🕕 Weekly Witchy CHALLENGE ~ Catch-Up!

MeganB · August 24, 2024, 11:38pm

No worries! I know @BryWisteria increases the limit for special occasions, but it’s always included in the post I’m glad I could help!

Artemisia · August 25, 2024, 12:56am

Challenge Entry - Your Magickal Roots

I’ve been tossing this around for a while and I’m still not 100% sure about my Magickal Roots. As I mentioned in my other entry, I am relying now on memories because I’m not able to ask the two people most directly connected and perhaps responsible for my current path.

What I can say… I grew up with an Irish/English Grandmother who lived most of her life in Kentucky and near the Appalachian mountains. I’d hear tales of mischievous brownies and fairies when I visited her in the summers. The dangers of fairy circles. Tales of the will-o-wisp. The Grey Man Ghost. She was also raised and was till the end a devout catholic. The church was a big part of her life; it was how my mother and her siblings were raised.

My mother, a devout Catholic still, taught me that the purple clovers tasted good, which honeysuckle flowers were ready to eat the sugary ends, which long blades of grass you could pull and chew for the sweetness. She taught me about growing flowers, vegetable gardening, and stopping in the mountains to ID a wildflower on the side of the road and press one for her collection. How to identify birds by calls and to start my ID life list, to know which clouds meant the weather was changing and when the skies turned yellow to head for a shelter. I spent hours with binoculars watching waterfowl and muskrats in the national preserves. She taught me about trees (she wanted to be a dendrologist) and was devasted when Dutch Elm disease claimed all of the Elm trees in our neighborhood. From her, I learned to mix herbs for herbal tea.

Did either of them consider themselves witches or magickal, heck no. Were they both connected to the land, history, and nature? Absolutely. The things that connect me to my craft are the things they have passed along. I wonder how much of the Appalachian folk magic was part of growing up for my grandmother, whether they used more natural remedies for sickness or injuries. I’ll never know.

But there is a thread. It might not have been called the same thing (and even I, to this day, don’t call myself a witch) but I know the wisdom they learned and passed down from their parents and grandmother, aunts and cousins were the magickal things that continue to weave their way into my life and my soul.

georgia · August 25, 2024, 2:45am

Challenge Entry 2- A Witch’s Companions

I did some intense study on this one. It really had an effect on me.

It seems like every time I read to myself about familiars, I chance to look up at Albus and sense a wall between us. Albus is well trained for a bird, and he does a lot around here to pull his weight as part of this flock family, but he is definitely not a familiar. Though he reminded me to do morning rituals when I did them regularly (not in summer heat), and it seemed like he was casting his own magick at times, I never made a contract with him, and I would never use him as a tool.

Reading the definitions @SilverBear posted during the original challenge made me cringe. I realized I would not seek out such a deal: I have too soft a heart to use someone as a tool. I know how it feels to be used. I didn’t like it, so I refuse to do something like that to anyone else. If some spirit wanted to work with me for a common goal, I’d agree, but that is by no means a familiar.

Phoenix_Fire · August 25, 2024, 5:13am

**challenge entry 1: sacred trees and wood **
Leading up to ostara i wanted to try not get caught missing celebrating a sabbat again so i used two challenges to prepare myself for ostara as imbolc had already passed.

I obvioisly obsessed with my cards but this tine pulled out some physical decks. Fir this challed i used my celtic tree oracle whicb is the ogham deck i have
I did a spread relevent to growth and spring equinox for this one got spresd of pinterest

Ill have a look more and reflect more on the meaning leading up to ostara but i wanted to post what id done before i forget…my to do list today is insane so trying to tick off some tasks lol

challenge entry 2: claws paws and scales
Ok another ostara spread
I used my anne stokes legends tarot which has unicorn, wolves, dragons and fae/butterflies for suits anf images and a simpke spread for this one to get me thinking. Ive felt a bit stuck and drained so im trying to prepre myself for the coming out of the dark part of our cycle and planying things to cultivate. Again pinterrst was where spread from

challenge entry 3 : astrological
Another spread but not ostara specific but planning ahead obvioudly
The sprrad is astrological spread from one of apps ive screen shot to see how spread set up and got photo of my spread this timr using my physjcal deck of enchanted map seemed relevent as planning my way forward and alsl seejng as its astrological spread that enchanted map and how sailors and people even now can navigate by the stars. So seemed especially relevent

Sivonnah · August 25, 2024, 8:16pm

I should probably make a list of the challenges I haven’t done

Sivonnah · August 25, 2024, 9:39pm

CHALLENGE ENTRY
WISDOM OF THE WITCHES

I had actually written some notes on this challenge when it was originally posted but never got around to sharing it. So here it is…

KISS (keep it simple stupid) for me this just means don’t overcomplicate things! Also don’t think too much and create unnecessary anxieties or fear.
Don’t be afraid to go back to basics. For me the foundation for my practice is meditation and mindfulness.
Always look for the magic in the mundane.
Practice gratitude daily.
Self care is a must! Do something everyday to nourish your body, your mind, and your spirit.
Forgive yourself. Be gentle with yourself. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes.
Share your love.
Remember to give yourself credit as you are probably doing more than you think.

I hope you enjoyed my witchy wisdom.

kira-marie · August 25, 2024, 10:38pm

Ooo i love this idea I’ve missed quite a few due to major changes in my life. I look forward to this challenge. Not sure what ill pick though

Artemisia · August 26, 2024, 1:25am

Challenge Entry #3 -Of Goals and Intent

While I know the original challenge was more geared towards a New Year’s goal and spellwork, I have a goal and a plan I’d like to achieve. Which is to advance my tarot studies, and read more for others for practice before starting a side business reading for others.

I decided to use some of my favorite tools to help me plan - https://goblin.tools - the Magic ToDo to break down the big project and put it into smaller, more manageable pieces to tackle.

I will not overwhelm y’all with the detailed To Do list I’ve created But it’s how I get things down - broken down and written out, to create a plan.

Now that I’ve got my plan broken down into SMART goals, I’m ready to add the Magick part in.

I’ll share my ingredient list for the spell and plan to add a photo of the materials once I’ve gathered everything after work tomorrow (just want to make sure I get the entry in on time).

Ingredients:

green candle (for growth and prosperity)
tarot card(s) that represent my goal (I plan on picking three specific ones that fit my goals and intent)
piece of paper and pen
small crystal (citrine for success, clear quartz for amplification
few drops of essential oil (cinnamon for success, rosemary for clarity) to anoint the candle
small box to keep my items

Timing

New Moon in Virgo (September 2nd): I plan to start the spell. I have to get creative as I will be on a trip then. I suppose I’ll work to travelize the items and prepare them ahead of time to pack. This should be fun Oooo I’ve got great ideas. I’ll post what I come up with tomorrow!
Waxing Moon: I’ll continue to charge my intention spell box during this phase which is excellent for growth and manifestation.
Full Super Harvest Moon in Pisces (September 17th): I will finalize my intention spell box, adding extra energy to the spell.

It’s a big goal so it deserves a big spell. This would be my biggest/longest one ever

georgia · August 26, 2024, 3:26am

Challenge Entry 3
Giving Gratitude

For a time, I was so stressed I couldn’t see straight, couldn’t remember happiness, and couldn’t feel gratitude. This evening, I noticed the heat of summer cooling into an early fall. Gwynn ap Nudd looked down upon me, clouds shaped like a fox face. The second I acknowledged the shape, lightening fanned out in all directions from His muzzle. Beautiful.

Suddenly, I was able to notice the wonders around me. Through the intense heat this summer, Gwynn has been close, granting rain to cool us, beautiful storms, and winds to freshen the air so we could breathe (when I first moved to New Mexico, I couldn’t sense Gwynn at all, and I missed Him).

I got to swim a few times this summer. Didn’t get a sunburn. Was able to go to one free concert (for the first time since 2018 thanks to city renovations which left those reliant on bus service nearly homebound). Finally started coming out of the pandemic funk and related weaknesses, though I was never sick with Covid. Got published, thanks to all of you, here. Found myself reliant for my survival upon someone with questionable morals and was set free without too much damage to my honor.

My time in Albuquerque began with a quote from Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist. If you are searching for something while traveling and start to cry, stop moving. You’ve found it (paraphrased). I was arriving on the east side of the Sandias in 2007 at dawn, seeking support for my writing. Seeing the sunrise on the mountains made me burst into tears.

Now, I have another quote from the same book in my experience. If you have to leave behind something which shone bright as a star and you return to find nothing left, it wasn’t yours to begin with (paraphrased). I returned to Indiana to help get Mom’s affairs in order, promising friends I’d come back; but when I did, friends didn’t stay friends, nearby stores went out of business, independence was taken away, the best complex in town kicked everyone out for renovations, my health went downhill, everything changed. Albuquerque is not the home I always wished for in my youth. Neither is New Haven, where I was raised. Maybe there is no such thing as “home” for me, but I survived 17 years on my own when my own mother told me I wouldn’t be able to live alone.

Jeannie1 · August 26, 2024, 6:15am

@georgia

Blockquote

I see shapes in the clouds too and it reminds me to be grateful of all of the gifts we have mother Gaia.

Very Lucky I did get Covid one time and I’m glad you have not experienced it. I had a literally take the medication to get better and I did get the shot, but I really don’t take good care of myself and I’m trying to do better.

I good cry is good for the heart I cried this morning I’ve been getting the nightmares again.

I have a home right now and I know it’s not mine forever so I am just trying to appreciate it while I can and be happy. I did leave lose my home in 2022 and recovered by 2023 and now we are in 2024 and I am grateful to have a place and know soon I will have to leave again.

I’m sorry they let you down and I pray for friends and friends! This is my prayer tonight that my communication is better so that way I can finally have some real good friends in my life so I am ever so grateful to you all!

I made a wish list tonight and devotee to pray i’m going to start my prayer box again. I will put you in the prayer box.

I use to actually use this method I’m going to try this way again.

We at survivors “warrior Queens ”

For **My challenge Nordic Magic, Celtic Magic **
First I made Runes used Wicca A Year and a Day by Timothy Rodrick
Made from ***Oak ***
** Odin, who hung himself upside down from the Yggdrasil or roll tree. He hung there for nine days until he finally saw a vision of the ruins and either the deaths of the tree its roots or in the earth below the tree. Below is a poem from the poetic Etta that describes Odin’s mystical experience practice invoking Odin. **

Hi, now I hung on that windswept tree,
Swung there for nine long nights,
Wounded by my own blade,
Bloodied from Oden,
Myself and offering to myself
Bound to the tree that no man knows
With the roots of it run.
None gave me bread,
None gave me drink.
Down to the deepest deaths, I peered
Until I spied the runes
With a roaring cry, I seize them up
Then dizzy and fainting, I fell.
Well-being I won
Wisdom to
I grew and took joy in the growth
From a word to a word, I was led to a word,
From a deed to another deed.*
**I prick my blood onto the oak of the Rune to give it much power **
I concentrate them in Frankiencence
[ Weekly Witchy CHALLENGE - Nordic Traditions and Magick]
[Fehu - 1st Rune of the Elder Futhark & Freya’s Aett ]
Uruz - 2nd Rune of the Elder Futhark & Freya’s Aett
(Fehu - 1st Rune of the Elder Futhark & Freya's Aett :Fehu:)
(:drinking_horn: Weekly Witchy CHALLENGE - Nordic Traditions and Magick)

image3024×4032 1.57 MB

Ansuz - 4th Rune of the Elder Futhark & Freya’s Aett
Raidho 5th Rune of the Elder Futhark & Freya’s Aett
Kenaz - 6th Rune of the Elder Futhark & Freya’s Aett
Gebo 7th Rune of the Elder Futhark & Freya’s Aett
Wunjo 8th Rune of the Elder Futhark & Freya’s Aett
Hagalaz - 9th Rune of the Elder Futhark 1st Rune of Heimdall’s Aett
Naudhiz/Nauthiz - 10th Rune of the Elder Futhark & 2nd in Heimdall’s Aett
Isa 11th Rune of the Elder Futhark & 3rd of Heimdall’s Aett
Jera 12th Rune of the Elder Futhark & 4th in Heimdall’s Aett
Runes- Eihwaz
Perthro 14th Rune of the Elder Futhark & 6th Rune of Heimdall’s Aett
Algiz/Elhaz - 15 of the Elder Futhark & 7th of Heimdall’s Aett
Sowilo- 16th Rune of the Elder Futhark & 8th Rune of Heimdall’s Aett
Tiwaz 17th Rune of the Elder Futhark & 1st of Tyr’s Aett
Berkana - 18th Rune of the Elder Futhark & 2nd of Tyr’s Aett
Ehwaz - 19th Rune of the Elder Futhark & 3rd in Tyr’s Aett
Mannaz - 20th Rune of the Elder Futhark & 4th of Tyr’s Aett Laguz - 21st Rune of the Elder Futhark & 5th of Tyr’s Aett
Dagaz - 23rd of the Elder Futhark & 7 of Tyr’s Aett Othala - 24th Rune of the Elder Futhark & 8 of Tyr’s Aett Nordic Mystism and Wyrd
Feeling the Runes/Odin’s Wisdom

image3024×4032 3.09 MB

I did a meditation concentrating on Fehu
Fehu meditation

image3024×4032 1.74 MB

I am starting to feel more connected to the runes, and I feel like they’re working in my life. I am excited about the drop of blood giving him more power and connected to my DNA. Which I got from A year in the day by Timothy Rodrick.

**Second challenge Celtic Witch **
I use a self initiation ritual from the book of Celtic woman’s spirituality, accessing the cauldron of life Eden McCoy

Open your circle and call your quarters as usual as you call up your DD to come to a circle. Be sure to Kahle one particular goddess whom you have chosen to serve.

image3024×4032 1.65 MB

Then take the salt and bless it by saying

Bless be the salt symbol of earth, the body of the goddess, this earth, mother, who nurses and sustain me*
Put the salt into the water and stir it three times counterclockwise
Uploading: image.jpg…
Uploading: image.jpg(1)…
Uploading: image.jpg(2)…

image3024×4032 1.73 MB

For my offering to Coventina, I use coins, and I also use this crown here as a symbol of my high priestess to self

image4032×3024 1.44 MB

I also used @Cosmic_Curiosity book to use the

image3024×4032 1.66 MB

image3024×4032 1.66 MB

image3024×4032 1.64 MB

**Third Challenge Greek and Roman Magic **I will use this for the sake of the challenge I learned about Victoria

image3024×4032 3.37 MB

I used feather earrings and charmed them using this incantation and using the sacred smoke.

image3024×4032 1.81 MB

This is a great way to Catch up If you let me if probably get really caught up!
I hope you all had a magical experience diving in to your sacred space.
Jeannie

crystal59 · August 26, 2024, 9:52am

Challenge entry- From one Witch to another

I’m really inspired my Mihaela Minca she was on a documentary called Witch Craft in Romania where they take you into the life of the witch and it’s during the Summer Solstice that they gather outside for a ceremony of love and Destiny and at midnight when the sky opens up They can read the future of man kind in the stars!This was an incredible moment for Mihaela Minca to show the world her power because once she said what she saw was gonna happen that’s exactly what ended up happening and it was after that documentary that she was officially dubbed as The most Powerful Witch In Romania!!

Challenge Entry- Of candles and the flame
I rubbed mugwort oil on a black candle then I lit it on top of a jar that I filled with crushed anti anxiety herbs like rose petals ,lavender, St. John’s wort and some chamomile then I meditated as I watched the candle burn Al the way down.

BryWisteria · August 26, 2024, 11:28am

It’s time for a friendly reminder:

This challenge will soon close

If you would like to participate and haven’t done so already, please post about your challenge experience by the deadline:

→ Tuesday, August 27 at 7:00 AM ET (Eastern US Time)

There are a lot of lovely entries on display - whether you did one, two, or three challenges this week, thank you to everyone who has joined in to share so far!

If you haven’t already shared an entry but would like to join in, this is your friendly reminder that you still have time left to do so.

Blessed Be!

georgia · August 26, 2024, 1:48pm

Thank you! We can all use all the help we can get!

Susurrus · August 26, 2024, 4:22pm

Challenge Entry: The Wheel of the Year Pagan Holidays: Year-Round-Witch

I remember in my late teens i started to practice Wicca with a friend of mine. Then, well, life happened & in 2020 the world shut down. I wanted to gwt back practicing so I started on my own & found Spells8 a few months later.

Over my time here & meeting so many other witches pn so many different paths, I found that Wicca wasn’t the religion I practiced or that wasmy perfect fit.

That being said, I actually only really celebrate:

→ Samhain
→ Imbolc
→ Beltaine
→ Lughnasdah

I also celebrate the Winter & Summer Solstices.

Each one so far has been celebrated in a different way each year. Sometimes a day or 2 later due to what is going on in my personal life.

Usually, there’s fire, candles, water, journal prompts, & divination with a nice cup of tea involved. Each year I do something different, if one of them is related to my deities, then I will honor them too & their tribe. They all work together with each other at times.

Jeannie1 · August 26, 2024, 5:21pm

Well, I just wanna support you in anyway I can’t love! We are family! I got all my sisters with me!
Jeannie

Susurrus · August 26, 2024, 5:57pm

Challenge Entry: Magical Equilibrium: Balance

This was a tough one for me, but it was so obvious. This whole section of time has been me finding balance in all aspects of my life. I have made progress in decluttering my home, cleaning my space and items, meditation and journaling, and flipping my own practice upside down to start over again. I’m really paying attention to the items I have and rarely or never use and paying it forward.

I was doing great before last year, but my life went end over end, seemingly a neverending cycle. So many times, I thought I was doing okay and would try to return, but something significant would happen. I could narrow down when I would have some significant thing or things happen on a specific day. I had told my cousin one day & sure enough, later that day, it happened.

So, I did a lot of work to come back to the present, do things I enjoy, laugh, and hang out with family and friends I haven’t talked to in a while.

Now, I feel honestly more balanced with the relationships in my family and friends that I haven’t spoken to, but we have reconnected recently. I am also able to sort of roll with the punches without too much distress on myself or others.

MeganB · August 26, 2024, 6:16pm

Challenge Entry → A Journey of Change

For this challenge, I decided to go ahead and sort of answer the prompt questions that were included in the original challenge. This is going to be more of a “stream of consciousness” rather than a defined comment, so I hope it makes sense as I write it.

The first question asks how I came to believe in magic and what made me decide to really jump in and begin practicing magic. And honestly? I’m not sure how to answer this question. I found Wicca when I was in my early teens and the environmental aspect of it and the Divine Feminine aspect of Wicca really called to my heart, really pulled at my heartstrings. But the magic portion of it was more about regaining personal power, especially as someone who had gone through a lot of traumatic things in childhood. Regaining my personal power was something that was obviously very appealing to me as a teenager trying to find my place in the world. Over time, it’s changed. I find myself right now in a lull of practice. I am doing less and less, and my personal life is taking on more and more that sometimes it will be weeks or even months between spells and different things that I’m doing.

I think that’s a real challenge that a lot of people, myself included, really have to contend with. At my core, this is who I am and it’s completely acceptable for me to go through different times in my life where I am less magical and I am more mundane. Over the course of the last several years, I have had a huge waxing period in my practice. I quit my corporate job working for a hospital in 2019 to go freelance. I started doing transcription and I found myself with a lot more free time on my hands and a lot more time to explore my personal practices and beliefs. Here I am many years later and my personal life is packed full of things. My child has extracurricular activities. She is homeschooled. I am going back to school while also working freelance full-time and there is just not enough time in the day and I feel like that has to be okay. I have found personally that when I try to imbue every single aspect of my life with a little bit of magic or spirituality sprinkled in, it actually burns me out faster because I’m trying to view everything through a specific magic lens when that’s not really what I need right now. And I know that doesn’t really make a lot of sense because I have always been a big advocate for bringing magic into your daily life in whatever way you can, but for me personally right now, that’s not really working.

If I find myself focusing too much on the magic and too much on what I can be doing, or what I “should” be doing with my magical practice, I get really discouraged, actually, and I start to question myself and my beliefs. Do I really believe this? Should I be doing this right now? What the heck am I even doing? And I know I can’t be alone in that and that’s part of the reason why I feel like it’s necessary for me to mention that here because it is a huge shift in the way that I view the world.

And this is something that has been happening over the last several months especially. I have fallen out of practice with deity work. I don’t have an altar. I don’t pray. I don’t give offerings. I don’t have a deity that I work closely with anymore. For a while there it was Brighid, but now I am honestly…sometimes feeling kind of an aversion to deity work and working with the gods. And even sometimes the idea of sitting down to meditate or sitting down to cast a spell or perform a ritual? I just can’t do it. My heart’s not in it right now. And that doesn’t make me any less of a witch. It doesn’t make me any less of a magical practitioner. If anything, it very clearly shows that I am human because I’m going with my own flow and my own cycle right now. My practice and my spiritual energy are waning like no tomorrow. Even answering this question and talking about all this right now, I can feel a heaviness in my chest because I’m hesitant to talk about it because it’s not something that I have even particularly acknowledged myself. I can feel the waning-ness of my practice. I can feel the heaviness of spirituality just hanging over my head right now.

And if anything, answering this prompt for this particular challenge just affirms that it’s okay and nothing is wrong with me. It’s okay to experience these fallow periods in your practice. Not everybody can practice all at once. Not every second of every day needs to be filled with magic. And that’s an okay thing right now. I’m going through a period of time where I’m questioning what I believe in. That’s also an okay thing and, if anything, I guess that is my journey through change – constantly changing, constantly shifting, constantly moving from one energy point to another and just trying to live the best way that I can.

Challenge Entry → Lunisolar Calendar and Chinese New Year

I’ve only known off-hand what my Chinese zodiac is because my family loves Chinese food I started with Francisco’s post here about the Chinese Zodiac and discovered that not only am I a sheep, I’m a metal sheep → the keywords given in that post include…

I wanted to learn a little more about being a metal sheep, so I searched online and found this.

THE METAL SHEEP 1931 AND 1991

Sheep often display a tough exterior to protect the fragile interior they are notorious for. Close friends and family of the Metal Sheep understand this is simply a front for those sensitive emotions tucked inside. Sheep can sometimes treat others the way they feel instead of the way they wish to be treated which can lead to a tendency to be overprotective and vulnerable. Metal Sheep, more than other Sheep, are culturally stimulated and hold a deep passion for the arts.

– Goat (Sheep) - Better Chinatown USA 美國繁榮華埠總會

I think this sounds a lot like me anyone who knows me knows that I’m a big ol’ softy, even if I come across as intimidating. I also enjoy the arts, though I wouldn’t say I have a passion for them. Of course, zodiacs can’t cover everything, so I’m gonna call it good!

Challenge Entry → Consecration

This is another challenge that I kind of struggled with, especially given my current low period in my practice.

Since consecration is the act of making something sacred, I find myself sitting here thinking about what I find sacred in my life right now. Time is sacred because I don’t have enough of it, and this goes for my spiritual life, my religious life, my educational life, and in my life as a partner and a mother. But how do you consecrate time? How do you make time sacred?

Does the simple act of setting time aside for something make it sacred?

Is the act of time blocking on my Google Calendar, separating my day into sections, and giving each section a specific purpose, sacred? – Is it sacred because I say it is sacred?

How do you consecrate time?

I am reminded of a poem titled Dust If You Must by Rose Milligan.

Dust if you must, but wouldn’t it be better
To paint a picture, or write a letter,
Bake a cake, or plant a seed;
Ponder the difference between want and need?

Dust if you must, but there’s not much time,
With rivers to swim, and mountains to climb;
Music to hear, and books to read;
Friends to cherish, and life to lead.

Dust if you must, but the world’s out there
With the sun in your eyes, and the wind in your hair;
A flutter of snow, a shower of rain,
This day will not come around again.

Dust if you must, but bear in mind,
Old age will come and it’s not kind.
And when you go (and go you must)
You, yourself, will make more dust.

georgia · August 26, 2024, 7:31pm

I gotta sing along to that one! You make this only child orphan happy!

Been there right alongside ya. I’m still working on it, but I do see progress, too.

Actually, it does make sense. You’re too close to the forest at the moment, but it happens a lot. Don’t worry, magick will be there when you come back. Your deities will welcome you home with smiles and hugs and send you off again on a new set of projects, later.

Questioning is not only normal, it strengthens the connection. You don’t feel it right now, but you’ll notice it later. Promise.

Before Covid, I went through it every summer- no altar, questioning, seeking contact and failing miserably, only to find they were here with me all along. Wanting the contact or prayer time is like storing up brownie points. Some sneer at it, but it makes a difference in the long run, even when you fail (and don’t be surprised, you will fail, but that’s part of the strengthening process).

True! Keep up the good work!

This is another side of a famous story.

A youth wished he could become king, so the king, Damocles, invited him to eat and see what life was like as a king. When the youth arrived a wonderful meal was set up, but above the youth’s chair hung a sword. The youth couldn’t enjoy it. After the meal, King Damocles told the youth that responsibility was the sword hung over him.

In my humble opinion, attempting to enjoy it anyway is not a matter of getting rid of responsibility, but of doing one’s best and releasing the rest. That way, if the sword should fall, I can feel satisfied that I tried, even though I failed. There is a quiet form of joy in that, usually ignored by the young and impetuous, but deeply understood and valued by the elders.

When the magick returns, it is all that much sweeter.

By acknowledging that time spent is never remade. We have only so much life. If we waste it, it is gone. When we know this and actively choose what we do with that time, that life, those moments are sacred because of the understanding brought to the choice we made.

I suppose you could look at it this way: you block off time for a purpose. Someone calls and says they need you at that point in time for something else. If you say a firm “no,” that time is sacred to you. No one else considers it so, but that makes it a pact between yourself and your deity or within yourself alone. So yes, time is sacred because you say it is so. You create the sacredness of time, and you keep it.

This set of actions requires a great strength which some people never find within themselves, which some call selfish and others want to control or steal because they don’t have that strength. Be strong! You got this!

Cosmic_Curiosity · August 26, 2024, 7:46pm

Love it. Thank you for getting my book

TS5 · August 26, 2024, 8:16pm

CHALLENGE ENTRY

As Above So Below

I thought I would revisit this, as alot has shifted since I last wrote this.

With my continued studies of the Nordic path, it has raised as many questions as it has answered. Who are the gods? What is spirit? What is faith? Where do we fit? Do any of the systems matter in the big scheme of life.

I started my spiritual journey as believing in the Christian Spirit, I then shifted to Wicca, then demonolatry, then Nordic Mystism, throughout all being guided by the master Trickster Loki. Right now, all the systems that we follow, the different religions, the gods, the demons, Christ, Buddha, everything I thought I understood is all turned upside down. How? Because As above, so below. Spirit is all around us and not hemmed in by our concepts of it. I feel like Floki from The Vikings, when he walked into the cave in Iceland and came face to face with the cross. Every foundation broken apart, but having come full circle.

When I started the studies of Nordic Mystism, I thought it would draw me closer to the Norse gods. Loki knew differently. What’s it’s done, is draw me closer to spirit, and everything, everyone that’s in the spirit world. It means I have to be more open-minded about beliefs, about pathways, about everything. It means taking religion out of the spirituality and letting spirit lead you. It’s very disconcerting, as there isn’t a guide book, you just have to open yourself up to follow the path, and adjust your thinking along the way. On the positive side, it removes biases, resentment and prejudice, as I’ve learnt the gods are, well gods. Our divisions in spirit, are ours. As a shaman once said to me, “you will travel the world of religion, the world of Holy books, and you will end up where you began - with Spirit.”

Maybe I’ll end up like Floki, just chilling in the wilderness somewhere, living out my days as the local mad lady .