Happy Imbolc!

 Good Evening,

The Pagan Spring celebration of Imbolc is coming up February 1st. Whilst many celebrate this holiday on February 2nd, know this date is a Christianized variation, called Candlemass, of the original day which was February 1st. I celebrate and recognize the first of the month. Call me a traditionalist! This spring holiday is also the Sabbat when all the altar candles and candles in the ritual room are replaced with fresh new ones.

Yes, I did say Spring celebration. With temperatures in the single digits lately, it seems a bit cold to be celebrating Spring, but it is almost here. Now, maybe flowers won't be blooming in your yard this week, but you can find early signs of spring if you know where to look.

By the end of this week, geese and migrating birds will be flying northwards again, and the thick ice on the ponds and rivers will start to thin, and for those that tap maple trees for its sweet sap, it is also starting to flow.

We will be celebrating Imbolc with an indoor ritual and I encourage you to celebrate Imbolc also! Have fresh flowers for your altar, and your cakes and ale could be fresh, sweet milk and cheese placed on a platter kept cold with clean snow from outdoors. This Sabbat, called Imbolc, which is Gaelic for 'In the belly' in reference to the cows ans sheep being pregnant and ready to give birth and new milk for the spring season. So the milk and cheese is appropriate. 

For your spiritual awareness in turning the wheel of the year, this ritual is the planning ritual. Plan what you wish to plant, then tend, grow and finally harvest later in the year. What do you wish to create? What do you wish to bring into existence this year? Think about this concept while you celebrate this wonderful spring holiday. For truly spring is right around the corner!

I hope you have a beautiful Imbolc

Peace and Happiness


© 2010-2013 Faith M. McCann. Portions of this blog posting may include materials from my book “Enchantments School for the Magickal Arts First Year Magickal Studies.” For more information, see www.enchantmentsschool.com or go to the title of tonight's discussion and click, it will link you to my school's website. Please note that the copying and/or further distribution of this work without express written permission is prohibited. 

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

Intro to Pagans, Witches & Wicca in April at MCC

Good Evening,

As you may be aware, I teach an Introductory course on Pagans and Witches at Manchester Community College and have for over ten years.  If you have ever thought to take this class, please consider it this Spring Semester as the last couple of semesters the course has been cancelled for lack of attendance.

I will be teaching this course 'An Introduction to Pagans, Witches and Wicca' CRN#11921 on four Monday evenings in April, 4/8 - 4/29 from 7 - 9 pm at Manchester Community College in Manchester, CT. The cost for the semester is $65 and is payable to MCC.  If you are interested in attending this program, you may register over the phone by calling 860-512-3232 and pay with a credit card.

This course is a PowerPoint and lecture presentation that covers the following:

•First class – History of the witch, magickal terminology, witchcraft today, Wheel of the Year, the elemental world

 

•

•Second class – Setting up an altar, and casting a magick circle, conducting a ritual

 

•

•Third class--  Spell Casting, The Science of witchcraft, Anatomy of a spell, Spell Manifestation, the first year’s five magickal goals 

•

•Last class-- Potions workshop at Enchantments at 349 East Center Street, Manchester, CT. The student will be able to make a potion for one of the following magickal goals for a $10 materials fee: Money, Love Protecton, Healing, or Tranquility.

All of the above and more are discussed and questions answered in this exciting four week program. Again, if you have ever thought that you might like to take this course, please sign up right away to reserve your place in class. If attendance is not sufficient the class will be discontinued. Only four people need to sign up to guarantee this program. I hope you can make it. 

   

Peace and Happiness  





© 2010-2013 Faith M. McCann. Portions of this blog posting may include materials from my book “Enchantments School for the Magickal Arts First Year Magickal Studies.” For more information, see www.enchantmentsschool.com or go to the title of tonight's discussion and click, it will link you to my school's website. Please note that the copying and/or further distribution of this work without express written permission is prohibited. 


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

Divination, Fortune Telling. . . is it real? How to Spot a Fraud

 Good Evening,

Tonight I wish to discuss with you some concepts to be found in the ancient art of Divination.  To begin with divination is the art of seeing into the past, present and most commonly the future. A regularly used method today uses the Tarot. There are many methods or techniques for determining the future of a client  and I, myself, use several, including  the crystal ball, the tarot cards, witches runes and stone divination.

 There is, today, much speculation when it comes to fortune telling and how authentic it really is. For myself, I started 'seeing' things that would then happen when I was about 12 to 14 years old. I then came across a tarot card deck when I was about 16 and started to read the cards. I have been reading cards ever since.

So, how do I come to see things that will then happen in people's lives? I can't honestly say, but my clients come back time and time again to re-affirm that what I had seen in the cards did indeed come to pass. There are those skeptics that speculate that a psychic is merely someone who is hyper aware of tiny details and super observant and then 'reads' this information back to a client. I can see how this could be true for reading a person's past and present, but how could one possibly see a detail today and tell someone what will come to pass six months from now? For myself, I believe in psychic ability because I believe everyone has it,  not just a chosen few. It's simply a matter of developing it. This is one of the things I teach at Enchantments.

Now, let me add a disclaimer here! YES, there are charlatans out in the world around us who claim to be able to read a person's future, yet they are nothing more than frauds. Here's some pointers on how to tell the difference between a real psychic and a phony. 

• A real psychic doesn't care if others sit in on the reading (as long as the client wishes it) nor if the session is tape recorded, video taped, or observed in any way.  A phony will insist that only the client can be present, that the information is only meant for the client, blah, blah, blah. A real psychic has nothing to hide and I tell clients they can bring their attorney with them if they want. It's their reading, not mine. 

• A real psychic charges for the reading and only the reading. There is never hidden additional fees involved in the reading such as i.e "there's a curse placed upon (the client) that for an additional fee I can remove for you." Or "You need to come back and bring something (an article of clothing, picture, hair etc) along with additional money for me to work this spell for you" and things along that line. A reading should be a single charge, paid for in advance with no increase for future readings. 

• A client should never be encouraged to come back frequently for additional readings. I advise clients who wish for additional readings to come back when what we saw in the current reading starts to come to light. Now a client may wish for a financial reading today and a love reading next week. That's acceptable, but it should be the clients desire not a recommendation from the reader (psychic). 

• If possible, find out how long a psychic reader has been in that location. Readers who move from location to location, town to town, state to state are suspect. I have known a few frauds who moved just about every two to three years and in doing so, stayed ahead of the local authorities whose job it is to shut down charlatans and frauds.

• Beware!!!! Of readers who claim you have a curse placed upon you, or other evil, negative influences that surround you. Modern readers today do not look for the negative and if something seems amiss it's really up to the client to determine if it's a good or bad thing in their lives. For instance, I may see that someone's job is coming to an end. The client may think its a good thing if they are preparing to retire or leave that job for a better one. Or the client may think its a bad thing as they are on the brink of being fired! BUT, most importantly, IT IS NOT up to me to make that determination. It is up to the client.  

• In conclusion,  when having a reading done, make sure firstly you can afford the reading fee. Secondly, go into the reading with a sense of using this information in part to make decisions on your life. Never rely wholly on the reading as the reader could be slightly off that day, or may be misinterpreting the signs. YOU are the one who decides how accurate a reader is. My best advice, take what works for you and leave the rest behind. In this way will you have a fun, enjoyable reading.

I hope these tips give you a little insight when it comes to having a reading done. Many readers use various methods of divination using such tools as the Tarot, Runes, Palms or Stones whereas some simply do an intuitive reading. Don't make a judgement on the reading before hand if a different technique is used from what you've experienced in the past. I find the best readers use the tools they are expert at using.  I have had potential clients come into the store wanting a palm reading and leaving when they find we don't offer palm readings at Enchantments. That's a shame as they would have received a good reading, but with a different method from what they were used to.

The new year is an excellent time to get a reading done, to see what will be in store for you for the upcoming year. I hope you enjoy your reading!



Peace and Happiness




© 2010-2013 Faith M. McCann. Portions of this blog posting may include materials from my book “Enchantments School for the Magickal Arts First Year Magickal Studies.” For more information, see www.enchantmentsschool.com or go to the title of tonight's discussion and click, it will link you to my school's website. Please note that the copying and/or further distribution of this work without express written permission is prohibited. 


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

Gratitude - In which direction should it be directed?

 Good Evening,

Happy New Year!! I hope you have had a lovely holiday season and are looking forward to an exciting and prosperous New Year ahead. Tonight I want to discuss with you .  .  .   gratitude.

I believe having gratitude for the blessings in our lives is a healthy concept to employ.  Yet there are times when it seems gratitude gets a bit skewed. That is, the direction in which it is expected to take. 

Do you do things for others and expect gratitude in return? Why? I believe the things we do for others should come  from a desire to simply do those things, and not from a place of expecting and wanting thanks in return. Now, don't get me wrong, getting thanks for your actions is always nice.  But doing things with that expectation and in some cases, not doing something because thanks wasn't received the first time, is a way to lower your vibrational energy.

That's right! We live, work, breath on a level or wave of vibrational energy, and the actions, thoughts and energy we send out can affect the frequency of that vibrational energy. 

For instance, do you send out holiday cards? Many people do. Do you compare who sends you cards and adjust the following year? I know people who do this. Why? Send out the cards to those whom you are thinking of and be grateful for those who send you cards. But to keep a check list of those who do and those who don't? This will result in a lowering of your vibrational energy.

Do you have a Facebook account? I often see people 'cleaning up' their Facebook accounts and deleting friends. Simply because some people don't interact with them as often as they feel they should.  What a waste of time and energy, in my opinion! One can have up to 5,000 friends on Facebook and to interact with all of them would be an impossibility, not to mention wasting time and vibrational energy!

Do you ever see people on the exits that hold up signs that say " homeless, poor, please help"? They are becoming more prevalent in these tough economic times. Many people say they don't give money to them, because 'they might use the money for drugs or alcohol', 'they make thousands of dollars doing this and don't need the money', etc. etc. When you give to someone, don't rationalize it on their part. It doesn't matter what they will do with that money, it really doesn't. It matters that you sent it out into the universe and that energy comes back to you and raises your vibrational energy frequency. If you're not inclined to help them initially, then don't. But .  .  .  if your first thought is to give them a few dollars, then you talk yourself out of doing so because you rationalize what they might do with the money, or how deserving they may be .  .  .  this is what we are talking about tonight.

Gratitude should be directed outward. It's not necessary to have it be returned. Although that energy will return back to you, perhaps from a source different from what you expect, but that's o.k. it doesn't have to come from the area where you sent your gratitude.

We can only control what we send out. We should not interfere with it's path back to us.



Peace and Happiness







© 2010-2013 Faith M. McCann. Portions of this blog posting may include materials from my book “Enchantments School for the Magickal Arts First Year Magickal Studies.” For more information, see www.enchantmentsschool.com or go to the title of tonight's discussion and click, it will link you to my school's website.

 Please note that the copying and/or further distribution of this work without express written permission is prohibited. If you know someone who would like my work, please send them this link. If you or they would like to be included on our daily email distribution list send me an e mail with your email address to be included. If you ever wish to unsubscribe to this blog, please contact me and you will be immediately removed from our list.

How to bring Abundance into your New Year's

 Good Evening,

 New Year's is just around the corner and so is the opportunity for sympathetic magick that can make your upcoming year financially prosperous and abundant while bringing in fresh, new energies into your life.

For centuries mankind has had all sorts of 'superstitions' concerning the New Year.  I find that it is in common superstitions where the ancient folk kept their sympathetic magick. Sympathetic magick is magick that has a correlation to what is seen or done.  For instance if a witch hops about a field of wheat on a broomstick, the higher she hops would indicate the height of the wheat when it's ripe.

In the instance of New Year's Day, the first day of the year is said to 'set the tone' for the rest of the year. That what you do or don't do on that day can make a difference in your upcoming year and whether it is successful or not. So with that in mind here are a few suggestions for making your upcoming year a great success!

Have any and all salt shakers in the house filled to the top. Have an abundance of bread and grain products in the house. Bread and salt both being ancient forms of currency and both, by having them, reflect on one's wealth and prosperity.

 New Year's Day, or the day before are great days for giving the house, especially the kitchen, a thorough cleaning. Eliminating any clutter and trash is also ideal for this day. Throw or give away that which no longer serves you.  This allows for fresh, clean energies to sweep through your home and, as such, your life.

Smudging your home or business in the beginning of the New Year can also eliminate stagnant, stale energies. Smudging helps remove unwanted energies from the past year, allowing new, fresh and abundant energies to enter. Redecorating, reorganizing or even moving furniture around into new, pleasing arrangements aid in bringing in a fresh, new air.

Have fresh flowers in your house for New Year's Day and NEVER eat leftovers on New Year's Day!!! Have a meal cooked fresh to start off your year right!

 It's an ancient superstition that on New Year's Day the first person over the threshold of the home would step over the threshold with their right foot and not their left foot. This would assure that prosperity and good fortune came into the home all the coming year. These are just a few simple suggestions to help you start off your New Year on the right foot!

Peace and Happiness!



© 2010-2012 Faith M. McCann. Portions of this blog posting may include materials from my book “Enchantments School for the Magickal Arts First Year Magickal Studies.” For more information, see www.enchantmentsschool.com or go to the title of tonight's discussion and click, it will link you to my school's website. Please note that the copying and/or further distribution of this work without express written permission is prohibited. 


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

A tragedy that has touched us all . . .

Dear Magickal Reader,

Here in Southern New England, Connecticut, we are saddened and grieving for the precious souls lost this past Friday in Newtown, CT.  As a witch, it is a tragedy such as this that makes me feel as if a bit of the maagickal has been taken from our world.  And, in the lives lost, of the children and those who took responsibility for them, it has been.

A magickal truth is, with all the spells, blessings, magickal stones, herbs, potions and candles we use everyday to affect magickal change in our lives, there still remains the sobering fact that bad things happen to good people in our world.  But it is important to understand that the victims and families of this tragedy DID NOT do anything that made this event 'karma returned'.  I don't personally believe death to be karmic return.

So many of us are affected by this tragedy, even if we don't personally know any of the people involved. Yet, they are part of our community, part of the 'human community' so even if you find yourself half way across the world you may very well be affected by these terrible events.  A feeling of helplessness is common as there is, honestly, little we can do to affect change in these instances. But, there is something I do every year, at Yuletide, 'my personal holiday tradition' that I want to share with you, as it seems especially relevant this year, at this time.

Thank the first responders in your community.  It's simple to do, and it means so much. Not only to them, but I personally find it feeds my soul.  I started my personal holiday tradition several years ago, and I want to share it with you now.  Many years ago, we needed to call 911 and thankfully the first responders were at our door in a matter of a few minutes or so.  Every year since, on Christmas Eve, I spend an hour or so delivering plates of home made cookies to the first responders in my town. I bring a plate of cookies to each fire house, to the police department, one plate for the officers and one for the dispatch room, and also the emergency room at our local hospital and ambulance company.

I try to keep in mind, this time of year, when we are with our families, celebrating and enjoying good food and company, that the first responders are there for us.  Sleeping in their fire houses, patrolling our streets in their police cruisers, manning the phones in the police station, working in the emergency room, away from their families and friends and distant from all the festivities. Yet, they are steadfastly there, waiting and ready to respond, should we have an emergency regardless of the holiday, time of year, time of day or night. They are there for us.

It's a small thing that takes a few minutes of your time, the passing of a plate of cookies from your hand to another and a heartfelt thank you! This year, in light of recent horrible events, it seems even more important for me to continue my 'personal holiday tradition'.  I share it with you and hope that you might like to do something similar in your town. I know it makes me feel less helpless, and as I said earlier, it 'feeds my soul'.

I wish you a holiday of peace and happiness.


Ms. Faith






© 2010-2012 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.

Can you make me a witch? . . . please?

  Good Evening,

I hope you are having a fun and exciting holiday season! I know it can be a bit hectic, frantic and crazy!!!! But just remember to think of all the blessings you have in your life and it will make it easier and less stressful. That's what I do!

Tonight I address a question that has been put to me many times. Can a witch make someone else a witch? Hmmmmm? Well, to answer this we must first travel back into ancient history and walk our ways back to the present time. Many things happened long ago that no longer apply today, and being 'made' a witch is one of them.

You see in ancient times, the legend goes that to be made a witch, either male or female, you needed to be made such by a witch, most notably a high priest or priestess and the doing so consisted of the following:

A female would be made a witch by taking part in a special ceremony or ritual where she would have sex with a high priest! The same applied for a male, but he would have sex with a high priestess! Oh my!!

TODAY .  .  .  THIS IS NO  LONGER THE CASE!  Seriously, nowadays it's a bit different, but let me continue our walk back from ancient times .  .  . 

Then, after several generations or centuries things changed and in recent history, including my own history, one could be 'made' a witch by another witch in a ceremony where they named you a witch and walked you along a path, proclaiming you as a witch to the watchtowers or elemental guardians. These elemental guardians are the spirits of the North, East, South and West, respectively.

Yet, today things are different. No one needs to proclaim you to be a witch. You only need to call yourself one for it to be so. Simply that. The reason I say this is because most who follow this path know themselves to be a witch long before they learn from another, most following a solitary practice.  Does solitary practice invalidate one's self claimed witchdom? Only those on a personal power trip would say so today. 

Yes, yes, I know I anger some by stating this, but I believe it to be so. There are those who would have the world of the witch be an elitist, "only certain people are entitled world", when nothing could be further from the truth. ANYONE can be a witch, they have only to want it to be so and to practice the 'wonders of witchery'.

AND NO!!!!! We NO LONGER require any sex, whatsoever to be performed in the circle. The circle is the ritual space where coveners (same meaning as congregants) come together to worship and share fellowship with one another.  Religious practice was very different in ancient times for ALL religions still around today, not just witch craft.  Note * Witch craft was practiced in religious ways long before Wicca was assigned as a religion in the early 1950's.  Witches came together, danced and worshiped in a circle and did things that today we see and understand as being part of Wicca, the 'religion of the witches' for a very long time now lost to history.  The legends and lore I speak of comes from this ancient of times. 

Today you are a witch if you deem it so.  I can't 'make' you a witch. I do however, after being asked by so many of my students past and present, to, in some way, proclaim them a witch, perform a ceremony at graduation from classes at Enchantments (classes are taken for a year and a day and then, if the student passes all tests, quizzes and exams given, they graduate) where I walk the student along a path and introduce them to the watchtowers as a witch and priestess or priest.  This does not give them clergy status, it simply reaffirms what they have already found to be so in their hearts and souls. That they are witches and work to serve the Goddess and the God.  Many find this to be as a graduation ceremony and we hold a feast afterwards to celebrate and socialize. 

So, to answer the question put forth at the beginning of this discussion, I can't make you a witch .  .  .  but I will recognize the witch within you and help you along your path of self discovery and study.


Peace and Happiness



© 2010-2012 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.

Do witches celebrate Christmas?

Glad Tidings to you!,

The holiday season is upon us! Fa la la la la .  .  .  la la la la   ♫♪♪♫♪♪♫  Again I am addressing questions that are posed to me this time of year, and the latest is "Do witches celebrate Christmas?"  yes, yes we do. In our own witchy way.  You see, once upon a time, in ancient times, Christmas was called Yule.  You may have heard of the Yule log, which still retains it's ancient name. 

We had a Yule tree which is now called the Christmas tree. We hung Mistletoe and brought greenery into the home to help dispel the harsh bleakness of the cold winter months. At one time many, many candles were lit to bring the light back during the dark months and today we still hang pretty lights to add to the celebration of the Yuletide season.

What? You say that you do all of these things today while celebrating Christmas? Well, of course you do! You see Christmas is just the modern equivalent of Yule.  There's very little difference as far as this witch is concerned.

The main focus of the season?  Christians celebrate the birth of the Son of God, Witches and Pagans celebrate the the re-birth of the Sun. The point? Everyone can celebrate the focus of their choosing. We all still have a holiday feast, the gathering of friends and family, the exchange of gifts and actually we share more things in common than apart.

Many people get uptight this time of year because people wish one another 'Happy Holidays' instead of 'Merry Christmas' .  .  .  sigh. Really?   Isn't it nice that someone wishes you a pleasant and thoughtful greeting of good tidings? Do we really need to get uptight about what the wording is? My, my. There is so much in our world today that we can get upset about .  .  .  war, starvation, homelessness, sickness just to name a few. Many of us find ourselves to be very fortunate.  I personally light a candle just about everyday and thank the Goddess for the blessings in my life.

It doesn't bother me how people choose to celebrate the holidays or even if the choose not to. Isn't that one of the perks about being alive in today's society. We, as adults, get to choose.  I respect others choices and then go about making my own decisions on what to celebrate and how to recognize the season. 

So whether you call it Christmas, Yule, Hanukkah, Kwanza or something else, I wish you a happy and healthy one and I hope you enjoy the holiday season.


Peace and Happiness







© 2010-2012 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.

What is being a witch all about?

Good Evening,

I'm asked questions about what I do all the time,  about what witches do, what we are, how we view things. I thought tonight I would answer some of those questions, the best I can. Of course, let me say first and foremost that I can only speak from my perspective. Truly, each witch is different from another.

For me being a witch is being authentic about who I am, and what I do. I know that what I do is not evil, illegal or in anyway wrong, so I do not speak about what I do in whispers or covertly. I do not lace my speech with archane language, unusual verbiage or strange words which are designed to confuse and create awe. I answer questions clearly and with the intent of helping the asker understand what it is we do.

Anyone can be a witch. It is not for the 'gifted', 'special' or 'chosen few'.  Yes! I did say that! Anyone can be a witch. Plenty will be upset because I said that, but I care not! Frankly there's an elitist attitude starting to creep into modern day Witchcraft and it is only messing things up for people, and I find it foolish at best. But enough of that, back to what being a witch is all about.

Being a witch, to me, is about loving and revering nature.  Honoring the moon and sun, respecting the land, the waters and the sky.  Are we tree huggers? Sure, some of us definitely are. But there are witches in corporate America as well.

I use natural ingredients such as essential oils, herbs, resins, minerals, crystals, candles and powdered wood to bring in wanted natural energies or to banish unwanted energies. 

I try to be as honest with myself as I can be. I try to respect myself and others and allow others to have differing opinions from mine, without getting an attitude or passing judgment against them.

I celebrate by the moon and can't look upon her without my breath catching and a comfort seeping into my soul.  I honor the Goddess and the God on a daily basis and give them thanks for all the blessings in my life.

I seek to find acceptance for all that is around me, even if it's not my choice or desire. I don't have to like something, to condone it to accept that it is.  If there is something in my world that I find I cannot accept, I seek to change it by changing myself and how I interact with it. I've learned that I can't change anyone else, but I can change myself.  That's truly magickal!

Being a witch, to me, is about finding happiness in my day to day life and using nature to help me do this.

Peace and Happiness



© 2010-2012 Faith M. McCann. Portions of this blog posting may include materials from my book “Enchantments School for the Magickal Arts First Year Magickal Studies.” For more information, see www.enchantmentsschool.com or go to the title of tonight's discussion and click, it will link you to my school's website. Please note that the copying and/or further distribution of this work without express written permission is prohibited. 

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

A Happy Magickal Thanksgiving to you all!

Good Evening,

I wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving!  People have asked if we, witches, celebrate Thanksgiving. We certainly do! As a matter of fact our three Autumn Sabbats, Lughnasadh (August 1st), Mabon (September 21-24), and Samhain (November 1st) are all harvest celebrations. Harvest celebrations are by definition Thanksgiving feast days, celebrating the abundance and bounty of the harvest.

There is also a bit of sympathetic magick to be found in a feast day like Thanksgiving. By having plenty of food, an over abundance actually, is meant to symbolically stand for an abundance of food throughout the winter months.  Nowadays, abundance, which at one time meant plenty of food and shelter, warmth and clothing, now stands for wealth in general.

So modern witches celebrate Thanksgiving much as everyone else does. We celebrate with good food, plenty of it!! Celebrating with family and friends.  I also like to burn a candle, a love candle for the love of family and friends,  and to give thanks to the Goddess for the blessings I find in my life everyday. For the family I have, the friends I have been gifted with and the love and abundance I find in my life.


Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!


Peace and Happiness




© 2010-2012 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.

Using 'Cat Magick' to aid your day to day life!

 Good Evening,

Tonight's discussion must first and foremost start with a big hello and thank you to my friends Janet Farrar and Gavin Bone in Ireland. For it was Lady Janet who gave me the magickal information that I will impart to you this evening.  Both Janet and Gavin are world renowned authors of many books on Wicca, magick and magickal workings. If you have a chance to read any of their books, I personally highly recommend it! Janet is also a lady who has a natural affinity for and a deep love of felines and knows more than anyone else I know abut these wonderful creatures, both magickal and practical. Here's a bit of magickal lore she shared with me when we visited this past summer.

Cat Magick. More specifically, how to use naturally shed cat whiskers and claws in your magickal workings. I myself am blessed with seven fabulous felines and come across naturally shed claws and whiskers on occasion. I've been of a mind to pick them up and save them, but I didn't know what to do with them, so when Janet and Gavin visited Enchantments this past August I asked her her thoughts on the matter.

She told me to use the cats whiskers, which are occasionally shed (keep a look out for them) and to place them in a small envelope or paper packet. I use a small zip lock baggie normally used for jewelry. Place the cats whisker in your vehicle, somewhere out of the way, in a glove box or center console. Leave it there. It will aid you in avoiding accidents and other mishaps "by a cat's whisker"!

If you already have one in your vehicle and your cats gift you with others, make a gift out of them for loved ones.  You can't have too much traffic/travel safety magick, especially in New England in the winter time!

The other naturally shed item from your feline friends are claws. They naturally scratch to remove old claws and reveal newer, sharper claws on a regular basis. You will find cats claws much more readily than whiskers. You can use these in your magickal workings to help you climb out of a difficult situation, "climb your way to the top" so to speak. Especially in very difficult circumstances. You can use them in spell mixes, pouches with other items such as stones, herbs and crystals. Place them in a small bowl on your altar or on a shelf where you keep your magickal tools and supplies.

A witch uses what nature places before her to help aid her in her magickal workings. In this matter, your cat can really be your familiar when you use the gifts it leaves for you, right under your nose or feet as the case may be!

Start looking closely for these gifts from your cat, save them and use them well.


Peace and Happiness


© 2010-2012 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.

How I spent my Halloween!

 Good Evening,

Well, Halloween (Samhain) was just wonderful this year. We had quite a scare with the hurricane that threatened to ruin the Halloween celebrations AGAIN this year.  If you remember, last year it was a Halloween snow storm that ruined it. But where we are in central CT, we luckily got our power back by Tuesday evening and Wednesday went off very well.

You might have wondered, what a witch does on Halloween? Well, I can only tell you what it is that I do, and I have a lot of fun doing it!  I celebrate the children on this holiday. I love the energy that comes from little ones dressing up and enjoying a holiday that has its origins as far back in time as 5,000 years ago. 

My witches cottage is located in a residential neighborhood with lots of houses, children, people and pets.  There's approximately 80 - 100 houses in our small neighborhood which makes for many children, and even more that come to our neighborhood for the bountiful trick or treat candy haul.

In front of my cottage I have an old cast iron cauldron, that weighs a hundred pounds or more on a tripod. I have little red, orange and yellow lights fixed underneath the cauldron with handfuls of sticks carefully placed on top, which gives the effect of a small fire burning under the large iron cauldron.  I have large spotlights affixed with red bulbs which light up the entire area with an eerie red glow.

Into the cauldron I put some warm water and have a bunch of dry ice chips nearby. Also at hand are some 'tasty' rubber snakes, rats and spiders. Some years I can find some gelatinous fake eyeballs to use also. This makes for my witches stew. Then I start practicing my cackle and I sit in a chair by the cauldron with a big stirring stick and await the first trick or treaters.

As they come up my walk, princesses, bat men, and cowboys clutching their precious candy bags or plastic pumpkins they spy me and sing out the expected "trick or treat" chorus that is expected to get some candy loot. But the witch stirring the cauldron doesn't respond to the song. Instead she's busy stirring the pot, with wisps of smoke flowing out from the cauldron and being illuminated in the eerie red light. She grabs a tail of a rubber rat and dangles it in front of the little costumed monsters and asks them "Do you want some of my witches stew? The rats are quite tasty" and then she grabs a handful of dangling snakes "and the snakes quite delicious!"  This is met with "ewwww's" mainly from little girls. Many little boys say "yes!" I would like some!"


"Ah," the witch continues "but, they're just a bit underdone. Hmmm, well , we can't be serving guests raw snakes or rats, that's just not polite."  "Well, now what can I possibly give you?" she asks, then notices the sacks being held open in silent appeal.

"well, what have you got there?" she inquires. "What's in your bags?"

"Candy!" comes the response.

"Oh Candy! Chocolate!" the witch exclaims. "Well, I had an elf that came around a while ago and left me a whole bunch of chocolate and candy. Would you .    .   .    you wouldn't like that would you?" she asks doubtfully.

"YES!!" "CANDY", "TRICK OR TREAT" are all  responses she hears throughout the night. And into the candy sacks and pumpkins goes a small bag filled with chocolate treats.  Many parents ask for a picture to be taken, and I sit before my cauldron and hear the children as they continue on their candy quest

"This is my favorite house every year!" " Mine too!" " You know .  .  .  She's a real witch!"

This year we had 56 children come to the witch's cauldron and get a candy treat. Afterwards I serve a dinner for just ourselves or sometimes for a few friends that is made up of appetizers and hor d' oeuvres, punch and party foods to keep with the spirit of the occasion.

Halloween or Samhain, whatever you call it, is a sacred holiday. But as such, a sacred holiday does not mean it must be somber, quiet, reverent and boring or sad. It's a celebration. On one side of the coin we celebrate the loved ones who have passed on into their next life, and on the other we celebrate the life we have here. And children are the best example of life on earth that we have!

I hope you had a Happy Samhain!


Peace and Happiness



© 2010-2012 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.

Happy Samhain!

 Happy Samhain!

I'm writing this discussion a few days early with the Hurricane called Sandy threatening our state and our power, so I thought to get it on-line earlier than later.  Today I want to discuss Samhain, pronounced Sow-wen.  This sacred holiday on our Wheel of the Year (our Pagan Calendar) that falls every year on November 1st.

Samhain is the third and last harvest of the year, the first being August 1st (Lughnasadh), the second being the Fall or Autumnal Equinox (Mabon) which falls between September 20 and 24th.  The ancients depended on the harvest for survival as any food they had was what they harvested from the field and stored away for the upcoming year.

This is also a sacred holiday where we remember the dead. We remember and honor our ancestors and loved ones who have passed away. A way to honor your ancestors and loved ones who are no longer with us is to have a plate of food during your dinner on Samhain Eve and place the plate in a place of honor on your dinner table, I place mine, right in the middle of the table. No one eats from this plate and it is filled with all the wonderful food everyone is enjoying.

November first also has the distinction of being the Pagan New Year's Day. That's right, it's the first day of our year and as such has sacred, special energies for starting new endeavors, planning for the upcoming year and it's the celebration of another year over and a new one to begin!  Most people put all of the emphasis on October 31st when in fact November 1st is truly the most special of days for Pagans!

On a special note, if you are in any area that is threatened by Hurricane Sandy please be smart and stay safe. Many people have asked me about spells to thwart, divert or stop a storm and while I do believe and also perform weather magick I assure you that with a storm like a hurricane, especially this one, there is nothing to be done except wait for Mother Nature to be done with her business. While weather magick can be done for small weather systems, this storm is reported to be over 1,000 miles across and very strong. Stay inside, evacuate if required of your area, and do what is necessary to get through this unharmed. Be careful of burning candles indoors and never leave a lit candle unsupervised, most especially around children and pets.

Be Safe and Blessed Be!


Peace and Happiness



© 2010-2012 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 History of Halloween this Friday Night at MCC!

 Good Morning!

This is a picture of how I spent my day yesterday. I walked with friends in the Breast Cancer Walk held in Hartford, CT in Bushnell Park. There had to be a couple of thousand people at the walk and a great time was had by many if not all. I wore my witch hat, sadly the only one I saw the entire day, but many people said hi to the witch, adults and children alike.  Several people asked to take my picture and the friend I was with took one also, and here it is!

Well, this week is shaping up to be a busy week for a witch. I start it by speaking with a group of children at a local library about witches and who we are and what we do. I try to emphasize to children that witches are not mean or ugly nor do they mean to harm or hurt anyone, children included. I tell them witches can be pretty, happy, fun and good.

On Friday, October 26th at 6 pm I will be conducting a 'History of Halloween' PowerPoint presentation at Manchester Community College and I hope you can make it! The presentation is two hours long from 6 to 8 pm and will be held in room GPA GP232 in the Great Path Academy part of the college.

I start the presentation with a short parody of William Shakespeare's Macbeth which shows how people, even today, still perceive witches to be, cackling, evil, cauldron stirring hags. Then we go into a PowerPoint show that covers the ancient and mysterious origins of Halloween, a holiday that is still celebrated today over 5,000 years past its first murky beginnings.

You will learn in the presentation that the History of Halloween is really the history of the witch and as such, the history of the woman. We also discuss, black cats, bats, pumpkins and trick or treat! Registration to attend this presentation is required and a fee of $20 is payable to the college. To register over the phone for this class please call 860-512-3232 and have a credit card handy. The course number you will need to register is CRN#31876.

On Saturday October 27th I will be conducting a Samhain celebration at Enchantments at 6 pm, followed by a ritual feast where everyone brings a dish to share and then we will conclude the evening with a seance, speaking with the ghosts of Enchantments. Oh, didn't you know Enchantments was haunted? Oh yes! There are several spirits that inhabit the old Victorian Home that now houses Enchantments School for the Magickal Arts and Witch Shop. You will meet some of them Saturday night, that is .  .  .  if you dare!  If you plan to attend, and are not a student of Enchantments Magickal Studies Program, please call me at 860-791-6033 to make reservations as this ritual and feast will be held indoors and we have limited space and seating.

I am getting excited for Samhain, (Halloween) are you?

Peace and Happiness



© 2010-2012 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.

Do Green Faced Witches Offend you? This witch's opinion

Good Evening,

'Tis the Season .  .  .  of the Witch! Although, truthfully I feel every season is our season, but hey, that's just me!  This time of year, with Halloween nearing, I hear all sorts of comments regarding witches. Some comments come from non magickal people and others from like-minded magickal, pagan and witch.  I was recently in Salem Mass and heard a story regarding a green faced witch.

It seems a little girl was walking the streets of Salem with her mother and she was dressed as a witch complete with a green face. She was approached by a real witch, one quite well known in town. The little girl was given a serious lecture by said witch on how wrong it was to have a green face.  That it was insulting and wrong to portray witches like this. The little girl became upset and started to scrub at her face to remove the green. Poor thing.

I officially call, NONSENSE! A few points I would like to comment on. Firstly, the little girl may have been portraying a witch but she was still, without question, a little girl. Now, she's a little girl that I assure you will always remember, and not too fondly, that encounter with a 'real' witch. I only hope she doesn't have nightmares about it! Secondly, there is a time and place  for teaching, .  .  .  anything. That was not the time or the way to get that lesson across to that little girl and her mother. Not in my opinion. My, wouldn't it have been a different scenario if that Salem witch had taken the time to tell the little girl she was a real witch, which she might well have done, but then to have answered her questions, talked to her about magick, tell her  how witches are pretty with any skin color and had then left her with a happy experience. Ah, but it was not to be. I only hope that little girl grows up to learn and understand that even if one is a famous 'real' witch that not everything one says is necessarily true for everyone.

I would also like to address the 'Green Faced Witch' debate I've seen bantered about every year around this time. I look at the green faced witch differently than some. Yes, there is the famous Wicked Witch of the West portrayed by Ms. Margaret Hamilton in the classic Hollywood movie 'The Wizard of Oz', and its a given she was green faced and evil to the core.  This is what many think of when they see the green-faced witch. But some of us, have a different image in mind. When I see a green faced witch I think of the 'Green Witch', the magickal herbalist, and the Hedge Witch, all ancient versions of the modern witch today.  I mean let's look at the image of the witch around Halloween. We see children and adults dress in the witches conical hat and carry brooms around Samhain, Halloween and many wear the 'look', not being real witches and not understanding of our ways and most do not take offense. I think we can look at the green face and be as understanding about it as we are about other things pertaining to witches.

I personally will attest to the fact that not ALL real witches are nice, peasant or even good at heart. We are just like any other group or demographic. Some are very nice, sweet and good to the core and others are mean, rude and just not nice. Every group has its spectrum of people ranging from one extreme to the other. How we treat others, whether witch or not, really speaks of our character and what makes us who we are. 

It's really up to us if we choose to be offended, and being offended is most definitely a choice. I choose to use some opportunities to help educate people, again when the time and place are appropriate and at other times I choose to go about my life and pick the battles I have a shot at wining. But the times I choose not to pick a battle I don't get all huffy about it and allow that negative energy to affect my day or to affect others around me. It's all a choice, most of the time. I like to make the choices that benefit my life and also respect that others can choose differently and that has to be O.K.


Peace and Happiness





© 2010-2012 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 Witch's Hat ~ a bit of legend and lore

Good Evening,

Tonight we will discuss the witch's pointy hat and what it may mean. Many recognize the witch's hat with its wide brim and long pointed center. As a matter of fact the witch's hat is thought by some to be the most recognized head wear through out history. Everyone from the smallest child recognizes it and knows it to belong to the witch.

But has it always belonged to the witch? Many ancient cultures have examples of tall, pointed hats in their history with the 'princess hat' or 'hennin' being a popular ladies fashion accessory in the 15th century, which had no brim and at times tied under the chin to keep it secure.

There are many symbolic claims to the witches hat I have heard over the years, one being it is a representation of the male/female union. The brim represents the female genitalia and the pointed center the male member.  The two worn together in the traditional witch's hat bring together the male/female creative energy that creates all of creation.  You see this male/female combination repeated in many areas of witchcraft for instance our pentacle. The pentacle has the five pointed star representative of the male surrounded by a circle, the female energy. Even the practical mortar and pestle has a male/female designation with the mortar (the bowl being female, the vessel) and the pestle (the grinder) being male.

Ancient Roman Priests wore conical hats in ritual and ceremony, and some anthropologists speak of cave paintings that seem to depict pointed hats or perhaps horns worn by ancient cave dwellers.  In ancient times it was the sign of intelligence and wisdom and in more modern times the pointed brimless hat was worn and seen as a dunce cap by unruly children in early 20th century schools. 

Few witches today wear the witches hat except around Samhain, Halloween. I personally love the witches hat and like wearing it along with my cloak in the fall time.  I will admit to getting unusual stares and the occasional whisper of 'witch' as I walk by, but I am. A witch that is. I like wearing traditional witches garb and with owning my own witch shop I can often get away with it!

Not everyone is comfortable dressing year round as a witch, but now is the season you can dress witchy and enjoy it. For .  .  .  'tis the season  .  .  .  of the witch!


Peace and Happiness 











© 2010-2012 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.

Victim of a Crime? Empower yourself with Magick!

 Good Evening,

If you read my discussions regularly you know I tend to be optimistic, happy and a pretty upbeat witch, at least I try to be! But as my blog description states, I want to share with you all the witchy things that happen to me. Or the witchy ways I deal with the real world. Tonight's discussion is a bit more sobering but I am sharing as I hope it may help you should you ever find yourself the victim of a crime.

Just a few night's ago, my witch shop Enchantments was broken into by thieves.  They kicked in the door and busted the door frame out. They stole the money out of the cash register and fled into the night. Luckily the cats, who are barricaded upstairs, were not hurt and nothing was destroyed except the door frame.

It was a decidedly un-magickal moment for me.  I came into work the next morning with a girl that helps me in the shop and we found the evidence of the break-in. We did the typical thing, called the police, made a report ,cleaned up the mess and arranged for the door to be fixed that afternoon.  As anyone who has experienced a break-in could tell you, it leaves you in a funky, unnerved, and uncomfortable place. But that's where my magick comes in.

I had class that morning, as I teach Magickal Studies to adult students on Saturday mornings and this was Saturday morning.  So as we were planning on doing a ritual for the full moon, I modified the ritual from our typical full moon ritual and made it into a protection spell ritual. 

Let me share with you some of the things we added to our circle in case you wish to do a spell like this for yourself. By the way, a protection ritual can be done before any harm comes to you or your property. It most assuredly should be done after an event also. By doing this ritual it had a two-fold affect. One it sent out strong protection magick around Enchantments thus preventing any other attempted break-ins.

Two, it helped to balance and center me and those associated with us that morning, as everyone felt a bit violated that 'their' place had been so shabbily treated.  I cast a simple circle, you may cast one as you normally would.

Then I held hands with two female students (it is believed the most powerful force in the universe is three witches or women working together. I read this once and it has always resonated within me as truth) and we sent a blue sphere of protective energy out from our bodies that started in our throat chakras and flowed down our left arms, moving deosil around the circle and up our right arms, and when it was strong enough we pushed it out of our bodies and out around the Enchantments building.  I must give credit for this circle casting with blue energy to Ms. Janet Farrar and  Mr. Gavin Bone. They taught this method to me the last seminar they conducted at Enchantments and I personally find it to be very powerful and effective!

Normally this blue field of energy is pulled back in after the circle work is finished but we left it out there to do its job of keeping the harm away. Eventually it will dissipate as all energy will wane, but we will reinforce it and continue to keep the protective circle strong.

I spoke with the Goddess and asked her to protect Enchantments from further harm and to prevent further break-ins. 

I then lit a smudge stick and we smudged each other and then the ritual room of Enchantments then took the smudge outside. Starting in the North, we acknowledged each Guardian of each element and asked them specifically to aid us in protecting Enchantments. We walked deosil around the building, sticking to the perimeter, stopping at each compass point, speaking to the Guardians of that direction and moved around until we were back in the North again.

Then the store of Enchantments was very well smudged and a few windows were opened to allow the smudge to slowly dissipate.  We then went upstairs and concluded the ritual and ended the class for the day. I felt more balanced and less stressed afterwards.

That is what magick is really all about. Manifesting needed change in your life. Bad things sometimes do happen, that's Life, but a witch takes that situation and makes it an opportunity to magickally make a difference. That's what I did.

Magick can and will empower you. I don't like the term 'victim' because to me it sounds voluntary.  I may have experienced a break in and theft, but I'll be damned if I'll let it get me down and ruin my outlook on life. I love life and people and I believe most people are generally good at heart. I honestly hope the person that stole the money needed it for food and was able to eat that day and the next with the cash they stole.

But, with the spells cast around Enchantments and the future spells we will cast, I don't believe it will happen again.

And, I hope you never experience a crime, but if you do, I hope you find something magickal and practical in this discussion that you can use to help empower you!


Peace and Happiness


© 2010-2012 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.

'Tis the Season . . .

Good Evening!

What a wonderful, full, busy weekend I have had! I have spent this past weekend with the lovely weather and still long days decorating my yard for Autumn and for the upcoming Samhain season, also known as Halloween!

Mums and pumpkins are coming out in the markets now and are beautiful and plentiful. I took some Zebra Grass, which grows as a perennial in my yard each year and needs to be cut down in the fall, and wrapped it around my lamppost out front and it looks a lot like cornstalks, only prettier and not as messy.

I then tackled a project I had seen on the Internet and wanted to try. Cute little ghosties dancing in a circle that you place on your front lawn. It took me a couple of hours to make eight ghosts and then a few minutes to put them in place, but the results are worth the time. I will, closer to Samhain, put a bundle of tiny lights, orange and purple, in a mock fire in the center of the ghost dancers and run an extension cord to an outdoor outlet.

It was a very busy weekend, but rewarding and I hope the weather stays mild so I can continue to decorate and add a bit of theater to my yard in preparation for the little ghosties and goblins that will come to my door this Samhain eve, begging for candy. I often get between 80 and 100 trick or treaters and, as last year we were robbed of Halloween at least in Southern New England when a freak snow storm plunged us into darkness for two weeks, I am really ready for the festivities this year!

Here are some photos of the work I've done so far. I'll continue to post photos as the decorating progresses over the next several weeks. Happy Holiday decorating to you!

© 2010-2012 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.

Happy Mabon!

Good Evening,

Tomorrow, Saturday September 22nd, we all get to experience Mabon also know as the Fall or Autumnal Equinox. I say experience rather than celebrate because the Equinoxes like the Solstices happen whether we celebrate them or not!

What's going to happen tomorrow is a natural event that happens twice a year. The daylight hours and hours of darkness will be of equal length, that is, 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of darkness.

In the springtime when this happens, each day afterwards, the daylight hours get slightly longer until we reach the peak or zenith of daylight hours on the Summer Solstice around June 21st. When the Equinox happens in the fall the opposite happens, which is, we will get slightly more darkness each day until we reach the longest night, shortest day of the year around December 21st which we call the Winter Solstice.

This division of daylight, nighttime hours made a pretty big deal back when we were all farmers and our world was largely agricultural. The pagan Wheel Of The Year that modern pagans still follow is actually an ancient agricultural calendar created by the ancient Celtic peoples of ancient Europe.

Today, with modern electrical lighting, man created heat sources, refrigeration and such we don't follow the times of the year as precisely as the ancients did. We simply don't need to. We have food sources available year round in our modern supermarkets, and we create a summer like atmosphere indoors year round. Although in New England we follow the seasons primarily because they happen and affect us whether we want them to or not! Some people like winter, some of us do not. But in Southern New England 'Winter Happens'!

For modern pagans, few of us need to harvest the grains from the fields to survive the winter, and thankfully so! But we can still recognize the Sabbat of Mabon by how it metaphorically manifests in our lives. This is what I mean. What 'seeds' have you planted in the last year? By seeds I mean, what ideas, concepts, promises and goals have you made or set down for yourself? Many in our culture typically do this around New Year's Eve and call them New Year's resolutions. As pagans many of us do this same thing around the Sabbats of Imbolc and Ostara. Following the agricultural theme, I call these ideas 'seeds' that we are to plant, nurture, tend, weed and eventually harvest when they come to full growth.

If you had 'planted your seeds' earlier in the year, how are the ideas you had for yourself coming along? Have you been nurturing your concepts, doing what needs to be done to bring them to fruition so that they can be harvested? If not, no worries, the Wheel Of The Year is a yearly calendar and new seeds or the same seeds can be re-planted and worked on again for next year. Next year is right around the corner, you know.

For me, I planted seeds of happiness, satisfaction and love. These are concepts I always feel I can have more of in my life and tomorrow I plan on 'harvesting' those feelings by celebrating with like-minded folks and friends and enjoying the bounty of the harvest with a Mabon feast and then socializing with others as some walk the Labyrinth. For me the celebration of each Sabbat brings a deep, spiritual satisfaction and being with others of like mind brings me happiness. Now is also a good time to start thinking about what 'seeds' we may wish to plant in just a few months time.

I wish you a bountiful, happy and healthy Mabon Sabbat!



Peace and Happiness





© 2010-2012 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.

Meet me in Salem, Mass for my lecture on the 1692 witch trials!

Good Evening,

It is that time of year again, Halloween is just around the corner, and I'm planning my annual pilgrimage to Salem, Massachusetts, and you are cordially invited!

Our trip to Salem takes place this year on Sunday, October 7th and I plan on meeting everyone at noon at the 1692 Victim's memorial adjacent to the 'Old Burying Ground'. My lecture will cover the high points of the Summer and Fall of 1692 which consisted of the witch trials and hangings that took place.

I have personally studied and researched the witch trials of that fateful year for over 30 years now and I like to re-tell the story with interesting facts that bring this story to life over 300 years later.

After my lecture I conduct a small memorial ceremony where we remember those 20 victims who lost their lives in 1692. The Victim's Memorial park has benches, one for each victim that lost their lives with their respective names and dates of execution carved into the stone bench. During the ceremony we have one person stand before each bench and at the sound of a bell the name is read aloud and a flower is placed on the bench. It is a solemn ceremony that brings to life the tragedy of lives lost for very little reason save for hysteria, fear and ignorance.

After the lecture and ceremony at the Victim's Memorial we all go to a lovely restaurant for lunch and then many of us go to Pickering Wharf to shop the real witch shops run by real witches! It's a beautiful location and the day tends to be a beautiful one also.

I truly hope you can come on our trip with us. If you wish to, please meet me at the 1692 Victim's Memorial Park at noon on October 7th, 2012. For those with GPS punch in 2 New Liberty Street, Salem, MA. This is the Visitor's Center. You can park in the parking garage right next to the Visitor's Center. Be sure to stop at the Visitor's Center for a street map of Salem, and the Victim's memorial is just two blocks South from the Visitor's center. I look forward to seeing you there!


© 2010-2012 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.