It is a time when we lose our magick and awe on our path and begin to procrastinate and even fear standing behind our own alter. A time when we simply question everything and believe nothing. A time when we’d rather cry softly into our own pillow rather than face one more day in this world. It happens for a variety of reasons, each as different and varied as the practitioner themselves. It also happens in varying degrees, some of the weaker kinds simply have us being blasé about ritual, while the strongest, known as the dark night of the soul, can be so dark that we turn our backs on our path altogether, even to our own deaths. It will happen to anyone following any spiritual or magickal path. None are immune, even deity had to go through this. There may be little that can be done if your in the middle of the dark night, but if you are, know that whatever happens, your goddess and god are there for you, waiting for the time when you reemerge into the light. For the weaker times, times when you have lost that awe there are things that can be done.

Escaping the blues

So, you come to the point where you are no longer a neophyte and are now trying to find those missing wicca 202, 303, and 404 books. Everything you do seems old. You’ve done it a million times and the thought of doing it one more time makes you want to fall asleep with boredom. Your rituals to the goddess and god are blasé and uninspired. As a matter of fact, when your in ritual you’d almost kill to be doing anything else. Yes, you are in the midst of the wiccan blues. Fortunately, there are some things that you can do to get that spark back. To find that fire of passion, and to get the awe and reverence that you once had back.

Ever try doing a ritual backwards? No I don’t mean that time when your coven mate, wyldfyre, called water instead of air, or when she called the god in before the goddess. I mean doing a ritual backwards, on purpose. Even the words. Instead of opening the circle, Close it. Instead of calling to the goddess and god, wish them well and ask them to go in your normal way. Dismiss the elements. Doing magick? Do it backwards too. Then, call the goddess and god in. then the elements, backwards. Cast your circle, then purify the ritual area, then yourself. Once there, sit down and meditate. You may be surprised by what you find. Do remember to dismiss the elements and thank your deity though.

Feeling less adventurous? Then turn your head and look at that bookshelf that’s sitting next to you. Yeah, the one with all your Wicca and Witchcraft books sitting on it. Here’s what you do. Get up out of the chair you are sitting in. Walk over to the bookshelf. Look for that book, the first one you ever found on Wicca. Move the incense burner that’s in front of it, you don’t want incense dust all over the carpet. Take said book off the shelf. Walk back to your chair and sit down again. Open said book. Do you smell that? That’s what a book starts to smell like when you haven’t opened it in more than a year. Flip the pages and skim the contents. Turn to the introduction and start reading. Remember the first time that you read this book and how awe inspiring it felt.

There are many more things which can help. Go out an take a walk in the forest. If you are lucky enough to live by woods that are private, then do this sky clad. psst, sky clad means naked. Even better, and slightly dangerous, we do like danger right, is to go out to a brook where you have some privacy. build a bathing area and then, during a thunderstorm, bathe your self. Yes, do it nude. Is music more your style? Find that song that fills you with awe and takes you breath away. Play it and daydream. Make an epic story in your head to go with the music. Even better, write it down and then share it with your goddess and god. No need for formalities. A simple circle will do. Call to them, tell them that you love them and tell them your story. Thank them and smile as they tell you that they love you too. Remember, they always love and understand you.

What if I’m too afraid

It can happen that, as the wiccan blues manifests itself stronger, we become afraid to stand before our alter to our deity. What if they are angry with me? What if they yell at me? What if they make my magick fail? These are all valid questions, but ask yourself, have they ever yelled at you for no real reason? Have they ever been truly angry at you? Would they really make your magick fail? If you can answer yes to any of these questions then perhaps your are not suffering from the wiccan blues at all, however it may be a time to look for a different aspect of the divine to worship. In truth, our goddess and god would never do any of those things to us. They are filled only with unconditional love and understanding. That is how they became deities in the first place. If your stuck in a rut, in the wiccan blues, they will know and will understand that you are going to miss a ritual here or there and may even not do them for a length of time. They will not even be offended if you decide to turn your back on them completely for any length of time. They have gone through the same thing that you are going through. Know that they are there for you and that they will shower you with love for the strength that you will show if you do a ritual to them in spite of the fact that you are scared. Whenever you fear something, you should always face that fear head on.

Again, my best advice here is to reread that first book you got on wicca. Do one of the fluffy rituals in the book. Just because you’re on your second degree or have been a witch for years doesn’t mean you can’t do a simple fluffy ritual anymore. Do a silly ritual just for fun. Remember to laugh. Laughter always banishes fear. If you really can’t stand before your alter, then sit down and meditate and go to them. Talk with them. Tell them of your fears. Cry with them. It will not take you long to find that you can stand before your alter and that they do understand and still love you despite the fear.

When darkness is all that there is…

The dark night of the soul. There is not much that can be said of this. It is highly personal and is the darkest form of the wiccan blues. For those that find themselves in the dark night, there is nothing but darkness and despair. It is a hundred fold worse then when a dementor (read harry potter) sucks out all of the good and happiness that you have. This is the hanged man of the tarot deck, Isa in the runes. It is a point of stand still. A point where everything is questioned. It is akin to Zeus turning his back on lighting, or Aphrodite turning her back on love. It is the very definition of pain and sorrow. It is the winter of our path. But there is always hope. The single ray of sunlight that falls to the ground upon a wilting flower, warming it, melting the snow, and encouraging it to grow. There is very little advice that I can give here. My experience with the dark night of the soul comes not personally, but only from watching a very close friend go through it. It was and is a very dark time.

Still, there are things that you can do. Do ritual, don’t worry about the content, just do it. Go through the motions even if they are meaningless to you. Just being in a circle with your goddess and god, even if you are questioning if they really exist, is good enough. Spend time with a close and understanding friend. Talk to them. Let them know what you are going through. Cry on their shoulder. Let them hold you up with their strength. If you find yourself alone, with no one that understands, then find those who will on the internet or else where. Leave a comment below. Reach out and make a new friend who will help you through this. Watch and read comedies. It is very important to laugh when we feel such sorrow. And most importantly, be patient with yourself. You will make it to see the sun rise again and you will be stronger than ever before. It does take time and will seem like forever, but one day, one day you will wake up and the birds will be singing, the sun will be shining, and you will suddenly realize, as you fall to your knees sobbing, that you are finally free from the darkness at last. Cry and laugh, just let all the sorrow pour out of you, there is no need to hold on to it. The light, just like your goddess and god, will be waiting for you when the time is right.

The wiccan blues. The dark night of the soul. It is a process that we all must go through. It is what Demeter went through when she lost her daughter to Hades. It is what the goddess went through when she entered the underworld and transformed. It is a spiritual death, but remember where there is death, there is also rebirth. On the other side, when you emerge in to the light. A new world, and new perspective will be there for you to explore. A new step upon your path and with a strength, that you never knew that you had, by your side.

Blessed Be.

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Wikipedia defines Wicca very simply as “a nature-based religion found in various countries throughout the world.”

The Celtic Connection Website defines Wicca as “a very peaceful, harmonious and balanced way of thinking and life which promotes oneness with the divine and all which exists.”

Scott Cunningham in his book Wicca: a Guide for the Solitary Practitioner defines it thusly “A contemporary pagan religion with spiritual roots in shamanism and the earliest expressions of reverence of nature. Among its major motifs are: reverence for the Goddess and the God; reincarnation; magic; ritual observances of the full moon, astronomical and agricultural phenomena; spheroid temples, created with personal power, in which ritual occurs.”

There are many more definitions of what Wicca is out there, however the above should give a good basis upon which we may proceed. To further define Wicca I will touch on each point in my own definition which I give below:

“Wicca is a nature based, Earth-centric religion formed upon the precepts of polytheism in its recognition of a Goddess and a God in divinity, it’s use of magical means to effect change upon the universe and within the self, and its recognition of all life as being sacred and divine.”

Wicca is a nature based and Earth-centric religion. It’s practitioners hold nature and the Earth in high regard. We believe the Earth and all of the universe to be divine and of the Goddess and the God. Not simply just of them, but many of us Wiccans believe the universe to be the Goddess and The God themselves. Life to us is sacred in all its forms as is also death as it is just a part of the cycle of reincarnation.

I will go more in depth with the concept of the Goddess and the God in a later posting, however it is good to know that in Wicca we see that there is a duality in all things, a male and female energy that pervades life and death itself. Built upon this are the countless cycles of reincarnation, the seasons, the moon, fertility… The list goes on and on.

One of the central core concepts of Wicca, and perhaps the most controversial one for those who are monotheists, is the use of magick as a means of spiritual ascension and as an agent of manifestational change. I will go over what magick is in a separate post, but suffice it to say that magick allows for a great deal of change to occur when used for a particular purpose and with the proper application of thought, will, and focus.

Wiccans also follow a path of observing astrological and agricultural phenomena. From this they observe the wheel of the year, the eight Sabbats and twenty four Esbats of the solar year. Sabbats themselves are the holidays of Wicca. The Wiccan year starts and ends on Samhain, pronounced Sow-in. The Esbats are themselves the observations of the full and new moon, and are a time when magick is typically performed. Each Esbat has a name and a flavor of energy that is typically associated with it. The sabbats also have a story and theme that go with each spoke of the wheel. More about this in a separate post.

Also of great import are the ethics that Wiccans ascribe to. They follow two rules, or more depending on what tradition they happen to be from. The two main rules are the Wiccan Rede and the three fold law. The short version of the Wiccan rede states: “ These eight words the wiccan rede fulfill; An harm ye none, do what ye will.” The second rule is more of a guideline. It is the law of return, a statement of karma. It states very simply that the energies that we put out, whether they be good or bad, will be returned to us three times as strong. Above all though Wiccans hold honor and integrity, or at least I do, to be their most important attributes and values.

Another core concept within Wicca is the use of the four elements, Earth, Air, Fire, and Water. The elements are represented by the pentagram whose fifth and top most point represents spirit which in manifest form, as the witch, controls the four elements of life. This is the point at which Wicca is so often maligned and associated with the monotheistic forms of evil. I state this very simply and plainly. Wicca is NOT evil. To be evil in the eyes of Christianity, to ascribe to their belief of a devil, is a falsehood to Wiccans. Christians often state thoughtlessly and zombie like that we worship the devil. This is quite impossible for a Wiccan however as to believe in the devil is to be a Christian. Understand that the reason that the monotheistic religions see Wiccans and Witches as evil and of the devil is due completely to the inability to acknowledge any other belief systems other than their own. To do so would be to cast away their own religion. Talk about being stuck between a rock and a hard place huh?

So, to sum up what Wicca is, I think that the Magic Wicca website says it best when they say that:

“Wicca is a forest in the light of the silvery moon…a glade enchanted by the light of the Faery. It is the dewdrop on the petals of a flower in bloom, the warmth of the summer sun on the skin, the fall of colourful autumn leaves, and the softness of winter snow upon the Earth. It is light, and shadow and all that lies in between. It is the song of the wind, and the tune of the tides. It is the symphony of life! To be a Witch is to be a healer, a teacher, a seeker, a giver, and a protector of all things living and alive. If this path be yours, may you tread it with honour and with light!”

)O(

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