I is for Isis

I is for Isis

Isis was a goddess in Ancient Egyptian religious beliefs. She was worshiped as the ideal mother and wife. She was the friend of slaves, sinners, artisans, and the downtrodden. She listened to the prayers of the wealthy, maidens, aristocrats, and rulers.
Isis is the goddess of motherhood, magic and fertility.

The goddess Isis was the first daughter of Geb, god of the Earth, and Nut, the goddess of the Sky, and was born on the fourth day. At some time Isis and Hathor had the same headdress. In later myths about Isis, she had a brother, Osiris, who became her husband, and she then was said to have conceived Horus. Isis was instrumental in the resurrection of Osiris when he was murdered by Set. Her magical skills restored his body to life after she gathered the body parts that had been strewn about the earth by Seth. This myth became very important in later Egyptian religious beliefs.

Students of mythology will recognize the close resemblance between the myth of Aphrodite and Adonis and that of Isis and Osiris, but this may simply be due to the fact that they represent the same natural process


In the Egyptian Sacred Rites of Isis, the temple hierodules and melissae were actually in charge of and initiated the proceedings which were designed to stimulate the flow of the ‘netters’, the Egyptian chi or prana. Added to that, there were (and still are) certain advanced stages of the process that cannot happen without the woman’s agreement — she actually precipitates it. I’m thinking of the most important stage called the Opening of the Magnetic Floor which takes place during the "adoration of the beloved". If the woman does not feel adoration for the Beloved and from the Beloved, her ‘floor’ cannot open, and the resulting implosion of elixirs does not take place between them. So the feeling of love between the two souls is paramount …

But it is also vital that total trust and honesty exists between the two partners for the love to arise in the woman’s heart. And this is also where all the aforementioned spiritual practises and rules come into play. By living in truth, goodness and beauty, the Hara line remains straight, chakras become clearer and balanced and the djed, which is the energetic column that contains the ‘serpent flow’ which runs up the spine, remains healthy and maintains its integrity. Otherwise, there could be “burn out”. (part of a series of writings by Emeth)

Rihanna tattoo

Various authors speculate on the fact that Mary as a young girl was most likely sent to Egypt and the Temple of Isis to become initiated into the ways of the sacred Priestess (as is also thought of Jesus’ mother Mary who was also trained in the sacred ways of the Priestess).  Here, she becomes Qadishtu and is taught the practice of sacred sexuality where she becomes the living vessel for the Goddess to enter in the ancient rite known as ‘hieros gamos’ or ‘sacred marriage’.

Love Spell to Induce Lust

Confessions of a Crafty Witch shared this spell to induce lust in a partner on Facebook and I simply had to share it!

LOVE SPELL TO INDUCE LUST 

You'll need: ginseng hibiscus cinnamon - ground or whole red candles
Make an infusion of the ginseng and hibiscus. If you're using whole cinnamon sticks,
stick them in the tea. If it's ground, sprinkle it on. Surround yourself with the (lit) red candles,
and drink the tea. If you find it too bitter tasting, you can also add the tea to a bath.

MAGICK LOVE CHANT 
" One to seek him/her, 
One to find him/her, 
One to bring him/her, 
One to bind him/her, 
Heart to heart, forever one, 
So say I, this spell is done."


Tip: have a Fully Charged Viberator handy

H is for Hag

H is for Hag

In Fairy Tales featuring a Hag, she is the crone and a symbol of transformation.
In the Middle Ages the Crone Goddess became the Wicked Witch and Hag Archetype of our fairy tales. Her knowledge and wisdom was persecuted by the Church's fear.

Fairy Tales Mentioning the Hag
(Some of these are sort of disturbing if you're thinking of children reading them...try and focus on the allegory)

Fairy Tale with Unknown Name
As you can probably guess, I do not know the name of this fairy tale.
I do remember that in it a fairy disguised as a hag seduces a prince by telling him that he must make love to her in order to be blessed with riches and what not. He is appalled by the sight of her and can't get it up but she finally persuades him and he bears through it. After the deed is done the hag transforms into a rare beauty, becomes his wife and they live happily ever after.
If you know the name of this story, please tell me, I can't find it online.

Snow White
We all know the story of Snow White, at the very least we've seen the Disney movie. Snow White's wicked stepmother/evil queen sends a huntsman after her to take out her heart. She is saved by 7 dwarves. Is tricked into eating a poisoned apple. A kiss of true love awakens her and she is saved and marries a handsome prince.

Snow White’s original age was 7. Also, she was forced to undergo 3 tricks of the Evil Queen. The first being a corset that is tied over-tight and cuts off her breathing. The second is a poisoned comb that puts her to sleep. The third is the poisoned apple that puts her into a magical coma.
She still wins over the evil queen though, who was then punished in a pretty creative fashion. She was forced to step into red-hot iron shoes and dance until she fell down dead.
In their first edition, the Brothers Grimm published the version they had first collected, in which the villain of the piece is actually Snow White’s jealous birth mother. In other versions, the step mother is a cannibal and wants to eat a part of Snow White’s body, usually her heart.


The Old Woman Who Was Skinned Alive
A king mistakenly believes that two hideous, smelly, deformed old women are actually the most delicate, beautiful and scrumptious of young tender maidens.
He has never actually laid eyes on them, since they’re hidden behind a large wall – but he becomes so passionately aroused after kissing one of the old woman’s fingers through the keyhole in the gate, that he begs to be able to spend the night with her. She agrees to bed him, but only if he will take her in the dark – since, according to herself, she is ‘far too modest to expose her nakedness to him’. The king rushes home to wait in anticipation for night to fall and his love to come to him.

In an attempt to make herself feel more youthful to the king’s touch, the old woman takes all her loose, sagging skin and ties it behind her back with string. She then covers herself with a long shroud, and limps in the dark to the king’s chambers.
After he has finished ‘the deed’ and she’s fallen asleep, the king discovers the secret his ‘tender maiden’ has hidden behind her back, and after lighting a candle he finds that his bed-mate is actually a disgusting old hag. He freaks out and throws her out the window.

Luckily the old woman has so much loose, sagging skin that she gets caught in the branches of a nearby tree and is left hanging there. Some fairies fly by and find the sight of the old woman so funny that they endow her with gifts of wondrous beauty, intelligence, and youth as a reward; she now has the body and face of a 15 year old! The king looks out his bedroom window in the morning, discovers a stunningly beautiful girl sitting in his tree, and immediately takes her for his wife.

The new queen, not wanting to reveal her beauty secret to her sister, tells the old hag that she has had herself skinned alive. The remaining old woman – presumably not wanting to be left out – takes herself quick-smart to the nearest barber shop, and requests that she also be skinned alive. When the barber has removed her skin down to her navel, the old woman dies of blood loss and pain (letting out a big fart as she does so) and her sister and the king live happily ever after.

The moral of the story? Something to do with the vanity of aging women I guess – but regardless of the moral, that is one damn bizarre fairy tale.
-(Giambattista Basile – Il Pentamerone (Entertainment For The Young) 1634)

Self-Blessing Breast Blessing

In the Witch's Brew Spell Deck by Witch Bree there are two spells of self-blessing I love and I think they could go very well together. I wanted to share them here in hopes my readers find them as helpful as I have.

Self-Blessing

"The Time You Take to restore yourself is previous. Perform a self-blessing every day. Take dried sage and aromatic lavender and tie it up in a muslin sack. Breathe in the aroma deeply three times. Beginning at the top of your head, the crown chakra, pass the pouch down to your feet, gently touching your other sacred chakras: throat, solar plexus, stomach, and pelvis. Then, holding the bag of herbs over your heart and speak aloud:
Gone are sorrows, illness, and woe,
Here wisdom and health begin to flow.
My heart is whole, joy fills my soul. 
Blessed be me."

Breast Blessing

"Celebrate The Beauty Of Your Body. Take one cup of natural beeswax and heat very slowly. Add one-quarter cup sesame oil and sir until the wax has melted. Let it cool to skin temperature and add:

Eight drops sandalwood oil + Five drop lemon oil 

Two drops rose oil

Anoint yourself with the oil slowly, gently, and lovingly as you cup each breast and chant:
We all come from the Goddess. I am she; she is me. 
My breasts are holy and beautiful. 
I love myself, I love my body, I am consecrated.
Your temple is not prepared for love!"

I am worthy of love - breakup recovery

I recently went through a break-up with my girlfriend for the same reason I have broken up with previous girlfriends - as a polyamourous couple, my husband and I had sought out a bisexual female who would be interested in forming a triad or a trinogamous group with us (otherwise known as a Unicorn). Turns out the majority of the girls we've found and dated were not as bisexual as they claimed to be and were dating me as a sort of trial they had to go through in order to date my husband.

This break-up, combined with past break-ups, has done a number on my self-esteem, making me feel unattractive to the same sex and only worth looking at because of my husband. While my brain and rational tells me this is not true, that I've only had some bad luck when it comes to trying to find a girlfriend; my emotions tell me otherwise.

I decided to call upon my love of magic and witchcraft to help me come out of this endeavor and take a step in the right direction in my love life.
While my husband and I haven't decided whether or not we will seek partners separately in either a quad or open relationship, it is a direction I would like to pursue.
Before we can do that, though, I have to rebuild my love of self. In the words of Ru Paul, if you can't love yourself, how the hell are you gonna love someone else?

I meditated on self-love as I awoke and throughout my morning of making coffee and tea, breakfasting, writing for my other blogs, answering e-mails, checking in on friends. I drew myself a bath and used my favorite salts and oils. I lit an oil burner beside the tub with New Moon and Rose oils for new beginnings and love.
I trimmed my hair to remove the non-beneficial in my life.
I chose stones - rose quartz for self love, orange carnelian for my sexuality, blue cats eye for new insight.
I then bathed and lounged in the tub, relaxing an d loving my body.
As I washed I made a point to admire every curve. I caressed my thighs and belly, cupped my breasts and told myself I was beautiful. I did it until I believed it, because I'm the one that matters here.
As I stepped out of the tub I gently patted myself dry and looked in the mirror, telling myself I was beautiful again.

In the rest of the house I opened the windows to bring in the spring sunshine and fresh air.
I then swept the room in which the break-up happened, started from the exact area in which it happened and sweeping towards the door. I mentally banished the negative emotions and energies with the dust and grime. I didn't want any vestige touching me as I stepped around the apartment barefoot.

I then sat down with a cup of tea and wrote a love letter to myself, noting all the wonderful things about myself and followed it up to the things that make me desirable to another person, another woman specifically. I will use this paper for when I'm ready to date again to bring the energies and person into my life who will appreciate all of these things.
Until that time, I will use this love letter to remind myself who I am in times when I feel particularly shitty.

I'm writing this particular post because I know there are others out there dealing with similar issues - even if its just breaking up and feeling crappy about it. I hope you can benefit from my experience.

Blessings.

Bring Me a Polyamorous Love Spell

This spell is from one of my favorite books, Pagan Polyamory by Raven Kaldera. I have re-written the spell to be easier for BOS use, for me. If you would like to read the original spell, feel free to check it out in the book on page 11.








Tools
A large pillar candle with multiple wicks in red, pink, green or other appropriate color.
Essential oil blend of love scents such as violet, rose, apple blossom, etc.
Colored thread, one for each person participating, that represent a trait they are looking for in the new lover.
A lighter or matches.

Timing
(this is not in the book but I wanted to add it from my own studies)
Fridays are Freya's Day and associated with love goddesses such as Freya, Aphrodite, Venus.
Waxing Moon is a great time for magic that draws something in and manifesting things into fruition.
So I recommend a Friday on a Waxing Moon.
If you want a specific time, 6 is the number of Venus, so 6 am with the coming dawn and beginnings or 6 pm which is a time of relaxation at the end of the day and particularly beneficial for those who practice nocturnal witchcraft.

Each person involved in the spell should get oil on their fingers. If there are more than one of you, start by anointing each other and affirming your bonds of love and/or friendship. Then each person anoints the candle saying, "I come to the flame of love with an open heart."

Each person ties one of their threads around the bottom of the pillar candle. (Although you can have as many threads as you want, it's good not to fill up more than the bottom third of the candle, because you will be burning it down.) The other end of teach thread gets loosely tied around the left wrist of the person who brought it (the thread), in a big enough loop that they can easily slip their hand out. The querent(s) stand around the candle, tied to it by threads, and one person lights the candle, saying, "We are blessed with the presence of the flame of love."

Each person then recites the following prayer, either one after the other or as a call-and-response with one person reading it off and the others reciting it back:

Lady of Love who dances in our hearts,

We call you to this place

In the heart of this dancing flame.

Love flows in this circle in abundance,

Enough and more for many lovers,

and we with to share it still further.

You who are the magnetism of the universe,

Draw the right lover to these open arms, 

and help us to trust in your decision.

You who are the spark of passion, 

Let this yearning be a siren call

Heard only by the right ears.

Let it be a song in their blood,

A voice in the wind,

That brings them to the light of this circle

and into the love of a family.

We swear that here in this place,

Their unique soul will be appreciated

and the song of their heart desperately needed

to match, and to complement,

the songs that are sung here tonight.

Everyone takes the threads off their wrists and wraps the remaining lengths around the candle.
It should be allowed to burn down to the point where the threads begin. During this time, play music (either yourself on a instrument or on a CD) of your favorite love songs and sing along to them. Sing along, dance, and have a love-song festival for the next hour or so. This is your offering to the Love Goddesses.

Once it has been burned to this point, it should be wrapped in cloth and put somewhere safe where it will not be lost.
If the Gods of love are happy with your offering, they will send someone. It may take a long time - days, weeks, months, or a year or two, especially if you've made very specific requests.
Just make sure when they show up in your life that you are paying attention to recognize them and to sign for the package.

G is for Goat

G is for Goat

I first heard of the Goat in reference to a ritual as a joke - it was when my husband became a Mason and when initiated it is jokingly called 'riding the goat.'

Witches Sabbat by Francisco de Goya

Witches' Sabbath or The Great He-Goat is generally assumed to be a satire on the credulity of the age and a mocking condemnation of both popular superstition and the witch trials of the Spanish Inquisition.

Two figures in Paganism use the Goat figure prominently; Baphomet and Pan or The Horned God.

Baphomet
The figure most people associate with an image of the Judeo-Christian Satan or Devil.

Baphomet is the god who is called Lord of Perversions, because He takes those things that others consider perversions and redeems them into holy acts. (Welcoming to the Temple of Baphomet)
Baphomet first appeared in 11th and 12th century Latin and Provençal as a corruption of "Mahomet" the Latinisation of "Muhammad," but later it appeared as a term for a pagan idol in trial transcripts of the Inquisition of the Knights Templar in the early 14th century.

Since 1855, the name Baphomet has been associated with a "Sabbatic Goat" image drawn by Eliphas Lévi. It represents the duality of male and female, as well as Heaven and Hell or night and day signified by the raising of one arm and the downward gesture of the other. It can be taken in fact, to represent any of the major harmonious dichotomies of the cosmos. However, Baphomet has been connected with Satanism as well, primarily due to the adoption of its symbol by the Church of Satan.

Lévi called his image "The Goat of Mendes", presumably following Herodotus' account that the god of Mendes, the Greek name for Djedet, Egypt, was depicted with a goat's face and legs. Herodotus relates how all male goats were held in great reverence by the Mendesians, and how in his time a woman publicly copulated with a goat.
Historically, the deity that was venerated at Egyptian Mendes was a ram deity Banebdjed, who was the soul of Osiris.
The concept of a downward-pointing pentagram on its forehead was enlarged upon by Lévi in his discussion (without illustration) of the Goat of Mendes arranged within such a pentagram, which he contrasted with the microcosmic man arranged within a similar but upright pentagram.

Baphomet features in the Creed of the Gnostic Catholic Church recited by the congregation in The Gnostic Mass, in the sentence: "And I believe in the Serpent and the Lion, Mystery of Mystery, in His name BAPHOMET."
For Crowley, Baphomet is further a representative of the spiritual nature of the spermatozoa while also being symbolic of the "magical child" produced as a result of sex magic. As such, Baphomet represents the Union of Opposites, especially as mystically personified in Chaos and Babalon combined and biologically manifested.

I am Baphomet 

Lord of Perversions 

What they throw away I save 

What they devalue I hold holy 

What they tread underfoot I raise up 

What they cast off as ugly decorates my holy raiment 

What they fear becomes my weapon 

I am both man and woman 

I am filled with lust for both man and woman 

I am only as cruel as your own repressed desires 

    and only as hard on you as you are on yourself 

I will prey on your mind, legions of sterility! 

Here I stand with horns and hooves and hair 

    and I cannot be made pure and heavenly. 

Here I stand with goat's beard and woman's breasts 

    and I cannot be made simply man or woman 

Here I stand with hard cock and wet cunt 

    and I cannot be made into a safely sexless androgyne 

Here I stand with whips in my hand 

        --those whom I love I chastise with many rods-- 

    and I cannot be made to kneel and serve 

Here I stand, Mr. Falwell, Mr. Robertson-- 

    are you ready for me? 

Pray to me for the perversion of your enemies 

    for I shall turn them upside down 

        and dangle them in the filth of their own making. 

Excerpt from Hymn to Baphomet

from Hermaphrodeities by Raven Kaldera

The Horned God
Also known as Pan, Hern, Cernnunos, Dionysis, etc.


The consort of the Goddess and symbol of male energy, he is the personification of the Sacred Masculine. He is the lord of the woodlands, the hunt and animals. He provides for the tribe through the hunt. He is honored for his deed by joining with the Goddess through the Great Rite.

The Horned God is is the lord of life, death and the underworld. He is also the Sun to the Goddess' Moon. He alternates with the Goddess in ruling over the fertility cycle of birth, death and rebirth. He is born at the winter solstice, unites with the Goddess in marriage at Beltane  and dies at the summer solstice to bring fertility to the land as the Sacred King.

Paintings discovered in the Caverne des Trois Freres at Ariege, France provides evidence of the first views of the Horned One. Depicted as a stag standing upright on hind legs with the upper body of a man, the figure is celebrating what appears to be a hunt and wooing a woman.

To the Celts as Cernunnos, the Horned God was more than just a fertile being. He is found throughout the Celtic lands and folklore as the guardian of the portal leading to the Otherworld. The name Cernunnos is known only through damaged carvings found at Notre Dame. In these carvings, a deity with short horns carries the incomplete inscription 'ERNUNNO'. In his earliest of days he was probably the fertility god to the Gauls. But as time progressed and his legends grew, he became associated with wealth and prosperity.

As the Greek deity of pastures, flocks and herds, Pan was half man and half goat. With the legs and horns and beard of a goat. He is the offspring of Hermes, but his mothers lineage is in question. Either he is the result of Hermes and Dryope daughter of King Dropys, who's flocks he tended. Or Hermes and Penelope. His cult is centered around Arcadia where he is reported to haunt the woodlands, hills and mountains. Sleeping at noon and then dancing through the woods as he played the panpipes, which he is credited with inventing. He is the lusty leader of the satyrs (woodland deities), and continually chases the nymphs (the beautiful nature goddesses). During rituals, his essence is invoked to for fertility of the flocks or for an abundant hunt. Associating him with the legends of the Horned God.