QUESTION - Recently, I have decided to go vegan. Because I have not been vegan for long, I still have a lot of animal products in my house. In the past, I have used milk and honey as well as some other animal products as offerings. Would there be a way for me to use up the rest of the animal products in my house through spell work? Would the fertility gods/goddesses be offended by an offering of almond milk and agave nectar?
 
ANSWER – Being a vegan involves a good deal of self discipline so I applaud you for having the determination to achieve it. I have to say that at the WPF headquarters veganism is something we look upon with admiration but is not something we have ever managed to achieve ourselves!
 
In answering this question we’ll assume a belief in deity but with the quantifier that many witches do not actually believe in any form of the Gods.
 
My view would be that the items in question are not a problem and would not be taken with offence by the Gods. But what I would question is whether items that no longer have any use for you can actually be considered to be a sacrifice. The nature of a sacrifice is giving something up and offering it to the Gods instead of taking it for yourself. With this in mind I could see that making a donation of food and drink you would like to consume yourself is a sacrifice but I’m not so sure that I’d consider food or drink you intend to discard has the same value. I feel the sacrifice should be actually giving something up rather than seeing the Gods as an alternative to the dustbin!
 
My suggestion would be to do something constructive with any usable food you have. Are there are sealed packets or tins you could donate to a local food bank for example? Or do you have any food that would be suitable to dig into the earth to nourish it as fertiliser for your plants? Could you compost any of the food down?

If there are no practical ways to dispose of the unwanted food I do agree that putting it in the bin can be disrespectful to the animal who died to produce the food. I’d suggest if this is the case you offer the food to the Gods but not so much as a sacrifice but as a statement of intent, a ritual to mark your passing from a meat eater to a vegan. 

​Image ​http://www.istockphoto.com/photo/various-preserves-in-my-cupboard-gm178188045-25031843

​Without speaking to the woman who gave you it it’s hard to tell exactly what her intentions were. I do have a few ideas of what it could be and I’ll share them but I’m afraid there isn’t a clear cut definitive line of reasoning behind what she did and in truth I’m really just speculating here.
 
The pentagram is a five pointed star. When enclosed within a circle as it often is in pieces of jewellery it is referred to as the pentacle. The words in modern usage are often used interchangeably and the association with both the craft and the occult is present in both.
I’ve got four separate suggestions and I’ll list them for you.

1. Protection

 
The pentacle has strong associations with protection and many craft practitioners will wear the symbol as an intended source of protection. This isn’t the sole reason for wearing it, sometimes it worn as a statement of belonging to a craft path and other times it may be a subtle symbol worn to try and meet others on the same journey. The protection association however could be relevant in the sense that the woman wanted you to wear it to offer you protection against something. This might be likely if there is something in your life currently causing you distress or a situation you are already aware of that you may need protecting from. Possible the woman picked up on this and offered you the pentagram/pentacle as a form of defence.
 
2. Object she wanted to get rid of 

I’m not suggesting the object itself has negative associations but it might represent something negative to the woman. Perhaps she tried her hand at the craft path and it didn’t work out for her and she wanted to rid herself of the symbol without actually destroying it. If this is the explanation then she’s probably just given it to the first person who came along to her garage sale and there is no significance in the fact she picked you. (Also possible that you look like the kind of person who might appreciate a pentacle? Do you dress in the style that would suggest you would get some use out of a pentacle?)
 
3. Reminded her of a family ancestor who owned it 

I wonder if you might remind her of a family ancestor or somebody in her past who the pentacle would have been of some significance to. Possibly she recognised you from a past life even and wanted to make the connection with you by gifting the pentacle.
This explanation wouldn’t be consistent with her having an item she valued on her at a garage sale (unless it is something she herself was wearing herself and took off to give to you.)
 
4. Recognised you as a witch and wanted to point her in that direction 
This explanation to my mind is the most likely of my four suggestions. She saw you as somebody she believed would make a good witch, possibly recognising something of herself in you and gave you the pentacle to steer you on the path. It is always hotly debated as to whether a witch is a person who becomes a witch or a person who actualises the natural witch within themselves. This would fit with either explanation.
 
In terms of the witches’ ball I’m thrown by this. I can assure you there isn’t an annual gathering of witches - and if there is my invite has certainly got lost in the post so I might have to pull a Maleficient there!

Image ​http://www.deviantart.com/art/Rainbow-Pentacle-Pendant-195772282

​QUESTION - I cannot meditate. I know I have to learn to be patient but I just can’t… Can you give me some tips how to calm myself down? Thanks
 
I think the trouble with meditation is the perception that the mind has to think of nothing. This is possible but only by extremely developed minds that have practised meditation for a long time. To most of us meditation isn’t so much blanking the mind as it is focusing the mind.
 
I think where you are going wrong is trying to force yourself into being calm and this in turn is making you agitated.  It’s a bit like trying to sleep and then panicking that you should be asleep which makes you stressed and therefore more awake. What you need to do is find a meditative style that works for you and this needn’t be the same type of meditation every time. Different moods will product different meditative states.
 
I find that there are two stages of meditation, the shallow and the deep. My shallow meditation is just allowing my mind to wander and do its own thing. I am not particularly focusing on any subject, I’m just allowing words and thoughts and memories to flow through my mind and wander where they will. I think this is a really important stage in learning to meditate. Just make some time to sit quietly with your eyes closed enjoying your own thoughts. If you can stop the pressure that you feel you are doing meditation wrong you will start to enjoy the experience of taking that step into your own head and the more you do it the easier it will become to switch into a relaxed meditative state.
 
I would suggest you that you start by allowing the thoughts to come into your mind arbitrarily but that over a period of time you start to bring thoughts into your mind that you want to use as an aid to your meditation. Different things work for different people. My whole meditation ritual is focused on visiting my Grandma’s old house within my mind. I rock in her armchair, I lie on the back lawn and absorb the rays of the sun, I dance in the living room during a thunderstorm. These very specific focused thoughts allow my mid to be freed from all the clutter of the everyday mundane world. This is the beginning of deep meditation. As you sink into your own mind you can start to experience the sights, sounds and smells of the world of your meditative state.
 
That particular idea is something that works for me. Other techniques are to meditate on a thought - popular with Christians who may choose to meditate on a specific passage from the Bible. You may choose to try holding something very simple like a colour in your mind and focusing on nothing except that colour. I’ve known one person who meditates by sinking deep into herself to find (what she terms) her joy and then the whole meditation is devoted to holding and embracing that joy.
 
The point really is that there isn’t one way of meditating. Work with different ideas and experiment with what works best for you.
 
On a practical basis I think it is really important that you go into meditation fairly relaxed to start with. A bath or a walk in nature may help to clear your head and get you into the zone. I have tried coming in straight from work and sitting straight down to meditation and it doesn’t work well for me as it is so hard to switch yourself off from the events of the day. Suggest you distance yourself from the day first. A good way to do this is to write down everything that is currently on your mind before you start so you can free your mind from it and move onto the thoughts you want to focus on during your meditation session

Image ​http://www.deviantart.com/art/mist-410347073

​​QUESTION - Is my language a problem when doing spells, because English is not my native language, but is it a problem if I chant them in English?

Language is essentially nothing more than a mode of expression. In spell work language fulfils the role of the expression of intent. My view on this would be that spells can be conducted in any language but would be best achieved by being spoken in the language that the caster is the most comfortable with. Ideally the language that person thinks in.
 
When I am putting together a spell, the intent can often be complicated enough to get correct in my native language. I call my apprentice our “Occult lawyer” as she is always the one who looks for the loop holes in the spells we work and what potential unwanted consequences we may be inviting. I’d say that casting in a language you are only partially familiar with could be a real recipe for disaster. Some languages certainly sound more magical and atmospheric than others but from a practical point of view, to me at least, it makes sense to perform magic in a language you know 

Image http://www.deviantart.com/art/Spells-Conjuros-196999217

​QUESTION - I am afraid to start doing spells, because I don't think they'll work and I don't know how to realize if they worked or not, do you btw know any place or site where I can actually find spells that work? Do you practice spells, and do they work?
 
You will never know if your spells will work or not unless you throw caution to the wind and give them a go. Magic as with anything gets better with practise. It is likely that you will get a few of your early spells wrong and not achieve very good results but over time you will get better. Think of it as being a bit like me saying I’d like to paint a masterpiece but I’m worried that if I have a go my painting might not be very good. Realistically my first efforts are going to be pretty rubbish but my only chance at painting the masterpiece lies in me being willing to pick up the paint brush and have a go.
 
Yes I do cast spells and yes they work. The reason I know they work is that I am very specific about what I want to achieve and I have confidence that when I cast I will achieve it. That comes with experience and goes back to the idea of practise. Magic works with the idea of cause and effect through intent. The key to spell work is understanding and focusing that intent. The only way to direct intent is having a good sound understanding of the results you want your spell to manifest in. You know a spell works when you get the results day in and day out that you are directing with your casting.
 
I’m of the opinion that a spell is only as good as the person working it. I have a personal dislike of using other people’s spells and I honestly believe that half the success of a spell is down to putting in the effort to write it yourself. Most of the sites promoting spells on the internet are rubbish. I can’t say all as I do occasionally come across some gems but they are well hidden within the nonsense. One credible spell reference is The Element Encyclopedia of 1000 spells.  Have a look at it. I know a lot of witches consider this a good read. Again, I’d still much prefer to write my own and some of the spells inside the book are a bit silly. But there is some good stuff too. Use it as a starting point.
 
Image ​http://www.deviantart.com/art/Spells-196900803

​The short answer is - You can’t recognise a witch!
 
The longer answer is that you possibly can recognise a witch but it is pretty tricky. The trick to spotting a practising witch is firstly to free your mind of preconceptions. Obviously a witch doesn’t look like the various Disney interpretations but nor is she/he particularly old, beautiful, warty, mystical or liable to break into a cackle at short notice. The average witch doesn’t dress differently to other people and ostensibly to the outside world he/she doesn’t do anything different to other people. 
 
This can be hard to grasp. Witches are still viewed with the approach that the word “witch” describes what they are rather than what they do. This does lead to the misconception that they look and behave in certain ways. What you have to remember when looking for witches is that witch is a descriptor of what they do, they practise witchcraft. So what you need to look for are the signs of the practise itself rather than the stereotypical features of those who practise it.
 
I’d say you’d get your best evidence from being in the home of the witch. That isn’t to say that the home will be lavishly decorated with items from Nemesis Now (though to be fair I’d say most witches won’t be able to resist the occasional ornamental nod to their craft) but do look for the functionality of items that suggest a craft path is being followed. It isn’t stereotyping to say that most witches will have a cooking pot used for modern cauldron  purposes. She’s likely to have bottles, herbs, incense, candles and oils lying around the place. You may also see interesting little personal collections of feathers and stones, innocuous enough in any home but when all added together suggest a clue that a witch may be present.
 
If the witch is private about her craft her public bookshelf probably won’t have her personal collection of craft related books on display. But large chests, locked cupboards and (my favourite) very random dust jackets hiding completely different books underneath may all be good indications you are in the home of a witch.
 
Recognising a witch outside her primary environment is harder. A competent witch is well versed in the art of hiding in plain sight. However he/she may display interest (and knowledge) in areas linked to witchcraft. The witch is unlikely to pipe up to get involved in discussions on the craft itself but she/he may be the person in the office who always knows when the next full moon is or always knows which natural remedy to suggest for various ailments. Look again for the craft practises being incorporated into daily life.
 
Certain things in the workplace can also offer clues. I’ll give you a few examples. I’m in my mortgage office now which to the outside world looks like any other mortgage office until you take a bit of a closer look. Firstly there is a very fine line of salt that blocks the office from the outside world. Faint, you’d have to really look to notice it. In the cupboard next to my cleaning spray is another spray. If you sprayed it and sniffed you’d recognise certain scents including lavender. That’s a spray to change the aura of the room. On the desk I have a piece of amethyst and in the drawer there is an unlabelled oil blend in a small jar. Any one of these things could easily be explained away and even all combined would only be a clue to somebody who knew what they were looking for. But subtle changes like these in the environment around a person may suggest he/she is a practising witch.
 
In summary, trying to find a witch on the basis that they are a witch is well nigh close to impossible. There is no personality type or “look” that can be linked to a practising witch. The only real chance you have is finding evidence not of what they are but of what they do and this is best achieved by looking for the signs of the craft that they practise.