30 July 2019

Dark Moon turned Black

It is the Dark Moon, my absolute favourite time of the month, although today I am a tad slow at getting going, new treatment last night knocked me on my ass! I have also been putting off writing this since last night, so that I could fully process the entire breadth of the last few weeks, so many things have happened that definitely today is a time to throw it all into my cauldron with a lovely black candle to melt all that does not serve away. I was going to call it ugliness, but some of it truly wasn't....there were great shining moments this last month as well, there really were!

We all know this has been a difficult time, many of us have felt it...with Mercury in retrograde we have all had multiple challenges in our lives whether with electronics, vehicles or relationships it has all been there, like sludging through quick sand at times. I have heard all of you as you reached out to share, I am glad it goes direct again tomorrow, please let go of the idea its the 2nd of August that it goes direct, its not it is tomorrow July 31st....though you have to laugh, good ole Mercury sending mixed signals, who would have thought it lol....so now that we know it is going direct Wednesday we can all exhale a combined sigh of relief. Remember though when it stations and changes direction, it intensifies for that moment so be ready!

The last five days for me have been tremendous as well, filled with new connections and venues to explore, vending twice in one week! unheard of for me but I did it this weekend. After meeting a wonderful new friend at the market last Friday. I really enjoyed the market last Friday not just because of the new vending event but because it was so wonderful to speak to someone that feels much of the same way as I do about life....someone who didn't shy away from the Witch but came up directly and shook my hand. At times it is difficult for me to live in this area with my own circle almost 3 hours away, it gets lonely on a physical level. You can imagine I was well pleased to meet someone so open and warm. It was great, and we took her advice and we went to the Bobcaygeon Psychic Fair on Sunday.

To be clear I loved it, it was wonderful... and we met so many new people, made connections and saw some friends there that made the day a great event for me....of course I counselled some, I encouraged others and dispelled some myths as well about Voodoo, Dark magic and light magic....suffice to say there is no color in magic, there is intent! As well if someone tells you that you have an evil spirit on you and you need to pay some exorbitant amount to clear yourself, take my advice run away! they are not a true practitioner fo anything, more of a con.....all pretty regular fare for these events and then just before it ended as my husband and I sat there we noticed an acquaintance we know from our town...shocking that he was there as he is a devout evangelical Christian...but ok, being an interfaith minister means I do not judge anyone for their spiritual path....wish I was given the same respect though...sadly what had been a glorious day turned dark quickly when he felt the need to ask me why the witchcraft....I am me, simply stated I am a witch, I am happily a witch and no I do not require saving of my soul....Jesus and I, we are ok, we are great in fact...but his followers really that is a whole other story....just as this person proved, as he told me I was going to go to hell....not to mention that I will lose my mind before I go, as others he wanted to tell me about....that Satan is around me and trying to take me to the dark side....it was sad....my old guy was overwhelmed with it, he had to walk away and I was left to try to explain it all to this man, who I know thought he was doing something good, when in reality he placed himself at a venue that was set up for all of us witches, psychics and healers to enjoy and share our wares and energy and tried to shove his beliefs at us all....he told me at the end he was there specifically to save souls....I had to tell him I did not require saving of mine....odds are he won't speak to us again when he sees us, but I just can't get over his incredulity that I had to be Christian because in our previous conversations he believed I was...he quoted the bible at me...I know the bible, I can quote it too...it is a great book, that has been horribly manipulated....so what exactly does that say about me? in the end he told me that Jesus could not possibly accept me as I am...I wished him well and reiterated I am a Proudly Pagan witch...he left disappointed, convinced my soul is damned.....maybe someday he will realize that your choice of what you call God does not exactly make you a good person, that comes from inside.....not from a book...a church....or even a God....that comes from your own heart....do you think they will ever understand?

Today as I said, I am a little slow getting started, with Lyme disease the New Moons are also a cycle for parasitic infection load, so I am dealing with that as well today as tomorrows New Moon looms ever closer, but I am up, I am writing and I am releasing....throwing all this and more into the cauldron....I am used to this kind of thing even if my husband is not, but it does not mean I should ever accept it, or even worse bow down to it....there is no freedom in hiding who we are or pretending to be something else to placate the feelings or fears of others.....and with Lyme kicking my ass at different times I have even less patience for it than usual! so the moral to this whole story is you will be questioned, you will be pushed and cajoled, it is up to you to decide who you really are and what or who you worship....don't let those that don't understand take you off your path, no matter what that path is, spirituality is individual and not for others to choose for us, no matter who they are.

My black candle is lit...blessed...anointed....and burning.....my blades are out and I will be cutting and throwing it all into that cracked cauldron of mine....I am clearing and releasing it all.....are you ready to do it too?




25 July 2019

Healing Candle Circle Call

I am a firm believer that we all have a level of pressure we can take before the valve goes off, and we have to let it all go....for me it was this week....not that it hasn't happened before, of course it has....I am alive, I am a human and of course my life has a cycle of pressure and release....I have always been first to defend anyone I feel is getting an unfair shake, but when it comes to me I seem to have a longer fuse especially if I care about the offender.....yup...but this week yes the pressure valve went, I let it all out....years, months and days of it...a cycle ended for me with the last blog....and I have spent the last two days allowing the pressure to vent itself through me....such a huge tremendous amount of pressure. We all have our ways to let go and work our feelings out, mine is to write and craft.

For just over two years, I could not do that, I could not share and I could not write,and I barely crafted...but the worst part was the connections I could not keep going, not being able to share meant so much more than just on a public level....on a personal level I just had no energy to do that....I am currently working on fixing that, sending love like always but now I am reaching out more...daily I try a little more....I am far from a perfect anything, but that would be boring I guess and I wouldn't learn so much on this path of life. While working all this out after the valve blow, the healing ushered itself right in....yesterday, when that moment came, as it came the candle on Yemaya's altar took its last gleam for the night....I knew then what was needed, like a message written in neon all over the candle holder, it was like the altar was glowing still....

So today, as I sort out the altar, I wash my candle holder and prepare a new candle to go in it, I call out to all of you as I light my candle on the altar, may you all feel the healing and loving waves I send out to you all. This candle today, is for all of us, may it burn away all that we need and may its rays usher in all we want and need in our lives....bearing in mind what we need is not always what we want, but may it be the best possible result.

Remember that life is always going to have moments, even for the most spiritual of us, there is always a moment when we feel that pressure...find your own pressure valve in those moments and let it off, don't hurt others in your release, it won't help you in the long run, but there is nothing that says you can't send back all that is sent to you.....a simple mirror spell will work for that, especially under the coming Black Moon on July 31st......but again I digress, that is a subject for another blog. Today it is about ushering in healing ahead of that same Moon.....beautiful blue waves of healing I send to you, from my altar to your life.

Blessings all! Thank you for always being there for my moments and holding me up through them, for being here, for reading my words and for posting your support all over the Facebook page.....I appreciate each and every one of you and send crooked smiles!

Tess

23 July 2019

Fear, Envy and My Ultimate Defiance

I have been staring at the blank screen for so much time now, writing a bit, then deleting it...so much to say, but overwhelmed with it all....things are tough....so much has happened since the last blog....no not in the amount of things but just in the intensity of things.....first my Jelly Bean had a seizure....that was fucking terrifying! And I wasn't even there, her mum was and that call from my daughter was paralyzing! for a moment I could not breathe! the air was suspended around me and everything was in slow motion....as everyone in the room kept asking me why the tears were rolling down my face, my throat was paralyzed, stuck, my mouth could not put together words.....then the shakes.....yes she is fine now, but me, well I think I am still recovering from that fear! As I am sure her parents are too....life can change in an instant!

I wish I could say that was all but it isn't of course, such is my life, I swear the Gods gave me broad shoulders for this very reason....and yes I realize it is not all about me, but at the end of the day this is me discussing how this all affects me, simple thing really that people seem to be afraid to do these days...afraid to be thought of as possibly narcissistic, unbalanced, fatalistic and Gods know what else people can come up with to say to those that reach out in times of tremendous pressure in their lives.....fuck it....here it is.....my husband has hurt his shoulder and right side of his body, lifting something he really should not have been lifting by himself....my son is on antibiotics for 28 days because of TWO not one but TWO tick bites, which is making him ill physically.....I have shingles again, severely, and then there's the Lyme....and yes I am tired..... wouldn't you be?

How do you keep going in all this? I heard this question the other night, when speaking to a friend....do I have a choice? not really, all the other options are bad! What do I do? do I let it all go once again and lay down and simply say well I am too sick to do anything? no I can't do that....so I craft...thankfully the Gods have my back and the energies of the wire call, the wands, the altar boxes and even my book all called and kept me going....I never know what I will craft, just like when this month started I had no idea I would publish my book, The Cracked Cauldron, A book of Spells....then it all just happened in a rush, boom, done, and on the 7th anniversary of my pledge to Yemaya ~thank you facebook memories for showing me the synchronicity of the energy I felt and my promise after the fact! Thank you Yemaya! This Mercury Retrograde has been hard in a personal sense, but in a professional sense it has been wonderful, with growth jumping to the forefront. My shop is back and I am hoping soon to be back to its former glory, yes of course I am talking about sales....I have long given up this notion that I should pretend not to care about sales, of course I care, and so does every other shop owner out there, no matter how much they try to act like they don't....I care because that is how I provide for my family, that is how I keep myself online to blog....to write.....to craft....and definitely to maintain my page and free readings on Witch's Chamber on Facebook....without those sales, well, I could not simply afford to be here....nothing to be ashamed of, just reality.....this is mine....money is always an issue, not surprising when you have a Chronic illness, but still people will try to use that to minimize you, shame you, and keep you in your supposed place.....have at it, that shit don't work on me....but the haters still try....and will forever, cause that is what haters do! they hate on you and all you do or achieve, it just is what it is.....in my life and with what I have lived through, I have become used to it....sad but true.

I realized this as I was sitting down to write the second installment of the The Cracked Cauldron, as I poured over my life, I saw this trend through and through my life....there is a tendency for those that are jealous for one reason or another to send ugliness and envy my way....its a reality that goes all the way back to my childhood days....it is just the way it has always been, and mainly from women....no matter how close they are to me, or what their relationship is or was, the green monster comes out in them and boom, then I am the evil one, the bad one and the one that causes all their issues....so it occurs to me that every one of us has a constant lesson to deal with, mine is jealousy and envy which breeds enemies. Now that I know, now that I see it all clearly......I arm myself with my own truth.....I hold up my mirror and say ok, you sent it....you got it now.....and yes of course blame me for the curse you sent yourself....go right ahead, yea that will help.

So you see? there has been so much going on over here quietly, behind the curtain of Witch's Chamber....alignments that needed to happen, issues with health, and life...and truths, they keep coming as I write....the more that come, the more I welcome.....as I keep twisting my wire, and crafting the energy of the Gods in physical form....that's right I said that, and I own it...Defiantly so!....and now you are all caught up!

Blessings all! when life gets hard, look at it head on! and then make it work for you too!

Tess


13 July 2019

Believe In Your Own Magic

In the still of the night, while everyone else is asleep, even the furry boys, I sit by the light of candles lit on all the altars, absorbing the glow....going over the last couple of weeks in my life. There has been so much change....like tiny explosions that set off a massive blow out....my book The Cracked Cauldron took form and was published yesterday!......no matter what my life will never be the same

I write, it's what I do...I have written since I was a child....my first little book, shockingly was about two sisters....twins, separated at birth, and their struggle to find each other....I was 10...it took me a few years to finish it....then given to someone to read and never to be thought of again....somehow all these years later, the hardest, terrifying, exhilarating moment was in pushing that publish button. Yes I know I blog, I put myself out there more than once for all to see, here in a blog...somehow the book is different, like another layer of vulnerability that was revealed....out there for all who want to enjoy it, soak it up, dance with me or who want to trash it....yes we all know there are always haters, yes I know why give them energy? well maybe I am not of the same bent that believes that when we talk about them we give them power, I am more of the frame of mind that if we rip that fucking bandaid off we cause the healing to begin and disarm them.....bacteria likes to grow in warm dark places, and haters are a bit like bacteria wouldn't you say? Left to breed on their own they will grow to massive sizes and take over all you love and care for.....your body, your brain, your heart and your life....naw fuck that.....haters.....yep let's be clear, I know, I know, you want to trash it....you don't like it...who do I think I am writing a damn book? yea yea yea....

I am me, and I came up with this concept in my life a while ago....I refuse to accept limiting beliefs....I refuse to accept anyone else's idea of what my life should look like...I refuse to accept how I should witch.....I refuse to accept anyone's idea of what a fulfilling and worthy life is.....I simply refuse....truth is no matter what you do in your life, haters are gonna hate.....nothing too pretty or eloquent about it, its just people stuck in their heads that have their own limiting behaviours that they cannot see...their own poison infecting them from the inside.....being a witch is about your heart and what it beats for, not so much how it appears for others....fancy names....and all the tools in the world will make no one a better witch than anyone else.

So I spend my time calling that shit out, I believe there is room for all of us, that there is no reason that anyone needs to be superior to another, or that there is ever a reason to belittle someone else's way of witching. Whether they have to take medication, suffer with anxiety, PTSD, health issues, not ever does any of these things make me think less of another human, these are struggles we all have to a certain degree.....and even when you deny that you have any of these problems to the world, when the lights go out at the end of the day we all know what is in our own minds and hearts.....life takes enough out of us already with the day to day struggle of keeping everything on track so why would we want to complicate matters with envious and limiting thoughts for others? Have you thought about that mirror that's pointing back at you?

In my life I knew someone that constantly pointed the finger at others, always pointing out what they felt to be weakness' , shame and ugliness in others....never realizing in their minds that it was their own they were seeing.....what a way to live....I would not want it for the life of me, Gossip, bad feelings and whispers about others only breeds negativity in your own life....the Universe hears your thoughts and if they are filled with that, as the Law of Attraction states you will draw it to yourself.....starting to see a pattern? The more you put others down, the lower you will go....be it about magic, life, dating, finances, does not matter, the truth is the truth.....that which you judge so shall you face......and remember it is you inviting the energy in....enjoy what you have created, while I stand over here with my glass of wine by candlelight.......mirrors and candles at the ready........

Yesterday I celebrated, after I did that I sat at my computer and looked for the first time in a long time at the memories for July 11th, the memories in my life for July are not good, my death, my ex, all things I like to forget......but that all changed yesterday when to my surprise it was exactly 7 years ago yesterday that I set up my current altar to Yemaya, with the lovely Spirit doll crafted for me and sent as a surprise from a sister....I was so happily surprised to see that....on the day that my paperback published with Yemaya on the cover and all through the pages went live....I did not plan it, it just happened that way....I didn't even know it had been 7 years until after it all happened and then the reality of it was a moment of validation for me....I promised her I would raise her name, and I feel I delivered on the anniversary of my dedication to her fully, in case you didn't know Yemaya's number is 7....if that does not feel like the completion of a cycle then I don't know what does......now to keep raising her name...my promise is not over, it will never end until the day I draw my last breath and then my spirit will raise her name from the other side.....

Yemaya....She who saved me.....I have never been more complete than when in service to her.

With back up like that, of course I call out the haters, the pretenders and the crap.......this here is about living in the realness of being who you are authentically....She would have it no other way.....

So if you want to witch too, then do it, whether you have to take your meds to do it, use a cane, or dance from the confines of your wheelchair, let your heart dance daily with your energy and believe in your own magic....it is there, no matter how many have told you its not you know better.....reach for what makes you whole, for me it was Yemaya, a piece that missing within me was filled the day I put her Spirit doll on my altar.....I know if you spend some time feeling your own heart you will find your way too.....no more limiting or diminishing thoughts!

Three guidelines only to this.....do not hurt innocents......don't hurt yourself.....and what you send out will come back to you, so make it good......

Now go witch! fuck the haters, dance around them as you twirl away happy within your own circles!

01 July 2019

Blessed be the Dark Moon

It is that time of the month that I look forward to the most. That's right, for this witch it is not the Full Moon or the New Moon that excites me it is the Dark Moon, not very surprising if you know me, I have always been more drawn to the dark than anything else. Besides the fact that I think most people don't understand how wonderful the Dark Moon really is, it is also a perfect energetic time to rid ourselves of those energies we no longer need or want, that does which no longer serves has no place staying around....don't you agree? why would we want to keep such things around us? and as witches we should know the best times of the month to rid ourselves of these unwanted energy right? well for me that time is the Dark Moon.

Let's start with what the Dark Moon really represents.....how many have worked with this Moon? When I first started this walk with the Moon so many years ago, I was one that watched the energies around me swirl with the changes to the Moon...the Full Moon brought huge changes, energies aligned, spells completed and things moved forward under the Full stage....the New Moon brought exactly that, new beginnings, do overs, starting fresh and hope...and then there was the lead up to the New stage, the Dark just before the New Moon rose...a time where it seemed to me that the most shocking things happened, and where it was not uncommon for me to see people and situations take a more edgy turn even at times more violent turns....confrontations, shocking endings that lead to the beginnings of the next day in the New Moon cycle. It was then that I decided that personal endings were perfect for me under the Dark Moon, the reality is the Moon in this aspect already carries all these energies, so it makes it the perfect time for a witch to tap into that. It is under this aspect of the Moon that every month I light at minimum one black candle, but normally more than one....I light candles with words inscribed in them of energies I want removed from my life, whatever words I need that month to help me further my path or keep going....the aspect of the Dark Moon is great for endings so why not end things in your life that are truly soul crushing? poverty, anger, pain, dis-ease....yes I will and have inscribed these words on the black candles that I burn at the Dark Moon....it is also the time where I release all enemies from their connection to me....because as humans and witches we know not everyone that calls themselves friend is actually that....no some will tell you they have your back as they stab you in it the moment you turn around, and this method of candle burning, works by sending out a net of magic that melts away these connections, cuts them free and sends everyone on their own way, without rancor or any kind of boomerang effect on you.....yes when doing any kind of magic you need to worry about that boomerang effect! if you don't it will teach you soon enough that you should have known what you send out you get back. The law of energy return is alive and well in the world of magic.

Now I have told people before and continue to tell them again that spell casting is not for every witch, nor should it be done by those that are inexperienced with the possible outcomes, spell casting is just simply that; not something that every witch should do, it is not something to be taken lightly. True magic and spell casting is something that should only be done with reverence and respect, yes I joke so many times on my page with memes that say things to the contrary, but they are jokes, not reality....those that reach out to me have had me tell them the same, spell casting is not to be taken lightly....BUT this method of utilizing the energies of the Dark Moon to cast out what does not serve is not exactly the same in my books. It is more the action of laying out a petition, candle magic is a much simpler way for witches to approach spell casting, learning to tap into their own magic and learning to work with the energies around them. As witches we already know we work with a lot of energies, whether for ourselves or others, in those workings we expose ourselves to so many other energies, and the Dark Moon cleansing rituals I speak of help us to realign and clear our own spiritual houses. So when is the best time to do this? well today July 1st is the Dark Moon stage, the New Moon rises at 3:16pm ET on July 2nd and until the Moon goes Void of Course at 2:48 am ET on July 2nd prior to the New stage, that is your window for the Dark Moon......every month the Dark Moon is the day directly prior to the New Stage, making sure not to work within the void of course stage, it is the best time to craft magic to clear, realign and sever those ties that no longer serve. 

For me I have already prepared my candles....and yes it works if you don't have a black candle, but you have a white one, take a sharpie or some other marker and blacken it.....I have done it many many times! I personally use a porcupine quill now to inscribe but before I had one I would use a nail, I inscribe my words, I bless my candle at my altar, anoint it with whatever you feel you need for this working, some use Hyssop, Coconut oil, olive oil, or other conjure oils if you have access to them. Take your candle, set it away from your usual altar in a place of respect that it won't be disturbed....light it, say your incantation, or whatever words you have prepared for this, then spread a circle of sea salt around it....and let it burn. When this is done, and the candle has burned down to the end, make sure to take whatever is left and dispose of it, away from you, not near your home, safely and responsibly dispose of it. after all it would not make sense to keep the energy with you that you are trying to remove with the whole exercise would it?

As with all magics, depending on the size of the change you are trying to evoke, you may have to do this more than once, but in a world that is ever changing it would be naive of any witch to think that one candle would ever be enough to clear all the moving parts of something like poverty for example...but it works, like anything else in witchcraft it takes dedication, faith and your own energy applied...if you give it all that and are consistent with your effort, it will work and you will see the benefits of those black candles and like me you will come to love the Dark Moon Stage of the month  and you many just revel in it a little bit like I am preparing to do today.

As always witches, I leave you with one bit of advice....always cast responsibly and remember to keep growing!

Blessed Be the Dark Moon!

Tess