Rainy mornings
On a wet, watery cold Friday morning in October, it is getting close to the Sabbat of Samhain or Halloween on October 31, 2019. My husband is preparing a treat for the neighbor´s kids, with all that comes along with the concept of Halloween in modern times.
My preparations are of the witchy kind, and it is going to be about ancestor worship and setting new intentions for the coming New Year. This is my kind of New Year´s Eve, and as always things have changed a lot during this almost gone year.
This year I plan for a simple, yet beautiful ritual with lots of lit candles, incense, and remembrance of those gone before me. My intentions for my work with witchcraft the coming year are to follow the rhythms of Nature and celebrate the Sabbats and the New and Full Moons.
Setting the intentions on New Moons and reviewing the results at Full Moons. To release negativity at every opportunity and to work with the shadows will be a powerful support to my work with my novel where I´m going to explore the human mind in its flawed version.
This time of year, the veil between the worlds is thinnest, as it is at the Beltane Sabbat in May. So perhaps this year I will succeed in feeling closer to my ancestors. To strengthen my bonds with them is of great importance to me, because they are part of me, as I´m part of them.
It is also time to work with divination, and I prefer the Tarot cards and the old Nordic runes to be my guides for the coming year. It can give a few clues of what to expect, but the work itself lies in daily life and its many challenges in a stressful modern mundane world.
Today, the weather does not inspire for much more than staying indoors and doing my best to create something worth reading about witchcraft. Just following the stream of thoughts and feelings and write straight from the heart is my plan for now.
I´m getting used to doing things on my own, after a couple of years with cognitive therapy and necessary help getting to cope with especially bipolar disorder. The main issue has been to get to the point of acceptance, to focus on positive things rather than feeling devastated.
It´s a serious mental condition, but with the correct, individual prescription medicine, therapy and a will of steel, much can be done to get a lot better and to learn to cope with it on a daily basis. Staying positive no matter what is a goal of mine that means a world of difference to me.
On a rainy, but beautiful morning in October, I sit behind the keyboard, writing as a witch. My husband lit the candles a little while ago, and the little, wise, old dog, is laying completely relaxed near him. They have a pretty special bond, even though my dog is truly mine, and our love is not of this world alone.
This time of year I contemplate a lot about life in general. It´s time for the yearly speech to my inner child about staying true and never compromising myself. It´s time to re-dedicate as a witch, and it´s time to plan for the Winter and the Christmas seasons to come soon enough.
The planning about witchcraft is a rough draft of events needing ritual preparations, special interests to research and take in as a creative input, and intentions of living in the moment and learn to spot the everyday magick.
A journey in a day
Later this weekend I´m going to host my neighbor´s daughters for a happy visit. We´ll go to my witch´s den, bringing paper and crayons, toys, and tea with cookies. It will be a journey in a day with each of them, for they are just lovable. They heal me every time we meet.
I love their curiosity and their immediacy and directness. That´s living in the moment when it´s best. It´s going to be some intense hours, where there are joy and laughter, fine conversations, and many hugs. And after I allow myself a longer nap, it takes quite a lot of energy, but it´s worth it big time.
Every time I write as a witch, I´m on a journey in a day. I have some clues to begin a blog post with, but I never know where the journey is going to take me before I have written it. It all depends on my mood of the day, on the music I listen to while I write, and what I have planned to write about.
Today, I only planned to write something connected to witchcraft. This part of witchcraft I call reflection and introspection. It is as important as rituals and spells. To get to know yourself is a major goal to have as a witch, but it is necessary to learn to evolve. My best approach to this is to write about my changes.
It has been three unique and tough years as an eclectic solitary witch. It has changed my worldview, and I know now that I truly have found my path for the rest of my life. It calms and soothes me, it provides me peace of mind and soul, and it gives me the ability to let go of my past and to look ahead instead.
I´m prepared to continue my path, this coming year at a bit slower pace because of my work with my novel. But there will be time for witchcraft along the way. I´m going to fill the breaks with both mundane chores and my love for witchcraft.
About the writing part, there are still many blog posts to write about witchcraft. As a witch, I have a broad range of interests, and it will be an ongoing project, as long as I live. My Book Of Shadows needs some loving care, too, so there are always new ideas and old gems to work with.
Before the storm
The cats are fed, the dog has his bone, and I have closed the windows and am preparing myself for the storm that was announced on TV this morning. There is powerful energy in a storm, and I´m going to use it by asking the weather gods to carry my needed release of things that do not serve me anymore away with the wild wind.
Before the storm, it is always fair and bright a couple of hours after morning rain. When the clouds come forth, and the first icy raindrops fall on my hand, it is time to go inside and make the most of it. But well before that, it will be time for a walk with the little, wise, old dog,
Even though he does not speak as we humans do, he speaks in multiple voices and with energetic body language. He speaks also when our eyes meet, and I just know deep inside that this is mutual love. He´s a friend for life, as are the three philosophical cats, who also speak in more than one voice.
The storm closing in
A couple of hours have passed. It is quiet and a feeling of calm rests over my workspace for today. Behind the keyboard with sore hands because of the icy watery feeling of cold earlier at the dog´s morning ritual, I sit and listen to some inspiring music with my husband watching The Walking Dead.
The weather changes, the sun hides from the world once again, and the wind makes the branches on the trees shiver and shake. It´s not all black and blue-gray yet, nor is it going yellow as when the shit truly hits the fan. I live close to the Wadden Sea, and there are stories enough to be told about high tides.
The magick also closes in. Today is an intention day, where it feels so easy to write about what I want and need to get done in the year to come. Later, in December, I have three yearly Tarot spreads that I read every year at the same time.
I do that to remind myself of the calendar year gone by, to release what no longer serves me, and to trace any patterns to work with in the coming year. This is my way to try to adapt to the recurring changes in this world. Change is inevitable, it will outrun me if I don´t follow its rhythm, it was in vain to try to escape.
During the past two years I learned to help control my inner storms. It´s like being inside a volcano, to be the eye of the storm, to ride a wild roller coaster, front row POV (point of view). Together with the right prescription medicine, my iron will, and my control over my breath, there is a path forward to reality.
The relation to witchcraft is a positive attitude towards life and its many challenges. Without challenges, there would not be mistakes and life experiences to grow from. In witchcraft, the challenges as a solitary witch are to learn to cope with solitude and to learn to trust the Universe.
The end of the journey for today
This is one of the more quiet days, where I mostly tend to myself and put earplugs in my ears. Until it is time for family, friends, for some awesome hours with good people. Then it feels wonderful to leave the keyboard alone for 2-3 hours of pure joy.
When I return to my writing, I´m always refreshed and in a happy and inspirational state. But is is not coming by itself, there is hard work behind all these many words twice a week. Witchcraft supports me with inner peace which enables me to write even on a rotten day.
Throughout the day the weather rhythm changes my mood together with music, and it is several writing sessions at most times due to my constant side-kick, my side effects of medicine and inner tension as well as physical troubles sitting still long enough.
Next time I write about witchcraft, I will do it in a series about the daily small rituals that make it possible to work with witchcraft on a daily basis, also on a tight budget and a strict schedule. I like to make small, subtle rituals for my daily work with witchcraft.
It can be anything from a simple prayer of gratitude to a bigger setup with candles, incense, and crystals. Most of the time I pick up what I have at the moment and use that in my daily practice. I have a rather well-assorted collection of diverse props and ingredients, but less is actually more.
I only pull out the big stuff, when it is time for the big rituals, such as Sabbats, celebrations of the Moon´s phases, and special occasions when a need for a certain ritual arises. That could e.g. be to try to heal some of my loved ones spiritually in case of disease or the more tricky of having a really shitty day.
So we came together to the end of today´s journey, dear reader. Now I have only left to wish you a pleasant and memorable weekend with as little trouble as possible in this crazy, modern world of ours. And to fade out the music in an appropriate manner.
While I have been working today, I have felt the magick being present in my life on a daily basis. I feel a safe inner calm, I see strength in the flames of lit candles, I can smell the fresh coffee I´m about to brew, I can, if I close my eyes, taste wonderful food later, I hear beautiful words in my earplugs.
It is fun to work with all your sense, the sixth unmentioned because it is magick in itself. And so the music fades. Cut.
The Northern Witch' s Blog 