Book of Shadows

Sorry we have been so busy with our schooling & so much more, Fall being one of the busiest times of year ( just before 2 large holidays) which means alot of preperation. ^_^
I have been throwing around an idea to keep up on my studies and others, on w/c & as well as community talk about the practice, a possible society right here in our Truro area. Now there is already a very well put together Pagan Society about an hour from Truro, but i'd like to start one closer for the many i know that cannot make it that far.
Now we don't get alot of input here but if any who come across this are interested in our area, please do feel free to join us for some input.

[No matter by what practice we speak of (witch, pagan, wicca, witchcraft,etc.) we are always speaking about all the paths in a whole, unless otherwise specified. I usually just say Witches, (its so much easier than typing wicca/pagan/witchcraft....all the time) but just to clear that up that we welcome and speak about many many diffrent practices!] Speaking of which, i shall be putting a post up later, talking about diffrent paths for a bit of information for all.
Watching the movie Practical Magic right now, & just had Akira visit not long ago. I'm very happy to see her since its been so long ^_^ (we go to school in deffrent areas). I do hope this Halloween/Samhains celebration goes well. I'd like to get a well set ritual put together for Hallows Eve for sure!

& Happy October by the way. . .my favorite month ~_^

Bless It Be
Akane

Witches thanksgiving ;3
Marking the beginning of Fall, Mabon occurs between 21-23.
This year i do believe, the main celebrated day is September 22 (depending on the year). This is the day fall officially turns. Autumn Equinox, is the second of the harvest Sabbats, one of the lesser holidays & is also known as  Mea' Fo'mhair by the Druids. The sign of Libra begins around this time (sign of balance) & again light and dark is balanced as day and night are of equal length. Thanks are given to the sunlight & respects paid to the approaching dark. A fundamental time of balance, it is a time to rest, complete old business, reflection & the winding down for the year at Samhain. Tie up all those unfinished tasks! 
This holiday has also been called "the Witches' Thanksgiving" and is a time for feasting together with family and friends. Not about how grand the feast is to be but rather to feast on the finer treats and sweets of Auttumn. Also honouring the passing from mother to crone & people around you in this phase as well. At this festival, weaqr your finest robes or clothes, colors apropriate for the time of year, and celebrate by eating the most delicious and luxurious food in similair luxurious surroundings. This does not mean you must spend tons of money for this, no no. We are just suggesting not to hold back on the decor (around you and what you wear :) ...for those nicer pieces bought that you never get a chance to wear more than once every few years haha). 

Now thinking what you could do special for Mabon? As always we try to give tips & a taste of what we'll be doing on our holidays throughout the year to get those of you started whom might need some ideas. Early evening would be a good suggestion for the feast, enjoy the last of the day while eating together with family and loved ones. A traditional practice is to walk wild places and forests, gathering seed pods and dried plants. Some of these can be used to decorate the home; others saved for future herbal magick. The foods of Mabon consist of the second harvest's gleanings, so grains, fruit and vegetables predominate, especially corn. Corn bread is traditional fare, as are beans and baked squash.


   Symbols

colors:  warm shades, like the falling leaves outside.
 -yellow
 -orange
 -mossy greens
 -warm browns
 -dark orangy/reds
animals: Crow, Raven
nature: nature, moon, earth, 4 winds
inscents:  strong smelling incense.
 -sage
 -pine
 -frankinkincense
 -pumpkin
decor: house & alter.
 -acorns
 -fall leaves
 -gourds
 -hay/grains
 -black birds
 -satin
foods:  some of your most favorite treats and foods you rarely spend alot of time eating. try to keep it connected with the season theme.
 -pie (meat, pumpkin, pot pie)
 -corn
 -corn bread
 -squash
 -beer,cider,ale,dark wine
 -homemade beans
 -goose or mutton
 -apples
 -pomegranates
 -seeds


...for now i will leave it at this & update the rest when we can. Everyone have a wonderful full moon, i feel its a lovely night for some craft indeed. Windy crazy weather out as well, i wonder whats to come?


Bless it Be,
Akane

 Played with some casting today. 
A little bit of a conjur onto someone i suppose even a hex you caould call it. No harm, just letting the person have a lesson with a taste of their own medicine. A simple chant and meditation+concentraion. No objects needed for this particular one. Just a tad of spoken word. Also a tarot reading which i have posted a picture for you, i like to be graphic. Have not pulled the tarot set out for a while but i figured since i stumbled upon them this morning. Things are coming to a change with everyone around us so i'd like more knowledge on the ways around me.
The Celtic Spread (Akira gave me the idea to use this one since i usually use a diffrent spread most of my readings).
I used my Autharian Tarot cards. My favorite ones by far.



  

Bless it Be
 Akane

 Dream:
 Theres a group of us, 5 or 6 maybe, looks like a beachy area and we are trying to travel across a part of the water. A sunny evening, but I cannot see how far but its a distance for sure. We're in a time where there not alot of ppl in the world and we are traveling to a place that no one has been for many many years. Its kinda like a mission for the group of us.
I'm talking on the cell i realize, to someone who i feel great sadness for, he's dieing. I feel overwhelmed while speaking with him, as everyone around me trys making plans on how to get across the quickest way. He speaks to me warmly about funny things & jokes around. Not sharing a single word of death or chrises. His name is Adam, i know him well.

Everyone wants to leave, go back...give up? Or possibly find another route? Adam says to wait there will be a chance! We all do exactly that...for hours. & the water pulls away suddenly, a path of rocks and ocean sand straight across.
+
Next thing i know is we're on the other side. Excited & releaved just as everyoe else. Yet still, even more overwhelmed with sadness & fear for Adam. Still on the phone talking of going swimming & biking with him when i return,but knowing he's so close to death, not at all feeling as accomplished as everyone else around me. 
The place we've come to looks like an empty town, dust and carts everywhere. Shops are still sitting & full just like everyone up and dissapeared...[we're in a much further time than 2008]
All of us rush into a clothing store agreeing we need new clothes, realizing suddenly ours are all torn up, ragedy, and muddy. So we hop around, rushign in the store excitedly looking, same for me only i'm still on the phone, more than just distracted with Adam. Few moments later we're looking for a house to camp the night in. We finally come to a large enough house, filled with food just the same, fridge filled & everything well just as the day someone had left it (minus the dust). Not even signs of spiders...
+
We have come to our main area of intent, a better place to start out. After raiding the stores of product  & unusful but amusing things, we all settle in. As a speak with Adam the sun starts to finally move and set into night slowly. I get even more upset as he starts speaking about goodnight & he will talk with me in the morn. I know somehow...and he knows, that wont happen. I try to sound happy, unliek the tears that are strolling down my face, but he knows it....and i know it. I start telling hm not to go, he does not have to! He tells me happy birthday? ...it is not my birthday, (trying to distract me possibly). I tell him its not, he lets me know he's going to get me a present anyways. What do i want he asks...i tell him a kiss and that is all. Knowig he'll have to be around when i get back to bring him here with us. Alive. He laughs warmly, im tearing but still smiling. I hear the phone drop on his end, and i feel this horrible feeling of separation inside. Is he? i keep thinking to myself saying he's not he's not!
[I wake up]

Bless it Be,
Akane

Hello all!  I hope everyone's Lammas was a good day! I spent mine with Akane and others sitting around a campfire.  It was pleasant and I enjoyed myself very much.  Today I have a dream entry to make.  This dream happened on the night of July 31st and morning of August 1st, 2008.  This is just a breif general description of the dream.  Feel free to help me figure out why I am dreaming of seals.  

The Actual Dream Itself
 
It begins with me surfing on my stomach in a town or city full of clear water. As though it’s been flooded. As I am surfing around in a state of happiness and showing off, I see seals over and over again. They are peaceful like, and I am happy to see them. This moment in my dreams is beautifully vivid. The colors are bright and unforgettable. However, later on in this dream I am in a building with many people. I do not really recognize them as being in my waking life. But I know some of them are acquaintances and other’s I do not know at all. The lights are dim, and the colors inside the building are dark, green and blues shades. There is a loud shooting. Someone has been shot, everyone is running into rooms hiding. I take a bunch of people and tell them to get into the room.. This room has two different doors, I close one but did not see or think of the other one. We all stood there quietly feeling that this was the end. That eventually we’d have to be found and we would be shot off one by one. I seen the other door then, and walked over to it. I was scared but brave as I looked and glanced out the door when I should have just closed it right away. I seen his or her shadow. In my dream I felt it was a male but I could not be sure. I know he was getting close, eventually I shut the door. And we waited. And waited. And eventually I woke up.

What I Have Worked Out So Far

Shooting
To see a shooting in your dream, indicates that you have a set goal and know what you are aiming for in life. Your plans are right on target! To dream that you shoot a person with a gun, denotes your aggressive feelings and hidden anger toward that particular person. To dream that someone is shooting you with a gun, suggests that you are experiencing some confrontation in your waking life. You may feel victimized in some situation.

Surfing
To dream that you are surfing, indicates the ups and downs of some emotional situation or relationship. You may feel overwhelmed. One minute you can be in control of your emotions and the next minute you are not.

Seal
To see a seal in your dream, indicates your playfulness and your ability to use and incorporate differing ideas and thoughts into a situation. Seals are a symbol of good luck, success, and spiritual understanding. It also signifies prosperity, faithful friends, and security in love.�The dream symbol may also be a pun and indicate you need to put closure on some situation.

Water
To see water in your dream, symbolizes your unconscious and your emotional state of mind. Water is the living essence of the psyche and the flow of life energy. It is also symbolic of spirituality, knowledge, healing and refreshment. If the water is calm, clear, then it signifies that you are in tune with your spirituality. It denotes serenity, peace of mind, and rejuvenation. If you are splashed by water, then it represents your need to be revitalized and more expressive. To dream that water is boiling, suggests that you are expressing some emotional turmoil. It also may mean that feelings from your unconscious are surfacing and ready to be acknowledged

To see a gentle flood, indicates that your worries over a certain matter will be soon be swept away.

 


Bless it be,
Akira

First off, to introduce myself. Akane - "deep red" as Kira said, because my (highly unnatural) color of my hair once was & likely again. Straight to the point, i will be posting today some information on the coming Sabbat. We get our information from various sorces & knowledge gathered over the years & will post to the best of our knowing.

Lammas / Lughnasadh / Lunasdal / Autumn Eve - one of the harvest sabbats. This being the bread harvest!  (Lugh pronounced Loo).
Usually celebrated around July 31-August 1 (sometimes even August 2 all depending on the year). Primary focus of Lugh are foods like Grains, garden vegtables, fruits, berries, baked goods, and cider. Things grown & made at home or local fams are best for this type of harvest (but also for all wiccan Sabbats i suppose).A time of games, sport, weather magick, saining rites, and blessing. Have lots of breads or full vegtables/fruits decorateing the table along with warm Fall colors around the home such as orange, yellows, golds, reds, maroon. End of summer, beginning of fall. The days now grow visibly shorter. August.1 is the day Lammas is typically celebrated due to tradition. 
It was a day representative of 'first fruits' and early harvest.
Lugh is a time for reflecting on the bounty of nature. Haveing feast /dinner with certain foods, different times of the year on the different sabbats is a way of showing this thanks. Wiccans / Witches have been doing this for many years past, yet these days we personally need not to put so much effort into our foods & crops because of everything being mass produced. It takes the rituaistic lifestyle away from most. Thats why to put that much more effort into feasts like Lammas so much more meaningful & to give thanks.
Lammas is most associated with the first of harvest celebrations. Hay, grain and cereal  yields & appear to be best known forits festival atmosphere and temporary handfastings (marriages that lasted one year at the consent of both parties) -medieval documentation.

Lammas or "Half-mass," is the feast of bread; nasadh means "to give in marriage" and Luhg is the name of the celtic god; therefore Lughnasadh means "to give in marriage to Lugh."  The Christian religion adopted this theme and called it 'Lammas ', meaning 'loaf-mass ', a time when newly baked loaves of bread are placed on the altar. An alternative date around August 5 (Old Lammas), when the sun reaches 15 degrees Leo, is sometimes employed by Covens. 
In irish Gaelic, the feast was referred to as 'Lughnasadh' , a feast to commemorate the funeral games of the Irish sun-god Lugh. However it may seem that we are celebrating the death of Lugh, the god of light does not really die (mythically) until the autumnal equinox. He symbolically loses some of his strength as the sun rises farther in the south each day.
A Common feature of the Games were the 'tailtean marriages' a rather informal marriage that lasted 'a year and a day' or until next Lamas. At the time, the couple could decide to continue the errangement if it pleased them, or to stand back and walk away from one another. such trial marriages were quite common ( obviuosly related to the Witches Handfasting). Lammastide was also the traditional time of year fro craft festivals. The medieval guilds  would create elaborate displays of their wares, decorateing themselves & shops in  bright coors and ribbons, parades, performing, ceremonial plays and dances for the entranced onlookers. Many comentors have bewailed the fact that Gardnerian and Book of Shadows say very lilttlwe about the holiday of Lammas, stating only poles should be ridden and a circle dance performed. This seems strange for Lammas is a holiday of rich mythic and cultural associations.

Incense: aloes, rose, sandalwood
Traditional foods/herbs/flowers: Apples, grains, breads, berries, sloe, crab apples, pears, grapes, heather, black berries
Gemstones: carnelian

Some simple good ideas for your Lammas Sabbat ritual ...if your drawing a blank.

• Bake bread or pretzels
• Outdoor picnic
• Make a wreath out of grain or  corn doll out of the stalk to honor the harvest
• Celebrated feast shared with family or Coven members
• Save and plant the seeds from the fruits consumed during the feast or ritual
• A good time to be outdoors, walk along meadows, woods, fields,orchards or spend time along springs

This year im happy to say there will be a new moon on Lammas! I, myself will be having a dinner at my home together with another close friend & fellow follower i often practice with,  & hopefully Akira as well whom i also practice with often. I guess you could say we're a coven of 3 in a way. Along with some non practitioners joining us for some yum. I will be baking honey buns & soft pretzels through the day, possibly buy some cider to sip. For the dinner, alongside the bread baked earlyer, i should have some bold vegtables such as sweet potato, pear, corn (and excellent pick considering i can use the stalk for making corn dolls the day before). Possibly asparagas & baked apple ...still decideing on last minute details. 
Berries for after with the pretzels & cider. A simple "pick at" feast nothing really put together in meal. I'll leave the recipe for the Harvest Baked Apples in comments for everyone. :) 


Bless it Be,
Akane

Hello all

Sorry I still have yet to update with information regarding Lammas.  I would like to breifly introduce you to a new admin along with myself who will be posting their own rituals,and holiday crafts.  Her name is Akane, which in hand symbolizes 'deep red.'  Which may sometime be clear to you with explanation.  Her posts will be done in a similar fashion as mine. 

I apologize for the lack of updates.  Akane will be able to post some information on lammas including the meaning of the sabat, rituals, and crafts to enjoy your day!

Bless it be, 

Akira

Hello Everyone,

I must apologize for my lack of commitment to my site.  I was busy and now am away till late tonight.  I hope to be updating about some Lammas rituals... the right of harvest meditations.  That is, the honoring of Demeter, the goddess of grain.  I am much inclined with the Ancient Greek God's and Goddess.  You will soon find that out as most of the rituals of honoring are proposed to the Ancient Greek.  However, I do not have the time to update regarding these materials just yet.  Until next time,

Sincerely,
Bless it Be,

Akira

The first aspect of this journal that I should mention is that these practices are based on my ways of preparing for rituals and weaving magic.  I do encourage you to put your own touch into all the casting you may do. However, feel free to follow or ask questions regarding any ritual that I have written about.  The journal will consist of historical archives that I have found or am interested in during the paganism movements, even those intertwined in Greek mythology and history, also my rituals, and spells that I have either done, or are planning on doing. If you request information on anything by leaving a comment, I will be able to help you with my next posting on what to do, how to do it, and always encourage you add something of yourself in your practices. 

Akira's Basic Opening of the Circle and Calling on the Elements: 

    First things first, it would be helpful to create a litteral circle around your sacred area in which you will be opening the circle and weaving your magic.  A 9 feet cord can help you in this situation.  I find before you begin to open your circle that a nice warm bath with essential oils will help soother away any unwell feelings you have leftover from the night before, or the day (if you are doing the ritual in the evening). If you choose to do this, make sure that you are completely relaxed before you get out of the tub.  When you are ready to get out, dry yourself off with a -thick- towel.  You dont want to feel sticky when you go straight to your circle.  When you are ready to get dressed, put on the clothes that you will be wearing for your spell after opening the circle (you should always open a circle before performing a spell, it will make it more effective). 

    Next, while standing in the circle you have created, face the east allowing all the sevenchakra's to open.  While facing the east imagine or visualize each chakra starting from the base chakra, working upwards as if it were a circle or wheel spinning a coloured light round and round again. That is, "each one supplying the energy for the next one to open." For those who do not know the order of the chakra's I will give you a basic mapwork:

The first is at the base of the  near the tailbone it is called the root or base chakra. It deals with drives such us physical needs of hunger and shelter. It is paired with the color red.
The second is the sacral chakra which is just below the navel. It is connected to sexuality and emotions.  It is represented by the color orange.
The third is just bove in the solar plexus.  It's energy helps us make decisions and take repsonsibility for an outcome. It is representative of yellow, and also encourages creativity. It is just below the chest.
The fourth is the heart chakra, placed at the heart. It's color representation is green and it controls the giving and recieving of love. Not hard to guess.
The fith is at the throat.  It is connected to communication both physically and spiritually.  It is the representation of blue.
The sixth is between the eyes, it is also known as the 'third eye' which gaurds the seat of clairvoyance and psychic visions.  It is connected to the colors indigo or blue.
The seventh and last chakra is at the top of the head, known as the 'crown chakra.' It represents the color white and connects believer to the "ALL" - which all humans wish to be apart of.

Once you have opened your charkas you must tap all directs with your wand (if wiccan), or sit and imagine the colors white, or purple, forming a ring around your circle and coming intowards you.  As you go in each direction, call on the elements as so;
        "May the element of air bless this space with light, love and air and grant true love given and returned alike."
Do this for each element until all candles are lit. When you are ready to close the circle, extinguish the candles with an appropriate tool of your own choice while repeating the following:
        "May the four powers give back to the universe any energies and powers that go unused.  My work complete and the circle closed.  So let it be (or mote it be, if wiccan)."


This is just how I open and close my circle there are many other ways, and many other materials to call upon other than the elements. Including the four dragons, goddesses, gaurdians of the watchtowers, and many other celtic gods.  These will probably be mentioned and used in other practices later on, but they are for much higher, and less basic spells in which I plan to be doing most of the time.

Bless it Be,

Akira.