Witch Craft...More Than Just Wing Of Bat And Eye Of Newt.

As I sit here knitting a hat to go onto my Etsy store, I am contemplating some crafty little things I can do with my kids this weekend to help them learn more about my religious beliefs. and while doing that the word Witchcraft came to my mind.

The word itself has gained so many negative connotations to it over the centuries, that even I have a hard time using the word in my everyday life. But then I start thinking about the word as two separate words...Witch Craft. You have people who everyday put magick into the things they make. And by that, I mean that they put their love, and energy into their creations and imbue them with an energy all their own that when others either purchase, or are given their wares they feel a sense of happiness, or are kept warm, or made to feel loved. Kitchen witches do their magick mainly in the kitchen. The foods and other consumable or even wearable items that they concoct from natural items that are grown in the earth are not only imbued with earth energy, but they are also imbued with the energy of the witch preparing them.

I think about the ide bracelet I made for my son when he was being bothered with bad dreams and could not sleep at night. The love and the prayers I said while making the bracelet created an energy that when my son wore the bracelet he had a sense of peace that he had not had in months, and he was able to sleep only when he was wearing that bracelet. Even now, as I knit these hats and scarves,  sweaters, and spin my yarn, I put all of my love and energy into each item, because I want the people who will be buying my items to have a sense of how I cared about them enough (even though I don't know them) to give each item my all.

Another thing I was thinking about was what type of witch am I? I'm not a kitchen witch. Nor am I a green witch.  Then it hit me. I'm a Spinning Witch! I spin my own yarn, I do knitting, crocheting, and weaving. I do stuff that spiders do when they create their own webs. I am tapping into the energy of earth & fire (fire is also seen as being a creative energy...the fire of life) and spinning my magick into each piece I create.

So yes, I practice Witch Craft...but what is comforting is that every crafty person out there who truly loves what they do, is practicing it to.

Love & Light!

Are You Kidding Me?!!!

What happened tonight when I went to pick my kids up from the daycare tells me how godless and secular this nation has become as a whole. I promised the daycare director that I would bring a bag of extra craft supplies I had sitting around in my storage area when I came by in the afternoon to get the rug rats. So in the bag of goodies, I had several skeins of pink pompom yarn, striped pink yarn, a button making machine with button making supplies, red construction paper, and a kit I had just bought the day before to be used in my daughter's pre-school class to make Halloween masks.

So I get there, put the bags in the director's chair, and then take out the mask making kit to give to my daughter's teacher. So she is seriously scrutinizing them and she then says to me, "I have to make sure these don't have 'Halloween' anywhere on them." I was like WHOOOOAAA...then I proceeded to ask her why that would be a problem. The next series of words that came out of her mouth aggitated me to the point that I had to reign myself in, and remember that this was a corporate run education center. What does that mean? She may not have control on what happens. She begins to tell me that they can't have anything that says "Halloween, Merry Christmas, etc." It can only be Happy Fall/Autum, or Happy Holidays. About the only thing they can say is Happy Valentine's Day.

I was floored. Completely and utterly floored. Then a deep embedded knowledge almost came spilling across my lips. This is why we as a nation are going to hell in a handbasket with gasoline boxers on. There are so many people out there who have no faith in ANYTHING, and they expect the rest of us who actually do believe in something to think like them. They are so determined to make have a separation of church and state, that they are fighting to not be "subjected" to any form of religion. This separation is doing nothing but causing nation wide chaos. Kids worshiping the almighty dollar, and emulating the pure ignorance of shows like Jersey Shore, Teen Mom, Basketball Wives, and The Real Housewives of (insert city here). Parents listening to hacks like Dr. Phil, are not disciplining their children as our parents, and their parents, and their parents did before. What has this led to? Brats throwing fits in stores, cursing their parents out, and physically attacking them, while their parents tell them that if they don't stop they will be put in time out...And these are just the preschoolers. Or, parents being so disconnected from their kids that they don't even realize they are buying fire arms to shoot up their schools, or building bombs in their basements. They are so focused on removing religious influence from their lives, that they can't even see that religion contains some very fundamental values that help us to live in a positive and productive manner. As well as helping us to deal with everyday problems.

Letting all of this swirl through my head I started to feel sick and angry all at the same time. I escorted my kids to the car got in, and just drove in silence back to my apartment. There wasn't anything to say...There wasn't anything I could say. My kids chattering in the backseat just became background noise like the sound of various car engines zooming past me. All I could see was the road in front of me, as my mind's eye looked forward in time to when my kids are teenagers, and I see them coming to me to ask why religion was so important. I almost hit a car that was stopped in front of me. Slamming on my breaks, I cleared my head, and waited until the green signaled me to travel the last half a block home.

Now that I am home and my children are in bed, I sit here determined to not let them grow up without believing in...SOMETHING. Cause having a belief in something is better than NOT having belief in anything at all.

The Past...The Present...The Future

It is early October, and my hubby and I just got through cleaning the patio and putting up some of the Halloween decorations. I think the kids were more excited than us. Why was I so down about it? Well, being here in TX...in this heat...I have felt like there has not been a true change of seasons. Nothing to notify me that the old year is getting ready to go out, and new one is beginning. Not to mention the fact that this being such a conservative state, I don't feel as welcome to celebrate this holiday as I normally would (even Georgia was more welcoming to pagans than this place is).

Case in point, after putting up the decorations, and dealing with the kids buggin' me about going to the playground, I decided to pull out my favorite pentacle, polish it up, and put it on one of my best silver chains and go down to the playground and knit while my children ran around like wildmen, until they tuckered themselves out. I sat down on a bench next to a Muslim woman in full garb (face uncovered though) who was talking on her cell phone. And on another bench there was another woman who I had seen before on the playground, with her infant granddaughter. After about 5 minutes of sitting and quietly knitting while keeping a watchful eye on my kids, I noticed the woman next to me do a double take , and quickly get up and leave. Then the mother of the infant crosses the playground, goes to her mother who is holding the baby on the other bench. She looks at me and scowls, says something to her in her native tongue, then they pick up their stuff and leave. I had no idea what just happened, and didn't much care at that moment because my daughter had just slipped going up the wrong way on one of the slides and busted her top lip. So up stairs we go. It isn't until I get into my appartment and bend down to pick up something on the floor, that I see my pentacle had been free from under my jacket the entire time.

I found it extremely ironic & dishartening that I was being discrimated against because of my religious choice, and especially by someone who I am quite sure has suffered discrimination because of her religious beliefs. Even this day and age, Paganism/Goddess based religions are still at the bottom of the totem pole when it comes to gaining respect as a valid, positive, and healing religious institution.

After I realized why they had left and what caused it, I got pissed, then I got sad, then finally I came to the conclusion that I can't change the minds of those around me, if they don't want to change. Still didn't stop me from sulking though for a good portion of the early evening...That is until I saw my children in their wide eyed wonderment enjoying ice pops, and giggling in anticipation of the approaching holiday while enjoying the deocrations and asking about more being put up.

Halloween has long since changed for me. In the beginning, it was the holiday that I would rush to my neighbors houses to get as much candy to stuff my face with as possible. And now it has become something holy to me. It is a time to learn from the past, honor those who have gone before me, and to take the next step to move forward to a bright shiny new future. With that said, I FINALLY made the decision to start teaching my children about my personal beliefs and practices. The great thing about this is that my husband is very supportive. He was born and raised Missionary Baptist like I was, but he is still a (practicing) Christian. Even with all of that, he knows that the teachings in my beliefs are the same as his at their very core. He also feels this will help me to bond with my children on a level that most people wish they could bond with their kids. Not only that, but teaching them now will help squash any negative ideals about other spiritual practices that are not exactly mainstream in the eyes of the masses, so that they can have an intelligent and well versed view of the world and the people around them.

To represent this new start for all of us, I have placed a black handled glittered broom in one corner of our patio as a constant reminder, as well as a protective emblem against the old negativity that has surrounded us whether it be in our personal/social lives, and mine & my husband's professional lives. The purple glitterly cat standing with it's back arched represents the constant guidance and magickal engery that has gotten us this far, and will continue to help keep our feet on the path that they need to be on. A balsam board skeleton hangs on the wall adjacent to these two items, that I have spray painted with a special glow in the dark paint. This represents our ancestors, and all of those who have gone before us to remind us to not make the same mistakes as the past but to learn from them and create a better present and future.

While my outside environment has taken away the joy of the holiday for me this year, it has not destroyed the core ideals and lessons that have now become a mainstay in mine and my family's life. And I guess, for now...that is all that matters.


Love & Light everyone!