Some Beautiful Views from a Green Witch

[starborn]

Another part I enjoyed was this part explaining that we are the magick.

Making Our Drinks Into Potions

Picture yourself at a concert, something loud and fun, or a sporting event where the stands are packed, and the crowd is one living organism. Everyone is stomping their feet and clapping their hands. The energy of that stadium can be used for magic. That energy is what gets spells going. There are all sorts of methods for raising energy, from singing and dancing to clapping, drumming, and laughing. The most important part is what to do with the energy once it has been raised. In a coven setting, the entire group raises the energy, and the high priestess is responsible for directing the symphony of all the coven members and sending the energy where it needs to go. When you’re a solitary practitioner, all of that falls to you. But that’s okay. The circle-casting lesson is another place, and another time. For our purposes, raising the energy and directing it into the beverages we are making, and thus making them a potion, is where we need to be.

Now let’s try a different visual. Picture yourself in a moonlit grotto. You’re carrying a chalice as you step from the trees and into the clearing. The moonlight is so bright, you can see clearly. As you walk toward the center of the clearing, you see the moon is shining onto a lake. You step toward the ancient waters and see cool, clear, spring-fed water filling the lake. Take a bit of the water into the chalice for yourself. Raise it to the moon and allow the rays to reach into the depths of the water. Feel the heartbeat of the earth. Feel the energy of the earth rise through your feet, calves, legs, hips, belly, up through your arms, and into the glass. Feel where the earth and the moon meet in the palms of your hands. See the energy pour out the top of the glass as you raise it to your lips and drink it all. That wasn’t water. It was a potion to bring life to your magic. Once the water became infused with the energy of the moon and of the earth, it became that potion.

…

Now try it again with the chalice and no water, and remind yourself
that the magic is within you, and not the water. Now do the ritual
with no chalice and no water. Simply see the water, see the cup in your
mind’s eye, and feel the power that is raised each time and how they
may or may not feel different. Now you can charge your water daily
before you drink it, to draw anything you desire.

We are the magick.

Here’s how to do the same:

1. Think of your desired goal.
2. Create a drink of choice.
3. Raise energy.
4. Drink!

And remember that the drink can be anything! Even cola can be magickal, the author says. She ties it to how the name comes from the kola nut which gives modern cola drinks much of their caffeine. “Things that make people go can make our magic go.”

[MeganB]

@Phoenix_Rose

Thank you for clarifying!

You’re welcome! I’m glad I could help!

@starborn

Everything was a science. And I think witchcraft itself is, too.

I think you’re right about this. Some people would “tsk, tsk” at treating witchcraft like a science, but it is both art and science. We can (and should!) approach our spells with a scientific lens sometimes, especially if things are going wrong or our spells aren’t working. How else are we meant to figure it out if we don’t analyze our process and look at the results we wanted versus what we got?

@starborn

It might be safe to assume it’s kind of the same here

It would definitely be something interesting to explore as someone who has never been out of the country I can’t really speak to the experiences elsewhere this is where I rely on wonderful people such as yourself to fill in the gaps when I don’t know what I’m talking about Also, it’s weird that Australia would adopt Thanksgiving stuff… like… that’s just strange lol

@starborn

Thank you. Knowledge sets us free (and helps us not repeat the mistakes of the past).

You’re welcome! I fully agree!

I rambled about cultural context here re: translations and such so... lol feel free to ignore it

It’s funny because I learned about the phrase “Blue People” from an Irish person on TikTok. She was laughing because someone translated the phrase, “Blue Lives Matter”, into Irish and put it on a t-shirt with the relevant flag that shows support for the police in the US. For context, this was all happening around the uptick in Black Lives Matter movements across the country, and, in response, racism and “Blue Lives Matter” became a thing. Anyway… the woman on TikTok was laughing because “Blue Lives Matter” translated into Irish gives the same meaning as “Black Lives Matter” in English, and the person who created the shirt didn’t know what they were doing and didn’t take cultural differences into account.

All of that to say that cultural context matters in so many things

@starborn

Anyway, my point is simply that it was nice to read this explained in this way. I’ve had a lot of difficulty over the years trying to explain my belief that good intentions don’t absolve everything.

I’ve used the analogy of the breaking plate with my daughter before and, more recently, I have had to explain to her that just because she apologizes doesn’t mean people will a) believe her and b) forgive her. It’s a hard thing for an 11-year-old to understand, but it’s a necessary lesson. The explanation given by the author is definitely a good one!