There are a couple of customs from my childhood that still inspire my witchcraft. I was born in Cuba and raised as a Catholic, which means that I was exposed to a lot of practices that surely count as folk magic. One of my favorites happened every New Year's Eve around the dinner table. We would pass a bowl full of grapes around the table, and each person took twelve grapes and put them on a small plate. Then someone, usually my father or mother, would call out the names of the months one by one. This was done slowly, because as each month was called out, we ate a grape to bring sweetness and good fortune for that month in the coming year. I still eat the twelve grapes for the New Year, ...
Do you feel anxious or stressed? Are you struggling with chronic pain or have trouble sleeping? Do you have looping negative thoughts and worries? Perhaps you're constantly in a time crunch, or you've recently realized your life seems to be perpetually fueled by adrenaline from an underlying sense of panic. Trauma, fried nerves, feeling wired, on edge, unsafe, overwhelmed, exhausted—this list could go on and on, but I'm sure by now you get the point. If any of this seems to be ringing a bell, you're not alone, and it's time you take a pause for a moment to find your calm. Whether you're facing heightened anxiety and panic attacks, burnt out with responsibility and the pace of ...
It was a long time ago that I cast my first formal Wiccan circle. I felt the power of East, South, West, and North flow through me, and my soul sang. In the forty-plus years since then, I have cast thousands of circles. Each time, I have never failed to learn something new about this most basic of a witch's tools. Each quarter has lessons to teach to assist your personal growth. Every time you cast a circle, you can take more of your personal power by being open to the magick of each quarter. Casting a circle by calling the quarters is one of the first things Wiccans learn. It is how we create a sacred space for our magickal workings. We ask the power of each quarter to protect our space ...
As a child, magick had always fascinated me. I was five when I met the emaciated spirit woman shuddering in the corners of a chicken coop in our backyard. For a time I wondered why my step-father refused to have that dilapidated monstrosity hauled off. He hadn't owned chickens since before marrying my mother. Finally, he sat me down and told me, "I know you see her, 'cause she wants to be seen by everybody. If I tear it down she got plans to move into our house. None of us want that." I hated that yard until my grandfather taught me how to summon something pretty out of the workings of something ugly. He taught me to close my eyes and envision the coop filled with whatever my heart ...