Lesson #2: Thinking Outside Your Daily Routine

This lesson has gone through 3 incarnations, a bout of writer's block, and a few pep talks from my friends. I was trying to write about something I thought I couldn't see. I was searching and searching for an idea that was looking right at me.

The idea came to me when I was reading through all the comments on the witch lesson blog. Everyone who posted seemed to have forgotten about the obvious. For Branny it was her stones, for Mab it was the mountains and the sun, for Tarna it was taking a new route home. On the nightstand next to my bed I have a rose quartz, a spine from a prickly pear, and stone from the Sekhmet temple. I was rushing around one morning trying to get ready for work and I turned and looked at the rose quartz. It made me smile because Bella gave it to me at the Wiccaning and it reminded me of a very happy time. I slowed down.

We see these things every day but we keep expecting some divine intervention to help us clear the fog instead of looking at the fog as the solution. The road I drive down to get work is beautiful in the summer and the fall. When the leaves fall it looks barren and cold. Today I saw the trees in a different light. They looked beautiful and full of life and I could see the birds in the trees. In the winter I like to go into my backyard in the morning when its foggy and feel the fog and welcome the day. I like the sun, too, but the fog has its own mysteries. Even if the rest of the day is shit, I have that one moment to remember to give me some happiness.

My assignment for you this time is go back to your list and look it over again. Is there anything on that list you've been ignoring? I want you to find one thing that makes you happy and is something you can do every day (weather permitting). It doesn't matter if it's picking up a stone and feeling the energies or greeting the morning sun. This doesn't have to take a half an hour. Give yourself 5 minutes. Try a few of the items if you have time. Write about how it makes you feel. The purpose is to get you to think outside of your daily routine and see the magick that's looking right at you.

Lesson #1: The Witchy Well

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Witchy Well

The topic of this lesson came up when I was writing to Pixie about my lack of creativity over the past week. I told her I knew I was supposed to write these lessons but witchy well just dried up.

Of course the light bulb above my head went off and I got the idea for the first
lesson.

So many of us have complained we have no desire to do ritual, meditate, or do anything witchy. For many of us it means we have to take time out of a busy day or make sure everyone else’s needs are met before ours. It might seem like a lot of work to meditate or do ritual but it doesn’t have to be. The problem I see is we are told we have to set up an 8x10 foot table complete with an altar cloth your gt-gt grandmother made and make sure you have 10.7 candles on the altar. You must also soak and smoke the room to banish those sneaky energies that might want to watch. Then you must call the quarters, the elements, the watch towers, and all of your ancestors and then and only then are you ready to ritual. Either that or we’re told our way is, “The Wrong Way.”

I don’t think so.

While some may enjoy doing rituals like this (and I do sometimes) it’s not practical for those who have lives. I also think it’s a contributing factor to the dried up Witchy Well.

For this first lesson we are going to tap into your dried up witchy well and help you figure out what’s creating the drought. I want you take out that journal I told you to use for these exercises and make a list of everything that makes you feel witchy. Is it a walk outside? Watching the rain fall? Reading a good book? The sky is the limit.. do not make a short list. No one is reading this but you. It doesn’t even have to be something witchy.. just something that makes you feel alive.

Once you’ve made your list I want you to think about why you’re not doing these things. For example: When I need to recharge my witchy batteries I go for a hike. If it’s cold or raining I obviously can’t do that so I find my inspiration elsewhere.. a park or even looking at Mt. Hood in the distance or a hawk on a light post. It’s the little things we forget that can help us the most. Once you’ve figured out your road blocks I want you to choose one thing on the list that makes you feel witchy and do it. Do it a few times. Write down your experiences. I don’t care if you have kids and a family. Lock them in the close until you’re done. LOL If you don’t have time, make time. There’s always time to take care of yourself. Have fun!

Witch Lessons - An Introduction

Many of us have found ourselves feeling stagnant on our magickal paths and not sure which direction to go. We need a poke or a nudge to remind of us of how it all works and to get us going again. The purpose of Witch Lessons is to take you out of your mundane world of bills, taxes, garbage collecting, and masters thesis’s and remind you of the magickal world out there and how you fit into it.

Pixie and I will be doing this feature every two weeks and presenting you all with a topic and some exercises you can do. The goal is to get you thinking, get you out of your rut, and make you look at the world and your path a little differently. We recommend you use a journal and write down your experiences and your thoughts. You don’t have to post your thoughts to this list, but if you want to, you can. Please don’t go about these exercises in a half assed sort of way. Do it all thoroughly. Don’t just meditate once. Do it a few times and write down the impressions you get. It’s for your benefit, not ours.

If you have suggestions for topics please let me know. This will not interfere with the weekly discussions.

Anna