Element: Air

The four elements are important in spell work, but they also organize aspects of astrology and tarot cards. Colors, smells, textures, and even food are associated with the elements. Today I’m going to share a little about the element of air.

It is associated with the east, which, if you recall, is where one begins to cast a magical circle. Yellow is the color of air, and it aids and supports the qualities of communication and thought. The magical tool most linked with air is the athame, or ceremonial knife. Air has a masculine energy (which kind of surprises me), or yang. Gemini, Libra and Aquarius are all air signs in the zodiac.

Air is associated with the mental realm, with the imagination, language and communication. It is flexible (sometimes to the point of instability), relates to quick movements (think starlings in flight!) and sociability. It can be changeable – a light breeze or a gusty gale.

Given all of that, it makes sense that air magic involves words – incantations, special words (abracadabra!), chants, affirmations and the like. Using air magic in this way gives power to your intentions.

Some other things that fall under the purview of air: computers, books, birds (duh), flutes, fans (again: duh), smoke, incense, and aromatherapy. Air magic is particularly helpful in spells that involve scholarly endeavors and communication between people.

Next up: The southern element of fire

~Katie

Casting a Circle

Not all witches cast circles when they do spell work, but many do. And those who do cast circles may do it quite differently from one another.

The basic idea behind casting a circle is always the same: to create a sacred space to protect anyone involved in the spell, safeguard the magic being worked, and exclude any outside entities or negative energies. You can do it in the same place over and over, which will gradually increase the energy in that space. The nice thing, though, is that you can cast a circle anywhere – inside, outside, or when you’re visiting someplace new. Circles can be cast alone or with a group. Just make sure all the people and items related to the spell are inside the space before you begin!

Circles are cast by beginning at the eastern compass point and moving – physically or mentally – in a clockwise (deosil) direction to the south, west, north, and closing the circle again at the easternmost point. The spell book club at the Honeybee taught me how to cast a circle by sprinkling salt around the perimeter. Some magicians use an athame, or ceremonial knife to draw a circle in the air. I myself don’t care for knives (my athame is a letter opener ; >) so I stick with using salt – even if it does require a bit more clean up.

Another common way to “draw” the circle is to place candles, either of a particular color relevant to the spell or reflecting the four elements that are associated with the four directions. Light them in the same order, again starting in the east.

Or you can simply stand in the middle, turn to the different directions with deliberate intention, and imagine the circle forming. This is a quiet and subtle way to cast a circle, highly personal, and quite common among natural/green hedgewitches.

Some people believe that the archangels Raphael, Michael, Gabriel and Uriel respectively stand as guardians in each direction, and ask for their aid in the spell work. Others have developed a few lines they always say at each compass point.

It doesn’t hurt to remember that there are three other directions to consider as well: above, below, and within. Including those will give you the most complete circle.

To open the circle, use whatever method you’ve chosen and start at the easternmost point – moving counterclockwise (widdershins) and ending again in the east. If you’ve used candles, snuff them out as you go. Thanking the archangels and/or the elements doesn’t hurt, either.

This is a lot of basic information, and in the coming weeks I’m going to share what I’ve learned from the spell book club about each of the elements, the concepts of “above” and “below” being inextricably linked, candle magic, and more.

~Katie

St. Valentine’s Day…or Lupercalia?

Happy Valentine’s Day to all you lovers out there!

Here’s a little something you might not have known about this holiday, however. It might be named after a Catholic saint now, but February 14th was originally the day on which love lotteries were held in ancient Rome.

Juno, Queen of the gods, is the patroness of marriage, and this day was devoted to her. Girls’ names were written down and tossed into a jar. Boys picked them out one by one and the resulting couples were paired for the rest of the Lupercalia festival. Sometimes the pairings lasted for a lifetime, and sometimes not. Lupercalia itself took the place of the earlier annual cleansing ritual of Februa which gave this month its name.

The Church didn’t approve of the boy/girl pairings, and created St. Valentine’s Day to replace it. It’s kind of understandable, really, as the Lupercalia involved animal sacrifice and ritual flagellation. But the whole idea was to prevent evil, purify the land, and promote fertility of all kinds for the coming spring.

Valentine cards are relatively new, however. In the 1840s Esther A. Howland was the first person to sell mass-produced Valentine cards in the U.S.

As for me, I wouldn’t be surprised to get a card from a special man this year. Two of them, actually. If only they weren’t so equally, but differently, appealing, maybe I could make up my mind.

May your Valentine’s Day – and every other day – be rich with love and affection.

~Katie

Rosemary

When I arrived at the made-over carriage house I’d purchased in Savannah, the first thing I saw was my Aunt Lucy patting the soil around a rosemary topiary next to my front porch. The topiary was in the shape of a star, but I didn’t know then what that meant.

OR why she planted the rosemary there. She suggested that it was … “traditional”. I thought it was a Southern thing.

“But there are some things I know for certain: always throw spilt salt over your left shoulder, keep rosemary by your garden gate, plant lavender for luck, and fall in love whenever you can.” –Sally Owens in Practical Magic

It turns out that rosemary has all sorts of wonderful magical – and everyday – qualities. It symbolizes remembrance, and the scent improves memory, improves mental powers and clarifies thinking. As a culinary herb it aids in digestion and calms headaches. Rosemary tea is supposed to stimulate the circulation, cleanse and purify. Or you can use the tea to rinse your hair. It stimulates the hair follicles and is supposed to be good for dandruff and preventing baldness (!). It’s antibacterial and antiseptic, so the oil is a great addition to any aromatherapy kit.

Rosemary incense removes negativity, purifies the mind, and prevents nightmares. A sprig repels harmful fairies and encourages the helpful ones to stay. The fairies call it elfleaf.

I LOVE that.

Other names for it are compass weed and polar plant. It’s associated with the sun and with the element of fire. In spell work it can substitute for frankincense (handy since rosemary is much easier to come by).

And by the door\front gate? It offers protection to those who live in the home, repels burglars or those with ill intent … and promotes the dominance of the woman of the house. Since I live alone (well, with little Mungo) that doesn’t apply so much to me, but you married ladies might want to give it a try!

~Katie

Sometimes You Just Know

“The intellect has little to do on the road to discovery. There comes a leap in consciousness, call it intuition or what you will, the solution comes to you and you don’t know how or why. The truly valuable thing is the intuition.” – Albert Einstein

My whole life there have been times when I just Knew something. I didn’t think about it, didn’t really examine it. Doing so would have made me dwell on why I always felt so different, like an outsider. After a while it stopped happening quite so much. Then it seemed to go away altogether.

Until I moved to Savannah and Aunt Lucy reminded me that Knowing is a deep part of who I am. It’s nice to have it back. I hadn’t realized how much I missed it.

Of course Knowing is really intuition, and intuition is magical. The irony is that everyone possesses intuition to some degree. I wasn’t nearly as different as I’d thought. In fact Aunt Lucy told me most everyone has it to a great degree, but people tend to tamp it down as they grow up. We’re taught that if you can’t see it or write a proof on paper then it’s not to be trusted.

Well, I’m here to tell you: Trust it.

Go ahead. I dare you.

~Katie

p.s. Happy Full Moon!

Imbolc

I started this blog on Lunar New Year’s Day. And now, so soon, there is another holiday to celebrate. Or perhaps I should say “holidays”!

February 2nd is Groundhog’s Day. Today Punxsutawney Phil will or won’t seen his shadow. We talk of spring, of the end of winter, and seeing the light (literally) at the end of the tunnel.

And February 2nd is Candlemas. It’s a traditional time for melting all the old candle leavings and combining them with new wax/tallow to make the candles for the upcoming year. It signifies hope and the coming of light with the actual creation of light. It’s also the time to start getting your fields (or garden beds) ready for planting.

February 2nd is Brigid’s Day, in honor of the Celtic Goddess, Brigit. She is a goddess of fire, smithcraft, poetry, and midwifery. In the Catholic Church she is Saint Brigit – patron saint of smithcraft, poetry and healing. She represents, among other things, light.

But my favorite: February 2nd is Imbolc. That’s one of the pagan sabbats that falls between the equinoxes and the solstices. Imbolc means “in the belly”, as if spring is stirring inside Mother Earth. It is about seeds almost ready to sprout, the gestation of spring, lambs and other baby animals ready to come into the world.

Call it what you will, all the celebrations and attention on February 2nd have to do with the same thing: Spring is coming, closer than the mere promise and hope we have on the dark winter solstice. We can see the light increasing. We can imagine the warmth again. Things will grow. The cycle continues.

~Katie

A Bit Too Familiar

I’d like you to meet Mungo. Isn’t he a cutie?

He’s a Cairn terrier, and I had no idea he was my familiar until Lucy told me. You know how cats are supposed to be witch’s familiars? Well, poo: I’m allergic. But that’s okay, because Mungo is awesome. He’s adorable, and he steers me in the right direction in magic and in life. I don’t know where he came from, but he seems to know a lot more than I do about this whole business of being a witch.

What? Of course he doesn’t talk. That would be weird. He just kinda sorta lets me know what he means. If you’re a dog person, you know how that can happen, right? An opinionated animal makes his thoughts known one way or the other.

The fact that he has a VERY expressive face doesn’t hurt.

I’m pretty sure he’s not the first canine familiar I’ve had, either. The Labradors I grew up with were just as bossy.

Naturally, it turned out that Aunt Lucy’s familiar is Honeybee. Our bakery on Broughton Street is named after her.  She’s an orange tabby cat, and very serene – very like my sweet aunt. And yes, Honeybee is a “she.” Female orange tabby cats are as rare as male calicos, but when you’re talking about a witch’s familiar, all bets are off.

~Katie