Beltaine Bundles

 Happy Afternoon,

Our Wiccan Sabbat of Beltaine is just around the corner on May 1st.  This is the celebration of the Goddess and God getting handfasted and performing the Great Rite, which in turns fertilizes the earth and provides great bounty and abundance for the upcoming year.  This Sabbat also marks our traditional first day of summer!

Whew! That's a lot to put into one Sabbat ritual!  There are many ways to celebrate such a Sabbat and this year at Enchantments we will be building a Beltaine fire in which to burn Beltaine bundles. These little bundles of wooden sticks and branches are used as petitions to ask the Goddess and God for blessings during the upcoming year.

Taken from the long version of the Wiccan Rede there are 10 woods mentoned in the Rede, with only nine being meant to be burnt. The portion of the Rede containing the woods of Beltaine is as follows:

"Nine woods in the cauldron go, burn them quick and burn them slow.
Birch wood in the fire goes to represent what the Lady knows
Oak in the forest, towers with might, into the fire it brings the God's insight
Rowan is a tree of power, causing life and magick to flower
Willows at the waterside, stand ready to help us to the Summerland
Hawthorne is burned to purify and to draw faerie to your eye ,
Hazel thee tree of wisdom and learning, adds its strength to the bright fire burning
White are the flowers of Apple tree that brings us fruits of fertility
Grapes grow upon the vine, giving us both joy and wine
Fir does mark the evergreen to represent immortality seen
But - Elder is the Lady's tree, burn it not or cursed you'll be"

We'll be making bundles of three sticks of each of the nine woods, which again are: Birch, Oak, Rowan (or Mountain Ash), Willow, Hawthorne, Hazel, Apple, Vine, and Fir.

We'll  place little slips of paper into the bundles with that which we desire the Goddess to grant us, and then throw them into the fire already started. It's fine to start a fire in a fire pit with a bag of charcoal (outdoors this must happen, do NOT burn a Beltaine fire indoors for safety's sake!!) Then throw the bundles, tied with a bit of ribbon or string onto the Beltaine fire and allow to go up in smoke.  The idea is the smoke will bring our desires to the realm of the Goddess and the God and they will be answered.

Afterwards it is customary to celebrate with a Beltaine feast.  I wish you a Happy and Healthy Beltaine!


Peace and Happiness 


© 2010-2013 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.

A magickal thing happened in class the other day . . .

Good Afternoon,

Sometimes unusual, magickal, witchy things happen to me and I want to share them with you. Just this past Saturday I had two magickal moments and when things like these happen, it makes me stop and wonder at the magick of it all.

The first magickal moment happened in Saturday morning Magickal Studies class.  The students and I were gathered around the work table in the classroom and we were working with clay. The day's curriculum was for us to make witches runes out of clay and protective house amulets. We were all seated around, chatting and working our clay when the conversation turned to the various Wiccan/Pagan songs and chants that have been developed over the past few decades. There really are a lot of them and many are quite good.

In the meantime, Gabby, one of the cats of Enchantments had decided to take a nap on one of the girls knapsack/pocketbooks that was laying on the work table. The cats of Enchantments adopt all of the students and insist on taking class with us, every Saturday.  Well, Gabby was taking a well deserved catnap and we were working clay. One of the girls mentioned a Pagan song, 'Ancient Mother' and quickly found it on her smart phone, so the rest of class could hear it. When it started to play, she placed her phone upright on the table for all to hear, and then the most unusual thing happened!

As soon as the music started to play, Gabby woke up and went to the phone and picked the phone up by its soft case with her teeth and started to walk away with it. It fell out of her mouth, and she started to rub against it, paw at it and try to pick it up again with her teeth. All the while meowing and putting up quite a fuss. I believe she really enjoyed that version of 'Ancient Mother'!

Everyone had stopped making their clay pieces and were just staring at Gabby. The song ended and she stopped her antics. Really amazing!

Later that day I went out to dinner and shopping with a friend of mine. We were in a discount store and were walking down the aisles looking and just chatting. I noticed ahead of me in the aisle a large support column that had a store phone affixed to it. As I started to walk by this column, a very strong inclination overtook me and I found myself reaching for the phone. I had almost touched it when it started to ring. I pulled my hand back, because I knew the call wasn't for me. I couldn't have told you why I felt such a strong need to pick up that phone, but I was going to, until it started ringing. Then I dropped my hand and continued on my way.
My friend noticed what had happened and wanted to know how I knew the phone was going to ring. That's just it, I didn't know it. I just had a strong urge to pick up that phone.

These are just a couple of magickal moments that have happened to me lately. Do you notice the magickal moments in your life? Or perhaps you call them coincidence or happenstance?


Peace and Happiness


© 2010-2013 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 Ghosts of Enchantments

 Good Afternoon,

It is such a pretty spring day with the daffodils and tulips around Enchantments blooming and making merry.  Not a day where one would automatically think of such a gloomy subject as ghosts, but we do have them here at Enchantments.

We have a number of ghosts or spirits if you will.  One is a very nice lady ghost who is often heard to say "Hello", at times right behind where you are standing.  On quiet days, when the road traffic is light, I can hear a group of women speaking amongst themselves in the upstairs classroom of Enchantments. As I climb the staircase they are very easily heard, but when they hear me ascending the stairs they become quiet.

We have had in the past a male ghost who made a habit of smoking cigarettes or some type of tobacco and it would be smelled especially in the stairways of this old Victorian home, built in 1899.  He also seemed quite fearful of me! We spoke with him once using an oracle board and he expressed his wariness when I was around. Perhaps he had good reason. I soon afterwards demanded he stop smoking in the building and if he couldn't then he was to leave. He has been quiet ever since.

We also have a small, gray kitten that has been seen by customers in the store on the bottom floor of Enchantments. A ghost kittent that is. We have cats, real, living cats in Enchantments but they are restricted to the upstairs, the classrooms and the attic where they have no chance of running outside and possibly getting hurt or lost.

I don't see the ghosts of Enchantments as often nowadays as I did when we first moved in, I like to think they have settled down and have grown used to us. Yet, every now and again a sensitive customer will remark that they have seen one or have been poked by one.

I believe they are harmless and merely curious and I like to believe they look over the goings on at Enchantments. I personally like them and would never banish them.  Walter, the smoking ghost, well .   .   .  he may have been banished but only to a better place. 

I invite you to come to Enchantments someday and perhaps you will have a ghostly encounter. 


Peace and Happiness





© 2010-2013 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 Last time my Intro to Pagans, Witches and Wicca will be offered at MCC!

Good Afternoon,

If you have thought about taking my class at Manchester Community College "Introduction to Pagans, Witches and Wicca" this will be your last chance. This program is a four class course that starts this Monday, April 8th and runs from 7-9 pm, and concludes on Monday April 29th with a potions making workshop at Enchantments. The course costs $65.00 and you have until this Thursday to sign up for the program. Call 860-512-3232 with a credit card to sign up right away! I hope to see you there! Ms. Faith







© 2010-2013 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.