You've Been Cursed?

As I am a working Witch and people know where I am - they have to as we are a Mail Order company - we regularly get letters asking for help with various magical problems, and one which crops up regularly is:

I've been cursed!

Invariably also we are told that the curse has been in place for a number of years, and often that the person has tried all sorts and not got rid of it.

First thing: If the curse has been in place for several years and you are still suffering from it, it is a rubbish curse. Any decent curse would kill the sufferer within weeks or months.
And secondly: if you have been suffering from it for years then it is going to take time to get rid of it.

The trouble is that whether or not you have been cursed, once you believe that you have been, it is your own belief that keeps the curse grumbling along, in a way you are the one feeding the curse, and your belief makes the curse grow. So you are using your own psychic powers and powers of self-suggestion, and the better you are at it, the better your curse will work. In a way you ought to be proud of the strength of your own psychic powers, but isn't it about time you started using those powers to improve your life not grind it down?

There are three very easy steps to removing a curse, but they require that you follow the steps to the letter, with no excuses about why you can't do it. If you find excuses to avoid following these steps then you are going to keep the curse no matter what else is suggested to you:
Step 1: If you believe that the curse has been placed by a certain person then you must cut all contact with that person. If you can't do that, every time you have contact you will renew the curse, rather like re-infecting yourself with an illness.
Step 2: Each morning take a bath into which you have put a handful of sea salt - if you can consecrate the salt so much the better, but even if you can't the salt bath will work. Sit in your bath and drench yourself with the water and as you do so tell yourself that you are washing away all contact with the person who cursed you, and you are washing away the curse.
Step 3: Each night when you go to bed imagine yourself sleeping within a bubble of blue energy. Just imagine yourself laying within a blue bubble. This protective blue bubble will cut all contacts with any energies which might be trying to get at you while you sleep. So you will sleep better and diminish the curse while you sleep.

Keep those three steps up for a month and you will see a marked improvement in your situation.
Keep them up for three months and the curse will be gone.

Any time you feel unsure, frightened or worried about the curse, imagine yourself within the bubble of protective blue energy.

That is all there is to it.
So good luck if you are suffering with this problem, and give these three steps a go.

They Are Watching You!

The Post Office, that is.

Yesterday our son rang to tell us that he had been identified as a possible international terrorist, as he had been found to have sent a suspect package through the post.

Hecky thump! What had he sent?

He had attempted to send his two teenage cousins gift boxed sets of toiletries. Lynx to be precise.

The items the GPO were particularly concerned about was the deoderant. No doubt they were to create such an atmosphere of delicious sexiness that the post office workers would be put off their stride and lulled into a state of somnulent heaven!

Pressurised containers, he was solemnly informed. It was prohibited to send pressurised containers through the mail. However in this case they had decided to repackage the items and send them on.

As a mail order company we have to be aware of  the 'dangerous goods' which we are not allowed to send through the post - and you can get a leaflet from the post office to help you out with this.

We think it is possible that the deoderant trauma was caused because Mike's cousins live on the Isle of Lewis - which appears to be classed as 'international' by the GPO - and you can't send pressurised containers including deoderant anywhere through the post if they are going 'international'. Deoderant is ok in the UK as long as the bottles are no more than 500ml and no more than 2 per pack.

Some of these prohibited items are common sense, you can't send ammunition, explosives, guns, clinical and medical waste and controlled drugs and narcotics.
But some things are a little more open to question, for example 'Human and animal remains (including ashes)' Are sausages classed as 'animal remains', or smoked fish? Hang on, those come under the 'perishables' section and are ok as long as they are marked 'perishable'. But what about hair or fur? However you can send live creatures, insects, invertebrates, bees and spiders as long as they are packaged correctly. So you can send as many ants and tarantulas as your heart desires - and you can send these International too!

Batteries are a bit of a minefield, if you get my meaning. Most batteries that go in toys and domestic items are ok - but not car batteries, or 'Batteries that are classified as dangerous goods', there you go then.

You can send nail varnish in the UK, but not hair dye, and no more than 150ml bottles of perfume. Oh and beware of the strength of any magnets.

So there you have it, you can send a Black Widow spider to the one you love, but not a lovely big bottle of perfume.

Twelfth Night Spell

Here is a spell to achieve your desires in the coming year. It is in two parts, the first part you should do tonight, the second part tomorrow morning:

Choose an item to represent what you are seeking: a coin or bank note for money, your CV for a job, a picture of a house for a new home, or a heart shaped object for a new love.
You will also need two candles, two ivy leaves and some red thread or wool.

Light one of the candles, then take the ivy leaves and put them at either side of your wish object, to make a sort of sandwich or parcel if the item is small enough. Then wrap red thread or wool around the bundle and tie a good knot.

Put the bundle near the candle and say:
King of Misrule make my year
Give me the wish, that I wish here
Now say out loud what you are hoping for three times.

Leave the candle to burn down, with the bundle near it.

Tomorrow morning light the second candle and take up the bundle. Cut the threads holding the bundle and hold all the objects in your strongest hand as you say:
I hold this gift, it comes to me
Lord of Misrule, my thanks to thee.

Put the items near the candle and again let the candle burn down. Put all the spell ingredients in a pouch and keep them safely somewhere appropriate.

Happy New Year

I hope you have had a lovely Winter celebration. As is our custom, we celebrated every celebration we came across with great enthusiasm and gusto.
We are already getting the first Newletter and flyer of the New Year ready and are waiting for new stock to arrive - we have some new books, tarot cards, candle holders and new incense stick fragrances. One of the things I can't wait to see 'in the flesh' is a special gold coloured Money Cat with a waving paw, which also has a clock at its side. I think I may find it difficult to resist putting one of those away for myself !

I have also been having fun with the new photocopies and laminator and have started on a a new range of our special saints and angels cards. These will have a full colour picture on one side and a prayer or invocation on the other.

This is just the start though as I have ideas for all sorts of other products.

Oh and just to make sure I am well in advance for next Yule, I have started work on a Folk Witchery book of the Winter Solstice

Happy Winter Celebration of Your Choice!

At this time of year when everyone is wishing each other 'Happy Christmas!' we sometimes get friends and relatives unsure what to say to Graham and me: 'Happy Yule'?, 'Happy Solstice'? or as I am a proud and long-standing player of World of Warcraft, 'Happy Winterveil'?

To be honest I am happy to respond to any of these (and more) because it is the sentiment behind these greetings which is what everyone is trying to express:
'Be Happy!' they are saying, 'Have fun, Enjoy yourself!'.
And that is what every religion has been expressing around this time.

Frankly one of the things I love about being a Pagan and Witch is that I can celebrate EVERYTHING!

Pagans have always been inclusive of all deities and philosophies, and you find this inclusiveness from ancient Rome and Egypt to Scandinavia and to modern Pagans too.

You want to celebrate a festival? That looks like fun, so we'll do it too!
Adding another deity and celebration to the calendar is no hardship what so ever.

And at certain times of the year you will see that many religions all recognise a special time and want to express it in their own way.

This is why our modern 'Christmas' is such a conglomeration of traditions and beliefs. We have influences in there from many different religions, from folklore and legends, and traditions so old and so apparently universal that their origins are lost in the vastness of pre-history.

So don't worry about offending me by wishing me a 'Merry Christmas' - you won't, and I will.

And may the Gods bless us, every one.

The Winter Shaman - Part 2

In 17th century Britain after the revolution, when Cromwell and the puritans came to power, Christmas and all its festivities were banned as Pagan and Heathen and nothing to do with christianity.

And he was so right.

Just about all the stories and traditions associated with Christmas and the birth of Christ are pinched from older religions, traditions and beliefs - or are downright fiction (lies).
For a start no one knows when and where Jesus was born. The story of the Roman census and the Holy Family having to travel to Bethlehem is a complete fiction. It was devised simply to make it appear that the birth of Jesus fulfilled a prophesy by Isiah.
The date of Christmas, the 25th of December, and many of the details surrounding the birth, such as being born in a stable (cave) between the ox and the ass, and the cry 'The bridegroom cometh!' were all lifted straight from the myths of Mithras, the chief rival religion to christianity in early Rome. Some scholars argue that it was sheer fluke that christianity was chosen as the state religion of Rome rather than Mithraism.
Decorating the home with evergreens around the Winter Solstice was another tradition that goes back to ancient Rome and the fun and games of Saturnalia. As does the tradition of masters and servants swapping positions - still seen to a lesser extent in the modern office christmas party.

So let us have a look at the character and attributes of the mysterious Gift Bringer.

For a start - why mysterious?

Part of the magic of the Gift Bringer is that they are not seen to be giving the gifts. They give anonymously, the only sign that they have been are the gifts they leave.
St Nicholas hid outside the house and threw money either through an open window, or down the chimney. By good luck (or magic) these coin bags fell either into the shoes or stockings of the young women they were intended for. Father Christmas also enters the house down the chimney and leaves gifts in socks and stockings.
I remember as a child asking how Father Christmas could get into houses which had no chimney. But his magical nature means that despite his apparent size he can enter homes even through the smallest keyhole.
St Nicholas travels on his white horse, while Father Christmas and Santa Claus have a sleigh pulled by reindeer. Many of the ancient gods have chariots or mounts which fly across the sky, from Ra in his boat to Apollo, Athene and of course Freya in her chariot drawn by cats, and Odin on his eight legged horse Sleipnir.

Another of the attributes of the Gift Bringer is that magically they know exactly what gifts to bring. Almost as if they know the receiver intimately.
Over the last 100 years or so, it has become popular for children to write letters to Father Christmas telling him exactly what they would like to receive (letters read with great interest by their parents). These letters are merely a modern manifestation of an ancient tradition: petitioning a deity, saint or spirit for special help or wishes.

So why call the Gift Bringer 'the Winter Shaman'?
Because many of the attributes of the Gift Bringer are also attributes of a tribal or divine shaman - and the supreme shaman in the Northern Tradition is Odin or Woden.

The Shaman is one who can pass between the worlds of men and spirits carrying messages and bringing back gifts. Odin hung as dead for three days on the world tree and returned to life bringing the gift of the knowledge of the runes. He was known also to journey vast distances in the spirit world in the blink of an eye, while appearing to sleep as if dead.

The reindeer are a creature of the cold northern lands used for transport and to pull sleighs for thousands of years. Why should Father Christmas use reindeer, a creature which has been extinct in the British Isles since before the Romans came? The roots of this attribute certainly go back into the mists of our Pagan ancestors beliefs.
The white horse of St Nicholas echoes the mount of Odin, his grey Sleipnir, swifter than any other mount and able to ride through thick and thin, between the worlds and through the Winter sky, calling the Wild Hunt to follow (the Wild Hunt also rides the night sky around the Solstice).

The green of his coat is the colour of evergreen plants, reminding the world that life continues and the world will bloom again. He wears fur because it is practical in the cold north and he is a hunter and shaman who has respect for the spirits of the animals killed.

He brings gifts which appear magically, and is never seen because he is in spirit form.

He is the servant of the community, doing their work as he passes between the worlds, through matter and spirit, down chimneys and through key holes.

Bringing fun and merriment:
                                                And a Merry Solstice to all !

The Winter Shaman or Who is Father Christmas?

The Winter Solstice has been a time both of trepidation and celebration for humanity for thousands of years
The power of the sun grows less and less, the world gets colder and colder. The leaves have fallen from the trees, all vegetation is dead or dying. The whole earth appears to be under a sentence of death.

Then just when all seems lost, the sun is reborn, the days begin to lengthen again, the sun is returning!

Surely that demands a celebration, and so it has done for as long as there have been people to observe this magical turn around which we call the Winter Solstice.

There are deities associated with the Solstice, personifications of the celestial drama:
There is the child born now, the reborn Sun
The Mother of the child
And there is the Gift Bringer

It is the Gift Bringer who alerts humanity to the imminent birth.

In the New Testament it is Wise Men from the East who travel through many lands asking where they can find the magical child. Their questions awaken hope and anticipation - and also fear in King Herod who sees the child as a threat to his earthly power and kingdom.

The gifts these Wise Men bring are symbols which represent the powers of the Sun God:
Gold, the shining metal of the Sun, symbol of wealth, power and kingship
Frankincense, the incense offering to the bright Sun God who lights the day
Myrrh, incense and perfume used in the preservation of the corpse, the perfume of the hidden god, the Sun at Midnight, the god in the Underworld.

The Sun God is born in a cave (in Japan the Sun Goddess Amaterasu also hides her beauty in a cave and has to be coaxed out to bring light to the world) and at his birth the cry rings out: 'Lo! The Bridegroom cometh!'. Not the sort of cry which greets a new born human baby, but the cry which tells his followers that the Sun God leaps from his mother's womb fully adult and ready for battle against the powers of darkness.
In Aztec myths this is depicted in extremely graphic terms as Huitzilopochtli leaps out fully armed and firing arrows (sunbeams) in all directions which kill his sister Coyolxauhqui, the Moon Goddess.

The gift bringers sometimes foreshadow the birth, searching the land and preparing the people for the great event. Sometimes they appear on the day of the birth, or they may even be chasing along behind, late for the birth and giving gifts to all as they do not know which child is the potential Sun God.

In Britain we have Father Christmas, a vigorous elder dressed in a long green robe trimmed with fur, who leaves gifts to be found on Christmas morning.
The red coat our modern Santa Claus wears was put on him by the Coca-Cola company in the 19th century as an advertising gimmick.
In Belgium and the Netherlands Sinter Klaas, Saint Nicholas, leaves gifts in shoes and stockings on his saint's day, the 6th of December - he has translated into the American Santa Claus.
In Italy Befana, who looks for all the work like the classic image of a Witch, hurries along in January, dropping gifts as she tries eternally to catch up with the holy babe.

Although all of these gift bringers have been adopted as part of the christian festival of Christmas, their roots and origins are far, far older.


To be continued .....