Advice for New Witches from an Experienced High Priestess

Good Afternoon my Witchy Readers,

Well, I certainly got the cauldron stirring lately, haven't I? There have been some, just a few, who have taken offense to my most recent post labelled "Why Witches do not need to hex or curse."  My Goddess, you would think I took away a toy from an over tired toddler!!

My viewpoint and advice comes from over 30 years of being a magickal being, a practicing witch and a High Priestess of Wicca. But one certainly does not have to listen to my advice if they choose not to. This topic segues  nicely into today's discussion, as I am going to give some advice to those new to the path of the Witch and to the Craft.

In regards to the comments I have received, one, fairly intense and nasty individual (and that is why I did not publish their comments) asked why I think my Wiccan rules and laws applies to others, who may not be Wiccan and wish to harm and curse. To answer, they did not read my words very carefully. I did not say much about the Wiccan ways and rules, as much as I discussed Karma. Be very clear. Karma has no religion or spiritual boundaries. What you send out returns to the sender. That is not by definition a Wiccan principle, but a Universal one. It is like gravity.  Pick up a pencil, hold it in the air, open your fingers and it will drop. Every .  .  .  single .  .  .  time.  There is no religion surrounding the pencil. You don't have to believe in a pencil God for gravity to work. There is no wish or prayer or spell or commandment that will stop that pencil from dropping once you've released it. See what I'm trying to say? It does not matter what you think, feel, desire or believe. If you send out harm, it will return back to you! In truth, everything you send out returns back to you. It is a true witch that understands and respects this.

The nasty person also wanted to know how I knew the witches in the Midwest did not get the rape victim's permission to cast an evil hex on the rapist and the judge. Simple. They do not publish rape victims identities and they did not do so in this case. Again, toddlers, screaming mad, that they don't get to have their way. As far as I am concerned they can cast all of the evil hexes they choose. Just do not call yourself a witch, a wise one. You are simply a non magickal person burning black candles and voicing ineffective incantations. You have no right to compare yourselves with those who choose to do good and not evil. And yes, casting hexes and curses is by it's very definition, evil.

But now, enough of this nonsense, let me get back to my witchy readers who are truly serious about what we do and want to lean the proper ways of doing things. For those new to the path, or perhaps you've been dabbling in magick for a while there are some things you need to have in your magickal cupboard. So use the following checklist to fill out your supplies, tools and reading materials:

A witch creates magick. We do so in a magick circle. Before you can cast a magick circle you will need the following basic tools:

• An altar (please note the correct spelling of altar) This can be a table, a cloth on the floor, a flat rock outdoors, even the railing on a deck or porch. Just a flat surface to place your magickal tools. An altar, in witchcraft, does not take on it's own sacred energy. It is simply a surface to do your magickal workings on. For instance you may use your kitchen table, cast your circle, do your magick, then put everything away and serve dinner on it. It is not a shrine, unless you choose to make it so. 
• An altar pentacle. This is a pentagram surrounded by a circle. It can be made of metal, silver is most common, copper, brass etc. It can be made of wood, stone, it can even be on a piece of jewelry you take off and place in the middle of the altar for your ritual. 
• Elemental representations: You will need a small bowl of salt to represent the element of earth which resides in the North. A vial of powdered incense to represent air, located in the East. A cauldron or censer with a charcoal briquette to represent fire and place it in the South, and a bowl of water to represent water and it is placed in the West. The bowls for the salt, water and incense do not have to be special, but many people look until they find something just right. You can always switch them out for a nicer bowl when you come across it. Remember, once you start to practice magick these tools will be used by you for many years to come.  
• Candles: A Celtic (pronounced Kel-tic) based circle and ritual, uses candles set around the perimeter of the ritual space in the cardinal directions. N, S, E, W. Use a compass app on your phone if you do not know your directions. The candle colors, typically, are Green for the North, Yellow for the East, Red for the South and Blue for the West. Having a nice stand or pedestal in each corner provides a pleasant place to set your candles. These candles represent the elements, and may also be called the Watchtowers, The Guardians, The Old Ones, as well as other names. They stand for the elemental energies that we work with in a circle. So by now you see the elements are represented on the altar as well as around the circle. Inside and out. 

          You will also need candles on the altar.  My coven or group uses three candles to represent the Goddess. A white votive to represent the Maiden aspect of the Goddess, a red candle to represent the Mother aspect and a black candle to represent the Crone.

• You will need an athame (which represents the God) and this is a two edged knife used to direct energy, similar to a wand. You may use a wand if you'd like. 
• A bell, to ring before and after the ceremony
• A candle snuffer to safely extinguish the candles (no blowing out of the ritual candles) 

This is pretty much it. You may add whatever you'd like to your altar in addition to these required tools and supplies. You may wish to put flowers, a God/Goddess statue, magickal stones and crystals, whatever makes you happy. It is your altar. 

In addition to the altar/ritual rooms tools and supplies listed above, you may wish to have a Book of Shadows. Do not go out and look to buy a published Book of Shadows. Oh, not that you will not find one, there are a few that have been published. But that is someone else's magickal workings. Your Book of Shadows is a notebook or a journal within which you record your magickal workings. These are by far, much more special and powerful, because they are yours. 

At Enchantments, in the first year of Magickal Studies, we work on five magickal goals. Five goals that everyone can relate to and everyone can see needing a bit more in their lives. These five goals are love, money, health, protection and tranquility.  Please leave healing others and doing magick for others aside, until you learn more. A lot more. Do spells, only for yourself. 

To start stocking your magickal cupboard you will want to have some oils,herbs and candles for these five magickal goals. 

Love-  For love spells you can use oils of Rose, Ylang Ylang, Cedarwood, and Cardamom to name but a few easy to acquire oils. Herbs to use can be:  Garden sage (as found in New England also called Clary Sage) Lavender, Jasmine, Geranium and Cinnamon.  Candles for love spells can be red, pink, and gold. 

Money and Abundance- Oils for money and wealth spells can be Patchouli, Bergamot, Chamomile, and Galangal. If you have a hard time finding these oils, the same herb as the oil can be used. Candles for money and wealth are green, gold and silver. 

Health and Healing (again stick with working magick on yourself. If you are not a licensed doctor you have no business trying to heal someone who is sick) 

Oils for health and healing:  Calendula, Arnica, Clove, Frankincense and Corn Oil to name a few. Some herbs useful for health and healing are Eucalyptus, Rosemary, Peppermint, Orange and lemons (the actual fruits) and Cinnamon. For candles, the colors of blue for emotional health and healing and green for physical health and healing. You may use both candles at once if you are in need of both emotional and physical healing. 

Protection-  Oils, geranium, frankincense, cedarwood and sandalwood. Herbs for protection: Angelica, Bay leaves, Carob, Caraway and these can be carried with you. Candle color for protection is the traditional black candle. Important while burning to visualize a white ball of light or energy surrounding you. 

Tranquility- Oils for tranquility are lemon balm, lavender, patchouli, balsam fir, chamomile are all excellent for calming and relaxing. The same herbs can be used in spells calling for tranquility. Candle colors are purple, blue and silver. 

Some excellent reading materials to help you start on your way to practicing witchcraft: 

Mr. Scott Cunningham, who passed away in 1993 was and still is one of the most published authors in the magickal realm. His books seldom go out of print. He was the first to come up with encyclopedias for the magickal properties found in natural items such as his encyclopedias for "Crystals,Gem and Metal Magick ", "Magickal Herbs" and "Incense, Oils and Brews" and these are still excellent references and I highly recommend them. 

I also recommend  "The Witches Bible" By Stewart and Janet Farrar, "The Power of the Witch" by Laurie Cabot, and "The Encyclopedia of Wicca & Witchcraft" by Raven Grimassi.  These are books still available today which will get you started and answer a lot of questions about the magickal world. I could, indeed, recommend older books published in the 1960's and 1970's and perhaps in a future discussion I will. But those are primarily for historical purposes and while they give an excellent history and discuss witchcraft in ancient times up to modern times, the books I have mentioned above will actually allow you to start making magick and casting circles, conducting rituals and all the rest a new witch is looking to do. 

I will also recommend my book "Enchantments School for the Magickal Arts, First Year Magickal Studies" which covers a good part of the first year curriculum at Enchantments School. This is available on my website www.enchantmentsschool.com by mail order and also in Enchantments Witch shop. 

Well, today's discussion  started with a bit of magickal ethics in working magick, covered some basic tools, supplies, ingredients and books a new witch would benefit from having in her magickal cupboard and now all that's left is to start! I have, sadly, met too many people who have read up on the magickal life, waiting and wanting to start practicing but hesitating from doing so because of all sorts of fears, worries and doubts. Put those aside and simply get to the business of working magick and before too long it will be a lifestyle. A way of living and not just something you do occasionally.  And that, my witchy reader, is a wonderful thing! 

Peace and Happiness, Ms. Faith 

© 2010-2016 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.

Why Witches Do Not Need to Hex or Curse

Good Afternoon My Witchy Readers,

Those of you that follow me on social media will be familiar with today's discussion. But there are a couple of thousand readers of my blog on a monthly basis that do not follow me on social media and I find this topic important enough to try to touch as many readers as possible. As always, please feel free to share any of my posts or discussions with others, if you'd like.

In the past few weeks, in the news, have been various news stories that have outraged many people. One such story is of a rapist in California that attacked an unconscious woman and even though he was caught in the act and so his guilt was not in question, the judge sentenced him to a lenient six months, suspended after three months. Understandably a matter for public outrage.

There have also been those politicians who are against gun control, in the wake of the Orlando nightclub shooting, those who are proud to be hate filled, racist, misogynistic people who simply want to segregate, isolate and stop any immigrants from entering the country. Those that fear any that look different, have different lifestyles, different opinions, .  .  .  .  who are different.

All of this has built up and has culminated in some in the Pagan Magickal community to start publicly calling for mass hexes and curses to be sent to those who have offended them. And, most surprisingly, or maybe not, so many people have jumped on the band wagon to endorse this concept. I have seen so many that easily, without thought as to future consequences have said "Sure, sounds good! let's conduct a mass hexing!" Some have even said it sounds like fun!!!

I am  a witch who has practiced for over thirty years, and I think, in some small way, that that history of my practice gives me an insight that might evade many newer to the path. I remember when, 30 some odd years ago, I was part of a coven and we had been approached by the local newspaper, for an interview. We agreed to be interviewed, no names were used, pictures of us from behind only, no faces were shown. I even remember, before the reporter came to the door, of putting masking tape over our name on the paper box on our front step, so the reporter would't know our last name.

Why the secrecy? Because back then, and this was before personal computers, social media and tweeting (which I do believe has given people a false sense of power and protection) we were afraid. Afraid of the reaction of our neighbors, our community, of losing our jobs, losing family, friends. Just to name a few fears. And these fears were real. As Wicca and witchcraft became more common in our culture, slowly step by step, witches and Pagans that have been published authors, witches like me that have gone into our local community college to teach the history and the truth about our path, have slowly changed mass perceptions that we are evil, harmful and vengeful. We have worked to change the historical legend and lore of the evil witch, as poisoner, evil spell caster, of child killer, as succubus who was a rapist of sleeping men. There are so many historical, horrible untrue rumors and lies about us. And many people still believe these to be true even in this day and age.

But, the laws of our country, the United States of America, protect us and allow us to practice, to worship as we choose. But that freedom has been taken for granted by many today. Many new witches and Pagans have the mistaken belief that the freedoms we now enjoy cannot be taken from us. Well, the truth is, people still lose their jobs because they are witches. It might not be the reason your boss gives you, but it still happens. People are still discriminated against for being a witch or Wiccan or Pagan.

But many witches, Pagans and magickal people over the past 50 years have worked tirelessly, writing books, conducting workshops and going into the non magickal community to try to dispel the rumors ad lies. Unfortunately, with the availability of many free websites, so many are going there to get their magickal knowledge. In a word, so many websites about the magickal world are garbage. Anyone can start a website or a blog and tout their interpretation of the magickal, and they are simply regurgitating the same garbage they read on yet another website. I once wrote a discussion on something magickal on this blog, a few years ago, and one young witch commenting on social media with another young witch said " I don't get her. Just where does she get her information anyways?" Of course, this was not meant to be complimentary, but no matter.

Let me answer that question now. Where do I get my magickal information? Well, when I started over 30 years ago, I was lucky. I had only available, the very best Wiccan and magickal authors. Their works still grace my bookshelves to this day. I glance over and I see the works of Gerald Gardner, Doreen Valiente, Dr. Leo Louis Martello, Raymond Buckland, Stewart and Janet Farrar, Vivienne Crowley, Patricia Crowthers, Starhawk, Margot Adler, Raven Grimassi, Laurie Cabot, Scott Cunningham to just name the authors on the first few shelves of my magickal bookshelf.

These individuals have worked tirelessly and still do so today, those that are still with us, to help teach others about our ways. To dispel rumors and lies and explain to people we do good. We try to help others, we work magick to bring good changes into our lives and to send out love and positive energy to affect the world around us in a positive way. But those in the magickal community that have learned exclusively from Internet sources, and teachers who have had little training in the Craft of the Wise, but who teach and run covens for their own personal gain and to build their own sense of power, have in truth learned very little of our ways. We do not do magick to put us on a pedestal, to give us a false sense of power and prestige.

Now, having set the foundation for my talk, let us get to the meat of the issue.  Those in our magickal community that have called for mass hexing, or curses to be sent to those who they disagree with or who have offended them, are simply either forgetting the science behind witchcraft or have never known it. The magickal concept "What you send out, returns to you." Is not a "Wiccan" "White witch" concept, by any means. It is a Universal law that is not bound by religion or belief. It works like gravity. Whether you believe it or not. And sending out harmful energies, any energies, will simply return to you. By the way, they will not affect the intended target. And let me explain a little more about this.

Magick has been around since the dawn of time. It isn't new, by any means. There is Karma, but that is governed by God/Goddess, not us.  Frankly, if a pissed off witch or Pagan could effectively mess with someone by casting a curse or hex upon them, well .  .  .  think about it for a moment. Understanding human nature and all it's foibles, well, people would be falling down all over the place! If magick worked that way. Like the end of the last Harry Potter movie, with spells being slammed at everyone, and flashes of light exploding parts of the stone castles, and killing people and wreaking havoc everywhere, leaving everything in ruins. Um, people, that is Hollywood! A good story, but simply fiction.

Magick does not work that way! Though, there are some witches, that simply do not understand magick and how it works. They do not understand how to get personal power from magickal workings. How to work with a Goddess or God to make needed change in their lives. If they did they would never call for a mass hexing, simply because they would know it is not necessary. If there is injustice in the world, something wrong that you would like attended to, we light a candle and work magick with our Goddess, asking Her to help us in our needs and desires.

But, I assure you, something will, indeed, come out of these misguided individuals calling for a mass hexing. That will be the reinstating the rumors, lies, the fears and mis-beliefs that witches really do do evil, and cause harm. That we are vengeful and that we cast spells on others. The above magickal masters have worked for decades to try to eliminate this nonsense, and in one fell swoop, it can all be ruined. Simply because some silly women that do not know enough about magick to understand this will not work, yet they call themselves witches so lay people in the non magickal world, who wouldn't know the difference, thinks they really are able to do this. Then those who have always feared us and believed the worse can now point fingers and say "See! We were right! They are evil and do harmful spells against others!" Sadly, in one sense, they would be right.

At least one of the above magickal masters has come out on Social Media and has spoken against this hex casting nonsense and I can only hope others will also do so. The more reputable, credible and authentic magickal people to come out and speak against this attack on the magickal community's credibility and reputation, then perhaps the young, newer ones on this path may think twice about what they are planning. Hopefully they will realize that they have still more to learn and that it is an emotionally immature witch or Pagan who falls into this mistaken course of action, and only themselves will be harmed in the end.

'Throughout the world, it has been many a year since Witches have been burned. Yet misuse of the power may raise the persecutions once again.  So never break the laws, however much you may be tempted, nor ever consent to their being broken.  And if you know they are being broken, then you must work strongly against it." 

"In order to bring the ways of Light and Love and Life to the peoples of the Earth, our secrets are slowly becoming secrets no more, and it is good that this is so --  for the age of shadow and secrecy is passing. Yet the sharing of our ways is always to be guided by wisdom and by love. Let our rites and our mysteries be kept sacred. Let no one defile our worship or our heritage. For the defilement of our ways is an honor loss to self and for the Craft." 

-- The above two paragraphs in quotes, is copied directly from The New Wiccan Book of the Law" by Lady Galadriel


This discussion has taken me several days to compose and has been very difficult for me, as the topic is very upsetting and disappointing, to me as a High Priestess and a daughter of the Goddess. I can only hope the sense and reason in my words will touch those who are mistakenly thinking of doing harmful magicks, and instead that they will get a hold of some of the written works by the magickal masters I mentioned and learn the true Craft of the Wise and set aside the Internet sites that only feed the self importance, self entitlement and power seeking of those who do not know of our ways. Seek a true teacher. Someone who will not feed a naive desire to strike out at those who disagree with us, but who teaches that the only law of magick is love.

For truthfully, for those that know magick, they know that is the only law. Love


Peace and Happiness, Ms. Faith



© 2010-2016 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.

Now This Witch is Really Ticked Off!!!

Good Evening My Witchy Readers,

I have to discuss with you a very serious situation happening in our country today. A little over a year ago there was this woman, who was raped while unconscious by a Stanford University Freshman by the name of Brock Turner, 20 years old. He was caught in the act by two good Samaritans who stopped him and held him until police could get there. That entire situation is bad enough, but unfortunately it gets worse.

He was found guilty of the crimes he was accused of, and instead of receiving up to 6 years in prison,  that the prosecutors asked for, the judge, for whatever reason, sentenced him to 6 months in prison, to be released after 3 months. The judge was quoted as saying "A prison sentence will have a severe impact on him. I think he will not be a danger to others."  The rapist's father also spoke to the court and dismissed his son's actions as "20 minutes of action". Ridiculous? of course! Outrageous? Absolutely! There are times when our justice system does not deliver justice, as in this case. But for witches, Pagans and magickal people this story continues to get worse.

In just the last few days some misguided women, I believe in Iowa, have decided to conduct a mass hexing on the rapist and the judge. The woman who arranged it calls herself a 'traditional hereditary witch'. As well as "very powerful and her hexes and spells absolutely work".

Well, if wishes were horses, beggars would ride! Without getting too deep into the science of witchcraft, and it's a science more than an art, just think about it, just for a moment. If we could hex anyone we felt entitled to, that we disagreed with, that had offended us, hurt us, or wronged us in some way. If we could really harm them in return, well .  .  .  considering the nature of humans, it would be like the end scenes of the Harry Potter books and movies where everyone was slamming curses at everyone else and all hell was breaking loose. Stone buildings were exploding, flashes of lighting was killing people left and right, I mean .  .  .  really??!! Alright now, I am now seriously ticked off! And that takes a lot for this witch!

This foolish, inexperienced, emotionally wrought woman (who I am hesitant to even call a witch), has absolutely no idea of what she is talking about. None! And I am confident in saying that. Because I know how the science of witchcraft goes, and it doesn't do a damn thing to light a black candle and incant a hex three times on someone. What WILL happen? Nothing to the intended target. But it will come back on her and her silly coven. And she put it on social media! Oh goodie! And over 1,000 other people who may or may not be magickal people but wanted to play at being a witch for a moment also jumped on the band wagon and at the same time, a day or so ago, all lit black candles and said a few words. Am I making light of this 'evil' spell? You bet your cauldrons I am! Now, there are ways to do spell work to right wrongs. To bring justice about in an unjust situation. Absolutely. But this isn't the way to do it. Also, a witch truly worth her magick? Well, she certainly wouldn't put it all over social media. That simply strokes her ego and gives her her 15 minutes of fame. And it makes her spell far less effective.

But, please hear me out. She did succeed in doing extreme damage .  .  .  ah, but not to the rapist. No, but to all of the real witches in this world who have worked tirelessly over decades to bring respectability, reason, understanding and credibility to what we do in the eyes of our communities. We have worked to help the environment, our Blessed Mother Earth, to help the animals, to help the unfortunates, to help those with serious issues in their lives and to show people how they can work a little magick in their lives and create needed change, for the better. We have worked to teach those who are not of our ways that we are not evil, we do not hex or curse others, we do not seek to harm others. We simply wish to go about bringing beauty, love and a better world to others and ourselves.

She, and I will not mention her name, because she has enjoyed enough notoriety on the backs of real witches, that she doesn't deserve to have her name mentioned ever again. But she has hurt the craft, in many ways. she mentioned she wanted to give women, who felt helpless in this situation, regarding the judges decision, some power. She wanted to send love and kindness to the victim. But what she did was take the entire focus away from the victim and focused it on her and her evil coven of childish, inexperienced women.  And most importantly, did she receive permission from the victim to do any magick on her behalf? That is first and foremost the most necessary requirement. I can tell you she did not, because the victim's name was not released.  So her little revenge spell also violated the victim in yet another way, she wasn't given the opportunity to say whether she wished for this to happen on her behalf. As witches, WE DO NOT get to decide for another if we can do a spell for them, no matter how much WE think it's for their best interest. The power trip this woman and her merry band of women is frightening.

Powerless? When a witch works with her Goddess she never feels powerless. Oh, there are ways to work with Her and make this situation more just and to balance the scales. But not how this woman attempted to do it. It simply demonstrated how very un-knowledgeable and ignorant of magickal ways that she is. It does scare me to think she does have a coven of women she might be teaching these non-magickal methods to.

All this woman succeeded in doing, is to prove to those in our community, that are scared of us, that feel that we do evil and hex and curse others and that we are harmful .  .  .  that they are right. She has made a mockery out of real witchcraft and Wicca the religion of the Witches. There have been so many wonderful, magickal and knowledgeable women and men over the past 5 decades that have worked tirelessly teaching, educating, conducting workshops and lectures, spreading the word of our spirituality and goodness, our desires to heal the world and not to bring harm and they have done an excellent job. I myself have been accepted and respected n my community in Southern New England by most of the people I encounter.

I have lectured at various universities, civic organizations and groups as well as churches and women's spirituality groups. I teach at my own school, men and women who are interested in learning the real practice of the magickal practitioner and learning to create needed change in their lives, gently, with flow and grace. The true path of the witch is to bring awareness not harm, understanding not hexes or curses, a willingness to work within our community and with our natural world not to punish and act like a petulant child when a decision made does not please us.

The witch, at the very least is practical, resourceful, innovative and clever. We have ways of making our magick work without needing to curse or hex others. This woman and her coven and their actions have done nothing but hurt themselves along with all of us.  I have contacted the the media, television and newspapers alike, but I do not think I am a sensational and outrageous as they like. I am simply a natural witch doing what comes naturally and always following the Rede "An it harm none, do what ye will."

I find it interesting how many 'witches' nowadays choose to set aside the Rede and regardless of harm caused or intended, do what they will anyways. But what they do not understand, the Rede is not a suggestion to be followed or not. It is the very definition of Karma. Oh and some young witches do not wish to believe in Karma either. But those that truly understand, know that karma is like gravity, there is no way around it. It simply is.

I am saddened by the media's jump on this sensational, totally erroneous fantasy, this woman has perpetrated and indeed, she probably truly believes she has the power to harm others, but it simply demonstrates what happens when you get all of your training from Hollywood movies, some sensational websites and do not bother to read or learn from any magickal master with years of experience and training.

If this discussion does anything, I want it to tell people who read this, that the woman from Iowa and her coven do NOT represent Wicca, Witches and magickal people, at all. She is doing what she wants to do without regard of how her actions affect others. Our actions do affect others, in many ways and as a part of a community, where ever we find ourselves, we must be cognizant of this. We do not live isolated on a desert island, and we have to take responsibility for our words, our actions and for witches, most especially for our magick that we send out into the world.



May you find peace and Happiness this day, Ms. Faith







© 2010-2016 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 Tragedy at the Tiger Temple

Good Morning,

I had initially planned another discussion for today, about candle magicks and how they sync with the magick of the days of the week. I will get back to that in just another day or so. But, a new topic, has become very important that I share with you.

The sickening tragedy of the tigers housed at the Tiger Temple in Kanchanaburi Province, Thailand in a Buddhist Monastery. Now, let me initially state, that many, many Buddhist's, whether monk or not, are very often spiritual, loving and kind persons. At least the ones I have met. But as with any group or demographic of humans, there are always those who are swayed not by the good that life has to offer, but by the evil, dark forces of wealth, abundance and luxury which at times can cause a person or persons to do unspeakable cruel things to gain the monetary excess they desire.

I am afraid, this is the case with the monks at the famous Tiger Temple in Thailand. This temple has become famous with tourists from all over the world for allowing people to walk the seemingly docile tigers, have their pictures taken with them and to pet and touch these sacred beasts.

But truthfully, tigers are wild beasts that are not docile and should not be treated as a 'family'pet. After many complaints from caring, compassionate tourists who witnessed things that seemed wrong, such as regular feeding of drugs to the tigers to keep them quiet and docile, as well as the sale of trinkets made from tiger's bones and tiger skins, finally, the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) raided the temple last week and rescued 137 live adult tigers. In their search of the facility they also found 40 frozen tiger cubs they believed were to be sold for various and sundry illicit reasons.

There is also a belief that the monks sold tigers for their meat to restaurants in Thailand that have tiger meat on their menu for tourists. The temple's Abbot, Luang Ta Chan, is upset by the 'robbery' of 'his' tigers. He was expected to speak of the situation to reporters this week, but instead rolled through the crowd of reporters and tourists on his gold cart and waved at the people. Hmmm, a Buddhist monk on a gold cart? That kind of puts it all in perspective, at least for me.

All he could say was the DNP taking his tigers has destroyed his life. Not one word mentioned as to the welfare of these big cats and what they had been subjected to, only his grief at losing his influx of money and wealth now that the temple is closed down, the tigers removed to a safe sanctuary and no more tourists or their money coming to the temple gates. I am sure his life as he knew it, is destroyed and what a wonderful thing that is.

When the authorities first raided this temple a week or so ago, they intercepted a truck leaving the temple with five men, three monks among them and a truck load of tiger bones, fangs and tiger pelts. These horrible products are sold to people for jewelry, knick knacks, souvenirs and other macabre object d' art.  It is truly horrible what these evil monks were up to, but it is as horrible that people buy these items without a care as to where they came from and at what cost. Right now those five men, three of them monks from the temple are under arrest. The investigation continues and more arrests are expected. The saddest thing, is now that it is all out in the open, all of the horrible treatment of these tigers has been exposed to the world, these evil monks and their helpers are still denying any wrong doing. They have been so blinded by the tourist's money and their growing wealth that they are not even able to see what they were doing and how wrong it was.

There are things we can do. Firstly, be aware. If you are someone who travels around the world know that trying tiger meat off a menu is not a rare delicacy, but an abomination. There are only 4,000 wild tigers in existence in this world today. That is bordering on extinction. Buying items made from the bones or skin of tigers simply adds demand that unscrupulous, evil people try to supply. And, it is NOT O.K. for a famous, rich, spoiled musician, actor or other celebrity to own a tiger in their penthouse or mansion. Supporting this by not speaking out and telling them it is not alright, only condones this practice. With social media today, the celebrities of today are quite accessible. You can speak for the tigers, who cannot speak for themselves.

I had a dream of the temple tigers last night. Not the living ones, but the spirits of the ones who have passed on. They surrounded me as I sat on a rock, laying around in the grass, relaxing and they want to be remembered, to be honored. I ask you to do this, in any way you see fit. You may wish to burn a candle in their memory, or to donate to an animal/tiger sanctuary. To speak out against rich, elitist, entitled celebrities who own tigers and other exotic animals without thought or care to what is best for them. You may choose to have a ritual honoring their spirits and the souls of the tigers still alive. Talk about them, tell their story to others, share this discussion, anything to keep their memory alive and to make people aware of this horrible situation. It was only by the complaints of a few people who went out of their way to make sure the proper authorities were notified was something finally done.

Apparently for years tourists and animal activists were unhappy with the treatment of the tigers, but being unhappy and refusing to visit the temple and give your money to the monks did nothing to help these animals. Speaking out, again and again, until the right person hears your complaint is what it took. And now the tigers are no longer drugged or malnourished as some reports stated. There are still those at the temple that say the tigers were better off there and not at a sanctuary, but it is only the temple's monks and helpers feeble attempt to regain their illicit pay check that is behind their words. The tigers are being fed, not being drugged, being allowed to live as tigers and not as pets for photo opportunities and to feed the selfish desires of humans. Finally they are free of the horrors they suffered. There are good monks in the world, but this is an example of some very bad, very evil men masquerading as monks who truly do not know of the teachings of Buddha or of any great spiritual master.

Please honor the memories and spirits of the sacred tiger this week. Do not let them be forgotten!

Peace and Happiness, Ms. Faith



© 2010-2016 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.

Avoiding Rookie Witchling Mistakes!

Good Evening Witchlings!

As a new witchling or magickal practitioner steps upon the path, and starts working the craft, there are some mistakes commonly made which can make your beginning practice challenging.  When practicing magick in the beginning, it's understandable to be nervous and uncertain. But having a sincere heart is key, and do not spend time worrying about upsetting the Gods or Goddesses or the Watchtowers or Elementals or any such thing. You cannot upset or disrespect them unless you deliberately go out of your way to do so.

But some mistakes made can make your magickal experience less than wonderful and can in some cases be dangerous. So here are some of the mistakes that either I have made in my over 30 years of practice or coven members have made while in ritual.

• When casting a circle, many choose to burn powdered incense on charcoal briquettes. DO NOT use charcoal meant for your BBQ grill. Those charcoal briquettes are treated with petroleum solvents and are very toxic and can make you very sick if burned indoors. Always use charcoal tabs that come in a foil wrapped packet. These are sold to be burned indoors in hookas and for incense burning. This is what they look like: 

• I started attending rituals and then conducting coven rituals in the 80's. For those who remember the 80's, Big hair was a 'thing". And Witches and Wiccans had the biggest hair going. Big hair along with lots of hair care products and hair sprays can make for a dangerous combination with burning candles, hot charcoals, and flash paper petitions. Once during a coven ritual about a dozen of us were dancing around the altar, singing, chanting and doing what witches do I saw the hair of the girl in front of me starting to smoke and then a tiny flame appeared. Without missing a step I started to pat out the fire and it quickly went out and no one was injured. We had a good laugh about 'burning witches' and how passe' it was. Hahaha Since that incident I have cautioned women, especially, against using heavy, alcohol based hair care products when attending rituals. 

• The next mistake I see new witchlings make is wanting to ingest, drink or eat magickal potions. Actually the term for a magickal liquid that you drink is called a brew. Potions are never to be taken internally. If you want to drink something, stick with teas sold as edible teas from the market or health food store.  I had a student, in the very early days that told me she was burning magckal herbs as incense,every night next to her bed before she went to sleep. I questioned her and she was going from A-Z. Thankfully, I found this out before she got to Mandrake or other very poisonous herbs.  Be aware of the basic properties of any herb or natural ingredient you use. Look up to see if it is poisonous, toxic or if it could cause allergies or other sensitivities. And do not burn every thing just because you can. Some herbs work better by burning, others by carrying them on your person, some by boiling in water and allowing them to diffuse in the steam, whereas some work best by surrounding a candle with them and burning the candle. 

• Learn the specific associations and magickal properties for the ingredients, herbs, stones, crystals, flowers, colors, etc. that you are working with. A big mistake is trying to fit everything into the same boxes, so to speak. Learn the individual magicks of each thing you are working with and then see if they compare with anything else. For instance do not try to find an astrological connection to every spell you cast. Do not try to force an elemental correlation with every magickal thing you study. Some will mesh nicely and some will not fit at all. This does not invalidate any of the magickal potential of what you are working with. It will only make it  more difficult for you if you can't be open minded enough to accept the magick as it is in each thing. 

• And probably the biggest mistake I have known new magickal practitioners to make, and the most damaging, is when they read one magickal master, like what they read and they then compare and discount everyone else that does things a bit differently. Truthfully, in over 30 years of practicing magick I have never seen two witches or magickal practitioners do things the same way. And after having practiced for this long, I have developed my own magickal ways of doing things. And after a year of study my students will in turn begin doing things in their fashion. That is the very nature of magick, it can't be stamped out cookie cutter like, but it melds, flows and bends. Becoming unique and special, like the person wielding the magick. 

• In conclusion, when practicing magick, don't be shy when it comes to asking questions. I had a student once that lit an incense stick and didn't blow it out and it burnt down very quickly and didn't smell. She said she didn't really see what was so special about incense, until I explained the proper way of burning incense. If you are working for the first time with a tool, supply or ingredient, ask someone on how to use the item. Realizing you don't know it all and having a willingness to learn will make your first few years of practice much more satisfying and magickal. 

• Practice, practice, practice!!! 

Peace and Happiness! 

© 2010-2016 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.

Witches and Healing . . . One Witch's Opinion

Good Afternoon my favorite Witchlings,

Now, to start off, some of you might enjoy this discussion and some might absolutely not. That's O.K. But the following is my personal opinion and views on witches and healing, that I have developed over the last 30 years.

Nowadays, it seems like the very second someone steps onto the witches path they want to heal others, or cast spells for others. Well, right off, that is the wrong attitude to have. Being a witch is a personal path and should only be embarked upon only because you wish to bring the magick into your life. That you desire the changes that walking a magickal path can bring to you and the desire to make those changes, thus changing your life for the better for you. It is a singularly, personal, private undertaking that should have YOU first and foremost the focus of all your work.

It is perfectly wonderful to want to celebrate the Sabbats or Esbats with other like minded, witchy ones, with each adding to the celebration and enjoying fellowship with each other. But one must be careful of the path they tread. For instance, this past weekend I conducted a lecture on crystal grids and how to construct and the use of them.  Thee were many questions and one woman was pretty determined to find out how to construct a crystal grid to heal others. She even said "Yes, but I have the best intentions. I know they need healing." Well, .  .  she didn't like my answers, but I was honest with her.

First I told her, if you are of the mind to do a healing spell for someone else you MUST have their permission and they must know you are doing spell-work for them. SPELL-WORK. A big, magickal and for some scary word. She didn't like that answer. I could tell she wanted to do healing for those she felt needed it, without their involvement. I told her that was considered Black magick. Period. If you do conduct healing for another with their permission, please stick to the magickal healing i.e. burning candles, charging crystals and perhaps burning incense.

Now, take this into consideration for a moment. Take the concept of getting sick and dying. Many who follow this path understand that we are of three 'bodies' if you will. Body, Mind and Soul. Many times, when the body gets sick, the mind absolutely wants to heal. Few people enjoy being sick. But, the Soul is really driving the bus. And at times, we get sick with something, that will be the catalyst for our transitioning out of this physical life into the next realm. That's a fancy way of saying many times we get sick and die. The great truth is .  .  .  we all HAVE to die, and shed this physical shell we call a body. If you think about it, there's an awful lot of 'stuff' going on, surrounding this transition. It is a 'sacred agreement' between our body, our mind our soul and the great divinity or God/Goddess.  Now imagine that someone else decides to get involved, without your permission! Even doctors and surgeons need your permission to try to heal you and sometimes it works and sometimes other powers, energies have a greater mission in store for you.

Now, let's say we're not so terminal that we are dying, but just don't feel good. Again, without that persons permission, you should not do anything magickally for them. Take a love spell for example. Say someone at the office you work with, but you wouldn't dream of dating them or even going to lunch with them, decided to do a love spell with you as their focus. How violated and inappropriate would that feel to you? I bet a lot. It's the same with healing or any magick really. Even the ancient witches knew that they needed to be approached by someone and back then be paid for their spell work. Today, because of the proliferation of charlatans and con men, witches do not do healing or spell work of any kind for others, for money. NOT if they are legitimate and honest. To charge and tell someone you can do a spell for them or heal them in any fashion, is being a charlatan. No one can guarantee a spell will work, not myself nor even the most advanced and practiced witches in the world.

The best way to ensure your spell will manifest is to do it yourself.  And continuing on as far as healing spells are concerned, most witches I know are not doctors. There are laws in the United States, at least, that prohibit people from doing healing without a proper medical license. I know many people are out there doing Reiki healings, and crystal healings and herbal healings etc. etc.  And in the over 30 years I have been practicing witch craft I have seen all of the above category of practitioner, either arrested or worse, sued for failing to actually heal anyone. Also I have seen 'schools' that have taught students, for a tuition, healing studies, get closed down in this state and in others. They might be around for a few years, but then the authorities come around and shut them down. For good reason. If you are NOT a doctor or a natural-path, or a holistic doctor with a degree or a pharmacist, then you run the very serious risk of being in trouble one day.

Here at Enchantments we do not teach any healing arts, only the magickal and we do not encourage any customers or clients to use any of the products we sell for healing purposes. My students actually sign a contract which states they will not engage in any of the above practices while they are students of Enchantments. In all of my years of being a practicing witch I have found, very rarely, that I ever needed to do a healing spell. I use competent doctors, acupuncture, natural-path and herbal remedies, but all come from state medically approved sources. And I do magick. I can do magick to help the medicine work better, to help my body heal faster (using candle magick) and I work closely with the Goddess to help me find the right practitioners to help me along my path.

Do I always get the healing I want? No. Not always. And then, when that is the case, I trust that there is something greater than myself at work and I try to respect that.

So, spend your time learning the magickal properties of plants, herbs, flowers and grasses. The magickal properties of resins, herbaceous and woody plants, and practice the magick. That should keep you deeply immersed and studying for several years. Then if you should still feel the need to heal others, and it's just not being on a power trip, so you can show off your magickal prowess, then I encourage you to enter a medical school where you can follow the path of the healer. Some might shy away at that, because it takes a lot of time and a lot of money. Of course it does, and it should. Taking a couple of Reiki classes or an herbal studies course and then thinking you can go out and heal the masses? I call it what it is, a Power Trip. If it's not, then you'll spend the time and money getting a real medical education.

In conclusion, there is one very real reason why one should get a medical degree before trying to heal others. Because over the years many, many people have been injured, and have died from so called alternative healing practices conducted by those who did not get the proper training nor have the proper experience to treat others. People die every day in this country, having gone to 'quacks' who promised to heal them and then a mistake was made or the wrong treatment given. For a simple example, did you know that by drinking red raspberry leaf tea a pregnant woman can miscarry? By giving a small child white willow bark tea for pain can cause Reyes Syndrome disease and they can die?

Natural does not mean safe, nor does it mean effective. Remember poison ivy is natural.  And if you eat the green plant of a tomato plant you will die a painful death. There is a lot to know on this topic, more than a simple witches training. So work on your magick and leave the healing to the experts.




Peace and Happiness






© 2010-2016 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.

Let Us Burn A Candle Today

Good Afternoon my Witchy Readers,

Oh my wands and cauldrons! There is so much non-magickal "stuff" happening in the world today! From natural disasters, to human caused disasters (The water problems in Flint Michigan and the man created wild fires in Canada for example), to political gunk, to animal abuse, child abuse, domestic abuse, it goes on and on. It can get quite overwhelming and even depressing. What is a witch to do?

Well, let me tell you. I do know people who have decided to simply "not watch the news, too depressing." Yes, that is one approach, but it won't have any affect on the goings on in the world. While limiting our exposure couldn't hurt, a witch besides being green, natural, earth wise and educated, is or should be, concerned with the news in the world. We are considered by many ancient scholars, to be the Stewards of the Earth. We are Her spokespeople. We represent Her and need to stand up for Her. We simply can't do that if we stick our head's in the sand and hope that the bad "stuff" doesn't come our way.

While the "patriarchs", the Governmental politicians are concerned with War and boundaries and economics and such. It is the witch that is concerned with the environment, the oceans, the forests and the fields. We care about the pollution of the Earth, the sustainability of the Earth, the animals that inhabit the Earth alongside us. Some of us do not call ourselves witch. Some like the term hippy, or environmentalist. Conservators or Naturalists. They are all good terms. And we all care about the same things. The Earth and it's people, our survival and our lives and the satisfaction living our lives brings us. Some of us raise families, some of us raise fur babies. Some of us hold fundraisers for good causes, some of us conduct social events like cleaning up litter alongside the highways or feed the hungry at local soup kitchens. We may collect non perishable foods, grow gardens and pick blueberries when in season to make a homemade pie. Just being out in nature gives us a feeling of happiness and peace.

But, sometimes, things get bigger than we can do anything about. Or do they? There is a secret, magickal tool I use often. That is candle magick. Candles have been used magickally for thousands and thousands of years.  Of course, initially the candle was used to bring light into the darkness, and that in and of itself was a magickal thing for ancient mankind.

Then the energy of the candle flame was felt and a belief grew that by lighting a candle, as an offering to the Gods and Goddesses that wishes and prayers would be granted. The ancient Greeks burned candles for the Goddess Artemis over 5,000 years ago and after making a wish, blew the candle out and ate a small crescent shaped cake. This was the origins of our birthday candle wish that so many still do today.

Well, you also can do candle magick. The simplest way is to take a candle, a small candle and hold it in your hands. Close your eyes and imagine it glowing with a bright white energy, as if lit from within. See the end result, the thing you wish to have happen when your spell manifests. Then after a few minutes, open your eyes, place your candle in a candle holder and light it. Allow it to burn until it goes out. If it is a large candle, when you need to leave or go to sleep, snuff the flame out with a spoon or candle snuffer. Do not blow it out. That only works for birthday candle wishes!

We can burn a candle for many, many things. When burning my candles I also ask the Goddess to help me with the situation at hand. Then I leave it up to Her to make things right.  Some of the candle colors you could burn for your magickal purpose or spell work are:

Brown candles for grounding, house cleansing, animal magick (whether an animal is sick or being abused) seeking balance, eliminate indecisiveness, and to find lost items.

Orange candles are strong and create sudden change. It is a brave and bold witch who dares to burn an orange candle. It is good to burn before important business meetings, before a wedding ceremony and to bring needed sudden change into your life and circumstances.

Purple candles are burned to help alleviate negative karma and negative karmic kickback. We all make mistakes and if it involves someone else then karma will be attached. Just making a mistake on our own, that doesn't affect another will have no karmic feedback. It must affect another living being. When that happens, asking forgiveness and burning a purple candle will help the situation. They will also give you spiritual protection, and help you reconcile a situation on the spiritual plane.

Black candles. Many think burning a black candle has to do with summoning evil forces. The witch knows this is pure Hollywood and it does not mean this at all. When burning a black candle, though, it is serious business. We burn black candles to give us protection from harm, both physical, emotional and spiritual. You can also burn the black candle to banish unwanted energies from your life and to help bring a complete and definite end to a situation.

For legal issues - I have seen yellow, orange and brown candles all burned for help in a legal situation. The best is a combination of all three. Burn all three colors, one candle for each color, together, touching each other if possible. they might well melt into one single burning candle and that is very good, when that happens. They can bring positive legal decisions and actions to you.

These are some of the lesser known candle colors and magickal purposes I have written about. There are many colors and many, many magickal purposes you can work with. Start off simply and easily. There is no need for complex, confusing candle magick. Start with the basics and take it from there.
Happy Spell Casting, Ms. Faith


Peace and Happiness




© 2010-2016 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.

Let's Discuss Beltane Magicks! It is a Sexy Sabbat!

Good Afternoon,

Today I wish to discuss the Beltane Sabbat with you. It occurs on May 1st and for Pagans it is our last Spring Sabbat and it, at the same time, marks the first day of our Summer. But many of you already know all of this. What I want to discuss with you today are some little juicy tidbits about Beltane you may or may not have known.

Firstly, Beltane, or Beltaine is a very sexy Sabbat. It was known to the ancients as a fertility celebration and when the sun went down after the Beltane rituals and feasts, men and women would pair off and go off into the woods and fields to have sex. It was believed that babies conceived at Beltane, who would be born the following February, around Imbolc, would be especially blessed and considered quite magickal.

It was ancient man's version of sympathetic magick, they felt by having sex in the fields, the fields would be magickally fertilized and the crops would grow strong and tall. They also would slaughter white steers or bulls to be consumed during the Beltane feast, and the slain animals blood would be drizzled over the fields. To them, they were symbolically giving life back to the earth, most likely not realizing that blood was in actuality a true fertilizer. Even today, one can purchase dried blood at a garden center to help fertilize the gardens.

The May pole that is often danced around during the Beltane ritual was a very sacred ritual tool in ancient times. The act of dancing around the May pole, in ancient times the ribbons were only two colors, red and white, wrapping the ribbons around the pole, symbolized the Goddess wrapping her vagina around the God's phallus. This was in a sense a symbolic Great Rite by Proxy which represented the Goddess and God copulating and giving life to the Earth, the fields, the crops and the people and all living things. It was and still is a celebration.

After The Maypole is wrapped with pretty ribbons, the ribbons stay wrapped around the pole until Samhain, where they are then cut off of the pole and burned in the Samhain fires. At this time, if desired, ribbons of black, purple and silver can be tied to the top of the pole and allowed to hang freely, representing the time of the Crone being upon us. But the ancients then used the May pole at Yule to be burned in the town or village center as the Yule log. During the burning of the Yule log, a small unburned piece is removed from the fire and saved to be used to kindle next year's Yule log, symbolically uniting every Yule log that has been burned year after year. For a simple May pole, it certainly has a lot of responsibility during the year.

There are some other interesting tid-bits about this happy, Spring Sabbat. The ancient Druids, who were the spiritual leaders of the Celts, believed the year was split into two distinct halves. Winter, which went from November 1st (Samhain) to May 1st (Beltaine) and then Summer, which goes from May 1st to November 1st. Because of the Druids belief that "things in between" were especially sacred, they attributed sacred energies to the half times between seasons. "Things in between." What this means for example, take ice. It is water, but not fluid, but solid like rock. It is in between. Fog or mist, is not air totally, but not completely water, but in between. This belief was also placed on times of day/night such as midnight, which at the very stroke of, is not yesterday yet not quite today. So the time that falls at the cusp of winter/summer or summer/winter were also given sacred status.

It is often heard of that at Samhain, November 1st, "The veils between the worlds grows thin", and this is commonly thought to mean that the natural spiritual barriers between the physical world of the living and the other world of the spirits and ghosts grows thin and it is easier to communicate with spirits. This is true. But the thinning also allows for other magicks and at Beltane the veil also thins.  This is not as commonly talked about, I believe simply, because soooo much 'stuff' is associated with Samhain which is commonly called Halloween and all of the spooky, and scary and naughty things that go along with it. But Beltane, which more people are not aware of, not as many as are aware of Halloween, to be sure, also has a thinning of the veils.

At Beltane, where, yes, you can also communicate with spirits more easily such as at Samhain, it is also easier to communicate with Deity at this time, and many take this opportunity to speak directly with their Goddess or God, and give thanks or to ask for help in some fashion.

Another thing that was done years ago, that you might like to try is collecting Beltane dew. To do this, take a tiny glass vial or jar with a good cap. Go out in the early morning of Beltane and collect the dew. You do this by laying on the grass and uncapping the vial, holding it carefully next to a blade of grass with a dew drop upon it, and tap the blade of grass so the dew drop falls into the vial. You continue to do this, and it will take some time, until you have filled the vial up, at least half ways. Then you can put the vial on top of the altar pentacle on your altar and just by doing so it will be blessed and consecrated. Then afterwards you can use the dew to anoint yourself. It is said to keep one youthful and beautiful. Or it can be put into love potions. Or you can anoint a love candle with it.

Beltane has traditionally been a lovers holiday, and many couple choose to get hand-fasted during a Beltane celebration. Sweets, often honey and little seed cakes were traditionally served during the festivities of Beltane. Flowers are also traditionally given to loved ones at Beltane and the later tradition of May baskets of flowers stems from this ancient Pagan holiday.

Even when I was a little girl, in the 1960's and 70's I would go outside and pick violets, buttercups any flowers that were blooming and make a bouquet of them, leave them on the door step and ring the bell and run away, so my mother would think the fairies left them.

For many years after the Christians tried to eliminate the Pagan holidays by changing their names and dates, Beltane became known as the Lady's Day (for some meaning the Goddess, for other's the Mother of God, Mary).  Then for many years it became and is still known as May Day, and is still celebrated in many parts of the world as a celebration of spring and a forerunner of Summer.

Have a Bright and  Blessed Beltane!


Peace and Happiness, Ms.  Faith








© 2010-2016 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.

Not Everything is Magick!

Good Afternoon,

As my regular readers know, this blog, or as I like to call it, discussion, that I have with you weekly, is dedicated to the witchy and the magickal, the spiritual and the ritual of witchcraft. But every now and again I feel I must step out of the magickal realm and speak to you about things that are not so magickal.

For example, I will tell you about a conversation I had this week at my witch shop, Enchantments. A woman called and was concerned about her brother. She said he has been living in a house that is over run with ghosts! Not just a few, but 20-30 or more! She asked if I could help her, perhaps sell her something that would make the spirits leave.

Well, I have been working and practicing in the magickal realm for a few decades and immediately sensed something was amiss. That many spirits haunting one building would be far more likely in an abandoned insane asylum or a closed and boarded up prison. Not a single house. This just didn't feel like a 'haunting' situation. So I asked her a few questions.

• What has he been experiencing? She answered that he sees ghosts from adult people to little children all over the house, everywhere. All around him, in every room, all the time. He often asks if she or others can see them. 
• I asked her, "And can you?  See them or any manifestation such as unexplained sounds, lights flickering on and off, objects moving, cold spots etc?"
•  No, she answered, no one has experienced any of these things, only her brother has had the experiences. 
• I asked how long has he been living in this house? She said about 20 years. 
• How long has he been experiencing seeing the ghosts? She said for about a year. 

Then, as if knowing in which direction I was about to go in, she told me "I don't think it's dementia, but he did have a stroke a little over a year ago."

Well, that clinched it for me. Everything fell into place. I gently explained to her that it was not a case of spirit activity or a ghostly haunting, but that her brother needed to be seen by a medical professional as he may very well have an underlying condition brought on by the stroke or something  else going on in the brain that is causing visual and auditory hallucinations. Trust me, a smudge stick isn't going to do it!"

She was very disappointed, as I guess she was hoping it wasn't mental or physical or shall we say biological, but she really wanted it to be metaphysical or paranormal. Maybe for her it was less scary thinking it was ghosts than the possibility it could be a brain tumor or some other medical issue. But, I was left with the strong sense she was not going to seek out competent medical care for her brother but would continue to contact witch shops or go on line and try to find someone who would cast a spell or light a candle, all for a lot of money, and magickally fix her brother. And the sad part is .  .  . she will find someone. Not someone who will fix her brother magickally, but someone who will convince her they can, and for a good amount of money, will take her for all they can get and leave her with nothing. In the meantime, her brother remains trapped with the 'ghosts' only he can see and the fear and discomfort that condition brings him.

Not everything is magickal, nor should it be. We live on many planes of existence and each is to be acknowledged and respected. The spiritual plane, the astral plane, the physical plane, the mental and emotional planes. And when something goes awry on one of these levels sometimes magick can help and sometimes it can hurt. What I mean by "it can hurt" is exampled in the above story about the woman and her brother and his ghosts. By not giving him the medical and or psychiatric care needed and leaving it up to the magickal world and magickal practitioners, her brother is being hurt by not receiving the treatment that could possibly relieve his symptoms and give him some peace.

If someone has cancer, or a broken bone or diabetes, it is not only dangerous to simply and only rely on the magickal, it is unethical and unfair to not steer the person, that has come to you, in the right direction, to receive the help they need. And there are times when magickal herbal remedies, spell casting and ritual work will not help and are not appropriate.

Of course, if the person is receiving the medical care necessary, one can assist in ones treatment by burning a candle, asking the Goddess for help in healing and if desired carrying some stones or crystals to help focus on the healing process. Much of the healing will come from the mind and spirit, but to forgo modern medicine (which to this witch is one of our greatest magicks to date) is simply being foolish.

I have had another young man come into the shop a couple of times, also looking for a magickal remedy for what ails him. This gentleman is approximately 18-20 years old, and is absolutely convinced someone has cursed him with an evil spell. He feels this evil follows him around and sometimes he can even see it. He is starting to hear voices and he wants me to sell him something that will make it all go away. I am not a doctor nor am I a psychiatrist, but many signs and symptoms of the onset of schizophrenia are apparent in this young man.  I have gently suggested that he ask a doctor about what he is feeling, but again he pushes that aside and says he will think of something that will make me believe him, someday. I believe, he believes, everything he is telling me, but it is simply not of the magickal, supernatural or paranormal world.

As a witch and Priestess who works openly in our community, and being a teacher teaching others about witchcraft and Wicca, I feel a deep obligation to not go the easy, money making route and exploit these individuals even though they themselves, would much prefer I simply sell them something and tell them all of their problems will go away.

In these situations as difficult as it may be for some, the best response is to not delve into the magickal but to tell them the truth and strongly suggest they seek out proper care and treatment. I have even in the past, had to advice potential students that wanted to learn at Enchantments, when it became apparent they suffered from drug or alcohol addiction that the magickal world is not going to help them until they got a handle on their other issues.

Yes, as a witch you can find the magickal is just about anything, and I do feel that everything has a magickal component, but that is not to say we must be blind to what is right before our eyes and to disregard the help, treatments and medical world that is available to us for many, many issues.

It is the well rounded, educated, practiced and experienced magickal practitioner or witch that will utilize all the gifts the Goddess has bestowed upon us.

"The Lady has created Medicines out of the earth and the Wise will not abhor them." author unknown

"All things are poison and nothing s without poison, it is the dose alone which makes a thing poisonous" - Paracelsus 

Peace and Happiness





© 2010-2016 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.

Ancient Pagan Funerary Practices, Some That Are Still with us Today

Good Morning,

Recently I found myself going to a wake of a woman who had reached the remarkable age of 102. She was the mother of an acquaintance and though I did not know her, I went out of respect. Many times when we are at a wake or funeral we are grieving and emotional. As I went out of respect and had not known this woman I was able to appreciate the elements that go into a funeral nowadays and started thinking about where they had come from. The origins of the funerary traditions, if you will.

I have studied much about paleolithic man over the years as I am always looking for the origins of the first spiritual/religious worship. We find elements of this in the practices of dealing with the dead during the prehistoric era, with the first humans. There is evidence that the very first humans were prepared for burial by painting their naked bodies with a 'paint' made from red ochre a type of hematite stone also known as iron oxide, that is powered, and they were buried in caves rather than buried in the ground.

 The Upper Paleolithic Cave site known as Arene Candide has the body of a young man buried over 23,000 years ago, and he was painted with the red mixture.  Another body found in Paviland Cave in the UK, from approximately the same era, found a body called "the Red Lady" due to the large quantities of red ochre used in the burial. There are many other examples found around the world during this prehistoric era. There is a belief among Archaeologists that the bodies were so prepared, painting them with the 'blood' of the Mother earth, reminiscent of the blood that covers the body of the infant when it is born. Then the body of the deceased was interred back into the 'womb' of the Great Mother Earth.

When mankind evolved and became more populous it soon became more common to burn, or cremate bodies on funeral pyres. It is thought that this practice evolved out of the desire to stop disease and of course eliminate the odors and unpleasantness of decomposing bodies. The cremation process became very common throughout the Bronze and Iron ages, replacing inhumation (burial). Of course in Ancient Egypt, mummification was the preferred way of preparing the body after death.

Many of the funerary rituals developed out of the desire to prevent the deceased from becoming a ghost and wandering the earth. Many cultures developed their death preparations and funerary rituals to help the deceased to move on and to live in the afterlife in peace. For the ancient Greeks and Romans, huge mausoleums and tombs were built for the deceased. In Rome, some of these tombs were as large as a house with several rooms. The deceased would be placed within and the family and friends would continue to come and visit and hold elaborate feasts in the house like tomb, to honor the deceased.

The Romans would then bring large arrangements of flowers and plantings of flower, shrubs, trees and flowering bushes to be planted outside of the tomb, to make it look appealing and more like a home for the living than the dead. There is a belief that this may be the very first use of "funerary flowers" and the long held thought that flowers were used to ward off the smell of the decomposing body is less likely to be true, as throughout the ages, the Greeks and Romans (who really were the rulers of the civilized world at the time) were heavy users of incense in temples and in tombs to ward off the smells of decomposition from animal sacrifices and for the deceased humans. For truly,, flowers simply do not have the strength of aroma to hide the smell of death and incense smoke would be far more effective. It is thought the flowers were given as beautiful offerings to the deceased, in memory and love.

Again during later Roman times burial of the body became popular for a time, with the body buried in tombs and in crypts, while those considered holy were often interred under the floor of a church or temple. After a time, cremation again became popular, but the Romans, when practicing cremation would often take a severed finger joint off of the body before cremation and bury that as a symbolic burial. In time, when the Catholic church had unified Europe, cremation was frowned upon and considered a Pagan practice and inhumation, burial of the body wrapped in a shroud, emulating Jesus's entombment.  The Christian belief of the legend that Jesus rested in his tomb for three days before being resurrected, has led to the still common practice that after death, the wake and or funeral is held on the third day afterwards.

 Both the Greeks and the Romans believed that feasting, gathering to remember the deceased, especially on the day of their death would allow the loved one to rest in peace. Many times entire families, even to this day, will go to the cemeteries and set up tables, chairs, candles, flowers and host a party to honor the deceased. This is still common in Italy.

We still today, after holding the wake, then the funeral, often go to someone's home or back to the dining hall of the church to gather, to share memories, eat and drink food brought pot luck by mourners, and celebrate the one who has passed. The funeral "feast" has been practiced for well over a thousand years.

Funeral Wreaths

The history of the wreath goes back as far as the Etruscans, who were in Italy before the Romans, and the wearing of wreaths on the head, made out of precious metals, were worn as jewelry, Eventually, the form of the wreath was created out of evergreens, as evergreens symbolizes ever lasting life. When funeral wreaths were first used in unknown, but there are Roman documents dating to 450 B.C.E. which mentions that funeral wreaths were a long standing tradition, even back then.

Today we still have cemeteries for inhumation burials, cremation remains very popular, crypts and mausoleums are not as common today except for the very rich. We still hold funeral feasts and huge flower arrangements and flower wreaths are a very common and expected site at a wake and funeral today.

The wearing of black goes back to ancient Roman times, and depending on your culture, religion and the era, widows could wear black for a year, two years, four years or for the rest of their lives. Some cultures, though out the years, have worn all white for mourning, and red is never worn as it is considered very bad luck.  Today, black is a choice and is normally worn by those closest to the deceased, but it is no longer frowned upon if family members do not choose to wear black.  Today, mourning and grieving has in many ways,become a very personal event, rather than a cultural one.

Many have heard of and seen pall bearers carrying the coffin of the deceased, but many haven't heard that in days past there were also flower ladies, who would walk down the funeral procession carrying the arrangements of flowers brought for the deceased. At the cemetery the flower ladies would arrange the flower around the grave or tomb, and for a number of years this was a coveted, honored job for those women closest to the deceased.

Truly, if one does the research, you will find that just about all rites and rituals surrounding the preparation and disposal of the dead, all goes back to Pagan times. We have kept those aspects that still appeal to us and have set aside those that no longer do so.  This topic could easily fill up an entire book and then some. The history of funerals goes back to the very first humans and is still evolving and changing today.


Peace and Happiness



© 2010-2016 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.