The Greatest Magickal Tool: Your Self !

The only ritual tool you ever really need is yourself. I know, you’re thinking, “Myself? I’m not a ritual tool! A ritual tool is the chalice, athamé, wand or thurible.” Well, those are tools, but for projecting energy with intent, a trusty index finger will yield results every time. What we have to remember is that tools are just that — they are implements or props. It’s the user that is doing the magick. Tools are valuable and using them can certainly add to a ritual, but they are not required.

As with any craft, the tools of the trade can be important devices in manifesting one’s desire. And that is true whether the tool be a trusty hammer, favorite frying pan or cherished athamé. However, it is never the tool that is doing the action; it is the user. And a skilled user, with a good tool or not, will achieve results that reflect their skill. A grade-schooler is never going to flip those eggs in the pan to the same perfection as an experienced short-order cook, no matter how non-stick the pan. This is not to say that ritual tools do not maintain inherent value and magickal energy. For me they do. But it always comes back to the practitioner interacting with these physical items that makes the magick happen.

I recall several years ago I was in attendance at a local public event. There were several pagan groups all participating and sharing rituals throughout the day. One group canceled on short notice and there was a gap in the day’s agenda. I was asked if I could facilitate a ritual in the open time slot. “Sure! I’d be delighted!” was my response. And I was. With a few scrounged-up candles, my partner and I offered one of the most energetic and memorable rituals of the event. And we didn’t need the candles. All we needed was ourselves, and our comfort and experience at working magickal energy in a direct and improvisational way.

And using this magickal ability directly is really what witchcraft is about. Wielding an athamé is par for the course for any experienced witch, but what do you do when your altar or spell kit is not available to you? You make do with what you have. Witches are notorious for using any and all sorts of natural materials that may be at hand. Foremost, we use our bodies. And using our bodies in special ways will increase our abilities. Here are some suggested ways to hone in that special tool that is our own body.

Aj is like a flower,
a rose to be exact,
Or maybe like a brand new gate
that never comes unlatched.
Aj is like an owl,
both beautiful and wise.                                                                                                                                                    
                                                                          

Exploring My Nana's Attic

One cold, rainy April day, I and my little doll named Dot

Asked my Nana what we could do.

She looked at me in puzzled thought

Then said, "take my hand, I've a surprise for you".

She led me up the stairs, to a huge cluttered attic

Then she whispered, "let's take a trip back in time".

There were paper-mache' rabbits sitting on a shelf

Books with stories and poems that rhyme.

And an old vanity mirror, where I laughed at myself. : -)

Happy Mother's Day!

The earliest Mother’s Day celebrations are thought to originate in ancient Greece to honour Rhea, mother of the gods.

In Rome, celebrations to honour the mother of their gods, Cybele lasted 3 days. Christianity is thought to have adopted these special celebrations, substituting Mary, Mother of God and later the Mother Church as the focus.

It became Christian custom that everyone attended the mother church of their parish on this day. In the UK, the beginnings of the Mother’s Day celebrations as we know them began in the Middle Ages.

Overtime, Mothering Sunday as it was called then, was celebrated to honour your own mother on the 4th Sunday in Lent (3 weeks before Easter).

The origin of giving flowers on this day is thought to stem from the custom of servants given the day off to return home to celebrate, were often allowed to pick flowers from their master’s land to take home to their mothers.

Across the world Mothers have a special day. In Europe most countries honour their mothers on the second Sunday in May as do the Americans. May 10th is the day dedicated to mothers in many Asian and Middle Eastern countries.

 Greetings to all beloved manifestations of the Creator on the Earth, we honor, love and respect you sending our light to your aid now to enhance your inner light and remove limitations from your life. We come as the unicorns in unity and as a community from the higher levels of the spiritual world; we are of same energy vibration as the angelic kingdom; we too hold a vast heart swelling with love for humanity. We are your helpers, your guides, we are here to lead you forth, search for our bright shinning light that emanates from our energy horns at our third eye, and this is our beacon. When you truly believe in our energy and invoke us to assist you in your life, you will feel the energy force and attraction of our beacon of light pulling you forth along the correct spiritual path for you.

I took a breath
and heard the slight humming of unfurling ivy
that wrapped itself around something I once owned ~

there was always music here
at the edge of my thoughts
where trees saw through me
the way grandma used to

Adapted from The Phoenix Cards, by Susan Sheppard (Inner Traditions, 1990).

Gypsies have an ancient and mysterious history, and are associated in stories and legends with divination skills and magical practices.


If you have always been fascinated by Gypsies, and are drawn to their symbols and mysteries, read a description of the qualities you may share with them, right here.

You may be a gypsy at heart!

If you are deeply drawn to Gypsy people, you are an exceptionally clever person. You have an intelligence that stems from your shrewd ability to observe and judge character in almost any given situation. There is a strange beauty about you. You love clothes with unusual patterns and stunning designs. You home is our castle, and you like to carry parts of it with you. What might look like a mess to others represents the many special things that you love to be surrounded by. You may even carry photographs or comforting items in a purse or bag to remind you of the things and people you adore.

A Witch's garden
grows with the sun, flows with the rain
a flowering of air and earth
ancient is the knowledge of herbs
their properties and powers
a thing for Grandmothers, Midwives, Witches
flowers speak their own language
all but a few phrases forgotten