The ritual act...

Ive been doing rather a lot of reading of late, as Ive been wanting to clarify my beliefs, and hence taking a look at how others approach both the many streams of witchcraft, and shamanism, as these are the practices Im interested in and feel drawn to. Exactly where one ends and the other begins could easily fill a book, probably has. So the learning is great, except that sometimes my head feels like its going to implode and I forget my own name. There's a reason certain paths have 'practices', because you need the doing to balance the theory, and the doing needs to be repeated.

Today I performed a consecrating ritual. It felt good to be in sacred space and connecting to some of the sources that inspire me, the shifted state. But it was a bit fumbled and made me realise I need to be doing it more often, to offer a chance for it to flow. I did however get half way through and realise I was speaking quite loud, rather than whispering, which was refreshing. Whats that about? I feel comfortable to fart or belch loudly, why not to speak words i hold to my heart? Old fears...

Like a Buddhist takes to the 'one seat', for me, a Witch works with ritual to connect to wisdom and honour its sources. The ability to still the mind and visualise are also crucial. A Green Witch, has another realm aswell, and that's nature. Sitting infront of a computer screen can be enlightening, but unless I'm absorbing nutrients from the world 'out there', like anything green, my roots get starved and I get a bit dead around the edges. Vague and ungrounded, which is not a state conducive to anything except losing leaves or new growth. Ritual requires focused intent. Focused intent creates more of the same. Not that Im a perfectionist or anything, but its a balance to be struck.

Im blessed with where I live. I can access the ocean beach in an easy stroll, there's bush close at hand and I have a garden that surrounds my home on all sides. Nature abounds, yet I have limited access to many of the herbs and wild foragings that form the basis of most literature, I'm having to create that from the ground up in my garden. This can be frustrating at times, but when I'm walking for an hour along the beach and seeing only a handfull of folks, I know Ive got it pretty damn good. Now that Ive started my perrenial herbs growing I'm a happier camper, and these are starting to blend nicely with local native vegetation planted out too. To learn the magic and medicine of indigenous plants, their lore, energy and uses can be tricky.

Im struck, the more I learn, by how many magical herbs reside in our kitchens. Kitchen Witch practices make good sturdy sense to me because of this. To make the preparation of food the centre of ones magic has been part of how the women in my family have nourished people for generations, they didn't call it that, but plain and simple lived it. My mum has it down. She can 'whip up' a feast in no time at all with no recipe required, infact I aint too bad meself, if a bit out of PRACTICE, being a solo dweller. My cats food prep is buy tin, open tin and feed, although she is partial to roo meat every now and then. Buy packet, open packet etc, no roo hunting allowed round these parts.

Alas it seems my reading has not wisened me by much, I suppose only the passing of time does that, but todays EXPERIENCE in sacred space has reminded me that gathering information and others stories is only part of the circle. The ritual act is where I connect with the reasons I began the journey in the first place. It is my prayer. It will be shifting and evolving till I die. Maybe even more so afterwards.....