The Contemporary New England Witch

The Contemporary New England Witch
Author Ms.Faith

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

'Practical Magick' My new re-vamped class at Manchester Community College



Good Afternoon,

I am getting ready to teach a new class at Manchester Community College this semester. It's called 'Practical Magick' and it's designed to teach the beginner student, the ways of the witch. Over the last decade I have taught hundreds of students and countless classes at Manchester Community College, as well as at my own school for the magickal arts, Enchantments in Manchester, CT.  I've taken these lessons, re-vamped them, and paired them with a jazzy PowerPoint presentation to develop a new program that teaches moon magick, candle magick, potions, as well as having some fun quizzes designed to help the student find out more about their magickal selves.

So,  have you ever wondered about witches or pagans and their magickal belief systems? Maybe you have marveled at the full moon and wished that you could do something to honor it, or to celebrate in some special way the solstices, equinoxes and the four seasons. This course will guide you on your way!  Learn the Wheel of the Year, Moon Magick, Candle Magick and many more magickal topics. The final class will be a magickal potions workshop held at Enchantments, 349 East Center Street, Manchester, CT during which time students will make and bring home their own potion.  There is a $10 materials fee due at the first class, payable to instructor.

So, if this sounds fun to you, come and take class with me as I show you how to live and practice as a witch.

This course costs $65 payable to Manchester Community College. To sign up for classes and you MUST reserve your class in advance please call 860-512-3232 Your course number is CRN20729 and the classroom, this class will be held in, is GPA (Great Path Academy building on the MCC Campus) GP143

This class will be offered again during the fall semester at MCC and again in the spring of 2014. 


I look forward to seeing you there! Ms. Faith


 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.

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Magickal Gardening and Magick when Tragedy Strikes

 Good Afternoon,

This past week, in magickal studies class, we did some magickal gardening.  My students and I prepared, planted and then blessed our garden in front of Enchantments.

We learned that to plant plants properly, we pull apart, just slightly, the root structure of the plant and breath on it gently to infuse the plant with our life's energy thus giving it a stronger head start in the garden.

We planted Petunias which has the magickal property to soothe and calm a person. It also has the magickal properties of joy and happiness.We also planted Alyssum which has the magickal property to protect one against 'fascination' or being bewitched if hung up in the home. It also is able to rid a person of anger if worn upon the body. The third plant we planted was Geranium. Geraniums magickal properties are fertility, health, love and protection. There is an old saying "snakes will not go, where geranium grow" indicating a snack repelling quality to the plant.

We concluded our planting session by casting a circle,  holding hands, and sending out loving, growing energy to the garden. We smudged the garden and blessed it with blessed water.  This is what the garden looks like today: 
With the hard work of one particular student, Susan, the altar and surrounding area has been cleared of overgrown grasses and weeds. Doesn't it look amazing!? Ms. Eileen, Susan and myself planted the flowers and the entire front garden is truly a show piece! Thanks to the lovely ladies, three witches we, that have blessed Enchantments gardens with their special magick!

On a sadder note, let's discuss in brief, the terrible tragedy of the Tornadoes which have wrecked havoc on Oklahoma this past week. When a disaster such as this strikes, we all feel so helpless and it feels that there is truly little we can do.  But we can do something. Burn a candle. I know, it sounds simple and it is. But that doesn't make it less powerful or effective. For centuries candles have been burned at vigils and to help during the darkest of times and their special magickal energy is still effective today. You see everything, as I'm often saying, is made up of vibrational energy.  A candle has a special vibrational energy that with a bit of magickal effort on your part, syncs up with the energy of the situation in which you're trying to create change. Hold the candle in your hands, close your eyes and see in this case, people - happy, healthy, in touch with loved ones, in homes surrounded by warmth, light, good food and loved ones. After a few moments of visualization, open your eyes, light the candle and place it in a holder.

Allow the candle to burn completely down and know your loving, caring energies are making their way to a place and to people who will use that energy when it gets there. It can make you feel less helpless and more in control of being able to do something. It might also come to you to donate money, goods or services also, and if it does and this is something you can do, by all means do so. But don't dismiss burning a candle as trivial, for the magick that it brings is often quite powerful.

Our Blessings and prayers go out to all of those affected by the tornadoes in Oklahoma.

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.

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Earthing . . . a new concept for a better well being





 Good Afternoon,

Today I want to discuss a new concept I just came across called 'earthing'.  Now it's really not so new. In fact as children we, most of us, did it all the time. That is to walk barefoot on the bare earth and grass.

Proponents of earthing claim that by walking, laying on or getting your hands into the earth (as in gardening) without gloves or shoes, you connect with the vibrational energy of the earth and it combines with your personal energy and wonderful things can come of this vibrational connection.

Now quantum physicists will tell you that everything is made up of vibrational energy. Everything vibrates. Some things like rocks have a slower vibration where as electricity is faster. Humans, animals, plants, even manufactured items like a desk or a chair has a vibrational energy to it.

We all fall somewhere on the scale of vibrational energy. Animals and plants have a different level than humans for instance. All humans fall within a window but we are at different places within that window. That's why some people you meet you dislike or want nothing to do with, for no reason really. You might even have said "we're just not in sync" and you'd be right. Your vibrational energies don't sync up,  but for some people like a loved one, significant other or best friend you're absolutely in sync. This means your vibrational levels are very, very similar to one another.

I have taught students about vibrational energies for several years being a firm believer in the energetic world of vibration. Now along comes 'earthing' and I'm loving it! Why not!? It makes perfect sense, I'm surprised it hasn't been around longer, but then again .  .  .  maybe it has. Remember the 'tree huggers' of the seventies, the hippies 'peace love and joy man' of the sixties? They were all getting into, and getting off on, the energy of nature and the natural world around them.

So now we have a concept that has been coined 'earthing.' Today, it is believed by those who are following this concept that earthing can bring about a wellness of being, as well as increased good physical health. Now, I caution against those who develop a medical problem, that wish to avoid the doctor and just go walking around their front lawns. If you have a medical issue please seek out competent medical care but by all means enhance it with getting out in the sun, walking barefoot on the grass or along a beach and every now and then plant a flower or green plant and use your hands. Ditch the shoes and gloves which prevent you from absorbing the natural energies from the earth. See how you feel after doing a bit of earthing!


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.

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Let me clear up some things about me as a witch and about being Wiccan




Good Afternoon,

Recently I had someone come into Enchantments, he is a ghost-hunter, and ask me some questions about a place he's investigating that's haunted.  He was told by someone that the place in question had been inhabited by a woman, now dead, who was believed to be a Wiccan. Now that she's passed on, all sorts of paranormal activity has been going on.

He started to tell me some things, her magickal items. they had found in the place when I stopped him cold. He had said they found all sorts of bones from animals, mostly birds. I told him pointblank "She wasn't a Wiccan." I know this because we don't use animal remains, bones or blood in our practice. Not under any circumstances. This falls under the 'an' it harm none category'.

He had  come to me to see exactly what he was dealing with, and while I can say she wasn't Wiccan, at least not an educated in our ways, Wiccan witch way, I wasn't really able to help him other than to say she wasn't practicing Wicca.  He wanted to know if I could do a house cleansing. I do house blessings and cleansings of unwanted energies but I draw the line at homes under the influence of ghostly presences. I have ghosts at Enchantments and I can communicate with spirits but by my own definition I am not a medium, nor do I wish to be one.  The elimination of ghostly spirits I leave to those who enjoy that work. Not every witch is a medium. Besides I like the spirits that inhabit Enchantments and have no wish to see them go.

Also, Wiccans believe in God. Now, take a moment for that to settle in. While we may choose to worship the female aspect of the Godhead, Goddess, that doesn't mean we don't believe in God. Quite the contrary. I have had more people that will start off a conversation or make a remark similar to: 'Even if you don't believe in God, I respect you and your beliefs .  .   .  " Wait! What? Somewhere along the line just because we are not Christian in our beliefs people think that we've thrown out everything religious or spiritual in the process. That's just not true. Actually, if you want to be picky about it, I worship two Gods! The Goddess and the God, both aspects of one divine, amazing, all encompassing force but I stop and take recognition of the female aspect and again with the male aspect.  Just because I don't follow the Bible or practice Christian theology does not mean I am without God.

Finally for today, not every magickal person who does fortune readings uses the same tools. I use tarot, crystal ball, runes and stones but I do not read palms. I've had people come in and ask for a palm reading and look crestfallen because I don't use that divination method. Not every artist uses a paint brush. But that doesn't make the sculpture or flower arrangement less  beautiful or visually satisfying, now does it? If you want a reading, that should be the goal, not the method it is achieved by. The reading and it's accuracy should be what you're looking for, not necessarily someone to hold your hand.

I hope today's discussion clears up some misconceptions you might have had!



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.

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Happy Beltaine! A bit of history about the MayPole and Sex!




 Happy Beltaine!

The first day of the Celtic Pagan Summer! Wow, it certainly has been a long winter! I know many of you look towards June 21st as the first day of summer, but if you recall June 21st has for centuries been also referred to as midsummer. Remember Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream? It took place towards the end of June.

But no matter, we can all agree to celebrate warmer weather, flowers in full bloom and trees leafing out, all over.

People have asked about the Maypole which is predominant at this Sabbat or Holiday. This Holiday or Holy Day is a day where the ancients recognized the importance of procreation to keep the species alive. This was important, so as to have babies to keep the tribe, clan or village growing and becoming stronger. The Maypole is a metaphoric example of the concept.

The pole in the center is representative of the phallus which is the male member. Traditionally it is wrapped around with white and red ribbons representing the female genitalia.  Once wrapped and decorated thee Maypole signifies the coupling of the Goddess and the God, or intercourse. Without of course, having babies would be difficult!
Ms. Faith's Maypole Beltaine Celebration 2008


Today the ribbons take on many hues and after the ribbons are affixed at the top of the Maypole, people stand around and call out alternately 'Sun' and 'Moon'. Those that called out Sun will start walking in a deosil or clockwise direction, whilst those who called out Moon would start walking in the opposite direction. As people come up to others they dip and raise going over or under the other's ribbons. Slowly the pole becomes encased in the pretty ribbons wrapped tightly around.

Both men and women can dance the Maypole dance, though I believe in ancient times only boys were the ones to hold the ribbons and dance the dance. I'll have to check my facts on this one though. As I get older the magickal memory starts to fade a bit!

So whether you dance round a Maypole, jump a Beltaine Bonfire or just have a lovely feast today, I wish you a Merry Beltaine and a Happy Summer!


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.