My Gods, yes plural there's more than two

Important NOTE: There is a difference in Paganism, Wicca, and Witchcraft. Quick explanation, Paganism is an umbrella term for things that aren't Catholic ( if I remember correctly); Wicca is a branch of Paganism where a person worships (usually not always) the god and goddess and they can also worship gods from other pantheons (or religions) such as the Greek pantheon, or the Egyptian pantheon, even Christian.

As of right now Christian wiccans are a controversial topic, but I believe you can believe in whatever, Wicca is your spiritual road not everyone else's.

Now on to the matter at hand, I follow both the Egyptian and Greek pantheon. I know the Greek Gods I follow but I have yet to know the Egyptian gods I will follow. In the Greek pantheon I worship the following gods:

Poseidon (God of sea, horses, etc)

Hades (God of "Death"  a.k.a the Underworld)

Persephone (not referred to as a goddess often, but she is to my immediate knowledge, think about it, her mother is a god, and she is wife to Hades)

Demeter (mother of Persephone, harvest, and most important change of the seasons)

Artemis (goddess of the hunt and wisdom)

Athena (goddess of war and wisdom)

Long list huh? Well what god you choose to worship should relate to you somehow. And though most find their reasons personal I will gladly share with you my reasons.

I chose Poseidon, or he chose me maybe as far back as my love of baths to the summer where I drowned. Yes, I drowned and in my eyes that day I died. I was being stupid and I went down the slide on the 9 foot part of the pool, and I couldn't swim, I sunk to the bottom and lost consciousnesses and swallowed a ton of water. I was eventually saved and resuscitated but it was practically a miracle I survived. Now I know you're thinking, what the... water almost killed you. But it didn't. And it's strange but when I was down there the water was almost comforting to me. Especially when no one came for me. That one is hard to explain in a way that you'll accept it as I've had.

I follow Hades because as a child even now I suffer depression, and I have always been fairly attuned with death. I hurt when I see roadkill and I believe in spirits passing on peacefully to wherever and I think it wonderful of Hades to take them where they need to go no matter where it may be. I deeply admire him, (sorry if that's weird) and I suppose most of the reasons I'll give you for these seem stupid or weird but I am a somewhat normal person just like the rest of you.

I follow and admire Persephone because she is the reason for changing of seasons but also because she is the wife of Hades, and a good God which is rare. Her only insurrection was that of eating of the pomegranate which only affected her, her mother, and gave us the seasons.

Demeter because I always wanted a motherly figure, I don't really have one although I have a mother, obviously. But I look up to Demeter and I know what a mother should be, and in a strange way through the tales I've heard of her she has been my mother, through my hard times.

I was called an Amazon for the first time when I was in elementary I took it as an insult but I didn't actually know what the word meant. But knowing it now I can agree I was a bit of an amazon without the height and I am most definitely a tomboy of sorts now. And Artemis believes in fiercely with what I believe in, that I'm a strong independent woman who don't need no man. Though one thing we wouldn't agree on, having a man to me still would be nice.

Athena because she is brave, she is a warrior and I have always been a fighter, she is also probably in my opinion one of the most influential woman role models in history even though she is deemed 'fictional'.

Well those are my reasons, however unusual they seem, but your reasons must be there, some feeling, or pull must be there . So don't go just picking names unless that's how you do things. And this is only how i went about it don't feel compelled to go about it the same way. Everyone its different no one is the same that's why everything is so unique and natural.

The Mysterious Art of Divination Part Two: Runes, runes, runes...

Meanings for the Futhark Rune alphabet:

Fehu: Money matters. Psychic energies.

Uruz: Physical health. Vital energies.

Thurisaz: What opposed you (perhaps physical).

Ansuz: Sources of inspiration and intellectual expression.

Raidho: Travels;inner or outer.

Kenaz: Creativity. Erotic relationships.

Gebo: What will be given to you.

Wunjo: Relationships, friends. What will give you happiness.

Hagalaz: Area of possible crisis leading to transformation.

Nauthiz: What resists you (psychically). Source of discontent.

Isa: What is constraining you.

Jera: Where rewards can be expected. Relationship with the natural environment.

Eihwaz: Hidden influences, state of whole being. Relationship with the numinous environment.

Perthro: How you will find joy.

Algiz: Thing that needs attention. Way to the gods.

Sowilo: What will guide you.

Tiwaz: Cognitive state. Legal matters. Ideals.

Berkano: What provides growth and beauty.

Ehwaz: With what or whom you should work. Erotic relations.

Mannaz: Overall psychic state. Attitude toward death.

Laguz: State of emotional Balance. What will test you.

Ingwaz: What you should contemplate.

Dagaz: Area of unexpected synchronicity.

Othala: Greater family matters. National or community issues.

Futhark using the Eight-Fold Wheel goes like this:

This is Practical Matter, dealing with practical or mundane matters hence the name:

Fehu - Financial strength and prosperity of the present and near future.

Uruz - Health matters.

Thurisaz - Conflicts and complexities of an aggressive nature; psychological problems.

Ansuz - Communications and transmissions; points things back to sources in the past.

Raidho - What is right or not right; what move to make; decisions; returns.

Kenaz - Opening up of new ways; opportunities; information.

Gebo - All matters of an exchanging nature; contracts; personal relationships.

Wunjo - Gain; accomplishments; that which is wished for.



This is Psychological Conditions, I think you get what it's about:

Hagalaz - The uncontrolled forces in the unconscious, which are usually of a disruptive nature and which usually originate in the past.
Nauthiz - Restrictive forces in the unconscious; fears, anxieties; feelings of guilt.
Isa - Blocks; stultified conditions; grievances; anything that the individual is not prepared to let go of; the formation of the personality; conditioning.
Jera - Hopes and expectations; turning points; gradual changes; results of earlier actions.
Eihwaz - The driving forces in the unconscious; motivation; sense of purpose.
Perthro - The deepest creative part of the unconscious; the hidden realm of higher material that is waiting to come to fruition and birth; hidden talents; occult or psychic abilities.
Algiz - The strong protective side in the unconscious; the influence which will protect you; religious aspirations.
Sowilo - Position of the higher self in relations to the unconscious; the direction in which you will be guided by the higher self; the ability to establish contact between the higher self and the unconscious.



This is the last Relationships, this is your relationship with other people and even the seual aspects of life, like our love life:

Tiwaz - Creative energies in the martial sense; where your strengths lie; where to direct your energies in taking initiatives; honor and justice, leadership and authority.

Berkano - Fertility; birth' rebirth; growth; maternity; family life; feminine mysteries.

Ehwaz - Adaptability; relationships with others; joint efforts; cooperation; sexuality.

Mannaz - People at large; attitude toward others; other people's attitudes towards you; legal matters, friends and enemies; intellect.

Laguz - Emotions; stability; imagination; psychic matters; affections.

Ingwaz - Integration; gestation; expectations; progeny.

Dagaz - Transmission; opposites; position between light and darkness; initiation; balance between the worlds outside time and space; cosmic consciousness; change from one thing into its opposite; new beginnings.


Othala - Home life; country; spiritual heritage; experience; foundation; fundamental values; establishing.

The Mysterious Art of Divination: Runes, runes, runes

From what I gathered runes are like tarot but they do not tell the future. Runes are called futhark after the first six letters and it is the Old Norse alphabet.

If you want the history here's a place to read on it:http://www.omniglot.com/writing/runic.htm

Now some witches go extra fancy with their use of runes and use it as a secret language for their Book of Shadows or to make their spell have a little extra kick write it out in runes. Only problem with that the Rune alphabet is not like our own. They don't have the same letters we do, so beware of that.

Now talks of three different Rune languages the most common I know of is the one i use and have seen most every other witch use and it looks like this:

Elder Futhark

I like this one but if you don't like this one and don't want to look at the link I'll post the others as well.

Younger Futhork

Elder Futhark was evolved all through Viking Era until about 1200 where they, the Danish etc. switched to the Latin alphabet.

Danish Futhark

Swedish-Norwegian (Short twig/ Rok Runes)

Norwegian Futhark

Gothenburg (Bohuslan Runes)

Now the last type of runes are the Medieval runes according to the website I linked, after the arrival of Christianity for the Scandinavians, and their alphabet was latinised and used for decoration, and here it is:

How to Cast Runes

I like the idea you can cast however you want and really you can. I've seen witches who just do a 'morning throw'. A literal throw on their altar nothing special, but if you want to do an official rune casting this is how I do it based on information I've gathered and just like to do it.

Okay first of all I like peace and quiet which is hard to find in my house because I have four sisters and a nosy mother so I'd probably go outside where's there's natural energy from the plants in our backyard where it is also private. Facing North just like you would for a Circle Casting I'd find a smooth surface to cast on maybe a tiny table or board. I'd reach into my bag shake it up a little, mix it real good ad while thinking of the question I have I'd grab a handful and throw them seeing which way they face up(if they're face down and I can't see the sign I ignore it). Up is positive, down is negative, it's really simple. Now some people do this on the cloth/surface as a boundary I like free range I may even draw three circles to separate the runes as a timeline.

Another way is to pick a certain amount of runes ( a good reason why your runes should be the same size and shape so you don't recognize any) and put them in any tarot order but I'll post some here I read about.

Casting the Norns

The Norns are Norse goddesses because runes are Norse but they can also be interpreted as the Three Fates and etc.This is probably the most simple just pull out three and if they're facing down flip them sideways 'like the pages of a book'. And once you set them down in a row, it's basically past, present, and future going from left to right.

Nine-runes Cast

This gives an detailed overview of a person's situation and progress on their path. Nine is a magickal number in the Norse mythology. Pick nine runes, focus on your question, then throw them. Read face up these are your current situation, runes can be read just about anyway but runes in the center are immediately relevant, the ones on the far outside are fairly insignificant. This depends really on how you read it, it's about what comes to you. Runes that are face down represent outside or future influences and are possible outcomes.


But anyway this is something you'll have to read on the fore-mentioned website. I'm too lazy too paraphrase this. All information gathered in this post is from that particular website which practically walks you through interpreting runes. In a part two post for this I will give you the meanings of the runes.

Why do I need a knife... Who are we sacrificing?

On your altar there is optionally what is called an athame or small black handled knife. That can be used in a couple different ways. So far I have seen it used like this:

• dipped in saltwater and used to draw pentagram at the four corners of a circle
• and to make the initial saltwater mixture... like a spoon

Important misconception to get out of the way, wiccans do not sacrifice living things, animal nor human not even dead. We give back usually by food offerings, wiccans aren't violent and are more fine-tuned with nature so why harm what's in it to honor it? It's be dumb. So no sacrificing sheep, that's not what the craft is for.

Altar Food

I don't know much about altar food but I'm assuming it's something similar to communion for Christians
(eating of the body and the blood of Christ), but in this case it's an offering to the gods that you consume half and burn or 'sacrifice' the other. by sacrifice I hear a lot of witches return it to the earth like compost it every week and keep it in a can. Some instead of food use flowers that they switch out when they decompose or jewelry. I don't think it matters what you put up there as long as it's an offering. I, when I get one, will probably use food seeing as I want to be a baker, and I'll eat half and leave the other for the creatures (so it'll also probably be sugar-free or diabetic). An in the case that you do want to leave the offering out for the creatures make it sugar-free we don't want to kill the animals, MAKE SURE IT'S ANIMAL FRIENDLY!

Mine, mine MINE! My wand, how I did it, because yes I did it!

A lot of witches worry about their wands, everyone wants this nice expensive wand but I hear it's preferable you don't because it's not your energy in the wand. So it's not as strong as if you were to have...can you guess?... made it! I made my wand and there are rules to this and their pretty basic ones.

1. You CAN NOT rip branches from trees without asking the tree for its branch and giving it an offering and then a thank you gift
2. Grabbing a branch from the ground is okay, you don't have to ask but it's still nice to leave a 'thank you' gift which in turn calls for more reiteration  at a later point sorry...
3. Don't not leave a gift, it's rudeeee.

And that's pretty much it, I found the stick I used for my wand on a camping trip I took this year (2013) to the VW bus festival. It was on the path to the other side of the mountain and I felt like I couldn't leave it. And I was already on the search for a wand anyway. I have no idea what kind of wood it is but it is my wind wand, I plan to make 4 others for the other 4 elements so I thought that white would be the perfect color for wind so I was really happy when I found it. I blessed it in fire, wind, earth, water, and spirit even though it's just for wind but I was afraid to not be extra about it. I basically shaped it with a carving knife and attached my energy-directing stone (I'll reiterate later) on the end with normal black twine and white thread. It was pretty easy and fun, I recommend it because my energy is in it everything I'll do will be pure with my energy. So yeah, I'll post pictures...

What's a Book of Shadows?

Just an example from Google images, it could be a compound notebook or ringed notebook 

What's a book of shadows, you ask? Ever seen Charmed, well it's almost exactly like that, the potion and spell part. The monster part not so much unless you log the Gods and Goddesses and deities things like that. I myself believe in vampires and the such but that's just me.

Everyone is always worried about how expensive and nice-looking their book is, and that's okay. But your book can just be a notebook or like mine (only temporarily) a virtual Book of Shadows meaning its on the net. Others make scrapbooks and I think mostly because a Book of Shadows is something you pass along your family. For instance you can have a personal Book of Shadows and a family Book of Shadows and a coven Book of Shadows (if you're in one).Or you could just have a personal book you later on decide to pass on to your family. Which I plan to do along with a cookbook (wink!) things I've seen to be consistent is the following

• wiccan rede/creed 
• (they are two different things!)
• spells/rituals
• (categorized by subjects i.e, love, wealth)
• candle colour charts
• herb list 
• (explaining each of the purposes and benefits of said herb)
• tools/altar setup for different occassions
• depending on what you believe in exactly you could have a list of gods 
• (detailing some legends of them, what you do to celebrate them such as holiday)
• rules of your coven or expected of yourself

Now remember all of these are optional you could easily go without one of these. only ones ive seen are required are the wiccan reed and creed those are out anthems of sorts.
Otherwise knock yourself out with what you wanna do with it.
Just make it 'you'.

My Non-existent Altar

 just another Google image

Every young or starting witch is always worried about the altar. I'm not going to lie, I'm worried about my altar too, because it doesn't exist! Altars are an important and fundamental part of the Craft, but if you don't have one yet, don't fret. If you don't have room for one don't worry. But if you're trying to get all of that together here is what I've gathered people generally have or is traditionally put on the Altar. They usually consist of the following:

Ritual/Worship/Element Candles

Candles

A Bell

Athame (small black handled knife)

Book of Shadows (I'll reiterate later)

Chalice or cup/bowl of Salt Water ( for cleansing things)

Wand (reiteration required)

Broom (pretty optional from what I've heard)
Pictures or symbols of your Gods
Runes if you are into divinity(I'll reiterate later)
Chalice (for drinking)
A cake or sweet, food basically (Reiterate I shall!)
Cauldron
Herbs and Oils (can be kept there but usually there in the kitchen)

That pretty much sums it up for what's on it, in different posts most likely I'll reiterate on what was specified as what would be reiterated upon later, in separate posts. If it bothers you too much I'll mash it with this post but I think it'll be less confusing to have it somewhere else.

But for this post I just want to breathe on the subjects not specified for reiteration. Candles although unspecified is an extensive subject and I'll probably have a post for them because herbs, colors, and meanings depend on where you got it from, if it's handmade, and what you're going for. An athame (pronounced a-thuh-may) has many different purposes, some dip it into the salt water and bless people or the corners of there pentagram or circle. It's what you want to do with it which is why I won't go into it it's a matter of preference. The bowl of salt is just for purification of the circle the altar, people, yourself. Once again is a matter of preference. Comment with questions if you want suggestions or are completely confused. Brooms are just another way of purifying your circle, sweeping away negative energy and bad spirits. The Gods you worship if any are important to display this in a way honors them and informs them you are with them. If you can't get some of these things like the picture of your gods, a symbol or something they are known by or you think of while thinking of them. I've never seen a cauldron in use but people do use them for making potions. I haven't made any as of yet, but I'll look it up for you and post it later.

Coming out of the 'Broom Closet' :How I Did It and How They Took It

So if you've seen my first post I have indeed come out of the closet to the people I personally thought needed to know. Your Craft can be a secret for as long as you deem it. You don't have to tell everyone or anyone unless you want to. I only told my friends, siblings, close cousins, and my parents.

FRIENDS

My friends didn't care, it didn't change me or how they felt about me, we talked awhile and that's the way I think it should be with friends. If they do care, if it does bother them and that ends the relationship I think that that is someone you could live without. You're religion shouldn't bother the people you hang with if it does, you need to talk it out and come to terms. Because something like that can mess with how close you are with someone and it shouldn't. Lucky for me some of my friends aren't even Christian so it didn't affect much.

SIBLINGS

I have 10 or so siblings. I have one older sister, seven younger sisters not all by blood (4 biologically), and six younger brothers once again not all biological (only 2), I told all of them old enough to understand, so really my older sister. My younger siblings, all available, were there but if they understood or grasped it is of their own knowing. If you're siblings don't speak to you after you tell them, don't convert back to conform to their needs. You're religion is for you and what you believe in. If in their eyes you are damned to eternal hell-fire, then so be it! Tell them to not let it get in the way of your familial bond, don't let it change the way you both are together.

CLOSE COUSINS

I have 4 close cousins from 12 to 16, all who have been with me all our lives who are devout Christians, and wen I say devout they like going to Church, they enjoy the words of Jesus Christ their savior. When I told them obviously I was a devil worship-er because everyone who doesn't believe in God is a devil worship-er, but slowly we overcame it. As of now, because of difficulties with my father I live with them, and we do so in harmony. For already they've bent for my oldest cousin who has recently come out the closet as bisexual. It took work but they got used to the idea I don't believe the same way they do, some family members however will not take it so well. Some may disown or never speak to you. And because I didn't want to burn bridges I didn't tell my entire family, if I ever get married then of course it will show up but they will have to DEAL!

PARENTS

I told my parents second, after my friends. My father and I got into an argument especially since I used to be active in Church and 'liked' it so he didn't understand why. But I told him to deal with it, because it was what it was, his fiancee told me not to perform in her home because she didn't want ghosts and I tried to calmly explain to her that's not what I did. I went into painful detail about what I believed and why I didn't care that they didn't like that I wasn't Christian. My biological mom threatened to throw her shoe at me, but I told her it had nothing to do with her, that maybe under her roof she could pretend I was Christianity but that didn't make me so. So all-in-all I'm not talking to my father, not for that but for personal reasons, and my step-mother promises she misses me. My mother and I talk casually as if we were friends, because really that's all that we are. I never want to look at her as my mother ever again, that wasn't nor will ever be the greatest part of my life. But we speak.

So that's how I feel about all that, that's how it happened, I hoped I helped if not ask away. Hope it goes well. Don't get discouraged, and don't give up stick to what you believe in no matter how they react. In truth, all you need in life is you.

Hi, my name is Takkari and I'm new!

I was raised a Christian and all my life I struggled with believing in everything they occasionally tossed at me. With all the bad I went through all the bad I saw, it was hard, nearly impossible. Praying was hard as well when results never came, and in a family of devout Christian lawyers, businessmen, and preachers. I admit I am a novice at the Craft, but I really believe in this for the first time I am at terms and peace with the Craft. SO this is my journey that I'd love for you, whoever you are, to join me in and help me along if you have more knowledge. Which you probably do. Soon I'll post how I came out of the broom closet and my parent's reactions.

But before that a little on who you're about to start rolling with:
As of this first post I'm 15 and I am black. I won't bother going into of what descent because can one really say exactly where they come from? Well, I am a sophomore in high school, I attend Isaac Bear Early College partnered with UNCW in Wilmington. As a child I was bullied and abused at home by my mother until I left for my father's when I was 14. I have been down a bumpy road but I'm getting somewhere, even though this road is quite treacherous. If you really want to know more about me, feel free to ask, I'll answer everything and anything. ASK AWAY! Until next time, readers!