http://www.witchvox.com RSS Feed - WitchVox - Past 14 days http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=usnc&c=passages&id=13424 June 30th. 2009 Shannon 'Gypsy' Lasley passed into Summerland at the far-too-young age of 36.A talented woman with a gifted singing voice and a captivating laugh, she brightened the day with her wit and smile.Gypsy leaves behind a network of friends, a caring family, and her twelve-year old son Devon.Gypsy was a reisdent of Hickory, North Carolina, an active member of the local pagan community, and a regular participant at North Carolina Piedmont Church of Wicca's annual "Beltane Brouhaha". ... http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=ustx&c=words&id=13412 June 23rd. 2009 One of the many things that we Pagans come up against in our pursuit of the freedom of religion is what George Carlin called the "Scary Words." If you look at the Craft from a religious point of view, it's easy to see why so many religions fear and loathe us: simply because they don't understand. The history of the human condition paints a grim picture of our race, in that we as a species tend to fear things we don't understand, and what we fear, nine times out of ten, we destroy. But on ... http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=usaz&c=words&id=13409 June 21st. 2009 What does it mean to be an Eclectic Witch? This may mean many different things to many different people. However, I think that what it means to be an Eclectic Witch is this: to be at a state of oneness with the whole of Gaia, and all of her cultures and traditions. Eclectic Witches reclaim spirituality from many sources, including their Ancestral traditions, traditions from their past lives, traditions from the land upon which they reside, traditions that they have a special connection t ... http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=usmd&c=teen&id=13417 June 25th. 2009 Not a lot of time. Not a lot of Privacy. Not a lot of supplies. Jeez, how are you ever gonna practice Wicca? Well to tell you the truth, being a Witch does not cost money and you don't need dragon's blood just to practice Wicca. Nor do you need a whole Occult Shop in your Magickal Cabinet. So many Teens and a lot of Adults can't practice Wicca all the time and feel that they aren't living a Wiccan life. Well to you the truth again... There are so many things that you can do t ... http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=usfl&c=words&id=13413 June 23rd. 2009 Disclaimer: I am not a certified professional. The following articles (Part I and Part II) are intended as a testimony, and in no way should be taken as gospel. If you or someone you know has suffered abuse, rape or traumas of any type, seek immediate professional help. Part I:I love the Craft. I love the spiritual awareness that the Old Religion has brought to us in the latter part of the twentieth and beginning of the twenty-first centuries. It would never have reached t ... http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=ushi&c=holidays&id=13406 June 20th. 2009 (June 20, 2009) It has become a kind of tradition with us. Every summer solstice since we moved to the Big Island of Hawaii, my wife and I have been going for a swim at noon at our favorite bay. Originally we were drawn to this bay because there was a small clothing optional beach in a cove, but since the birth of our kids, we have been going to the more family oriented beach known as "69's”, referring to the milepost on the old highway.Today would have been a workday so we had ... http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=usaz&c=words&id=13368 June 5th. 2009 What is a witch? Is it, as by common definition, a sorceress, a person bent on evil doings, who casts spells and worships the devil? Is it someone to fear and therefore ostracize, imprison and execute? My answer to these questions is both yes, and no. Why am I qualified to answer these questions? Because I am a witch, and have been all of my life.So let's get those questions answered. First, a witch is many things. She, or he, as men are witches too, may or may not be a ... http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=ustn&c=holidays&id=13405 June 19th. 2009 Summer is here in all its sweat-inducing, watermelon-munching, firefly-blinking splendor. The children are truly settled into their vacation routine, screaming as they cannonball into the pool, screaming for ice cream, screaming because they’re bored. That last one really makes me crazy. What do I look like? The entertainment committee? Mom is just one step down from cruise director, I swear. I, on the other hand, am an adult. I don’t get ten weeks of leisure with the worst problem on my ... http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=ustn&c=words&id=13385 June 16th. 2009 When I first began my journey into Witchcraft, there was much to learn: history, myths and the proper way to perform spells and rituals. All kinds of new things awaited me. I eagerly delved into any books I could get my hands on and talked to anyone that would listen. I bought book, candles, oils, herbs, wands, bells, cards and anything I could get! And so my knowledge (and witchy stock!) grew.Throughout the coming year I faithfully did rituals each Full and Dark Moon and celebrated on S ... http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=auwa&c=words&id=13148 February 3rd. 2009 I admit it. The title of this piece is cribbed from a somewhat deliberate mishearing of Barack Obama’s catch-cry ‘Yes We Can’. But it got me thinking. Of a Wiccan in the Whitehouse? Well, yes... (Can you imagine it? One nation, under Goddess...) but mainly it made me wonder upon the fact that many of us who find our faith in Wiccan practices and traditions can find it difficult to stand up and declare this fact openly. Yes Wiccan.I like to think of myself as being for the most pa ... http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=usor&c=words&id=13017 November 28th. 2008 In the beginning ... Oh that’s already been used. How about, When we were born into this life... better.Our path starts with our first breath. Our path ends with our last. In-between is the journey on our path of life with many twists and turns and sometimes even a detour, there are many intersections and on/off ramps that lead to other paths. Some you may want to travel, some you do not. There are many wondrous and amazing things to see and experience along the way, so make sure ... http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=usky&c=words&id=13390 June 18th. 2009 The first days of June here in the southeastern mountains bring a brief period of time that is especially wonderful for enjoying the outdoors. Afternoons heat up, but the sometimes still chilly nights lend their cooler temperatures to the early morning hours making them perfect for taking stock of the garden and tending to needed chores, or just taking a little time to appreciate these quieter hours of the day and the growing richness of nature with the energy of new life.June is a month ... http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=uswv&c=words&id=13375 June 11th. 2009 Earth. The word brings immediately to mind lush green meadows full of brightly colored wildflowers. Thoughts of the forest floor and the heady aroma of moist green life, trees of immense girth that climb high into the sky, harboring dreams of scraping the clouds with the top of their heads. Earth brings to mind the heat and harshness of the deadly seductive desert, barren and burnt, yet here only the strongest living things survive, and even thrive. Earth brings to mind the striking beau ... http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=uswi&c=words&id=13178 February 22nd. 2009 There's a standard joke in the Pagan community that, at a gathering, if the loudspeaker were to announce, "Will Raven, Morgan, and Rhiannon please come to registration?" half the attendees would show up, and that the Ravens at least would be split pretty evenly between males and females.Like most good jokes, it has a lot of truth in it.So rule number one of how *not* to choose a good magickal name is: pick one that's already been used to death.Rule number two of how not t ... http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=usma&c=words&id=13151 February 4th. 2009 The reason "Johnny Can’t Think" is simple: the education system was built on an authoritarian foundation. Societies and their institutions use education as a tool to condition and control the masses. The indoctrination of non-questioning and obedient workers is the primary goal of the schooling.If Johnny can’t think then Johnny can’t question, if Johnny can’t question then Johnny can’t reason, if Johnny can’t reason then Johnny will accept what he is told and Johnny will do what he is to ... http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=usny&c=words&id=13244 April 5th. 2009 The Celtic Forest-God Cernunnos (“Horned One”) achieves almost starring role status in the latter part of Shakespeare’s comedy The Merry Wives of Windsor (c. 1597) . Cernunnos is a Deity widely recognized throughout the Celtic world, from the Gundestrup Cauldron in Denmark to the Cernunnos Altar unearthed from beneath Notre-Dame Cathedral in the early eighteenth century, and across the Channel into Britain. As Herne the Hunter, the Horned God is deeply associated with Windsor, to ... http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=usnc&c=holidays&id=13389 June 17th. 2009 Out of the many dates and passages of the year, no celebrations are more basic and original than that of Paganism. Striving under an eight-part "wheel of the year", modern Pagans celebrate the seasonal changes and tides of life, as one of the oldest and most symbolically influential spiritual systems of all time.Yule, Samhain, Imbolc, Beltane, Mabon, Ostara, Lugnasadh (Lammas) , and Midsummer are the eight Pagan sabbats. These eight are considered by many to be the most important dates o ... http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=usnj&c=words&id=13236 April 2nd. 2009 Celtic Polytheism refers to the religious practices of the peoples of Ireland, Gaul, Scotland, and other parts of Western Europe, before Christianization. Celtic religion was polytheistic, as well as animistic. When the Roman Empire marched on Celtic lands, they “Romanized” some of the religious practices that were pre-existing. From there the Emperor Claudius out laws Druidism, and the Celtic religion began declining after that point in time. There are many sources that are able to give ...