Assignment 3

I'm going to start numbering the assignments to make things easier.

This assignment, I want you guys to pick one subject in the craft that you know already, and write an essay on it, using your own words. You should start by stating what the subject is, a little about it, whether you like it or not, if it has connections to any other subject, and if you plan on pursuing a deeper understanding of it. Your essays shouldn't be any shorter than a minimum of 6 sentences.


Here's an example to help you out.

The subject that I'm familiar with, and enjoy is Cartomancy. Cartomancy is also known as divining a future by the use of a deck of cards, whether a standard deck of playing cards, or well drawn pictorial Oracle or Tarot cards. This is a divination skill that takes a lot of practice. I've personally been reading tarot for about five to six years now and find it very enjoyable.

Despite the fact that many struggle with this form of divination, once you get the basic understanding of it, it's usually pretty simple to figure out. The key to it all is not to use a booklet that may come with the cards. You really want to get a feel for each card on your own, and find the true interpretation on your own within each card on an individual level. I find I have a decent understanding with my specific deck but am planning on meditating with the deck again, as time changes so do I and so do the meanings each card may hold. This I think, determines a good Tarot reader from a street one trying to make a quick buck.

Lastly though, Cartomancy is involved with a few different things and can be adapted for specific uses as well. It's first and for most a type of divination which requires focus and meditation in most cases before hand to obtain an accurate reading. Like any divination form it does need a lot of effort put into it. This can also be adapted for use in circle, but taking each of the elemental suits and placing them in their proper cardinal points, and can even be used in spells, though I'd recommend using a copy of the card, and not the actual card itself, just to name a few examples.





On a side note: Be honest with yourself always. Listen to your heart, your higher self will speak to you and guide you when you need guidance.

Try doing a morning offering, whether it be a simple salute to the rising sun, or a small offering on the counter of some coffee, or tea to the spirits in your home. By showing the energies in your home respect, it aids in creating a balanced atmosphere within the home. Write down your experiences in your book of shadows, and later if you feel like it, you can add a thread here, describing it.

Symbology



I've picked Symbology because I use it quite alot in any spells that I might make.
I use mostly runic symbols in my magic workings, but different areas of symbology interest me alot and I enjoy learning new things about symbols as time goes on.


Symbology dates back from what I've come across anyway, over 30,000 years old, the Egyptians used symbols as a form of writing which is known as heiroglyphs, Egyptians use over 2,000 hieroglyphic characters, each glyph would represent a common object or an idea associated with an object,the Mayans also used hieroglyhs somewhat similar to the Egyptians, their writing system was know as logosyllabic which was a combination of phonetic symbols and logograms, the tarot is also structured around the use of symbology.
The earliest runic symbols date back to around A.D 150, the most well known of runic symbols are the Elder Futhark from about 150 to 800 AD and Anglo-Saxon Futhorc 400 to 1100 AD and the Younger Futhark 800–1100 AD.
Magic is rich in the use of symbolism as in the use of ancient seals and inscriptions aswell as the most common symbol associated with magic the pentagram/pentacle and the symbols to represent the triple goddess, green man ect, the list could go on as there is numerous areas that symbology can cover from the ancient to the modern traffic symbols we use.
I have used runic symbols in a protection spell and will sometimes carve ones on candles for use in meditations, the latter I dont actually tend to do a lot of though, I have also improvised in my use of symbology as in a lost item spell I did, I couldn't quite decided the right symbol to use so I went for the symbol of a boomerang, my logic in using that symbol was because the boomerang always comes back to the person who throws it, and it served me will because the lost items all came back a day or two later.

Finally symbology is a fascinating subject to study although it has so much areas it covers, It is probably wise to stick to one area at a time as the information you have to take in can be extremely overwhelming at times, So I find it easier to learn a little bit by bit, and I hope to learn a lot more about different areas in the future.



P.s Essay writing is not really my strong point so I hope this is ok.

Love and Light

*claps* that was fantastic Opal, thank you. I actually learned something that I didn't know about symbology today. bravo

As many of you know i specialize in love magick so i will put up an essay on that =)

First of all i would like you to know that you cannot create love or force love. Love spells are so commonly mistaken for its bad reputation. There are so many different love spells and sadly, the most common ones are the ones to "enchant" someone you like. Now i have a theory and i stick with it like glue!
Love IS an emotion that is on a completely other level from the other emotions. Its the feeling you get when you just want to be close to someone, make them happy, embrace them and spend your life with them. That is not a need for possession of someone or trying to feel higher up and it's not the need to be satisfied!
You cannot create those feeling with magick, because love is born from love. So when you're dealing with love magick, you don't cast out of boredom or the need to be love, you bring out all of your love and positive energy that you can, but for that, you need to understand what love is and how it feels! So you can try "love spells" to seduce someone over and over but they will not come to be. And even if it was possible, the risk you are taking is horrifying!!! Imagine the spell going wrong and you might get a stalker or someone who is obsessed with you in the end...anyway, casting against someone's will is immoral and wrong on every single level.
Back to the point...love spells are meant to find love, to help with a relationship, to enhance the quality of your love life and of course to not give up on love, because we all know that it can be a bumpy road to a good relationship.

Some may find this corny and sweet to a point of sugar-overdose lol
But to those of us who have tasted love before, yes we know it can be tough and it can do more harm then good sometimes searching for it, but when you find it, knowledge, beauty, social position, money and material things just can't possibly compare to the feeling of completion you've achieved.

Hedge Riding

AKA: Hedge Crossing, Riding the Stang, Crossing the Boundary, Seidhr, Lifting, Oot and About, Entering the Twilight, Soul Flight, Fetch Flight, Fairing Forth

Hedge Riding (haegtesse- Anglo Saxon) is a traditional term for what is commonly thought to be astral travel. In truth it is a similar practice, though one of much deeper experience and is a true out of body state rather than a shift in consciousness. It is a deep shamanic trance in which the practitioner sends out his or her soul to the Otherworld for information, initiation or to make offerings and general contact with spirit entities. Hedge Riding is used by almost all magical and spiritual paths, although the names for it differ greatly.

Traditionally the witches' flight to the Sabbat was conducted through hedge-riding and in witch trial confessions, details of flying through the air to meet other witches and worship 'Old Nick' were in reality the process of soul-flight, which is just as real, if on a different level of experience.

Many traditional witches believe that true initiation takes place in the Otherworld rather than in a coven/grove/lodge ceremony. It is in the Otherworld that the witch receives his or her true name, meets their familiar spirits, contacts the gods and gets to reconnect with their ancestral ties. Information and advice can be found in the Otherworld and practitioners cross over to retrieve it for themselves and for the tribe/village.

Hedge Riding should be performed within a protected space, usually a cast circle or hallowed compass depending on your tradition. There are also several crossing incantations that may be said to protect the practitioner before Hedge Riding. Techniques such as breath control, focused attention and visualisation are employed in preparation for Hedge Riding.

One commonly 'enters the twilight' through either gazing, shaking and swaying, walking a labyrinth, using witches' ladders, treading the mill or riding the stang. (If anyone would like a more detailed explanation of these methods please message me). The most infamous method is through the use of a lifting salve or flying ointment, a mixture of psychotropic herbs in a fatty base and smeared onto the skin to induce soul-flight. Needless to say is it extremely dangerous for unskilled wort-conjurers to use lifting salves and the 'Poison Path' should only be trod by a highly experienced and knowledgeable practitioner.

Further reading:
Treading the Mill by Nigel G. Pearson
A Grimoire for Modern Cunning Folk by Peter Paddon
Call of the Horned Piper by Nigel Jackson

FFFF,

Vixiana

k i dont know if its too late to post anything but im going to do it just for fun!

MY ESSAY IS ON NATURE

SO A LOT OF PEOPLE THAT PRACTICE THE CRAFT ARE BIG NATURE LOVERS LIKE ME! A LOT OF US JUST LIKE TO GO OUT SIDE AND FEEL THE AMAZING ENERGY THAT NATURE GIVES US. NOT ONLY DOES IT HAVE AMAZING ENERGY BUT IT IS ALSO AMAZING TO WATCH AND TO SEE HOW IT WORKS. FEELING THE HEAT AND ENERGY THAT THE SUN GIVES OFF, FEELING THE COOL REFRESHING FEELING OF WATER, FEEL THE WIND BRUSH UP AGAINST YOUR SKIN, AND FEELING THE FIRMNESS OF THE EARTH AND ITS ENERGY THAT IT PROVIDES. SOME PEOPLE TAKE NATURE FOR GRANTED AND THINK THAT IT DOESNT HELP US SURVIVE. WELL THEIR WRONG, NATURE IS THE REASON WE CAN SURVIVE AND ITS ENERGY FLOW IS A BIG PART OF MY PRACTICES SO I WILL NEVER TAKE IT FOR GRANTED. THANKS FOR READING :D BLESSED BE )o(

The subject I chose is Christopaganism because it is one of my favorite pagan beliefs. Its a Neo-Paganism movement, that has start not to long ago.
Christopaganism is a poly verison of modern christianity. It has 4 deity and 2 devine spirits. The angels are also worshiped. It has wiccan aspects but differnt morals.
Unlike normal christians they don't follow strict rules of conduct.

Blessed Be!

Would you mind elaborating that further Sakura? Perhaps in a separate post.

Solo Sexual Magic

(If this isn't discussed in the coven, I send out my apologies and will delete this at once.)

This topic is hardly ever mentioned on this site, due to the squemishness of most teenage members here. But I stand by the Pagan decree that the Erotic is Holy, and as such, will discuss this here.

Most spellcasting is the raising and projection of energy into the universe to acheive a certain goal. This can be done through music, like singing or drumming, dancing, chanting, power meditation, and the like. But the energy for a spell can also be channeled through sexual activity and the like.

This can be done with a partner or solo, and the orientation of the practitioner plays no part in how the magic will work.

Done solo, one focuses on a goal s/he desires, putting it down in words. Then s/he begins the process of arousing themselves, and building up the energy through self-pleasuring himself. As he starts to reach orgasm (after taking a bit of time to build up the flow), he states his goal aloud, and then when the climax occurs, the magic worker sends out all the raised energy into the universe and trusts that the goal will be reached. (I would make a joke about this working, but I do not believe it would be appropriate here.)

Another solo working is for the practitioner to imagine himself/herself in intercourse with a deity of their choice and as they stimulate themselves, they take in the qualities of the God they are in embrace with. For example: a man in intercourse with Aphrodite takes in her love for others, her magnetism towards the opposite gender, her lust for life and pleasure, and her joy.

There are also techniques to raise consciousness and to attract a partner suitable to the practitioner, but they are too many to list.

Hope you enjoyed.

LVX Amor!

WM

my subject is on crystels

Crystels are a natural growth that is formed with water,heat and other compound elements it grows in river,caves,deep in the ground and in the top layer of soil.You get different types of crystels like clear quarts,rose quarts,amethyst,agates,smokey quarts,tiger eyes and jaspers ,all of these crystels have specific properties and resemblinses like the tiger eye has a symbolistic feature for the sun and the element of fire,the tiger eye is also the crystel of the leo.

hope this is alright
michael
merry part.