Yule, The Fool & The Potion Witch

 Yule, The Fool & The Potion Witch

Last night was the first of 4 Yule ceremonies for me. Yule/Winter Solstice is one of my favorite sabbats, though Beltane is number 1 on my list, of course. But after being in & out of the Underworld since Mabon (See my Mabon – Samhain Blog) Yule is a welcome breath of fresh life.

The Yule ceremony last night was at The Silver Broom Ministries in Sayville. We charged the Yule Spell that I posted last time. It was a lot of fun. I have to say that I did some of my best work on that spell. The rhyme may not be 100% but if you count, each line has 8 syllables, 1 per each sabbat of the Wheel of the Year. I am a Virgo, what can I say?

So having popped up from the Underworld this last time (for now) a few days ago, I can only say that I feel great. I got to chill in the 8^th Chakra for a longer span of time & the inspiration I received was like gold, mined from the depth of the Unconscious Mind. I’m feeling refreshed & eager for the new Solar Year.

The Solar Cycles of our lives have a greater sway on us than we often realize. Just consider the literal seasons. Yule is the first official day of Winter & here on Long Island, NY we get it in full. We take to bundling up, settling in after the rush of the various holidays & returning to some aspects of hibernation.

Yet the Birth energy of Yule urges us to plant the seeds of what we want garnered from the review of the past year. I got my clarity because I took my time feeling out my life. I know what I want more clearly than ever before & my intentions are lined up.

So, with intentions & spells written I am ready to leap into the new. OK, it doesn’t feel like a leap so much as a set of baby steps. But since this sabbat has to do with the Birth of the Sun, we are all like energetic babies, fresh from the womb of our own internal mothering of the past few months. Sure I’m not ready to run out & take the world by the balls. You just don’t send a baby to work day 1 do you?

No, you keep it warm, safe & fed, 3 things, at least, that I’m doing very well with & intending to continue till at least the next sabbat of Imbolc in February. But for now, it’s all about creating my new year with fresh perspective & taking a symbolic leap of faith via small steps. 

The seeds of my personal magick to be done are clear in my mind & having to do with a new Annual Patron, success & expansion. I feel like I am perched on top of a cliff, just one step away from the unknown. That image is very familiar to me. It’s like the card of the Fool in the Tarot.

The Leap awaits with 1 step

The Fool is the Major Arcana card numbered 0, between the last card in the cycle of The World (21) & the first card of the cycle The Magician (1). That’s where I am, between the old & new, poised for the 1 baby step that may cause plummet or flight. That’s the risk isn’t it, fall or fly. 

Thankfully I know what I’m doing & though sometimes we drop a bit, the momentum from the nosedive can be redirected into a meteoric rise. But that’s an everyday thing too isn’t it? The moment our eyes open each morning, we are the Fool ready with 1 step to take the risk of sinking of soaring.

My symbolic seeds are many. For starters, I’m starting January with something I’ve never done before. Every Friday for the foreseeable future I will be doing phone readings. 

 Need a reading?

I always shied away from it as I much prefer the face to face intimacy of a private reading. But I have been doing them for years for out of state clients or for those who couldn’t get to my office in Sayville. 

My guides don’t care about distance, being non-physical & all. So I’m putting it out there. On available Fridays I will spend a good chunk of the day in jammies with a full pot of coffee & read from a comfy spot on my couch or in my extremely cloud-like bed. YAY, I love being Self employed.

I’m also launching a new 13 week series of Witchclass Cycle Three – Gods & Goddesses. 

 This should be fun

Each week I’ll be teaching 3 hour classes diving deep into the Hellenic Greek Gods; their myth, archetypal make up & magick.  The Gods we’ll be working with are: Aphrodite, Apollo, Ares, Artemis, Athena, Circe, Demeter, Dionysus, Eros, Hades, Harmonia, Hephaestus, Hera, Heracles, Hermes, Hestia, Hygeia, Pan, Persephone, Poseidon & of course Zeus. 

Zeus is my personal patron for this New Year & I’m really looking forward to embodying his power in the clearest, cleanest, best feeling way possible while trying o manage the lightning risk to myself & others.

But for now, I’ve got more Yule Gifts to make. I decided to go the potion route this year. I’m actually a pretty good Potion Witch. I’m no Severus Snape, but I can mix a pretty magickal concoction. Ask anyone I’ve ever made a cocktail for. (See the Shot Spells Blog.) 

 Whatever could they be?

I’m not going to reveal what the actual potions are at the moment, as they are gifts. But you know me, I’ll share them once they have been delivered. But let’s just say they were inspired & some of the more powerful ones I’ve ever made, not to mention very practical. You’ll see, or should I say Yule see!

Until then, I’ve got a lot on my plate. No rest for the Witch… I used to say no rest for the Wiccan, but I’m not technically Wiccan anymore. I’m an Eclectic Witch; hence my exploration & practice of the Greek Gods, A Course in Miracles, The Law of Attraction, Sanskrit Mantras & the Gods only know what else I’m forgetting & coming next down the pike.

I can only say that I’m going to do my best to cultivate Joy, Ease, Flow, Grace & a few other things I have brewing up my sleeve, pardon the mixing of metaphor. But I sense with this high of an energy, this early on that I’ve got a good momentum going. It will be fun to see how it comes together. Regardless, I’m feeling ready, reborn, refreshed & ready to teach, read, heal, counsel & all the other stuff I love to do as a Professional Witch.

 My son Sabastian blissed out in the Vortex

Consider yourself invited to join in on the wild ride that this next solar year can bring. I’ll be doing my best to ride the surf, go downstream, get in the Vortex, live on a high flying disc & do my thing with as much laughter, eagerness & style as I can muster. In this way, the Yule Fire I’ll be lighting will be under my ass, as 2014 is going to be a busy year.

Wishing you all the best of the Season & may the Gods themselves hold you close in their love & guidance.

Blessed Be & Blessed Yule  

Rev. Mark A. Lyons, President
Drawing the Circle Productions INC.
DrawingtheCircle@aol.com
631-968-8307 @ProfWitch on Twitter

Yule Spell for 2013: Everything’s Working Out for Me.

Every year Amy & I whip up Yule spells in pouch form to give away as a thank you to the people who keep Drawing the Circle Productions & The Silver Broom Ministries going.

Since not everyone can get to the events we offer, I always offer the actual spell & ingredients to the general public in advance.

So, here's the Yule spell for 2013. It is a 'burning spell' meaning you can burn the contents of the pouch in a Yule Fire or something similar. But it can also be carry as a pouch, as it is highly aromatic & will work just the same.

I'll be blogging about my own experiences of the sabbat soon. I will be referring to this spell in that post for sure.

Here it is. Have at it. Let me know how it works for you in the comments.

Blessed Be & Blessed Yule
Rev. Mark A. Lyons, President
Drawing the Circle Productions INC.
DrawingtheCircle@aol.com
631-968-8307 @ProfWitch on Twitter

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yule Spell for 2013: Everything’s Working out for me.

Ingredients:

Air: Maple shavings, Sage Oil

Fire: Peppermint Oil, Rosemary Oil,

Water: Birch shavings, Tonka Bean Oil, 

Earth: Barley & Patchouli Oil, 

By Peppermint & Tonka Bean

Everything’s working out for me.

By Barley, Birch & Rosemary

Everything’s working out for me.

By Maple, Sage & Patchouli

Everything’s working out for me.

By Breeze, by Blaze, by Wave, by Tree

Everything’s working out for me.

By Stone, by Wind, by Flame, By Sea

Everything’s working out for me.

Clear my mind so I may see

Everything’s working out for me.

Inspire creativity.

Everything’s working out for me.

I create my reality.

Everything’s working out for me.

My way is blessed my path is free

Everything’s working out for me.

Ease & flow in high degree.

Everything’s working out for me.

I walk in Positivity

Everything’s working out for me.

To find the feeling is the key

Everything’s working out for me.

The Gods & Angels all agree.

Everything’s working out for me.

For the Highest Good I Decree

Everything’s working out for me.

As 1 & 1 & 1 make 3

Everything’s working out for me.

As I will it so mote it be.

 

Meditation & the Witch

Kitty-tation

Meditation is a spiritual staple on the path toward becoming more authentic, clear & wise. It is that last part, wise, that concerns the Witch the most, because Witch means 'Wise person.' But we have some pretty odd perceptions & beliefs about meditation here in the west, probably because the concept of meditation originated in the eastern world thousands of years ago.

As a spiritual teacher I hear a lot of people say, "I can't meditate" or "I can't quiet my mind long enough." This has lead me to understand that our western perceptions are faulty on the subject. So it is that I often instruct them to clarify for themselves what the word means to them, if not to everyone in the world.

OM / AUM

For example, I divide meditation into 2 similar but different categories & since I've used the words already, I will use Eastern Practice & Western Practice for clarity. The Eastern approach has many different traditions & techniques associated with it. We consider this from our western perspective to be sitting in Lotus Position for hours, chanting or sitting silently. No wonder we think this is impossible in the west. Who has that kind of time to sit in silence? When my students really balk at the idea, I refer them to the 2nd category I am describing next.

Western Practice is just as huge in its derivations, though not as ancient obviously. Hypnosis, Silva Mind Control, Guided Imagery, Pathworking & the extremely popular Creative Visualization are all forms of what I consider meditation born in the west. Even spacing out watching TV or listening to music fits into this category. So I have found a decent definition that bridges both east & west.

Meditation is essentially focusing the mind, not essentially stopping it from thinking. The nature of the mind is to think, so stopping it from doing its job isn't exactly the goal. Rather it is about redirecting the mind via focus. 

Consider the word contemplation. What happens when you contemplate something, anything? You focus your mind upon it to the exclusion of other stimuli inside or outside of the self.

2 cats contemplating my laptop, on my lap

Granted, as a culture, we're not so contemplative in the west. We're more impulsive. Yet some of my strongest & most inspired impulses came after a period of focus via some form of meditation eastern or western. I have studied & practiced forms on both sides & even experienced some which really bridge both worlds.

What does this have to do with the Witch & Witchcraft as a spiritual path & practice? Well, just about everything. Keep in mind, I'm not bound by a tradition in my spiritual practice. I'm a proud Eclectic Witch, picking & choosing what works for me as I go along my Wisdom Path, which is what Witchcraft is. 

I have sat for hours in silence, visualized, been hypnotized & even chanted myself to bliss using both Sanskrit & English words.  I've followed my breath, counted from 1 - 10 over & over, as well as studied The Ishaya's Ascension, probably the most simple & effective form I have ever experienced.

But like anything else I do, I like to mix it up. There's no doubt now that the benefits of meditation are more than spiritual. It has been shown to have immediate beneficial effect on our physiology, mental health & emotional balance. It has been studied, a lot, even by scientists & the medical profession to the point where it is recommended in a general way for our healing in all areas of life.

 Witchy Feet

The best part of being an Eclectic Witch is that I sample most of them sooner or later. Like a new pair of shoes, they don't always feel 'normal' at first. If I'm trying to achieve a specific goal, like bliss or clarity, I often find myself disappointed at first try. Just like new shoes, I need to walk in them for awhile. Leading me to a brilliant quote that I learned from Caroline Myss, one of my favorite long distance teachers...

"Seek not perfection. Seek only practice."

But here in the west, we demand so much perfection that we exclude the idea of gradual practice to achieve our goals both inner & outer. But I find, in time, that those new shoes loosen up & comfort comes the more I practice any form of meditation.

Here is my advice to anyone, Witch or not, about meditation: try a bunch of them. Shop around & find a handful of both eastern & western forms. Browse YouTube videos, as there are tons of them on there. Read the classics both ancient & contemporary. I've been teaching & leading meditation for decades & I'm still discovering new forms that really work for me.

https://chopracentermeditation.com/

I've even tried the 21 day meditation challenges presented by Oprah Winfrey & Deepak Chopra. These are great for me because all I have to do is register, click a button & follow along. Plus, they are FREE! 

But as I said, I'm an eclectic, so I weave & wander my way through many techniques, usually blending eastern practice one day & western the next, or sometimes even later in the day.

I love meditation & I don't know how people get through their lives, let alone a day without it. I know I can be a crazy person by noon if I don't start my day without some kind of centering, focusing & yes, even silence.

Happy Thanksgiving!

So, at the time I am writing this, it is the Monday before Thanksgiving 2013. I have to pack a week's worth of work into 3 days so I can take 2 off on Thursday & hopefully Friday. We shall see. But that said, I invite you to join me in slowing down, if even for 15 minutes each day to digest what has already come into our systems & let it settle so we can make room for the new.

In this, it is my intention to launch myself peacefully into the rush of the Holiday Season with all of it's chaos by being a centered, clear & focused as I can be, little by little as I practice my way daily toward eventual perfection.

Blessed Be & Blessed Thanksgiving

Rev. Mark A. Lyons, President
Drawing the Circle Productions INC.
DrawingtheCircle@aol.com
631-968-8307 @ProfWitch on Twitter

Spell to Balance Magick & Spirit

I wrote this spell many years ago when I felt my magick wasn't as aligned with my Spirit as much as it could be. After too many times of needing to 'step away from the altar' due to anger issues, this spell really worked. The perfect materials showed up for me to grow spiritually, books, conversations & the perfect people appeared to nudge me forward on my path.

I did the spell often, once a Moon Cycle for at least a year until the candles were completely melted. I would relight the candles, say the spell, then meditate for a bit. I found it balanced my light & dark side as well as giving a permanent boost to my spells that continues to this day. Good luck & comment on how it goes.

Spell to Balance Magick & Spirit
Needed: black candle, white candle, anointing oils 
( I use oils that fit the need, one dark & earthy & one light & floral)
Anoint each candle & set the black on the left & white on the right.
 Empower with these words

Candle black & candle white:
balance, blend, heal unite.

Black, the deep & pregnant void,
magick power true;
candle flame, eternal flux, 
grant your strength to all I do.

White, The ONE & shining life,
Spirit’s guiding light;
candle fire, heal, inspire, 
help me do what’s right.

Black & White, below above, 
vengeful Crow & peaceful Dove.

Dark & Light in balance bless 
& stabilize my path's success.

In my mind & in my heart 
from deep within does balance start.

In my way & in my world,
outer balance now unfurls.
So Mote It Be!