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tipsycad147 · 3 years ago

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Tools of a Witch

Written and Compiled by George Knowles

Athame / Pentacle / Wand / Chalice / Censer / Broom / Bolline / Cauldron / Bell / Book of Shadows

While tools are not absolutely necessary to the practice of the craft, some tools are nice to have if only to focus our will and concentration. The basic tools to start with are the elemental tools or those tools which represent the four elements of life: The Pentacle for Earth, The Wand for Air, The Athame for Fire, and The Chalice for Water.

Tools needn’t be purposely bought or excessively expensive. Take a look around the household, many ordinary implements can be used or improvised as tools. You could even make your own and by doing so, a certain amount of personal power will be infused into the item, thus increasing its effectiveness. Other sources of tools are Car Boot Sales, Junk Shops and Antique Shops. With a little patience you may find tools cropping up in the most unusual places.

All tools as they are collected, should be cleansed of all negative energies and past use influences. Lets face it, you won’t know how or for what use they may have been used before you acquired them. To do this, clean the item physically and thoroughly while using visualisation. Then bury the item in the ground for a few days, thus allowing past associations to be dispersed and purified with earth’s energy.

Alternatively you could use the water method. Immerse the item in water, preferably natural water like the Sea, a River, or a Lake. If these are not available to you, used a bowl of water and add a few pinches of Sea Salt. Leave submerged for a couple of hours before removing and drying the item off. Obviously common sense must prevail when using these methods, as you wouldn’t want to ruin the item. Do whatever seems appropriate for each item. After the cleansing process, each tool needs to be consecrated, ready to use for magickal purposes. (More about this later).

Below is a list of the standard tools used in witchcraft together with their uses and significances. For other correspondences see:

Athame - The athame is the traditional ritual dagger of the witch. Commonly it has a black handle and steel double-edged blade. Many Wiccans engrave the handle or blade with magickal symbols indicative of deities, spirits or the elements as sources of power. The athame is a tool of command, it is used to direct what power we pass through it. It is used to cast circles by tracing the circumference, to charge and consecrate objects and banish negative energies. In most traditions, it is never used as a mundane knife for cutting purposes, and is used strictly for magickal purposes only. As an elemental tools of the craft, in most traditions it is associated with the elements of Fire, in others it is associated with Air. The phallic symbolism of the knife links it with the God.

Pentacle - The pentacle is a traditional tool of the craft. Originally it is thought to have been adopted from ceremonial magic. It is usually a round solid disc often made from stone, wood or cooper. On the disc is engraved or painted an up-right five pointed star enclosed inside a circle called the Pentagram. A disc decorated in this manner then becomes called a Pentacle. In some traditions other symbols are added indicative of deities, spirits or the elements as sources of power. The pentacle is normally the centerpiece of the alter on which objects are placed to be consecrated or charged, such things as amulets, charms and tools are placed on it, as is the salt and water for blessing. The pentacle represents the elements of Earth and is sometimes used to summon the Gods and Goddesses. For a more detailed description of the pentacle - pentagram see (Pentagram - Pentacle).

Wand - The wand is one of the prime magical tools of the witch. Traditionally the wand is made from the wood of a sacred tree. These include the Willow, Elder, Oak, Apple, Peach, Hazel and Cherry, to mention just a few. Its length should approximate the crook of the elbow to the middle of the index finger. These days many modern materials are used instead, and even tipped with crystals and gems. The wand is a tool of invocation, it is used to evoke the Gods, Goddesses and Spirits. It is also used to bestow blessings, charge objects and draw down the moon during ritual. In most traditions the wand represents the elements of Air, in others it represents the elements of Fire.

Censer or Thurible - The censer is an incense burner used to contain burning incense during ritual. Any type of censer can be used, even a simple bowl filled with sand will do. The censer represents the elements of Air and is normally placed before the images of the Goddess and God on the altar.

Chalice - The Chalice is one of the four elemental tools of witchcraft and represents the elements of Water. It is a symbol of containment and often represents the womb of the Goddess. The base is symbolic of the material world, the stem symbolises the connection between man and spirit and the rim or opening symbolically receives spiritual energy.

The chalice can be made of any material, in times of old - Horns, Shells and Gourds were used to hold sacred liquids during ritual, and then in later times - Silver became the preferred material, having long been associated with the moon and the Goddess. The chalice is used to hold the blessed water and wine during ritual. It is traditional in many covens to pass the chalice around all members, who then take a drink as a token of unity.

Broom - The broom is a ritual tool of the witch, sacred to both Goddess and the God. The God - through its symbolic phallic shape, The Goddess - through its three-piece make up, the stick, brush and binding cord being symbolic of the triformis aspect of the Goddess.

Traditionally the broom was made from three different woods. Ash for the handle, Birch twigs for the brush and Willow for the binding cord. Ash is protective and has command over the four elements. Birch is purifying and draws spirits to one’s service. Willow is sacred to the Goddess.

The broom is used for a variety of purposes but most generally to purify and protect. It is used to ritually cleanse an area before magick is performed by symbolically sweeping away negative energies and astral build up. Of old it was used to guard the home and persons within against psychic attack or evil curses, this by placing it across the threshold, windowsills or doorways. It was also placed under the bed or a pillow to protect the sleeper.

Traditionally and perhaps the use which most people identify it with, are the old wedding ceremonies of the Gypsies and the early American slaves, where a couple leapt over the broom to ensure fertility, domestic harmony and longevity. Today pagan hand-fasting rituals often include a broom jump.

Bolline - The Bolline or White-Handled knife as it is now known, is the practical knife of the craft. Traditionally it was used to harvest herbs and had a blade in the form of a small sickle. Today it is normally a mundane knife used for cutting and carving. It has a white handle to differentiate it from the Athame, which has a black handle and is used only for magickal purposes. The bolline is used to cut wands and herbs, to mark and carve candles with symbols and to cut cords for use in magick. Any other ritual function requiring the use of a knife, such as cutting flowers for the altar, can be performed with the bolline.

Cauldron - The cauldron is probably the tool most associated with witchcraft and is steeped in magickal tradition and mystery. The cauldron is the container in which transmutation, germination, and transformations may occur. It is symbolic of the womb of the Goddess, and is the manifested essence of femininity and fertility. Everything is born from the cauldron of the Goddess and afterwards everything returns back to it. It is also symbolic of the element of water, as well as reincarnation, immortality and inspiration.

In ritual the cauldron is used as a container for making brews and potions, or to contain a small fire for use with spells. It can also be used for scrying (divination) by filling it with water and gazing into its depths.

In ancient times the cauldron was used as a cooking vessel and for brew making. Traditionally it was made from cast iron, it rests on three legs and has an opening smaller then its widest part. Cauldrons are made in many sizes but can be difficult to find, so you will need to persevere if you want one.

Bell - The bell is a ritual tool of invocation and banishment. The bell is a feminine symbol of the creative force, that of the Goddess. The bell can be rung to indicate the start of a rite by banishing negative influences before the ritual begins. Often it is used to invoke the Goddess during ritual, or sounded at the four quarters to call forth such spirits as the Watchers and Elementals.

Bells can be used to guard the home by warding off evil spells and spirits, or evoking good energies when placed in cupboards or hung on doors. Hung from a cord the bell symbolises the human soul suspended between heaven and earth.

Book of Shadows - The Book of Shadows is the workbook of the witch. In it is recorded: Rituals guidelines, Invocations, Spells, Runes, Rules of a particular Coven or Tradition, Symbols, Poems, Chants, and anything else of use to the witch during ritual.

Traditionally the Book of Shadows was always hand written by the individual. A common custom for new initiates into a Coven, is to hand copy his teacher’s Book of Shadows exactly as it appeared, then later to add his own material as he progressed in the craft. Today with the advantages of technology they are often typed and photocopied, or even computerised onto Floppy Disc’s.

To make your own Book of Shadows, you can use any form of blank book, but perhaps the best type to use are those of a loose-leave nature, thus allowing pages to be shuffled around when preparing for rituals. My personal Book of Shadows is made from recycled paper, bound up in natural tree bark covers, these are available in some art shops and bookstores.

Sources

Wicca, A guide for the Solitary Practitioner - By Scott Cunningham

Encyclopedia of Wicca & Witchcraft - By Raven Grimassi

A Witches' Bible - By Janet and Stewart Farrar

Witchcraft for tomorrow - By Doreen Valiente

https://www.controverscial.com/Tools%20of%20a%20Witch.htm

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dukeofriven · 6 years ago

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Guns or Children: The Only Choice Left, America

[Note: this post was originally a response to this thread.

Trigger warnings: guns, gun deaths, murder, violence, death, child death, school shootings, racism, anti-semitism, mass shootings, Orlando Pulse Shooting, sports injuries, cursing, swear words, statistics, sourced facts, responsibility, collective responsibility, the necessity of change, moral imperatives]

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There is always a justification for why it’s okay for Americans to own guns.

Tradition. The Cultural Importance of Firearms. Farmers Vs Wild Beasts. The Scary Non-White People Who Are Moving Into The Neighbourhood. The Need For An Unsubtle Penis Metaphor To Show-Off To Your Fellow Men.

And, of course, the worst of them all:

“I Like Them.”

I don’t care.

It has become parodic at this point to try and argue against these points because the people who make them aren’t arguing in good faith anyways: they like guns and they know that you don’t like guns so how can there be any kind of accord when you won’t even meet them on their own turf? You can’t argue with people who don’t like guns because secretly - or not-so-secretly - they just want to take you guns away. We can’t have a real argument about gun control against such an extremist position.

Which is fine because I’m not here to argue. There’s no argument to be made anymore. The time for argument was seventy years ago when America’s culture wasn’t so toxic that the sane, reasonable positions on gun ownership that other countries ended-up with could still be enforced.

That was seventy years ago. That opportunity is gone. There’s no longer any argument to be made.

The Onion makes a habit of running a variation of an article every time a big shooting happens:

The fact that America is irresponsible with guns, cannot be trusted with guns, has lost all ability to live with guns, is fundamentally true, and not in dispute anywhere other than in America itself. America’s mind-boggling gun-death rate is a direct, indivisible result of: [Note: most numbers here are from the last major survey from 2017] 1) The sheer volume of guns. America has about 120 civilian-owned guns for every hundred people in the country. There are more guns than people. If everyone in America had to start killing one-another in a grand old game of nation-wide paintball-with-bullets no one would have to share a gun and there would be spares before the first shot was fired. The next region with an entry on the guns per-people per-region list? The Falkland Islands with 60 guns for every 100 people. The Falkland Islands has a total population of some 3000 people. Its murder rate? Does’t seem to have one. Leaving aside the Falklands War I don’t think anyone’s been murdered there since 1981. Next country down? Yemen. Population: 28 million, with 50-odd guns per 100 people. Yemen a region that hasn’t known peace since... ever. Yemen has existed in some form since 1918 and not once has it ever had what you’d call a lasting and nation-wide peace.

The farthest down the list you have to go to find a country that comes close to America in terms of population size is Pakistan - population 200 million, and only 22 guns for every hundred people. Should they start that nation one -kill-paintball game most people would have to share until they’d wiped-out some eighty percent of the country.

So the three biggest gun-owning regions in the world by guns per person is a tiny British tourist trap where nobody but governments commit crimes, and civil-war ravaged Yemen. And America. Neither of those first places comes close to America in terms of either size or number of guns. America has more guns for civilian use than anywhere else on Earth. This number is not in dispute. America has more than twice the number of guns per citizen than anywhere else on Earth. This number is also not in dispute. America has a death-by-firearm rate far and beyond any other nation of its size, population, wealth, and stability. Of the six countries that make up half the world’s gun deaths, America is one of them - the other five are Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela, and Guatemala, all nations with significantly more serious gang-related and stability-related issues than America. This number is also not is dispute.

2) Easy access to guns. 390 million guns don’t get distributed by accident. American gun laws are known for their laxity and their ease of use: in America the courts have decided that 1791′s Second Amendment of the US Constitution, by-and-large, grants Americans the largely unrestricted right to own guns, and indeed have something of a moral obligation to do so as a guarantor against tyranny. American law thus goes out of its way to make the process of purchasing a gun as inconvenient as possible. It is easier to buy a guy in many places in America than it is to purchase alcohol. 3) A culture that worships guns. America has a culture that loves guns. A culture that lauds guns. A culture that worships guns. America has a culture that that stands around and not only says ‘shit guns are cool’ but takes the next step and says ‘and people should be able to own cool things.’ This is somewhat odd given the awesome destructive power of a gun and the average citizen’s need to posses destructive power. Tanks are cool, but nobody is handing those out to civilians. Fighter jets are awesome, but we don’t make those for sale to anything other than repressive governments. “But DukeofRiven swords are cool and we let people buy those,” you say. Well, many countries don’t, first of all, or allow much sword-freedom - in my country it is legal to own a sword, but not to wield it or carry it. Secondly, you know how many people were murdered with a sword in 2017? No, you don’t. Nobody does - no one seems to be keeping track as far as I can tell. It’s so few people that the number is statistically insignificant. I can tell you that in 2017 some 1,591 people were murdered with all “knives and other cutting instruments” compared to a full 10,982 gun homicides. This is a list that notes all defenestration murders (4), and all murders via explosion (0) - it doesn’t take a lot to get on the FBI’s “common murder weapon” radar. Swords don’t qualify. “But DukeofRiven” - I hear you cry (’Your Grace’ will do) - “That’s a lot of knife deaths. Knives are a useful tool that would be silly to ban. Guns are an important tool too - farmers who live in dangerous areas find guns useful for warding off wild animals.” Well that’s true, fictional question asker - farmers do find guns useful. There’s about 3.2 million farmers in American - slightly less than 1% of the population - so let’s do the American thing and give them a heaping, generous portion of 10 guns each. That still leaves... uh... about 360 million guns not owned by farmers. Well what if we take all rural-dwelling Americans, who hunt and shoot and kill as part of their very important rural hunting/shooting/killing culture and make sure they all have at least one gun. 57 million rural non-farmer Americans - about 17% of the population - but damn, we’ve still got 303 million guns lying around. Most American gun owners own at least three guns? Can’t deprive the rural folk of their just due so will give them each an extra two guns. That still leaves us with 181 million guns to hand out to civilian urbanites who cannot possible have a good day-to-day use for them - and that’s counting the extra seven guns we gave to each farmer. If those guns were to secede and form an independent nation they’d bump Ethiopia’s spot to become the 12th largest country by-population in the world. That’s more guns than the population of the world’s 109 smallest countries combined. “Guns are still tools used by hunters” - oh sweet boy howdy do I not give a shit about hunters. 7000 of those 2017 deaths were by handguns, a gun that literally has no other purpose other than to shoot people. Handgun deaths top all other gun deaths in America by a significant margin. A handgun is not a tool. It is a weapon. That’s all it is - and Americans own a lot of weapons. You’re drowning in them. You are overrun by guns. Right-wingers should forget curbing immigration to save white people as the dominant ethnic group - the primary demographic of the United States is gun! Y’all lost already! I don’t care that you think guns are cool, because I also think guns are cool - and I own none. I can be impressed by guns without having to own guns, without making sure my friends own guns, and my family owns guns, and that there are enough guns in my country for every single person to personally shoot another person in the head in a suicidal conga line stretching round the entire country and still have spare guns left over. Culture? Tradition? Heritage? Don’t give a flying fuck. Slavery was part of your tradition too, and no that’s not a disingenuous comparison because both practices created death, pain, misery, and suffering for profit. Both practices were morally indefensible. You’ve been a responsible gun owner all your life? Don’t give a fuck. How many gun owners need to be un-responsible before the tipping point is crossed and you would agree that there is culturally a gun problem, that no amount of responsibility by one group os making up for the irresponsibility of the other half? Why is this ‘one good man in ‘Sodom’ argument framed this way? 10000+ people died in 2017 because of a culture that glorifies an item with no functional utility to improve society. Let me be clear about this: given the number of gun deaths compared to that of gun owners that 10000 deaths is statistically insignificant it terms of responsible proportionality. Most gun owners are responsible gun owners. There’s only 118 million gun-owning households in the US - only a third of the population actually owns a gun - so if we fudge the number a bit and just say that there are 118 million individual guns owners the numbers work out to about 0.009% of all gun owners being irresponsible. Guess what: that doesn’t matter. You want to know all the stuff America bans that hasn’t ever killed anybody but someday might? Kinder Eggs. Haggis. Imported brie. Think of all the chemicals banned since the 70s because of fears that they might do something. Think of every product recall that happened because one person was simply injured. Think of the products you’ve banned for nothing more than their dangerous ideology like Cuban cigars. You banned Amy Winehouse and Margaret Thatcher’s son from entering America but you won’t ban the sale of guns? Guns aren’t nearly as dangerous as the late Amy Winehouse? Gun culture and tradition glorifies nothing but instruments of slaughter. Arthur Hoppe killed your stupid arguments about tradition stone-dead 49 year ago:

(Hoppe, Arthur. "Legislation Attempts to Ban the Bomb." Sidelines (Murfreesboro), October 27, 1970. Page 4. For the original source see Hoppe, Arthur. "Ban The Bomb Banners." The San Francisco Examiner (San Francisco), October 25, 1970. Page 103. For print, see Hoppe, Arthur. Mr. Nixon and My Other Problems. San Francisco, CA: Chronicle Books, 1971. Page 78. )

The moral bankruptcy of the tradition argument was demonstrated half a century ago, when a lot less Americans were dying by the gun. When whole classrooms of children and concert goers on the Vegas Strip and students at their lectures and devoted church-goers [and hey, synagogue shooting after I first started writing this: all house-of-worship goers] all have to fear the omnipresent threat of death when does your right to admire the gun cease to be a relevant point of consideration? When does living every day with the constant gnawing fear that it could happen to you finally suffocate ‘most of us are responsible’ in its cradle? When do ‘a few bad apples’ become ‘too many bad apples’? If I’m making apple sauce you’re not going to care that 99% of my apples were perfect - because that 1% of rotten apples I tossed in was enough to ruin the batch. When does ‘most of us are not rotten’ stop sounding quite so reassuring? I’ve been listening a lot lately to Still Buffering, a McElroy extended universe podcast where - in its first year - the-then 15 year-old Rileigh Smirl shared her life with her 15-years-plus older siblings. In the episode recorded immediately after the Orlando shooting, where the adults are literally shaking and you can hear it in their voices, the 15 year-old very blandly describes life in a world where the idea of being shot in her school has been so utterly normalized for her that she has a hard time generating the same level of fear about it as the adults do. It is genuinely nauseating. Her sisters are practically crying into their microphones, sick with horror that their little sister goes to school entirely accepting that another member of her school not only might wander in with a gun and shoot-up the place, but would not be culturally abnormal for having done so. The young Ms. Smirl is already used to being evacuated: kids at her school have brought guns, brought bombs, and while nothing fatal has yet happened, she would be unsurprised if it did. resigned to the fact. If the shooter only murdered a handful of people the story wouldn’t still be in the news after a couple days (did you even remember there was a synagogue shooting a week ago?) - and if they’d killed dozens they’d be superseded by another shooting within a few weeks. (As of writing - April 26 2019 - there have been six school shootings in the US since the start of the year Eight. There were two more school shootings between me first writing this down on April 26 and coming back to finish it on May 11/12th. There were 20 mass shootings in total in just those fifteen days. 21 fatalities. Jesus Fucking Christ, America.) You know, I wouldn’t care if guns hadn’t killed a soul in 2017. If the simple spectre of their presence - the easy access, the sheer volume, the cultural identity - created a fraction of that level of fear and fatalism you hear in Rileigh Smirl’s voice in school children across America I would happily rip every single gun from the living hands of every American gun owner and melt them in a pyre the size of Delaware rather than let such a state of affairs continue. A mere 10000 gun owners were murderers in 2017? A mere 10000 gun owners a year have been murderers for the last 20 years? A mere 2,000,000 gun murderers in two decades? Damn you all. Keep in mind we haven’t touched on anything other than homicides. 10000-plus gun owners made the decision to murder others with their gun in 2017. People often bring up car deaths as a rebuttal to the gun stats - 40000 car deaths in 2017 to 10000 gun deaths should we therefore ban cars, you idiot? What a disingenuous question. That’s 40000 car deaths of all kinds - I’m talking about homicide alone, where the so-called ‘responsible person’ is proven to use their ‘responsibly’-owned item for irresponsible ends. The ‘bad-eggs.’ You know how many bad-egg car owners murdered people in 2017 as an act of willful homicide? No. And neither do I. It’s another stat so low it is presumably lumped-in with an aggregate - the 976 deaths in 2017 known only as “miscellaneous.” This, again, on a chart that notes that 13 people were murdered by poison, 4 people were murdered by being pushed, and zero people were murdered with explosions. The number of cars used to murder people? Presumably less than three. Could be as low as zero. [Note: the number is actually 50. See the Addendum and this follow-up article for expanded stats.] There are a little over 270 million car owners in the US, and from that we can conclude that while 0.009% of gun owners a year can’t stop themselves from murdering people with their guns, less than 0.000001% of car owners can’t stop themselves from being a first-degree car murderer. On the face of it those are pretty tiny numbers - infinitesimal, really. Less than one percent. Insignificant. Why get worked up? 10,000 lives ended by guns fired with a purpose to kill. By civilians, only, mind - I haven’t even touched on gun deaths by police officers, or the even broader question of gun deaths by US soldiers looking to shoot people. We’re still just focussed on civilian gun owners who felt the need to kill other human beings. ~10,000 American gun murders in 2017 alone. Three times the entire population of the Falklands, your closet neighbours in terms of guns-to-population ratio. I’m Canadian - 36 million people, a disturbing 36 guns per 100 people. If I go to Windsor and drive across the bridge I instantly become 10 time more likely to be shot to death - not specifically because I am now in Detroit, not specifically because I’m a Canadian in the United States, but simply because I went from any developed nation that wasn’t America into America. Taking Detroit specifics account, if you drive back and forth across the Ambassador bridge your odds of getting shot jump some 50 times every time you cross an invisible line on the Detroit River. Detroit and Windsor have very different crime rates: 2017 saw 267 murders in Detroit. Windsor saw 3. The Detroit Murder Rate is 45 per 100,000 people - Windsor is 0.89. These cities are less than 2000 feet apart. About 600 metres. 0.6 kilometres. 0.4 of a mile. Statistically speaking most of those crimes in Detroit were firearm deaths. I can stand in Windsor (having had an excellent meal at Smoke & Spice Southern Barbecue), walk some 300 yards, and my life-expectancy from being slain by a passing bullet balloons 50 times. People just die more in America. That’s - to be fair - partially a matter of volume. Contrasted against Canada, say, and you’re looking at nine times the number of people: of course you’ve got more deaths. But the homicide numbers don’t scale that way. Canada had 266 firearm homicides in 2017. If you made the population of Canada nine times larger, so that we had population parity with the US, we would have had about 2394 gun homicides - still only a quarter of the USA’s 10,982. You’d have to make Canada 41 times larger than it is now, creating a billion and a half Canadians, which amounts to a full 20% of the existing world population. You’d need there to be 1.2 billion more Canadians than there are Americans now to have the same number of gun homicides. Homicides alone! Because we’re still - still - not talking about suicides. Or home ‘defence.’ Or police shootings. Or killings by US troops. Just civilians with guns and the capacity to use them on fellow citizens out of a need to murder. If this getting through? Tell me this is getting through. Americans - your family, friends, colleagues, comrades, acquaintances, lovers, crushes, vaguely-recognized strangers are dying at rates from causes that are not present elsewhere in the stable places of the world. You are dying from solved problems. If ~10,000 Americans were dying yearly from the black plague you’d be upset. You’d be doing something. America has a disease, and that disease is a willingness to let friends, family, lovers, even children die rather than change. Six eight school shootings in four five months. “It’s lucky that fatalities were low,” you might say if you were a lunatic. That’s not lucky. Gut-wrenchingly relieving, all things being equal: six eight schools threatened and only one family four families had to lose a child. It didn’t happen to us think the thousands of parents whose children walked out of those six eight shootings alive. A school bus company that had six eight crashes in four five months wouldn’t count itself lucky that only one child four children died. It would be defunct as a company, drowning in litigation, its corporate officers hounded in the streets by mobs of furious parents horrified that this company had proven so incapable of a simple act like protecting their children. But six eight schools across the nation experienced an event with armed gunman and its not even notable. America, you’re broken. You’re just broken. And your problem is the guns. So I don’t care that you’re a responsible gun owner with a gun cabinet who memorized the rifleman’s credo. I absolutely don’t give a damn that you have fond memories of you and your grandfather stalking deer and bonding as family. If I weigh the cost of you sharing that bonding experience with your own grandchild someday against the ~10000 people shot dead in 2017, and the ~100000 people shot dead over the decade your warm fuzzies don’t amount to shit. Teach your grandkid to bake cookies. Go camping. Introduce him to the love of baseball. If you cannot imagine formative bonding without killing something go take a butchery course at the community college and learn how to barbecue a pig - hey, look, valuable life lessons, a trade skill, and I just made you a must-get for cool parties. Yes, I am talking about taking your guns away. All of your guns. All of them. This is a future I want - because you, America, collectively, have proven that you are not socially responsible enough to be a country that owns guns. If you can ban Kinder Eggs for 50 years because you thought it would take that much time to train your children not to swallow a massive plastic capsule that the rest of the world’s children have no problem surviving, I think at the very least a 50-year moratorium on firearms is the bare fucking minimum. There were 23 school shootings in America in 2018. There have been 20 school shootings in Canada in the entire 152 years of our existence. Over 10000 American civilians decide every year to shoot people to death. That doesn’t happen in other stable places. The difference is THE GUNS. IT’S ALL THE GUNS! IT’S ALL THE FUCKING GUNS! You can’t just talk about tightening guns laws. You can’t just talk about making gun owners more responsible - statistically speaking American gun owners are individually responsible! It doesn’t matter, because collectively you’re all irresponsible. Responsible people don’t prioritize their interests and hobbies over bi-monthly school shootings. Responsible people don’t ‘Good German’ themselves when children’s are under threat at least once a month nation-wide.

Real talk for you people out there who own guns, love guns, would never think or murdering anybody, and are genuinely angry that I keep acting like 10000-a-year bad apples reflects badly on your interests as a whole. How high does the number have to be before your association with your hobby would begin to make you feel uncomfortable with sharing an interest? Let me put it another way: enrolment in youth football teams is dropping nation-wide as parents aren’t comfortable putting their children at risk. Football has given America exciting games to watch, stories of victory and defeat, bonding with friends and family, and one of television’s true masterpieces, Friday Night Lights (#neededmoredevin #justiceforwaverly #justiceforsantiago). But all that good warm fuzzy feeling is running up against a problem: kids are getting hurt. In some cases kids are dying. 2017 saw 13 football-related deaths among the under-18 crowd: 4 direct fatalities, 9 indirect fatalities. (Direct fatalities are causes like head injuries and organ trauma. Indirect fatalities are causes like heat stroke.) That’s a death rate of 0.095/100,000 direct and 0.21/100,000 indirect - still lower than the murder rate in Windsor. And yet football enrolment declines. Because it’s more than just those thirteen deaths: it’s the up-front injuries like broken bones and sprains, it’s the long-term brain injuries that might not emerge for years, it’s the trauma of watching friends and teammates get seriously hurt, die, or simply find the sport a source of stress rather than joy. Right now football is experiencing white flight as predatory football pipelines double-down on players-of-colour to feed their football mills, but that too will decline as a generation that grows up not experiencing a close intimacy with football loses interest in the sport. (Another demographic timebomb lurking in America’s wings.) 13 child deaths by football in 2018. 44 students shot-dead the same year. High schools are shutting down their football programs - taking football completely away - because they can’t stomach all that death, injury, and trauma. The seriousness of this has proven that America is not a nation that can handle its football, and does not want to keep its kids playing football in the same numbers as it once did. (Anyone who wants to come in here and say “would you say the same about hockey, Canadian?” Yes. Absolutely. Instantly. Ditch the whole thing. It’s just a sport, a hobby. It is not more important than lives.) So what will it take to get you to admit that if America can’t handle football it can’t handle guns? A half-dozen kids got their hair chewed in the 90s and America decided that responsibility didn’t matter, that nobody should own a Snacktime Kid Cabbage Patch Doll. One kid died from a non-blunt lawn dart in 1987 and you’ve banned them since 1988. 44 kids got shot to death last year and America thought it unnecessarily restrictive of freedom to take away a single gun. Give me numbers. Please. How many kids would have to die in America this year before you felt uncomfortable owning a gun simply by transference of shame or guilt or association? What if every gun owner but you shot a kid at a school next year? Would you still say your responsibility kept your conscience clear? An absurd, hyperbolic question, fair enough. So let’s start counting down from those 117999999 gun-owning households who aren’t you: what’s the magic number when your responsible ownership of your thing-that-just-kills no longer sits comfortably against the annual number of gun-owning, school-child murderer-producing households? Not accidents, not mistakes, not once-in-a-generation horrors by an statistically aberrant psychopath - I’m talking about systemic patterns of yearly school-child homicide via gunshot. Because last year that was about 44 child murders from about 15 households. That’s currently a number that doesn’t shame you. Start counting up. I’m asking, genuinely, because I need to know. Is there a number? 440 kids murdered by 150 household? 4400 from 1500? 44000 from 15000? Or will others actions never affect you? Is what the rest of society does is of no import, no responsibility of yours? If you were the only responsible gun owner in America, ask yourself if you’d still be comfortable owning a gun. And think - real hard - at what the ratio of responsible-to-not-responsible gun murderers and death tolls are right now, and why you’re okay with that. Then ask yourself what other hobby has that kind of real-life school-kid homicide count that needs to be updated on a monthly basis. Not a lot of gunpla hobbyists struggling with the weight of rogue members murdering kids. Knitters can be vicious, but only socially. Mountain climbers and fast car enthusiasts see plenty of tragedy in their hobby - but they’re tragedies of accidents and mistakes. Not a lot of malicious intent going around. Not a lot of cut ropes and slashed brakes. Not to the tune of 10000+ homicides a year. Ask yourself if maybe - just maybe - America has a problem when it comes to guns. Maybe, just maybe, so many of you being responsible isn’t working. Maybe, just maybe, your hobby, your tradition, your culture, your warm family memories, your constitutional guarantees of ownership, are not worth the death of children in their schools, concert goers at their venues, worshipers at their altars, families in their homes year, after year, after year, after year, after year, after year, after year in numbers that simply, truthfully, are not present elsewhere in the world in places similar to America. Maybe, just maybe, being responsible isn’t enough. Maybe, at some point, the number of dead kids will be too many. And if it isn’t, you need to come clean and admit that every child in America could be shot to death tomorrow and you’d still love owning a gun. You can get rid of the guns, America, or you can start wearing shirts that say “kill all the kids you like - I’m proud to be a gun owner.” Because there’s no other choices left to you. The time for incremental change is long over. The time for saner, less drastic measures died decades ago. There is no moderate position left. It’s the guns, or it’s the children. There are no other choices.

________________________ Addendum: there is now a second part to this article, which expands upon some of the points made here with the more comprehensive fatality statistics from the CDC, including numbers I did not have when originally writing this article.

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presta-hero · 6 years ago

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Essay for Love: Ancient Approach

I provides my grandma and grandpa that I would adhere to them for a few years in the summer months, after a finish my school term. When providing love description, we find the item appropriate to turn to an explanatory dictionary. For modern absolutely love essays, they give us distressing warnings.

The philosophical and anthropological problem of love emerged previously, in olden days. So , here I am, moving along an old time graveled roads, breathing in fresh new rural atmosphere and looking forward to meeting my favorite dear relatives. A concept that every other love is because love on the way to yourself will start gaining popularity. In this property, a hundred stretches from the location I live life, I ultimately feel at home.

The philosophy of love has been seen diversely in every amount of human progress, depending on important and national environment. Many works about appreciate point out that an individuality appeared to be considered as a part of society back then, that is why man or women interests were definitely strongly bound to public products.

The final objective of love would gain growing old either by simply worshipping Aphrodite Pandemos in addition to giving birth to help children as well as by worshipping Aphrodite Urania and learning intellectual function. Nonetheless , classical longevity brings precisely this know-how about love.

We advise one more plan of distinction, which is while using specifics of any relationship concerning two subjects: My grandpa and grandma break into joy, and I come closer to these to embrace my favorite nearest men and women. What is more necessary, love adjusted its route from a specific person to the whole humanity. I can find out their house on the distance.

Renaissance leaves together each of the previous experiences and gives beginning to numerous treatises, in which humanism occupies the most important place, even while love is actually a simple people feeling. Most likely this is the most fascinating and common subjects while in the history with philosophy. PurEssay offers exclusively quality authoring from professionals in this field.

I will really need to remind the grandparents again to change the place where they keep the key. I am unable to tell you precisely how proud my grandparents are generally of their family home. Now it is time to go into and to interact with my grandmother and grandfather. There exist a lot of parts of view towards the moment as soon as love very first appeared.

To be a human developed psychologically, absolutely love acquired completely new complicated options and got innovative forms and the theoretic examination. This can be a two-storied, regal building cloaked in a distinctive atmosphere within the previous one hundred year. I just enter a significant living room, urgentessay.net just where my horrific lies on a sofa, browsing his classifieds, and the grandmother rich waters her property plants.

Through earliest period, human feelings were mainly connected with intuition, and like was not a definite phenomenon. At the same time, they find a way to take care of your garden: a beautiful spot, full of fragrant flowers in addition to branchy forest that forged their dark areas on wood made benches. I like this how the place stays neat in summers, resembling an authentic heaven on the planet in the world of hellish heat.

My great-grandfather built this for her family a lot of decades before, and he would you think his employment conscientiously. Selfish relative person won’t acknowledge the value of the other and is eager to accomplish only his or her own needs. Take a look at first of all try to classify all of our understanding of like and find out what kinds it you can easily name.

Web site approach deeper, I can previously make out smart windows, coloured in white. While our grandparents loaf on the job for a while inside or maybe work not in the patio, the dog whenever manages to greet my family before them. Then he acknowledges me, my dear Oscar, and gets going wagging its tail, going towards all of us. Ancient Greeks’ first consideration was studying the world, in support of after that installed childbirth.

Oscar is actually the first one to fulfill me in this article. Really, no matter what hot here this time in the year. Really like originated due to socialization about instincts: intuition of self-preservation, which in such a way united people, and reproductive : instinct, combined with maternal sensations, which established certain sentimental closeness.

Any middle ages essay regarding love declares that enjoy towards The almighty is the exclusively true love, although chastity could be the only advantage. Almost every thinker one or more times tried to define or discuss love. Essay for Love: Ancient Approach

In that essay at love, PurEssay team will tell you how the perception of this thought evolved after a while. Unpretentious love the motivation to give up your own interests for the sake of your loved one. I fiddle together with heavy hair, soft and even pleasant to the touch; however , I find myself pity with the creature that must be suffering from tremendous heat less than this membrane of fashion.

Seeing that women were not fit meant for philosophy, relationship only preoccupied their partners from believing. In addition to Desire, there were a tad bit more gods of love in Artistic mythology exactly who played essential roles additionally. The origin of love presents a very disputable subject. This type of enjoy is ideal since it leads to balance and a normal state connected with human internal.

The house seems fabulous and unreal, as though it steered clear of from a fairy story and tried to get misplaced among different houses on the village yet failed. Of course, she has a great deal of them, the two inside and out of doors. The love in between, which usually presents often the golden imply, implying in which both people today present same value in a very relationship and tend to be eager to survive for each additional.

This matter is still topical even in the modern world, and now you will get to it. Foundation of love has got several ways to classifying idea. Our creating company finds it necessary to seek out some info in the tradition of early Greece. This process is usually indefinite for the reason that human trend still keeps going.

Your backyard is clean, only a floral population raise most of their buds into the sun, and also to the stones, as if looking for life-giving elements. I can odour freshly manufactured pastry someplace in the kitchen, along with a warm feeling of coziness covers my coronary heart. Physical violence and by simply seem to suppress love in the modern tradition.

But 2 men could achieve far more together, purpose Aristotle assumed that enjoy was comparable to friendship. Whenever i enter the front side gate, your pet dog looks at all of us suspiciously as well as barks once or twice. It truly is one often the presents of which my grandfather prepared personally when I had been little. Each epoch had their philosophers, research psychologists, sociologists together with other scientific brains who anxious themselves using love.

When i deeply inhale local atmosphere, and I stench a hint with flowers, quite possibly, my grandmother’s asters, nevertheless they may as well be any other think about because Me not very good during them. Love is put into the low, impolite Aphrodite Pandemos and the incredible Aphrodite Urania. Neo-Platonism develops, very, with its fans relying on Plato’s theories.

After I invest some time with the canine, I look into it for this grandparents, still I cannot find them any where outside. Industrial population is focused at consumerism; large production and even new technological know-how lead to a far more rationalized way of life. But only attitude could predetermine what kind of enjoy it was. Modern day lexicographers clarify love being a feeling of passion, but also because attraction this provokes sexual desire.

These kinds of prognoses will be dangerous to our society given that mechanized romances between people speak of inhumanity. This destination gets cozier every year. I wide open a heavy oak door along with a little crucial hidden below the welcome f?da. Some analysts believe that innovations in love would be rational together with deprived with emotions.

That is why many countries assist organizations and even movements of which promote standard family valuations. Our services make your school life simple and easy productive. The item depended on readers’ values, sociable patterns, perception of themselves and various other human beings.

This type of concepts like sympathy, benevolence and likely-hood became topical oils and element of that period. As I the actual building, the atmosphere around myself becomes awesome, and I like feeling precisely how my body relax down, as well. The v?ldigt bra Eros appears on phase; he is a strong unpredictable and even demanding the almighty, who evokes fear on other people perhaps even other gods.

Some people for their essays regarding love recommend dividing that into increased and decreased. In our short go about appreciate, we will keep to the opinion which love sprang out together with people because a people always expected communication plus close romances with very much the same beings. In the event ancient Greeks followed the principle of beauty, medieval modern society switched to principle for morality.

So , here, PurEssay provided the definition of love, enumerated it has the main models and explained to you what sort of notion of affection has evolved eventually. Later this attitude fades away, and the great start having interested in their very own feelings together with psychological factors. What I can tell for certain is that the stench is simply terrific, even though hardly ever perceptible.

These cases give agricultural soil towards the so-called purchaser love, as their characteristic characteristics are limited by low erectile culture and also lack of meekness. When it comes to Christianity, it gravely condemns human relationships outside photographer and care for corporal pastimes as low in addition to sinful. Our writers can create a identical essay in your academic demands or to create a work on a certain topic.

In Old love totally conformed that will religion. I am excited as always because immediately I am heading to my grandparents’ country bachelor’s pad. Other researchers single out unique variations of love, subject to its recipient: sexual like, paternal really enjoy, patriotic enjoy, love regarding God etc . The house is dealt with with a thick layer of light blue coloration that was clearly more saturated a year ago, still has disappeared due to the very hot sun with this territory.

My spouse and i still really like swinging there with a reserve in my present, pretending which drift off and then rise in remote countries. A single tree possibly even has a hand-made swing hanging from it. People start expressing out this emotion among ordre and even will fear it all.

It results emergence of lyric finery, which results in being the leading branch of poetry. The grandparents are generally constantly perfecting changing the interior of the house.

The post Essay for Love: Ancient Approach appeared first on Presta Hero.

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artmcgavin57258-blog · 7 years ago

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Inspiring Life Quotes To aid You Reside Your Lifestyle Now!

Just recently, I discovered myself facing a desiring well-- and also naturally, I was and am actually wishing you well. This is actually worthless to mention at the starting point, I need to certainly not create greater than 300 phrases hereof", since FIVE HUNDRED terms might be the minimal important. An additional instance will be in memorizing the lyrics from the songs or even in don't forgeting accounts that you could have gone through before. Whatever kind of work you do-whether you are actually self-employed, working with other people, or one thing in between-if liberty, difficulty, and a link in between effort and benefit are present, it's my view you possess a far better odds of making your job purposeful. Yet he never presented that. I recognize several of you were actually offered paints by him as presents.

Using particular terms and also declining to utilize others is a sign that political formality like all social styles that get full approval, can be utilized in sly, personal unsafe as well as indulgent methods. Naturally, you would desire to look as professional as you can, certainly not just to wow your manager and customers in using golf shirt for men yet to feel great in on your own too. Celtic cross tattoo designs are actually prominent one of folks with Celtic hookups (Irish, Scottish, or Welsh) in their family history. Adhering to the credit report crunch, the number of individuals who decided to get a purposeful residing improved. And teasing is actually a common means of bonding as well as interacting that is like an unmentioned foreign language that men speak. In order to discover significant job, you have to give up the thought of doing one thing HUGE. By means of hymns and praise, these songs attempt and satisfy individuals's mental and religious needs. Definitely ur article provides sufficient toughness to any individual to strengthen their life i am sending a beautiful smile to u additionally. Therefore to pick a baby title that is actually relevant in a legitimate means, its own absolute best to connect the title to something the child will certainly pertain to value as she or he matures. That is actually why providing your child the label of a revered grandparent or an individual off family history is actually incredibly meaningful. Some songs from worship consist of: Vunna Pattuna Vochu, Thrahimama Kristhunada Daya Choodarave, Nadipinchu Nanava, yesu nannu premichinavu. Ear assessing is used today by each men and women as a means from physical adornment as well as to express their selfhood just like they were by ancient Ainu of Japan, or the Dayaks as well as Berawan of Borneo. For little ones, signs perform not typically indicate just about anything considering that they are simply random representations from genuine objects. You have the finest go of discovering a meaningful relationship if you have the confidence to fulfill individuals at an activity you are actually participating in. Bernadette Jiwa is actually a company storytelling trailblazer, a champ of organisations that intend to be purposeful brands and author of four # 1 Amazon Company Bestsellers. Social media site is actually a crucial system for listening closely, then supporting significant communications. At times the amusing quotes work as a result of the shipping, demeanor or even appeal mode of the celebrity. We preferred to consist of these phrases and also quotes in addition to the tidy informalities even if they are also part of our culture. If it is actually designated for a project, a periodic upgrade on the job's status in the monthly newsletter will definitely do. Of course, forecasting significant (purposeful to the benefactor as opposed to the job supervisor) milestones and later on attaining all of them boosts donor assurance and also engagement. If being actually just as long as essential" can be carried out in 500 phrases as well as you use 520, this is most likely a question of personal design. To illustrate Purposeful Usage with your EHR, you have to report on all of the program's goals. In phases 2 as well as 3 from the meaningful use reward plan, nurse practitioners are actually influencing as well as carrying out even more from the documentation. Terms tend to be actually elusive and also lead other minds to different meanings accordinged to their very own viewpoint and also viewpoint of points. A Rhyme Journeyed down my Arm is actually an assortment of poetry and drawings collected by Alice Pedestrian. If you loved this article and you would like to acquire far more facts pertaining to yellow pages people (Our Site) kindly stop by our own webpage. Therefore, range, change and range, these are the words that go to the heart from indoor vegetation results. That is actually only certainly not that significant to create one more pot from coffee, to clean off yet another table, to aid one more client return an additional product. Yesterday, for instance, I performed not start this article that you know now (gotten in touch with Inspirational Lifestyle Quotations in order to help You Live Your Lifestyle NOW!). This permits a much more running poem and could be made use of to include a soft emotion with its own words. However if you are actually singular in Washington DC and are actually seeking ideas from the most effective locations to come across males and females that you can likely possess a future with, listed here is a rundown of the types of places individuals are coming across as well as their standard excellence price. Smirking just before the shipment is yet another bad way to utilize amusing quotes and also will certainly mess up many of the impact of the statement. Care ought to be actually had when using comical quotes this attribute that they carry out not end up being just racist, for instance. Male were actually raised to share themselves as well as get in touch with those around them by means of ACTION. Love is among one of the most beautiful things worldwide that could ever occur to anybody on earth. Requests that make use of Straight Messaging assimilation to send CCDAs to HealthVault for Meaningful Make use of functions, must register an application in the Treatment Setup Facility, allow Purposeful Make use of on the Approaches button, and also connect their sending out Direct Message domain along with the use ID on the Meaningful Usage tab. Envision her delight as well as shock seeing those phrases off you when she switches off the light to go to rest. You will be actually much better off using your social media visibility to support your media efforts, where you could create significant hookup along with a smaller sized team of targeted people. Quickies could seem like the kind of factor men will be into and also girls will merely accept. Of course, this infers that joy and happiness is actually somehow thoroughly connected with providing one's life meaningful. Relevant Charm's 30-day promotional provide is actually $29.99 with a cash back guarantee. There are actually 2 main elements from meaningful interaction: the stage as well as interaction. So, while selecting just what existing to get for all your affiliates this Christmas time, make sure to think about homemade or customized Christmas grant business christmas sayings quoted on a creative paper or an item from shaped glass. The Brazilian energy brand Petrobras is one more case in point, it is one of the leading relevant companies in South america along with a Meaningful Brand Mark score far higher than the majority of fmcg brands and also retailers. Some tracks from prayer include: Vunna Pattuna Vochu, Thrahimama Kristhunada Daya Choodarave, Nadipinchu Nanava, yesu nannu premichinavu. Ear assessing is made use of today by both males and females as a means of bodily adornment and to reveal their distinctiveness just like they were by the old Ainu of Asia, or the Dayaks and Berawan from Borneo. For young kids, symbolic representations do certainly not normally imply everything because they are only random representations from actual objects. That is necessary for gay guys to have dedicated opportunity for nourishing partnership but additionally go after private enthusiasms. A 4th practice from relevant partnerships is becoming accustomed to the examples your pal enjoys performing as well as the organizations they spend time with. Performing what you love, one thing advantageous, something meaningful are all the same trait.

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tatianastrom980-blog · 7 years ago

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Teenagers And also Parenting Contents

I aim making Food items Design the tool for a more thoughtful, cleaner, better realm. Cindy Crawford's Meaningful Appeal skin layer treatment product line, for instance, inning accordance with customers, was extra reliable at clearing away redness as well as making skin much softer. If you have any concerns concerning where and how you can use yellow pages online phone book (read here), you could contact us at our web-page. The next important aspect from meaningful job is to use your autonomy to pursue one thing that assesses you-something that creates you discover and also expand. You might discover that you could pull motivation off stories or quotes you discover in the example eulogies for a bro that you discover. Visualize on your own, on early morning, opening the window to a gorgeous snow covered mountain where the sky is actually therefore fresh this would promptly renew your sense. E. One group from males was actually provided access to an exercise course and also evaluated 2 times over a 6-month period for heart health. That doesn't mean you can't still find teacher gifts to sustain charity if you do not understand the instructor effectively. She teams up with website progression and posts components including blogging sites, e-book as well as signboard concepts which provide relevant links with the website visitors online. Today I am a train and practice expert certainly not too far off my teaching origins yet I have actually had years to truly believe what I desired off my job and how to insure that it was meaningful work. Depending on your service as well as the people you offer, there are actually lots of various other methods to move the lives from your customers in a purposeful method. The here and now that you offer your housemaid from honor need to be actually personal and significant. Some tracks from worship consist of: Vunna Pattuna Vochu, Thrahimama Kristhunada Daya Choodarave, Nadipinchu Nanava, yesu nannu premichinavu. Ear assessing is made use of today by each men and women as a way of physical accessory as well as to share their uniqueness equally as they were actually by the early Ainu of Japan, or the Dayaks and also Berawan from Borneo. For young children, signs carry out not typically mean anything since they are merely approximate embodiments of true things. Try sticking the glow unaware letters constituting the words I ENJOY YOU on the ceiling above her bedroom. Suppliers that are eligible for Meaningful Use under the Medicaid plan are actually exempt to payment charges, unless the supplier is likewise entitled under the Medicare plan. Coming from the standpoint from the methods curricular recognizeded knowledge and also previous understanding from the trainee, enabling a truly purposeful knowing. This quote emphasizes that we must take our problems as an opportunity to be much more imaginative as well as try in the direction of abundance to earn life relevant. Capital funds's Reclaim is less expensive, at $19.95. After the trial period, Meaningful Beauty's price jumps up to $110 for three months. That is about time to permit your artistic extracts bent on think of a significant wedding event present. When I to begin with began doing my e-newsletter, I performed this the moment a month and concerning 35% from people opened this and also review it. Today I perform my e-newsletter weekly, and I have in some cases approximately 85% available this up as well as read it. This simply confirms that if you correspond and also actually allotment significant content, individuals will definitely really want additional from that. They will certainly wish additional from you! However, most solitary DC males and females agree that bars are not the most ideal place to form any type of kind of significant partnership. Through taking these 6 steps towards a metaphysical and also meaningful Thanksgiving observance, you can easily ensure that you not simply invite God to your Thanksgiving holiday celebration yet that you experience - or even actually view -God sitting at your table. Due to the diversity in gift field, there are actually variety of classifications from gifts an individual may select from. That implies if you get in touch with 40 people every day, you will make a significant discussion to 4. There's a basic first-level answer: The look for meaningful work have to be actually helped by where you seek meaning. Finally, if you desire to make up a meaningful eulogy for your dad, you also have to consist of a few of your father's success or even unique capacities. I have actually certainly never readied at allowing favors, but I chose it was opportunity to learn to say thank you" to their kind phrases. Cindy Crawford's Meaningful Elegance skin layer treatment product line, for example, baseding upon consumers, was extra successful at getting rid of redness and also making skin a lot softer. The next crucial element from purposeful work is actually to utilize your freedom to pursue one thing that examines you-something that makes you grow and also know. Complying with the credit report crisis, the variety of people who decided to make a significant residing improved. And also teasing is actually a common method of connecting as well as connecting that is like an overlooked foreign language that guys talk. To discover meaningful job, you must surrender the notion from doing one thing HUGE. By means of hymns and also appreciation, these songs attempt and also comply with the people's emotional as well as religious demands. The assessment of training, knowing and purposeful for domain name, individualized instruction, the ideal use brand-new media in showing details and personal capabilities development are core ideas from Educational Innovation in the ionline education and learning acquire excellent importance. On the disadvantage, the aroma from Meaningful Beauty's French Melon for some was also powerful. The necessary factor is that all terms past the minimum required often tend to lessen clearness. Some folks discover meaning through aligning with meaningful sources", usually those with service-oriented or even socially liable programs. Use typical good sense when making use of a relevant label including how well the label teams up with your surname and also whether the label will be actually doable and also pronounceable in an each day form of method at the same time. Linking and recognizing with the correct people, along with which you can create relevant hookup, is one of the main explanations for building a prosperous, equally supporting system. The men in question had been actually following my regular quotes for regarding eight months. However a lot more vital than its own lovely look, the catalog was a sound marketing resource. While composing a remembrance rhyme your own self is actually constantly a significant endeavor, there are actually numerous memory rhymes readily available that could correctly and also appropriately convey the notification you're trying to communicate-whether it be just one of grief, recognition, or hope. Vacationing as a whole really isn't low-priced, yet it undoubtedly doesn't have to set you back a leg and also an arm to check out a spot like Fla, understood for exceptional weather as well as lovely coastlines. These beautiful styles were actually adjusted by nearby carpet weavers, and also the Herat Prayer carpet was birthed. Companies must start making devotions to individuals, rather than pledges, and also consider on their own as making it possible for systems that direct folks to accomplish the results that are purposeful to all of them. Although some types of amusing quotes are looked at to become politically improper, this is frequently just what produces them well-known for a while. That is actually effortless as well as prompt, and the cards are customizable, so may post some of your little one's illustrations onto the gift memory card and write a personalized keep in mind. I performed not always have to give them palm created notes every day, yet kind terms concerning why I was actually thankful to recognize them might possess been actually discussed extra routinely.

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akhanddiya · 2 years ago

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What is the Meaning BehindAkhand Diya Items Used in Worship?

Unveiling the Meaning Behind Akhand Diya Items Used in Worship

At the start of any religious ceremony, it is customary to light an Akhand Diya (also known as a diya lamp). An Akhand Diya is an oil lamp that is used to represent the divine and is lit in order to invoke the blessings of the gods. For centuries, Akhand Diya has been a part of religious ceremonies and festivals in India, and is traditionally lit to honor deities. In this blog article, we will be exploring the different items used in worship which are called Akhand Diya and the symbolic and religious significance of each item. We will also discuss the benefits of using these items and provide some tips on choosing the right Akhand Diya items for your worship.

Introduction to Akhand Diya

An Akhand Diya, also known as a diya lamp, is an oil lamp that is used to represent the divine in Hindu religious ceremonies and festivals, and is traditionally lit to honor deities. The Akhand Diya is usually made up of an earthen pot or vessel, which is filled with oil and a wick. The wick is lit, and then it is placed in the oil-filled pot. This process symbolizes the union of man and God, and is believed to bring divine energy and blessings into the home.

Akhand Diya is also used as a symbol of hope and prosperity. The flame is believed to ward off negative energy and bring peace and harmony. Lighting the Akhand Diya is also a way of expressing gratitude to the gods for the blessings and protection that they provide.

Different Akhand Diya Items Used in Worship

There are many different Akhand Diya items used in worship, each with its own significance and purpose. The most common items used in worship are diyas, incense stands, and bells. Other items used in worship include plates, bowls, and flowers. Each of these items is used in different ways to invoke the blessings of the gods.

Diyas - Diyas are the most common Akhand Diya items used in worship. Diyas are usually made of clay and are filled with oil and a wick. The diyas are lit during religious ceremonies and festivals to represent the divine and to honor the gods.

Incense stands - Incense stands are often used in Akhand Diya worship. The incense stands are made of wood or metal and are filled with incense sticks. The incense is lit and the smoke is believed to purify the air and bring peace and harmony.

Bells - Bells are also used in Akhand Diya worship. The bells are usually made of brass and are used to ward off negative energy. They are also used to signify the start of the ritual and to make offerings to the gods.

Plates - Plates are often used in Akhand Diya worship. The plates are usually made of brass and are used to hold offerings to the gods.

Bowls - Bowls are also used in Akhand Diya worship. The bowls are usually made of brass and are used to hold sacred water or milk. The water or milk is then offered to the gods.

Flowers - Flowers are also used in Akhand Diya worship. The flowers are usually used to decorate the altar and to make offerings to the gods.

Note:-If you want to buy Akhand Diya at the best price, then the best place for you is satvikstore.in

#Satvik #Akhand Diya #Akhand Diya Brass

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tipsycad147 · 5 years ago

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Tools of a Witch

Written and Compiled by George Knowles

Athame / Pentacle / Wand / Chalice / Censer / Broom / Bolline / Cauldron / Bell / Book of Shadows

Below is a list of the standard tools used in witchcraft together with their uses and significances. For other correspondences see:

Incense / Candles / Colours / Magickal Days / Stones and Gems / Elements and Elementals

Pentacle - The pentacle is a traditional tool of the craft. Originally it is thought to have been adopted from ceremonial magic. It is usually a round solid disc often made from stone, wood or cooper. On the disc is engraved or painted an up-right five pointed star enclosed inside a circle called the Pentagram. A disc decorated in this manner then becomes called a Pentacle. In some traditions other symbols are added indicative of deities, spirits or the elements as sources of power. The pentacle is normally the centrepiece of the alter on which objects are placed to be consecrated or charged, such things as amulets, charms and tools are placed on it, as is the salt and water for blessing. The pentacle represents the elements of Earth and is sometimes used to summon the Gods and Goddesses. For a more detailed description of the pentacle - pentagram see (Pentagram - Pentacle).

Sources

Wicca, A guide for the Solitary Practitioner - By Scott Cunningham

Encyclopedia of Wicca & Witchcraft - By Raven Grimassi

A Witches' Bible - By Janet and Stewart Farrar

Witchcraft for tomorrow - By Doreen Valiente

https://www.controverscial.com/Tools%20of%20a%20Witch.htm

Picture https://www.spiritwalkministry.com/traditional_witchcraft/the_tools_of_a_witch

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tipsycad147 · 5 years ago

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Tools of a Witch

Athame / Pentacle / Wand / Chalice / Censer / Broom / Bolline / Cauldron / Bell / Book of Shadows

Below is a list of the standard tools used in witchcraft together with their uses and significances. For other correspondences see:

Sources

Wicca, A guide for the Solitary Practitioner - By Scott Cunningham

Encyclopedia of Wicca & Witchcraft - By Raven Grimassi

A Witches' Bible - By Janet and Stewart Farrar

Witchcraft for tomorrow - By Doreen Valiente

https://www.controverscial.com/Tools%20of%20a%20Witch.htm

Picture https://hearthwitch.org/2018/05/11/witchy-tools/

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tipsycad147 · 5 years ago

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Tools Of The Craft

Magic can be performed without the standard tools. These are only props to help you focus your energy and concentration. You many collect all of these, a few of these, or none of these. I don’t have all of these items but I keep an eye open for things that catch my eye.

There are hundreds of tools, these are just a few…

As with most other religions, tools are used in witchcraft to aid and enhance ritual worship. Tools have no power in themselves, though they do have powerful symbolic significances. Some like the Wand and Athame are used to invoke and direct whatever power we generate or pass through them. While tools are not absolutely necessary to the practice of the craft, some tools are nice to have if only to focus our will and concentration. The basic tools to start with are the elemental tools or those tools which represent the four elements of life: The Pentacle for Earth, The Wand for Fire, The Athame for Air, and The Chalice for Water.

There is a great deal of discussion regarding the linking of tools to certain elements, as a traditional witch I use the above tool correspondences. When we consider the nature of the basic magickal tools of cauldron, pentacle, sword and staff we have to consider the archetype who will wield this tool. These tools are basically defensive weaponry and act as protective symbols within the circle.

Lets start with the cauldron. This is ruled by the element of water. A water person and the Lord (or Lady) of the watchtower, is dreamy, intuitive, a foreteller of the future, maternal – a feeder! With this tool, the water guardian can scry to foretell the future and brew potions and spells.

Next lets move to the Pentacle. The pentacle is basically a shield, this is weilded by the stoic, immovable, determined Earth guardian. “None shall pass”, is this guardians watchword.

Now lets look at the last two guardians, one is passionate, impetuous, quick to react and to temper. A fiery personality! The other is drawn to diplomacy, justice, communication, advocacy and lives within their own thoughts, this guardian may appear a bit calculating, but could never be described as an air head. The last two tools are the staff; a defensive weapon used to block and trip up the opponent, and needs someone with fast reactions, aggression and instinctive movements. The other is the ultimate weapon of destruction, the sweep of its blade brings about permanent justice. Its use needs to be used in a considered way, not a reactive one. This is why in traditional witchcraft and Gardnerian wicca it is put into the hand of the Air guardian, and the staff into the hand of the Fire guardian. Other traditions link it to the material in which it is made, but I don’t feel this gives the right energy to the tool. These tools are weapons, not to be used to dominate, suppress or demean, but for protection, defence and justice.

Having said that, these are my own opinions and one thing I can not stand is dogma and bigottry within the craft. If you prefer the alternative meanings this is fine. Remember the most important aspect of magick is belief, you must believe in what you are doing. Never compromise that by doing something against your better judgement.

All tools as they are collected, should be cleansed of all negative energies and past use influences. You may not know how or for what use they may have been used before you acquired them. To do this, clean the item physically and thoroughly while using visualisation. Some choose to bury the item in the ground for a few days, thus allowing past associations to be dispersed and purified with earth’s energy.

Alternatively you could use the water method. Immerse the item in water, preferably natural water like the Sea, a River, or a Lake. Leave submerged for a couple of hours before removing and drying the item off. Obviously common sense must prevail when using these methods, as you wouldn’t want to ruin the item. Do whatever seems appropriate for each item. After the cleansing process, each tool needs to be consecrated, ready to use for magickal purposes.

Keeping a Grimoire

Also known as a Book of Shadows, a grimoire is a magician’s secret journal of spells and rituals. Here’s where you keep a record of the magic you perform, the ingredients and tools you use, and your results. It’s a bit like a cook’s personal collection of favourite recipes. You may wish to write your spells in a large, elegant book bound in leather or in a simple loose-leaf notebook. What’s inside is more important than what’s outside. If you like, decorate the pages with symbols and designs you find appealing.

Date your entries. You can include moon phases, the zodiac signs in which the sun, moon, and planets were positioned at the time you did the spell, and any other relevant data. For instance, you might want to make note of the time of day and place where you performed a spell or ritual. Make sure to write down your intention in doing the spell and, if you choose, the name of the person for whom it was enacted.

Remember, your grimoire is a very private and secret record. Don’t let anyone else look at it, except perhaps a trusted magical partner with whom you work regularly. Store it in a safe place, so that your information won’t accidentally fall into the wrong hands.

Be sure to describe your results and reactions. You’ll probably do your favourite spells many times, so it’s a good idea to make comments each time you repeat one. If you vary a spell at any time, note that too. Some spells take a while to materialise; if possible, keep track of results that develop over time.

The Book of Shadows is a book that contains a witch’s rituals, spells, runes, dreams, recipes, etc. Within covens, the original Book is copied by hand by the initiates. A solitary may also keep a Book,recording within spells, etc. The Book is normally a secret book.

What is found with in the Book is often spells and such copied from other sources and, of course, those that are uniquely your own. The Book is a record of a witch’s magickal work. What is wonderful about it is that every Book of Shadows should be a little different. Maybe you’ve found clove oil works best for a prosperity spell while the original spell called for patchouli oil. Because of the multitude of personality and available resources, not every Book of Shadows should be the same and therefore not only ONE Book is the right Book.

To make a Book of Shadows, any blank book will do. Most are hard bound, but that’s not mandatory. I prefer a ruled book because of my lack of ability to write in a straight line. The colour of the book is optional, but black does seem to be traditional. Today, in this wonderful world of computers and the internet, many witches are keeping their Books on their computers. Just keep in mind that if you keep your Book on computer to back up the data! I work for a wholesale computer parts warehouse. Trust me, I’ve heard more disaster stories about valuable information lost when a computer crashes and the owner didn’t have this must-have info backed up. It’s not a pretty sight.

To make your own Book of Shadows, you can use any form of blank book, but perhaps the best type to use are those of a loose-leave nature, thus allowing pages to be shuffled around when preparing for rituals. Mine is a black lever arch file that I put pages usually printed off the computer. I choose font and colour that make it special to me.

At the front I have a card with a book of shadows blessing on it. And a short spell for it not to be discovered by unfriendly eyes. I then use cards to seperate the different sections. How you do this will be up to you. All your reference information and correspondences can be kept in it where you can easily find it. Every time you work a spell or ritual you should write a report on what you did, what you used and the outcome and keep it with the spell for reference. You will come back again and again to your BOS and should always keep it in good order and up to date.

You can keep you lists of herbs, oils, colours, etc… for reference also chants and charges to help you in your work.

The Athame

The athame is the traditional ritual dagger of the witch. Commonly it has a black handle and steel double-edged blade. Many Wiccans engrave the handle or blade with magickal symbols indicative of deities,spirits or the elements as sources of power. The athame is a tool of command, it is used to direct what power we pass through it. It is used to cast circles by tracing the circumference, to charge and consecrate objects and banish negative energies. In most traditions, it is never used as a mundane knife for cutting purposes, and is used strictly for magickal purposes only. As an elemental tools of the craft, in most traditions it is associated with Air. The phallic symbolism of the knife links it with the God.

The Cauldron

The cauldron is probably the tool most associated with witchcraft and is steeped in magickal tradition and mystery. The cauldron is the container in which transmutation, germination, and transformations may occur. It is symbolic of the womb of the Goddess, and is the manifested essence of femininity and fertility. Everything is born from the cauldron of the Goddess and afterwards everything returns back to it. It is also symbolic of the element of water, as well as reincarnation, immortality and inspiration. In ritual the cauldron is used as a container for making brews and potions, or to contain a small fire for use with spells. It can also be used for scrying (divination) by filling it with water and gazing into its depths. In ancient times the cauldron was used as a cooking vessel and for brew making. Traditionally it was made from cast iron, it rests on three legs and has an opening smaller then its widest part.

Caution: Please use good judgement, and above all, common sense when working with anything flammable or combustible.

Using a cauldron, symbol of inspiration and rebirth, has brought new dimensions to both group and solitary work. A cauldron decorates the centre of the Circle during Lesser Sabbats.

An air cauldron at a spring rite creates a misty, magical quality for the ceremony. In summer, the cauldron will flash and spark.

A blue flame burns mysteriously within the Water cauldron during the autumn festival. Throughout Yule, the Earth cauldron burns steadfast and constant. During moon rites, when magick is done, we write the purpose of our working on flash papers and toss them into the burning cauldron while chanting.

A working cauldron should be of cast iron, with a tight-fitting lid, three sturdy legs, and a strong handle. Season your cauldron before using it for the first time. Pour in generous helping of salt and lighter fluid, slosh it up to the rim and wipe dry. For indoor use it MUST have a fireproof base or your workings will summon up yellow-coated salamander spirits from the fire department.

EARTH Cauldron Layer salt, wax shavings, three powdered or ground herbs, lighter fluid and ivy leaves in the cauldron while focus and chanting. Use a candle to light it. When the smoke starts to roll, extinguish the cauldron by putting the lid on.

AIR Cauldron Using tongs, put a chunk of dry ice is a small glass or ceramic bowl and place the bowl on a cloth in the bottom of the cauldron. Allow the cauldron to smoke as long as the ice lasts. The mists create excellent images for scrying.

FIRE Cauldron Cover the inside bottom with dirt or sand to dissipate heat. Light incense charcoal and add either salt peter for flame and spark or flash powder for a different but spectacular effect. To assist in releasing or firing off peak energy, try using flash “bombs”. Make a small pocket in a piece of flash paper, fill with flash powder and tie with thread. The “bomb” should be about the size of your smallest fingernail. The results are spectacularly bright, so use the powder sparingly. Don’t look directly at the flash as you drop the “bomb” in the cauldron.

WATER Cauldron At least seven days before the ritual, place equal quantities of three appropriate herbs in a pint glass jar. Fill the rest of the jar with Everclear (200 proof alcohol), cap tightly, and shake gently while concentrating on the purpose of the ritual. Add a chant if its feels right. Let the jar rest in a dark, warm spot and shake twice daily, charging with purpose. Before the ritual, place a fireproof ceramic or glass bowl in the cauldron. Pour in the herb mixture, being careful none spills into the cauldron. Light with a candle to produce a beautiful blue flame.

The cauldron, as the fifth elemental spirit, symbolises inspiration, rebirth, illumination and rejuvenation.

Use a Fire cauldron with saltpeter to cast a Circle.

Use the mists of an Air cauldron for an initiation.

Burn away hate, prejudice and negative self-images, with a Water cauldron.

The Earth cauldron is ideal for indoor Beltane rites.

Remember to place a burning cauldron on a fireproof surface. Practice safety when using any volatile materials and you will enjoy your cauldron for many rites.

The Broom or Besom

The broom is a ritual tool of the witch, sacred to both Goddess and the God. The God – through its symbolic phallic shape, The Goddess – through its three-piece make up, the stick, brush and binding cord being symbolic of the triform is aspect of the Goddess. Traditionally the broom was made from three different woods. Ash for the handle, Birch twigs for the brush and Willow for the binding cord. Ash is protective and has command over the four elements. Birch is purifying and draws spirits to one’s service. Willow is sacred to the Goddess. The broom is used for a variety of purposes but most generally to purify and protect. It is used to ritually cleanse an area before magick is performed by symbolically sweeping away negative energies and astral build up. Of old it was used to guard the home and persons within against psychic attack or evil curses, this by placing it across the threshold, windowsills or doorways. It was also placed under the bed or a pillow to protect the sleeper. Traditionally and perhaps the use which most people identify it with, are the old wedding ceremonies, where a couple leapt over the broom to ensure fertility, domestic harmony and longevity. Today pagan hand-fasting rituals often include a broom jump.

The Bell

The bell is a ritual tool of invocation and banishment. The bell is a feminine symbol of the creative force, that of the Goddess. The bell can be rung to indicate the start of a rite by banishing negative influences before the ritual begins. Often it is used to invoke the Goddess during ritual, or sounded at the four quarters to call forth such spirits as the Watchers and Elementals. Bells can be used to guard the home by warding off evil spells and spirits, or evoking good energies when placed in cupboards or hung on doors. Hung from a cord the bell symbolises the human soul suspended between heaven and earth.

The Wand

The wand serves to protect and direct your energy to a certain place, thing, person, or dimension. Traditionally the wand is made from the wood of a sacred tree. These include the Willow, Elder, Oak,Apple, Peach, Hazel and Cherry, to mention just a few. Its length should approximate the crook of the elbow to the middle of the index finger. These days many modern materials are used instead, and even tipped with crystals and gems. The wand is a tool of invocation, it is used to evoke the Gods, Goddesses and Spirits. It is also used to bestow blessings, charge objects and draw down the moon during ritual. It is also used to direct energy and is the tool for Fire.

There are many Occult shops that sell wands, but I think if it is possible, make your own. This makes it more personalised. The wand and the Athame are interchangable.

The Staff

The staff and the wand are common and important tools of several crafts, including shamanism, Wicca, Witchcraft,. The staff is a representation of the world tree,when you meditate, or go into trance, having your staff to lean on can enhance your journey by connecting the wood in the staff to the universal spirit of the world tree. I also find it very good at drawing energy for healing. I feel energy flowing from the ground into the staff, my staff almost buzzes with energy when I use it for healing.

The Chalice

The Chalice is one of the four elemental tools of witchcraft and represents the elements of Water. It is a symbol of containment and often represents the womb of the Goddess. The base is symbolic of the material world, the stem symbolises the connection between man and spirit and the rim or opening symbolically receives spiritual energy. The chalice can be made of any material, in times of old– Horns, Shells and Gourds were used to hold sacred liquids during ritual, and then in later times – Silver became the preferred material, having long been associated with the moon and the Goddess. The chalice is used to hold the blessed water and wine during ritual. It is traditional in many covens to pass the chalice around all members, who then take a drink as a token of unity.

The Bolline

The Bolline or White-Handled knife as it is now known, is the practical knife of the craft. Traditionally it was used to harvest herbs and had a blade in the form of a small sickle. Today it is normally a mundane knife used for cutting and carving. It has a white handle to differentiate it from the Athame, which has a black handle and is used only for magickal purposes. The bolline is used to cut wands and herbs, to mark and carve candles with symbols and to cut cords for use in magick. Any other ritual function requiring the use of a knife, such as cutting flowers for the altar, can be performed with the bolline.

The Sword

The sword, like the staff, is a tool of command, It is not used often, but can be necessary for certain spellworkings. Its size, style and length are a personal choice; just be careful that you can easily handle the sword you choose. The weight and length of a Scottish Claymore, for example, becomes a real test of endurance after several minutes. For a woman, a sword length of 17 to 25 inches is a good choice. Like the Athame, the sword is of the Element of Air.

The Stang

A Stang is a forked stick. It is usually made of ash or other sacred trees. Ash is most common, perhaps, because it is the most common wood used as tool handles and Stangs are frequently made from pitch forks or other farming implements. The Stang may be of differing sizes.

The Greater Stang (my terminology!) stands about shoulder to head high, most often with a skull and horns/antlers. A Small Stang is roughly a meter long. At this length, a skull is unwieldy, so it may have antlers/horns or may just be a plain forked stick. Then, there is the Mini Stang. At less than a foot, it is used for travel when space is an issue and/or as a centrepiece on an indoor altar. A Greater Stang may serve as a group or coven altar/tool, while the Small/Mini Stang serves the individual.

The Scourge

A controversial tool and one not really suited to novice practitioners. It is the symbol of power and domination. In Ancient Egyptian times, all the Pharaoh Priest Kings, held a Flail (Scourge) as a symbol of Power, domination and as a Law Giver. It can be used as a focus tool and to concentrate the mind. It should always be used with care and never to inflict serious pain.

The Mortar & Pestle

Dried herbs can be ground to a fine powder with enough time and persistence. This powder is desirable for various spells, such as love or wealth spells, or for rolling candles in. A coffee grinder may suffice, but the point of the mortar and pestle is largely the transfer of energy intended when you are focusing on imbuing your herbs with your intent while grinding them, making it an ideal (if not old-fashioned) addition to your tool set.

The Censer

The censer is an incense burner used to contain burning incense during ritual. Any type of censer can be used, even a simple bowl filled with sand will do. The censer represents the elements of Air and is normally placed before the images of the Goddess and God on the altar.

The Witches’ Robe

Now this is not a magickal tool but it certainly is magickal. There is much to-do about this item as well. Some organised covens claim that it MUST be 100% cotton, it must be black, it must be made by your hand, and the “MUST” goes on and on. If you are a solitaire, then black, blue, purple are very good colours to wear simply because it helps you to connect when you are “Between the Worlds”. Meaning it helps put you in an altered state of mind, away from the mundane world. It puts you in that ritual frame of mind. White can be difficult because it can be guaranteed that you will spill wine on it! It does not have to be 100% cotton, what ever material makes you feel like the Goddess you are – you use. It can be made out of any material you like, but be careful, make sure it is flame retardant and does not have large bell sleeves. (Yes, we had someone catch on fire while in Circle! Remember you are in an altered state, you don’t want to be distracted by your robe.) There are some beautiful robes out there, you don’t have to sew them yourself. You can always buy a robe, add things to it and charge it by running it through charged incense and cleansed salt and water. Offer it up to the Goddess instilling that from hence forth this robe is to be worn only when the Priestess seeks the Goddess whether it be in magickal purposes, ritual, or simply to sit and be with the Goddess. During first Degree initiation, the High Priestess and High Priest charge the Initiate’s robe, bought or sewn. That way they are making the initiate feel that whatever they choose to do while wearing it, the robe would be sacred.

The Witches Mala or Rosary

Witches’ ladders, can also be known as a Witches’ rosaries, are a grouping of beads used for meditation and manifestation. Some witches rosary’s/ladders have 9 beads, some 13, some 40. In buddism a mala is a string of prayer beads like the rosary. You use it to repeat a chant there are two sizes of buddist malas, they are 21 and 101. You would repeat your chant for each bead and is very helpful in meditation. An example would be the Goddess Tara chant which goes.

Om Tare Tutare Ture Soha.

This would then be repeated for the next bead and every bead.

A witches ladder used as prayer beads is simple to make a cord strung with the required number of beads. You may even buy a power bracelet made of your chosen stone and charge and consecrate that as you goddess prayer beads, usuing a chant like:

Lady of the moon, Lady of the Moon, Come to us, be with us, Lady of the Moon.

Magic Mirrors

The magic mirror is one of the oldest tools employed in both divination and spell casting. The classic magic mirror is a dark concave surface or reflective material. You can construct one for yourself by using the curved glass face of a clock and painting the convex side with glossy black paint. Some people keep one mirror for scrying and divination and one for spells.

Initiation Cords/Singulums

The Singulum, or Witches Girdle. this is nine feet in length, and is worn representing the appropriate rank and level in modern Wicca to where you are at. The actual Singulum of the Witch also measures the Magick Circle.

Seekers/Witchlets – White – symbolism of beginnings and purity. Alternatively they could wear an amber Singulum, Showing that they are grounded before their journey. this cord has no knots in it.

First Degree – Green – symbolism of growth and fertility as one advances with the Deity. Showing that they must focus on nature and what nature is revealing to them. This cord is nine feet long with no knots in it.

Second Degree – Yellow – symbolism of wisdom, confidence, communication as one gains experience. Alternatively they wear a white Singulum, which is nine feet long and has at appropriate spaces 8 knots tied into it representing the eight Paths of Enlightenment, also called the Ladder of the Goddess.

Third Degree – Purple – symbolism of spirituality, religion, the divine force, power and healing and all things sacred. Intuition and balance. When a third degree witch becomes an Elder – (One who has spawned new daughter covens) Silver Neck sash is added or a silver buckle on the witches garter for each coven spawned, Alternative cord for an elder is White, Red, Black – With these three cords interwoven, it represents that you are of the High Priesthood, and that you should be respected accordingly, and treated as a representative of the Goddess and God. It means that you are a third Degree, when you add a silver cord to the three it represents that you have your own coven and are the High Priestess, when you add a gold cord it represents that you have your own coven an am a High Priest.

Retired Elder – Black – When a black cord is worn, it is usually by the High Priestess or High Priest who has retired from the honoured position, and given it over to a younger person, this is an honourable way to hand over the coven. This person is now honoured and respected.

Some traditions give different cord colours and some give cords for teaching and training other witches.

I do not have a witches garter which is supposed to have a buckle for every new witch I initiate but I tie a knot for each initiated student in the cord I wear around my ritual robe. I am most looking forward to adding my seven new knots very soon.

The garter is part of the witches’ insignia.

Some authors mix up the cord with the “Witches Garter”. This is a badge of rank which is seldom used nowadays, but a number of witches of certain traditionspossess them and occasionally wear them. The garter was occasionally employed in the old days as a sign of recognition. It would not be much use nowadays when, if anyone wanted to pretend to be a witch, it is the first thing they would think of.

I have seen two witch garters; they are of green snakeskin with gold or silver gilt buckles and were backed with blue silk. They were worn above the left knee.

A badge of rank among high ranking Witches. A true Garter shows a great deal about the wearer that few can read. Much has been made of the incident where the Countess of Salisbury dropped her Garter while dancing with Edward III. The King picked it up and tied it on his own leg and spoke the words “Shame to him who thinks ill of it.” The king, to protect her from the Inquisition and to show that he was king of christians and Witches alike, placed her Garter upon his own leg and started the Order of the Garter, Englands most noble order of Knighthood.

Garters are generally worn only by Witch Queens and Witch Kings and are made of specific materials. The Garter has one buckle for each of the Covens that the Queen has produced. Thus a Garter with a number of buckles shows that that woman has a great deal of experience and should be treated with a great deal of respect simply because of the number of years that it takes anyone to advance in a Traditional Coven.

Most properly an article of clothing, the garter has come to be used as a badge of office rather than a necessity for holding up stockings.

There is a cave painting from the paleolithic era showing a male shaman, dressed in his robes and surrounded by his tribe, as they perform a magical ritual and, while his legs are bare, a garter is very plainly shown around each thigh.

The garter may have been used as a talisman at one time, as noted above, but today it is used to designate status in the Pagan community.

A silver buckle is added to the garter when ever a Priestess leaves the mother coven. The High Priestess of the mother coven may then add a buckle to her garter to symbolise this hiving off of a new coven.

Cord Colours for Initiation

Witchlets – White – symbolism of beginnings and purity.

First Degree – Green – symbolism of growth and fertility as one advances with the Deity.

Second Degree – Yellow – symbolism of wisdom, confidence, communication as one gains experience.

Third Degree – Purple – symbolism of spirituality, religion, the divine force, power and healing and all things sacred.

Elder – Silver Neck sash or silver buckle on garter for each coven spawned, Intuition and balance.

Salt & Water

On most altars, small dishes of salt and pure water are offered as purity symbols. Often, the salt used is sea salt or something minimally processed. The dishes do not necessarily have to be special. I used sake jars that I loved, while others may use small soapstone bowls or a saucer and teacup that has been in the family. Use what you have and love. If regular salt is all you have, use it!

https://www.lunasgrimoire.com/tools-of-the-craft/

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