Witches Bottles and Spell Bottles

A brief discussion on Witches bottles and Spell bottles

Quite often the term witches bottle and spell bottles are used interchangeably which in essence is not correct as they are indeed two separate things.

Witches Bottles:

Historically these bottles became popular in the 1600s as a means of defense and protection against witchcraft.  There have been examples unearthed in many places including in Greewich and even in Pennsylvania.  These bottles are based on the idea of sympathetic magic and were designed to protect and to cause harm to those sending the magic.  Traditionally made in pottery vessels (there is some evidence for glass bottles having been used also) they contained sharp items (nails, pins etc), bodily items (urine, hair, fingernails etc) and other items such as bones, sulphur, ribbons etc.  The idea was that the bodily items would draw the magic aimed at the person to the bottle through association and that the nails etc would harm the practitioner casting the magic.  These bottles would usually be buried top down on the property under a fireplace ( for its perceived ease of access by witches and evil spirits), under the floor, in the yard, or they could be plastered into walls etc.

Today's witches bottles follow similar lines to the traditional design, however their purpose is somewhat different.  These bottles are designed for protection and for many practitioners the intent is to draw and trap negative energies not to mirror them back or cause harm to the source.  Recipes usually involve nails or pins, wine, rosemary, salt and other items depending on your path and intention.

(Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/5437664/Witch-bottle-containing-finger-nails-hair-and-pins-discovered.html)

Spell Bottles:

Unlike Witches Bottles spell bottles are used for any number of purposes.  There is a history of these bottles being used throughout various practices, especially Hoodoo, and as prayer bottles in abrahamic faiths.  In essence they are a physical representation of your spell work and are often kept visible so that ones repeated focus on them will continue to add emphasis to the spell being cast.  These bottles are usually glass and their ingredients obviously differ dependent on what the spell itself is. They are often sealed with wax and decorated or even painted appropriately for the intent.  This decorative nature adds to the element of drawing attention to the spell being worked, if your eyes and mind are constantly drawn to the bottle by its presentation than your thoughts are constantly being added to the intent held within the bottle.

(Source: http://www.moonslipper.com/spell-bottles.html)

The Nature of the Divine

The Nature of the Divine

How many of you have been asked to explain what you mean when you talk about the Divine/Deity/Gods etc?  Have you struggled to have it make sense to the person asking?  Have you struggled to come to a solid conclusion in your own mind?  How do you put that into words?  Do you think it even matters?

I think this is one area in which those that follow a pagan path(1) counter resistance not only among ourselves but from those outside our belief system.  Firstly, the practical - there is such a diversity among those who practice Pagan faiths as to what the nature of their divine is.  Sadly, despite the claims to be inclusive I've also found that many do not like it if your idea and their idea do not mesh well together.  It is virtually impossible to come up with a definition of the divine to a pagan that would happily satisfy all participants and so do we try?  Should we try?  I had this discussion recently in a class of mine over the nature of faith and the inability to define it because it was faith which by its nature cannot be 'proven'.  Secondly, a common grounds for evidence.  Generally speaking most of the more modern pagan faiths do not have a sacred text and for many outside the system this lack of text amounts to a lack of evidence for our belief in the divine.  A majority of paths claim to get their evidence from nature, yet the conclusions drawn can still be quite varied.

Does it all even matter?  I know some claim that theology is not important to the pagan system.  That an intellectual understanding and discussion is secondary to our practices, that to act is more important and I have to wonder at this.  While I believe that participation and practice are vital to connecting and growing I cannot discount the need to have some understanding of where it is all coming from.  Perhaps it is the teacher/historian in me that wants to understand but I find it difficult to fully participate in anything when I can't explain to someone why I do it.  If I don't have a clear idea in my head of what the divine is to me, what is sacred, how prayer works, etc how can I practice and participate fully.  How can I call upon or connect to the divine if I don't understand what it is I'm connecting to.  For me personally I think we should take time out of our practices to solidify our understanding.

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1. I should clarify here that when discussing pagan paths I am mostly referring to the modern pagan systems.

Musing Monday (1/7/13)

Okay, its a day late on this one, yesterday was my 7 year anniversary so I opted to spend the day with hubby instead :)

Today's Musing comes cutesy of something found on pinterest again (yes, I'm addicted) and is just a little something to get the mind thinking.

I found this wonderful tree of contemplative practices that lists a great variety of common contemplative practices that people can take place in and decided to snag it as a reminder of the different practices that are open to us in creating a connection and awareness of ourselves and the all.

The original tree can be found at The Center for Contemplative Mind in Society where they have details on each of the activities listed.  They also have a downloadable blank pdf so that you can design your own tree which I think could be quite a worthy activity to do.

Free Friday (1-4-13)

Today's Free Friday comes in the form of a Book Review.  I have just finished reading T. Thorn Coyle's "Kissing the Limitless" and I loved it.

I'll be the first to admit that while I don't have the collection that some Pagans do I think I have read my fair share of various books related to this spiritual path and I have to say that I am in love with T. Thorn Coyle's words (Yes, I have Evolutionary Witchcraft as my next book to read).

"We need to make magic from where we are, not where we should be. We can set ourselves up for failure because we are not honest about who we are right in this moment. Magic is simple. But to get simple takes a lot of practice, and a lot of presence."

On reading these words I was hooked on this book.  I think what I love most is that this book is more than the usual "here's how I do things and why" to this book, there is depth.  Coyle's education and experiences both shine through giving the reader a text that is both thoughtful, inclusive and based in actual experiences.  Yes, there is Feri influence but there is also Jungian psychology, ceremonial magic, thelema and many other paths explored throughout this work all of which combined creates a text that makes sense.  The fact that Coyle makes an effort to draw connections to various religious paths with what she is discussing is to her credit, too often authors focus only on a pagan or Wiccan perspective and it can take away from the significance.  The fact that it is pointed out that many paths follow a similar idea or practice adds credibility to the truth of it in my eyes at least.

The focus of this book is, as the title states, about getting your spiritual self organized, on track and moving towards a deeper connection.  Divided into 3 parts the book offers a variety of reflective activities as well as working activities that will help you move past barriers that you may have erected or hurdles that you're just struggling with. There is no rush to get through this book, it isn't a "here's your year and a day" program, it is something for you to work through and on at whatever level for as long as you need and Coyle emphasizes not rushing into the next step until you're ready.

This book is not meant for the dabbler, it is meant to assist you with creating a lifelong spiritual practice that will encourage your growth but that requires dedication and hard work.

Thankful Thursday (1-3-13)

Today I am thankful for:

1. Frosty mornings that bring a quiet to the world and invigorate the body.
2. Great friends who lift my heart with love and laughter
3. Future plans to look forward to
4. A break from school work
5. A personal shift that has given me more strength and peace within myself.

Being in the Moment

Being in the Moment

I found this wonderful image on Pinterest and had to snag it.  It is now up on my monitor at work and is going to be put up on my monitor at home, my ritual area, on my phone, on the fridge, on my mirror - basically any place I will see it on a regular basis.  Why?  Because this simple act is so damned important to our everyday life and our spiritual practice.  How often are you actually 'in' the moment, fully present and fully participating with all your senses and being?  I've noticed that for me this is something I've lost some of my connection to.  With the frantic pace that I have kept up with school and work and life I've forgotten how to 'be' in a moment, to stop and appreciate it, to be fully present in it and how much that adds to the experience that is life.

Being in the moment allows us to connect on a deeper level and this deeper connection allows us to feel and be part of the magic of this world.  Developing this skill helps us with our spiritual practice, not just on a day to day basis but in our rituals and magic working also.  Meditation and daily prayer takes on a whole new level when we can be fully present in the experience, shut down our frantic minds and tune in to the world.  If we can't be in the moment, we can't effectively practice because we cannot truly tune in to the energies of the world around us and to our inner power and intent.

To be present in each moment is to better know yourself and to be comfortable with yourself.  How many people are comfortable alone in their own mind?  If we can master being alone with ourselves and yet feeling connected to the all we can deepen our connection with the all.

New possibilities

New calendar year and new possibilities.  For me this year is all about my connection with the divine and deepening my spiritual journey.  Which has left me considering some of the bigger 'principles' of my personal faith.  What I believe in and from there how I work that into my life.  I've never really sat down and written out what I believe before.  I've answered when asked questions but I've never tried to commit to paper in clear wording what exactly I believe.  So I undertook this task recently, I sat down and I put to paper what I believed, those principles that guided my faith, my practices and my life.  It wasn't an easy task - and I am certain that these things will change as I grow, learn and develop.  You see I don't feel that our faith should be rigid.  Should it have solid foundations, most definitely.  But I think we have to be willing to look at what we believe critically as new information, understanding and experiences come to us and adjust if we feel the need.

I have to say I highly recommend this practice to all.  Taking the time to think about what you believe, to write it out, to analyse it and see if it all works well together (no contradictions) is something that has actually had me connect with my path on a deeper level.

How do we go about doing this?  I'll admit, I was stuck to start with.  So I googled what other faiths believed and worked from there.  I looked at the principles of multiple different faiths (Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity, Wicca, etc) to get an idea of what 'topics' their principles covered.  Then I started to write my own ideas down for each of these.  When I found myself getting too wordy I stopped and reflected on how to say it simply, what the core of it all was.  Then I reread them over, did I repeat myself?  Did I contradict myself? Did I really believe that?  Eventually I got to a list of 15 principles.  As I said, this list will likely change in some respects over the years to come but I feel that I am on far more solid ground with my faith now than I was before because I have taken the time to understand why I believe it.