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Fruits of Your Craft 30 Day Challenge Day Day 6

6) What was the most intense or effective magical experience of your life?

 Hard to say, there have been many, but limiting the question to strictly magickal  workings (as contrasted with broader experiences) I'd have to say the fertility magick that resulted in every fertile, sexually active woman who was in the group at the time becoming pregnant within six months - whether or not that particular woman was looking to get pregnant at the time.

 As far as experience - Drawing Down deity, each and every time.

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Fruits of Your Craft 30 Day Challenge Day 5

5) How long have you been practicing witchcraft and why do you think you kept at it?

  I began practicing as a Pagan in a Gardnerian Outer Court group when I was 22 - that was 42 years ago.  I've kept at it because the Craft is home.  there have been times when the 'practicing' part has fallen by the wayside due to the interferences of mundane life, and times when betrayal has tainted my practice so much so that I couldn't face it for a time, but I have never abandoned my beliefs nor my awareness of them.

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Fruits of Your Craft 30 Day Challenge Day 4

4) What do you wish you had known as a beginner? Everything I know now, but most especially that not everyone is honest, even with themselves.

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Fruits of Your Craft 30 Day Challenge Day 3

3) What are your views on cursing, hexing, and binding spells? Has your view changed throughout your journey? Why or why not? There are consequences to every magickal working, whether the intent is to curse, bind, hex (or help, protect, or heal for that matter). A Witch must always be prepared to face those consequences whether s/he can foresee them or not. I also accept the workings of karma. So if one is willing to accept that a curse, hex or binding will come back upon you in one way or another, I see that as a personal choice. I’m not willing to accept most of those consequences in most situations, although there have been exceptions. Also, there is a hierarchy to such things: that is, a binding is the least ‘negative’ (i.e. has the least chance of truly harmful consequences for both the one who casts the spell and those on whom the spell is cast) and is usually meant to prevent a greater harm. A hex is mostly coercive, intending to create conditions under which certain things will happen to those upon whom it is cast. A curse is active harm, designed to punish someone for a significant offense. I think curses require that the Gods Themselves decree such punishment.

My view has changed - when I was a young Witch a thought all such magick was BAD. I accepted the idea that there was an ultimate Good and an ultimate Evil. I don’t anymore, because I understand much better that the hands of the Gods are at the ends of our wrists and we are the means by which Their Will - for good or ill - is manifested in this plane of existence. The idea of dualism (an ultimate Good versus an ultimate Evil) is a misunderstanding of Reality.

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Fruits of Your Craft 30 Day Challenge: Day 2

2) What’s the biggest error or mistake that you feel you’ve made when working magick? Not realizing that symbolic actions can have quite literal consequences. Without revealing the time of this magickal working, it was designed to end a drought and consisted of (among other things) stirring a cauldron of water to invoke clouds and induce rain. At the time, no one thought about what creating a large, swirling mass of rain clouds as our intent would do. The drought ended - but with a large, destructive hurricane.

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Fruits of Your Craft 30 Day Challenge: Day 1

1) What has been your most influential resource in your study of the Craft? The writings, both public and private, of Gerald Gardner and the oathbound initiatory material of the Gardnerian Tradition. Practicing the Tradition strictly and following the clues Gardner left as to his understanding of his own hereditary brand of Craft led me to deeper exploration and revelation regarding historical research and study of other mythologies. This led to contact with the Old Gods in unexpected but wondrous ways and to the deepest truth I have ever known. This exploration continues to unfold to this day and I am constantly finding corroboration for the revelatory insights I am given through direct Divine contact.

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These are photos I took of the Directional shrines for the B/Pelatin ritual my HPS and I performed this past Friday evening.

Top row: ~ Northeast. The skull-faced puppet represents the Man in Black. The ajar door behind the shrine was an unintentional nod to His domain of Journeying. ~ East. Feather quill, scroll, and Egyptian Thoth statue for T'hot’. Broom, Fae screen, white winged Goddess statuette and mini broom for Erian. ~ Southeast. Baphomet statue for Atemenoch. White raven and mirror for Gwenhyvar.

Second row: ~ South. Phoenix and jar of carnelian for Salonshai. Cadeuces for Tsaranos Hermes. ~ Southwest. Chalice and red beads for Morga. Grapes for Dionysus.

Bottom row: ~ West. Mask for Ariadne. Scythe handle for Kur. ~ Northwest. Cauldron for Hekate. Spiral for Goh'len. ~ North. Bear stone for Arduina. Ziggurat for Ianos.

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Angels

When I was younger, I was often quick to point out that Angels had nothing to do with Paganism, that they were relevant only to Christianity and Magickal systems derrived therefrom. I’m big enough to admit I was wrong. Or rather, didn’t see the whole picture.

In studying and understanding Sorgae, I’ve seen more and more that connections are everywhere. So naturally, Angels (which, of course, are spiritually “older” than Christianity) do in fact have a place in Paganism. Four of the Archangels are affiliated with the Cardinal directions, for very good reasons, but perhaps more importantly, Angels are partially responsible for Witchcraft (see South below).

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Familiars

The above gif is from the television show “Supernatural.” While I haven’t seen the episode in question, the point made is nonetheless important here. I’m going to discuss two concepts this post, Familiars and Soulbonding.

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Artwork © C. Petterson. Used with permission.

North Goddess – Arduina (ard-WEEN-a) - identified with pentacles and the Altar and the now-extinct cave bear, Ursus Spelaeus. She claims to be from Old Europe, from the Ardennes, whose center is “Duna” - the Danube River. She speaks using the pre-Roman names for various areas and countries, in a language She calls Vaska. She was the first Goddess in the Sorgae pantheon to make contact with our Coven. In the sorgae-tarot, Arduina appears on the Justice card, renamed The Measure..

Arduina is one of “my” Goddesses, as I was told I was associated with West, Northwest, and North (more on that in another post). But even before this, before I knew anything about Sorgae, for years I had an enormous She-Bear visit me in meditations. I called Her “Grandmother.” Now I realize that it was likely Arduina.

I’ve met Arduina (via Channeling) a few times in ritual. She is warm and welcoming, and always glad to visit with we Witches. Though She always wants more infa, more babies. One of Her symbols is a pentacle, and rivers are very important to Her. Being the North Goddess, Her Element is Earth.

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Artwork © C. Petterson. Used with permission.

North God - Ianos (ee-yah-nos) - We associate Him with the old European God, Janicot/Janus. Like Janus, He has two faces, one looking to the East and one looking to the West, to the Past and the Future. In the sorgae-tarot, Ianos appears on The Emperor card, renamed with the Sorgae word for “father,” Siré (SEE-ray).

We associate Ianos with gateways, opening (metaphorical) doors, and passages. His position in the North aligns Him with Earth and Silence, and the final stage on the journey to communion with the Divine. However, we have yet to figure out a way to Channel Him, as none of us, obviously, have two faces. A possibility may be two people standing back-to-back and Ianos being called into them both. Another may be having a Familiar also Channeled at the same time, so that Ianos communicates through both Witch and Familiar. But we haven’t attempted any of this yet.

But with Hermes now in the South, and the Aquarian Age concerned with acceptance and new understandings, it seems to me to be an important step to take, Channeling this God of passage and gateways. Or, perhaps, another of Hermes’ functions is to teach us how best to communicate with Ianos (Would it be Hermes that is to be Channeled simultaneously rather than a Familiar?). After all, the idea of a North-South axis (mythically called the North Star Road, or the World Tree) being crucial to Divine communion, is not a new one.

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Elements

Below the jump is the piece my High Priestess wrote about the Directions, Elements, and Powers recognized in Sorgae ‘Craft. I’m posting her piece instead of writing my own here, because this already covers very clearly and concisely what I would have struggled to say.

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~Search Through the Notes To Find Like-Minded Individuals~

Find Your Community Banner: Here

Don’t see your community? Let us know what we need to add!

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~Search Through the Notes To Find Like-Minded Individuals~

Find Your Community Banner: Here

Don’t see your community? Let us know what we need to add!

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~Search Through the Notes To Find Like-Minded Individuals~

Find Your Community Banner: Here

Don’t see your community? Let us know what we need to add!

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Channeling

One essential aspect of Sorgae ‘Craft is contact with the Gods. The most effective means of doing this, is Channeling. We Draw into the Priest or Priestess whichever Divinity is needed through a series of words and actions, some of which have been provided to us by the Gods themselves. The Gods then speak through the Earthly vessel, and impart to us wisdom and tasks. Sometimes we need to decipher what we are told, as some of the Gods tend to speak in riddles, or in Vaska.

In some religious traditions, only bio/cis/physical females can Draw Goddesses, and only bio/cis/physical males can Draw Gods. In other words, it is the physical sex of the body that determines which gender-energy Deity is Channeled (we’ve yet to encounter a Deity outside the traditional gender binary). In Sorgae, however, this is determined by the spirit that is inhabiting the body. Not only does this mean that, for example, a transwoman could Channel a Goddess regardless of her genitalia, but it also allows our Familiars to Channel Deity through us as well.

We initially discovered Sorgae via Channeling. Arduina descended upon a Priestess, without the Coven knowing who She was, or what language it was that She spoke. She began telling the Coven of the Witchcraft She knew, the other Gods She knew, and gradually Sorgae and its pantheon were pieced together, complimented by corroborating research and the combined experiences of the Coven. This first contact was made nearly 20 years ago (as of 2015), and we are still discovering new pieces to the puzzle, and finding new verifications of what we are told. There is very little that has been revealed via our Channelings, that has not been verified and supported by outside sources.