The Tao of Witchcraft?

Do you have an idea in your mind of what witchcraft means to you? It’s a surprisingly difficult one to answer isn’t it? While there is history behind it, a religion in the shape of Wicca and stereotypes that abound it’s very difficult to pinpoint what it means, both as a way of life to the thousands who make this choice and also on a personal level. Each and every witch will practise in his/her own unique way. To most witchcraft is love, energy, respect, the divine universe, giving and receiving, change and acceptance - spell casting encompasses all or some of these at any one time.

I cannot help by find myself reminded of Taoism - which I sometimes feel possibly alone in, there's not too many others that seem to mention it! But bear with me as I find it helps my spell work immensely, gives an added dimension to what witchcraft can bring to my life and generally makes my life more fun and sometimes effortless. Got your attention now?!

For those who are not familiar, Taoism is a set of ancient Chinese philosophies. The most relevant principles to me are:

Tao - means the flow of the universe, the way, that which keeps the natural order and maintains balance.
Te - power without ego
P’U - the uncarved block, simplicity
Wu Wei - without action, allowing the flow to make things happen.

I use these principles all the time to enhance my spell work. Having trouble getting a spell to work? Maybe it’s not meant to be. Writing an important spell but find it’s so complex I can hardly understand it any more?? Go back to the uncarved block. And always, ALWAYS, work with the universe - go with the flow. The principles complement witchcraft perfectly and I love that witchcraft is flexible and inclusive enough for me to work with the two together.

Life means work, your rewards are a sense of purpose. But witchcraft and spell casting gives you the perfect chance to explore beauty, play and draw to you what you wish for in life without having to scratch around and scramble in the rat race to do so.

For those that want an easily accessible introduction by the way, try these 2 ADORABLE books, which is another surprising combination - Taoism and Winnie the Pooh! Tao of Pooh and The Te of Piglet
- and in fact I’ve just discovered they come together (wish I’d known that!) Tao of Pooh and Te of Piglet Boxed Set

I cannot recommend a better boost to your mood!

Free Witchcraft Spells Article

Hi, still working away on my Samhain celebrations (yay!) and will post my progress on this tomorrow. But in the meantime, I was thinking of posting something on choosing a free spell, for if you are scanning the net for one, and remembered I wrote an article on this a while back. Pre-written spells can be the perfect solution if you're not yet confident enough to write your own or need something quick. So here's a few tips on how to go about getting the right free witchcraft spell for you! Some of it may not be relevant for Samhain but I think there's some salient points still. Hope it's useful xx

Day 1 of my Samhain Diary

Hello! I meant to post last week to start off a proper lead up to Samhain but didn’t get the chance - but better late than never eh?! On the 1st of October I generally like to change over my altar to mark the beginning a the new season but to be honest it’s as much to do with Samhain as autumn if I‘m honest! I get pretty excited :)

I have now got everything orange, gold and a little green so I feel that the mood has changed in my spells and general work - and as ever I love it.

But you may be wondering if there is anything you need to be doing to prepare yourself for Samhain over the next coming weeks and the answer is YES. This is the perfect time to start collecting leaves and twigs for spells and rituals, get in your candles and start to think of what you will do with your altar on the day. Of course anything collected nearer the time is just as good but I personally think that building excitement is as big a part of the fun and the energies of the night as anything.

I’m going to be working on my preparations from now on and thought I would share them with you to give you some ideas of what to try so be prepared for some diary style ramblings from me.

Spells and the Freedom to Make Mistakes

In case you hadn’t guessed, I bungled a spell the other day! I was feeling a bit tired and it was one of those days when everything you say comes out as gobbledegook. And yet I felt really good about my spell afterwards and the energies around me really picked up after my error. Why? Because I laughed my way through! :)

This may seem a bit bizarre if you are a beginner or if you are just getting into spell casting as you will inevitably be concentrating really hard on getting the words right or building up atmosphere. But I’m going to share a secret with you - atmosphere can be built up from just about any emotion! If you laugh at yourself then you are creating one of the most powerful energies both around and within yourself.

For me the other evening, I doubt I would have got too much further forward with my spell on account of me feeling pretty flat; I was just not connecting enough. By making a silly mistake I suddenly got the rush of joy and I was back on track!

So my advice to you is don’t be too precious with your spells or rituals. As nature changes and flows so do your emotions so go with them and enjoy the unexpected results they can bring.