Ex Penna

It's been overstated how little occultists are interested in converting others and understated how important personal expression really is.  Speaking our minds and trying to modify those of others are not the same thing.

My early years as a practitioner were fun for me because I didn't have any limits.  I kept staunch secrecy (even to the guy I was dating at the time who was a dabbler and very open about it!) so no one questioned me--my decisions, the books I chose to read, the spells I cast, all of it was up to my own inspiration.  No one condemned me.

But that meant that no one challenged me, either.

No one made me examine those decisions and really work through the processes in my head.  I was happy not to have anyone's influence, but it would have been helpful to have their insight.

And then there was the time, many years later, when I was standing among a group of new acquaintances--who did not yet know I practiced--as they bonded over their mutual distaste for a co-worker who was Wiccan.  Their mockery of him was based on his general awkwardness coupled with what little they knew of his beliefs.  It displayed more about them being pointlessly aggressive and elitist than showing anything negative about Wicca.  That could have been a perfect time for me to chime in and clear up some misconceptions, as well as shut down what could be considered hate speech.

But I was not in a position that I felt was strong enough to speak up.  When the perfect moment had passed, I realized how important a moment it was, not because I needed to correct these women or because I wanted to make the guy better liked, but because we deserve a strong defense.

As you can see, I completely understand the kinds of thoughts that prevent the magical community from being open to outsider discussions.  Besides the assumption that we should remain an insular group, there are some really unappealing images that many of us fear we project when speaking up.  Rather than try to dissuade you from thinking that way, let's bring those images out in the light.

Street Corner Preacher

You open your mouth to spread a bit of enlightenment but in your head you must certainly be screaming through a bullhorn and wearing a sandwich sign.  It's okay, you're (probably) not actually doing that.

Combat it with:

• Short, clear statements
• Terms we all understand--don't say things like "paradigm shift" 
• If you're asked a question, answer only that.  Don't complicate things

Rebellious Teen

Flower Child

When you're the first actual spellcaster someone has met--and don't laugh, that has happened to me several times--you might be surprised to find out what they're expecting to see.  It's okay not to normalize witchcraft; it is indeed special and different.  Plus, you'll probably have no choice but to describe certain topics in a fanciful way, but that doesn't mean you'll lose cred doing so.

Combat it with:

• Be authentic. Show the side of your personality that comes out most with magic
• Remember how it felt when this was new to you and speak in a way that is reminiscent of that
• Be descriptive, liken one thing to another, explain and express.  Paint an emotional picture.  It's okay to wax a bit poetic if the conversation is going deep
• Project a balanced, realistic image.  Magic doesn't send you off into other realms; it's for the here and now

The Pretentious Nonconformist

Free Natal Chart Generator



Whether you normally follow the course of your stars or not, having a natal chart cast for you is a deeply meaningful and useful method of bringing awareness to the influences of the very underpinnings of your personality and lifeline.

If all this seems overly complex, it's because it is, in a general way.  There are many calculations that must be made to create the chart, a good deal of information that one must have about the intended person's birth, plus books, lists, and time.

The reason that astrologers undergo such effort is because either they A) are simply in love with facts and figures, or B) in the past have had a successful chart of their own.   To become one of the second group, look no further than today's link!  Here you can have a computer-generated chart of your own to chart your course today.

With our standard spellwork to get better jobs, protect loved ones from danger, find romance, and make that Becky at work back the **** off, we often forget that life and witchcraft are best enjoyed through the simple appreciation of beauty.

What is beautiful to you?  What makes your heart swell with joy to see, to hear, to experience?  Magic can bring that to you, if you're trying for it.  Maybe you seek beautiful surroundings, enriching company, stimulating travel, experiences that make your memories like lovely picture postcards for you to sort through slowly again and again.  Think carefully on what your own concepts are of a life filled with loveliness.

Of course, everyone has to have a starting point.  Here are a few non-essential but utterly needful spells to cast right away for a beautiful life.

To Make the Hair Grow Long 

To Understand the Language of Birds

Any girl who touches the petals of the Marigold with her bare feet will hear the songs of birds and understand what they say to one another.

(from Cunningham's Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs, Scott Cunningham 1985)

Acorn Charm for a Fulfilling Life

Carrying 3 acorns in your pocket, tied in a lock of your own hair, will give you the gifts of youth, beauty, and achievement of your desires in life.

(from Garden Spells, Claire Nahmad, 1994)

To Improve Your Sex Life

Daily Elixir for Positive Change

To Remove Bores

 

Dealing in weather magic is often a tricky matter.  First, though we know that there really is no such thing as a day without weather, we only really recognize weather systems.  This means that the build up to a rainstorm could go unnoticed and the after effects of hail might seem more important in our minds than the hail storm itself.  These details can make weather magic difficult because we're emphasizing the wrong phases where actual change can be made.

Second, there are a good deal of casters who feel strongly against any work designed to change or postpone weather systems.  Keep in mind that the organization of wind and water work as a constant swirl around the globe; nothing ever actually stops, it only dissipates to other areas or changes path altogether.  You can, and sometimes should, make this happen.  I was part of a group work to protect the East Coast from the category 4 Hurricane Irene in 2011.  By the time we had completed our spells, what was initally feared to be the "worst storm in a lifetime" was being given a progressively lower rating, and when it finally touched land, it had been downgraded to a "Tropical Storm."  Success!  So much was preserved by rerouting that huge system through the use of magic.  I don't regret my hand in it at all.

The charm I offer here, however, is much smaller and more localized.  If you have an event that must be spared from inclement conditions or necessary travel during a threatening season, this little work from Valerie Worth is your ideal spell.

Advice for Beginner Spellcasters


The period of "beginner" actually lasts quite a bit longer than most witches will admit.  Indeed, moving beyond it requires study and careful practice that might take years to achieve.  If you know just what to do when a problem arises and where to find the ideal spell to combat it, then you have managed this.  Otherwise, take a long look at today's link and receive some guidance to that which you didn't know you didn't know.

"A fellow spellcaster--how wonderful!  I'd love to hear about what you do."

I've just met a witch and I'm so excited I could boil over!  I've got a million questions but do my best to stay reasonable on the outside.  Even after all these years, I still get a barely-repressible thrill at meeting someone who might understand one of the most essential and resonating parts of my life, someone who could get me.

"Oh, ya know, I've done some spells and stuff, and one time I went to this open circle..."

"Yeah?  That's great.  What did you think of the circle?"

"It was okay.  My friend Alice and I went in college so I don't remember a lot.  But I'm doing a lot of my own stuff these days, so it's no big deal."

"Your own stuff?  Like what--writing, art, a coven?"

"Um, like, I make up spells sometimes.  I don't really like books and groups and stuff."

"Oh."

Knowing What you Want is Next Door to Getting It

If Your Goals in Life are Meager, Quit Magic Now.  It's Not for You.

All Your Ambitions Have Magical Importance

And You Know Who is Afraid of This?  Everyone Else.

Back in the "good old days" of my early twenties, when my husband and I were first married and living poor but happy, we ran with a very different crowd than we do now.  In fact, most of them were characters straight out of a comic book.

The tall, bookish guy in a trench coat with long hair and a wicked grin who had at least one hand over his face in every photograph.

The piggish grease-monkey whose limited vocabulary was full of made up words.

The all-day drunk with a good heart but terrible life choices.

And then there was the stocky scrapper who was fiercely proud of a European heritage that I'm pretty sure no one actually believed was real and had probably never done anything legal if he could help it.

He was probably the most common visitor to our house in those days and definitely a memorable part of many adventures.  This is only important to know because he figured prominently in my strongest memory of the formula I'm about to give you,  Happiness Powder.

As an open and proud spellcaster, I often had bundles of herbs drying in the kitchen, spell candles burning on an obvious altar in the living room, and various other magical items sitting in plain view around the house.  The night I made my first jar of Happiness Powder, I left it on the coffee table before putting it away.  When our guest came in and sat, he excitedly poured out a line and sniffed it because coke was the only "happiness powder" in his vocabulary.

Needless to say, I don't recommend this!  But, he was okay after that, though maybe not as happy as he had hoped.  Like I said, strange times and strange people.

The proper way to use Cunningham's powder is to sprinkle it around your environment, on people who could use cheering up, as an added ingredient in mojo bags, or use it to dust spell candles.