JULY 18, 2022 BY LAUREL WOODWARD READ TIME: 5 MINS I am a magically minded person who looks at the world with an animist’s perspective as I mindfully acknowledge and honor the lives of the others I encounter, from the large elementals to the tiny devic energies underfoot. 15 more words
The Garden as Sacred Space — Ravenhawks’ Magazine Magick for Mind Body and Soul
Ritual to attract Companionship and Love You Will Need: Lavender candle Jasmine oil Jasmine Incense State of Mind and Concentration Needed: Set up a space to burn your candle, place your candle in the center. Cast your circle. Now stand quietly for a moment and visualize your space filled with a swirling golden light.[you must […]
Midsummer Ritual for Love and Companionship — Ravenhawks’ Magazine Magick for Mind Body and Soul
Source: https://ravenhawks.net
BY EMILY CARDING READ TIME: 5 MINS
In the Twenty-First Century, the Faery realm is as popular as ever; yet, in our culture of instant gratification and unmoderated media platforms, there are many false paths and illusory pitfalls to distract and misdirect us. How, then, can the true seeker of Faery be sure they are not following some metaphorical (or sometimes literal) Will-o’-the-Wisp into hazardous swampland? Here are the seven steps you need to take to be sure that you are living authentically and in sync with our Faery cousins.
1. Knowledge
Read widely and wisely! Of course books are not the only source of knowledge, but they are a good place to start (and continue—we should never stop learning!), in balance with the more experiential steps to follow. Find recommendations from people you respect and familiarise yourself with traditional folklore and mythology, particularly Irish, Scottish, and Welsh. Any good book on Faery should also have a good bibliography, which you can explore for further reading and deeper exploration. The more varied your reading, the stronger your discernment will be and the less likely you are to be led off the true path into illusion. It’s also important to realise that many faery beings are hostile and/or unpredictable. The more you know, the more prepared you will be.
2. Expand Your Awareness
It can be all too easy to get stuck in our heads and mistake wishful thinking and the untrained imagination for real experience. Therefore, one of the most important steps to true connection with Faery is to expand your energetic awareness outside of your own body and into the world around you. Here is an exercise that is featured in both Faery Craft and my new book, Seeking Faery.
Exercise: Becoming the Faery Tree
This exercise is designed to connect you to the energies of the land and to open up your heart centre to increase sensitivity to the presence and communications of Faery beings. Depending on your physical capabilities, this may be performed standing or sitting, but in either instance you should ideally have your feet bare and on the land outside, in as natural a space as possible, ideally where you won’t be disturbed. Keeping upright and relaxed, with your feet a small distance apart and your hands by your sides, take seven slow deep breaths (in through the nose, hold for three seconds, and slowly out through the mouth), as you allow tension and concerns of the day to melt away.On your next breath, with your palms at your side facing downwards, imagine your feet slowly turning into tree roots and digging down into the earth beneath you. Feel the strength of the earth and the stability and nourishment that the roots provide you with. Maintain this for seven deep breaths in and out.
Now, for your next seven breaths, maintaining your roots, slowly bring your arms up into a “v” shape and raise your palms to the sky. Imagine that your arms are becoming great branches, reaching for the light of Sun, Moon, and Stars. Maintain both roots and branches for a further seven deep breaths.
Keeping your arms upright in the “v” position, now imagine that your roots are drawing emerald green light up from the earth towards your heart. Breathe it in and draw it up with seven deep breaths. Now imagine that your branches are drawing down the silver light of the heavens into your heart. Draw it down with seven deep breaths. The green and silver light meets in your heart and becomes golden and swirling, opening your heart to the energies of Earth and connecting you to above and below.
For beginners, maintain this as long as you are comfortable and then release the energies back up through your branches and down through your roots, slowly lower your arms and slowly draw your roots back into your feet and become your normal self again. Seven deep breaths to recover. As you become more used to this exercise, you may find you can do shorter or longer versions as you wish.
3. Offerings
As well as expanding your awareness energetically, it is possible to reach out and connect in a more tangible way with appropriate offerings. This not only helps to form an energetic bridge between the worlds but also shows your willingness to collaborate and not simply expect gifts or guidance with no effort on your part. The choice of offering is significant, as is being sure to clean up afterwards. It is a good idea, if possible, to find an outdoor location for your offerings where you instinctively feel your connection with Faery is strong and where you will not be disturbed. Whilst this might be an established sacred site, it can be more powerful to find a personal connection on a less-trod path. Consider the value of the offerings you bring, and the impact on the environment. If leaving food of any kind, be sure to check that it is cleared and not simply left to rot. Very often these offerings will be consumed by animals, which is absolutely fine (faery beings sometimes borrow these physical forms to accept offerings) so long as you make sure they contain nothing toxic to animal life (for example chocolate).
4. Ethics and Honour
You may think that it’s faeries who are usually invisible, but the truth is, they can see right through you, too! If there is any deception or falsehood in your heart, they will sense it and treat you accordingly. Like any magical path, it is of utmost importance to know yourself and establish a strong code of honour and ethics that you abide by in every aspect of your life, not just your work with Faery.
5. Expression
For many, myself included, communication with Faery comes through creative expression. This is a direct communication heart-to-heart or spirit-to-spirit, and these channels must be free and open to receive. Any negative thoughts about your own creativity need to be overcome by simply creating in any way you feel moved to, be it art, dance, poetry. Nobody will judge you, unless you choose to share it with the world, but your soul and your faery allies will thank you.
6. Imagination
When working with Otherworldly beings and forces, the imagination becomes an extra sense through which we can perceive those things which are hidden from our earthly senses. The traps here are clear, and thus it is important to train the imagination through visualisation, meditation, and journey techniques so that it becomes a reliable translator of energies rather than a fanciful self-deception.
7. Grounding
Always come back to this. After any encounter or working with Faery, be sure to ground yourself in your body and the physical world around you. Release the otherworldly energies to their source, feel your feet on the earth, taste good food and drink water. Regularly take time to simply be in Nature, see the wonder that is the world we inhabit, and you will have no need for illusion—you will simply learn to see the magic in deeper truths as you walk the path of Faery in peace, truth and joy.
COPYRIGHT 2022 Llewellyn Worldwide, Ltd. All rights reserved
Welcome to the first Annual Ravenhawks’ Magazine Winter Holiday Sweepstakes. The rules are simple, click the links in this blog post; they will take you to sites participating in the Sweepstake.
Links to blogs allow you to sign up to follow the blog. You will then be entered into the weekly drawings. Links to various shopping opportunities give you additional entries if you sign up for their newsletter or register and shop. Each time you visit a site and sign up, you will be entered into the drawings for weekly prizes. All entries are eligible for the grand prize even if you are a weekly prize winner. The sweepstakes end on January 5th. Winners will be notified via the email address provided during sign-up. Notification will be sent to the winners on Friday, January 7th.
Fill your room with love, warmth, and aesthetics with this charming throw. Appealing in colors and extravagant in textures, our throw is an output of the embroidery well-known to be an ancient creative art practiced by skillful Indian artisans. Made from many high-quality strands of silk or cotton, each unit is finished through a running stitch to create a unique pattern and look. This beautiful patchwork piece comes with a creative design that will add warmth and luxury to your room. – 100% cotton – Handcrafted – Technique: quilted – Can be used in a variety of ways: as a blanket, table-cover, wall hanging, tapestry, beach cover, and more – Hand wash cold water – Some variance in size and color may occur due to the one-of-a-kind vintage nature of this product – Made in series, individually packaged – Not from recycled material, new fabric – Enzyme washed – Unique, vintage, great hand feels.
20 Incense Sticks Corresponding to the Wheel of the Year Ritual
20 Incense Sticks Corresponding to Spell work
Crystals Corresponding to Wheel of the Year Ritual
Crystals Corresponding to the Spellwork
Black Crystal Journey Votive for protection
White Crystal Journey Votive[cleansing]
Sage Bundle for smudging
Ritual herbs[1-2oz]
Ritual Bath Salt[Protection or Cleansing 8oz]
Spell Candles[8-inch Beeswax taper]
Spell appropriate anointing oil[2 drams]
Spell appropriate herb[1-2oz]
Spell appropriate bath salt[8oz]
Spell appropiate charm
Ritual appropriate tool[oil diffuser, oracle deck, incense burner, pentacle, journal, etc..] our choice.
Your Ravenhawk’s ritual box ships at least 10 days before the Sabbat,
Please check in regularly as we add new blog links and new shops, and more prizes during the coming week. Weekly prizes will be from the shops participating in the Winter Holidays Sweepstakes.
Sign up to follow these blogs and get an entry into the sweepstakes for one of the prizes listed below
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This listing is for a beautiful altar box! I stained this box Pecan and it’s been sanded and sealed to shine. It would look perfect on your altar, holding your herbs, candles, charms, stones, runes, or spells.
Molas Carry-All PouchDescription: This design is inspired by the Molas Art of the Indigenous Guna people of Panama. The word Molas originally meant bird plumage. The molas originated with the tradition of Guna women painting their bodies with geometric designs. Our carry-all pouches are made from durable canvas-like material—perfect for toiletries, art supplies, makeup, and smaller electronics. The interior features a soft lining to keep your valuables safe. Size: 6″ x 5″
Brass Universal candle holder 4 1/4″ dia
This brass candle holder is a universal size holder, it can support narrow taper candles, 1 1/2″ diameter pillar candles, and any other candle under its wide, 4 5/8″ diameter size.0
Samhain~Halloween Customs and Practices III What about those horrible Witches everywhere and the annoying Trick or Treaters? This is the time of year that the Scots believed that the Cailleach, the Hag, arises from stone to walk the Earth. She actually had a blue-gray or almost black face. She is an important supernatural being in […]
Samhain~Halloween Customs and Practices — ravenhawks’ magazine Magick for Mind Body and Soul
“With almost no time to decide, they [your loved ones] gave the entire country an incalculable gift. They saved the capitol from attack. They saved God knows how many lives. They saved the terrorists from claiming the symbolic victory of smashing the center of American government. And they did it as citizens. They allowed us to survive as a country that could fight terror and still maintain liberty and still welcome people from all over the world from every religion and race and culture as long as they shared our values, because ordinary people given no time at all to decide did the right thing.” ~ William J. Clinton
For about the hundredth time I am reading the trail description of the Tablelands hike in Gros Morne National Park; One of the few places you can access exposed earth’s mantle . I stop reading and looking up from the traveller’s guide out at the view in front of me and say aloud to myself, […] […]
Tablelands- a walk on the earth’s mantle. — MaritimeMac — ravenhawks’ magazine Magick for Mind Body and Soul
May you always be happy and thankful with what you have today. May you always harvest and seek the treasure of your heart and not of earth. May you always know the efforts caused by positive or negative thinking and choose positively. May you always know the divine is in me and the true place of worship is within me. Harvest goodness, love and forgiveness shall it be. Blessed be. So it is.
The Celtic harvest festival on August 1st takes its name from the Irish god Lugh, one of the chief gods of the Tuatha De Danann, giving us Lughnasadh in Ireland,and Scotland, and Laa Luanys in the Isle of Man. (In Wales, this time is known simply as Gwl Awst, the August Feast.)
Lugh dedicated this festival to his foster-mother, Tailtiu, the last queen of the Fir Bolg, who died from exhaustion after clearing a great forest so that the land could be cultivated.
Artists and entertainers displayed their talents, traders came from far and wide to sell food, farm animals, fine crafts and clothing, and there was much storytelling, music, and high-spirited revelry.
This was also an occasion for handfasting, or trial marriages. Young men and women lined up on either side of a wooden gate in a high wall, in which a hole was carved, large enough for a hand. One by one, girl and boy would grasp a hand in the hole, without being able to see who was on the other side. They were now married, and could live together for a year and day to see if it worked out. If not, the couple returned to next year’s gathering and officially separated by standing back to back and walking away from each other.
-Ravenhawks Magazine
Ravenhawks has begun taking orders for its Lughnasadh Ritual Boxes. We will take orders until July 19th. Looking forward to sharing Lughnasadh magick…
Ravenhawks Ritual Boxes for Lughnasadh/Lammas
Mushroom House in Charlevoix, Michigan by Lee Rentz Visit Charlevoix shares the story of self-taught builder Earl Young & his “mushroom houses” in …
Earl Young & the Mushroom Houses of Charlevoix — Michigan in Pictures
MARCH 29, 2021~ BY GRANDDAUGHTER CROW READ ~TIME: 5 MINS In a world of ever-changing “normals,” it can be difficult navigating through these times. …
How to Press the Reset Button on Life After Difficult Times — Ravenhawk’s Magickal Products-Candles Cloaks Ritual Boxes
Cerridwen and the Power of Inspiration
MARCH 22, 2021 BY KRISTOFFER HUGHES READ TIME: 5 MINS
“A true artist is not one who is inspired, but one who inspires others.”—Salvador Dali
At times the world can feel uninspiring and disenchanted; there is not a single person on the face of the earth that has not felt profound challenges and crisis during the Covid-19 Pandemic. Being inspirational in a world that may not feel inspired is a difficult task, but help is at hand. Cerridwen’s function in Welsh myth and lore and in the practice of Celtic Magic is as the conduit of inspiration. In the Welsh language, we have a name for the kind of inspiration that Cerridwen represents; it is called Awen.
This small four-letter word packs quite a punch; in essence, it describes the creative force of the Universe itself that flows through all existences, and all things that have the spark of life sing to this force inwardly and externally. It causes us to feel inspired and to be inspirational. The etymology of the word means “holy” or “blessed breath,” and it blows through us from the great cauldron of Cerridwen. Her cauldron gives shape and form to the ever-flowing, ever blowing spirit of Awen, and she is its director.
Cerridwen stands at the edge of the great cauldron of creation that brings the un-manifest into manifestation. Imagine if you will a conductor of an orchestra with her baton cutting through the air; Cerridwen serves a similar function in casting a spell that brings about inspiration. For the conductor of an orchestra that magic is to invoke the ensemble power of music, while for Cerridwen the spell is one of transformative inspiration, Awen. It is infectious and only apathy can cause its dimming in the heart and spirit, but even that cannot withstand the sheer power of the Awen to break its spell. But what do we when we just don’t feel inspired?
First, let’s look at the meaning and function of inspiration. Derived from the Latin inspirates, meaning to breathe into or the drawing in of air, and simultaneously the influence of the divine upon an individual or collective, it shares a commonality with the word Awen. Both terms speak of the power of the breath. When we are inspired we are awoken to new possibilities, and it allows us to transcend our everyday mundane experiences. Inspiration allows us to break down the restraints of our assumed limitations. The sheer force of inspiration has the power to propel us from the bondage of apathy to the potentiality of possibility.
Inspiration has 3 specific components: evocation, transcendence, and catalyst. The process of evocation causes us to call something forth from within ourselves; these can be initiated by internal or external stimuli that gives us a “eureka” moment where an idea is conjured in the mind that causes a rushing forth of inspiration. The process of evocation responds to the currents of inspiration as it blows through us. In turn this leads to a sense of transcendence where our limitations are crushed under the weight of inspiration; we suddenly feel the tangible sense of, “I can do this!,” or, “I know what I must do!” From this state we are led automatically to become the catalyst for that inspiration and are compelled to transmit it through expression; this is the act of being inspirational. As catalysts of inspiration we cause a proliferation of Awen to blow through the world.
Apathy is an infection that blocks the rivers of Awen and redirects its currents. In an apathetic state we can feel so far from inspiration that we no longer feel the breeze of its power to lift us from melancholy. It is apathy that gives voice to our internalised demons, to our inner saboteur, it feeds the blind spot within us that prevent us from seeing our own potential. The dam of apathy cannot be resolved on the same conscious level that we created it. The cure for apathy is not to dismantle it, but to blind it with the light of Awen, to become inspired. Apathy cannot thrive in the light of joyous Awen.
Cerridwen as the Goddess of inspiration stands poised at the great cauldron, her hand outstretched, with wand aloft pulling and guiding the currents of Awen and their direction as they blow through our Universe. By connecting to and working with Cerridwen we align ourselves with that power and are better positioned to receive and perceive its currents. In difficult times Cerridwen serves to remind us of the power of Awen and inspiration, and that even when we feel the least inspired, we can conduct ourselves to move consciously into its stream of influence. Her wish is for her children to be the Awen that the world needs. Your life is a message to this world, and yet life is so brief, there is little time for bickering and bitterness, loathing and resentment, we have only time for love and joy and inspiration. Our task is to help ourselves and others to transform their anxieties into joy.
4 Simple Way to Work with Cerridwen
Create a space or altar dedicated to Cerridwen and that which inspires you, and how you inspire others. Be creative with what you place here to represent these qualities. You do not need an elaborate statue to connect with Cerridwen a small cauldron or bowl will be more than sufficient.
Draw, carve, or make a symbol of the Awen for your altar/space. Consider the nature of the symbol daily; the circle represents the cauldron of Cerridwen, the three dots the source of un-manifest inspiration, the rays the expression of your inspiration. it is drawn thus:
Awen
Call to Cerridwen and imagine the silver currents of Awen streaming from her wand and directly through you.
Honour Cerridwen by being inspirational.
Inspiration is not just a concept; it is not something we believe in, it is something that we do. There are many ways to stir the cauldron of Awen and feel inspired.
7 Tips to Be Inspired
Do something that is just outside of your comfort zone to challenge yourself and your perception.
Spend a day telling the people around you what you appreciate about them.
Teach someone something that you enjoy doing.
Be motivated and inspired by others by watching vlogs or TED talks.
Regularly allow yourself a break to disconnect from the tech pressures of society.
Journal your thoughts and then read them out loud to yourself.
Read a book from your childhood or specifically written for children every 3 months.
Working with Cerridwen and the power of Awen/Inspiration helps us to be the light in the darkness, to be kind and genuine, to be gracious and charming. Cerridwen teaches us that where there is inspiration, there is hope; where there is hope there is magic; and where there is magic there is always a brighter future.
Cerridwen stands where Awen and matter meet, so let us join her there at the edge of the great cauldron, and make magic that made the universe.
COPYRIGHT 2021 Llewellyn Worldwide, Ltd. All rights reserved
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