How to Become a Witch, Amber K. [new books to read .txt] 📗

a larger part of your life? Write the answers to these questions in your Book of Shadows.

Living as a Witch in the World: Think about how you use energy—sparingly or wastefully? Have you replaced your light bulbs with compact fluorescents? Again, how could you have a smaller carbon footprint? Go to the Internet and search for carbon footprint, use a calculator at one of those sites to figure your carbon offset, and choose one of their green partners to support, like Native Energy.

To light a fire

Sacred fires such as sabbat bonfires are sometimes made with the traditional nied-fyr, Anglo-Saxon for “forced fire”—that is, fire made by friction, such as the bow-and-drill method used by our ancestors, or ignited with flint and steel, or by focusing the sun’s rays through a lens. Modern Witches don’t always follow the old ways, though; wooden matches are very handy, and on a cold night it’s not uncommon for the fire builder to “flick the sacred Bic.”

Exercise for Purpose: Think about the toughest goal that you ever set for yourself—and achieved. Remember how you felt when you said, “I did it!” Sort of tingly and wide awake, alive and vital? Go back to the treasure map you made, and stand in front of it. Bring that vital, alive feeling back to your consciousness, and put that energy into your goal. Feel success as you look at the pictures on your treasure map. When the feeling peaks, take a deep, quick breath in, say “So mote it be,” clap your hands together once, and in one powerful whoosh, exhale the energy into the treasure map—but retain the good feeling!

Water

Water is the mist, the rain, and the snow, the streams that flow to the rivers and into the oceans, the ice that forms the glaciers, the blood that runs through our veins, and the tears that we cry. Water corresponds to our emotions, our compassion and love, and our intuition. Some people say that our emotions let us know we are alive, and intuition is our direct connection to the Divine.

Exercise: Go to a watery place—out on your porch during a rainstorm; next to a stream, lake, or ocean; or into your own bathtub, filled with clean, pure water. Take a deep breath; ground and center. Take another deep breath and let it out slowly, then meditate on water: What does water mean to you? What do compassion, love, and intuition mean to you, and how can you bring more of them into your life? Think about the luxury of clean water to bathe in, the refreshing quality of ice in your tea, and water in all its forms. Then think about emotion. Remember the last time you cried—what prompted that? Did you injure yourself? Did a good movie make you cry, or a sad song? Then switch back to that joyous feeling you accessed during the fire section, take a deep, quick breath in, say “So mote it be!” and clap your hands, and feel that really good feeling again. A true Witch can change consciousness at will—that’s one of the definitions of magick—and changing your emotional state at will is a particularly potent form of magick. (How many times have you heard someone say they couldn’t do something because of their emotions? Well, what if they could change their emotions at will?) Write your thoughts in your Book of Shadows.

Living as a Witch in the World: Find a good book or documentary about the hydrologic cycle, the cycle of rain and evaporation. Find out how you can help support people who are working to guarantee clean, drinkable water. Use the Internet, and get involved. Buy a water filter and a reusable water bottle, and quit sending plastic bottles to the landfill—or recycle if you must use them.

Exercise for Connecting with Your Intuition: Find the quietest place you can. Ground and center. Listen, and let the quiet soak into your soul. For a few minutes, meditate in and on silence. Find that still point within, and ask a question. The answer may not come through on the first try—you may be out of practice listening, and your intuition may be feeling shy—but keep trying. Let your inner voice know you are ready to listen; after a time it will become clearer, and it will always be reliable. Write your thoughts in your Book of Shadows.

Spirit

Spirit is embodied in the other four elements and transcends them as well, for spirit is the Goddess and the God, and all that they have created is imbued with their energy.

Two Exercises: Go to a place that feels sacred to you. This may be a place in nature or your personal altar. Take a deep breath and let it out, let your thoughts slow down, then ground and center. Think about the Goddess. What does the feminine energy of the universe feel like? What women do you find inspiring and powerful? Do you connect with the feminine divine as an individual goddess (Diana, Aphrodite, Danu, Quan Yin) or as the all-pervasive Goddess? If all of this is new to you, that’s okay, too.

Reach out with your mind to the feminine energy of the universe and feel it surround you like a warm, soft blanket or a gentle, cool breeze, whichever feels good at this moment. Imagine a wise young woman leading you into a field of fresh flowers to dance for joy under the golden sun and the blue sky. Then imagine a loving, gentle mother cradling you in her arms and rocking you to sleep like a small child. Allow yourself to drift. Finally, imagine a wise old grandmother, with the ages in her face and compassion in her eyes, telling you just what you need to hear as advice for your journey to become a Witch. Write her words in your Book of Shadows.

Take another deep breath, and move your awareness to the God. What does the masculine energy of the universe feel