Songs of a Cricket - blog

ABC of Paganism: J is for Judgment

6/20/2018

When I consider the concept of judgment within my Witchcraft I first consider the Tarot card of Judgement XX and what lessons it brings forth when it appears in a spread; making a judgment on a situation or experience, judging others or oneself, facing the reckoning of the gods … when I do so I realize that there are often times when judgment is not only useful and helpful, but necessary. Within my own practice I recognize that judgment forces me to create boundaries where there previously were none or forces me to contemplate my own desires and needs instead of always yielding to others (especially when dealing with a coven or group of other practitioners). While it is certainly true that compromises must be made when I am a member of a larger group there are things that we all should refuse to compromise on, especially if we are uncomfortable with whatever it is being presented to us, though I would also concede that sometimes our own discomfort may indicate that there is a shadow within ourselves that we may want to address.

My Beloved Familiar

6/17/2018

Alchemy had been struggling with feline diabetes in the previous couple of years, but with a diet adjustment and holistic supplements I had been able to get his glucose level under control and while he still wasn't as sprightly as he had been in his kitten years he had regained much of his weight and movement in his hind leg, which had succumbed to nueropathy. All of my family members were concerned during this time and due to his profound weight loss we had considered that our time with him was dwindling, but as he began recovering and his normal behavior returned we no longer worried. Life was good.

The morning of Monday, May 21 brought new concerns. My husband awoke to find a number of blood drips on our living

The Biggest Baddest Witch Around

6/13/2018

To Be Silent is one of the five points of The Witch’s Pyramid and is considered one of the fundamental occult philosophies that are shared by all practical and esoteric magickal practitioners. It is a concept that strongly resonates strongly with me. Sound in all forms is an important part of my own witchcraft. Noise like stomping, clapping, and ringing to spoken or chanted words all have a purpose within my Craft and silence being the absence of sound cannot be overlooked, because my Craft and practice embraces all polarities in an effort to aid me in achieving balance.

Today many individuals are distracted by the constant noise and babble that surrounds them on a daily basis so taking moments void of noise and sound can create changes within the individual allowing them time to “hear” their inner voice and the whispers of the Spirit Realm. A time of silence is beneficial when learning new concepts within the Craft. Allowing one’s mind to contemplate the new information and integrating it into the already established system of knowledge can be done much easier when the mind isn’t attempting to filter out the noise of mundane life. Silence allows the mind to

ABC of Paganism: I is for Invocation

6/6/2018

Invocation is an important part of a Witch's practice because it is one way in which he or she is able to commune with those entities that align with the Spirit Realm. The practice of invocation provides a channel through which communication between planes of existence is achieved. Through invocation a Witch draws a spirit, Spirit force, deity or other non-physical being into her or his body in order to commune with that entity or to be the mouthpiece for that particular entity so that others may have the opportunity to speak and listen to the messages that entity brings to the physical realm. When a successful invocation has taken place the Witch’s personality has been replaced by that of the spiritual being that has been invoked much like a possession.

Spell Casting: Warning Spell

5/30/2018

This blog post is going to be fun!

On occasion I come across spells that are shared on Facebook and other places on the internet. Some of these spells are helpful and can be a source of inspiration for the Witch, but the majority of the spells I read are just foolishness with many of them being piles of ... dare I say ... shit. I would like to take the opportunity to share with you some of the spells I come across and explain to you whey I think the spell is either a possible source of inspiration or why it's complete shit. I will also offer ways to edit or restructure the spell to make it workable with substitutions or additional correspondences. Let's begin ...

ABC of Paganism: H is for High Priestess

5/23/2018

The role of the High Priestess is greatly misunderstand by many self-taught Wiccans and Witches. The title and role of the High Priestess was one that I assumed during the years I lead Lunar Wisdom Coven, but I no longer assume the position nor the title as the coven dissolved a few years ago and I did not birth another. At the present time I am solitary in my own practice and due to the transition I am experiencing I wouldn’t even suggest that I am a Priestess; I do not work or associate with any one particular personified goddess, god, or pantheon. I am Witch – that is a label that describes me, but beyond that I am uncertain.

Is Death Only The Beginning?

5/16/2018

Recently I received an email from a viewer of my YouTube channel and I wanted to take some time to respond in a blog post because I felt that his questions were interesting to contemplate and I don’t think I’ve ever shared my beliefs about them here on my blog. His questions are as follows:

If death is only the beginning and reincarnation is real then why do ghosts of those who have passed exist and why do their ghosts haunt cemeteries?
Where do witches go after physical death?
Is there a plane specifically meant for dead human beings?

ABC of Paganism: G is for Gnosis

5/9/2018

Gnosis is defined as esoteric knowledge of spiritual truth that is essential to the liberation of the individual from illusion or ignorance. The spiritual seeker searches for gnosis through numerous practices, striving to gain insight into the nature of the Universe as well as his or herself through these practices. For me these practices include; meditation, contemplation, fasting, Ritual, and any other means I find to communion with the Spirit Realm, but for others it may manifest in a different way. Perhaps the individual perceives deity as the personified god Ganesh and while in meditation that practitioner has a profound interaction with this deity or the Witch works only with the primordial forces of nature and while holding ritual outside in her backyard she witnessed a natural event that uncovered some truth for her. It is these moments when the individual is aligned with deity and the moment when gnosis can be gained if we are opened to the experience. Many times gnosis comes to me in a way I am unprepared for, which places even greater value on the experience for me.

The Feast of Beltane (May Day)

5/1/2018

Beltane is one of the eight annual Sabbats or festivals observed as part of the Wheel of The Year and is the last of the three Spring fertility festivals. It is celebrated at the approximate midway point between the Vernal Equinox and the Summer Solstice. It traditionally marks the arrival of Summer.

Beltane is the counterpart to Samhain, which divides the year into two primary seasons, Winter (dark, feminine, death, receptive) and Summer (light, masculine, birth, projective). Beltane translated means “fire of Bel” or “bright fire” or “bale fire”.

Beltane like Samhain is when time and space are temporarily suspended; the Veil between here and there is the thinnest allowing those who are transitioned to their next life experience to communicate with those who are still on this physical plane. It is a time for the fae to awaken from their winter slumber and tempt those in this world to join them in Faeryland. Legend tells of people sitting beneath a tree on Beltane night hearing the sounds of horse’s bells. This is the Queen of the Fae riding on her white

ABC of Paganism: F is for Familiar

4/25/2018

Many new Witches misunderstand the concept of familiars. In discussing the concept with them it is clear to see that they believe that their familiar spirit is their animal companion whether it is their pet cat or dog or bird and that particular animal aids them with their magick or ritual, but the Witch's familiar is much more than a pet and typically their pet is not their familiar. While having an animal companion is pleasant and there are wonderful benefits for the Witch in owning a pet, to believe that your pet cat or dog is your familiar is misinformed and misguided. A Witch's familiar is not owned by the Witch. A familiar is a spiritual entity in its own right possessing freewill and a unique personality. They are spiritual entities with agendas that may or may not align with the Witch at any given time. The familiar chooses the Witch as much as the Witch chooses the familiar; the two cultivate a magickal relationship that is mutually beneficial to both parties involved in the bond.

Witches Are Satan's Servants

4/18/2018

The other day an individual, I don’t remember their user name and even if I did I don't think I would post it here, left two comments on two separate YouTube videos on my channel. At first I considered deleting them and blocking them from my channel, but after reading them and contemplating what they actually meant I decided that I wanted to share the comments and my thoughts about them with you, but before I share the comments and my thoughts, I want to present some definitions for some of the words that were used within the comments; definitions that I gleamed from the comments themselves and from my own thoughts about the comments were suggesting with these particular word choices.

ABC of Paganism: E is for Energy

4/11/2018

Everything is made of energy and is connected by the very nature of what it is. While some things appear to be solid material, it is still made of energy just vibrating at a low frequency. Nothing is permanent; everything deteriorates. Life is a vast web of energetic interconnections and human beings experience these connections physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. We are connected to our relatives, our friends, our ancestors, the land we live, and situations we experience. We are connected to our possessions, our careers, hobbies, the people with whom we

Ethics Within Witchcraft

4/4/2018

The other day I was watching a Live Steam on YouTube recorded by a friend of mine titled – Live and in color: Ethics and Rede's, Titles and Wicca, in which he discusses his opinions on a couple of blog posts he read, which deal with magickal ethics. I wanted to share with you my own thoughts because even though I have covered this topic a few times on my own YouTube Channel as well as here in the blog, I think it’s a topic worth covering again.

Let’s begin with The Wiccan Rede … many individuals will quote The Rede as the basis for all Witches ethics, however not all Witches follow The Rede and many don’t even acknowledge it as part of their practice or spirituality. The Wiccan Rede (or The

ABC of Paganism: D is for Danu

3/28/2018

Prior to 2015 my matron goddess was Isis and my patron god was Thoth. I worked within my personal practice exclusively with these two gods of the Egyptian pantheon and they taught me much about magick and witchcraft. With their guidance I developed a strong personal practice and successful ritual spell casting, but it was in the summer of 2015 that I was called by a different goddess and I gladly accepted the invitation to work with the Great Mother, Danu.

Danu made herself known to me years prior to her formal call on the day that my husband and I were legally handfasted in 2008. The High Priestess who officiated our ceremony placed a turquoise colored statue of Danu on the altar, but I was unfamiliar with the image and so I asked her about it. While she spoke to me, I felt a flickering within my psyche and knew that I would work with Danu sometime in the future, but I had taken a vow to serve Isis and my time with her

I Am a Better Witch Than You: Competitive Witchcraft

3/21/2018

I was surfing YouTube the other day and came across a video titled “Competitive Witchcraft” and the individual was discussing how they perceived that since witchcraft has become more “mainstream” it has also become more competitive. I listened to the entire video and understood the creator’s points, however I do not think that witchcraft has become more competitive; I believe it has always been competitive. Perhaps we haven’t seen it because the magickal community was more secretive and selective and with the birth of the internet more information is available. Anyone can make a YouTube video and share their opinions, thoughts, and experiences with the entire world and anyone can view that video, but years ago this type of platform was unavailable and if someone wanted to hear about personal experiences within witchcraft or learn about magick they would have had to have been a member of a group and those groups were pretty secretive and exclusive. There was a process someone would have had to go through (Initiation) to join. I think that with such availability of information comes