Numerology!

We met up for our class this month for a crash course in numerology! It was very exciting as we cross-checked Pythagoran, or Western numerology,

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with Chinese numerology. Some aspects were remarkably the same, while others were delightfully different. We discovered that Chinese numerology is also a part of Feng Shui which is much more extensive than any of us had previously known.

Each of us took turns learning our Life Path numbers, and then our Personality, Destiny, and Desires number. We checked the numbers of our partners, our addresses, our phone numbers, even our business names! Very intriguing stuff and a topic we can all see ourselves revisiting and exploring more of in the future.

Here’s to a very prosperous 8!

Blessed Imbolc

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We wish you a happy and warm Imbolc and hope you have many blessings in the coming year!

The Silver Serpents celebrated with a small ritual that included cleaning and reconsecrating our magical tools. We also made Besoms this day to help us with our “spring cleaning.”

Winter Solstice

We had a lovely Winter Solstice ritual that focused on the Mother, Maiden, and Crone as she moves this night from Old Woman to Young Maid. It was led by one of our Second-Years and she did a fantastic job!

We enjoyed beautiful words, and had fun making both cinnamon stick pentacles and our coven’s Yule Log!

A very beautiful ceremony and a very enjoyable evening.

Happy Solstice to you all!

Mabon with neighbors

This year, we chose to celebrate our Mabon with the local ADF Raven’s Cry Grove. Only one of us had ever attended a Druid ritual before, and we were excited to be a part of it. It was held in a beautiful park in Camarillo with huge sprawling oaks above us.We dressed in our full black ritual garb, which the Senior Druid had encouraged as he and his fellow priests would be in their all white. He said it would be a very visual reminder of what the Fall equinox was all about.

There was live harp and drum music, traditional Celtic sung by amazing songstresses, and beautiful words spoken. Some of the ritual was familiar, as was the intent behind it. But most of it was totally new to us and very pretty to witness. All in all, we were quite pleased to have gone and taken part in a fellow nature religion’s celebration of Mabon .

photo courtesy of Raven’s Cry Grove

Crystals Clear

Some of the crystals we got to handle

We had a field trip for this class and went to the home of a crystal enthusiast.

Many of us love crystals and would like to know more about them. Lucky for us, we had a great teacher who was able to not just label each stone, but also instruct us on how to better  use them in magical work. We also learned how to clear them, charge them, and dedicate them.

Other lessons we learned were how to look for certain attributes that make crystals more valuable and powerful. From inclusions to hydros, we got to look at a ton of different crystals to help us be savvy shoppers. So we are ready and excited for the next gem and mineral show in a couple of months!

Look to the Stars

Today we explored another of our core subjects, Astrology.

by swanksalot @ flikr

After printing out our birth charts, we went through them carefully. It was quite revealing in some, and a bit of a puzzler for others. One of us found out that she was totally right in knowing she always had a lot of Taurus in her, and another was shocked to find she had a huge influence of Scorpio (a sign she was always happy to admit she never liked!)

Another fascinating discovery  was how often several of us had the same signs in the same house, some of them even reversed in the exact same way!  Clearly, the stars were perfect for us coming together as a coven.

Astrology is a very big subject with many things to learn. We have plenty more to discuss when we revisit this field of study again. But most of us came away with a better understanding, a better feeling of knowing, who we are.

Lughnasadh

One of our second-years put together and led our Lughnasadh ritual this day. She did such a great job incorporating so many aspects of this holiday.

We participated in a moving, powerful ritual, calling the warrior in all of us. Afterward, we enjoyed a few games, which were a lot of fun! Then, of course, we feasted and consumed some pretty delicious bounty.

We hope everyone enjoys their First Harvest this year. Merry Lughnasadh!

Book of Shadows

The Serpents met this Sunday to go over Book of Shadows 101. We were also very happy to welcome our newest sister to our circle!

by Dj Xia @ Flikr

One of our brand new second-degree witches had the task of teaching a class on the Book of Shadows, also known as the Book of Light for those who don’t like the dark aspect of shadows. We explored the differences between Books of Mirrors, BoSs, BoLs, and Grimoires. We talked about how Books of Shadows started and how they differ according to the type of coven one is in. Traditional covens usually have only one version and it is rarely changed, whereas eclectic covens can run into space issues due to all the different subjects and items one can include in their books. (One of us has a File Cabinet of Shadows! lol)

And then came time to discuss the ways in which one can organize their book. Which turns out to be many different ways, all put into two categories: by subject or by chronological order.

Interestingly, many of us have decided to follow the steps of one of our sisters and have two Books of Shadows: one of/for the coven material and one for ourselves. Some of us look forward to changing their books into handwritten records, and some of us are looking forward to creating scrapbook masterpieces! We foresee a lot of exciting show-and-tells as our books evolve through the years.

Litha

We celebrated a little early because of some summer vacations. But we still had a ball, and in our neck of the woods, it is already

by Grietje Haitsma @ Flikr

feeling like Summer is here!

Litha is the last Sabbat of our coven’s year. For this one, we made it full of Fairy. While doing research on Fairies, some of us got a bit intimidated at how very mercurial and dangerous fairies are, and came into ritual fairly (har har) trepidatious. But we took a few precautions and made sure to have appropriate offerings before starting.

It was a ritual full of light and music and ethereal plains. Much dancing and divination, and of course a fire to welcome the Holly King’s return.

We hope you have a full and bright Summer Solstice!

Spells

“A prayer is a wish that you throw out and hope is granted. A spell is a goal of your focused will and you are the magic that will make it happen.”

As a coven, we think it’s just good practice to revisit the art of spell making every year. Not only to refresh or learn the basics, but to discuss and feel out new ideas and thoughts on the subject. So this past Sunday, that’s what we did!

by Dragon Oak @ Flikr

Each of us created our own spell, then presented to the group during discussion. It helped most of us to really delve into every bit of what we were doing and we helped each other to find true focus and clarity in working toward what we wanted. The biggest thing most of us felt a better handle on was making sure there was no ambiguity in what we were doing.

After discussion, we headed into the workshop and we each performed our spells. Some had the coven help, some didn’t. And each one was different, showing how many ways a spell can be worked and showcasing the varied ways each person felt worked for them.

As is traditional for us, we each disposed of the spell in several different ways that fit our spell, using the four elements. (We do admit that some lonely spot of desert in Nevada is holding a lot of bad stuff that should never ever find its way back to its remover!)

Afterward, we enjoyed food and drink and conversation. We look forward to tracking our progress in making our spells come to fruition!