The Contemporary New England Witch

The Contemporary New England Witch
Author Ms.Faith

Thursday, September 24, 2015

The Magick of the Moon in Honor of the Super Moon Lunar Eclipse this Sunday


Good Evening,

There are so many things happening in the magickal world this week! In addition to Mabon, the Autumnal Equinox, we also have a Super Moon Lunar Eclipse which will occur this Sunday, September 27, 2015 late in the evening.

First to explain the astronomy aspect, a super moon is a full or new moon, in this instance a full moon, that happens at the same time the moon is closest to the Earth on its elliptical orbit. So the moon is closest to the Earth and it's full and looks the biggest to our eye, hence the coined name Super moon.
Then we have, at the same time a lunar eclipse, which will occur Sunday, just a night before the complete full moon, but it will look spectacular none-the-less.  With all of this happening, you might wonder what kind of moon magicks could be had.

Well, magickally, the full moon, in my study of witchcraft, is a time for banishing things you no longer want or need in your life. Putting things aside, finishing up projects, ending unwanted relationships, completing projects are all appropriate for a full moon and a super moon just gives you more power to your desired magickal goal.

Write the 'thing' you no longer want in your life on a piece of paper and on that night, burn it up and scatter the ashes outside, if there are ashes left over. If not, no worries it will still work.

A night of a lunar eclipse has additional magickal energy to it. This is a night when things that may be hidden in your life can be brought into the light. The truth of a matter can be brought to your attention. To do this, burn a yellow candle on the night of the eclipse, preferably during the eclipse. Your answer as to what exactly has been hidden from you will be brought to light within a month of the eclipse candle spell. Before burning the yellow candle, hold it in your hand and ask the God/Goddess/Universe to bring you the truth of a certain situation. State your desire out loud. Light the candle and let it burn for an hour and put it out if it doesn't burn out by then.


Traditionally moon magick can be done three days before, the day of and three days after the full or new moon. But for this particular moon the closer you can do your magick to the actual day of the full moon, the stronger the spell. Take note the eclipse is Sunday night, the night before the complete full moon, which is on Monday night. You can do a truth spell Sunday night, and a banishing spell on Monday. Do not do two spells on the same night. Keep your focus on one thing at a time.

Even if you do not choose to do a spell during this moon, going outside to see it and bask in it's light will be wonderful. There have only been 5 super moons since 1900. So it is a rarity and worth seeing for yourself.  I hope you enjoy the super moon!

Peace and Happiness



© 2010-2015 Faith M. McCann. Portions of this blog posting may include materials from my book “Enchantments School for the Magickal Arts First Year Magickal Studies.” For more information, see www.enchantmentsschool.com or go to the title of tonight's discussion and click, it will link you to my school's website. Please note that the copying and/or further distribution of this work without express written permission is prohibited. 

 If you know someone who would like my work, please send them this link. If you or they would like to be included on our daily email distribution list send me an e mail with your email address to be included. If you ever wish to unsubscribe to this blog, please contact me and you will be immediately removed from our list.

The Autumnal Equinox, What Pagans Call Mabon. Why Is It So Special?



Happy Mabon Greetings to you!

I shared last week with you about the Autumnal Equinox celebration held at Enchantments with our beautiful lit labyrinth. The students, known as the Witches of Enchantments, did an excellent job building the labyrinth and this is what it looked like this year:



As much fun as we have celebrating Mabon, the Autumnal  Equinox, what is the celebration all about? Why is this day so special? Well, from my research we can credit the ancient Druids, who were the Priests of the ancient Celtic peoples in Western Europe. The Druids, a very learned people, studied Nature and looked to discover all of her mysteries.

The Druids taught the Celts that there was much magick to be found in Nature. It was everywhere, surrounding us always. And they found that the most magickal, were the 'things in-between'. For instance, ice. Ice is water, but water is a liquid, but ice is solid like rock, but it isn't rock. It is in -between. Fog or mist, is water vapors, but it isn't water, it hangs in the air, but it isn't air, again something in-between. Midnight, the stroke of midnight isn't yesterday, but it isn't quite today. In-between. Many, many things fell into this category for the Druids, even the seasons.

We believe, and much of what we suppose of the Druids is just that supposition, because they didn't write anything down, and if they did it was wiped out by the Roman occupation of Great Britain for over 400 years. We do have diary accounts of scholars and Roman generals that observed the Druids and wrote down what they thought they were seeing. But we believe the ancient Celts observed two halves of the year. Winter and Summer. Winter started on November 1 and Summer started on May 1st. But, having said that, they did observe the Spring and Autumn, because they had three celebrations each, in Spring and Autumn. But only one celebration each in Winter and Summer. I believe the reason for this was because the Spring and Autumn fell in-between the two major seasons.

And for the Autumnal Equinox, as well as the Spring or Vernal Equinox, these are two days of the year that the length of daylight and darkness are of equal length. Right smack dab, in-between the days lengthening in the Spring and growing shorter in the fall. Very special and to the Druid's, very magickal, indeed.

This concept of being in-between also occurs at Beltaine May 1st and Samhain, November 1st when the veil between the worlds of the living and the spirit world is said to become thin, and we are able to communicate more easily with those who have gone before.

The world of the Druid is to me, very much like the world of the Witch. In the sense that everything is tinged with magick, if you but look for it. The days each have their own magick, the nights, the plants in the garden, even the pebbles on your foot path. Magick can be found everywhere. I find Autumn to be a very magickal time of the year, and many people say it's their favorite time of the year. But do they know why? I think, even if a person does not consider themselves a magickal being, they still sense the magick as it surrounds us all.


Have a Blessed Magickal Autumn!



Peace and Happiness










© 2010-2015 Faith M. McCann. Portions of this blog posting may include materials from my book “Enchantments School for the Magickal Arts First Year Magickal Studies.” For more information, see www.enchantmentsschool.com or go to the title of tonight's discussion and click, it will link you to my school's website. Please note that the copying and/or further distribution of this work without express written permission is prohibited.

 If you know someone who would like my work, please send them this link. If you or they would like to be included on our daily email distribution list send me an e mail with your email address to be included. If you ever wish to unsubscribe to this blog, please contact me and you will be immediately removed from our list.

Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Come Celebrate Mabon, the Autumnal Equinox with us this Saturday!


The Witches of Enchantments are celebrating the Sabbat of Mabon for the Autumnal Equinox this Saturday, September 19th.
The ritual will start at 5 pm followed by a pot luck feast, followed by walking the lit labyrinth. There is no charge for this and this is an open circle, meaning anyone can attend. If you wish to participate please bring a dish for the pot luck feast that can be shared with others. If you would like to help construct the labyrinth please be at Enchantments by 4 pm, so the construction can start. 


It does take some time and effort to construct the labyrinth but with teamwork, akin to coven work it is a fun and rewarding experience. Then walking the labyrinth brings many wondrous insights to those that walk it. 

A Labyrinth is traditionally walked to help the walker to do inner spiritual work. Perhaps a problem is concerning them and they need a solution, or a desire to understand a puzzle in their life may be present. They may wish to get to a deeper, more introspective place in their lives or to simply quiet the 'noise' of day to day living that may get in the way of them living their lives fully and spiritually complete. 

You first enter the Labyrinth with the situation you desire help with at the forefront of your mind. You walk the Labyrinth slowly and with care, thinking about your situation as you tread carefully, slowly making your way to the center.  Once at the center there will be small pieces of paper where you can write a request of the Goddess to help you with, and light it in the candle flame and allow it to flash and disappear.  Then you turn and slowly make your way back through the Labyrinth until you exit it. 

A couple of people can be in the Labyrinth at the same time, but everyone needs to be very quiet and respectful of others experience. Walking the Labyrinth can be very rewarding and a changing experience. 

Labyrinths have been used by many cultures for thousands of years. Some you may find are permanent, made of stone or greenery and some are temporary, built and used and dismantled. 

I hope you can attend our celebration this Saturday and learn what mysteries the Labyrinth may hold for you. 

Peace and Happiness 




© 2010-2015 Faith M. McCann. Portions of this blog posting may include materials from my book “Enchantments School for the Magickal Arts First Year Magickal Studies.” For more information, see www.enchantmentsschool.com or go to the title of tonight's discussion and click, it will link you to my school's website. Please note that the copying and/or further distribution of this work without express written permission is prohibited.

 If you know someone who would like my work, please send them this link. If you or they would like to be included on our daily email distribution list send me an e mail with your email address to be included. If you ever wish to unsubscribe to this blog, please contact me and you will be immediately removed from our list.

Wednesday, September 9, 2015

The Salem Witch Trials of 1692




Good Afternoon,

This upcoming Sunday, September 13, 2015, The Witches of Enchantments will be going on our annual trip to Salem, Mass. I will conduct a lecture concerning the events of that fateful Summer of 1692 where 20 people were put to death for the 'crime' of witchcraft. Then we will conduct a memorial service for those victims of the trials. Afterwards we will explore the real witches Salem and meet real witches like ourselves. If you want to come along, simply find yourself at the 1692 Victim's Memorial that is adjacent to the Old Buryin' Ground in Salem, at noon. Set your GPS to 2 New Liberty Street, Salem, Mass and you will find yourself at the Visitor's Center. The parking garage is right next to the Visitor's Center and you can get a walking map in the visitor's center to find the Victim's Memorial. Meet us at noon at the Victim's Memorial, and come along with us for the day!

I'll be conducting an extensive lecture concerning the 1692 Witch Trials but to whet your whistle I thought to share some of the more unusual tidbits of historical information with you, surrounding the events of the Summer of 1692.


  • No persons were burned on Colonial American soil. All executed were done so by the method of hanging, or in the case of one man, Giles Corey, torture of being pressed to death. 
  • Three dogs were hung on Gallow's Hill in Salem
  • Children as well as adults were arrested and chained up in the local jail which really consisted of a fetid dungeon.
  • While one could be an attorney in 1692, one could not be represented by an attorney in a court of law. It was illegal to practice law in a court of law. There was no legal defense for the accused. 
  • The entire event of the Witch Trials was started by a small group of young girls.
  • Food poisoning may have been at the root of all the troubles.
  • Women as well as men were accused. Even a reverend of the church was accused. 
  • Hundreds of people all over New England and New York were accused. 
These are just some of the historical tidbits that come to light when discussing the events of 1692. 
I look forward to telling you the entire story. I hope you can make it to Salem with us on Sunday. All who come to the lecture can participate in the Memorial Service for the Victims of 1692. See you there! Ms. Faith \\


Peace and Happiness 







© 2010-2015 Faith M. McCann. Portions of this blog posting may include materials from my book “Enchantments School for the Magickal Arts First Year Magickal Studies.” For more information, see www.enchantmentsschool.com or go to the title of tonight's discussion and click, it will link you to my school's website. Please note that the copying and/or further distribution of this work without express written permission is prohibited. 

 If you know someone who would like my work, please send them this link. If you or they would like to be included on our daily email distribution list send me an e mail with your email address to be included. If you ever wish to unsubscribe to this blog, please contact me and you will be immediately removed from our list.

Tuesday, September 1, 2015

Happy Birthday! Birthday History & Magicks



Good Afternoon,

I recently celebrated a birthday and each year I like to discuss birthday related information and this year I thought I'd discuss birthday history and magicks. Things that you can do to bring a little magick into your life, around your birthday.

Birthdays have a long history and celebrations for birthdays are found in many ancient cultures. It is believed by scholars and social archaeologists that the ancient Egyptians were the first to celebrate birthdays, but only the Pharaoh's birthday, and not his actual day of birth but the day of his or her's coronation to Pharaoh. It was believed the day of the Pharaoh's coronation, he became a God, and that day was celebrated every year as the 'birthday' of the Pharaoh.

The Greeks were responsible for introducing the birthday candle. By blowing out a birthday candle you are really performing a candle spell that goes back over 5,000 years ago. The ancient Greeks had their temple to Artemis a Goddess of chastity, virginity, the hunt, animals and the natural environment. The Greek people would go to her temple, bring little moon shaped cakes and light tiny candles around the cakes in her honor. They would then ask Artemis to grant them a wish, blow out a candle and eat a small cake. This ritual has evolved into the birthday candle ritual we have today of bowing out the candles and then eating the birthday cake. But the Greeks, just like the Egyptians were not celebrating the birthdays of the common man, but of the Gods and Goddesses.

It wasn't until later when the Romans started celebrating the birthday of the common man, and take note of the word man. Women's birthdays were not celebrated or recognized until sometime between the 10th and 12th centuries. The Germans are responsible for creating the children's birthday parties, the kinderfeste. The Germans also created the equivalent to the modern birthday cake. Before too long everyone wanted a celebration for their birthday, complete with cake and candles. Many cultures came together to evolve into what we call today the birthday celebration.

Gifts for the birthday celebration also have a long and varied history. Probably the most famous of birthday gifts were the Frankincense, Myrrh and Gold given to the baby Jesus by the Magi. Many people mistakenly think these gifts were given because they were expensive riches but these three items are magickally known for their protective properties, and we all know that the baby Jesus needed protection from those who wished him harm. Other historical gifts were the Hanging Gardens of Babylon that King Nebuchadnezzar II gave to his wife. The first Faberge' egg was commissioned by Tsar Alexander II for Empress Marie Fedorovna for an Easter gift. Soon gift giving became a widespread practice amongst the Earth's people and continues to this day.

Well, that's a bit of the history of the birthday celebration, but what about the magicks I promised? Well when your birthday comes around, look to find when the nearest full moon occurs. Either before or after your birthday. On this day, of the full moon, write on a piece of paper all that you wish to come to you in the coming year. Material things are acceptable. Save this bit of paper, put it someplace safe and you can look at it throughout the year, but definitely look at it again the following year to see what has manifested for you. You will be surprised!

Have a birthday feast with certain foods to set the stage for the upcoming year. Have sweets like a cake, ice cream or pastries to bring in sweetness of life, happiness and joy. Breads for abundance and wealth, fruits and vegetables for good health and physical stamina.  Also surrounding yourself with friends and family ensures that the upcoming year you will be surrounded by loved ones and not be alone.

Be sure to have candles on your cake and blow them out after asking Artemis to grant you your wish, She still listens to those who invoke Her. But most of all, enjoy your birthday and take a moment to reflect on the past year and all you experienced and then look forward to the upcoming year  and all it will bring you. Most of all, have a Happy Birthday!


Peace and Happiness


© 2010-2015 Faith M. McCann. Portions of this blog posting may include materials from my book “Enchantments School for the Magickal Arts First Year Magickal Studies.” For more information, see www.enchantmentsschool.com or go to the title of tonight's discussion and click, it will link you to my school's website. Please note that the copying and/or further distribution of this work without express written permission is prohibited. 

 If you know someone who would like my work, please send them this link. If you or they would like to be included on our daily email distribution list send me an e mail with your email address to be included. If you ever wish to unsubscribe to this blog, please contact me and you will be immediately removed from our list.