http://mysticwicksmagazine.com written by the community for the community Sat, 03 Apr 2010 15:08:39 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Pagan religions are living traditions that have evolved over time and continue to change today. Occult practices and religions such as Wicca in particular have drawn from inspiration around the world including sources originating in the Americas. The West has had a very noticeable impact on the development of occult philosophy that is easy to see when we look for it.]]> http://mysticwicksmagazine.com/?p=1149 Bryon Morrigan is a former US military intelligence analyst with a degree in forensic science. He lives in a beautiful Southern estate in Florida with his wife and two daughters.  He counts Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child, H. P. Lovecraft, H. G. Wells, and Hunter S. Thompson among his literary influences.  Look for his horror thriller “THE DESERT” in bookstores and libraries – or ask for it if you don’t see it on the shelves!  Bryon’s website can be found at http://www.bryonmorrigan.com/ *** MW: You’ve listed your path on your ...]]> http://mysticwicksmagazine.com/?p=1160 Most of us are aware of our astrological sun signs and make at least a token effort to acknowledge the progression of the Earth, sun, and moon as they cycle through the seasons.  Some go a step further and use astrology and theories about the heavenly bodies as a way to predict forces and time their magickal projects for maximum effect. How can you go from the mostly-uninformed to the sophisticated stellar magician?  Why, by learning more from the wealth of available books on astrology and stellar magick of course! To ...]]> http://mysticwicksmagazine.com/?p=1165 Making your own incense cones requires a little more time and effort than making loose incense but taking the extra time to do so is very rewarding. It’s a little more convenient than having to worry about loose incense when traveling or having a ritual outside away from your indoors altar. Charcoal tends to be messy when one is grinding it up. A much neater way to break up the briquettes is to put them between several layers of old newspaper or cloth and giving it some really hefty bangs with ...]]> http://mysticwicksmagazine.com/?p=1145 “I enjoy perpetual spring: the year always shines, trees are leafing, the solid always fodders. I have a fruitful garden in my dowered fields, fanned by breezes, fed by limpid fountains. My husband filled it with well-bred flowers, saying: ‘Have jurisdiction of the flower, goddess.’ I often wanted to number the colours displayed, but could not: their abundance defied measure.” – Ovid, Fasti 5.193 Flora is a Roman goddess, one of flowers, spring, beginnings, renewal, fertility, abundance and growth. She isn’t just a goddess of flowers, but a goddess of life, ...]]> http://mysticwicksmagazine.com/?p=1171 One of my groups favorite Sabbats is Ostara or Eostre’ also known as spring equinox , landing on or about March 21st This is the time when spring is just beginning and some flowers and trees are beginning to blossom. It is a beautiful and exciting time of the year, and we always have a gathering where we invite friends and families to join us in our festivities. Along with the wonderful meal we prepare with our spring foods, we play a few games ...]]> http://mysticwicksmagazine.com/?p=1184 (Imagine a Wise Woman in the old days, her hair just turning grey. She wears slightly ragged clothes. She walks through the forest at night …) The Crooked Path Alone I walk the crooked path A heavy basket upon my back Through moonlit groves to home at last Guided by dimming stars above my head Through the valley and around the bend With eager eyes do I see the gate ahead Behind me lays the farmer’s hedge Beyond the hill does my cottage stand Away from village lights and prying eyes I work a craft they cannot understand My garden beckons while ...]]> http://mysticwicksmagazine.com/?p=1139 Many tarot readers are also tarot collectors or, as I refer to us, tarot-holics. We will spend quite a bit to get the latest or rarest deck, even chasing down those special, limited edition, self-published titles to add to our collections. Not only are we acquisitive, we are also inquisitive. We like to see how various artists and authors interpret different cards. It is endlessly fascinating to compare one artist’s interpretation to another’s and to see how that aligns with our interpretations as well. This process broadens ...]]> http://mysticwicksmagazine.com/?p=1154 Since April is the American Autism Awareness Month, I thought I would share my experiences about raising a child on the autism spectrum. This is our journey of ups and downs, failures and triumphs, laughter and tears… It has been a very long road so far and the journey isn’t over yet, we still have a long way to go. My son, Lil Cloaky, will be six years old on May 29, 2010 and he still needs a lot of help learning social skills and about the world around him. ...]]> http://mysticwicksmagazine.com/?p=1188 “This is what happens when you dabble! You can’t practice the Craft while you are looking down your nose at it.” ~ The Aunts from Practical Magic So why do I have to do all this required reading and research? Isn’t that work? It is so time consuming and the books are hard to read! Why can’t we simply practice solely based upon our instincts and natural talents? Instinct is only one part of the equation. Imagine that your spiritual practice was a house. Now, try to build that without blueprints, without a ...]]> http://mysticwicksmagazine.com/?p=1108 As there is no Critter Chat Contests this time around I only have a few photographs for everyone to admire. To keep space available I've edited them to a uniform size. If you wish to see the originals in all their glory please go checkout the Photography section on the MysticWicks Forums!]]> http://mysticwicksmagazine.com/?p=1091 This is a very basic lesson plan, and is only an introduction into some of the common or shared beliefs on the Medicine Wheel. Learning this gives you a base of information to build upon and allows you to see some of the complex yet simple beliefs that are held in the vibrations of the stones as well as the placement.]]> http://mysticwicksmagazine.com/?p=951 Some branches of ancient and modern Paganism have close ties with fairies, with some revering the Good Neighbors as deities while others treat them more as spirits, sometimes even considering them to be the spirits of deceased humans. ]]> http://mysticwicksmagazine.com/?p=938 I often see people who spend thousands of dollars and travel to far-off lands after exchanging a few e-mails with someone they found through a Google search. They wouldn’t buy a new car without doing some research and taking it for a test drive – but they’ll throw common sense to the winds where spirituality is concerned.]]> http://mysticwicksmagazine.com/?p=933 Norse mythology is filled with references to runes, the sacred alphabet obtained through an ordeal of sacrifice by Odin, and handed down to be used by the leaders and wonder-workers in Norse communities. Runes were not merely written placeholders for spoken language but were considered to hold their own innate magickal power.]]> http://mysticwicksmagazine.com/?p=918 As with other types of magickal work and energy directing, Reiki can be added here. Along with your own energy, you can send the Universal energy of Reiki into your spell and into your end product. You can even go so far as to cleanse all of your pieces & parts before hand with Reiki and then add more energy into it as you’re stirring, chanting, etc. to charge it.]]> http://mysticwicksmagazine.com/?p=974 Usually when we see the this card, we think that it might be a time to pull into ourselves, to retreat from society and get in touch with our intuition, our deities. Perhaps we need to take some time out because we’ve been wounded (I do see him as a wounded healer archetype, occasionally), or are just too darn tired or fed up to take it anymore. ]]> http://mysticwicksmagazine.com/?p=977 My personal favorite Christmas Market is in the bohemian district of Spittelberg, a maze of tiny cobbled streets where the buildings have been restored to their original eighteenth and nineteenth century baroque style. This is a left wing district and center of arts and crafts; and in December it is teaming with people huddled round the Punch stands.]]> http://mysticwicksmagazine.com/?p=915 I soon realized there was so much information that I would have to write an entire book if I was going to cover all of it. Therefore, I have condensed it to a few key points that caught my eye and grasped my heart. We know that Christmas/ Yule, as with most important Christian holidays, have pagan roots. So many traditions are combined in this particular holiday, that it could not be eliminated by the church, so they]]> http://mysticwicksmagazine.com/?p=945 Herbs are not just for healing or poisoning purposes, they are also used to enhance and inject energy into a spell by sprinkling the loose herbs over fire or by using them in combination with other herbs, resins and oils in the form of incense. Or they can be used as magickal helpers in cooking]]> http://mysticwicksmagazine.com/?p=956