The Urban Witch - Adventures & Lessons in Wicca

A Book of Shadows is a MUST have for every witch... define it and put in it what you like, but because we Wiccan's are on our own when it comes to "creating the rules," we need a solemn and sacred place to jot down all of our creations and expressions, from magick to rituals. Some witches don't even use their BOS very formally, as it could be used as simply a journal of feelings, but the more you create, the more you might want to remember later... I keep a full size BOS on my altar which is the grand daddy of of all my recorded creations and ideas, AND a smaller pocket sized one for traveling and outdoor use. A BOS can be made any way you like, stapling parchment paper together, binding ruled paper together, or purchasing an empty journal booklet and decorating it with your own creativity. What goes in your book of shadows? Every witch will tell you something completely different but here are some of the things I put in mine... maybe you can even add to this list? 1.

In the last blog, we were talking in depth about how thoughts create action, and how important thoughts are in the mysterious process of imagination... We were discussing why it is important to re-train thoughts from negative ones to positive ones. You open yourself up to opportunities you would not normally have if you were negative and shut down and letting those negative thoughts and circumstances surround you. Once you feel you have shifted your mind and you're thinking more positively, (even if just in small amounts at first) and reaffirming your blissful desires in this life, you should start feeling different. Irritating situations will bother you less and less and your primary focus will be manifesting positive outcomes from your desires. As you begin that shift, well, that is when we need a little magic. Magic is putting action to our thoughts and our desires. Action could mean anything as long as it is a measurable amount of mental or physical energy.. it could mean creat

Ever wonder the secret to really improving your life, to really putting forth your dreams into action? How to apply a witches magic to your everyday decisions? Well I am a living example of being able to do this from absolutely nothing but my own resourcefulness and positive thinking. I've been able to create a lot of my dreams and make a lot of my goals happen simply by being resourceful and applying five words to everything I do in life. "Committed choices," and "positive mind treatments." I like to talk a lot about manifesting in life because it's both the key to happiness and fulfilling our desires. If we can't have either one of those, we are doomed not to enjoy our earthbound time, and the least happy we are, the more disease can fester... nobody's wants a life of that. Thoughts are the basis of who we are next to our "existing energetic essence." If there is no intention behind the energy of our minds and bodies, then it can't mo

One of my most favorite subjects to discuss with fellow coven mates is death and the beautiful afterlife- or rather "eternal-continued life" because energy never dies, it simply changes form. (Scientific fact!) When you no longer fear death, talking about, or facing it, life suddenly feels freer, and lighter! Trust me, it's worth the talk... ha! I think most of us can agree that being human is a very difficult job, it is an intense, unpredictable and overall perplexing experience. This is one big human project that didn't come with any instructions, manuals, or guarantees about what does and will happen to us on this earth, not to mention the many questions we will and do have that many of us do not have the answers too! Not even the scientists can always agree! Living life is a big and confusing job. You make hundreds a decisions per and we do it blindly, we do it based on our gut feelings and current circumstances, as none of us know what the future holds so all dec

Just as when we are born, death is not only inevitable, but a necessary and completely natural process of being human. Most of us spend our entire lives both fearing and running from our death, trying to prevent it, scared of it, rarely thinking about it, rarely talking about it, and terrified of the day that it will actually happen. Most of us have lost someone dear to us by this point in our lives so we understand grieving for another person, but why don't we learn to grieve our own death by facing our mortality once and for all and THEN being ok with the idea so we no longer have to worry about it? I am not talking about throwing caution to the wind... or am I? I AM talking about taking positive risks that will bring you happiness in exchange for temporarily uncomfortable feelings, but I am not talking about riding 80 on a motorcycle without a helmet on the freeway... And I think it would be fair to admit that most of us aren't necessarily afraid of death, but of the ugly, p

As we all know, we have had a drastic change in our political regime here in the United States. According to the polls, more than half of us are disappointed in the outcome. So how do we apply magic and higher thinking to something that deeply divides us and affects us on a personal level and on a daily basis? Despite the majority not being happy about the outcome, they were the second group, another majority WHICH IS happy about the outcome. And since truth is subjective and personal to every one of us, trying to bring people together to understand the importance of either side is sometimes very difficult... when reality for one person is a completely different reality for another person, and when we hold onto our emotions about something so powerful, sometimes it's impossible to even comprehend where the other side is coming from. Even I have been in the midst of my own political turmoil and aside from being as proactive as I can to incite what I think is the best change for this