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The Triple Ring: A Protection Spell
Categories: ArticlesOne of the first spells I learned as a young witch was the Triple Ring. When my teacher, a spry old crone named Susan, realized that my go-to shielding spell was making me oblivious to all sorts of things in my surroundings — which made perfect sense as I was visualizing a thick, red brick…
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Teaching the Craft: The Fine Art and Science of Personal Responsibility
Categories: ArticlesI learned the Craft of the Wise in a few different ways. I first learned on my own by reading and experimentation. Then I found a community group that led me to a training circle led by a high priestess and learned through weekly study sessions, complete with handouts and homework assignments. My advanced training…
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The Amateur Priestess: Serving for the Love of Goddess
Categories: ArticlesI am an amateur priestess. I serve the Pagan community out of love, and have been in some capacity or another since 2011. There was a time when I dreamed of monetizing my spiritual skills – I think every witch goes through this phase – but I learned through hard experience that the professional witch…
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Sybil Leek’s Six Tenets of Witchcraft: Words from the Original Witch Queen
Before Laurie Cabot was the “Official Witch of Salem”, there was Sybil Leek, “Britain’s most famous witch”. Sybil Fawcett Leek (1917-1982) was called “Dame Sybil” by some and “That Damn Sybil” by others. A colorful character by any stretch of the imagination, she was a Witch, psychic, and occultist. She grew up in the New…
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The Agency of Spirits: Getting Uncomfortable About Noncorporeal Beings
Categories: ArticlesOne of the questions that I am routinely asked is whether or not a practitioner can be called to the service of a deity outside their cultural context. There’s a lot of concern in the Pagan world these days about cultural appropriation and the difference between cultural appropriation and cultural appreciation, and it is an…