Defines...

written July 6th

Next question in the 2016 Grimoire Challenge: What defines your witchcraft practice?

My witchcraft practice is pretty simple honestly.  I don’t utilize a lot of fancy equipment or high ceremonial aspects.  Most of the time, I don’t even Cast a Circle.  I’ve been walking the Pagan Path since 1996, but have just recently found my perfect athame and wand.  For the most part, tools were tools, but I didn’t have any strong, personal ties to those tools.  But now I’ve found MY athame and MY wand and I’m working to use them more in my rituals.

While I do observe the Sabbats sacred to Paganism, the Wheel of the Year mythos plays no part in my faith.  I have little use for a myth that revolves around pregnancy and birthing.  And the God plays little to no role in my life and spirituality.  For me, I observe the Sabbats for the markers they point out in the cycles of the natural world.  For me, that is enough.  I don’t need any fancy myths talking about the Goddess birthing the God and their romance and what not.  

The Moon cycle plays a large role in my personal practice.  Full Moons (Esbats) are holy nights for me.  I love nothing more than just sitting outside, moon gazing, enjoying the beauty and serenity.  And if I have a need/want/desire…I simply speak from the heart in my request.  I always salute the Full Moon when I see Her.  To me, the Full Moon is La Luna.  I am just now beginning to honor New Moons, thanks to the little Pagan group I’m a member of.  Hazel honors both the Full and New Moons, so by proxy, I am as well.  

Honestly, I rarely do spells at this point.  Spells are concentrated prayer essentially.  But when I do do spells, again, they are simplistic.  Give me a candle and some incense, possibly a gemstone or two, and I’m good to go.  I really do want to get more into gemstones.  I just adore them and LOVE the way they feel in my palms.

I honor my Ancestors, especially given my genealogy fascination – I know a lot of names, tracing back to the 1300s – but I don’t invoke them.  Most are Christian and I’m sure they wouldn’t be too fond of being invoked into a witchcraft ceremony.  But then again, I don’t interact with human spirits – I steer clear of humans and humanoid creatures.  Blends over into my anti-Fae policy and the fact that I don’t work with Angels either.  

I’m slowly attempting to teach myself the various Oracle and Tarot decks that I have.  But that has been put on the back burner for now.  I would like to learn these and be able to utilize them better.  I would also like to learn how to read Tea Leaves (family tradition).  And I’m somewhat decent at Scrying – again, I’m sure if I dedicated some serious time and effort into this divination practice, I could be pretty damn awesome at it.