Although witches often refer to the period between Samhain and Beltane as the dark half of the year it would be wrong to assume that there isn’t still a fair bit of magic going on while the earth is asleep. The dark and cold Winter months provide many unique opportunities for using the transformation of nature in casting and spell work.

Winter brings about many changes in the weather which in turn provide their own unique function in magic. Nothing says Winter more than a sprinkling of snow over the Earth and nothing says magic to the witch in Winter more than a drift of snow. Frosted crystalline Winter has a magic all of its own, a magic that lends its sparkle to those wishing to practise their craft in these cold months.

Snow is the weather we associate most with the Winter and snow can be a powerful ingredient in magic at this time of year. A forward thinking witch however will not limit her use of this ingredient to the cold months. Snow can be bottled and stored until the warmer weather – it can even be kept frozen in the household freezer for use later in the year. The use of snow in Summer can be very effective in cooling spells and workings to influence the ambient temperature of the immediate environment.

Snow can be used to many different effects in magic. It is often used to invoke the cold and traditionally the cold can be used in workings that involve slowing down or reducing the impact of something. An old watch placed in a pot of snow for example can be utilised in time magic to slow down the perception of time. In a similar respect snow can be used to slow down the effects of time - in much the same way as the house fridge and freezer are used as preservation aids. I know of several witches who wash their face directly in the snow in the sincere belief that it will hold back the years.
 
The beauty of snow doesn’t lessen its ability to be used in more aggressive magics. Snow can be piled up around the poppet of a competitor (a work rival perhaps) to slow down their performance and make the going harder for them. It can be used to kill affection – to freeze the heart – particularly useful for a witch who wants
to dissuade a hopeful suitor or to force a contender for the object of her own desire to lose interest.

The common phrase “to put something on ice” has a literal meaning in witchcraft. The freezing process 
is a powerful tool in protection spells - this can be either defensive or aggressive - you can freeze the essence of yourself to create an ice shield around it for protection or you can place a taglock or an image of the aggressor inside a block of ice to create a shield around them blocking their negative inclinations from escaping. Ice shards make useful weapons for piercing a wax poppet to cause targeted damage.
Freezing the saliva of another person and then smashing the ice cube will reduce the influence they have over you.  Ice blocks can be formed and then carved with runes/spell wording and then left to melt into the earth to activate the intention inherent in the spell. A variation on this is to carve the name of somebody you wish to assume power over into the ice and then hold it, allowing the ice to melt between your hands and visualising the individual yielding to your will.

Snow and Ice are not the only useful elements of Winter weather. For those lucky enough to get a shower of hail stones I would strongly suggest bottling a few.They may lose the structure of the initial shape but the power and force will remain bottled and can be a powerful addition to spell work to give it an extra oomph.
All in all, a good time of year to get working that magic!

Image http://www.freeimages.com/photo/1437812

One of the issues that seems to crop up a lot on Ask a Witch a Question is the problem of combating depression. I’m often asked for ways that witchcraft and more specifically magic can be used to tackle depression and other mental health related illnesses. As regular readers will no doubt have noticed most people asking for mental health related help on this site are advised to seek assistance from their GP or a counsellor. Mental health is a serious business and people who suffer from depression need to have their illness treated with respect and given the appropriate health care. It would be irresponsible and egotistical of me to offer advice relating to medical depression when I have no health or counselling qualifications.

That said, there is a distinct difference between genuine clinical depression and low mood. In instances where a person believes they are suffering from depression it is always the best course of action to seek medical guidance. If however a person is not depressed but suffering from a drop in mood – or the blues as the songs like to title it – then there are ways in which the practise of witchcraft and/or magic may assist.  It is these mood boosting ways of employing the craft that I would like to discuss today.

However I do feel it important to first point out that attitude can play a big part in your own mood. One of the things that concerns me greatly about the spectrum of mental health is how quick so many people are to write themselves off with the label depressed. For some the label even becomes the excuse not to fight for a positive mood which - in turn - perpetuates the depressive state itself. Many of these people are not suffering from depression, they are suffering from a drop in mood or simply having a normal reaction to one of life’s rougher patches. I think it is important to recognise when this is the case and to understand that periods of low mood will pass and normality will be restored. Giving into it or being too quick to reach for the label is ignoring the universal truth that everybody, without exception goes through hard times on occasion.

I also think it is crucial to make every effort to avoid the one-upmanship battle that mental health seems to have become. I have (seriously) seen adults fighting over the millograms of Prozac prescribed to them in a bid to be seen as “the most depressed.” This is most certainly not the state of mind you want to be in to ward off low mood. Instead of fighting for sympathetic recognition from others, fight for happiness in your own head. If you are not as depressed as somebody else then that is a positive. Go with it and be glad about it.

That said – and with the full understanding that we are looking for ways to combat low mood and not clinical depression – let’s look at some of the ways this can be achieved. The first and probably the most important point is that hiding away from the world is unlikely to help. Maintaining a routine encourages you to get washed and dressed and to undertake your daily tasks. Allowing yourself to get behind with your jobs will only make you feel less out of control and promote the sense of failure that you are falling behind with the things that need to be done. If at all possible – work through it and soldier on.

Important as it is to maintain a routine and keep yourself occupied it is also crucial that you give your mind a chance to process anything that is causing the low mood. Keeping yourself so busy that you can’t tackle what is going on in your mind will catch up with you eventually and you will simply wear yourself out.  Try setting aside 15 minutes to just sit and focus in silence on all the things that are worrying you or playing on your mind. Sometimes an anxious state of mind can be brought on by the understanding that something is bothering you which hasn’t yet been addressed by the front of your conscious mind. Tackling these worries head on can often reduce the worry they inspire.

Worries that impact on the mood can feel like baggage that has to be carried around all the time. Chronic worriers often have a sense of dread that if they stop focusing on the worry it will somehow become worse while their attention is diverted from it. This constant holding of a worry in the mind can be exhausting. One of the best ways to combat this is to write down everything on your mind. You can use a worry notebook or - for the more magically inclined - the preference might be for a worry jar. Write down every current concern that a 15 minute meditation has generated and then fold up each piece of paper and seal them up in a jar with herbs like lavender and chamomile to promote calmness. The worries can be accessed at any time and are stored “safely” but having brought them to the forefront of your mind and recorded them you no longer have to bear the constant weight of them. It is the preference of some witches to take direct action with the recorded worries and to burn them to banish and destroy the subject matter of the issue.

In much the same way as recording the worries with pen and paper you may choose to utilise cord or knot magic to record your thoughts and combat your mood. Try taking a piece of thread and focusing on each worry as you tie a knot in the thread. Infuse your anxiety into each knot until it has transferred from yourself into the thread. The thread can then be locked away, burned or cast to the winds to rid you of the source of your worries.

If the low mood isn’t caused by a tangible worry then you might want to consider a working to allow the essence of the low mood to leave you. One of the simplest ways of doing this is to take a jar with a tight sealable lid and to breathe deeply into the jar while visualising all the negativity, misery and anxiety leaving your body with the released breath. Seal the jar and store safely. (For those of you inclined to the more aggressive magics this can be an excellent ingredient for future hex work!)

Meditation can be an extremely positive way of combating low mood. Setting the scene with candles and incense will help you to relax and make it easier for your mind to immerse itself in the meditation. Meditation as an exercise of stepping from one world into another can be a total rest for the mind. Think carefully about what type of meditation you are going to use. Try and make it as visual and as realistic as possible. This is classic “happy place” territory. Imagine yourself somewhere where you know you will be at peace and focus on the sights, sounds and smells of the place your mind has gone to. The more you can direct your senses into focusing on the object of your meditation, the less of your thought processing is being used to fixate on your worries. Think of it as holidaying for the mind…

Taking a bath can help to clear your mind and one of the best ways to use a bath is to stay inside it when the plug has been drained. Lie back and concentrate on the lightening weight of the water as it drains down the plughole taking with it all the worries and stresses absorbed by the water from your body. As the bath drains you will feel a very definite sensation of getting lighter and by the time the bath has drained completely and your worries have all washed down the plughole you will feel a positive sense that a great weight has been lifted from you.

Magic can play a part in lifting the mood but I'll reiterate my first point - your own attitude is the major player in choosing your state of mind. Think down and you'll stay down. Fighting for happiness with every power at your disposal is the best way to beat back the blues for good.

Image http://www.deviantart.com/art/Sad-62448990

There are few topics more hotly debated in the present political climate than the concept of freedom of speech and how this fits into the structure of human rights. The issue was once again forced onto the agenda of public discussion with the shooting of several journalists at the Charlie Hebdo offices in Paris earlier this week. Although definite motive has yet to be established it is looking increasingly likely that the shooting was a reaction to the social media posting of a cartoon depicting the Islamic leader of Islamic State.

Many articles will be written in the coming days discussing reactions to the shooting and questioning whether the response could ever be considered justified or if it was simply an act of terrorism. That isn’t what I want to discuss today – I want to focus on the initial action itself. However before doing so I do feel it necessary to make my own viewpoint in that murder can never be a rational response to satire. My personal view on this is that the people who gunned down journalists allegedly to avenge their Prophet were morally and ethically wrong to do so. I have nothing to offer to justify the taking of innocent life and it is not my intention to attempt to do so here.

What I do want to discuss is the initial action itself – the act of publishing blasphemy in the form of cartoon satire. I have listened to a lot of people expressing a viewpoint on this over the last couple of days and the main focus of the argument seems to hinge on the question of whether or not the journalists had a right to publish images likely to offend those of the Islamic faith.  Setting aside the very natural emotional responses to the murder of the journalists and ignoring completely the idiotic extreme far right cry to “Kill all Muslims” (yes that hashtag genuinely trended on Twitter this week) the one thing that seems to me to be missing from all these discussions is the word responsibility.

I do not believe it is profitable to have a discussion relating to rights without also taking into consideration the concept of responsibility. The fact that somebody has a right to do something is not an indication either that they should do it or that it is a good thing to do. What appears not to be considered by most people when discussing the right of free speech is the fact that in an integrated and diverse society there is an implied obligation to use free speech in a manner that doesn’t infringe on other people. In other words – you may have a right to say what you want but you do not have an absolute right to offend, to abuse or to use your free speech to hurt other people. In much the same way that racism and homophobia are not free speech, deliberately setting out to hurt and mock religious beliefs is not free speech.

I would question the motivation – not just of publishing images that mock Islam – but of publishing images that mock any religion or indeed mock any matter so close to people’s hearts. One journalist discussing the Paris shootings stated indignantly that Charlie Hebdo had also made fun of the Catholic Pope and respected figures in other faiths. His point was “Look – only the Muslims overreact.” But my point is why publish material mocking multiple faiths in the first place? The intention is obviously to offend.  Putting such images into the world offers no contribution to making the world a better place. The journalists publishing their satire may well have a right to do so but they also have a responsibility not to do so. If the sole outcome of an action is to offend and mock then surely it is reasonable to conclude such an action is best not undertaken.

The whole issue of human rights is clouded by the issue that the rights of one individual frequently contradict the rights of another.  Yes a magazine may have a “right” to publish cartoons that offend members of a faith but equally religious persons have a “right” not to be distressed by public ridicule of their beliefs. In this instance it was the Islamic faith being satirised but to be honest I wouldn’t be too happy if a satiric publication mocked my faith either. Granted my only probable reaction would be a disapproving tut and - I’ll say it again – in no way does printing satire justify killing as a reaction but on the flip side the overreaction in this instance does not automatically imply that publishing the satire in the first place was the right thing to do.

I was particularly irritated by one individual (journalist Tom Holland) who claimed that his right to draw cartoons of the Islamic prophet means as much to him as the Islamic faith does to its followers.  He missed the point entirely – to a believer (in any faith not just Islam) core religious beliefs are sacred and intrinsic to life. I am sure Mr Holland could live his life without the loss of religious satiric cartoons impacting on him too greatly. To separate a follower from their faith on the other hand would be akin to losing a limb – their faith is a fundamental part of who they are. This is what I mean by the problem of one right clashing with another. But in this instance depriving Mr Holland and other journalists of the momentary “fun” involved in publishing their cartoons will have little effect on their wellbeing whereas the resulting publication will cause genuine distress to the followers of the faith being mocked. From a utilitarian perspective if the loss of one right causes greater consequence than the loss of another it should follow that the fall-out be minimised by the right with the greater consequence being the one which is upheld.

Or, going back to the issue of responsibility – the responsible thing is not to cause distress in others for no good reason.

Much has been made of the inalienable right of journalists to publish these images and in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo atrocity there have been calls for these images to be spread far and right – to “stand up for the right of free speech.”  Three wrongs however do not make a right any more than two wrongs do. It was wrong to publish the cartoons in the first place, it was wrong to kill the people who published them and it will be wrong still if multiple national newspapers continue to reprint these images. I’m not saying don’t publish because of fear of repercussion - I’m saying don’t publish through genuine humanity of not wanting to hurt and offend under the guise of humour.

There has to come a time when we stop thinking about what we have the right to do and start thinking about what it actually is right to do.

 Image http://www.deviantart.com/art/Speech-Bubbles-264548754

My own personal preference over the years I have spent as a practising witch has been to practise as a solitary. I have always seen my practise of the craft as a personal and a private thing requiring the involvement of nobody but myself. However over the last year or so I have started to change my view point on this and even found myself welcoming the opportunity to cast with a partner. As this has been a real about turn for both my views and my practise I thought it a matter worth sharing with the Witch Path Forward readers.

I have, in the past, had quite a few reservations about working with a partner. I was worried that taking on board the input of another witch might dilute the direction of my own magic, I disliked the idea of compromising any part of my intent to fit in with somebody else’s agenda and I had concerns that it would be hard to find somebody who would be a good fit as regards experience, knowledge and most importantly belief. The success I have enjoyed as a solitary has been supported by my own personal unwavering belief in the use of magic and it was important to me not to work with somebody who did not share this confidence in how magic can be utilised.

I was also concerned about the potential conflict in methods. There are so many individual views and interpretations of magical practise that I knew it would be difficult to find somebody whose ways of working matched my own. Very New Agey rituals leave me a touch uncomfortable but equally I wouldn’t want to immerse myself in a tradition that didn’t sit right with me. Take something like Appalachian magic or Hoodoo – some witches get excellent results within these traditions but as they have no instinctive or historical appeal for me I doubt I’d have much luck at all if I adapted my tried and tested ways of working to fit the traditional path of another witch. Equally it wouldn’t be fair to insist that a partner focus solely on what works well for me.
Similarly to the problem of diversity in method is diversity in morality. My own personal comfort zone is to walk the fine line between what might be popularly termed “white magic” and what I consider to be justifiable aggressive magic. I would have little in common with a vengeful – curse first, ask questions later kind of witch but equally I would struggle with somebody who wasn’t prepared to malice up their magic when necessary. Finding a partner for magical purposes is as much about finding a personality fit as it is about anything else and as anybody who has ever tried to meet a partner for mundane purposes knows – finding a good fit can be something of a challenge…

A difference in magical ability was also a real concern for me. Inequality in a partnership of witches can very easily lead to animosity and jealousy, both of which would do nothing to promote the mental state necessary for effective casting. As a witch who gets pretty good, consistent results on her own I have often concluded it not to be worth the pitfalls of involving somebody else. Why risk the repercussions for a result that can be obtained just as easily through solitary practise?

The change in my views came about quite unexpectedly when a close friendship of mind evolved quite naturally into me sharing a knowledge of magic and witchcraft with her. I had not sought to take on a formal apprentice but as my friend’s interest (and ability) grew I found myself becoming increasing more comfortable in sharing my own work and practise. Although my initial intention had been to show her enough of a grounding in magic to enable her to handle her own personal life more effectively, I started to find a value in inviting her to my own workings and a benefit to involving a second witch in my craft.

The concerns I had relating to either an imbalance in ability or an imperative to change established method were largely avoided by the fact that I had been the witch who introduced my partner to magic. Although I have taken pains to point out that my way is “my way” and not objectively the “only way” it is only natural that my ways of working have been established as our norm.  The evolution of the teacher/pupil relationship has meant there is little resentment for my tendency to dictate the magical agenda and in deference to my status as the trainer there has been no discord relating to jealousy. The consequence of all this has been an extremely harmonious partnership.

I think the reason this particular partner has put so many of my reservations relating to group work to bed is due to the balance of energies between us. I operate on what I would call a “high energy” level – I’m all about the drive, the will and the passion. Working with somebody similar to myself would be a disaster as there would be a clash in direction and a definite danger that too much would be attempted without the “low level” energy to shore it up. My partner is the exact opposite – where I am power, she is strength, where I am drive, she is focus and where I am force, she is intensity. I direct the magic and she underpins it with a consistent strength of will. This steady strength supports my own drive and allows me to push my intent further knowing it is backed up at every stage with the focus of low energy. (Low and high energy incidentally are my own terms and not meant to imply either one is better than the other – I use them simply to delineate between force and steady focus.)

It is interesting to notice that this idea of energy can be extended to the concept of embodying the elements. Most witches (if their practise involves the elements and for Trad craft in particular this does not always apply) will have an affinity to some extent with all of the elements. But they will naturally have a bias toward one or two depending on their own nature. Although I am happy in groups to work with any of the elements my partnership has allowed me to focus on the two that are the best fit with my own nature – fire and air. My partner on the other hand brings the strength of earth and the calm of water to our work. Elementally we are perfectly balanced and I believe this has gone a long way toward explaining the success of the work we do together.

Magic, like anything else, is easy to take for granted and even the most inspired of witches may occasionally find herself getting into a rut – using the same old tried and tested spells and methods with boring regularity and not challenging herself with new innovation. I’m not sure that the concept of “If it’s broken don’t fix it” applies to magic. Magic relies on passion and inspiration to drive the will of intent forward. As soon as spell crafting becomes common place and mundane it loses part of its power. Having another person involved can bring new ideas and fresh perspective to a craft. I have encouraged my partner to bring her own thoughts to what we do and to design some of our spellwork herself - which I might add has been very successful on every count. Even an experienced witch can grow and develop from the new ideas of those around her and working in tandem with another witch is (or has been for me at least) a good opportunity to introduce fresh energy.

I’ve been very positive about my magical partnership but I’m going to add a word of caution as well. Beneficial as it can be to work with another witch (and it won’t suit everyone, remember that many many witches choose to be solitary for their own reasons) I believe it is important not to link your craft too inextricably to that of another. I am happy to complete some work with somebody else but a good part of the heart of my craft will remain my own and I would urge anybody working in a group or partnership to assert the same. Having fought to establish an individual identity as a witch it would be futile and foolish to dismiss this in favour of blending into a group consensus. A witch’s path is her own - it may cross over, link with and even for short periods merge with that of another but ultimately it is hers to walk alone. 

Image http://www.deviantart.com/art/Aubrey-139477949

Witch Wife

(The lament of a man married to a witch...)

She is neither pink nor pale,
And she never will be all mine;
She learned her hands in a fairy-tale,
And her mouth on a valentine.

She has more hair than she needs;
In the sun 'tis a woe to me!
And her voice is a string of coloured beads,
Or steps leading into the sea.

She loves me all that she can,
And her ways to my ways resign;
But she was not made for any man,
And she never will be all mine.

(Written by Edna St. Vincent Millay)

This is a guest blog this week from none other than Deguwitchrose's own (long suffering) husband. Talking about the Pagan path from a non witch perspective...

Like most of you who read this blog I identify as a Pagan. I am not a fan of organised religion, I find the concept of disorganised religion far more entertaining...

I embrace a belief system from which I can take what I want to fit around my own beliefs and yet still be accepted by other members of the Pagan community - even if I do not believe exactly what they do. I certainly don't want to be spoon fed doctrines decided by other men claiming to be able to interpret the words of their God(s) and, heaven forbid, putting their own spin on the divine. I want to be able to make up my own mind as to where the divine and wondrous may be found.

My path, unlike my wife's (practising witch Deguwitchrose), is not so much about being able to influence the world around me - though it does involve a belief in those powers - but with me it is about celebrating the cycle of life. It is embracing that things are born, they grow, they live and they die - and that by this process we are all connected to a living world with a beating heart, that we have something in common with all living things and at the end of our existence we return to the earth from which we came as all things do. We have a duty to care for our fellow humans and other living things because they are part of the world we share with them. This does not mean I feel we should have a “holier than thou” attitude or feel that we need to live our life denying ourselves pleasure and/or fulfilment to please some spiritual “Big Brother”. This is an anathema to me as we have been given life to live, not to spend it in fear of what God might say if we enjoy ourselves in various harmless but fun ways that he/she might disapprove of.

My path is built on respecting the world and those around you and living the one life you have to the fullest. To do otherwise is a waste of all that life energy.

I feel my Paganism is reflected in pretty much all of my life – my love of nature and animals, in nurturing and protecting my family so that they can grow on their own chosen paths and in

how I treat people I come in to contact with – as other living creatures deserving of respect.

Paganism provides me with both celebration and solace. I celebrate as a Pagan in family rituals at various festival/sabbat feasts that bind us tighter together and I take solace from my path when we return a beloved pet to the earth knowing that they too are part of the cycle of existence.  Remembering someone who lived a remarkable life and made the world around them a better place for having been in it is something I think we should all aspire to.

For me Paganism is not about holding out for a better life in the next world but making this world a better place to exist in through living a life of love, respect and honour.


Image of the author printed with permission

Today is a depressing day. I suspect it to be a day that will be remembered through the hindsight of history as playing a pivotal role in the face of British politics. To some it represents change. For people who believe in equality and democracy it is nothing but a slap in the face.

For those of you who don’t know what I’m talking about, I’m making a reference to the by election held last night in the Kent town of Rochester. This by election was prompted by the defection of a Conservative MP to the UKIP party and, in a largely Conservative voting area, the voting was closely watched as the result was anticipated to provide an early indication as to how the main political parties would stand up to scrutiny in the General Election next year.

But this particular election did more than shine the light on political statistics, it formalised an ugly rising tide of hatred that has become steadily endemic in British society today. It painted a thin veneer of public respectability on the face of fascism and in doing so it took our country of freedom and acceptance one step further from the multiculturalism that puts the Great in Great Britain.

Britain, like most countries, has always had its bigots. We’ve had the BNP (British National Party) begging for votes in Parliament for years and street protest movements like the EDL (English Defence League) have made their anti PC (and often rabidly racist) views known both on the streets and in the press. But these people have never been taken seriously by the mainstream. The small number of people who actually admit to voting BNP have always been viewed with a certain amount of derision. This (so called) political party has never presented a serious threat to any of the more moderate and better known parties. Last night however marked a change in public opinion as with a sharp blow to the established two party status quo the right wing UKIP (UK Independence Party) took victory over both the Conservative and the Labour party.

UKIP on the face of it present themselves as a serious political party. They go to great lengths to appeal to the man in the street with policies relating to a referendum on staying in the European Union and their pledges for ending student tuition fees and abolishing inheritance tax. But the true face of the party is far more sinister. The economic case they present for reducing immigration is little more than a smokescreen to hide the racism, homophobia and Islamophobia that lie at the concealed heart of the party. To give some specific examples of this - only 2 days before the by election the UKIP candidate Mark Reckless admitted in an interview that he supported the idea of deporting immigrants from the UK – he told the press that a Polish plumber might “only be allowed to stay for a fixed period if Britain left the European Union”. Another UKIP candidate (Heinro Vockrodt) described the Islamic religion as a “totalitarianism ideology against everything modern Britain stands for,” and UKIP candidate Douglas Denny was particularly vehement when he referred to gay people as “abnormal” making the singularly unfunny comment that he wished “They [the gays] would stop trying to ram it down my throat.”

This quite frankly worries the hell out of me. It is one thing to have bigots lurking at the margins of our society but it is quite another to clasp them to the bosom of Westminster. In electing MPs who openly support the persecution of homosexuals, immigrants and participants of the Islamic faith we are welcoming hatred into our politics. UKIP and the equally offensive far right party Britain First (who also stood for election in Rochester) are looking to make scapegoats of huge sections of the British community. It doesn’t take much awareness of history to draw the very uncomfortable parallel with the persecution of the innocent in Nazi Germany.

Now as I am in a heterosexual relationship and as I’m neither an immigrant nor a member of the Islamic faith it would perhaps be easy for me (if I didn’t happen to be a person with a conscience) to turn a blind eye to the likely consequences of a UKIP government. But I can’t. And the reason I can’t is because I can’t forget that famous quotation from Edmund Burke reminding me “All that is needed for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing...”  Every time we vote for a party that supports inequality and discrimination we become those good men, complicit in the evil of self advancement at the expense of others. Even when we don’t vote (and the 50% turn out in Rochester suggests an apathy of which the non voters should be ashamed) when parties like UKIP and Britain First are standing for election even by not voting we are contributing to a society which says it is acceptable to view people as being of less worth due to their racial status, sexuality or religious persuasion.

The media have played a big part in the slow indoctrination that discrimination has somehow become socially acceptable. As more and more publicity is given to the extreme right wing ideology the result is that the public face of UKIP becomes easier to stomach. Faced with a candidate like Britain First’s Jayda Fransen (infamous for her revolting declaration that she will personally bury a pig under any ground receiving planning permission for a mosque to be built) voting for UKIP seems a comparatively moderate option. But it isn’t a moderate option, voting for UKIP is voting for a country where people will be persecuted for their race, their sexuality and their religion. It’s voting for xenophobic nationalism at the expense of human rights.

It isn’t enough to sit in an armchair and watch the face of Britain slowly changing in the hope that somebody else will do something about it. We all share the obligation to stand up for those facing the threat of persecution. It isn’t enough to say I’m not gay or I’m not a Muslim therefore the problem doesn’t affect me. This creeping hatred affects us all. Once we start saying it is acceptable to oppress and discriminate against any group of people we pave the way to any one of us facing discrimination. In a world where discrimination is acceptable nobody is safe from persecution. Today’s minorities become tomorrow’s victims and the apathy of those who turn their backs or refuse to vote just strengthens this growing culture of fascism.

Our forefathers who fought in the wars didn’t (as UKIP and Britain First would have you believe) fight to keep Britain free of foreign influence. They fought for the freedom of the honest man. We don’t need weapons or military power to emulate those brave men and women. All we need is the determination not to allow the evil that is discrimination to flourish in our hearts or in our politics.

We need to vote against the parties who view hatred as the basis of their policies.

Image http://www.freeimages.com/photo/1238378immrchris

This week's guest blogger needs little introduction. DJ Martin is a well respected published author with an enviable knowledge of herbs and plants to compliment her deep understanding of witchcraft and magic. I am honoured to be able to present her own account of her personal history as a witch on Witch Path Forward.

It took me a long time to say that sentence. Like, over 30 years.

I have a feeling I’m older than most of the audience for whom I’m writing, so my story needs a preface: 
When I was growing up, computers fit in buildings, not pockets; the Internet existed only for the military; and the majority of the witchcraft-y authors you’re reading today were also still kids. (Some weren’t even a twinkle in their parents’ eyes.) Unless you belonged to a family of witches, there was nothing available to tell you what was going on.
I’m not one of those lucky ones. I started hearing plants speak at a very early age and no one in my family was able to tell me it was normal. Quite the opposite. At first, I was indulged – children have such marvelous imaginations, don’t they? Then, without being told, I understood it was something I shouldn’t speak of unless I wanted to spend time in a psychiatrist’s office. That the houseplants in my bedroom grew better than any other plant in the house was put down to lighting, soil, something…

Then there’s hearing and seeing spirits. The earliest encounter I still remember vividly happened when I was about twelve. We lived in a house that had been converted to apartments; the house next door was the same.  The bedroom across from mine was occupied by a boy around my age and we would spend hot summer nights leaning out the windows, talking to each other until we got sleepy – or were caught by one of the mothers. 

Late one night, his house caught fire and the boy died from smoke inhalation. A night or two later, as I was staring out my window, missing him, he leaned out the now-blackened window to tell me he wouldn’t be able to talk to me anymore – he had to go somewhere else. I was sad but we said our goodbyes. When I told my mother about it the next morning, she put it down to me being distraught over his death. Obviously, I missed him and my imagination had conjured him up. I knew better but didn’t contradict her. Nor did I ever tell her anything else along those lines.
But that’s not the whole of it. As I entered my teenage years and wondered how to control or change certain situations, spirits guided me on how to wish real hard while burning paper on which I’d written that wish, or tossing a pinch of herbs “borrowed” from Mom’s spice rack into the wind. Thankfully I was, and still am, a night owl. I could do my wishing long after my parents went to bed. I didn’t want to explain to them the “voices in my head told me to do it”. I knew 
how that conversation would have ended.

I had no idea what I was doing was spellwork. But I trusted those voices – even more than I trusted the humans who, in theory, were guiding me to adulthood. Many times what the spirits said helped me through teenaged problems – real and imagined. Mom and my stepfather (probably rightly) assumed most of my issues were simply teenage angst and rather than offer advice, told me, “You’ll have to figure out how to handle it on your own”.
(As an aside, despite my guides’ admonishments, I did the whole Ouija board thing most teenagers did – once. My friends thought it was a joke. I got the pants scared off me because I could feel what they were attracting and it wasn’t pleasant. Thankfully, they stopped before anything unfortunate could happen.)

Fast forward a few years. As an independent adult, I had more things to worry about than making wishes come true, like paying bills. Wishing didn’t exactly fall by the wayside…it became more of a leisure activity, ranking somewhat down the list from barhopping. I did both, just not often because I didn’t have time.

The spirits didn’t abandon me, though. When times were tough (and there were a lot of tough times), I could feel their presence. I was always wrapped in a cocoon of love. That was nice but when I asked for help and didn’t get any, it was more than frustrating.
In retrospect, the spirits couldn’t offer guidance. Surprise! My parents were actually right – I had to figure it out on my own. There are so many things in life you just have to experience – it’s what forms the person you become. As an example, my guides could have suggested a better way to wish for money (a larger pay rise, perhaps) but if I’d not learned how to manage on a very tight budget, my husband and I probably wouldn’t be comfortable today.
I was in my mid-30’s when I realized those wishes (that worked!) were actually spellwork. I don’t remember what triggered that epiphany but what I did was just a little less spectacular than what witches in my favorite fiction books did. No sparkles came out of my fingertips and I never did see the point of turning a handsome man into a frog (however much a cad he may have been), but I got what I needed done. Whatever it was, ‘witch’ became part of my private vocabulary.

I also finally had a house with room for a garden. I hate to cook so growing herbs for culinary use isn’t appealing but I put in a small plot next to the house for herbs I liked the smell of – among them, Rosemary, Peppermint, and of course, Catnip for my feline housemates. I re-established my relationship with the plants I’d come to love in my grandmother’s garden so many years prior. A friend loaned me books on herbal medicine and that was the start of learning how to combine what I knew with the science I learned from those books.

It took until my 40’s when I could surf this new-fangled Internet – and had some disposable income to buy now-available books – to find out there were other ways of working magic. Some are much more involved than my methods, some incorporating religion, others just different. 
It’s fun learning about how others go about their magical practices, which are almost as diverse as the human race. I can respect and appreciate that diversity. This isn’t to say I’ve changed my ways. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. My practice today may be a little more sophisticated than just wishing but it’s still fairly simple. I do pick up an interesting tidbit every now and again that fits with or can be adapted to the way I work.

I’ve been most of the way out of the broom closet for a few years but it’s not something I blatantly throw in people’s faces. Outwardly I look “normal” for a businesswoman who has enough gray hair to justify her status as grandmother. Not only do I live in a part of the world where most of the population thinks witchcraft is bad but there are some in my life who wouldn’t accept anything more than what they see. And that’s OK. I’ve learned to pick my battles and revealing that part of me to an 80-year-old Christian client isn’t a fight I want.
But to those I know are accepting of all of me, 
I am a witch.

Deborah J. “DJ” Martin, known to many as The Herby Lady, is a practicing witch living in the north Georgia (US) mountains. She is the author of both fiction and non-fiction books. Learn more about her at http://www.authordjmartin.com.


Image: Author's own

This is a guest blog very kindly written by K Perrin

What are your beliefs one asks? Are you a Witch another asks? Oh no YOU practice  “Witchcraft”..it goes on..people I meet hear the world “Witch”, and “Pagan” they tend to look at me a bit differently than the “norm”..throw in “eclectic pagan witch” and some run the other direction..why? You tell me! Here is my story. It will contain bits that I am sure you will disagree/laugh/judge/or even roll your eyes at  but please, just remember it is my story, my life as an Eclectic Pagan Witch, the label I give myself. 
I was born in April 1966. In a Hertfordshire town in England. My parents, quite young, married due to the pregnancy. Family/friends knew it wouldn’t last and it didn’t. I was only 4 months old when I went to live with my maternal grandparents. My Dad, carried on with his life, my mother carried on with hers. My Grandparents were my Parents from that day forth. 
We were just a regular family living in a little counsel house. My Grandmother, Catholic, My Grandad, Church of England. Then there was me. Sure I was baptized Catholic, have a God Mother & a God Father, but I knew I was different in the Religious spect. We didn’t say grace at dinner and didn’t go to church but I knew my dear Grandmother did her “in the name of the Father, Son & Holy Ghost thing”.  I never witnessed my Grandad pray..maybe he did silently, I don’t know. What I do know is he was a very good gardener. I was always “tinkering” around with him in the garden, thus the nickname he gave me “Tinker”. This is where my path begun, in the garden! 
My first memory of being in the Garden that truly stuck was my pet Hedgehog. He (or maybe it was a she) lived under the hedge in between our back garden and the neighbors, who, by the way, had a son, that rode a motorcycle. He would chase after me and scare me while wearing his helmet. Making him stop was my first attempt at casting a spell…it worked, as he did stop..was it my spell casting? Or was it my grandmother politely asking him to stop scaring me?..I want to believe it was my spell! I loved watching H.R Puff n Stuff with Witchie Poo and of course the movie Wizard of Oz. I felt connected to the Hollywood portrayed “Witchies”..little did I know the reason for my connection had a meaning in my life. 
Back to my Hedgehog, I called him/her “Hedgy”..I believe he was male so I will refer to it as a him from now on. Hedgy was scared of me at first but as the weeks went on I would sit and talk to him beside the hedge, one day he actually came towards me, I was so excited, it was almost like he understood what I was saying and knew I wouldn’t hurt him. I didn’t tell anyone about hedgy & my relationship, although my grandparents did know he existed. He seemed to talk back to me. I would sneak him bits of bread ect to feed him. One day my granddad was outside doing his gardening and I was tinkering as I did and I felt an over whelming sense of loneliness. I went over to Hedge’s layer and he wasn’t anywhere to be seen..I called him..he didn’t come. Days went by, no hedgy. I told my Grandad. He explained that maybe another animal got him or he just moved along. I was devastated. I sat next to the hedge by Hedges layer. Crying. Then I heard him speak. Almost soothing me, explaining he had to move along and he was sorry he had to leave. I felt a bit mad at him but at the same time content he was ok. I still think of Hedgy’s spirit. Everything has one you know. I call on him in times of trouble and he seems to sooth me. 
My next “friend” was a crow, then a frog (who lived in our pond, the frog not the crow), Crow was great although very naughty, I loved his naughty behavior, he made me laugh, I loved the way he cocked his head when I spoke to him (or was he a her?). Crow is still with me, he lives forever, he has followed me from England to Canada. More on Canada later. Frog, well, he was a bit boring,  but he did offer me protection from ugly spider, I didn’t like spiders then (funny, a Witch not liking spiders). He told Ugly Spider not to scare me or come to close to me. I would be the one to come close when I was ready. I found Ugly Spider curled up in a ball not moving one day, I was quite upset, maybe I did like spiders after all. I picked him up, he had passed from this world, I spoke to him, and promised to protect him and all his family from that day forth. I buried him in the Garden. Told Crow, “don’t you dare dig him up and eat him”…He listened! When a spider visits me now, I tell them quietly about Ugly Spider and not to worry. I will never hurt you. I use Ugly Spider’s spirit in my spells..I also call on Crow & boring Frog. 
When my Grandad would do his pruning and or cutting grass, I would follow behind him and talk to the plants, the trees, the grass. Explaining they will feel much better with a hair cut. Sometimes I would go off ahead and explain to the next bush, its your turn soon. Not to worry. My connection to Nature was huge. My love towards the plants, the trees, everything down to the insects grew on a daily basis. It felt like the love I had for my Grandparents. Nature was a part of me, I was a part of it. I remember staring out my bedroom window at the full, bright moon, her energy seemed to fill me, to heighten my awareness of the spiritual world. She seemed to speak to me. I wouldn’t close my bedroom curtains on a bright moon night..I needed to see her as I fell asleep. 
Now for the Fairies..oh goodness those little Fairies. They lived at the bottom of the Garden. My Grandmother told me so, it was a mission of mine to find and introduce myself. I thought I saw one once, from the corner of my eye, a funny little creature with wings, this one had a big nose ,green shorts and no shoes. I would go to the bottom of the garden and call on the Fairies to help me with a certain issue..they always wanted something in return. If I didn’t give it, they didn’t help( I felt they were angry at me). As soon as I gave an offering(bits of food or something shiny), the help was there. I didn’t know this then but I sure know now how important it is to always have an offering. By the way, my Fairies lived close to a cluster of bluebells. I knew they were close when the bluebells would gently sway as if in a breeze but no breeze present. Never did I have to protect myself from the Fairies, I have never cast a protection circle in any of my work. If I feel the need to be protected I would call on the “powers that be” to protect me..as well as the Spirits of Hedgie, Crow & Frog. 
In 1974 my Family packed up and moved to Canada. I didn’t like the idea but what could I say to stop the family, My mother had remarried, had three more daughters and had taken me back to live with her and her new family. I still remember the day my mother said,” I lived with her now”.. It’s a nasty piece of my life I would soon like to forget but I will touch on it briefly later. I feel its connected to my life path. 
I remember being in  the Garden, the day before leaving for Canada. I ran around saying goodbye to my trees, the flowers,plants, rocks, my fairies, the spirit of Hedgie, Crow & Frog. Even ugly spider under the earth. I had no idea what Canada was about. All I knew I was leaving my magical Garden in my beautiful magical homeland of England. While saying goodbye, feeling like I was being ripped away, an energy seemed to wrap me in warmth and calmness. It seemed to relax my senses and tell me we (who-ever we was) will never leave you. From that moment Canada didn’t seem all that bad…
Oh I forgot to mention, when I moved back with my mother and her family, our home backed onto a church grave yard. My bedroom window looked out onto the graveyard. That’s when I saw my first spirit in human form. I was 7. It didn’t scare me, it fascinated me, from then on I was fascinated by the “paranormal” . I love visiting graveyards. I often take a cutting or soil from an old grave to use in my workings.
 I have this “feeling”.. I know when the spirit of a certain person or loved one is present. I am planning on studying this “sense”.  I have been to numerous places and get these feelings, later to find out that the places are haunted or the more appropriate wording is “active”. 
There was this little house on my way school, I was always drawn to this house, I would stop and look, the kids I walked with would say “don’t stop there, that’s a Witches house” but me, I needed to stop there was something about the house. One day I walked by the little old lady living in the house was out in her garden. She saw me looking she said “hello”, I said “hello” back. I felt kind of like an electric energy pass through me. It scared and soothed me at the same time, the little old lady smiled turned away and continued in her garden..to this day I ask myself “what the heck was that”? I never saw the old lady again it was shortly after this our house sold and we moved to Canada. 
Ok, so in Canada now. I am 8 years old. Missing my garden, my home, my grandparents. It took months for me to get a settled feeling. My grandparents arrived later that year. My settling begun or did it? I wasn’t loved by my mother thus the home with her wasn’t a comfortable one. There were numerous times while in the sacred space of my bedroom I would sit and call onto my spirits and powers that be to protect me. It lasted until I was 15 years old. I gathered my powers with in me and ran. My sacred bedroom was no longer sacred. I won’t go there but I will say It was my one and only time I wished harm to another. Very soon after cursing I unraveled the curse, hoping it wasn’t too late. It wasn’t, thank you powers that be! I left never looking back. I moved back in with my Grandparents. I was home again. Only in a different country. The country that didn’t have the radiating magical feel but one I could still work with as I know my spirits were still with me. Don’t misunderstand me, Canada is a beautiful country but it just doesn’t have what England does in a magically speaking way. 
Living back with my grandparents was my settling. I could work my magic secretly in my bedroom and out side in the (new) garden, my new garden wasn’t as nice but it was outside where I felt my connection,  surrounded by the trees, plants, flowers, the gentle breeze, the bird songs and of course, Crow! My Dear Grandmother passed from this world in 2002 and my Dear Grandad in 2006. Those days were dark and horrible. Although I miss them terribly it was my magical mind that helped me deal with their loss. My Grandmother knows that I practice Witchcraft now, although at first she didn’t like it, it was because she didn’t understand it. She now is one of my protection spirits. My Grandads’ spirit helps me in my garden.
Many times I would go for a walk, look down and find a certain stone  or  a stick that spoke to me. My best day was the day I found my “holey stone”,( witches stone, hag stone). I was over the moon with delight. I read holey stones were and can be very useful in a Witches bag of tricks. That stone, to me is very sacred. No one is to touch it. Witches can be very protective over their tools and touching certain bits can cause energy dishevel. 
In my adult life now, I can say I have always been a Witch. My connection was made as a child in the Garden. I use the word Eclectic because I don’t have one true path. It’s a bit of a crooked path I walk. I take little bits of knowledge, beliefs, ritual from other walks and apply them to my own workings. Always Thanking for that bit as I go. I’m not vocal in my workings. I speak with my minds voice. You will see me very quiet, it is during these times I am stirring a little bit of magic into my day. I sometimes come across as I really don’t know what I am talking about but in my mind its all there, my workings, my spirits everything I need to practice my spell crafting and walk my crooked path. 
My job in the mundane world was in health care. I was a Care Aide (nurse aide). I worked over 14 years caring for the sick & elderly, until one normal day at work my back decided it had had enough. In a moment of lifting, my back gave out, it resulted in two surgeries and now a life of chronic pain. I am on a disability pension at 48 yrs old but in saying that my magic has helped me deal with my injury. I went through my ordeal( and still) with hardly any pharmaceutical drugs for pain or such. I do have my really bad pain days that no magic will help that’s when I will take a very low dose of (pharmaceutical) pain relief and put all my energies into healing to feel somewhat better. I also went into a deep depression due to my work place accident and again I use my magic to help me along. Again no Pharmaceutical intervention just magic. You need to believe, focus and your magic will work. Clear your mind and focus on the task at hand. 
I use the word Pagan to describe (label) myself  because I like the real meaning I read once it means “country dweller”. None of this “umbrella “ term. I also like Traditional. I am big on Traditions. To me, a tradition is something that is passed down from generation to generation one who practices the old ways, historical speaking not necessarily passed down but learned from reading the old ways.
I have visions/dreams as someone in a past life. Someone who lived in a little cottage on the out skirts of a little village. Someone villagers would come to for healing. This little cottage had a thatched roof. Lots of herbs, flowers in the garden. My visions or dreams don’t give me much information just enough to know that once I lived many years ago a much simpler life. It also had a huge fire place and lots of little bottles that contained herbs and bits I can’t make out. This is where I get my label “Witch”..I believe at one time, long ago I was a Village wise woman. 
So that’s a bit of my life how I came to walk this sometimes crooked path, I love crooked, straight lines bore me. I do have to mention I have a fabulous husband, who understands my path and sometimes even walks it with me. He’s definitely not a witch but supports the ways I live. Together we have a daughter; she is married and has two beautiful sons. Our grandsons are more than precious to us. We also have a little dog, part Chihuahua part Pomeranian. I would have a cat but my husband is highly allergic. We also have a house Elf. He is Dobby from the Harry Potter film. We won him in a contest when the first Harry Potter film came out. We love him very much and I sometimes include him in my work. He was meant to be in our family. When I entered the contest to win him I poured magic energy into my ballot for Dobby to come live with us..it worked!!  
I hope you have enjoyed reading a little about me..I do tend to go on a bit..I have deleted much, maybe I should write a book and put the bits I left out back in ;-) Witches tend to be quite private people. Sometimes my Facebook says differently ;-) 

Possibility of "triggers" in this article. Although the focus is on professional body art it may be distressing to some readers. Please proceed with caution and be advised that any form of tattooing, piercing or scarification should only be undertaken on licensed premises by a healthcare professional.

The growth in popularity of body modification is an interesting concept. The last twenty years has seen body art becoming common place to the point of achieving social acceptance and now the challenge is on for those wishing to be different to find the most unusual, unique and downright bizarre techniques to present to the world. For people concerned with fashion and individuality body modification is a chance to make a statement. But what I am primarily interested in today is how the world of body modification relates to the world of the witch and how both old and new methods of body art can be incorporated into witchcraft.

The most obvious way body modification is used, witch or not is for fashion. There is sometimes a perception that the modern witches are all young, beautiful and gothed up to the eyeballs. This is an untrue as it is amusing. You'll find as many witches dressed in tweed as you will in leather. There is no universal "look" for the witch and, as many witches place a high value on their privacy, blending in and merging with the crowds is a skill many choose to master. That isn't to say that some witches do not choose to express themselves through body art - I know many witches who have chosen to represent their path with symbolic tattoos. Some are private and some make a public statement, even in some cases a statement "outing" the nature of the witch herself. As society changes and minority groups become conscious of fighting for acceptance tattoos can be a way of stating an identity, of standing up for the right of the individual to be who they are and to display pride in the path that works for them. Culturally there has been a shift in the behaviour of (particularly young) witches who see practising the craft as something not to hide from others but to share openly. An appropriately designed tattoo can make this statement without the witch needing to verbally confirm/deny the message she is willingly putting out. 

Body modification can also be used for the more subtle purpose of being recognised by those in the know. In the pre internet days (before every man and his dog recognised the pentacle symbol) a discreet pentacle on a necklace chain could be used to recognise a person as someone following a pagan or witch related path. Although many witches (including myself) do still choose to wear the more common symbols it has become the practise of others to wear more esoteric, harder to recognise symbols that will get little comment from the mainstream but allow those with a deeper understanding to recognise a fellow soul. This is as easily achieved with tattoos as it is with jewellery. Interestingly just as body modification can be used to recognise and bond with others it can also be used in much the same way as the warpaint of the Celtic Warriors - to intimidate and threaten others. There is still a social stigma associated with heavily tattooed faces as, in much the same way as wearing a mask would, the tattooing eliminates the ability to read the person's facial expressions, making them appear more threatening. 

A tattoo for a witch can be a personal as well as a private matter. Inking a permanent design onto the body is a big step to take and is often taken at a time that is highly significant in the journey of the witch. I have known witches do it if they (often Wiccan witches) dedicate themselves to the God/Goddess or when they take another name to signify a transition from their old to their new life. The tattoo can symbolise the start of a journey or a turning point on that journey that means something important to the individual witch. It be chosen to mark a life event, be it spiritual or mundane and it can form a link between the witch and her craft that serves as a constant in the mundane world. Sometimes body modification is a statement not to others but to ourselves that underneath our worksuits or uniform we are something other than the conformity we present to the world. In the case of the witch it can be a reminder of her spirituality and the power that exists to her in the world behind the world. A permanent symbol can be a point of focus and concentration, a link to our magical selves in the mundane world.

Not only the symbol presented but the method of making the symbol can be of importance to the witch. Mindful of the fact that tattoos are becoming a bit too common place for my liking I elected to try scarification as an alternative. This involved the design of a rose being cut with a scalpel in my thigh (over five sessions by my husband) with tattoo ink rubbed into the design to add colour. Had I thought about it at the time I could have used this to far greater magical effect. I could have captured the essence of the strengthened bond between my husband and I, I could have sealed away the pain for use in spellwork and I could certainly have kept the bloodied tissues for use in workings. My intention is to revisit the cutting and keep a tissue with the bloodied inprint as a symbol of myself to use in ritual. (The rose design was chosen as it represents me). 

Scarification is just one of the ways popular body modification is changing but I actually see it as being one of the most interesting to the witch. The idea of making a permanent mark on the body is akin to the idea of sacrifice and could be used as an offering to deity. The sacrifice of marring one's own self and suffering pain for the sake of the Gods is not a new one - think Catholicism and the mortification of the flesh. Choosing to devote a section of the body to a symbol of faith is a sacrifice in itself and given the popularity of pentacle, triquetra and triple Goddess tattoos I don't think it is too much of a stretch of the imagination to assume that at least some of these symbols have been crafted for this purpose. 

Symbols on the body can be used for a wide range of purposes. Protection spells are an excellent example. Appropriate runes, symbols or sigils can be written or drawn on the body to invoke protection. These do not necessarily have to be permanent symbols and indeed it is best that they are not as the needs of the individual will vary with their circumstances. If I had permanently inked every symbol I have ever drawn on myself in biro and washed off again then I'd likely be covered from head to toe with tattoos. Temporary designs will work well when invoked and the method of the drawing can even become part of the spell work. A symbol inked in blood might be used for protection, a symbol drawn in urine to retain a sense of self, a symbol drawn in semen to cement a connection between a couple... the possibilities are infinite.

There is a school of thought that symbols with a determined meaning (runes for example) should not be permanently placed on the body as the power they invoke may end up a permanent influence for that person. My own view on this is that there is a difference between tattooing a rune you have a general connection with than there is to tattooing a rune that has significance at one stage of your journey - I'd be more comfortable with a tattoo of the former. Runic scholars assure me that unless the power of the individual rune is specifically invoked then tattooing it will do no harm. I'd take that advice with a pinch of salt - I frequently draw runes on my body and just as frequently obtain the results from it that I intend. If in doubt - don't.

We've spoken about body modification as a method of communicating with other people but it can also be used as a means of connecting with our ancestors. Ancestry is very important in witchcraft, there is a lot of emphasis placed on honouring those who have walked the path before us. Jewellery and tattoos can be used to establish a link toward ancestors -  a name perhaps or a symbol that has meaning for them. Again this has connotations of protection, the idea of invoking and welcoming the spirit of the ancestor to stay by our side and offer support. It could also be a mark of respect or an acknowledgement of a particularly valued influence. In some traditions or covens it could even be a mark of belonging, a sign of acceptance among others.

Communication need not be restricted to other humans either whether they be living or deceased. Shamanism in particular makes use of animal symbols to forge a link with the spirit animals they invoke and with the part of themselves realised by their totem animals. Animal tattoos remain among the most popular designs requested and although this may be for aesthetic reasons among the general public they are symbolic for a lot of magical practitioners for bringing the characteristics of that animal into their body (think wolf for survival, bird for freedom, tiger for power).

Ultimately the possibilities are limited only by the imagination of the witch. So next time you seen a tattoo or an unusual piece of body modification look at it carefully. It may well be a fashion design but just perhaps it may be so much more.

Image at top of page http://www.freeimages.com/photo/473178%20markdesign

I'll leave you with a couple of images from my own personal gallery showing my own adornment. And if anyone wishes to share their own pictures and the story behind them I'd be delighted to publish in a future update. Just email to deguwitchrose@witchpathforward.com