A Quick Tip About Abundance

At this time of year, when the harvest season begins, there's a word that gets tossed around a lot. Abundance.  There's abundance spells, abundance meditations, people wishing blessings of
abundance for each other etc. But there's something important that shouldn't be overlooked, especially in spell work. Abundance of what?!?!?!?  You can have an abundance of anything in your life, ANYTHING.  Love, joy, sex, money etc. But you can also have an abundance of stress, bad health, debt, depression in your life as well.  So be specific and know what you're asking for. Don't walk up to the cafeteria counter, hold out your plate and ask the nice man in a hairnet for abundance of something. You could end up with a plate full of mystery meat and lima beans when what you really wanted was a pretty salad with all the fixin's.  Again, be specific, know what you want and be clear when you ask for it.  You don't want the universe handing you a plate of mystery meat....

~BB~
Amethyst

How'd I Get Here?

     Ahhhh.... Can you smell the new beginnings in the air?!? Or maybe that's just the clean laundry I need to fold.  Anywho... Yay for new beginnings and fresh starts!!  This is the inaugural post of my new blog and I'm pretty excited about where this new adventure will take me.
    I was a partner in a blog that was growing in popularity (especially on facebook) and, in my opinion, was on a serious road to success. After branching out into a small business with the blog as our foundation, I took a huge leap and walked away from my full time job to focus solely on the business we were trying to create.  After months of long days, sleepless nights and endless attempts to get things off the ground I realized my partner in crime was no longer my partner.  She no longer held the same vision for our blog/business that I did and she walked away to pursue different dreams.
 
 Where did this leave me? Jobless, broke, angry and scrambling to put my life back together in between bouts of hiding under my covers. I was lost. In fact, I'd always been a bit lost but now I had absolutely no idea what was going to happen. It took months to finally get my life back in some semblance of order. Months of interviewing for jobs, working at a low paying part time job that I hated, borrowing money from my mother and crying to my brother all while teetering on the edge of a steep emotional and spiritual cliff.  I was spiraling but after some time, some much needed focus on gratitude and a shift in my stank attitude things started to change. The change was by no means easy but it had to happen and I welcomed it. I more than welcomed it. I chased it down, wrestled it into submission, conked it on the head and drug it home with me.
     I finally found work which was a huge relief but the work was in a different state. I had to walk away from the place I'd lived and the life I'd had for 10 years and start fresh in a new/old place (I've lived her before).  It was hard but also incredibly easy.  In two weeks it will be one year since I moved and so much has changed while an annoying amount of stuff has stayed the same.  I'm still dealing with the upheaval that time in my life caused mostly in a financial sense. I'm also trying to regain my love for blogging/writing, learning and sharing. After so much happened, I had to place the anger and blame somewhere (rightfully so or not) and one of those somewhere's was writing.  I'd

believed in it and my ability to do it and I felt as though it ruined me and failed me. The tumultuous time has also left another hole, a deep gaping hole, in my life.  Magick.  During all the sadness, drama and uncertainty I'd completely closed the door on all the magick in my life.  In the middle of scratching and clawing my way back into my life I made a wrong turn at Albuquerque, losing a huge part of who I am.  Personal power, self belief, my connection to the Divine, reliance on my intuition and magick... gone.  I can't tell you the last time I meditated, performed spell work, cleansed my crystals or even sat down and read one of the books in my bulging personal library.  In fact, this blog post is the first thing I've written in a very long time (aside from sporadic journaling.).
     Hence the blog and its title.  I have to start somewhere and I have to return to the things I love and enjoy.  Writing, creating, making magick, learning and sharing.  I don't know how often I'll write posts or the subjects I'm going to cover (I'm still working out some kinks). Some posts from my former blog will be updated and shared here. I'm not sure what this new blog will look like once it takes shape but I have to start somewhere if I'm going to figure out Witch Way Now.

~BB~

Coming Soon, Please Standby....

Magickal Meetings: Judika Illes (Re-Post)

Judika is one of my favorite authors and has been since I first began my foray into paganism and magick.  An accomplished author, certified aromatherapist, tea and tarot reader: this woman knows her stuff and it shows in her classes, books and articles.  She is an author and has written a number of books on topics ranging from the paranormal to witchcraft and magick. 

When I began my magickal studies I was excited, scared and feeling a little lost.  I found a group in NYC and began taking classes but still wanted a little more.  My book collection was slowly growing (now it's taking over my apartment) and I was committed and studious.  I purchased books like Raymond Buckland's Complete Book of Witchcraft and Wicca: The Complete Craft by D.J. Conway.  I read one to three chapters in each book everyday and completed the exercises and questions at the end of the chapters.  Plus I was carrying smaller books around with me, reading on the train or when I had time at work.  If only I'd paid this much attention to my school work in my mundane life, I could be working at NASA by now!  

I knew I needed to learn the fundamentals, the background and basics etc but what really peeked my interest and need for knowledge was magick.  Growing up I was certain that there was magick in everything.  The woodpecker that returned to my neighborhood every spring.  The smell of my mothers' rose garden filling my bedroom.  Forcing my father to place my bed under the window so I could sleep in moonlight.  I knew there was magick in everything and I wanted to know more about it.  I searched the internet for new books to add to the growing pile and I discovered The Element Encyclopedia of 5000 Spells: The Ultimate Reference Book for the Magickal Arts by Judika Illes.  I had to have this book.  

In this photo: Encyclopedia of Mystics, Saints and Sages, Encyclopedia of 5000 Spells, Pure Magic, Encyclopedia of Witchcraft, and Encyclopedia of Spirits. 

Apparently Nimitz, my familiar, likes Judika's books as well!

Aside from finding this book that, from the description had everything I was looking for, it was also an encyclopedia!  I've had a love for large encyclopedia type books since I was a kid. Maybe it's because of the Taurus,Virgo action going on in my birth chart but a ton of information properly organized into one giant book is like heaven to me.  So obviously I bought it.

The book arrived and it was everything I expected.  There was information and spells for every topic under the sun: protection, fertility, love, money etc.  Recipes for oils, inks and powders and information on magical tools. I was hooked.  I read through the book, using the information, recipes and spells that I found inside. The first oil blend I ever made came from a recipe in this book. This book is well researched, organized and thoughtfully put together by a woman that clearly knows what she is talking about. I've used it so much some of the pages are falling out and post-it notes are stuck on pages that I refer to frequently.  Judikas' down to earth approach makes magic seem tangible and accessible.  So I went back to the internet and started investigating her other books of which I own almost all of them.    


Fast forward a few years and I'm shopping in Namaste Books and I happened to see a flyer for a lecture and book signing with Judika Illes! After I stopped grinning from ear to ear I immediately called a friend and fellow Judika fan and we made plans to attend the lecture. The talk was about her latest book, Encyclopedia of Mystics, Saints and Sages.  Judika gave a great lecture and at the end she was nice enough to sign books for everyone that attended.  She is also doing tarot and tea leaf readings on saturdays at Namaste Books  which, of course we signed up for ASAP.  

A couple of weeks after my reading with Judika I saw an event posted on facebook that sounded to good to be true.  Hosted by Order of the World Tree (a coven out of Ridgefield Park, NJ), Judika was going to be teaching a three hour Spell-casting workshop. Really!?@!#?  Giving all those tourists directions on the subway must have really paid off because the universe has been sending some awesome things my way lately.  In a span of two months, I'd met one of my favorite authors, had all of my books signed by her, received a tarot reading from her and now a spell-casting workshop! Obviously my friend and I went.    

We got up early, took a train to New Jersey, borrowed my mothers car and arrived at the Hilton Garden Inn for the workshop. Yes, you read that right. A spell casting workshop in the middle of the day in a conference room at a nice hotel.  I hadn't thought about that until Judika made the point during the workshop.  The magickal/pagan community has come so far.  Now, instead of meeting in secret and having someone look out for crazed villagers with pitchforks and torches, about 30 people met out in the open to discuss magick.  

The workshop was great.  Judika covered a variety of magical bases (I have 10 pages of notes to prove it), the people in attendance were wonderful and the Order of the World Tree did a great job putting this event together. Judika answered everyone's questions, covered a variety of topics, sold and signed books and took pictures with everyone that asked.  What did I get out of this workshop?? That's a tough query to answer. Judika talked about so much: botanicals, candle magic, oils, the symbolism of using a mortar and pestle and much much more.  But what really stayed with me is what she said about magick. Judika said that magick is everywhere. Its all around us, all of the time and spell casting is a means to communicate with that power. That statement took me back to when I was that little girl that needed to sleep in the moonlight.  It made me realize that even in a hard and energetically overwhelming place like New York City magick was still everywhere. Before this workshop I was feeling bogged down and a bit spent in various areas of my life, magick being one of them.  After this workshop I felt renewed and reassured as a witch.  The magick isn't gone and it never will be, it's our choice to tap into the magick that is always around us.  I just need to work harder at renewing and maintaining my connection with it.  

Meeting Judika was a wonderful experience. The workshop was great, I met some wonderful magickal people and I immediately went home and cracked open my spell books.  Judikas' books have helped me grow as a magickal being and for that I will always be grateful (plus her tarot reading gave me just the push I needed... or gentle kick in the ass!) Don't ignore the magick and never stop learning!  Thank You Judika.

Brightest Blessings, 

~A