Why I Became A Witch?

Why I decided to become a Witch?





Over these last few weeks I have gotten some really bad hate emails through Myspace,Facebook,and My Yearbook. I am used to that and that email gets filed into the trash file. The problem I have had problem of late is there are people who are in my life telling me what I believe is not classified as a religion. Do not put down my religion(yes hard to believe that us Wiccans,Pagans, Shamans, Druids and Heathens and what other path you may follow most are classified as a faith so deal with it and move on).

So when people in my life told me what I was practicing and the faith I was following was fake, not real, or make believe what I follow and practice is no Hocus Pocus, no on-line fantasy game, and no Harry Potter movie. What I practice is Witchcraft under the bylaw of Wicca. For you who do not know you have the Ten Commandments. Us Wiccans have the Wiccan Rede your only rule we must stand by is "Ye harm none, and do as ye will" if we break this law than the law of three goes in effect which means it will come back to you three times as bad, with that being said when you do something good than something good will come back to you three times in good ways.

I am an eclectic Wiccan; many pagans follow this path which in short means the take their beliefs from many different faiths. I do follow this path. I am a Wiccan, I am a Witch and yes I do practice the craft of witchcraft. I do have a spell book which is called the Book of Shadows and yes there are spells in it. I do have visions and voice ever since I was a teenager and I also do have out of body experiences. I can travel to places past, present and future and not always of this earth and yes at times I can predict the future sometimes, so this gift makes me a shaman. My Goddess is Freyja if you know of anything of Norse mythology. She is the Goddess of passion, love and romance also of war and magic. She is very fond of cats so cats are sacred to her there are other animals but cats are very special to her. So with her being my Goddess, who I follow I also follow Heathens. Wiccan is the laws I follow to a tee the other faith I mix and match.


Ok I was getting of the subject a bit, the above is who I am and what I follow and practice. When I get emails or people telling me what I practice and believe is wrong or it is a sin or that it is weird and dark. Who are these people to tell me what I can or cannot do? What I can and cannot believe in, when these people more than likely don't even know the first thing about my craft and faith...so shame on them for telling me what I can or cannot do or what I should and should not believe in. I am Wiccan and I’m a Witch and I am proud of who I am. How dare you tell I can't do something so shame on you all. Guess what this is me and it is my life. So deal with it or move on.


I know this blog is a bit long already and it will even get longer so bear with me for a little bit longer. The question at hand why did I decide to become a witch? Why am I an Eclectic Wiccan? Why do I worship the Goddess Freyja? Why do I practice some of the ways of Shamanism? Many questions that a lot of people could not answer so easy, for me it was different; at a young age I knew I was different. I knew I had a gift of seeing and hearing things most people didn't. I could predict my own future and most things I did was the advice from this given gift. Over the years the gift got more advanced more detailed and as of late I have gained the gift of experiencing out of body experience. I was born Christian and raised Christian. So to do this I thought it would be impossible, but I was wrong. I went to church a lot, I did the Sunday school thing, numerous bible studies etc etc. I was the christen boy inside and out, or was I?


There was something eating at me and as I got older and my gift was showing me something besides the life of Christianity. So I started to ask questions at church and when some of the questions could not be answered it started to tear at me more and more to the point that was all that was on my mind. I wanted the questions answered than a now, not tomorrow.


I had this gift and I knew being a Christian I would be judged and mocked for it. At one point my gift was called a sin and that I need to seek out spiritual guidance and physiological help. Was I sick in the head? Was I emotionally different? No I wasn't. I was no longer motivated as being a Christian it didn't move me and going to church wasn't because I wanted to it was because I had to it was horrible seeing everyone looking at me and knowing exactly what they were thinking. They were thinking that I was evil and that I was going to rot in the fiery pits of hell. Which brings me back to my current religion in Wicca we are not evil, we don't cause pain, we don't worship Satan. Now hence your beliefs are different we believe that you can't have good without evil and I strongly believe you have to have both to have balance.


Wicca is a nature religion and we believe in the elements of Fire, Earth, Air, Water and lastly Spirit. We believe in love, peace, and harmony. We expand your horizons through knowledge. We become more one with yourselves and nature through the practice of witchcraft and rituals. Nature and animals are sacred to us. Everything is for the Gods and Goddesses. Some worship one or the other and some worship many. Many of us believe the Gods and Goddesses are of one. So I crossed because I felt good about myself, I was moved and finally found what I was looking for and that was inner peace and happiness.


So what's does that mean now? I am the same person, I believe in the same issues of the world, my attitude and what I like to do is the same. Only thing that has change is my religious beliefs. Wiccans have eight difference holidays in what we call sabots. I have separate blogs on them so they are there for you to read or you can email me or call me if you have any questions. I will be more than happy to answer them for you.


So what do I celebrate? I do celebrate the eight sabots in the name of Freyja and dedicate rituals in her lovely name. Does that mean I won't celebrate the normal holidays when invited by family and friends? No, it just means during that time I will pray and give thanks to my Goddess. This is the life I have chosen for myself and I think it was a good choice and if in the end it was the wrong choice me and only me will be judged. I strongly believe it is the right choice and in the end I will live in peace in the halls of my Goddess and all her wonder.


So to end this very long blog. I have many friends I like. A family I truly love from the bottom of my heart. To Ang the one person I am so in love with and wish sometimes I can show it more, I am learning what love feels like and it feels awesome. Thank You Ang in being there for me when I needed someone like you in my life when I was ready to give up on life, you have shown me life is worth living for even at times when things seem impossible, you have let me think that things are worth it and in the end nothing is impossible. Thank you so very much. I am in so love with you. Thank you all for bearing with me on this very long blog. Have a great week. Love, peace, and harmony to all.


Blessed Be


From Twisted Journal of Jale

Jeff aka Jale

Litha June 21st Midsummer

 June 21st

History of Litha (MidSummer)

Also known as Summer Solstice, Litha, Alban Hefin, Sun Blessing, Gathering Day, Feill-Sheathain, Whit Sunday, Whitsuntide, Vestalia, Thing-tide, St. John's Day

In addition to the four great festivals of the Pagan Celtic year, there are four lesser holidays as well: the two solstices, and the two equinoxes. In folklore, these are referred to as the four 'quarter-days' of the year, and modern Witches call them the four 'Lesser Sabbats', or the four 'Low Holidays'. The Summer Solstice is one of them.

Litha is usually celebrated on June 21st, but varies somewhat from the 20th to the 23rd, dependant upon the Earth's rotation around the Sun. According to the old folklore calendar, Summer begins on Beltane (May 1st) and ends on Lughnassadh (August 1st), with the Summer Solstice midway between the two, marking MID-Summer. This makes more logical sense than suggesting that Summer begins on the day when the Sun's power begins to wane and the days grow shorter. The most common other names for this holiday are the Summer Solstice or Midsummer, and it celebrates the arrival of Summer, when the hours of daylight are longest. The Sun is now at the highest point before beginning its slide into darkness.

Humanity has been celebrating Litha and the triumph of light since ancient times. On the Wheel of the Year Litha lies directly across from Yule, the shortest day of the calendar year, that cold and dark winter turning when days begin to lengthen and humanity looks wistfully toward warmth, sunlight and growing things. Although Litha and Yule are low holidays or lesser sabats in the ancient parlance, they are celebrated with more revel and merriment than any other day on the wheel except perhaps Samhain (my own favourite). The joyous rituals of Litha celebrate the verdant Earth in high summer, abundance, fertility, and all the riches of Nature in full bloom. This is a madcap time of strong magic and empowerment, traditionally the time for handfasting or weddings and for communication with the spirits of Nature. At Litha, the veils between the worlds are thin; the portals between "the fields we know" and the worlds beyond stand open. This is an excellent time for rites of divination.

Those who celebrated Litha did so wearing garlands or crowns of flowers, and of course, their millinery always included the yellow blossoms of St. John's Wort. The Litha rites of the ancients were boisterous communal festivities with morris dancing, singing, storytelling, pageantry and feasting taking place by the village bonfire and torch lit processions through the villages after dark. People believed that the Litha fires possessed great power, and that prosperity and protection for oneself and one's clan could be earned merely by jumping over the Litha bonfire. It was also common for courting couples joined hands and jump over the embers of the Litha fire three times to ensure a long and happy marriage, financial prosperity and many children. Even the charred embers from the Litha bonfire possessed protective powers - they were charms against injury and bad wwweather in harvest time, and embers were commonly placed around fields of grain and orchards to protect the crops and ensure an abundant reaping. Other Litha customs included carrying an ember of the Litha fire home and placing it on one's hearth and decking one's home with birch, fennel, St. John's Wort, orpin, and white lilies for blessing and protection.

The Litha Sabbat is a time to celebrate both work and leisure, it is a time for children and childlike play. It is a time to celebrate the ending of the waxing year and the beginning of the waning year, in preparation for the harvest to come. Midsummer is a time to absorb the Sun's warming rays and it is another fertility Sabbat, not only for humans, but also for crops and animals. Wiccans consider the Goddess to be heavy with pregnancy from the mating at Beltane - honor is given to Her. The Sun God is celebrated as the Sun is at its peak in the sky and we celebrate His approaching fatherhood - honor is also given to Him. The faeries abound at this time and it is customary to leave offerings - such as food or herbs - for them in the evening.

Although Litha may seem at first glance to be a masculine observance and one which focuses on Lugh, the day is also dedicated to the Goddess, and Her flowers are the white blossoms of the elder.

Correspondences

Purpose
Rededication to the Lord and Lady, beginning of the harvest, honoring the Sun God,
honoring the pregnant Godddess

Dynamics/Meaning
Crowning of the Sun God, death of the Oak King, assumption of the Holly King,
end the ordeal of the Green Man

Tools, Symbols & Decorations
The sun, oak, birch & fir branches, sun flowers, lilies, red/maize/yellow or gold flower, love amulets, seashells, summer fruits & flowers, feather/flower door wreath, sun wheel, fire, circles of stone, sun dials and swords/blades, bird feathers, Witches' ladder.

Colors
Blue, green, gold, yellow and red.

Customs
Bonfires, processions, all night vigil, singing, feasting, celebrating with others, cutting
divining rods, dowsing rods & wands, herb gathering, handfastings, weddings, Druidic
gathering of mistletoe in oak groves, needfires, leaping between two fires, mistletoe
(without berries, use as a protection amulet), women walking naked through gardens
to ensure continued fertility, enjoying the seasonal fruits & vegetables, honor the
Mother's fullness, richness and abundance, put garlands of St. John’s Wort placed
over doors/ windows & a sprig in the car for protection.

Goddesses
Mother Earth, Mother Nature, Venus, Aphrodite, Yemaya, Astarte, Freya, Hathor,
Ishtar, all Goddesses of love, passion, beauty and the Sea, and Pregnant,
lusty Goddesses, Green Forest Mother; Great One of the Stars, Goddess of the Wells

Gods
Father Sun/Sky, Oak King, Holly King, Arthur, Gods at peak power and strength.

Animals/Mythical Beings
Wren, robin, horses, cattle, satyrs, faeries, firebird, dragon, thunderbird

Gemstones
Lapis lazuli, diamond, tiger’s eye, all green gemstones, especially emerald and jade

Herbs
Anise, mugwort, chamomile, rose, wild rose, oak blossoms, lily, cinquefoil, lavender,
fennel, elder, mistletoe, hemp, thyme, larkspur, nettle, wisteria, vervain ( verbena),
St. John’s wort, heartsease, rue, fern, wormwood, pine,heather, yarrow,
oak & holly trees

Incense/Oil
Heliotrope, saffron, orange, frankincense & myrrh, wisteria, cinnamon, mint, rose, lemon, lavender, sandalwood, pine

Rituals/Magicks
Nature spirit/fey communion, planet healing, divination, love & protection magicks.
The battle between Oak King, God of the waxing year & Holly King, God of the waning
year (can be a ritual play), or act out scenes from the Bard’s (an incarnation of Merlin)
"A Midsummer Night’s Dream", rededication of faith, rites of inspiration.

Foods
Honey, fresh vegetables, lemons, oranges, summer fruits, summer squash,
pumpernickel bread, ale, carrot drinks, mead.

Beltane April 30th/May 1st