My Pentagram

The pentagram has been used for many years and by many different faiths. It is not unusual to see a chair with a pentagram on it in an old English church.

The following comes from Wikipedia.

A pentagram (sometimes known as a pentalpha or pentangle or, more formally, as a star pentagon) is the shape of a five-pointed star drawn with five straight strokes. The word pentagram comes from the Greek word πεντάγραμμον (pentagrammon), a noun form of πεντάγραμμος (pentagrammos) or πεντέγραμμος (pentegrammos), a word meaning roughly "five-lined" or "five lines".

Pentagrams were used symbolically in ancient Greece and Babylonia, and are used today as a symbol of faith by many Wiccans, akin to the use of the cross by Christians and the Star of David by Jews. The pentagram has magical associations, and many people who practice Neopagan faiths wear jewelry incorporating the symbol. Christians once more commonly used the pentagram to represent the five wounds of Jesus,^[1][2] and it also has associations within Freemasonry.^[3]

The word "pentacle" is sometimes used synonymously with "pentagram", and this usage is borne out by the Oxford English Dictionary, although that work specifies that a circumscription makes the shape more particularly a pentacle.^[4] Wiccans and Neo-pagans often make use of this more specific definition for a pentagram enclosed in a circle.^[5]

I wear mine almost every day and it feels like a talisman, as if I won't be safe without it. Interesting, isn't it how we use these tools to aid our passage through life.

Celtic month of Willow

This morning I went down to the creek to take some pictures of the willow trees down there as they swayed in the wind.

Their silvery leaves rippled in the breeze, looking every bit like babbling water .



Witches have long been associated with the willow tree, probably because in the dark, their gnarled trunks look like old crones walking about.


Life is sacred, but what makes it sacred? It is the coming together of all the essential elements and the properties that they create. We cannot do without any of them. We need water, fire, air, earth and spirit to survive.



This month I am thinking about the willow tree and its connection with water. Water symbolizes our dreams, emotions and visions. A willow tree branch is an excellent tool for divining water. Since the willow tree is affiliated with the moon who controls the tides and since the willow loves to grow near water, it follows that it is a perfect choice. Interesting that we are receiving such a lot of water in Tennessee right now. Too much water is flowing our way and we won't need a willow branch to divine it for the moment. Since I got here we have had a lot of rain and a lot of sun.

You could also say that there is much emotion in the world today, much sadness as well as much joy.



Just as we can use the willow tree to find water, so we can also ask for its help with our emotions. The branches of the weeping willow bend downwards. It has the power to empathise with our tears. Likewise the wiccan tool for water is the chalice. This tool is also associated with the willow tree and is used to catch our tears.



During a 'Celtic sacred grove handfasting' (wedding), the officiant calls upon Arianrhod, the Lady of the Moon.


The willow is the sixth tree of the grove, the tree of enchantment and intuition.



The weeping willow is a native of China, having been introduced to Britain in the eighteenth century. The Chinese see the willow as a herb of immortality for it has the ability to grow from the smallest branch stuck into the earth.

Some beings are drawn to the willow tree. The Wryneck birds like to nest in it.




Dryad fairies like to live in it.

As I get older I have turned away from the Christian religion that I was brought up to believe in. I no longer want to go through a priest to reach God. I no longer want only to believe in a masculine deity. I want to spend more time and energy on Mother Earth. I question why I should believe in a religion which is steeped in the culture of the middle east when there is such an abundance of spirituality right here on my doorstep. I no longer want to worship a man hanging on a cross, I would rather hug a tree.

All these issues have been going round in my mind for some years now.

I am happy in my nature spirituality. There is so much to explore and so much to re-learn in life. My heart sings with the joy of all of it.

Star

References from 'Tree Wisdom' by Jennifer Memory Patterson

Why Wicca?

I was brought up as a Christian and taught to believe that there is only one God and Jesus Christ is his son. Fair enough, but what about before that, what did people believe? They got along well enough worshiping the sun and the moon and whatever else had significance in their world. I have always felt very in tune with nature. I think many of us do feel that way and as I get older, I fell more and more protective of the earth and all its beautiful mysteries.

Wicca offers the opportunity to worship both a God and a Goddess and is more of a maternal religion, allowing us to be as one with mother Earth. There are no priests to tell us what to do and no expensive buildings to keep up. There are few rules to follow. We can worship alone or with others. Wicca is very much a religion that puts you at the centre. We are working with very powerful forces for change and therefore we need to be very careful about our methods.

'Aye, it harm none, do what you will.'

If you follow this rule, then you will have a lot of freedom. So long as what you are doing does no harm to anyone else, be it a person or an animal or society in general, then all will be well, or will it?

Let's examine that for a moment... Suppose you are offered a wonderful new job, just what you have been waiting for, but there is a snag. The job is hundreds of miles away and it will mean uprooting your family and all the chaos that will cause. What do you do? If you are a Christian, then you will probably pray about it, asking God to help you to make a decision, which will benefit the whole family, not just you. If you are a pagan, you will meditate on it, asking the God or Goddess to help you find the way. Witches pray too but we are not submitting to a fiery God who will throw us into hell if we don't do what we are told is right. Our God is the God of the forest. He manifests in different guises. He and his Goddess are within us, not in some distant heaven, far removed from the world.

What we need to understand is that what we seek has been there all along. We are back to being on our own. We and only we are responsible for our actions. There is no one else to blame if 'it all goes wrong'. It is a very powerful place to be, accepting that not everything is someone else's fault.

We can choose to see the beauty in our world, live in harmony with the natural world and take full responsibility for our actions.

So what is Wicca?

Wicca is now an accepted religion. The Wiccan way is not to seek converts, but that the way be made open to those, who for reasons of their own, seek and find the Craft.

And as it is willed, so mote it be.

Wiccian is a verb, meaning to cast spells. A wicce is a female who practises casting spells and a wicca is a male, who does the same. From 'wicca' derives middle English witche and the modern word 'witch'.

Wikk = magic, sorcery

Wikken = middle German - to predict

magick = true magick, not tricks performed by a magician

magic = deceptive magick, where the eye is deceived by sleight of hand.

Old English witan, which means 'to know' and other words, such as 'wise' are not related to the above.

Ref: A History of Witchcraft by Jeffrey B. Russell and Brooks Alexander.