Green Witchcraft, Finding my Path

When I was first pointed down the path of witch-related things, I joined a few groups online, to figure out where to even begin!  There are so many different ideas out there, so many different veins of thinking, so many focuses...  But which one is the right one for me? 

So, true to the internet these days, OF COURSE I took some quizzes that were supposed to help me decide what was what.  And the very first thing that was apparent was that I'm very much drawn to all things nature-based, and I definitely prefer to aim for balance, just as nature does. 

Nature is cruel as it is kind-  the gosling stolen from his mother's nest is surely missed, but without his loss, the fox's kits will starve.  It is not wrong for the fox to take the gosling, nor is it wrong for the goose to fight to keep the fox away.  Nature finds balance between the two, all by itself, as can we. 

So the idea of White Magic (only light/good), while it sounds nice at first, doesn't quite fit what I'm going for here.  Nor does the idea of Black Magic (only dark/bad).  The idea of polarizing something so natural just didn't fit. I'd much prefer to be like the Yin & Yang- the two, together in equal balance.

So with this realization came 2 rough Witchcraft options for me:  Grey (A mixture of White/Black Magics), or Green, (Balance-based and Nature-Based).  Of the two, Green just jumped out at me as the right option for me.  And since then, everything I've been drawn to fits within this vein of magic.

Green Witchcraft works within nature, and *requires* nothing but the practitioner and what can be found in nature.  You may choose to work with purchased tools, but if you can't afford any, you really don't need them.

For circle casting, you can use a wand found in nature that you craft yourself, your pointer finger on your Power hand (dominant hand), or an athame (black handled ritual knife used for directing energy).  For herb cutting, you can use a Boline (white handled ritual working knife, used for any cutting needed for magical purposes), or a regular kitchen knife you already have.  Herbs can be kitchen spices if that's all you have access to, you can grow your own, or buy them in a magical supply shop.  Candles don't have to be special spell candles, or they can be, whatever you have access to is totally fine.  And if you cannot burn candles, there are ways around that where you can certainly still do spellwork without them.

As it turns out, for magical workings, intent is the part that matters the most.  A circle is cast to create a place to build and direct that energy for your working, and all the other tools are simply used to help raise and guide that energy.  Without it, the magic all comes through you, the practitioner.  And Green Witchcraft is an energy-based system, drawing the necessary energy needed for magical workings from nature, herbs, the earth below and the moon and sun (Universe, or Source) above. 

All this made perfect sense to me, and I grabbed the first set of books on the subject that jumped out at me.  It turned out I made a great choice, in the Green Witchcraft series by Ann Moura.  There are 3 books total, book 3 is a teacher's manual or book class to follow, and uses book 1 as a textbook.  Book 2 is a supplemental text, getting into that balance between light and shadow that was so concerning to me, above.  So far I've been working with 1 & 3.

 In the weeks and months since then, I've been using these books as a study guide, and they've explained quite a lot about how the Green level Witchcraft fits in with the other magical sects. It is certainly a pagan religion, and is somewhat related to Wicca, but not necessarily tied together.  Wicca is an organized religion with a set of rules that differ slightly from those of base level Green Witchcraft.

First of all, Wicca usually involves the practice with a God and a Goddess of some form or other, from whatever pantheon the practitioner subscribes to.  And while Green Witchcraft may do the same for some, it is not a requirement to work with deities.

Some Green witches work only with the fae folk and elementals, leaving out the worship of a specific pairing of deities. Ann encourages her readers to listen to their inner voice and do what feels right to them. I'm a big fan of that.

Something else that separates Wicca from Green Witchcraft is the code of conduct for Green vs the Wiccan Rede. They're actually quite similar, but the differences do matter.

Here they are, together, for comparison:

The Wiccan Rede  

Bide the Witch’s law ye must,  

In perfect love, in perfect trust 

Eight Words the Wiccan Rede fulfill:  

An ye harm none, do what ye will. 

What ye send forth comes back to thee,  

so ever mind the Rule of Three. 

Follow this with mind and heart,  

And merry ye meet, and merry ye part.

Code of Conduct (Green Witchcraft code)

Be careful what you do.  (bide the law) 

Be careful who you trust.  (perfect love/trust) 

Don’t use the power to hurt someone, (harm none) 

Because what is sent comes back.  (no rule of three, roughly equal sending and returning) 

To use the power, you must feel it in your heart and know it in your mind.  (follow with mind/heart) 

Never use the power against someone else who has the power (admonition instead of merry meet/part)

Ann specifically dislikes the Rule of Three, because it sounds like a threat; severe retribution from the unapproachable God, should the faithful deviate from the laws of the clergy.  I'll get into the details of the code and what each piece means in the next Green Witchcraft post, along with the items Ann suggests having for your altar, and other beginner basics.  

For me, the Code of Conduct feels less restrictive, and makes a lot more sense to me overall.  And I've always preferred free verse poetry over rhyming, perhaps that has something to do with it.  In any case, once again, I'm in the Green Witchcraft zone rather than the Wiccan one.  And that suits me just fine! 

Someday I may branch out and add in deities to my working, but for now I am just fine running with the fae folk and elementals, Source above and Earth below.  If a pairing of deities calls to me later, I will listen.  But no one has called to me thus far.  

So here I stay in my Green Witchcraft zone, soaking up as much information as I can now that I finally found my true path, and I'll happily pass what I learn along to you!  But if this path also speaks to you, I HIGHLY recommend picking up Ann's books I showed above.  They've been a light of clarity in the darkness.

Anyway!  I have other things that are pressing, so I must run.

Have a lovely day everyone-  Blessed be.  

Empath Helper: Psychic Shielding

In the last Empath post, I mentioned sharing how I shield myself, beyond my stones I carry every day.  This sounds confusing and hard to do, but honestly it's not too difficult.

First, why would you want to shield yourself?  Isn't feeling things the whole point of being an empath?  Well, yes, but it can also be overwhelming.  I tend to hermit myself away and hide because it can be too much to be out in public, at a party, etc, but learning how to properly shield myself helps so much!  Now that I know how to create a shield, I can prepare myself before going into public, and keep myself where I need to be.  I no longer allow the energies of others to drag me down, I guess.

Since I'm a yoga-loving hippie, I use yoga flows to put my shield up, though you can do whatever works for you!  If you find another way, please share in the comments below!  Every way to do this is valid.  It's perfectly fine for your method to differ from mine.  The intent you create is the thing that matters most, so put your energy into that, and you're good!

I begin by standing, typically, though seated is fine!  I hold my hands in namaste (prayer hands, as seen below), held at the heart center/chakra.  I stand like this and breathe in deeply, center myself, and then I'm ready to begin.

I draw up energy in the form of a light, up through my feet, breathing it in and up as I draw in the breath.  When I need to breathe out, I pause my collection of energy where it is, and draw more in with the next inhalation.  I allow this energy to fill me up, one breath at a time, and when I feel I've built up enough, I send that energy, that light, to the space between my hands.

Once the energy is in the hands, I push them up over my head, keeping my hands together as much as possible.  On an out-breath, I separate the hands, as well as the light/energy, sweep my hands down to the ground, and use the edges of my fingertips to draw out a line with that light as I do so.  When I reach the floor, I envision the protective bubble extending through the floor or earth beneath me, surrounding me.  And I allow the bubble to stay there as I stand back up again.

But I'm not done quite yet.  Drawing the bubble/shield is one thing.  Setting its intention is the most important part.  So what do I need the bubble to do today?  I consider my needs, and send that intention out into the shield.

Some days I make it a mirror so people see their own attitudes reflected back at them.  Some days I make it a white light that only allows positive things through.  Some days it's a blue light and I use it to heal.  I can prevent negative emotions from getting through to affect me, though I'll still sense it off the people creating those emotions.  It can remove me from those emotions a bit so I can examine them without allowing them to poison me and my good mood. 

Whatever I do want, I state that intention in my mind on an in-breath, and send it out into the shield on an out-breath, one piece at a time, then tell it to hold until I pull it down again.

Once I've set my intention for the shield, I let go of the energy I drew in, and allow the shield to do its job.  If my hands are still buzzing with excess energy, I place them on the floor and send that excess energy down down down until I feel even again.  I think of this as a form of grounding.  If I cannot put my hands on the floor, I send the energy back out through my feet instead.

To pull the shield down, when I'm home in my safe place again, I do the opposite motions from how I put it up:  Start at the floor, sweep hands up and energy with it, gathering it back into the hands, collecting it at the top where the hands meet, then I keep my hands together as I pull them back to my heart center/chakra.  Once there, I breathe in that energy, back into my core, and disperse it if needed, just like I disperse the excess energy from its creation.

So that's how I do mine.  I know people who like to make theirs up to look like armor, others who use something like my bubble but put it up in a different way, etc.  It's all fine, again, just remember to focus on your intention above all else, and try to visualize that bubble (etc) as clearly as you can.  The more real you can make it for yourself, the better it will work!

Happy Shielding!