removed from this righteous world. No one will summon the courage to save you in fear of their life. It sucks. But such is the life of a witch. In honor of your fleeting existence, we brewed Witch’s Wit. A light and refreshing wheat beer, it’s exactly the sort of thing you might expect to find being passed around the center of town on witch burning day. Say hello to the Prince of Darkness for us.

About the Label Art 

From Tomme:

When I imagined this beer, I thought of two perspectives that would make for the best story. The first story could have been told from the Point of View of our Witch (or Heroine depending on the story). Ultimately, I think I like not knowing her story is better. How she got there is a big part of the mystery.
I became more fixated on the guilt of the crowd. There would surely have been people (the faceless souls) who could have/ would have wanted to help. There also would have been some righteous people smug with satisfaction knowing another “witch” leaving their world.
The Point of View for this back story label is about that smugness and righteousness in light of a horrific atrocity against mankind. It’s written in a modified 3rd person Omniscient Point of View (partly a member of the crowd and my own voice). I knew that most people wouldn’t spend the time delving into the mystery of the piece I wrote but at the same time, I wanted a voice of reason (or counter reason) to be present for this beer. Specifically, we knew this to be a thought provoking original art piece.
I cannot think why anyone would believe that to put artwork of someone burning at the stake  would be a good idea. It is offensive as well as creepy. Maybe they could put a picture of someone on the rack? Or going into the iron maiden?

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