Practical Magic

I saw this movie a few days ago and practically fell in love with it! In case you haven't seen the movie I won't give all of it away. But this is what I will say about it:

Basically its about 2 sisters who come to terms with themselves about being witches.

It seems witches run in their family since back in those old Salem days. When their parents both die the sisters go live with their aunts (masterfully played by Stockard Channing and Dianne Wiest).

First of all I have to say that the house that they lived in was absolutely gorgeous and I found out later that the house was built specifically for the movie but then it was torn day afterwards!

I LOVED the way that house looked and that is one of the main reasons why I like this movie. They also had a greenhouse where they grew herbs and they were always making some kind of magic potion in that gorgeous kitchen!

Unfortunately there were some parts of the movie that I didn't like and mainly it was the fact that they were taunted and a little ostracized for being witches - particularly their children as well - but when a town member needed a spell guess who it was that she went to!

I also like the line from the movie that said that you can't dabble in witchcraft and then look your nose down at it - which I agree with 100%.

There is also a cute spell that one of the characters casts as a child where she writes down quantities that she wants in her perfect man - quantities that she makes so unusual and rare that she believes that the spell couldn't possibly come true - but guess what? It does!

I think I enjoyed the scenery in this movie more than I did the movie! The witches lived on this property that was close to the water and the town looked so quaint! One could almost say that it looked picture perfect!

I have decided that this movie is definitely a keeper for my library!

Everything Has Layers!

As you can see from this picture, I try to use everything that I have! The sticks I'm saving so that I can use for wood in my fireplace (I still have to have the fireplace built and installed yet - LOL!

I can also use these sticks as stakes for my garden vegetables and some of the sticks are shaped nicely enough to make a nice wand (or two!)

Of course the bucket is going to be recycled and used for something else.

If you're wondering where the sticks came from - they are from an maple tree that is in the front of my house. When the weather gets really bad and there are storms, some of the branches will break and fall!

I'm thinking that there are so many things that I can use these sticks for and I have much more than you see here gathered up!

It's been raining like crazy and my garden needs some tending to but at least I DO have a garden that I am tending to this year. What makes it even better is that I still have some time to plant some more things as well!

Also I'm on the lookout for pumpkins too!

What Part Of Being A Witch Appeals Most To You?

Here's an interesting question that was posted elsewhere and I thought that it would be qood to put here.

What part of being a Witch appeals most to you?

Here is the answer that I gave:

Like I posted before I am a new member and I have started to read the posts from the beginning and this question caught my eye.

The part that appeals to me most is the fact that it wasn't what I expected. I thought being a witch meant all spells and magick and I have come to find out that it is not really like that. I have found that you have to work on yourself first, have the right state of mind and spirituality and such before you can attempt to do
things "outside" yourself.

I also like the fact that I am constantly finding out new things and finding new uses for things. I'm appreciating nature more and have just come to realize that everything is related in one way or another.

I'm Back In My Garden Again!

Yes, I'm back in my garden again this year! As you can see, here is a copy of one of my planted beans that I took last year but what is so good about this is that this looks just like the bean plant that is growing in my garden now! I guess this really does make me a "green" witch afer all! - LOL!

I have come to find out that while I am on my journey of witchcraft and being a witch, I am finding out other things about myself as well!

I enjoy gardening and I enjoy cooking and while I love working on my computer I also have come to appreciate what nature has to offer! I love seeing the "green" that is surrounding me at this time of the year and it provides a nice moment of relaxation when I'm drinking my tea!

I think that we should all learn to relax more! Stress is really something! There have been times that I have been so stressed that I actually believe that I have made myself ill!

This path that I am following is showing me a more spiritual side of myself - one that I should and am getting more in touch with. It's like I'm being told that there is more to witchcraft than just doing spells and I am getting that message quite clear! In fact I haven't done a spell in a while - how about that? But that doesn't mean that I'm not going to in the future - it's just that in my journey I have found that there is more to being a witch than just doing spells! For me, I think that it has a lot to do with knowing one's self and not trying to impress others - just know yourself and be true to yourself!

I initially started this blog because I wanted to give those who are interested and/or new to becoming a witch and witchcraft an insight into one's journey into such but I am finding that I am learning new and more things everyday! I know that the most important lesson that I have learned so far is that it is not ALL about just doing spells!

Imbolc

This is the time of season that is celebrated around February 1st or 2nd of each year and is associated with "beginning growth".

Here we plant the "seeds" of our hopes and dreams for the coming summer months.

I believe that this is the current season that we are in now. There is still the hint of winter in the air but there have been moments of warmer weather where we can feel a change of seasons coming on.

I am most interested in the food correspondences that are linked with this holiday which include: Foods: Sunflower Seeds, Pumpkin Seeds, Muffins, Dairy Products, Peppers, Onions, Raisons, Garlic, Poppy Seed Bread and Cakes, Herbal Teas, Spiced Wines, Potatoes, and Turnips. I'm particularly interested in the muffins, breads and cakes because I'm very interesting in cooking and baking and would like to try and bake some of these to celebrate this sabbath. I also love different herbal teas and I believe them to be quite soothing and theraputic as well!

Candles: Brown, Pink, and Red

Deities: Bridget, Aradia, Gaia, Dagda, Pan, and Herne

Angelwitch1012003?

I was looking at my screenname and it reminded me that I have been on my path since 2003, now almost 6 years! Wow! That is a lot of time!

Of course my first year involved learning as much as I could about "The Craft" and I am still finding out that I am still learning and will continue to learn all my life!

So much of it is so fascinating!

I have still continued to enjoy the path of hedgewitch (with a little "green" and "kitchen" witch thrown in).

Right now we are definitely in the midst of the winter season and I know that this is a good time for reflection and to prepare myself for the spring season coming.

Here you see a picture that I took just outside my door.

I have been laying low for the past few weeks because of the cold winter weather. Right now in the Philadelphia area the temperatures are quite cold and we are still recovering from all the ice that has built up everywhere! Even my neighbors are lying low and if they don't have to go out they don't! But we're expecting some warmer weather Sunday - temps in the 40's - so hopefully that will melt the ice outside that has grown so thick!

Mind you in some ways I am quite enjoying this weather. Since I work from home I haven't had to go out if I didn't want to unless it was for something like grocery shopping. And of course this will be a good time to start getting my income tax forms ready and ready to mail out.

I have my hot chocolate and tea to drink as I look out my window and view the gorgeous scenery around me that I am blessed to have and delight in the fact that I live in an area that does have a change of seasons - I don't think that I would have it any other way - in fact, I know that I wouldn't - LOL!

So I'm laying low and also giving thoughts to my garden and how I'm going to vow to start it as soon as possible!

Did You Know That..........

Witchcraft is a legally recognized religion in the United States,as declared in 1985, Dettmer V. Landon (617 E Supp.529) the District Court of Virginia pursuant to rule 52a of the Rules of Civil procedure. Reaffirmed in 1986 in the Federal Appeals Court, Fourth Circuit, Butzner J. (592 F. 2d. 934) Henceforth, Witchcraft and Witches are protected under the United States Constitution (Amendment I;XIV)

source
I Am A Witch.com

I Had Another "Experience" With The Rain Today!

I don't know what it is with me and the rain but it happened again today! I was out raking leaves. Even though the leaves were wet from the last rainfall I wanted to get them raked by the curb so that my local area would pick them up later this week! The weather was cold but as long as I was moving around it wasn't so bad! The weather report talked about rain so I wanted to get as much leaves raked as possible! Since I have an older tree in the front of my house there were a lot of leaves to rake so I got to it. I finished about 3/4 of the raking that needed to be done and since it was getting dark I decided to stop for the day.

No sooner had I gotten inside and was getting myself comfortable that I started to hear the rain on the window sill! It's like the rain was saying "we'll give you some time and wait until you are through" - kind of scary huh?

But this isn't the first time that this kind of thing has happened to me! There have been other occassions when the rain "has waited for me to be safely inside before it started! And just when I thought that I could control when it rained - I couldn't! It was like the rain was telling me that they were giving me a gift and not to abuse it! So mostly I try not to control it and let mother nature take its course and that's when it usually happens to me!

It was a nice feeling to have done the raking and then be inside the house as it started to rain!

It's Not All About Spells And SpellCasting

I'm always finding new and interesting information to add to my Book Of Shadows! And it occurred to me that since I'm adding the information to my Book Of Shadows that I could also add it here to this journal!

One of the first things that I found out about witchcraft and being a witch is that spells are not the only thing that a witch does and spells using complicated and a lot of tools is also not necessary! I think one of the most important lessons that I have learned about being a witch is that it is not all about spells!

I have found that in the Wicca tradition there is a saying that "everything is related and I have come to agree with that! Everything is related - from the dirt on the ground to the clouds in the sky!

I can understand those who are interested in witchcraft, being a witch and even the Wicca traditon - I mean who wouldn't want to be able to cast spells? TV and the movies make it look so good and appealing and even a little bit dangerous! But once you start learning more about it you'll find that it is not all about spells and spellcasting.

It is a LOT more than that!