Solitary Wiccans

Ever since I learned about the third eye, I've always wanted to open mine. Mind you, I've had so many fears about it as well, particuarly recently with this surge in my fear of aliens.
I had a rather curious dream about the opening of my third eye, and I think that was the big clincher to really making me want to take the steps to opening the eye.
Tomorrow, I'm taking a huge spiritual step, and am going to swallow my fears and work on opening my third eye, coming up with a daily meditation schedual and such. My Wiccan friend/teacher is going to help me as well. I understand that this will take a lot of letting go of fears. I've never been good at letting go of anything, particularly of fear.

What do/did you guys do to prep yourself for these larger steps, or do you just sort of plunge in and go with the flow? And for those of you with an open third eye, what sort of things can I expect?

Thanks in advance. You are really all so wonderful. I've never felt inhibited when it comes to questions here, no matter how "stupid" they may seem. You guys rock!
 

To begin, I've lurked here a while, but never posted before; also, I have almost no spell-casting experience.

( Situation and questions under the cut. )

Hey guys. Just wondering how one finds their Patron God and/or Matron Goddess? I'm not sure who mine are. Is it just who you're most attracted to? Hmm.

Thanks. :)

What do you do as daily practice?

I had a dream last night about me living in an Aztec temple and coming into contact with the god Quetalcoatl. Though I don't directly use the Aztec gods in prayer or ritual, I do have a couple of icons on my altar that I purchased in Disney (at the World Showcase thing in Epcot), and am looking into a Quetalcoatl wall relief for the wall near my desk. I also find the Aztec gods and goddesses quite interesting.
In the dream, it seemed like Quetalcoatl wanted to make himself known to me. I had always found him interesting since I was a little girl, around age 8, because he was featured in an episode of Star Trek, The Animated Series (yes, I am a loser).

Does anyone else here work with the Aztec pantheon? I am curious to know if this is a message from Quetalcoatl, and if it is, what it could possibly mean: just a friendly "hello", or something else.

Oh, ps, if you are interested, the dream is here

Hello. I posted here, once, quite a while back. I have a question regarding dreams and psychic/magical protection.

( Look under the cuuuut )

In general, does a "spell" have an actual effect, as opposed to a placebo effect?

One of the main components of spellworking is belief and faith that it will work. In the previous post most posters advised against a spell to cure codependence or the girls love - some saying it wouldn't work, or work well. Some advised against using magic when there are other mundane methods.

What is spell work good for, if it doesn't work or if it is no better than, say, a booty call?

From my limited understanding, or at least the level of understanding availiable from trolling the internet, spell work is more of an affirmation. You've decided to do/change/start something. You perform your spell, asking for whatever positive energy the universe has lying around, then go about achieving that goal.

I'm not saying that the result of the spell isn't tangible. In fact the effect of knowing that you've dedicated yourself to a new concept has to be a good thing. But I can't understand why anyone would say "spell don't work by themselves, get a hobby instead".

Or do I just not understand?

All right, I know this isn't directly related to wicca, but I am hoping you guys might be more understanding and maybe have some answers? Cause I'm super confused.
There are a handful of psychics that I've been in contact with over a certain matter (which is a huge life changing event btw).. and every one of them have given me the same types of readings when they reflected on the situation. Very very similar.. basically the same answers to my questions but each in their own words. The problem is that I am seeing events unfolding that are the complete opposite of what I am being told. And these are current readings about current situations. Like they are telling me "No I don't see this happening" but as I'm hearing this it is indeed happening right before my eyes.

Now I understand that even a psychic is a human being and is not right all the time, and things can change, etc.. But everyone I speak to is incorrect?

I'm just confused as to why this would be happening. I've gotten some readings that were not so accurate in the past, but never something like this.

So... I'm sure I'm gonna get some strong warning replies to this, but that's okay.
I have a question about contacting spirits.
Is it ever okay to actively try to contact a spirit?
Be it through a ouija board, seance, circle, or just calling them...
And if it is, what kinda limits and precautions would you guys recommend.
I'm not planning to do it right now, if at all. I wanna learn more about it first.
I have a friend who died several years back and I'd like to talk to her.
I have some mediumistic abilities, but nothing too dramatic. I haven't seen a spirit with my eyes in years.
I know that sometimes she comes to me anyway, but I'd like a chance to communicate with her. I don't know if seeking to talk to dead people is a straight-out negative (I guess it's subjective) or if shamanism in this way is acceptable.
I also know that if I open the door for my friend, I can open the door for other things, and myself. I'm not the most psychically protected of people... It's just somehow feeling right at the moment, like it wouldn't scare me anymore. Doors are already opening in my mind and this seems to be one of them. I know mediums have contacts and friends on the other side they can call up--why can't I do the same?
I'd be interested to hear your opinions and things you've learned and know on this topic.
Cheers,
-ingrid-

I need some help. There is a friend of my family with brain cancer. Currently she is trying to collect cards and I thought it would be a good idea to make a card with healing symbols and a spell on it. Does anyone know of any good spells or symbols I should include to help her recovery?

Blessed Be

Hello all! Haven't posted here in quite a while! :3

I have meditated before, and I meditate usually to relax/ground and center. I'm still pretty new to it, even though I know the basics of getting into a deeper state and visualizing.

However, I'm not quite sure how to "communicate" with deity this way. Specifically, my matron deity is Bast, and I want to get to know Her better. I also have been feeling Hermes around me (which is pretty fun lol), and I want to let Him know that I'd love to have him as a major God in my life.

Is there a specific way or ways to do this properly? What should I be visualizing? How should I feel? What should I see or hear? How will I know I'm succeeding?

I know how to talk to them and have done so, and feel them around me often, so I guess the question is what is the next step and how do I invite them to sit down for a spell and know I'm listening?

Thank you very much for any wisdom you can give me.

<3Alice

well so i recently converted from catholic to wiccan and i was looking for a community of people who can help me to learn more. so if anyone has any wisdom they would like to share, i would love to hear it

Can anyone point me in the direction of a Greek God or Goddess that I can work with in an effort to overcome my constant indecision?
I'm an artist and by nature I overly scatter my talents. I’d label myself: ‘A jack of all trades, a master of none’. I write creatively and I feel like I should be drawing or taking photos and visa-versa. I feel like I need to choose a path at this stage in my life. I feel able to do it right now but I just don’t know which way to swing.
I will continue to do both regardless, I’m just hoping to discover which should take a backseat.

Thanks.
x

Hey, if anyone knows any easy spells I can do/other to help heal my dying fish, I'd be beyond grateful. I'm sitting by him all day to make sure he doesn't give up.

Hi fellow Melbournian pagans. I went to my first Pagans in the Pub yesterday and I thought I'd report back to those of you who've contemplated attending.

It was good, the people were really friendly, and there were about 20 people. I was a little disappointed by the absence of anything magickal--it was just a bunch of friendly people sitting around a pub on a Saturday arvo, drinking beer and chatting about random things. They gave me an idea of who to go to for a beginner's circle, though, which may be helpful. I think I may befriend a couple of them.

The organiser, Colin, is thinking about moving to a more central pub, and perhaps having talks each month like they apparently used to (getting a member of the group to prepare a talk on something pagan). That interests me. They used to talk amongst themselves the first hour and the second hour have a round table, but it doesn't happen anymore and it's way casual.

If you're near Melbs and wanna check it out, do. I went alone, crapping myself, imagining the worst but I slipped in real quick and it didn't faze me. They meet first Sat every month in Fitzroy, so come along! It'd be good to meet some more like-minds!

-ingrid-

Merry meet and blessed be.  I was merely curious if there are any other Wiccans out there who are from WV or OH.  I was hoping to find some friends I could have more common interest with.  Drop me a line even if you aren't!  I'd appreciate some friendship.  :)

so, i have two questions:

does anyone have any particular insight into what dreams involving human/animal infants might mean? i've been having dreams about children, as well as baby rabbits, ducks, and owls.

also, what is everyone's favorite form of cleansing a room/your body? i'm planning on doing some major cleaning and rearranging, but i would like to add an extra touch (maybe some sage...)


thanks!

Hello. I was wondering if anyone could recommend some newish (like past three years or so) music with witchy or pagan themes. It's not for ritual purposes, I just want something to listen to in the car.

I've been in a state of heightened creativity for the past few weeks, and I'd like to prolong that. But listening to the radio kills it, and I don't like complete silence. I've played all my other CD's to death.

Thanks in advance.

Greetings!

I've had this community bookmarked for a while, it seems very positive and friendly so I thought I'd make myself known. My name is Ginger, I'm a Uni student in the UK and I have been practicing magick in solitary for about four years. Some of my relevent points of interest include therianthropy, otherkin, practical magick and working with animal totems. My belief system is a bit of a conglomeration of many new age religions.

I tend to be rather private about my spirituality but I would like to learn to be a bit more open, as well as read other peoples experiences and perhaps make some new friends. :)

Thank you for reading!

Ok so this might be a weird question, but I would really like some feedback.

Last night I was meditating I was just sitting on my floor in my room, my husband was in the living room playing his video game, but my dog had some how got into our room. I wasn't even aware of her being there, which I guess is good. But then she just barked at me, or so I thought, when I opened my eyes (also i was feeling really nauseus like I just got off a rollercoaster? anyone got opinions on that?) and looked at her, she wasn't looking at me she was looking around me, where I placed my circle. so my question is, can animals see/sense your circle?

Thank you all in advance =)

blessed be.

I rarely remember dreams. I only seem to remember them when they are important. I can usually interpret my own dreams with little help, but I've had two that I've never been able to understand.
My dreams are listed here in my dream journal.
I asked one of my best friends who is a dream interpreter, and all I got from her was "these are complex".
I'd love any insight you guys could offer about these dreams. I'm so lost. I feel as if these dreams are important, but I have no idea what they mean.
Thanks to all you dream interpreters!

Some friends of mine who all have an interest and practice in pagan spirituality have decided to start a kind of book group. Where we pick one book that we're interested in and then get together to discuss it, make suggestions and perhaps do some group craft work. We're all eclectic, I am Wiccan; and the others' interests are celtic/druid, shaman/cherokee, and goddess worship.

I have only worked a few times with a group and I was wondering if anyone had suggestions; on how to get along? Or perhaps if you have a beloved book to suggest we read?

I have a really really bad cold D:

I wouldn't know how to write a spell for a cold just yet, I wouldn't even know where to start so I turned to the internet.

I don't trust spells I find online unless it's like a geocities that someone wanted to use as a BoS and I didn't really find any Cold Remedies on one of those.

So I turn to you. Does anyone have a good spell to cure a cold? It would be much appreciated.

In another community the topic of Silver Ravenwolf came up. Now I'm not a huge fan of hers but I'm a believer that there is SOMETHING even if it's just a tiny little something that can be gleaned from all books. Anyway I think it was crowdog66  that I was talking with about it and s/he pointed at how Ravenwolf bashes Christians every chance she gets...or so it seems. (I'm not saying she doesn't, I know she does).

Anyway it got me thinking...I'm reading a book by Poppy Palin. A pretty good book actually called "Craft of the Wild Witch". Granted I'm only on page 17 so I can't review the whole book but....this is what she has to say about Christianity:

One of the most beautiful tenets of true Christian belief, as taught by the mythic Jesus, is to have compassion for an adversary. Perhaps it would be beneficial for us to express this by feeling an immense pity, as well as the lingering shock and distaste, for those who acted in brutal fashion during the witch hunts. If we can be gentle with the mistakes and oversights of others, then we are better equipped to know how not to do things in our personal lives as well how to proceed on our Earthwalk with love and forgiveness. (page 16)

I was happy to finally see a Pagan author who didn't think Christians needed to be bashed at every turn! I came to paganism from Christianity and I myself used to bash Christianity every chance I got. Perhaps that's one reason I liked Ravenwolf so well when I first started. I lost what little faith I ever had in the Christian religion/god when my prayers were never answered. I asked my mother to pray with me for my Uncle Bruce's recovery from a nasty lung cancer...he died a few weeks later. I prayed for my grandpa (who was more like a father to me) to live a healthy life and that his heart would be strong (he had heart problems). He died of an aneurism (sp?) a few months later. Smaller prayers of mine were never answered either...or if they were, I didn't see it.

So I had alot of animosity when I first converted. I didn't convert just because Jesus/God never answered my prayers. I never had much faith in the Christian religion to begin with. I just did what I was told and never questioned authority even though, even as a kid, I never believed there was only one god and that nature wasn't sacred and that I'd burn in hell for certain things, etc. I have always practiced some form of nature spirituality but it wasn't til my midteens when I learned that others did too and that it was actually an existing religion (I'm speaking here of Wicca in particular).

It's taken me several years now to realize that all positive paths are good. And that each person must do what they believe and feel. No, I didn't try to convert people but...I can't say I fully respected the Christians either. I sneered at them behind their backs and made fun of them to my other pagan friends. I realize now that I was very wrong back then and there is some beauty in the Christian faith. Angels aren't bad things and Palin is right about compassion for adversaries being one of the most beautiful things.

I'm finally at a place now where I can stop dissing Christianity, even in my head. I may not agree with it, I may not believe it but to someone else it's the most beautiful thing on this Earth and I need to respect their choices. Especially if I want them to respect mine.

I have a very good friend who needs good thoughts in her direction.  She's recently experienced a career setback that has left her shaken for a number of reasons.

 I am not at liberty to share the details, but if those of you that could would take a tiny moment to send strength and blessing wishes out for her, I'd appreciate it.

Thanks!

EDIT:  For those who feel our Deities need specifics in order to understand our intent:  because I am not at liberty to discuss the particulars perhaps simply Lady Strange's friend "E.", would suffice?