Midsummer - Lithasblot

So I've been dreading writing this blog because I know it'll turn into this huge debate like the one about Eostre. However, sometimes being the bearer of bad news is a necessity.

What is Midsummer?

This is the Summer Solstice neo-pagan and old Celtic celebration for the longest day of the year. Depending on your location it can take place anytime from June 20th up to the more traditional Norse and Upper Northern Germanic Religions July 14th. Today, using the Gregorian calendar, we centered the date on June 21-22. I think this is perfect because of the power number that 22 is. Scientifically speaking, this day changes from year up year simply because 1) the year is never just 365 days and 2) the seasons shift due to current climates and changes. In the more northern counties there is rarely any nighttime during this day. In the Southern hemisphere, this is time to celebrate Yule, the darkest day of the year.

How to Celebrate:

You would celebrate it the same way you would Litha; bonfires, fairy cakes, fertility and love spells. However, and this is where it gets disappointing, the Germanic Pagans DID NOT celebrate this holiday. In fact, they were often day too busy harvesting, planting, raiding, and hunting to have a real holiday. There's actually only three Blots recorded. What they did do was hold a very important meeting called the Allthing. It would last a good portion of the night and was very solemn. If they did hold a celebration, it was short and done after. Most likely by themselves at their homes, also. This is largely speculation because there isn't any evidence of a holy presence during this time. Now Freyja and Frey are said to work together to create the budding fruit from flowers and trees. However, at this time, we also usually honor the death of Baldr. In the story, Loki murdered Baldr with mistletoe, the only living thing that Freyja never made a pact with to keep them from killing get son. This is likely a reason why there wasn't a celebration. It was a funeral. Baldr was the most beautiful and most loved God by how Pantheon. He just simply couldn't do wrong and Loki used his blind brother to kill him.

Modern Midsummer

Do I think it's wrong to celebrate now? No! 

In fact, I would encourage it. Religion evolves. It's a living, breathing thing because of human faith. We proof of this as the religion moves from Proto-Germanic to Anglo-Saxon and then to Norse. In today's society we have a lot more time on our hands to give to the Gods. The Germanic Paganism is extremely Sun worship centered so making this an important time is proper and I support this movement to make it a holiday. Today, you'll see bonfires and flower picking as well. There's also one some who place a stuffed witch and burn it in honor of those who died before us. More and more, people are against this, though, and see it more as a undermining of the thousands of innocent lives lost.

I, personally, decorate my house in yellow and white flowers. I pull out my white and gold decor. I try to get my kids outside more and more in the mornings and really push my own Freyja worship at this time. I also try to draw from my ancestors and I do my best to work at this time, but instead my giving back to my community, planting, cleaning, and trying to keep my neighborhood kept up. We keep water in the car to hand out to the homeless when we come across them, simple things that give back and give thanks.

Ocean deities are also invoked at this time and likely we're back then because they would be raiding at this time. There was also a May Pole in some areas of Europe, but this rain is likely because if the difference of time in the ground thawing and growing grass.




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

Litha - Summer Solstice

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Litha

Litha is more a Celtic tradition. I'm not well versed in how it is celebrated, but I have read that bonfires are usually set out in honor of the witches who were burned. Apparently, this was high time for the Inquisition. They would also set out foods for the fae and give thanks for the warmth of the Sun God/dess. The leave ito honey cakes and wear bright colors in celebration of the longest day if the year. The fairies were known to be traveling at this time of year partying and making love and if you were lucky, you could hear their other wordly music.

Fertility

 There are also fertility ceremonies and spells continuing through to the summer months. With the warm weather its the time known all of the world as a baby making season. We give thanks to the fertility of the land and animals in the spring, but this is the human season of fun. It's said in many articles I've read that girls would pick seven different types flowers and place them under their pillow to dream of their future husband, likely roses, dandelion, tulip (if they were still in season), daisy, and other wild flowers in their area. This was also the best time of the year for Handfasting, and still is the reigning wedding season today.

Other fun

Many say that the maypole is part of this celebration, however, the origins suggest that was truly May Day, or May 1st. Some will still practice a bird shooting game off of the pole, though now it's usually a fake one.

Colors:

Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Pink, Gold

Herbs:

Carnations, Chamomile, Daisy, Elder, Fern, Honeysuckle, Ivy, Lavender, Lily, Mugwort, Oak, Rose, Thyme, Vervain, Yarrow

Food:

Berries (especially strawberries), Summer Fruits, honey cakes, ale, wine, sun tea

Crystals:

Amber, Citrine, Emerald, Jade, Tiger's Eye

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

Fertility and Family Magick Spells

Fertility and Family

Fertility is a complex issue with many facets of it's own. It can be an issue with simply wanting your partner to be on board with family planning to dealing with more sensitive issues such as not being able to get pregnant. In thist section, I'll also include things like menstrual cycles and, of course, actual pregnant spells since they do play a large roll in fertility and family planning. Family spells can include anything from keeping your family close knit, to protection, to just having fun or increasing that love and bond. 

Family Planning

Fertility spells can be a very intimate issue. A lot of times this comes with impotance and having to find a way around it. Unfortunately, magick is not a fix-all and when dealing with these issues, I always suggest going to a doctor and using modern methods as a first source with spells being something of a booster. There are multiple spells out there meant to assist you with getting pregnant including some really great kitchen witchery. I have meals planned out to help with getting pregnant as well as the stages of pregnancy. I've researched some great male and female specific impotancy ingredients, like clotsfoot. So don't feel like you won't be able to find something that fits your specific need sufficiently, it's just... Touchy. There's also work that can be done to increase libido, reduce stress, and try to increase intimacy because all of those can be a factor if it's not medical, as well keeping up with your diet and exercise. I'veI've f knot spells to keep a baby safe in the womb until it's ready to be birthed and other really useful information googling around, but all of these things should come with a warning that they may not work. Nothing in life is guaranteed and sometimes all the charms in world won't help. Even from my very religious views, sometimes it's just the Gods' will. I've seen spells where you can go for a very particular gender, and honestly, i wouldn'tw trust those at all. I would also put in this category adopting spells, simply because of the nature of the situation. You're still bringing a new love into your life.

Here are some foods for fertility:

Avacados, Carrots/Parsnips, Bananas, Apples, Strawberries, Cherries, Chestnuts, Asparagus, Beef, Cabbage, Celery, Cucumber

The Knot Spell to Help Pregnancy: 

If you are having trouble carrying to term, use this spell in combination with your conception ritual. Begin by getting a sturdy piece of green rope (for growth). Tie one knot in it to represent the baby. Hold the rope gently in both hands and place it up against your heart and say, “Secured in my womb, a seed of love. There to grow and blossom until released by nature __months hence. Surrounded by safety, health, and wholeness you shall remain until this knot is undone.” Fill in the blank with the number of months until your due date, then keep the rope bundled in a baby blanket. When you go into labour, untie the knot at the hospital to release any pain and open the birth canal. (Credit to The Black Witch Coven)

Amulets to wear during pregnancy:

Cherry or avacado pits, and there's a couple other herbs to wear to help ease delivery. ( I sell some in my shop.)

Family Magick:

So as I said above, these include anything assisting your family and home.  A lot of this work will include dirt from the four corners of your home so that the spell has a kind of barrier, especially when it comes to protection spells. I prefer doing knot spells using the hair and clothes, like socks, when performing any kind of family magick because I feel those are just the best type over a candle spell. It's a lot more personal like it should be. There's, also, of course kitchen magick that would play a large role in family relationship magick, or scents that are often found around the house are good to keep for later get togethers. There's also work here to help you get out of pending poisonous family situations, because, of course, sometimes those things just happen. For those I suggest again some kind of knot or cord spell and even probably with dolls. I keep dolls of myself and my husband for ongoing work and I plan on making ones for my kids later on. There's a lot to use these for in terms of sicknesses and life situations where they made need an extra bit of help than the mundane can give. I do sell a jar spell to help the family get along in my shop as well as handmade Cornhusk dolls. 

Knot spell to keep family close:

Take a sock from each person, preferably a used one still dirty. Take a strand of their hair and place it in the sock. Tie one sock to another until they form one long rope of socks. Tie the first and last sock together to join them saying:

"We are bound by blood

We are a family given to each other for love, support, trust, and happiness.

We are now bound through these knots to uphold those truths and honor and hold each other in our hearts.

A family is a bond never broken and neither will these knots."

Place this up somewhere out of reach in the home where it won't be disturbed. If you ever feel the need the cleanse your family of negative energy or to renew this love and bond, you can wash these socks in an appropriate herbal bath.

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

A Journey Back in Time

Slowly Introducing Kids

I often like to put on the history channel for the kids to watch and learn about the ancient civilizations as they run around the house making messes and mischief. I feel this is an easy transition into pagan beliefs because its more understood of it being real and other have practiced it before. I also believe that culture plays a pivotal role in any religion practiced and should be studied alongside the older religious views. Their customs, morals, and everyday life will give a greater insight into the why and why nots of how they believed the Gods to act. Even though they're five and two and a half, I know that some of that information is getting to them one way or another because throughout the week my son will randomly ask questions about some of the programs he was not fascinated with. Instilling this learning at your own pace environment has definitely allowed them to pick up on things their own way. My daughter, the youngest, will even stop at times to sit and watch the programs. I usually do this for a couple hours a week depending on what's on the TV and how long were home.

The other way I do this, is by using YouTube and Audible. We'll hook up my phone in the car rides around town and listen to lore or other things. This past month we learned about Stonehenge on YouTube and then watched a series on it on the History Channel. At first he thought it was cool, then they started talking about the ritualistic sacrifice and he got scared that people were going to come up from the ground. (He's really into zombies.) He relaxed after I explained as best as I could to him that these things happened a very long ago, way before even great grandma and grandpa were alive. He was really interested in it, so I suggested a trip.

Stonehenge Reconstructed

Here in our little town we have a full sized reconstructed site at one of the colleges. It's quite a grand thing and when you can't travel to the real site, it's the next best one. After listening to the YouTube video again as a refresher for the course they were going to learn, we got out and they had some fun. We talked about what it must have been like back then and I asked my son what kind of a shop would he open if he lived here. Of course, he said video games or ninjas, and my daughter wanted a pink store with makeup or my candles. (She's very fascinated with what mommy does.) 

My son asked where they buried people and why. That was a little harder to explain since they way is not really known. I told him that this wasn't the real Stonehenge and that the real one is very far away in another country, but that people from all over the world can still go and visit it. I asked him how he thinks people back then lived and we discussed that there used to tribes of people who would wonder the world. That there didn't use to be cities or houses like we have. People couldn't use phones to talk like we do with his grandparents. I think that idea worried him more than intrigued him because he was wondering a lot about how they managed to live then. 

Baby Steps in Understanding

At the end of the trip, I asked him what all he learned and if he'd like to come back another time and listen to more about the actual people who lived here. We really only heard about what Stonehenge was used for and not so much about the people or religion. So we're planning a trip back again to see what else we can find out about this mysterious wonder of the old world. I told him that there many different kinds of people who had once lived in the real Stonehenge. That there were old Britton tribes, Romans, Celts, and even older peoples still. We discussed the type of told used, because he's getting more interested in tools and working like his dad. How they're different from the ones we have today because they were wooden and stone. It was a lot of information to take in at once and I think highlighting the parts he would find more interesting helped. In the end, we walked away with a lot of fun in the desert sun.

I hope you enjoyed our trip. Do you have any questions in regards to how we teach? 

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

Type of Relationship Magick - Friendship, Love, Marriage

The Steps of Love

So as stated in the last post, we were going over the different types of relationship magick. I feel that all of these play a role in relationship, more commonly known as "love", magick because they are all involving that same emotion, just on different levels. You have to first love yourself to find a true friend. You have to be friends with your significant other to make the relationship last. They all are intertwined and so they all work the same way. 

A Platonic Love

Friendship Spells are usually more involved than just making friends. It's overcoming anxiety in a new place or in your everyday life to become more sociable. It can be about coming out as yourself, your true self, and wanting people to see the better part of you. You could be in a situation that involves fake or poisonous friends who are really out to bring you down instead of raise you high above in whatever path you choose. Having that stepping stone in life is very important and should always be built upon. You really only need a handful of real friends, but it's attracting them into your life that is the difficult part. As a mom with toddlers, I know this is a struggle. You want your kids to have friends, so you feel you should befriend the parents of their play dates, but those are so often superficial and can later on be more hurtful. 

A simple friendship spell:

Take a yellow candle and carve into it your desire:

"Making new friends", "True friendship", "gaining confidence", etc

Use:

Salt - for good vibes

Orange - joy, blessings, and frienship

Lavender - happiness, general relationship herb

If you're attracting - Catnip

If you're wanting to be rid of Negative friendships or emotions - Lemon

As you mix the herbs together, think of your intention. You can write your own spell and say it as make the mixture and place it around your candle as well. Burn the candle down in the herbs and keep the wax in your living room, preferably near the door.

First Comes Love

Love and marriage spells are fairly self-explanatory. They're meant to attract that energy your way or to grow on the emotions already there. As I said before, you can't FORCE someone to love you. This initial misunderstanding on how to work these is where you'll find a lot of failures in your spell work. Unless they are causing you emotional harm or already experience those wants, the spell simply has nothing to work with. Most of the time these spells are used as a push in a direction they're simply too scared to walk down themselves or they feel like the romance won't be reciprocated. This can even include the Ducky's left in the friend zone. (If you get that entire reference, we're both old.)

Here's some sweet love and marriage spells:

Carve off an entire apple skin in one full piece. Ask who you're going to marry three times and toss it over your shoulder. The skin will land in the initial of your future spouse. If you fail three times, you'll never marry. 

Slice an apple in half and pull out the seeds. Name each seed, one at a time, and toss it into a fire. If it suits back, then that's the name of your next love interest. 

The Handfasting: when you marry, you may see many pagans using cord to wrap around their hands during their vows. This is symbolic of their union and also a spell to bind them to one another.

  © 2016, Copyright The Dame and The Devil Business Blog - Writer The Dame Image is picked from Wikihow which has a cute love spell walk through. They own all rights and usages to the image and may ask to have image removed at any time.