Why magic works

I've recently been doing some research into more old forms of witchcraft, like how ancient tribes performed it and the kind of objects they used and it made me start wondering. Part of practicing witchcraft is also learning what makes it work and why and I'm really starting to make some great connections. As we do things, often times we don't question why doing them is going to make a difference, but we need to because piecing things together forms a bigger picture and makes everything easier and more understandable.
I was talknig to somebody on a social network and they were saying that dark magic is easier to perform that good magic, and though I don't approve of it necessarily, in a way it does make sense. He said that he would use blood often as an offering to the spirits, which he didn't specify, but he said that he could feel the energy present much faster than if he was donig a ritual without blood, and I think that the reason behind this is because blood is a life force. Everything in our body is manditory in order for us to sustain life, and living we have energy and emotion, but when we're dead we are simply an inanimate object. If you use something that possibly came from a living creature, it's possible that you can manipulate it's lifeforce before it's completely drained out. A lot of ancient forms of magic called for this and if it didn't work then I don't think that they would have continued to perform the rituals that way.
Now please don't get me wrong and think I'm a bad person and I'm gonig to start performnig dark magic, I'm a good witch and I do good magic, but learning about dark magic is also important because it shows a side to witchcraft that good witches like myself haven't experienced. But, back to why I think it is harder for witches who don't practice dark magic to perform rituals succesfully, I think so because we have replaced blood and a lot of parts to a ritual with things like water, salt and other items that never contained a life force so manipulating a force that isn't there isn't possible, so most of the enrgy used comes from ourselves.
Alright, I just wanted to put some more information out there for people to read and gain a better understanding of the craft. I hope somebody somewhere does read this, but if not then I guess that information will just stay with me.

Old traditions

Sadly, a lot of traditions that started in ancient countries are starting to die out and are being replaced by new traditions, and in ways that is good but it is also a bad thing. I think that revolutionizing witchcraft is important because it's gongi to happen whether peopel like it or not, but the sad thing is that because modern day society is so close minded on witchcraft in general, a lot of traditions are either being dropped or replaced with representations. Let's face it that a lot of old cultures had magic practitioners, such as high priests/priestesses from ancient celtic lands, shamans from small villages, voodoo priests from small tribes, and a lot of them had some rather crude customs, but that doesn't mean that we shouldn't learn from them and figure out WHY they did that. Back in ancient times, magic, for some people was a living and not just a practice and they used it every day and passed it on through generations, and if the traditions were passed on then there must have been some credibility to them, right?
A lot of these people used natural ingredients in spells, potions, rituals and charms. They might have used bones, venoms, blood, etc. but that doesn't mean they neccesarily went out and killed these animals or people to get these ingredients. Even if they did kill them, the ingredients must have been important for them to take measures like that and a part of magic is learning from ourselves and others, including those from ancient times because back then people's senses weren't as dilluted as now and they were more in sync with nature and the natural balance of things.
Now, remember that I'm not saying that you should go out and kill a bunch of things, DON'T do that, it's wrong. What I am saying is that we should study why magic practitioners took the actions they did in those times when performnig ceremonies or just in general life because it might support a lot of today's beleifs and fuel your understanding for how magic really works. Have fun!

Samhain

So the autumn is here and of course that means that Samhain is near. First, before I do anything I want to clear up the correct pronunciation of Samhain. It isn't pronounced how it looks, it's pronounced as if it were spelled (Sowen). Just a little tidbit of info for you there.
Anyway, so my coven, Moonweb Coven now has four members! I know that it's not a lot but thats okay because they are all my best friends and you don't need a big coven to do magic, you don't even need a coven, but some of us like to have one. Unfortunately because of fighting gonig on between two members in the coven, the plans for Samhain have been split up between different members of the Coven, but oh well.
So, I am stil lexcited about thisw because I've been planning this for a while and we're gonig to have a feast and a big circle and its going to be really fun and were even gonig to camp outside. I'm really excited and I'll definitley give an update about how that goes. Also, it's about time to start harvesting before Samahin gets here. I've got to harvest some of my herbs to use in the ceremony on Samhain so I'll do that probably tomorrow and then dry them and the rest can be harvested throughout the little remaining time before the first frost comes.
Just felt like giving an update to let people know I', still alive and to share some of my enthusiasm! Everyone enjoy your Samhain!

Magick Alphabets

As I stated in a previous post, as witches delve deeper and deeper into higher magicks then it becomes more important to be secretive about our work. As we learn more then we start to uncover alternate meaning of things that we had already been taught about take the hexagram for example, it is commonly known as the Jewish star(Star of David) and many people are against Judaism(I know it's wrong) and they aren't going to listen if you try to explain that you aren't Jewish, they are just going to judge. That applies for a lot of things and a lot of people, though not everyone is so judgmental.

Anyway, it is important to keep our work hidden so I've gathered a list of ancient alphabets that people can use to decrypt their writing so others can't read it. Personally, I use the Theban Script, but there are also scripts like:

Elder Futhark Runes
Pictish Script
Writing of the Magi
Celestial Script
Bobilith
Enochian
Entruscan
Malachim
Greek
Hebrew
Phoenician

here are the links to the websites I took them from and they have pictures too along with descriptions to help you choose.

http://www.janih.com/lady/magick/alphabet.html

http://www.pathcom.com/~newmoon/alpha.htm

Basic Ritual Structure

I'm sure that there are a lot of people who are thinking "all of this information is nice, but what do I do with it?" It is important to have a base to start with, and I've kind of failed to start with the basics here and work my way up, it's just been a jumble of various bits of info and etc. Anyway, most beginners will use pre created spells and rituals for their work until they get experienced enough to do their own work, and even so, sometimes people still use pre written spells. I'm going to give you the basic foundation for rituals so that you will have a general idea of how to go about it, and of course you can change it up to fit your purpose.

First you will want to gather all of your supplies like an athame(ritual knife), all four elements(earth, air, fire and water) in separate bowls or chalices, candles, the boundary marker for your circle(string, chalk, salt, etc.) and then any extra things for whatever specific purpose you are casting a spell or ritual for.

Now you will want to cast the circle which will mean making the boundary with whatever substance you choose to use, making sure to leave an opening in it. Then you will want to cast the circle with the four elements, scattering each one around the circle. Salt and water can be sprinkled on the ground along the boundary line, candles are placed around the circle(I usually place five around it and then use my athame and connect a line of energy between each candle to form a pentacle). Then once this is complete I usually close the gap in the circle and move on to invocations and quarter calls. Some people do the invocations before they close the circle, but I feel it is a waste because the circle is open so the energy could be leaking right out, that's why I close it first.

Now we move on to quarter calls where we call the spirits of the watchtowers of the North, South, East and West. You might need a compass for this. South is Fire, West is Water, East is Earth and North is Wind. After you call the watchtowers then would be the time to do any extra invocations or power chants or anything like that.

After you have done all your invocations then is the time when you meditate to clear your mind and get into your deepest meditative trance which is best in order to perform magick with.

Once you've gotten into your deepest meditative state, then you perform the main ritual. Cast any spells, raise any energy or do whatever you desire. This is your time to shine and cast your magick, to let yourself be free!

After you've done the main ritual or spell then you need to start closing your circle. Come out of your meditative state, release any invocations and dismiss the watchtowers and then presume to finish closing the circle. The closing of the circle is significantly easier than the buildup of the circle.

This is a base for most rituals so enjoy yourself and try to create your own rituals. Blessed be!

Important Sigils

These are just some sigils that I found on Cythrawl Coven's website after looking up the Cythrawl pentacle, which I will explain more about later in the post. These are just some sigils of protection or power, and I find all of them rather important, though not all are widely recognized. All of the explanations of these sigils will be in my own words, but some of the information is taken from www.coven-of-cythrawl.com because I just learned about a few of these sigils recently from this website.






The Pentacle- It represents the 5 elements of witchcraft: Earth, Air, Fire, Water, Spirit. It is a symbol of protection and commonly known as "The Witch's Star" or "The Witch's Cross" because of its association with Witchcraft. Unlike the inverted pentacle with two points up, the pentacle represents good instead of evil. It also has less common representation as in the five places where Christ was wounded and as the Microcosmic man.





The Hexagram (Solomon's Seal)- Before this symbol became associated with the Jewish religion, it was known as the symbol which represented the joining of the opposites, shown how two triangles are entwined together. It is a symbol of protection, commonly seen in many famous magic circles created by many expert occultists throughout history. It was also the alchemical symbol for alcohol.





The Magic Hexagram- This is an alternate form of the Hexagram, created by Aleister Crowley for the emblem of his "Order of the Silver Star". They used this alternate form because since the pattern isn't broken it is believed to be more powerful compared to the original Hexagram which is two separate triangles. Since one did not have to pick up the pen to draw this symbol it was gateless and said to be more powerful when protecting against evil of any kind.







The Heptagram- The seven pointed star is a sigil of power because the number seven is a power number. The number seven has come up many times as a common number in astrology and general spirituality. (example: 7 visible planets including the sun and moon, 7 chakras, seven days of the week). Seven is also thought to be a lucky number. The Heptagram is also known as the Elven Star or the Fairy Star by some people who follow the Fairy Way.






Inverted Pentacle- This is a symbol commonly associated with Satanism, evil, or dark magic because of its message of denouncing God. It is commonly worn by Satanists or Devil Worshipers(I think that there is a distinction between the two but I'm not really sure what it is). It is supposed to drive away positive energy and attract evil or negative energy.



Cythrawl Pentacle- This is a version of the pentacle created by the Coven of Cythrawl. It is tilted so it is neither inverted or upright, being neither good nor evil, lying in between. It represents the constant shifting of perception in life. Because people need to be in an altered state of mind in order for most spells or rituals to properly work, this pentacle was created to help achieve that purpose. As our perception switches the pentacle from upright to inverse faster than our minds can make out the difference, then our mind will become overloaded and an altered state of mind can be attained.

Thanks for checking out my blog!

I've been looking at the stats here recently and checking out the amount of visitors I've been getting and it's rather surprising. I thought absolutely nobody was looking at my blog, but I guess not. Whether you are only here for a second or if you check it out regularly, I appreciate it and I hope that you all follow my blog and comment on posts because it helps me get a feel for things I should add or change. Thank you everyone!

High Magic

As I grow more experienced and gain more knowledge, I'm starting to drift further away from the common wiccan style rituals and practices more into the higher occult work. Of course Wicca is still very important to me and a very important part to my practices and I will not just drop it and move on, it is important to me, I'm just working my way into higher magics. The other members of my coven, though I love them dearly and want them to go far don't seem as motivated to move past a mediocre understanding of the craft and other practices. Part of the reasons I can understand, but others seem silly to me.
Anyway, back to high magic. Originally when I got into the occult in general it began with a fixation on demons and ghosts, only because I watched a lot of silly shows and read a lot of fictional books dealing with those subjects, but I never quite grasped how dangerous it was. Also, most of my friends at the time were into dark things, as was I and still am, but not evil things. Dark things as in horror stories, gothic stuff, but nothing evil whatsoever.
I started to drift away from demons and ghosts, a little freaked out by the whole experience after my first few uses with an ouija board. Though I never actually contacted a spirit or ghost, the thought of actually doing so seemed frightening, but I was still into the whole occult in general. That is when I discovered Wicca and immediately launched into it, studying profusely and trying things out for myself, being satisfied with the results.
Now I am still wiccan, but I am moving back into the general occult work, higher magic. I'm not doing anything evil like summoning demons or anything, but getting into things like occult history, powerful figures and people in occult history. I have a curiosity for alchemy and hope to someday learn more about it. Not only am I just learning, but I'm also trying more things out like astral projection, self hypnosis, dream walking, and other forms of higher magic, dealing with the mind and spirit more than the physical ritual, which is still a great fascination to me.
Higher magic doesn't mean that it's evil, bad or necessarily more dangerous(though it can be), but it is more complicated, more time consuming and requires abundantly more practice, along with research. You will notice that as you start seeing certain things then you will notice them again and again, refrences to it and closely related topics. You will start to read articles, excerpts from books or famous manuscripts, piecing things from one source to things from another source together to form bigger pictures and understandings and it is all so thrilling gaining so much knowledge. Being able to have information in a few clicks of a button is so much easier than hunting for hours for one article like people used to do and with this increase in technology, this generation will have such a better understanding of the subject than previous generations, but first we have to get caught up.
You will be thrown into a web of interlacing topics and once you get in it seems impossible to get out, but mainly out of sheer curiosity taking you deeper into the subject. Good luck to all with your research and practice, whether it be high magic or basic magic or just a few articles that you read. I hope that you find a place for yourself in the substantially large subject known as the occult.

How to get experienced

Witchcraft is a practice like all other practices and it isn't something you're just going to know everything about in a week. It requires an immense amount of study to learn it, and the best part about it is that it can be used for your whole life and there is no end to what you can do with that knowledge. Because Witchcraft is such a general term with so many different aspects and types throughout various cultures it is nearly impossible to learn everything about it in one lifetime which makes it such an interesting practice.
Anyway, when getting experienced it is important to read about it and try it yourself. Even from reading little things and tidbits of info can add up in a big hurry and soon you will start knowing how to make your own rituals, spells, herbal remedies and you will begin to piece things together to get a bigger picture and make sense out of it more and more. Let's take Silver Ravenwolf as an example. Most pagans believe she is a terrible author and is more in it for the money and fame than the actual practice, but the way I look at it is that there is something to learn from everybody, even Silver.
I try and take a little from everyone to get their opinion and beliefs on the subject, that way I can decide for myself what is right for me and what isn't and have a more general outlook on it than just an outlook taken from one or two people. Either way, have fun learning about it and always try and keep an open mind.

Tarot and divination

The art of divination is to obtain information through ritual or some other form of scientifically unproven method. Some of these methods include scrying(looking into a crystal ball or another object as a focal point, usually reflective or transparent), tarot readings, readings using a set of runes, reading tea leaves, Ouija boards, or many other forms. Those were just the most common forms of divination that I could think of.
The art of divination requires practice and intense study. You won't be able to read a three paragraph article on how to read tarot on the internet and then do a reading correctly, it requires tons of practice as do most forms of divination. Some people spend years studying these forms of divination and though you probably wont need to study it for ten years just to do a reading, the people who do take that time to study and practice it are the ones who will get the best results because they will have better experience interpreting the results. As you do readings you learn from your experiences from examining what the results are, whether they are correct or false and then you can figure out where you might have interpreted wrong.
Before trying to purchase anything you might need for divination, read up a little on it and see if it sounds like something you would really like to commit to. Either way, divination is a complicated form of magick but if you take the time to learn it then it can be very enjoyable and you will most likely be glad you learned it.