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

find a way to square them with the Wiccan Rede: “An ye harm none, do as ye will.” (More on the Rede in chapter 7.)

More and more of the Craft are facing up to agricultural and food issues that affect the planet. Some Witches have always favored a diet that’s healthy, organic, sustainable, and local. Now many more are thinking hard about food and making healthier, sustainable choices.

It’s not always possible to have a perfect diet, but it’s always possible to improve it. Within an omnivore diet, for example, there are choices you can make:

Free-range chickens and eggs

Grass-fed beef or bison instead of corn-fed

Less red meat, more fish and poultry

Fewer processed foods and carbohydrates

Less salt, sugar, and high-fructose corn syrup

More food grown or raised locally

Plants without dangerous pesticides and fertilizers,

animals without artificial growth hormones

Vegetarians, vegans, and fruitarians can buy produce that is organic and locally grown; it’s even better if you can grow some of your own. A good reference for anyone who wants to eat more intelligently is The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan (Penguin, 2006) or Pollan’s In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto (Penguin, 2008). A good guide for becoming a vegan gradually is Alicia Silverstone’s The Kind Diet: A Simple Guide to Feeling Great, Losing Weight, and Saving the Planet (Rodale Books, 2009).

Before meals, you may want to give thanks. For example:

Thank you, O Lady of the Fields, Lord of the Forests,

For the Earth’s bountiful harvest and this meal before us;

Thank you, spirits of those living things which now nourish us,

To our health and strength, in the service of the gods. Blessed be!

Or this version, which children will enjoy:

Give thanks to Mother Gaia,

Give thanks to Father Sun,

Give thanks for the fruits of the garden where

The mother and the father are one. Blessed be!

Housing

No Gingerbread

Where do Witches live? Anywhere—except gingerbread cottages. Many Witches dream of land in the country, living close to nature, planting an organic garden, and perhaps living in a communal setting. For most, this is not the reality. Witches live in cities, in suburbs, and in rural areas. It’s not about where we live, it’s about how we relate to the environments we do live in.

A wise man once said, “If you want to save the planet, stay put.” He wasn’t talking about cutting back business and vacation travel so much as choosing a long-term home, then learning to know and love that place, and living in harmony with the environment there. People who frequently change residence sometimes have no particular relationship with the natural world; their apartments, offices, commuting routes, and social connections become their world.

Sometimes life makes us go somewhere else to live. But even if you have to move often, you can still create a relationship with the environment you’re in while you are there. Be there. Be conscious. Sit, walk, “dance the land.” Notice where the sun rises and sets, and the moon. Pay attention to the seasons. Notice the plants, animals, and birds who share your neighborhood. Take photos often. Get to know the natural cycles. It’s about consciously being in your environment instead of sleepwalking through it.

If you have the chance to build your own home, do it thoughtfully and in harmony with the land. Build with local materials, whether that’s cordwood, adobe, or stone. Consider rainwater harvesting, especially in arid climates. Control erosion and conserve the soil.

If you move into an existing home, consider what kind of retrofitting makes sense. Add a sunroom or greenhouse for passive solar energy? Insulate everything better? Install photovoltaic panels? Look into your local utility’s green energy program; it may cost a bit more to get alternative energy (wind, hydroelectric, solar), but it lets the utility know we want our energy to come from green sources. Do an energy audit to learn how you can reduce your energy consumption, and use Energy Star appliances.

When your home is created or re-created as you wish it, then extend your senses. What watershed are you in? What geological formations surround you? What affects air quality? What is the wildlife like? How has it changed in recent times? What is the historical climate pattern, and how is it changing?

Become an advocate for the ecosystem where you live. Find out what the environmental issues are and who’s involved. Are there chapters of the Sierra Club, the Nature Conservancy, the Audubon Society, the local “Friends of Whatever River”? Join with others who care about the earth. The organizations listed in appendix C serve environmental causes and are national or international in scope. Each organization has contact information and the Charity Navigator rating, which rates organizational efficiency and financial health.

Holey stones

Some stones have a hole naturally weathered through them by wind or water, or created by fossilized worm tunnels. These stones are called hag stones, Odin stones, or holey stones. Witches will sometimes tie a red ribbon through the hole of smaller ones and use them to protect a home or barn, or wear a very small one as a protective amulet. One legend says that if you peek through the hole, you will be able to see the land of Faery. These stones are most effective if you find one yourself or receive one as a gift.

A House Blessing

Every home needs ritual cleansing and blessing, especially when you first move in. The former residents may not have left ghosts hanging around, but they surely left their energy imprint. Clear it out, bless the house, and put up wards, or protective amulets. Clearing energy is simple if it is done before you move in. Don’t bring your stuff in until after the space has been cleansed and blessed. If you’ve already moved in, do a thorough housecleaning first, then work around your furniture.

To cleanse the house of unwanted energies, bless it, and put up wards, you will need the following:

A medium-sized bowl filled with pure water. Add three pinches of salt to