My Garden!

Well I checked over the weekend and I'm starting to see some of them sprout up! I'm so excited because it has been a long time since I have had a chance to start, much less tend my garden!

So far I have managed to plant some beans, peas, corn, peanuts and I have planted a couple of herbs as well. I have also noticed that my rosebush has sprouted and I have these lovely dark roses! I think I'm going to save some of the petals and use them for something!

I was reading someone else's post about how their life had become so busy and that they didn't have time to do any spells or rituals lately but they did find time to bake some bread - from scratch! Something about kneading the dough made them feel very relaxed and how they felt that they were putting a part of themself into the baking. That's something that I would love to get back into doing - baking from scratch! Besides making the house smell so yummy baking is a very good relief.

I probably sound old-fashioned and since I have bought my baked goods already made from the store it has been a long time since I have baked anything from scratch - but I'm thinking about it!

The Interest In Witchcraft is growing!

from The Independent

Witchcraft casts spell on young

Record numbers of young women are dabbling in witchcraft, fuelling a boom in sales of spell books and other pagan paraphernalia, according to new research.

A study of teenagers and their consumption of books, magazines, kits, film and other media found that there are some 700,000 internet sites for teenage witches. The Pagan Federation claims to have several hundred inquiries a week from young people, and has set up a network for those under 18.

"There has been a noticeable rise in the number of young people identifying themselves as witches," saidDenise Cush, professor of religious studies at Bath Spa University.

The trend is being boosted by American TV series such as Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Charmed and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Yesterday, several hundred witches gathered in south London for Witchfest, held at the Fairfield Halls in Croydon.

According to Professor Cush's report, based on interviews with witches aged 18 to 24, it is the attitude to women that most attracts them: "Paganism and witchcraft appealed because of their clear feminist credentials and absence of homophobia. A main attraction is the positive valuation of women in comparison with other religions."

According to the women and girls at Witchfest, their reasons for taking up witchcraft vary. Jayde Harris, 18, became interested because her mother is also a witch. "I don't always tell people about it," she said. Fellow Wiccan Lyn Jones said: "I do spells of good luck for people mainly. I sometimes want to do bad spells but I don't - they come back to you three times as bad."

And Sarah Jayne Thompson, 13, said: "My family are Christian but it never seemed to fit with me so I began reading about Wicca. Lots of the younger kids at school are scared of me, which is cool."

Despite the solidarity at Witchfest, many still keep their beliefs private. Ms Jones said: "I only tell close friends... standing in the queue to come in we were worried someone we know would see usand think we're weird."

I Started My Garden!

I was looking at my gardening notes (yes I keep notes (-: and saw that I haven't had a garden since 2003! 4 years! A lot has gone on in my life in those 4 years and I can see why I wasn't doing any gardening. But to turn this into a happy post I started planting my first seeds in the past few days!

This is quite an accomplishment for me and I'm very excited to have started my garden again! It gives me more meaning now since I have taken the path of a hedge/green/kitchen witch. I mean really - shouldn't a hedge/green/kitchen witch have a garden!!!!!!

My first planted seeds are just a few vegetables but I plan on planting something like every two weeks. (Hopefully I'll post some pictures here of my garden). Excited as I am I just want to plant everything but my past experience with gardening has shown me that having patience is the best thing.

I'm thinking of having a true witch's garden which just means that besides having a lot of different things planted, the things that I plant I will use also in my cooking and my spellwork which brings me to the subject of herbs.

I can just imagine harvesting my herbs! Gathering the harvest and wrapping them together with string.......................

I have a good sized area for my garden and have a section for herbs and a section for vegetables and I'll plant flowers and the like at different corners or areas. But one of the most important things that I have learned about gardening is that it takes patience. There will be a lot of maintenance but there will also be a lot of fun times watching them grow, picking and harvesting them.

I don't know how many of you out there have gardens or are thinking about starting a garden but I would highly recommend it! Not only is it relaxing it also teaches one patience and gives you more appreciation for nature and what goes on with nature. When I'm out in my garden I like feeling the breeze and looking at the trees and just hearing the sounds of the neighborhood. All of this does wonders for your soul. And when your soul is at peace so are you.

How Spells Can Manifest.......

I was organizing my bills for the month and came upon my heating bill. Looking at it reminded me of a spell I did and how it turned out.

I wrote a spell all by myself. In the beginning I was told that writing one's own spell would make it more personal - so that's what I did. The beginning line of the spell was "Decrease my stress, my worries, my hell........." and it was a spell to bring me financial gain. I wrote out the spell, chanted it in front of a burning white candle and then let the candle burn out. How did my spell manifest? My heating bill came to $0 - TWICE! Imagine my shock! And it was during the winter when the heating bill is at its highest!

Looking back on this spell (and I noted it in my Book Of Shadows) I think it manifested the way it did because I was probably thinking about my bills at the time and this resulted in the spell turning out the way it did.

It was a kooky kind of result but it just made me want to try it more and this isn't my last "money" spell!