Being a Pagan Parent

Being a Pagan Parent

This was a subject I was debating on talking about because it puts my family in a public light. However, I don't see many people discussing how to raise their kids in a pagan household. As I've said in other blogs, my husband and I practice two different faiths; I'm heathen and he's a practicing Palero and Osanyin Priest. So, how do we handle educating them? It's pretty easy, honestly.

Heathenry and Youtube

I follow this gentleman on Youtube who runs a in-depth channel on the Norse Religious texts, the Prose and Poetic Eddas. He speaks in the old Norse language as well. We listen to his videos on car rides and talk about the stories we heard. My son is five years old, so he has a lot of questions and breaking things down on his level can be a but challenging. He's absolutely fascinated though and loves to hear the funny stories. My daughter is three so just listens to have a good time. I plan on continuing this until they both know the books well. I also picked up an audible account and buy the Norse mythology books or other subjects they would be interested in for lessons. So far, it's a hit! I would highly suggest this for any parent on the go as much as I am. 

Palo and Music

My husband does plan on having our kids scratchedscrat the faith. Scratching is just a term for initiation. My husband talks to him about Osanyin and Palo when he gets the chance and we already have some spirits for him to work with. Both my husband and son are excited about him coming to age. To teach him more about the Afro-cuban faith, we often play the Yoruba and Congo music  and then my husband hard translates as best as he can. This faith is oral, so anything outside of stories passed down, makes the knowledge limited. 

Indoctrination

We do NOT believe in forcing our children into a particular faith, even ours. We'd prefer it, but it's entirely their choice. We plan on enrolling our son into a Catholic private school. We also took our kids to a Mosque and a Hindu Temple just so he can get a better education and can make sure he's religiously informed from all sides. We're very proud of their interest in our practices and will continue to feed those flames until they can decide how they are fulfilled. 

We will continue this blog talking about the ways we educate our kids in the Pagan paths.

Type of Love Magick

Love Magick in It's Many Forms:

Pagans on a large scale seem to cringe anytime someone brings up love spells, but from a personal point of view, I don't honestly understand why. They are no different than other spells you would work and can't really go against a person's will. Though that part is also largely under debate as there are spells that can, such as banishings and bindings, but you never want to bring that up to anyone who's touchy on the subject. In my many years of paganism I would dare to say that there are many forms of love magick and they're outside the realm of just a sexual nature. I would really prefer they were called relationship spells, so for the sake of understanding where I am coming from, that's what we will call them from here on out in our blog series.

Work and Friends

Relationships come in all manners from physical to casual acquaintance. Friendships and even work relationships are in this category because they obviously have their ups and downs and really do have a huge impact on your day to day from you emotional to mental health. Sometimes they need help and sometimes they just to need to end. The reason I include these is mainly because on a psychological level, these can have the same kind of impact as a marriage or a partnership. I'm sure we've all heard the terms "work spouse", "friend zone", or how often couples cheat with those close to them. This is because of that same bond that links those relationships together. The difference between them is often choice and, well, attractiveness. Friendship is a key building block of all marriages and lasting relationships. They simply won't last without. So it makes sense from a fundamental level to include these.

Sex and Family

The other subcategories are a far more obvious. Fertility, Sex Magick, and of course Family. All of these pretty much come with the territory of relationship spells because it's often a catalyst of starting something serious. You're not going to try to win someone over just for a week, ya know?

Break-Ups, Grieving, and Unrequited Feelings

Another sub I would suggest, as far as relations go, would be Break-Ups, Grieving, and Ending a Love Spell. We all face break-ups and they can go several ways, which are all included. Either you're wanting one, the other person is and you don't, or the relationship is going downhill for someone you know and they need to escape it. These situations can also include fake friendships and poisonous family situations. Grieving is usually dealing with a passing of a loved one, friend, family member, or just the heartache of getting over an end of a relationship. I would look at ending "love spells" as kind of an odd situation. Mainly because, as I said before, I believe they only work with two willing participants. In this, I would most likely tell someone its usually dealing with unrequited love more so than forced. However, this could possibly be a situation of a forced marriage as they do still happen.

Self-Love and Glamour

There is also Self-Love and Glamour. Yes, I would throw glamour under these because they can work with both self-love and physical love. It can even make you more confident to find friends, seem more approachable at work, or help you highlight what your personality strengths are. Self-love is pretty understandable. You have to first love yourself before you can really have a meaningful relationship with any other person. If you're unhappy with who you are or how you look that will shine through instead of everything that makes you wonderful. So, self care spells are helpful to have.

We can discuss each type of category in upcoming posts. You can read all about Glamour Magick in these blogs.

So How Do They Work?

As I said before you have to have two willing people. The only time I would say there is an exception to this rule in the case of breaking up or dealing with a hurtful situation. Relationship spells can come in all forms, from doll work to simple candles and prayers. You can write a petition to a love God or Goddess in your pantheon or even create a grandiose high magick ritual. Herbs and colors are best utilized here however, since their properties are so easily utilized and there a hundred different herbs you can grab at the grocery store. You can read about the colors best used here, and yes there are a lot more than red. If all else fails here is a list of grocery herbs you can grab dry and sometimes even fresh.

Rosemary - general love

Poppy - fertility

Marjoram - best used in all love spells

Ginger - adds power or fire

Mint - money matters, family

Vanilla - romance

Lemon - break-ups

Basil - reconciliations, money matters, 

Roses - general love

Carnations - friends, grieving

Daises - friends, babies

Cinnamon - spice up romance

  © 2016, Copyright The Dame and The Devil Business Blog - Writer The Dame

What is Love Magic - Misconceptions and Wicca

Hollywood, Witchcraft, and Physics

I feel this was the best place to start. A lot of people have a large misconception of what and how love spells work and that's mostly Hollywood's fault portraying it as a this tour de force against free will. However, this is very much not the case. Magick still works within the boundaries of possibility and that does include a person's capability to act or react a particular way to stimuli. As we all know, hollywood has a really had habit of blowing things out of proportion all in the sake of entertainment and that's the part you should pay most attention to; for entertainment. Real spells are not going to invert time or create really anything that goes against the basic laws of science that we know exist here on Earth. Yes... I said magick and science in the same sentence as if they belong together. Mainly because they kind of do.

Now this is where magick meets technicality in my experience. We cannot use spells to defy gravity, or change our outward physical appearance, so why believe we could force someone's will of mind? Maybe because it's more a suggestion, like hypnosis, but we also know that it doesn't work on everyone. They have to first be predisposed a certain way for it to work. This is how I see love magick working. The only way to get a lover back into a relationship with you or to make them want one in the first place is if they were actually willing to have that happen. Meaning, they had to have already liked you and that the spells you cast are really no more than a push in a particular direction. Imagine branches in the wind moving so easily as opposed to the trunk of the tree. It takes much more for it to be uprooted, and again, it's likely to have to be dead or dying or a severe storm to really make it happen.

So Then Why Use Love Magick?

Well, because just like everything else in life, some humans need that extra push. I think that way with all magick. Need a new job or promotion? You're pushing someone hire up down the path of choosing you when they were already mauling it over. Did you get a special inheritance? That was probably more of fate easing the passing of a sick loved one who was already about to go a lot sooner than later with a will that had your name on it. Keeping away theft or asking for protection? You'll likely avoid the places where you could get hurt because you don't feel comfortable in them anyway or the would be assaulter changes their mind since they really weren't up it anyway. Do you see what I mean by "in the realm of possibility"? Basically, when you cast a love spell, there has to be two people willing to participate. Otherwise, it just won't work.

Now, there are other types of love magick, and I will quickly go over them here, and in detail the next post. What I consider to be love spells are much more than intimate relationships. I consider breakups and divorce to be a category because they deal with the heart itself as well as emotions. Friendship and social based spells like gaining confidence and fitting in are also a small subcategory people often forget. Then there's the self and family; self love, appearance such as glamour, fertility, and of course family togetherness or love are also included. All of these deal with the heart, personal wellness, and, of course, influencing emotions.

Are There Wiccan Love Spells?

Now, I'm not Wiccan and I certainly am no expert on what is and isn't a wiccan spell. However, I do know that by my standards of what goes against free will and based on the entire blog I just wrote, I would say yes. Since it doesn't impede on any kind of free will, simply grows a decision that was previously planted by the person themselves, then it's harmless. It's no more wrong than any of your other kinds such as bindings and protections. 

I hope that this blog helped to clear up any of your misconceptions on what is and isn't a love spell as how they work and if their moral enough for Wicca.

© 2016, Copyright The Dame and The Devil Business Blog - Writer The Dame

Glamorous Magick and Fashion Spells

What is Glamour?

The word glamour was anglicized by a writer, Sir Walter Scott, from the Scotish word gramarye and literally meant a spell which would effect what the eyes were perceiving. It then slowly turned into the word glamorous, but without all the witchy tones. It was not so much spell binding as it was simply irregularly beautiful. The ideal of being glamorous transforms from culture to culture, country to country, and even city to city. It has been what made red hair evil and pale skin the desired trait. It also has shaped our very DNA from the most likely eye colors to the average height. It's caused diets and fashion crazes, even toys and what drives modern day society, because being glamorous may be what you're decorating your house with this season or that nice new TV you can't really afford. However, how does that tie into magick and paganism?

How to Use Fashion in Glamour Spells

This obsession with being in the limelight and having beauty or money has been the stage we all sit on when we open any of our social medias, especially Instagram. It's more a play on real life than it is actual reality; a facade. It's a spell we cast on those scrolling to get them to stop and pause for a nanosecond. We can take that power of color and fabric and transform ourselves just by following certain trends. It's said people only perceive what they want to, anyway, so by using that you can instead have them see what you're wanting them to.

Use jewelry to add to the effect. Wearing gemstones is pretty standard form of glamour, but did you know about metals? Aluminum is reflective, so works best for protection, while copper is the best at conducting and would be best for pushing away any of your current negative energies. Iron is the all purpose metal, but is best used for grounding and earthy magicks. Zinc is transformative and nickel solves problems or helps to aid in other metals. You can learn more about metals in this very descriptive blog.

Cotton is a relaxing fabric known to be more free and gives the perception of comfort. While we all look at sweaters and think cozy or safe, other will see the same in a scarf or a particular pair of shoes. Think of your wardrobe as being a backstage. Carefully pull out colors to match a mood and give off a certain aura. Want to look friendly and approachable? Wear yellow or pastels. Want to be bold? Go for gold, red, or even orange. Watch the way each piece of fabric drapes and moves as that will also be part of the spell. And, yes, you can actually enchant your clothes. I have a dress I like to wear when I'm not feeling so confident and need boost. I pair it with a floppy sun hat for an upper class look or wear my hair loose for everyday. The experts aren't lying about "dressing for success". If you want to BE successful, dress as such and others will already assume you are. This isn't saying to go out and buy an Armani suit, but that the clearance rack at Kohl's is a pretty awesome hustle.

Other Things to Use in Glamour Magick

Go by the moon, and make looks that will have you following the phases so that retrogrades don't turn you upside down. Use the days of the week for certain situations. Have it down and planned. This is definitely something that is more thought provoking and can take time to master, but don't get stressed. If you want the inner you to shine through, I highly suggest some deep meditation before you go shopping so you're guided to what you need more than what others want. Just always make sure to have fun.



© 2016, Copyright The Dame and The Devil Business Blog - Writer The Dame

Using Cosmetics in Spells

The Different Ways to Use Cosmetics in Glamour Magick

There are many ways to utilize makeup in spells. As I said before, I, personally, use many of these in my daily makeup routine together for a well finished look that helps to enhance a certain aspect of my personality or bring about a particular mood for the day.

How to Use Crystals in Spells

You can use crystals to charge your makeup palettes, brushes, and such simply by placing the cleansed crystal into a makeup bag. The most common, of course, would be rose quartz, but here are some other suggestions. I also know of some people who use crystal blessed water to wash their face and their makeup brushes with. I don't use crystals, so if any of my readers are more in-tune with them, please share your knowledge and of course you'll be given credit.

Amethyst - tranquility, and helps with opening oneself up for spirits

Aquamarine - reduces aging and anxiety/stress, increases vitality, sea magick or summer time spells

Blue Lace Agate - increases calmness

Clear Quartz - all purpose and all around clearity

Citrine - for sun magick and to help increase happiness

Jade - reduces tension andColstress, increasing money and getting that promotion

Lepidolite - reduces aging

Shungite - absorbs negative energy

How to use Witch Sigils & Symbols:

Sigils are a bit of a grey area for me. I support using sigils you yourself created or ones you have used before with great success. However, there is a lot of caution to be told if you use sigils, especially when talking about Runes. There is almost always a "bad" side to using Runes because they have both a negative and positive meaning. The ones you see on the internet may not be safe because they could be fake. So, please keep that in mind. Symbols are obviously a pretty good thing to stick to since they really have the meaning you give them. These are also very easy to incorporate into your routine. You can simply use a small foundation brush and write them on your face before blending it in. These will stay with you until you wash your face, so choose them wisely. If you find you're going to need some other kind of symbol later in the day, I highly suggest washing your face and starting with a blank canvas. You can also use lip pencil or lip wand to write them or even words on to your lips and then cover with your lipstick. In recent years, the tribal sigils and symbols have been tsken and bent into an aesthetic. You'll likely see this all over Instagram, but I wouldn't take it so lightly. The old war paint had power and the symbols can still be used during rituals to help invoke or worn everyday to bring you closer to the Divine. Research your tradition to make sure you're properly using them and not appropriating another. While I am all in the mind set of copying being a sign of envy or love of the look, it can be a touchy subject. Do take notice though how they blend so well from culture to culture.

How Color Magic Can Be Applied:

This is pretty self explanatory. You can blend multiple colors in a palette to create a fierce look, or something muted for a light and airy take. Yes, these can even be used to invoke elements or call on deities to help you through the day. Here is a link to a previous post on the power of using color in your everyday. Colors are so powerful and should be used with intent so you can pull on that specific theme that you're for.

How I Use Glamour Magick:

So how I use it can be a little funny so some, I'm sure, but it works. I use mascara and eye liner to open my eyes to the truth. Eye shadows to either keep people from reading my mind (usually when dealing with people I don't like or trust) or to give off a happier, more calmer appearance. Usually it's just to bring about whatever mood I'm going for that day though. Blush is for a happy outward appearance and to also give a hint of youth. Sometimes, because I use Julep's Cream Blush, I draw small symbols or sigils and them blend them out for an extra step. Foundation I use specifically as a barrier so things that happen throughout the day don't get under my skin or irritate me. My bronzer or contouring is to hide away my anxiety and social awkwardness. My lip sticks are to work with my words and what or how I say things. Then, lastly, I use powder as a wall to keep away any unwanted attention or negativity. This, to a lot of people, probably seems silly or over done, but I highly recommend it. I always feel much more calmer when I go out because I do have social anxiety and these barriers seem to help me open up more than I ever would have or did before.

Let me know how YOU use glamour magick in your routines. 

© 2016, Copyright The Dame and The Devil Business Blog - Writer The Dame