Lost in Religion

Am I slowly becoming an Atheist?

I have done so much research into so many religions, and still need to do more of course, and thought I found Wicca to be mine, but it's not really.  I hardly follow any of the holidays of esbats and my alter is in complete shambles.

Perhaps it is from pure laziness, but I think structured religion of any sort isn't for me.  I can feel the spirituality of the earth and plants, but I feel like I waste too much energy trying to connect.  I rather focus on my art and make it my religious experience.

by Purnima Koli

With this lack of motivation in keeping a traditional Wiccan calendar I think I need to stop wasting my energy looking for spirituality and just let it happen naturally though my art.  This could be a newfound magick for me, perhaps I just need to stop neglecting it.

I know there are witches out there who have no religious connection, perhaps this is the path for me, considering there is nothing invalid about perusing your art and making a soulful connection to the world, I find a special solace rather than panic in evolving my perspective on the many paths people take spiritually.

Honestly, the words, the practice, the calendar never sat well with me, but I tried and explored, however I feel hallow when I shallowly try and have decided to let my heart take me where I should be.

I will not stop posting, but the journey has changed.

Spontaneous or Structured Rituals

by Fer Doirich

I really do try to plan for a ritual, but life doesn't always give me enough time to go through the entire process I like.  My process may differer from others, but if I really have the time this is my process:

1. I prepare all of my tools, herbs, oils and whatever else I need.

2. Take a shower and visualize the water cleansing me.  You can rub with salt, but I use a nice organic soap and it doesn't irritate my skin.

3. I put on some loose fitting clothes.  I live in an urban area so I can't exactly go skyclad.

4. I try to go outside and do my ritual, but sometimes the weather doesn't permit.

5. I then ground myself, Ariel has a great meditation for this, #26 Lesson 2 (A)

6. Lastly, cast circle and I preform my ritual.

by Nyo

Sometimes I skip one or two steps, but I always try to ground myself so I'm not up for the next week bubbling with energy.  I remember my first Esbat and I did not ground myself, I was up for a week beeming with energy, but I was so tired.

I really do try to plan out most of my rituals, mainly because I like to make an effort.  There are only 21 rituals a year, unless I decide to do a spell.  I haven't really done any spells lately, I haven't the need, really I just need to work on my mundane life mundanely.

Going through the effort is a sign of respect to the dieties, directions and any other enities called upon.  I'm inviting them to my ritual, being prepared is just curtious.  It would be just rude to throw it together last minitue and hope for even an average expierence.

How do you prepare for your ritiuals?

Skeptoid Energy Work

I heard this on Skpetoid about how energy is a measurement of work, not just a label for anything unexplained.


Although he is very critical of New Age practices and many other spiritual findings, I do see how the Pagan community and people in general misuse the word energy.  He uses a great example as to how to test using the word energy appropriately:


"Here's a good test. When you hear the word "energy" used in a spiritual or paranormal sense, substitute the phrase "measurable work capability." Does the usage still make sense? Are you actually being given any information that supports the claim being made? Remember, energy itself is not the thing being measured: energy is the measurement of work performed or of potential"


My question is what can the Pagan community call this "energy" we work with so often to meditate, create spells, make wands, communicate desires and so much more?  I have a few ideas: will, spirit, higher self can be just a few samples to what the "energy" you work with is.


Even in his own commentary about his friend:


"A friend told me of her ability to perform minor healings, and her best explanation was that she drew energy from another dimension. "


If we just replace the word "energy" the word "dimensional spirit" it makes more sense and ignores the misuse of the word energy.  If the Pagan community wants to be taken seriously in our practices we have to use proper terms for what we are working with, energy just doesn't cut it for explaining what we do.


I personally believe I draw on the spirits of the earth, wind, water and fire when I call a circle.  Perhaps when I open my chakras I am connecting with my higher self to attune with my body.  While casting a spell I will it to happen.  Moving beyond the word energy is one of the steps to leading a scientific eye to our practices.


At this moment science may not be able to explain god, goddess or all the universe but if we don't open our doors to our thoughts they may never find out. 


  

Tarot: Hearing Voices

Last night around midnight I heard a distinct 'boo' in my dreams and woke up.  I could feel the breath on my face and my boyfriend woke up too.


After waking up from lack of sleep I decided to ask my Heart of Faerie Oracle deck if there was something in my room.

The first card I drew was:

The Faerie of Youth


How I interpreted this card was yes there was something in my room because I used to see things in my youth.  I remember about 2 years ago I heard another voice at my parents house and it scared the goddess out of me.  I don't know what it said, but it didn't sound nice.


This 'boo' sounded playful but malicious at the same time, like it didn't want me to sleep that night.


The second card I drew was:

 The Prince of Shadows


This card told me it was a negative entity and potentially dangerous.  I didn't feel any danger at the moment, but it's better to error on the side of caution.


The last card I drew was:

The Blessing


Since my boyfriend and I moved in to this small cottage I haven't preformed a cleansing or spread any salt around the property to keep the negative entities out.  This voice may be a warning for things to come if I don't take care of the cleansing soon.


This reminds me of the time I tried to help my sister with something hanging around our parents house. After salting, preparing stones like granite and such, she finally used her tarot cards to communicate with it.


I like tarot cards personally because they can be very detailed about your situation in particular.  The pendulum doesn't work too well for me, even though they are great for quick answers.  Which form of divination works best for you?

Litha, Summer Solstice, Summertime; Blessed Be

Hello summertime!  The kids are out, the harvest is set in the ground and the sun is high in the sky.


I did my first ritual in a while, but I love summer because it's warm and the sunshine.  I love sunny windy days because it is not too hot or cold.  It was a perfect day for the solstice ritual and I enjoyed every moment of it.


Of course when I burrowed through my supplies I realized I needed to restock lots of my herbs and oils, in light of that I decided to keep my ritual simple.


I cleansed myself in the shower using some handmade soap my sister makes, if she ever created an Etsy account I'll post her stuff, grabbed my iphone and headed out into the front yard with some bird seed.


I use the music on my phone to drown out the freeway nearby and the music was just perfect on Pandora.  I called my quarters sat down and just focused on how the earth felt against my whole body.  I thought about the sun and how it gives life to all the living things and how everything only lives because of cooperation.

The breeze felt so nice against my skin and I could help but relax in the rays.  I said a little thank you to the sun and gods who bring balance to the world around us, spreading the birdseed and hoping my plants would grow strong and healthy.


So many little buds were peeking out in my front yard, just beginning to see the sun and preform their photosynthesis.  I felt alive with the plants, like a plant, living off the sun.  I floated around in this feeling for a while, I had nowhere to go, until I felt my blessing was complete, closed the circle and continued with my day.


People forget how simple you can make a ritual sometimes, especially if you are in the city or just on the go.  I even forgot and I feel so rejuvenated.


On a side note I've joined a CSA and I'm sharing with another family.  It's amazing!


The strawberries are amazing, the eggs are all different colors.  The lettuce is so crisp, the potatoes, carrots and broccoli!  AMAZING!


I advise anyone who can join a CSA to join, not only are you supporting your local farmers, but the food is fresh that day you pick it up.  The name of the CSA is Live Earth Farm and if you are close enough I insist you join.

Happy Mabon!

Happy Mabon everyone!

I just did a short ritual today honoring Brigid, I know you're supposed to honor the god aspect, but I've been drawn to her and I thought this would be the perfect time to ask for her help with school and such.

I burned some oil I bought at Moonfyre Metaphysical, made by Sun's Eye Oils. Smells sweet and fruity, like a harvest I guess. I also wrote down what I wanted over this semester and I have a box to add all my assignments and research for Brigid to help me with.

I already have the drive to succeed, but a little help couldn't hurt.

I also did some card reading, one was for my X to see how he is doing and the other was about changing my major.

As far as I can tell my X is fine and I should just stick with my major of creative writing because I already am almost there.

I also found this great wine at Target, sweet and mellow Junebug, white wine, moscato. Really good.

I can't believe it's "fall", it's over 90 degrees here, ugh, my apartment is so HOT. Hope it cools down soon and I have use for my new sweaters!

Happy Mabon, blessed be!
Shadow Moon

Living on My Own To Focus

I swear I have artistic ADD; one day I want to paint, another I want to write, then I want to record a video. I can't finish anything and it leaves me frustrated.

Right now I'm working on a script with a friend and I can't seem to be motivated, mostly because of the material details and my unfamiliarity with them. The main character is a middle-aged-coming-out-of-the-closet-gay, who is married to a woman, and has a son. None of these facts apply to me, so I think I need my friend's help to bring the character out.

However, I do need to focus on school right now. I'm taking some child development classes, an art class, and sign language. I needed a break from all of my Creative Writing major stuff, most of it is boring anyway, and all of these classes will help keep my sanity and find a better job.

I don't want to be so dependent on my boyfriend, who is so sweet, but as a student I'm limited on everything. Kind of sucks really.

I have discovered I need to focus my energies so I'm not so scatterbrained. Meditation isn't one of my strong points, but even sitting down and writing in a journal of sorts would be good. Too many distractions.

I think I need to call on a solid god/dess for this semester. The first one coming to mind is Athena.

Last Summer, when I was alone and free, I called of Eris, fuck was that interesting, mostly because I had boundless energy, dated about 15-20 guys in July, made a bunch of videos, wrote. My ADD was booming but focused in a way, however it left me exhausted for the beginning of the school year. But life didn't fall apart until I quit my job and was so depressed my grades just fell like rocks.

I really just want to get out of school, in 2 years. I will talk to a counselor, I will find out if there are any alternative classes I can take, I will kick some ass, I will write my scrip and paint to keep my sanity. I will focus.

Blessed Be,
Shadow Moon

Life is Life

Merry Meet!

I know I haven't been writing for a while and here is why:

My mother is in the hospital for a long fight and neglect of her diabetes.
I finally broke up with my fiance and have been hanging out with friends more.
I have been focusing more on school.

So, honestly life has been very busy for me.

I really just want to talk about how weird everything if falling into place for me recently. Months ago I asked the Goddess for someone to share my spirituality openly with and soon after I broke up with my fiance one of my friends started asking me a bunch of questions about Wicca and my personal beliefs.

I was honestly shocked and perused the relationship further and have examined it carefully with meditation and some divination. Right now it looks as if we are meant to be partners in life's crimes and perhaps even into a romantic relationship. I'm really trying to keep it cool, but it's really difficult to do so when your brain is constantly thinking inappropriate thoughts. LoL.

I also have been offered a head writing job with my friends start up business and I have this idea which I think will sell well if I connect with one of my parent's friends who sells cookies.

Life has never fallen into such a line for me before and I'm absolutely ecstatic about it and willing to work for it. It's strange how breaking off a burdensome relationship can be so enlightening. Not that I do not love my X as a friend, but I really believe we can never truly be the same or just friends ever again.

I just thought I'd drop my blog a line, if anyone is reading, so that's life.

Blessed be :)

Pie Has Been Found

After over two months of searching a lady called my cell phone and told me she had Pie in her back yard for over two weeks and was very thankful to find he had an owner. At the time I was still getting over a cold turned sinus infection and wondered if the night I called upon Bast to help me find my furry baby had anything to do with finally finding him. Of course at the time I was exhausted from coughing and saw floating hamburgers, but magick works in mysterious ways.

I wish I had called her sooner and perhaps he would have been home, but I'm a believer in doing everything mundane first before calling up the universe to help me. Also, I already tried a Fairy Cat Return spell about a month before with little results, so it seemed a little greedy to ask for help again from the powers that be.

However, I think in my sickly state Bast saw past my karma and decided I had paid it off by being persistent and desperate to find my furry baby. In short I learned a valuable lesson in respect for the animals you care for. It's not right to take advantage of them, because they are as dependent on you as a human child and are not to blame for personal problems, even when they fling kitty treats everywhere.

So, thank you Bast and the powers that be for bringing my kitty back to me.

Blessed be :)

Pagan Blog Prompt: Pagan Pride or Ego?

Provided by Pagan Blog Prompts

The Question Is:

In regards to Pagan Pride Day events and the like, "Do public gatherings serve your faith... or are they just big parties that serve the ego?"

I remember going to many Christian revivals as a child and I have to say they gave me a spiritual high so unimaginable it felt close to a addiction. However, it only stayed for a little while and I was left, cold, sad and alone in my spiritual self. There is no doubt in my mind that these experiences were authentic, but shallow.

Personally, I have never been to a Pagan Event, but I imagine it to be much the same, but different because I feel that there would be a lasting effect on me. It's about being free to express your love for the god or goddess you serve and knowing that there are physical presences beyond the ritual circle offer more substance. Because in the Christian mindset man is forever separate from God until death, but with Pagan beliefs, the god and goddess are here now, waiting for your fellowship.

This is the great divide between the two and it the power I felt as a Christian left me begging for more, but with the separation of God and man in play, it just leaves you empty in the end. So, I beleive a Pagan Event serves both the ego and the faith, because of their freedom in expression and the knowledge of the personal connection with the god and goddess now instead of waiting for death.

Location, location, location

Yesterday morning I woke up about an hour before my alarm went off so I decided to have a mini yoga session and meditate. It felt so good to do yoga again and I decided to search for my wolf-spirit totem during my meditation.

I was in my field of red flowers and began to visualize dancing and picked flowers into a bundle. The air was cool, crisp and soft as I entered the dark woods. Trees stood silent and I called to my wolf, who came. It was male with a salt n’ peppered coat and white underside he lead me to his family who were deep in the wood. All those furry bodies pressed up against me and I smiled at peace.

It was a nice start to a long working day and I’m so thankful to have Thursday off because I have to perform my Esbat very late in order to prevent any witch burning. It’s my time to give thanks to the goddess and god, especially because I have more working hours now, which I needed.

My fiancé called and I was just so irritated and I feel really bad for it because how is he supposed to feel comfortable asking me questions about Wicca if I’m so mad? I need to just count to ten and focus on balancing my elements before I speak, also taking some Ibuprofen wouldn’t hurt either.

So I explained to him about the full moon and why I was performing the ritual. He was very receptive and I appreciate that because the last thing I need is to feel closed off from my lover.

I tried to do my ritual at the local park, but the energy was all wrong. Also the moon was being covered by clouds most of the time, but I preformed the ritual anyway and gave thanks to Luna for all her gifts and left some wine and bread for the earth.

I’m wondering if I’m doing these rituals right. I set up the representations of the god and goddess, invoke the four directions, cast circle, give thanks, but I think it has a lot to do with the energy already there also. My yard has a small oasis where I planted wildflowers and the energy just feels right for ritual. At the park though I felt frightened and aware of every chirp in the night.

I think it’s good to find new locations for ritual so you can know for yourself what energy works for you personally. I would love to find another location that is isolated from everyone, but since I live in the city it’s pretty hard to locate. I’m also scared of going too far off because I don’t want to fall into a big mess of trouble.

I’m so glad I’m on this path of discovery and would love to hear your comments.

Blessed Be.

Ghosts, Past Lives and Moving Out....Probably Never

I haven’t been dreaming, well that’s impossible, so I haven’t been remembering my dreams, probably because I’m up too late and I laze about my bed, before I get up. It kind of hurts me, because I know my dreams hold the key to my past and future, so I feel lost sometimes. However, when I do remember my dreams they are stunning and important, so maybe I haven’t had any dreams of note lately.

I wonder sometimes if I’m just a new soul model, mundane, without any prior experience to guide myself though life, I would hate that fate, but I have no control over it. Why are new sols necessary anyway? If there are literally billions to choose from why are blank slates being created? Have that many souls decided to live in a permanent paradise? How many souls are blank slates at this very moment?

From the dreams I can remember I’ve never had any sort of past life dream, unless if it was on another planet, yes they were weird. So, as of right now, I can assume I’m a blank slate too. To be honest I lead a boring life so I would hate to dream about my life, it would be like watching a foreign film with bad actors.

So, my sister finally spoke to the entity and she laid down some ground rules, thank goodness, I don’t have to banish it. Phew, I just don’t need the responsibility at the moment. I didn’t need the thought of it wanting revenge hanging over my head until the day I die.

As a child I believe I used to see spirits, but after fear invaded my mind my powers became almost non-existent. I have to stop doubting myself and accept my once-gift with a passion. It’s going to take a long time and it’s probably best not to explore it too much in this house because it’s filled with negativity.

Assumedly my home was build in about 1909, the foundation at least, more was added in the 1940s and the 1980s. I can still remember pushing my tricycle through the halls of construction. The people who lived in the house before us seemed nice, but I think most of the energies are from us, especially my mother. In fact I sleep in my parents old bedroom.

My mother has deep issues involving her health, family, sexual assault and general anger. She radiates hatred, pain and she is an absolute control freak. For example, she is serving dinner and I told her ‘I can serve myself, I’m not five, so sit down and relax.’ It’s painful for her to stand with her loosing half her foot to diabetes, but, she yells, ‘Five to forty-five I’m going to serve if I want to serve!’

WTF?

I left her to her servitude. So you can see how my mother is the center for any negative impact in this house. I need to move out…

Blessed Be.

The Spirit Around My House

Well I salted my sister’s room and gave her a pendent bag with obsidian, quartz and granite. It should help her feel protected and keep the entity at bay. Angel and I did some tarot and it seemed to point out Hillary’s, my sister, rejection of her powers and how she needs to deal with this female spirit who is watching her.

Obviously, she is there for a reason, I can only hope we can find out why and she will leave peacefully. If it doesn’t go well I have Angel and Sherman here to back me up if it gets too ugly.

I wonder if I’m ready for my powers to come back, I used to see entities too and they didn’t really scare me until I started to watch horror movies like The Ring and stuff. I also believe I used to be able to have prophetic dreams of some sort. All I can do now is hope I can use my abilities for good, whatever they maybe.

Ouija Anyone?

Yesterday I and my friends, went to San Francisco and Santa Cruz and bought a bunch of supplies. At the end of the day I showed my friends my garden and a spot where we think an “entity” hangs out.

She reveals herself to be a she and follows my sister from the street. Sherman, one of my friends, stated that it might be trapped somehow because of all the cracks in the street. Angel, my other friend, could feel something and suggested we have an ouija session at the nearby park. My sister also came because she seemed to be able to sense the entity.

At the park we called for a guide, but it was short lived and out totems came out to protect us. We moved the session to a bench and decided to call on the entity itself. We think it came, but who knows with ouija boards.

It seemed to have a short attention span and it said it was an nature spirit of some kind. It wants something, but didn’t tell us what. After many short sessions with this entity, a man, Steve, was walking is dogs and asked what we were doing, we told him an ouija board and asked to join.

Steve was very funny and his dogs were nice. We had one another spirit call him a douche-bag and we were laughing so hard. After he left we decided to pack up and I took Angel and Sherman home.

At home I couldn’t sleep that well and tried to imagine a force around me, but every noise kept me awake. I don’t think this entity wants to harm anyone, but I want it gone, because it won’t talk to us and it’s just creepy. Sherman suggested a XXX sign in brick dust and a statement of banishment with no loopholes, because it would make us pay later.

I don’t know if I’m ready to deal with ghosts, spirits or anything else right now, but I think my third eye is trying to break out because my head seems to hurt all the time, so maybe it is time for me to realize my full potential. But I’m scared and I don’t think there is weakness in that, it shows caution.

All I can do is look for the support of my friends and burn some frankincense, cedar and call on the goddess. Nothing can enter into my home without my permission, I just need to remember that and I should get some sleep tonight.

Do not define the divine.

How dare you try to define the divine? How do you know? The answer is I don’t, but as long as you follow a good path it doesn’t matter what you call god as long as you believe there is one.

This is the revelation my fiancé and I had tonight after fighting for hours against and for Christianity. I tried to explain how I felt about Christianity and how the book itself is incorrect, even if Jesus was awesome. He called me book dependent and I said that’s another reason why I’m leaving Christianity, there is no book in Wicca and there is no absolutes on the god or goddess which is how it’s supposed to be.

The god and goddess are infinite and thusly the interpretations of them can be infinite, this is why there is an issue with monotheism, it’s not that one god isn’t ok, but you try to fir an infinite being into a small box. So finally Brian sees how both religions can work together, because we are all students in our faiths.

Remembering Dreams

I only remember a few of my dreams, but most of them are lost within my subconscious never to return. I've had dreams of talking horses, being stuck in a bathroom, kissing former boyfriends/crushes, running away on trains filled with sentient animals, visiting another world where a tribe was at war, ready to kill...I always wish I could remember my dreams better so I could learn from them or discover a past life, so I will be focusing on my meditation and try to assist with incense and stones to improve psychic ability.

I just beleive my dreams are important and feel like I'm missing out.

Blessed Be.

Who am I?

My magickal name is Shadow Moon and I'm going to tell you about my new found practice of Wicca. If you don't know what Wicca is there are plenty of websites you can go to, one of them is Wicca:For the Rest of Us at http://wicca.timerift.net/ . It has some down to earth articles about what Wicca is and isn't.

Some of you may have been taught that Wicca is a byproduct of Satanism, this is simply not true. It is a religion created about fifty years ago by a man named Gerald Gardner when he published a book titled Witchcraft Today in 1954. He supposedly met some witches in Dorset, England, and they called themselves the New Forest Coven. He wanted to preserve their tradition and wrote the book based on their practice.

Wicca maybe an ancient idea, but it isn't an unbroken chain, mainly because information was destroyed during the Burning Times. During this time witches, mostly women, and other outcasts like the Jews, were tortured in the name of the Christian God. This happened all over Europe and even in America at the famous Salem Witch Trials.

Christianity was used to gain money, power and control over the many Pagan cultures still practicing in 18th century Europe. They often used Pagan gods and goddesses in efforts to convert also. For example the Celtic poetry muse goddess, Brigid, is also the Saint Brigid in Catholicism. Also Saint Patrick did not cast out snakes in Ireland, in fact there never were any, it was a direct symbol of the Druids, another nature based Pagan practice, being chased out of their native home. So you can see Christians had to make Pagans Satan worshipers because they were a threat to the Catholic Church.

In Wicca there is no Satan, instead there is a god and goddess, Lord and Lady, who are symbolized through nature and ritual, giving life and birth to the universe. Everything contains these sacred energies, including you and me, and with these energies we can preform magick and ritual with the god and goddess.

The god and goddess themselves have many faces: Luna, Isis, Selene, Freya, Brigid, Athena, Diana, Zeus, Hades, Saturn, Horas...and thousands more, but they are all of the god and goddess. Some just follow a a general form of the god or goddess and others take god and goddess' who reflect on them, empower them and inspire them. I keep it simple and follow a very organic form of the god or goddess, using their basic energies to aid me.

Wiccans do have a moral code, the simplest form is "Do what ye will, but harm ye none." The actual Rede is longer, but this is the gist. It's important that you understand Wicca is not a free for all practice full of angry teenagers hexing each other during study hall. This is a Hollywood version of the Craft, not the real version, which it true for almost any television show. So instead of looking to television you should read up on the Craft and go to places like panganspace.net to communicate with Wiccans and other Pagans.

Some Wiccans are solitary and others join a coven. There is some controversy about this, but I honestly beleive the god and goddess don't care as long as your intentions are pure. Covens are groups of people, usually men and women, who practice rituals and some spells together, which is awesome because when so many are focused on a goal it's truly a spiritual power trip. When in a Coven a newly dedicated will go through a year and a day of study, as reference to the time it took Cerridwen, a Welsh legendary witch, to make her potion, after which they will be officially apart of the Coven and can continue through two more years of study to eventually become a Priest/Priestess of the god and goddess.

In the solitary, you are the motivation for the study, you are the Priest/Priestess for the rituals, it still takes alot of work and even if you do work hard you are often not recognized by an official Coven, despite your knowledge of the Craft.

There are also many tools and practices attributed to Wicca, but I'm going to let you look those up for yourself, because I'm in no way qualified and you should never trust what anyone tells you. Do your own research, teach yourself, and follow your own path.

As to why I became a Wiccan, or at least studying to be, I played in nature as a child and felt content with my Christian faith, but this was before I completely understood how twisted people can make a religion. I saw Christianity as a suppressing religion to women of intelligence and my personal views just twisted the arms of Christians at times. I tried to conform, but despite my research into the Bible through Valley Christian High School, I discovered the Christian God was not my god.

So I spent my teenage years searching for something unobtainable and began to progress into role-playing-games like Werewolf: the Apocalypse which focused on a goddess named Luna. It may sound a little weird, but I beleive the goddess reached out to me thought a RPG. After a while I met some Wiccans and realized how similar our thoughts were: we wanted equality of the sexes, were liberal, environmentally conscious, every idea just clicked together.

I read their books, like Solitary Witch, and discovered what Wicca offered to me was everything I was searching for. I gladly took up every book on Wicca I could find and began to study. The library is a great resource for books on the cheap. I'll give you a list of Wicca 101 suggestion at th end.

It wasn't until about my fifth month of study where I decided to do my first esbat , a ritual you preform for each full moon, sabbats are rituals concerning the equinox and such, more on that later, or just look it up. Anyway, I snuck out of my room around midnight with my candles and other tools in hand and began my ritual to honor the god and goddess under the moonlight. I cast a circle of protection and asked the four directions, South-fire, East-air, West-water and North-earth to assist and witness my rite.

Luckily it wasn't too cold as I sat awkwardly in my flower garden I chanted for the goddess to endow me with wisdom, peace, harmony... as the fire burned atop candles, and the ensence billowed out of the small cauldron. I was scared my parents were going to find out and throw me to the Christian wolves, but finally I relaxed and I left my body in a trance.

I floated about my large backyard and saw a silver and black Asian dragon circle around the full moon in a misty dance and then Luna came down to see me. She was beautiful, white silvery hair waving weightlessly as her pregnant form glided to me. Her silver robes sparkled and her eyes were a bright as diamonds. She asked me to come with her and she told me everything on this planet consisted of both male and female energies, and I mustn't forget that. She treated me like her long lost child, calling me little one and I asked her to bestow a magickal name.

A magickal name, or Craft name, is a name you can choose to personify your self in rituals or spells. It can be public or private and should be chosen carefully. There is nothing wrong with changing your magickal name, because everyone grows, but switching from this to that is silly and disrespectful. My name is Shadow Moon and it was given to me by the goddess in the form of Luna and she said herself it would change and grow, but for now, because I have to hide, Shadow Moon is my name.

Books I recommend:

The Spiral Dance by Starhawk

Wicca: A Guide For the Solitary Practitioner by Scott Cunningham

Animal Magick by D.J. Conway

Drawing Down the Moon by Margot Adler

The Complete Book of Incense, Oils and Brews Scott Cunningham

Book of Shadows by Phyllis Curott

The Alphabet Versus the Goddess by Leonard Shlain

The Everything Paganism Book

Pagans & Christians : the personal spiritual experience by Gus diZerega.

The complete idiot's guide to Wicca and Witchcraft

Wicca for beginners : fundamentals of philosophy & practice by Thea Sabin

21st century Wicca : a young witch's guide to living the magical life by Jennifer Hunter

If you have any questions please e-mail me at shadowmoonofluna@gmail.com

Blessed be.