No Tools Needed Mabon Ritual

Hi everyone! This weekend is Mabon so I thought I would leave you all with a ritual that you could do to celebrate the holiday. I got this ritual from https://exemplore.com. I hope you find it useful for your celebrations. It was created for someone who has no Wiccan tools so you can add your own little flare to it if you’d like to add your tools to the workings of the ritual.

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Things you need

  • 1 item to represent Water (a seashell, a picture of the sea, a river rock, etc.)
  • 1 item to represent Air (a feather, a fan, a reed, etc.)
  • 1 item to represent Earth (a rock, a flower, etc.)
  • 1 item to represent Fire (a candle, a lava rock, a picture of a campfire, etc.)
  • 1 bowl or basket full of offerings (this can be fruit, bread, pretty leaves, flowers, dried herbs, pine cones, acorns, twigs, and other things you pick up on nature walks)
  • 1 black stone (painted if need be) Could also use a black candle 
  • 1 white stone (painted if need be) Could also use a white candle
  • 1 cup of juice or wine (or water if nothing else)
  • 1 plate with a muffin (corn, apple, or if need be just a slice of bread or a few crackers)
  • 4 small bowls or cups (if holding the rite indoors)
  • Incense in a holder (completely optional—stick or cone is fine)
  • Music (completely optional)

Starting the ritual

Cast your circle using your preferred methods. When you’ve done that you need to summon the elements. You can turn to each directions, starting in the west and say:

I call to the Powers of the West and the Element of Water; let your intuition flow as I celebrate the rites of the Second Harvest.

I call to the Powers of the North and the Element of Air; let me breathe in your wisdom as I celebrate the rites of the Second Harvest.

I call to the Powers of the East and the Element of Earth; let me be grounded in your strength as I celebrate the rites of the Second Harvest.

I call to the Powers of the South and the Element of Fire; let your spark energize me as I celebrate the rites of the Second Harvest.

Go back to the center of the circle and call your deities in any way you like.

The actual ritual

Take a moment to feel the presence of your deities. When you’re ready, pick up the black and white stones (or candles if you choose to use those instead), with one in each hand. Say:

Day and night hang in the balance; Today, in equal measure, they meet.

Tomorrow, the dark takes over the year, and the hours of light retreat.

The darkness ushers in the chill, with leaves that whirl and winds that howl,

The snows may fall, the rains may cease, with empty fields and barren bough.

Dearest God, in Your waning strength, You move towards Your deathly sleep,

Yet memories of Summer shall warm my soul, and the promise of Spring I keep.

Lovely Goddess, in Your womb is the secret of what lies in store;

Rebirth of our God, rebirth of our Light, and rebirth of our land evermore.

For the mystery that you’ve taught me of the cycles of season are not in vain:

The darkness does pass, the light does return, and that which falls rises again.

Place the stones (or candles) in the offering basket. Sit and meditate for a while, if you like.

Offering

When you’re ready, pick up the juice, hold it up and say:

Bless this juice, infused with your love that is poured on the Earth;

As you’ve freely given, I freely give in return;

Accept my thanks and love at this Harvest season for Your bounty.

Pour a libation (a small amount) into the basket of offerings.

Stand up and go to the Western quarter. Pour out a small splash of drink on the ground (or into the bowl if you’re doing this indoors), then move to the North, East, and South, in turn, saying:

May the delicate balance of nature’s energies every flow in harmony,

With the Goddess and God, with each other, and within me.

Take a sip of the drink and place the cup down back on your altar. Next, pick up the muffin or bread. Hold it up and say:

Bless this grain, infused with your love that springs forth from the Earth.

As you’ve freely given, I freely give in return;

Accept my thanks and love at this Harvest season for Your bounty.

Break off a piece and put it into the offering basket. Then walk around the circle, sprinkling some crumbs at each of the four quarters, starting in the West, as you say:

May the cycles of the seasons keep turning,

May the Power of the Wheel keeps burning,

So mote it be!

Take a bite of the remaining bread. Sit and enjoy your simple feast.

Ending the ritual

Now is a good time in your ritual to do any divination or magickal workings that pertain to the holiday. When you’ve done all it is that you want to do you can close the ritual. Simply turn to each quarter in turn (starting in the West again), thanking each Elemental energy and bidding it go in peace. Bid farewell to your gods as well, with these or similar words:

In life there is death; in death there is life. And the circle ever goes on.

My thanks and praise go with you this season, in celebration of this Mabon.

For the season does turn you toward slumber as we move toward the icy realm of the North;

But Your presence remains in my mind and my heart, and I carry you with me henceforth.

All that’s left to do is clean up and head home for a quiet, peaceful evening.

I hope you all enjoy and that you have a very blessed Mabon. Let me know what you’re going to do for the sabbat down below along with any other thoughts or questions you have. Make sure you check out my instagram to get updates and see into my everyday life. Also make sure you follow me here and on twitter so you get notifications when I post and upload videos to youtube. Until next time, Blessed Be!

 

Working for a Christian Family

Hello everyone! I thought today it would be interesting to give my take on what it is like working for a Christian family. Now I am lucky in saying that the family I have been working for are pretty open-minded, in the sense that they don’t care what I believe, even if they think what I believe is a load of crap. However, it has still presented me with some interesting situations.

I have been working for this family for about 4 months. I am a nanny for their elementary aged daughter. The first month and a half I spent with them we were actually travelling all over northern USA. It was actually a lot of fun. Even at the first week my lack of Christian faith brought up some challenges. At this time their daughter was very religious and was shocked that I did not share her belief in God. She kept asking me about church. I would always say that I think it is great that she enjoys going but that it wasn’t my cup of tea. One time when it was just me and her, God came up again. I proceeded to say that I wasn’t Christian but that I thought it was super cool she was and that everyone should be able to believe in what they want. She essentially told me I had to believe in God because if not I would go to hell. I know she wasn’t trying to be rude or anything. She simply didn’t want me to go to hell, but this conversation happened a number of times. It was very uncomfortable.

Later on the trip it was naturally brought up that I am Wiccan. The family was actually rather interested to hear what that meant. I explained it to them (however I did leave out the magick aspect of the religion). They thought that a lot of our beliefs were actually quite similar despite the different religions and then it wasn’t really brought up again.

After we got home I started watching this child about 2 times during the work week and then most weekends (plus or minus some days depending on the week). So I had a few holidays (Mabon and Samhain) that happened while watching her. Due to this I would celebrate the holidays with her. Mind you, I didn’t do any rituals or anything with her. I only went on sabbat walks or had big meals, stuff like that. I was trying to really make sure I didn’t overstep and make her family feel like I was trying to convert her. At one point I was bringing my tarot cards over to her house so when she was in bed I could do a reading for this blog. She asked me what they were and I answered her. She told her parents and was told she wasn’t allowed to use them. So ever since then I have been hesitant to bring them over, hence why the Sunday readings haven’t been happening.

As for the latest development in this story, this is where the majority of the issues have arisen. This child is very curious and she has lots of questions. She asks me a lot of questions about various things that I believe in. Some examples are: who we worship, what I think of angels, spirit guides, magick, fairies (and other creatures from other realms). This weekend she told me that she didn’t like Christianity and that she was really interested in exploring Wicca. Now if my child told me they wanted to explore other religions I would be totally fine with it. I think all people, regardless of age, should be able to decide for themselves what they believe. However, I know this family has quite a different mindset and would be very mad if they found out otherwise. Luckily, last weekend was my last time working for that family and I can only hope that for her sake (and mine as I am friends with this family) that she forgets about Wicca, at least for now, and continues her Christian faith until she is a bit older.

That’s it for this week. Thank you for reading! Has your religion every effected you professionally? Tell me about it in the comments along with any other thoughts or questions you have. Also, let me know if you’d like to see Sunday tarot readings come back, now that I am done working Sunday’s in a Christian environment. Make sure you follow me here and on twitter so you get notifications when I post and upload videos to youtube. Until next time, Merry Meet and Blessed Be!

Wheel of the Year: Samhain

Hi everyone! Happy Samhain, or Halloween if you will. Samhain is the minor sabbat that occurs between Mabon (fall equinox) and Yule (winter solstice). It falls on October 31st every year. Even though this sabbat is considered to be a minor one it is actually one of the most celebrated sabbats. We are half way to reaching the darkest day of the year since it was last balanced.

Samhain marks the day that the sun god passes on and goes to the underworld. This causes the veil to the spiritual world to be at it’s thinnest. Due to it being so thin spirits can easily travel to and from their realm and ours. This means we can communicate with them much easier. The goddess also transforms to her crone form on this day and spends the next couple months grieving the loss of her partner.

Since the veil is so thin this is a time we use to reconnect with our ancestors. We invite our ancestors to our home by leaving candles (or pictures of these loved ones) in our windows. We also sometimes have a feast of the dead. This is essentially when we set up an extra place at our table and leave a meal for our ancestors. Ways we may contact our loved ones is through divination (tarot cards, pendulums, scrying, etc) or through a Ouija board (not sure if I recommend this one though, at least not for beginners in necromancy).

After Samhain we look forward to Yule which is when the God is born again and spring is on the horizon.

To celebrate this day you can carve pumpkins (used to protect your home from any extra negative energies lurking around), go trick or treating/dress up (Christian’s used to dress up to disguise themselves from demons and monsters), divination (since the veil is thin messages will come through your cards easier and clearer), witchcraft (since the veil in thin there will be an abundance of energy to do you magick with), go for a walk to see how the seasons are changing, and as always do a ritual to honour your deities.

Some gods you can celebrate during this time are: Anubis (Egyptian), Osiris (Egyptian), Yama (Hindu), and Hades (Greek)

Some goddesses you can celebrate during this time are: Morrigan (Celtic), Hel (Norse), Freya (Norse), Demeter (Greek), Hecate (Greek)

Thank you so much for reading! I hope you have a great Samhain. If you’d like to hear about Samhain instead of reading about it make sure you check my youtube channel  tomorrow! Also, make sure you follow me on here and on twitter to make sure you get notifications when I post. Until next time Merry Meet and Blessed Be!

Wheel of the year: Mabon

Hello everyone! Happy Mabon! Mabon is on the fall equinox which is on September 23rd this year. I like to think of it as the equivalent of thanksgiving. This is one of the major sabbats. On this day, light (day) and darkness (night) are equal are everything is gradually becoming more and more dark.

Mabon is symbolic of everything slowly dying. The leaves are turning colour and falling, the harvests are slowly coming to an end, the flowers are going, the bugs and animals are slowly making their way to hibernation. Not only are all these physical changes happening but the god is slowly dying too. He will be gone on Samhain. And the Goddess is changing from the mother aspect to the crone.

To celebrate you can make wine, gathering dried herbs, you can make offerings (ciders, wines, herbs and fertilizer), and you can decorate burial sites of loved ones with acorns, leaves, and pine cones. Now is also the time to have a big family feast with potatoes, carrots, stuffing/dressing, all that good stuff. As always you can go for a nature walk to see what changes are happening around you. It is also encouraged to hold a ritual to honour the deities of this season. You can always do some spellwork and divination at this time too.

Gods that are celebrated during this time are: Thoth, Thor, Hermes, and The Green Man.

Goddesses that are celebrated during this time are: Modron, Morgan, Epona, Persephone, Pamona and the Muses

Thanks for reading! What are you going to do for Mabon? Let me know in the comments as well as any other thoughts or questions you have. Also, don’t forget to follow me on here and on twitter to get notifications when I post. Have a fantastic Mabon! Until next time, Merry Meet and Blessed Be!