The Contemporary New England Witch

The Contemporary New England Witch
Author Ms.Faith

Tuesday, January 31, 2017

Clearing Up Some Popular Magickal Misconceptions Part 2



Good Evening My Witchy Reader,

As promised we will continue discussing some additional popular magickal misconceptions concerning some magickal areas.  Tonight I want to talk a little bit about magickal misconceptions concerning Mercury Retrograde, spirits and hauntings and the number phenomenon 11:11.

Mercury Retrograde:

It is a well known phenomenon that when Mercury goes into Retrograde it can cause a bit of havoc in one's life.  Knowing exactly what Mercury influences can help you determine what Retrograde will affect.The planet Mercury affects short trips or travel, communication, which in today's world is often done by computers. As well as intellect, awareness, eloquence of speech and jobs using these abilities such as attorney's and the subtle intricacies of the practice of law will be affected, as well as the jobs of teaching and  any jobs requiring one to communicate over the phone such as a receptionist or someone who coordinates appointments.  One can expect misunderstandings, missed appointments, scheduling confusion and travel delays.

In regards to the misconceptions that people come up with, Mercury Retrograde cannot be held responsible for every little thing that goes wrong in your life during this period of time.  If you are dropping things or mechanical things break down in your home, someone passes away, a building catches fire these are not influenced by Mercury Retrograde. Also Mercury Retrograde does not and should not paralyze a person and make them unable to function in their day to day life. It can be annoying and should be considered by taking some extra time and having a heightened awareness that people may misunderstand your words and perhaps emails might not make their destination, or your car may need to be up on it's maintenance before a retrograde phase.

So when a Mercury Retrograde phase comes along, realize it's shadow phase will start to affect things a week or so before and also a week or so afterwards and read up on the areas Mercury might influence and try to do some preparation is advance and deep breath through the rest. Check the Internet to see when the phases for the upcoming year are planned, as each year has at least three or four Mercury Retrograde phases that last a few weeks to a month or more each.

Spirits and Hauntings:

There are probably more misconceptions regarding ghosts, spirits and hauntings than any other area of metaphysics, simply because ghosts have been a part of the human condition as long as humans have been around. That is a few millions years so far.

Primarily the biggest misconceptions regarding spirit activity is human misunderstanding. Many times, if we can't see it, but we know it is there, either by sound or movement, it tends to freak us out. Spirits often try to get our attention, and just think of how many times you or others you might know have wondered how a loved one who has passed is doing on the other side, if they were just able to contact them one more time, or just say I love you? When the spirit tried to make that communication, the connection desired is forgotten and people get weirded out, rather than realize they are just getting the communication they desired.


Noises in the middle of the night can be frightening but many times they have nothing to do with spirits, because spirits do not know of day or night. There is no time in their world. We all have spirits around us, and they are the loved ones who have passed on. Our ancestors, grandparents, parents, friends and people who cared for us. They look out for us and are able to keep harmful spirits from getting close. Many people will refer to them as their angels and that is a good way to look at them.

Hauntings of spirit's that are 'stuck' here for some reason seem to primarily haunt places. Buildings, schools, hospitals, nursing homes, residential homes and places the spirit had happy memories or many times their place of death. Roadways where accidents have happened are also places where spirits are encountered. "Stuck" spirits tend to haunt places, whereas spirits that are here among us tend to stay close to their loved ones.

As far as spirits or ghosts hurting us? That just does not happen. If it did, we would see many, many instances and the few I have come across with people claiming that spirits have scratched them or marked them somehow at night were most likely self inflicted and possibly done for attention and dramatic affect to convince others.

Of course, there are many instances of ghostly legend and lore that go back millenia and who is to really know? But I have personally worked with spirits for many years and have not encountered any evil or malevolent entities. On an interesting side note, I have met a few ghost hunters and one who specifically claimed to have encountered many evil ghostly energies eventually was found to have been a pretty evil guy himself and now sits in prison for many years. So I have to think of the credo "What you send out returns back to you" and I see this manifest time and time again.  I do not think all ghost hunters are bad, most I have met are very nice and normal people. But I think, in this area of study, one needs to be careful what they go "hunting" for, because they may become the hunted.

The best advice I can give in regards to spirit activity, is in the clear, sober light of day, record any spirit activity the very best of your recall. Then cross out any assumptions or personal opinions e.g. if you wrote a sentence "the light switch clicked and the lights came on with on one touching the switch and I felt creeped out" cross out the part "I felt creeped out".  Look at just what you know to be true with no added drama. Then read everything over and it will most likely seem a lot less scary and maybe just some simple phenomenon that is interesting but that is it.

11:11 Phenomenon 

Numbers have always held a special attraction for humans, just look at gambling which is all about numbers, from bingo, to lottery, to card games etc. Our ages are significant at certain stages and celebrating the years as they change from one number to another, either with birthdays or New Year's, we are always celebrating new numbers.

I find numbers, numerology and using numbers magickally a useful and effective tool in many ways. When it comes to the time of the day, which the phenomenon 11:11 is a reference to on a digital clock, historically the magickal times of the day have been the stroke of midnight, long known as the Witching Hour. Also Noon, then 4 o'clock early morning or late afternoon as that is a natural low point in energy and people who are sick and ready to pass on, can do so more easily at 4 a.m. or p.m.

Other times that have been significant throughout history is dawn and twilight/dusk when it is not quite daylight but not yet night.  Though these times of the early morning and early evenings is more due to the quality of the lighting rather than a specific time, as the time would be variable throughout the year.



Many people nowadays have attributed some sort of angelic phenomenon to the digital time 11:11 when it comes up on the clock, but that is up to you. I don't find anything special about that particular time simply because before digital clocks it did not exist as a magickal numeric phenomenon.  If it works for you, causes you to slow down and take a moment to count your blessings then it is magickal for you.

I suppose my entire point for this discussion and the first part posted a few days ago is simply, before you attribute magickal phenomenon to something, think it through and determine if it is indeed magickal and if so enjoy and bask in the glory of the divine energies and if not be aware of it too.  It is lovely to live a magickal life, but when one lives in the extreme it can affect how people perceive you and how seriously they take you. It is a fine line and a balance to be achieved while living the magickal life.


Live, Laugh and Always Love, Ms. Faith




© 2010-2017 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. 

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