Working Hard

I’ve been very busy lately working on my husband’s band new CD, Tales From Witchwood – The Vagrantz. 

I am very excited as Doc and I have been producing the songs together for the first time.  Usually I have taken The Vagrantz’s songs which had been recorded on cassette tape to my computer and then editing them.  Now we have gone digital and they have recorded the songs on a digital recorder so when I transfer the songs to my computer I can edit each track of each song individually.   Since Doc knows what he wants the song to sound like,  he tells me what he wants and I do it in my best Geek way.

What is really great is I don’t have the responsibility to try and guess about what effects, reverb, flanger or anything else The Vagrantz want in the song.  I am loving it.  The songs are sounding GREAT!!!  It is truly wonderful working side by side with Doc.  He is brilliant and while a lot of times I say “No I don’t think it will work” in the end it does work marvelously.

I am very happy with how the songs are working out.  My biggest problem is trying to pin down the genre as The Vagrantz’s songs mix so many genres even  in one song.

The above photo is the CD cover I have just designed.

I am also updating our website http://www.witchwoodproductions.com to include information on the new CD.  Please feel free to stop by for a look.   It is always a work in progress.

Life in the Bible Belt 6-Mosques in Tennessee

Lately there has been a lot of controversy over a mosque being built in Murfreesboro TN and also one a few blocks away from the site of the World Trade Center.  It’s not surprise to me by any means.   This is the bible-belt and intolerance towards ANY religion not Christian (and even some christian sects)  is wide spread.

It seems that the christian right is up in arms because American Muslims want to build places of worship.  They are saying that Islam is just a political machine for the sole purpose of converting the US to sharia law, and should not be considered as a religion under the first amendment of the constitution.

I could say the same thing about Christianity and how Republicans/Tea Party are trying to “restore America to its Judeo/Christian heritage and to take back the  Constitution”.  Funny,  when I read the constitution it is clear to me that Freedom of Religion is one of the cornerstones of this great nation and the government can make no law preferring one religion over any other.

This is not new.  Christians have always objected to Synagogues and Mormon temples any any other religious worship center not Christian.   They like to reinterpret the word “religion” in the constitution to “christian” and actually say that what our founding father’s meant was you have the right to worship at any christian sect you wish.   I find it rather hysterical because the three Abrahamic religions are Judaism/Christian/Islam.  They all spring form the same roots and I really can’t see much difference between them.  The Jewish religion has it’s religious laws,  same as Christianity and Islam.  It is hypocritical for Christians to say they want to prevent Sharia law from taking over America while at the same time trying to force their religious laws  into American government and laws.

I have met many people of many different religions and non-religious beliefs and no one except Christians have tried to convert me.

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/wed-august-25-2010/tennessee-no-evil

Runes

Actually, I´m not the creative artist in my family, that honor goes to my incredibly talented hubby, but every now and then I have a small spark of inspiration. Since I have some spare time on my hands and being inspired by the talk of Runes.  I thought I would try to educate myself on the subject. In the process I decided to make my husband a set of runes, I even made the handy bag for him to keep them in.

Merry Meet

Merry Meet and welcome to my Blog.  I am  Witchwyd and I am using this blog to share my perspective on life.  I am Pagan/Wiccan and see the world though these eyes.  My aim is not to incite but to express my views in a no nonsense manner. Since I live in the bible belt I am increasingly frustrated by Christians and their dictatorial stances on issues prevalent today, many of my opinions and posts will reflect this, so be prepared to be offended.

This blog is actually a continuation of a blog I was writing on another site which I no longer intend to use.   I am re-posting  my previous blog posts here along with the comments just to have them all in the same place.

Life in the Bible Belt 5-Black Candles

I know this is probably rather trivial, but have you ever tried to buy a black candle in the bible belt? We have and all of the candle shops we have gone to in our area refuse to carry them. This is even including shops which only sell candles, and even make them on the premises.

This is fun.. We go into a candle store and ask if they carry black candles, the result we always get is Why would you want a black candle, what do you want it for? We don’t sell stuff like that.

We don’t tell them why we really want it except to say our decor is black and white and we thought black and white candles would have a dramatic effect in our living room. The reply is most usually, “Well that would not look good, and we wouldn’t dream of selling somthing like that”. We ask something like what? It’s just another color candle, like blue only it’s black. Then we get to the nitty gritty where we are informed that black candles are evil and only devil worshipers would want them and they don’t sell to people like that.

Anyone with any sense should know that a candle, an inanimate object does not have a conscience so how can it in itself be either good or evil. It just is. Candles are used to focus and energy. With that sort of logic they should not sell any candles at all, because all colors of candles can used in magick or in any variety of ways.

Please feel free to comment and contact me at witchwyd@gmail.com

I am so happy we have the internet where we can buy black candles which we can use either for our decor or for use in magick.

The Path Of The Dream Healer

I have just finished reading a really good book on Energy Healing. The title is “The Path Of The Dream Healer (My Journey Through The Miraculous World Of Energy Healing)” by the author known as Adam. My husband read it and highly recommended it to me and now I highly recommend it to you. Adam is an energy healer himself and offers his insights and step by step instructions on how you too can enjoy energy healing both locally and via long-distance.

“The Path to Healing” is written in an easy to read style where there is a lot of information well thought out to make it easy to understand. There are also pictures and illustrations. I love any book which makes a reference to quantum physics and this book certainly does that.

I also found this book very validating as he mentions and actually puts into words some techniques I have always used myself but never really had it described before in such clear language. It was something I just did intuitively so I know from personal experience, this works. I having been using energy healing for years especially on my cats. I find it keeps them healthy and happy, and they love having their aura’s stroked and having energy healing massages.

Adam also teaches how to actually see aura’s in a step by step process, after practicing his instructions I can now focus correctly and see auras myself now, although, I’m not nearly as accomplished as Adam, but time will tell, as practice makes perfect.

One of the things I liked best in this book are the meditation exercises he offers to help access the universal energy, or chi, which permeates everything and can is used for energy healing. Everyone can use this energy, it is available for everyone and everyone is capable of using energy healing for the benefit of themselves, their loved ones (or anyone else for that matter) and their pets.

 

Please feel free to contact me at witchwyd@gmail.com Your comments and feedback are very welcome.

Making My Magick Wand

The Witch’s Wand is an essential tool in magick. The notion that the wand is magical in and above itself is untrue. Like all the tools of the Wiccan, the wand is a tool used to channel, focus and concentrate energy from the Witch. It is an extension of the person using it.

It was traditionally recommended to cut your wand on a Wednesday morning at dawn from a hazel or other nut bearing tree from a branch with a years growth on it. You would then ask the tree for permission to take the branch for good work. It was also recommend to leave coins at the base of the tree for the fairy people.

I decided to make my own wand. I went into the forest to search for a perfect branch for my own perfect wand. I am a modern witch an did not follow the tradition, as waking up at dawn is not a strong point of mine. I went into the woods and found a very nice Elder tree/shrub I felt drawn to. Although Elder does not bear nuts, it does bear berries (which can be made into wine). It also has lovely white flowers in the spring and the leaves stay green throughout the year. It is also considered a healing tree. I felt it would make a fine wand. I asked permission, meditated and then cut the branch with my boline (a knife used by Witches for cutting). I thanked the tree and for good measure left a few pennies for the fairies.

I took the branch, removed the bark, (some Witches will leave the bark on).  I cut the branch to the length equal from my inner elbow to the tip of my index finger. A wand can be any length which feels comfortable to the person using it. That’s one thing I love about Wicca, there are no hard and fast rules concerning the tools of the trade, your own intuition is used to determine what is right for you personally. I then sanded the wood to a gently tapering point while concentrating on sending my energies into the wand by focusing on sending a bright blue light through the shaft and out through of the tip to the earth. It took me about two days. I loved the smooth and silky feel and the light color of the wood and the gentle bending shape to my wand was very appealing to me. Since my tastes are simple I made the handle by wrapping a black cord around it. I consecrated my wand on the night of the full moon. My wand is now finished.

Picture of my wand.

Your comments,  ideas, opinions and feedback are very important to me.  If you would like to contact me, please feel free to e-mail me at witchwyd@gmail.com.

Embracing Wicca: Trees

Trees have always held a fascination and awe with me. I have always felt drawn to them. There have been two particular trees in my life with which I have had a very strong personal bond. One was and old oak I grew up with. It was down at where we called ‘the river bottom’ about a quarter mile from my house. When I first discovered it I was scared at first it looked so ‘witchy’ something like you would see in the forest of the wicked witch of the west in ‘The Wizard of Oz’ (except for the apples). The trunk was leaning in one direction and the three main bottom most branches were spread out almost parallel to the ground. It looked very mysterious and magical. I could sense it had great power and had lived a very long life. I went back to the tree often. I even got my family involved and we would go and have picnics under its branches. It was my favorite place to hang-out. Whenever I had troubles or joy I would go and commune with my tree. I would feel protected and recharged. Of course at the time I did not really understand why I was so attracted.

The second tree is down the hill from my house. It stands next to a small stream and it also gave me a shock when I first saw it. Just looking at it I can feel it’s power and feel it’s aura. Our cats absolutely love it too and we all know cats ‘know’. It is always my destination when I go for a walk in the woods. I feel so much at peace and feel psychically, mentally and physically energized. Because of my personal connectedness with trees and nature in general, Wicca just comes naturally to me. Raymond Buckland describes my experience with trees best in the book ‘Complete Book of Witchcraft’.

“If ever you feel completely drained, if ever you are angry or tense, go out and sit against a tree (oak or pine are good) and sit down on the ground with your back straight, pressed up against the trunk. Close your eyes and relax. You will feel a gradual change come over you. Your tension, your anger, your tiredness will disappear. It will seem to drain out of you. Then in its place, you will feel a growing warmth; a feeling of love and comfort. It comes from the tree. Accept it and be glad. Sit there until you feel completely whole again. Then, before leaving, stand with your arms about the tree and thank it”

This exercise is particularly useful these stress filled days.  I highly recommend it.

Your comments are welcome.  Please feel free to e-mail me at witchwyd@gmail.com.

Picture is from Doc Watts (my husband’s) painting “Father Nature“

Catholic Bishops: No Reiki Treatment

The word “Reiki” is derived from two Japanese words: rei, or universal, and ki, or life energy. Reiki is based on the idea that there is a universal (or source) energy that supports the body’s innate healing abilities. Practitioners seek to access this energy, allowing it to flow to the body and facilitate healing. Reiki can be used as a complementary treatment to medical protocols. Hand positions customarily correspond to the body’s endocrine and lymphatic systems and major organs, focusing on the seven main chakras.

Reiki teachers and practitioners aim to abide by these five principles:

Just for today:
Do not be angry
Do not worry
Be grateful
Work with integrity
Be kind to others.

It seems “the church” is at it again. This time they are attacking Reiki. The US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has warned Roman Catholics to shun the eastern healing art of Reiki because it lacks scientific credibility and is dangerous to Christian spiritual health, because the church does not recognize a Universal Life Energy, Reiki is not a religion it’s a technique, and they believe it is superstition. I can’t even begin to list all the healing techniques which would fall in this category.

I guess I’m confused since I did not realize that scientific proof was a such a big deciding factor for the beliefs of the Catholic Church. Until relatively recently they believed the earth was flat, and the sun orbited the earth. Then there is the question of evolution which is does have the support of science behind it. I also wonder if the lack of scientific support will cause the catholic church to shun the ‘laying on of hands’ ,’faith healing’, prayer, and exorcism and faith to name a few. It is very unlikely because the church has a history of nay-saying science in general.

This seems to me just another case of the church spreading fear and misinformation to suit their purposes. Had they actually researched Reiki and energy healing they would have found that many major hospitals and clinics offer Reiki to patients. If it had no scientific basis it would not be offered in such scientific institutions as hospitals. Reiki has no harmful side effects and greatly reduces stress which is very beneficial to healthy well-being. I suspect that accupunture, massage and homeopathy, meditation will be next.  It’s sad to me, with the costs of health care so high and the millions of people who have benefited from the use of Reiki energy healing techniques the catholic church decides it has to deem it unworthy,  calling it a spiritual danger thus removing a healing option which may be beneficial to their flock. Since the bishops site it is not a religion and therefore not spiritual how then can it conflict with their religion? They just don’t make any sense to me.

I have personally used Reiki and other energy healing techniques with great success on my pets, friends, family and myself. Reiki is still being scientifically researched so there is a great possibility that the USCCB will end up having to eat their words. (again)

News Article:

Catholic bishops say no to Reiki treatment

Life in the Bible Belt: 4

I called myself a Christian at one time, in fact, I was very interested and involved in it, I had a need to belong. I have read the Bible cover to cover four times in four different versions if you count a version called “The One Way” Bible which was a very loosely interpreted version of another loosely interpreted version, the King James Version. I have read what is known as the Bible more than most of the Christians I have known, who have not bothered to read it at all. It is a good read which I have enjoyed and encourage the reading of it, which ever version you choose.

In my public high school there was an elective class called Bible Interpretation which I took. It was taught objectively by an Episcopalian Priest who also taught courses in Government and Psychology. We were as a class encouraged to have many different versions of the bible available to compare through the course of the class. At the time I had thought there was only one, the KJV. My eyes and ears were opened. I was amazed at the dramatic differences between the different versions and the many inconsistencies and contradictions within it.

So it was actually my education of the bible and its origins which led it to have little or no validity to me, esp.as a book to base my life on, being way too violent for me. The many various versions through time and the widely varying interpretations, there are literally thousands of them, some of them hardly seem to be the same book, some leave books out, most commonly the Apocrypha. The fact that bishops and kings had at various different times in history picked and chose what to put in and and what to leave out with most of the decision making being political in nature at the time, makes me doubt an all inclusive REAL bible can even be possible.

The words of Jesus are quite frankly hearsay. There is no Book of Jesus and if there was, why was it excluded? The content of the various books was written years after the fact. Most people have a hard time remembering word for word conversations which have happened the day before or even hours before. It does not seem logical to me to assume that the words of Jesus are direct objective quotes.

So when someone says (which they say often) ” The Bible says….” to prove their point, I have to wonder ‘which one?’, since there is no absolute version or interpretation.

On the origins and inconsistencies of the bible check out these links :

freethought.mbdojo.com/canon.html

www.infidels.org/library/modern/donald_morgan/inconsistencies.html