ISSUE #3

Greetings!

Welcome to the July Issue of Witchy Update.

Protection Magic
Many witches and pagans are interested in the subjects of protection magic, and rightly so. As magical people, we are often more attuned to the subtle energies of the world, which makes us more susceptible to those energies, both harmful and beneficial.

When you feel that you are spiritually out-of-balance, and attracting too much harmful energy, use the following five-element approach developed by Christopher Penczak in The Witch’s Shield.

• Earth: Grounding
Look for the simple, rational explanations before jumping to extreme conclusions. In other words, don’t automatically assume that someone is out to get you because you are having a bad day.

• Water: Compassion
If, upon inspection, you determine that some person or entity is the cause of your problem, try to have compassion. You don’t need to excuse the actions, but when you take time to approach the situation from a position of empathy, you will be better able to handle it.

• Air: Understanding
Truly understanding how the mechanisms of protection magic work is your key to overcoming the situation now, and avoiding it in the future.

• Fire: Power
In order to be truly protected at all times, you must first claim your personal power, and strive to live with the highest code of ethics and responsibility.

• Spirit: Purpose
Know that each challenge in your life is a gateway to greater understanding of the universe and its workings. Without difficulties, we would not understand our powers.

To tap into the fire element in your protection work, try the following spell for courage from Lammas by Anna Franklin and Paul Mason. It draws on many fire correspondences, and, when performed on Lammas this year (Sunday, August 1) you will have the added boost of the sun in fiery Leo.

Ingredients:
6” square of orange cloth
Red thread or ribbon
Pinch of dried thyme
Pinch of dried basil
A few black peppercorns
A few drops of orange oil

Instructions: Lay out the cloth and sprinkle the ingredients onto it, saying:

The strength of bull, the daring of boar
Grant me courage, now and more
Grant me bravery in my life each day
To follow my path and have my say.

Tie the charm together with the red ribbon and keep it near you. When it has served its purpose and infused you with a sense of strength and courage, untie the knot and bury the bundle.

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For a related article on protection check out:
Carrying the Witch’s Shield by Christopher Penczak

Upcoming Pagan events

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For more Llewellyn Pagan- and book-related events,
check our event schedule

The Outer Temple of Witchcraft author:
Christopher Penczak
Workshop: Healing Witchcraft
July 15, 2004, 7 to 9 p.m.
Unicorn Books, Arlington, MA
For more information call: 781-646-3680

The Elements of Ritual author:
Deborah Lipp
Starwood Festival
July 20 – 25
Brushwood Folklore Center, Sherman, NY
For more information call: 716-761-6750

The Witch’s Shield author:
Christopher Penczak
Workshop: Protection Magick and Psychic Self-Defense
July 23, 2004, 7 to 9 p.m.
The Magical Blend Bookstore, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
For more information call: 514-938-1458

Garden Witchery author:
Ellen Dugan
Workshop: Natural Magick
July 24, 2004, 1:30 to 3:30 p.m.
Pathways, St. Louis, MO
For more information call: 314-842-0047

Everyday Moon Magic author:
Dorothy Morrison
Tarot Readings and Everyday Moon Magic Workshop
July 30 and 31
Mystical Horizons, Old Mystic, CT
For more information call: 860-572-9191

An excerpt from "When I See the Wild God"

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BY LY DE ANGELES

Mythos is a plethora of many worlds all interconnected. People can (and do) inhabit more than one world: the guy down on the floor of the stock exchange jabbing at the air and yelling can be fully immersed in the Mythos of that world. Then he goes home. He eats a little, then showers and changes into his ritual garments, casts a Circle with his athame, and transports himself into his other world; his other Mythos . . . . . . and this world is not the same as the first world mentioned above. They overlap, surely, and each affects the other. What is the same is one who walks between them-the one who travels both of them. When this person enters into the Mythos of magic, he or she enters into a world where time, as is generally thought, does not exist.

Mythos can only ever be experienced and understood as a result of that experience. It changes us . . . and words don't matter. Logos can assist us to access the Worlds of Mythos (which is what this book's about), but words themselves can never take you there. You go there because you already co-exist with these worlds, and Logos can act as the mirror into which you peer to seek your own reflection.

The second world-the Mythos of magic (which you will find throughout this book is called draíocht)-is as experiential as the world of the floor of the stock exchange to the man who knows them both, but the traveler who walks the second world journeys from the Seen-Real (the stock exchange) and contemplates the Unseen-Real (the image of the second world), whereby it becomes the Seen-Real (because he's experiencing it).

What happens to us, as a result of traveling between one Mythos and another, is that we change. Not only do we change, but the world (that others think of, perhaps, as the only world in existence) changes also. It's as though we trail filaments of the places through which we travel back into the day to day, affecting it and changing it a little at a time.

Creativity, in all its many guises and expressions, is the result of these journeys into the Unseen-Real and of bridging Mythos to Mythos. Do you ever wonder why so many books that were written in the past and claim to be futuristic, fantasy, or science fiction actually, from the viewpoint of the present, seem prophetic?

This book is essentially about accessing the experience of Mythos

READ MORE ...

Great Wiccan/Pagan books on sale!

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ON SALE THROUGH JULY 9 ONLY - BUY NOW!


Lammas ISBN: 0-7387-0094-0 Sale price: $14.36 (save 20%)	Tarot for the Green Witch ISBN: 0-7387-0288-9 Sale price: $11.96 (save 20%)	Sticks, Stones, Roots & Bones ISBN 0-7387-0275-7 Sale price: $11.96 (save 20%)

Cool links

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FREE daily spell

Witchvox
(Likely the best and most useful site for witches and pagans around)

Related Wiccan & Pagan articles from The Llewellyn Journal

http://paganwiccan.about.com/
(A place to learn more about the Wiccan and Pagan world)

Definitions of Wiccan & Pagan terms from the Llewellyn Encyclopedia

ecauldron.net
(A great source of pagan discussion forums, as well as reviews and essays)

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