Affirmations

Affirmations are statements that describe a positive state we wish to attain. It’s a way of programming your mind to act/think in a particular way. Affirmations are very powerful tools, so powerful in fact that they could be magical! In fact, they ARE their own type of magic, and they work on many levels. We can inspire and heal ourselves with spoken words and thoughts.

Creating our own personal affirmations is a personal spiritual journey. It is greatly dependent upon your personal goals, and individual needs for growth. Do your affirmations daily; in the morning so that you start your day off right! Use as many different affirmations that you feel are correct for your goal/s. Say them loud and strong; so that pesky little subconscious can HEAR it clearly! The repetition of saying uplifting affirmations for a month will make a tremendous affect on your spirit! As our lives and situations change, so will our affirmations.

The following are a few essentials to writing your own private affirmations, how to use them successfully, and how to reap the rewards for loving yourself! Remember that your only limitation is yourself – make sure you believe in what you are saying!

1. Affirmations should be placed in the PRESENT tense. Never says things such as “I will be strong and confident”…. The correct way to positive thinking is to say “I AM strong and confident”.

2. Be happy with your affirmation. Sounds like common sense but it isn’t for all. If you say it and it doesn’t FEEL right, please trust your instincts. Rephrase it, rewrite it, and drop it altogether. Make it a PERSONAL statement! Only YOU can know what works for YOU. Just because it works for someone else, does not mean it will work the same way for you.

3. Never use a negative word in any affirmation! Words have power and meaning in our subconscious. Make sure you affirm what you WANT, not the things that you do not want.

4. Visualize yourself as your affirmations state you are! See it in your mind’s eye happening, and all that would be associated with it. Visualization is essential to magical acts, and a skill that needs practiced. By practicing it with your affirmation; you are reinforcing the power of your words/thoughts AND sharpening your visualization skills at once!

5. Be Committed! Don’t give up and stick to a solid daily schedule! Repetition is key! This is your chance to be devoted to YOURSELF for 5 minutes per day, and you deserve that much!

Remember that affirmations are very important part of living a magical life. It IMPROVES your magic by improving your inner spirit. Write out some affirmations and start them on the next New Moon. Continue them until the next one, and update them as needed.

Candle Colors for Spirit

Color plays an important factor in our lives. Living a magical and spiritual life means we need to attune ourselves to color. Candles that we burn in specific colors will produce a certain meditative, or magical effect. A brief description and definition of color goes like this:

Red – Strength, health, energy, power, the will, attracting power, lust, conquer fears, moon blood, courage, survival, sex, passion. Red has a distinct male energy and is associated with the planet Mars.

Pink – love, friendship, harmony, affection, tenderness, spiritual love, caring, loving yourself, healing emotions, good will. Pink has a distinct female energy. Pink is associated with the planet Venus.

Yellow – intellect, concentration, intelligence, inspiration, thinking, memory, learning, breaking mental blocks, selling yourself, logic, and the mind in general. Yellow is associated with the planet Mercury and has a male energy to it.

Orange – quick changes, luck, attracting positive energy, energy building, fun, and energy for goals. The color Orange is a combination of Yellow and Red, therefore both energies are present with less intensity. It has a Male energy and is associated with Mars and Mercury.

Green – money, business, fertility, good fortune, growth, and it attracts success. Green has both Male and Female energies so it is a very balanced color. It is associated with Venus and Mercury.

Blue – truth, peace, protection, occult powers, calm, creativity, soothing, cooling, bliss, spiritual well being, and truth. Blue has a female energy to it, and is associated with the moon, Venus, Saturn, and Jupiter.

Purple – the spirit and spirit contact, ESP, break bad habits or luck, protection, wisdom, understanding life’s mysteries, expansion, knowledge, reaching your higher self and highest potentials. Purple has a male energy and is associated with Jupiter and Saturn.

Brown – earth, stability, solid foundations, study, healing the earth, material needs. Brown has a female energy and is associated with the Moon, Venus, and Saturn.

Black – reversing, protection, binding, absorbing, endings, encasing negative energies, endings. Black has a powerful female energy and is associated with the planet Saturn.

White – spirituality, purity, wholeness, the goddess, balance, protection, healing, raising vibrations. White is female energy and is associated with the Moon. The color white is a pastel combination of all colors, therefore it be used for any purpose.

Tarot The Empress

I create collage style Tarot Cards on my computer for fun rather than profit. Trust me when I say there is no “talent” involved with it! Just my own personal experiement and a little way I keep my creative juices flowing for myself on my own time! Sometimes work can bog me down and I need to step away just to play with something creative as a hobby!

Each day I select a card for myself and I ponder it’s meaning. As time permits I will create some artwork of cards.

Today I selected and created….

Halloween is an Important Wiccan Holiday

Halloween is a very important Wiccan Holiday and is best known in the World of paganism by the Celtic name of Samhain. It is also the most misunderstood. In Wicca - All Hallows Eve is not about ghoulish costumes, green-faced witches, devils, or Freddy Krueger masks … it is a religious nature themed holiday.

The origins of many Halloween traditions that we use today come from the ancient pagan beliefs and traditions. Carving a Jack-o-Lantern for instance was done to be “scary”…. intending to frighten off negative spirit energy. Halloween costumes originated from pagan folk too. The ancients dressed in a costume to reflect the goals they had for the next year. One might dress as a Princess for wealth, or perhaps as a Fairy Queen to represent a spiritual journey.

But what does it mean to celebrate Samhain as a follower of Wicca?

Samhain is the Celtic New Year and marks the time of the “dark half” of the year (winter). This is the end of Harvest time and the end to summer. In ancient times when everyone followed the ways of paganism - it was also a time to honor the memories of our dead ancestors.

Samhain occurs astrologically in the time of Scorpio and as any Scorpio knows their sign is one of great Transformations. The Death Card in the Tarot signifies Scorpio. This means that Halloween has a strong tie to “death”. However, death is not always a scary thing! We want death occasionally in our life… specifically: death to bad habits, or death to negative influences in our lives. In the Tarot the Death card only represents “the end” of a situation or idea, and with it will come change. Nature goes into “death mode” and is noticeable on Halloween… trees are now bare of their leaves. But life is a cycle in Wicca; we believe in birth, life, and death… and know that it repeats itself (as seen in nature when the trees again are reborn). This is the time of year to celebrate “death”, for to celebrate it means we have no fear of it. We honor it, respect it, and know that it is simply a change. We need to honor our ancestral dead - to remember them, and annually show our respect.

Samhain is a time of change and a time to let go of past influences. All forms of divination are heightened on Halloween night because “the veil between the worlds is at it’s thinnest”. Psychic energies are at their highest point on this day. Wiccans do not celebrate evil forces at Halloween, - they do quite the opposite. We create protective talismans, amulets, and perform magical protective rites for our home, loved ones, and even our pets.

Wiccans withdraw at Halloween to turn our attentions on our inward spiritual growth. We take stock of our successes and failures from the last year, and think about what we have left to accomplish. We let go of old useless practices and make space in our live for new and better things.

Any faith can embrace this Halloween as the celebration it was intended to be! Do your own research on the Origins of this powerful holiday. Many of the myths that surround it have not been based in truth. Before you send you child off to a Halloween party or take them Trick or Treating… spend a little time talking to them about their ancestors and bring a little Wicca into your life!

Earth Wind and Fire - the Signs of the Zodiac

FIRE SIGNS

Positive attributes:

United as they are by the element of fire, those born under the zodiacal signs of Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius are said to have certain characteristics in common.

Just as we are drawn to a fire when we are feeling chilly, or gather around this bright focal point, so fiery people are said to be warmhearted, generous, and magnetic, to relish being the center of attention (notably Sun-governed Leos), and to be stimulated and energized by contact with others, particularly airy individuals, whose ideas act like oxygen on fire, as well as their fire-sign fellows.

When their imaginations are fired up, they can be highly creative, and when their enthusiasm has been kindled, their vitality, exuberance, ardor, and passion enlivens those around them.

Like fires unpredictable, leaping flames, Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius individuals are adventurous, outgoing, impulsive, and spontaneous, and often inspirational, experimental trendsetters who are blessed with a masculine confidence and the courage of their convictions.

If a headstrong, fiery characters flame is to burn brightly, he or she needs self-autonomy and freedom of action. However, watery or earthy influences may dampen or suppress a fiery types high spirits.

Along with having a gift for making things happen (and Ariens are spirited initiators), those whose element is fire are furthermore typically honest and optimistic (particularly jovial Sagittarians).

Negative Attributes:

Fire can be dangerous, however, for it can swiftly burn out of control, damaging or consuming everything in its path.

In the same way, when fueled by excitement, a fiery temperament can often either become overstimulated and then rashly and unthinkingly overstep certain boundaries, or else a spark of annoyance may rapidly escalate into furious rage.

Fiery individuals may therefore lack self-control, and are prone to burnout if they are unable, or unwilling, to rein in their energies. They may be hot-tempered, but their heated outbursts are usually short-lived, and once vented, their fury generally quickly subsides.

Further unappealing fiery traits include a tendency to be aggressive and domineering, (particularly Mars-ruled Ariens), arrogant and egotistical (especially Sun-governed Leos), and abrupt and impatient (notably mutable Sagittarians).

Indeed, despite their often heart-warming demonstrativeness, all have a tendency to be the exhibitionists of the zodiac, which others may find tiresome.

THE EARTH SIGNS

Positive attributes:

The earth signs are Taurus, Virgo, and Capricorn, and, as their element suggests, all have fundamentally down-to-earth natures.

These are level-headed individuals, who, like their element, are stable and supportive. Even when an earthquake, in the form of personal catastrophe, rocks the very foundations of their existence, their resilience and practical approach generally soon reassert themselves, enabling them to rebuild their world steadily, patiently, and productively, in typically earthy fashion.

Those born under earth signs are furthermore logical and straightforward, and prefer to deal with facts rather than waste their time on others flights of fancy or abstract notions (especially Mercury-governed Virgos), which is why they sometimes find airy types unsettling.

Additionally hardworking, loyal, and dependable, they can be relied upon to see a job through to the end, and, once committed, to remain faithful to their friends and loved ones.

From this description, it may sound as though sensible, earthy people are rather boring, yet while their constancy and love of routines may make them predictable, it is no coincidence that earthy can mean sensual, or lusty, and, indeed, Venus-ruled Taureans have a pronounced relish for indulging their senses.

All earth-sign characters enjoy spending time outside, too, be it lazing around, hiking, or tending their gardens, for they feel grounded when they are in physical contact with their element.

And if you think of the way water seeps into the earth, encouraging growth, it is clear that despite their imperturbable appearance, earthy personalities have a lot going on under the surface, which those whose element is empathetic water have a talent for bringing out.

Negative Attributes:

Some of the disadvantages of having earth as an element include the passiveness that it bestows on its children, a characteristic that is compounded by having a feminine polarity, which means that Taureans, Virgoans, and Capricorneans can be somewhat stolid and inactive, and, because they are naturally prudent and cautious too, may do little on joyous impulse (which is why they frequently disapprove of spontaneous, fiery individuals) and may rarely take the initiative.

They can also be hard-headed materialists (especially saturnine Capricorns) who sometimes take greater pleasure in working hard to accumulate the money and possessions that make them feel secure than in simply having fun, which is why they may seem depressingly upright, serious, and ambitious to playful, air-sign individuals, and miserly to generous, fire-sign people.

Another trait that may irritate others is their slow, considered, plodding approach and refusal to be rushed, even if their thoroughness, attention to detail, and tenacity bring concrete results in the end.

THE AIR SIGNS

The zodiacal signs of Gemini, Libra, and Aquarius all have the element of air in common, and because air is associated with the intellect in astrological thought, they are believed to be united in their analytical, logical, and rational way of thinking.

These coolly cerebral people are stimulated by ideas, be they those that they think up themselves or those that spring from the minds of creative, fiery characters, artistic, watery individuals, or their ingenious, airy brethren (they often consider practical, earthy types unimaginative and uninspiring, however).

Indeed, they themselves tend to come up with the most inventive of concepts, and none more so than groundbreaking, Uranus-governed Aquarians.

And just as the air in Earths atmosphere is both everywhere and moves around freely, so do they, partly because they are constantly in search of new and interesting viewpoints, partly because they are curious about others and enjoy evaluating their personalities, and partly because they are fluent and articulate communicators who feel the urge to impart their news and views to others.

About the author: Clare Gibson is the author of numerous books on dreams and astrology. This article is part of an extract from her book: The Ultimate Book of Relationships. The full extract can be read at http://www.browsebooksforfree.com/books4-4

Book of Shadows Blessing

Hearken as the Witches’ Word calls the Lady and the Lord

So mote it be