Black Cats

My roommate was asking me today what the difference between a witch, a wizard, a warlock, a sorcerer, and an enchanter/ess was. I told her that a witch is pretty much the gender neutral term for a practitioner of the craft, a warlock someone who had broken an oath, and that had no idea what the real definition behind wizard/enchanter/sorcerer besides that a wizard is not a male witch.

Can anyone out there answer her question better? I know I got witch and warlock right but I’m not so sure on the rest and neither does half the internet it seems.

 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7354089.stm

A change in the law could mean mediums, psychics and healers face prosecution if they cannot justify their claims. Spiritualists are delivering a mass petition to Downing Street and complaining that a genuine religion is being discriminated against. 

how  do i make a proper alter, like what do i use? is there a specific place for it?

Merry Meet! ^_^

I've been curious about Native American traditions on and off for awhile, but have always been interested in learning more about animal totems and/or guides. I haven't really felt a strong attraction to any single animal since I was a child (it had been all types of felines), so I am not sure where to start now that I'm older.

Today I found a Blue Jay feather on the ground, and wasn't sure what to think; if that makes any sense. I don't want to go around thinking "YAY! BLUEJAY IS MY TOTEM!" but this is the first time I've found a bird feather and the birds have been around since forever. But I was curious if there was any way to find out what my totem may or may not be since I'm interested in doing more work with it, and figuring out how the animals can relate more to my spiritual growth in general because I am slowly trying to find a Path that's best suited to/for me.

Thank you!

Blessed Be.

:3

Sometimes when I'm in my room, I get incredibly depressed. I noticed that it tends to be at its worse (since I suffer from depression anyway) when I'm there, so... I have a question:

Are there any techniques I could use to cleanse my room of all the negative energy?

Or, anything I can do to make myself less likely to get depressed in my room?
(if that makes any sense) o.o''

Thanks!

^_^

Blessed be.

I come crawling out of a shadow, to ask for some advice.

The office where I work is predominantly Christian.  I was raised Southern Baptist, so that's not usually a problem.  But, several of my co-workers are decided "Jesus freaks."  For example, on the way to an office lunch, they prayed before starting the car, before pulling out of the parking place, before leaving the parking lot, and on the road part-way to the restaurant.

The advice I'm looking for is this: I'd like to put up some decorations in my cubicle that reflect my faith.  I also don't want my entire office to feel the need to save my immortal soul--I get enough of that from my mother-in-law, who doesn't even know that I'm Pagan.  I have a strand of plastic ivy around the monitor of the computer, and a living ivy plant on top of my filing cabinet.  Any suggestions for other innocuous decorations that won't upset my co-workers?

Love and Light,
Morgane

Hi all! I have come, once again, to maybe get some advice from those wiser than I.

For May Day this year, I will be once again going with some dear friends of mine to celebrate with their Coven, which I am amazingly excited about! Last year was a WONDERFUL experience, and I am counting down the days. I was able to participate in the circle with everyone, and there was much drinking and eating, and merrymaking, dancing around the May Pole, and the jumping of the Balefire, the last point being of my particular interest. Last year, before jumping, the High Priestess warned new jumpers about it. She spoke of how it was very powerful magick, and was originally intended for fertility and children, and if you did not want children, to have fixed firmly in your mind what you DID want when you jumped, because over 7 members had jumped before and got pregnant without meaning to, LOL! So, that is exactly what I did when I jumped- I thought of only one thing- I wanted to be happy. Well, almost immediately after that, things with my then-fiancee degraded horribly, and we broke up. I moved out into my own place, by myself for the first time. I got a better job. I have developed greatly in my quest for self-discovery. Many, many good things, which I find very difficult to be coincidence. :-)

Well, this year I have something new I want- to have a happy, progressive relationship. In other words, I want to do everything I can to encourage the finding of that special person I am to marry. I have been feeling a pull towards that, wanting to be a bride, a wife, and then a mother. I think it is time to slowly start down that path, but the problem is- I still need the partner, and to make sure that he is the RIGHT partner (my engagement to the last person was not a good match at all)! And there are a few things that I want to do:

- Make or design some sort of spell or meditation to go with all the things I will be doing at Circle, something very individualized that I can take advantage of all the wonderful, positive, loving energies around me while I am there to help attract love and commitment to me, and happiness.

- Design something that can be a sort of "follow-up" on that, perhaps a meditation to keep the magick flowing, so to speak.

However, here is the main kink that I need help with. I am, and have always been, in love with my first boyfriend. He is always in my thoughts, and my heart, and I have not been able to "get over" him, even though we broke up over 6 years ago. I still feel like he is the one for me, like he is my soulmate, and I kick myself almost daily that I let him slip away. So, that being the case, I am afraid of putting him specifically in this, because that would obviously be bad. Does anyone have any advice for me to help me? It would not be good to have him in my thoughts as I do any of this, because if the powers that be determine that he is in fact "the one", then I want us to be brought back together naturally, and not because I focused on him during the ritual, and it may not be what he wants. So, that is my problem. :-(

Any advice from ya'll would be greatly appreciated! Oh, and Happy Ostara!

Hello, my friends. I come to ask for a bit of help.

The Pagan Student Association that I belong to is putting on a theatrical Athena ritual later this week as a way of showing ourselves to the Athens community. Since its a campus thing, and in Athens, we figured Athena was the most logical.

What I am asking for is help and sugesstions for the structure of my part, as the "head priestess/goddess" role.

We are not aiming for a tradional Hellenistic(sp?) ritual, given that the PSA is such a diverse group. Several other people have their own parts (elements and the like) but I would like my part to be at least based in a little tradition.

If anyone can point me to some Athena ritual outlines, prayers etc that I could draw from, espically those dealing with the turn to spring.

Thanks for any help, and I apologize for any typos I missed, as I am posting this via a cellphone.

I'm not entirely sure how to ask this question without seeming... odd I guess. But:

How did you know that Wicca/Paganism/What have you is for you?

Sometimes I worry because I read about people's experiences with the Divine, like the Goddess came to them in their sleep, or they had this one single moment (or string of moments) when they knew that "YES! This *path* is RIGHT for me!" and commenced to learning as much about it as possible. Or perhaps I'm over exaggerating and making it seem like this over-romanticized experience but I can't help thinking about all those people who "find God/Jesus" and then begin their quest on/for Christianity.

Basically, I'm just worried because I haven't had any of those types of experiences. I haven't met the Divine in some startling moment, I don't see/hear/feel things (clairvoyance and all that jazz) and I don't typically notice things out of the "ordinary" happening or have any "unique gifts" like a special connection to Nature or to Stones. I guess all the "typical signs" I would associate with realizing that something is "meant to be".

So I was just curious...

how did YOU know? What the one moment, the string of moments or nothing at all?

I just don't want to feel... alone or like Wicca isn't "right" for me because I am not extraordinary in some way or have had that defining moment in my life when I knew.

Thanks!!

Also posted in solitary_wiccan & Wiccan.

Hi everyone. Hope this request isn't too unusual.

Does anyone know of a quick spell I can do to help me be able to pass my skills test for my roller derby league on Monday? I have a certain amount of pressure on me for this, as it's my second time and have been informed if I fail this time out, I'm history.

Also, is there a certain deity to give a quick prayer to for helping to do well in sports? I'm unsure if that would be Apollo or Athena? Or possibly someone else?

Thanks in advance for your help. :)

Question for all.

I’m working on a charm for a friend. It’s going to be one part good luck and one part unsuitable guy repellent (she spends half her time telling guys she isn’t interested, half of them are because they’re creepy and half genuinely nice guys she doesn’t feel attracted to). I'm thinking of writing it down on a piece of paper, and giving it to her to keep in her purse/pocket for when she needs it. Something simple.

Problem is, I’m having trouble coming up with good wording. Any thoughts?

So what are everyone's favourite on-line shops for books, ritual equipment, etc.?

Hey it's been a while since my last post.
Lately I've been losing quiet a lot of my things.. Does anyone know a ritual or spell i suppose, that will help bring my missing things back to me?

I was wondering if anyone could help interpret a dream that I've been having?

I've has this dream a few different times. It's different scenarios but it's always about the end of the world. In my dream, something is going to destroy the world. Not like chemical warfare of anything where humanity just dies out. The earth is always in threat of being blown apart. But then something happens and there's no longer a threat. I don't remember anything else other than that.

What do you guys think?

 I'm a little confused about what my spiritual identity is. I feel called to be more Christ-like and yet also at the same time I feel called towards paganism. I listen to Pagan radio almost every day because it is much mor uplifting than the christian radio. I just know that I believe in Christ. Is there a crime to that? I believe in being a good person and I was raised Catholic. I have to follow what I believe. I have to pray. I also don't know exactly how you practice being a pagan. Is there a way to practice paganism because I am lost. Any advice would be so much appreciated.

Lately I've been feeling really alone, both spiritually and emotionally (in terms of dealing with people i see all the time) so I've been trying actively to meet with my Spirit Guide(s) and/or Guardian Angel for a long while now. To say the least, it's been very frustrating for me. Since I identify as a Wiccan, I also believe in the Lord and Lady, but I don't feel the connection there either. A book suggested I pray every day for a month and see what happens, so I did that in December and I don't feel much difference since I've been back at school.

Mostly this post deals with one thing: establishing some sort of connection with the God and Goddess, Spirit Guide(s) and your Guardian Angel. I am not sure how many people here have a relationship with any of these entities, but I feel it's really important for my spiritual growth if I could make one. Plus I've been going through a lot and I've been having a tough time getting through it on my own.

I've tried meditating (which hasn't proven very effective), automatic writing (but very rarely), pendulum and all other sorts of divination almost every day.

Any help, or advice that you can give me would be reallly awesome. I'm trying to wait, and see if they will come to me first, but that isnt working either.

Thank you. A lot.
:3

I x-posted this to the community called Wiccan (i don't know how to link it x.x'' sorry)...

I wanted to say a huge thank you to everyone who responded with love and concern, who took the time to care and send help when I requested it.

I also wanted to let you know that my mri came back clean today, no tumors. We still have things to rule out, but at least the really bad is out of the way.

I appreciate the outpooring of support, and the wonderful suggestions. I'm sure it will be only a short time now for me to visualize my aura again, with the worst of the stress out of the way. :)

Blessings,
fluffy

Ok, this has been an ongoing theme in my dreams for over a year now, maybe longer. *There is some disturbing imagery, so if you have a weak stomach, skip this entry.* Lemmie start by saying this, though:

I love snakes. I have two of them as pets, one corn snake named Valentine and one boa constrictor names Samantha. Samantha is a new addition to our family, only about 4 months or so, but I've had Valentine for nearly five years. Handling snakes is NOT something I am new to, having been doing so for close to fifteen years. I have been bitten twice in my life, both were my fault and involved feeding incidents. Once was almost ten years ago involving a baby boa constrictor (not Samantha) and the other was about three years ago involving Valentine. I have a healthy respect for the animals, I know that they are capable of biting, but I am still comfortable in handling them regularly.

Sorry for the long intro, but here's the dream stuff:
Over the last year or two, at least once a month, but sometimes several times a week, I have a dream in which there are "too many" snakes. My own snake - usually Valentine - is often there, but there are dozens of other snakes in his enclosure, and they all bite my fingers when I try and get them out. It's not the same dream every time, but the constants remain that there are small snakes (no more than two feet long, no thicker than a pencil) that bite me, hard, refusing to let go. I have to pry them off, and they continue to attack me. They are vicious, and no matter how I try and grab them, they always manage to get their teeth into me.

The last few nights, the dreams have been particularly potent, and in the dreams, I have been forced to kill the snakes that were attacking me by breaking their necks. I remember quite vividly that the first time this happened in the dream, I asked a friend in the dream to do it, because I simply could not bring myself to kill the animal, so he did. The next time, though, there was no one there to do the deed for me, so I had to do it myself. I could feel the bones snapping, and for some reason the creature (which still had it's teeth in me) started bleeding all over. I was covered in blood. The next time I had to do it, I had several thicknesses of paper towels laid out, and I kicked the neck of the creature with my heel until it broke. The whole thing disturbed me greatly.

No matter what the dream context, whenever snakes find their way into the content, I end up getting bitten on my fingers repeatedly. The repeated nature of the dreams, the length of time that I've been having them, and the similarity of events each time says that the dream is trying to say SOMETHING to me, but what it is I simply cannot see. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Hi there,

I don't post often, but I am going thru a really rough time right now, and would like to request healing energy. I have been very ill lately, am getting the results of my mri tomorrow, and will be going thru some more medical procedures throughout the remainder of the month. It seems that daily I am having things happen one by one that devastate me and I am not reacting well or properly.

My pride usually gets in the way, but I am losing strength and really need some help. If anyone can offer strength or healing energy, if you could please send it my way, I'd be forever grateful.

<3 and light,
fluffy

x-posted, sorry..I need all the help I can get--I can no longer even visualize my own aura