Category Archives: Magic

The Iron Pentacle

09 Wednesday Feb 2011

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I’ve been involved in the Reclaiming tradition for about 7 years now, and one of the tools which is taught as a ‘core class’ in Reclaiming is the Iron Pentacle. Paired with the Pearl Pentacle, this meditational tool came from Feri and has evolved within Reclaiming into something slightly different, and just as useful. I shan’t be talking about the history, or much about the differences, here, but I would like to share some thoughts about these pentacles over the next few weeks.

The Iron pentacle rewards repeated work. It has as its points topics which hold a great deal of power for people in our culture, and which our society has denigrated and damaged and made taboo. The words themselves have power, and were chosen for this reason; if we can reclaim them in a healthy way, we can heal the divisions within ourselves that denying parts of our birthright has caused.

The points of the Iron Pentacle are:

Sex

Pride

Self

Power

Passion

Why Iron? Well, the earth has a core of iron, and we are of the earth, made of starstuff which has settled into a planet and lives. Our blood contains iron, iron strengthens us, keeps us alive. Iron is also an irritant; it scratches and stimulates and brings things to the surface. When red hot iron energy flows through us it burns away blocks, releasing energy which we have bound up in those places, which has not been allowed to flow.

We start with Iron to cleanse and strengthen our foundations as human beings. As human we are alive and sensual, we all have something we can be proud of, we have selves which are worthy of care and love, we hold the power in ourselves to act in the world and shape our lives, and we have passions and feel. Our culture has denigrated all these things. We are alive, we are blessed to walk this earth, and we have a right to delight in being alive, in community with other embodied beings. I intend to write a series of posts exploring each of these points from the perspective of the Reclaiming tradition.

At its heart, the Iron Pentacle is about healing ourselves and becoming strong in ourselves, in order to heal our community, our culture, the world. As everything is connected, healing one part heals part of the whole, and this ripples out…

 

Further Reading:

Reclaiming’s Principles of Unity

Starhawk, Spiral Dance

T. Thorn Coyle, Evolutionary Witchcraft

 

Trusting

30 Sunday Jan 2011

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There is no such thing as coincidence.

Everything is connected.

The number of times this past year I’ve been worried about something, and the minute I let go and hand it over to Aumakua, my Godsoul and the Godsoul of the universe, when I hand it over to Spirit, God Herself, the Universe, when I just let it go and trust… and the solution arrives.

When I ask for help, it comes.

When I said: I don’t know how I’ll find a new home in the place that I love, but that is where I want to be… paths opened.

When I said: I don’t know how I can afford to live in Wales again, when there seems to be no work there, but it is what I choose and I trust that it will be ok… the next day a way for it to work arrives.

When I said: I have no idea how I can pay these bills and get through this month without landing in a mess… a cheque for a tax refund from 5 years ago arrived in my hand.

This is part of being a witch. I sit with myself and reach an understanding of who I am and what I Will. I make a choice. I Trust that it will all be ok. I step forward. The Universe steps with me.

And other people are doing the same, creating the world. Sometimes my choices are inc onflict with others. Often my choices are in conflict with what I actually Will because I’m not clear enough. I don’t ask for everything I need because of complexes and beliefs which get in the way. I compromise on what I’m askign for because I’m scared to ask for the big thing I actually want.

And I journal and muse and sit and listen. I breathe and connect and hope.

And I’m learning to trust.

Since I began on this path I’ve had message after message – let go. Trust. Leap.

I’m learning to, little by little.

And trust is rewarded in very practical ways.

I am so grateful. Big love to all those beings out there who guide me gently, who push me firmly, who point me at the cliff and remind me that I have wings to fly with.

 

 

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For a practical discussion of a clearly laid out method for putting ego to one side, getting clear on what you want, and asking for it in a way that gets results, I’d recommend The One Command by Asara Lovejoy. A friend leant me a copy and reading it illuminated exactly what I’d been doing. This stuff works.

Snowy Solstice

21 Tuesday Dec 2010

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Standing in the snow in my pyjamas as the clouds lining the sky lightened with dawn, I breathed in the beauty of the Solstice morn.

I gazed at the orange sky above, lit by streetlamps, and smiled at the branches, dark under the snow. I used to climb this tree with a book, just to spend time in its branches.

The sun is beginning its yearly return today, and though its cold and dark now, I know that each night will be shorter, each day longer… much as I love the night, I appreciate being able to walk home from work in daylight!

I’m thinking about goals, desires, choices.

I’m thinking about the movement from the dark into the light…

I understand now how thoughts slowly germinate in the dark, projects and understandings mull over in the depths of my mind until they rise into the light and a decision is made…

Its a slow process, knowing deep down what must be done, and waiting for that deep knowing to become strong enough to grow into choice and action.

It took five years of knowing that I would become vegetarian to actually doing it, because that knowing had to seep into my bones, had to become right on every level, had to become so ingrained in me that my conscious mind accepted it. There are ways to speed this process up, magic, spellworking, NLP, the ‘One Command’… and there is also space for this process to slowly unfold within me. Sometimes, this is the right way.

I am often impatient, and I am finally coming to know, in my bones, that its ok for things to take time, to become strong before they are exposed to the light. If that choice to become vegetarian hadn’t rooted in my bones, I’d have crumbled in the first week when I had to face family and travel and a funeral. If I don’t nurture that hope, that I express but cannot yet state, until it is so strong I cannot deny it, then it will fade in the harsh light of day.

Sometimes things can be acted on right away. Sometimes they need to germinate. And sometimes they germinate for too long and never grow.

Its a fine balance.

I hope I get it right.

How do you do it?

Always enough…

15 Wednesday Dec 2010

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I learnt from Mum that there is always enough money.

Enough.

No more. And no less.

Funnily enough thats always been the case… at the points I think I might finally have managed my finances for long enough to start saving, or an unexpected bit of cash comes in, then something happens, and that little bit of extra money I was hoping for goes on that.

And conversely, when I set my heart on something, I say ‘this is what I’m doing, even though it’ll take me over what I’ve got coming in’, then just enough extra cash comes in to cover whats needed.

I’m currently living in my overdraft, over by a month each month. I’m doing better than several people I know, and many people country-wide. Though there is no real reason I should be living a month behind my wages, spending what I’ve earnt in the month I earn it. This is how it is, though I was previously spending all of what I earnt after I’d been paid it, its only been the past year that my overdraft has begun feeling like money – coincidentally this happened alongside my having to live out of it on a regular basis, so I’m not sure which came first!

So I always have enough. And I’m grateful, very very grateful… it’d be nice to shift this thinking though, to something with more of a safety net, and to see if my finances follow my thoughts.

I’m curious about how many other people have noticed this kind of thing in their own lives? What are your patterns of thought around money (or something else) and how does that match what happens… and, if you’ve tried it, has shifting your thinking helped?

Time for some spellworking, for sure! Time to shift how I think, and invite some money in…

The Effect of Magic

04 Saturday Dec 2010

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I have a long history with magic… as a child I was always wandering off with the fairies, I prayed and I learnt stage magic (and bored/enchanted my family at the tender age of 6 with a full magic show). As I hit puberty I stumbled across Paganism, Witchcraft specifically (the books on UFOs and ghosts held little interest, but the ones which spoke of connecting with the natural world, and learning to affect change in your life, those I devoured!), and I found my feet on a map, one with many paths all roughly leading in the same direction.

And I’ve continued, honing my approach, finding my way, wandering along the edge of paths and trying to find people who think like I do.

The important question here, though, is why? Why do I keep on this path? Why do I hold seemingly-irrational beliefs? Why do I keep a space for the Gods in my home and my heart? Why do I spend time, energy and money tracking down events which speak of these things?

What, in short, are the benefits?!

Well, aside from the rare spellwork I do having rather literal outcomes (which could be coincidence but my pattern-making mind likes to think of as related), its had an effect on me as a peron.

I was blessed with loving parents who brought me up to believe in myself and have confidence to go with the intelligence I inherited. And a touch of arrogance. Thanks Dad 🙂

I’m also naturally fragile, shy, quiet, and suffer horrendously from stage-fright even when not on stage. Or I used to. The magical work I’ve done – reflection, meditation, energy work, self-examination and subsequent development of relationships between all my parts, constant attempts at self-awareness, ritual-work… all these things and more – helped me to feel sure in myself around others. I might not know what to say in daily social situations, but I do know that I’m a person in my own right who doesn’t need to make small talk to be accepted. My friends accept that I’m weird, and I accept that they are too.

Its helped me to recognise when arrogance or insecurity threatens, and to know that that is whats going on. I can then use that information to act in a way of my choosing (at least, I can sometimes, life-long processes here, you know?).

My magical work has helped me to map out the locations I want to pass on my journey through life, and has taught me that I want to experience each step.

It also taught me that I’m not perfect. Important for a Leo to know. And, it taught me that thats ok. I have the confidence to speak out when I think something is wrong at least some of the time, and I have the humility to know that sometimes the other person has a point, even if I still disagree with them!

I guess what I’m trying to say is that I have greater self-awareness than I used to, and I value that. I also have tools to deal with situations where I notice I’m behaving in ways that don’t feel right to me. I’m gaining integrity, and I’m stronger. Still soft, and yet more able to cope with knocks. I cry less, am happier in myself, and can ignore people who are simply being mean without taking their words personally.

Magic has also encouraged me to challenge myself, so, for example, I took drama A-level to face my stage-fright, and it worked.

In all the ways magic has touched my life, it has helped me to grow, to become more whole, to engage with the world and my own life. It has helped me relax my need for control over my life (somewhat, I still panic when I’m feeling powerless) and has helped me to find more power in myself in my life.

The map is not the territory, many magicians say. Well, no, but a good map helps when you set out on an unexplored path, and each life is exactly that… and magic is a tool kit for navigating the terrain, a tool kit with many maps…

Not only that, but it has a phone which you can use to call for help, or guidance with, or that you can be called on when you need a good kick up the arse.  At the other end are the Gods and guides and Guardians. For which I am grateful, even though I’m not quite sure what they want from me yet!

Iron Pentacle Workshop – Announcement

28 Thursday Oct 2010

Posted by in Following Delight, Magic

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My dear friend and I are running an Iron Pentacle Workshop next February… below is the announcement we’ve sent out.

I’ve personally been working with this tool for a good few years now, and I’m still uncovering fascinating discoveries everytime I muse on it. Running this workshop, from organising to actually teaching it is going to be a real challenge for me, one that I am looking forward to with great excitement.

I’d love to hear your experiences of taking something you’ve been learning to the next level… for me, on the Iron Pentacle, this is introducing others to it. For you it might be performing an instrument you’ve been learning in front of an audience, or speaking a language you’ve been studying in its own country… whatever it is, we take these steps, where we’ve worked on something for long enough that we’re ready to expand. And its scary. And thrilling.

I’m excited, I’d love for you to join us. And I’d love to hear your experiences in similar situations… here is the announcement, and I hope you’ll join me in the comments below…

We would like to invite you to join us for a weekend intensive on the Iron
Pentacle in Glastonbury on 4th-6th February 2011 With Raven Edgewalker and Halo
The Iron Pentacle is one of the core Reclaiming and Feri tools for
self-transformation.
It’s points – Sex, Self, Passion, Pride and Power are our birthright as free
human beings. Through our work with the Iron Pentacle we can learn to claim
these and integrate them into our lives. This workshop offers an intensive
introduction to the Iron Pentacle, and the work of integration is the work of a
lifetime. During this workshop we will use ritual, trance, energy work,
self-awareness, communication and group-work to work on areas where growth and
balance are required and learn tools to take this work out into your daily
lives.

This workshop is an intermediate workshop, Iron pentacle work can be challenging
and we will not be spending time teaching basic magical skills. It is open to
anyone who has taken one or more reclaiming core class, workshop or camp or who
has equivalent experience in other traditions. If you would like more
information or to request a registration form please contact Raven at
greenwomancrafts@gmail.com or Halo at craftyhalo@gmail.com

We will start work on 6pm on Friday with Ritual and will close on Sunday at 4pm

Cost: Sliding scale £80 – £120 a £40 non-refundable deposit it required to hold
your place with the balance being due on 10th January 2011. We anticipate this
workshop filling to capacity.

This is a non-residential workshop. For people coming from afar there are a wide
range of accommodation options in and around the Glastonbury area. Some useful
links will be sent out with the registration form.

We invite you to bring vegetarian food to share, there are also many cafes and
restaurants close to the venue.

Location: Glastonbury, Somerset – address and directions will be given on
receipt of deposit.

Teachers

Raven Edgewalker
Raven, is a British Witch who has been teaching in the Reclaiming tradition for
over ten years, she is an initiate in both the Reclaiming and Anderson Feri
traditions. She loves to travel and has been honored to have taught classes,
workshops and WitchCamps in the UK, Germany, US, Finland and Israel. Raven is
a self-employed artist and crafts-person, a teacher, jack-of-all-trades, a poet,
writer and recovering academic. She has a deep love of the natural world and
works closely with the land and the magic of connections. Raven believes that
the most important tool she can share as a teacher is that of personal practice
– a practice will flow through daily life and connect and reconnect us to the
divine with each breath.

Halo
Is Fascinated by the Fey and dreams of delight. An artist, philosopher and
Witch, Halo is enchanted by the world and committed to filling it with beauty
and joy wherever possible. To this end she turns her gaze towards magic,
questions whatever she can find, and invites you to join her in weaving a witchy
web of wonder!

Feathered Wings of the Heart

20 Friday Aug 2010

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A freind of mine has started a blog about following spirit, and he writes beautifully! I encourage you to go and have a read… Revolve Your Spirit

His post today has inspired me to respond… if you know me, or have been following the Fey Hearted blog, you probably have seen that my Book  about finding your Faery Heart has reached completion, and is currently in the process of being born into the world in a special edition of 13 hardback books, each individually embellished by myself (when they finally arrive!).

Gwydion has written eloquently about how our wings will carry us to Spirit,to Heaven, to God Herself, and today he described how these wings must be grounded in our hearts. Our wings must be our own, our own colours, grown from our own desires, our own path.

And this makes me wonder, how is it that people who don’t know their own hearts can grow their wings again?

We are angels on earth, fallen, I agree.

But how is it that we might come to remember this?

For myself, it helped that my mother always told me to be true to myself… but the recognition that we could be more than simply office or factory workers, buried under the weight of grey streets and regimented work came from seeing people who did not live like that. Artists, street performers, tarot readers… people who danced at work, rather than trudged.

These examples of colour opened my eyes.

And then there were books… people wrote about their beliefs, their experiences, their hopes and dreams and worlds beyond this one.

I started with fantasy and could not believe that 9 to 5 was the only way to live.

And then, I found The Craft. A path which did not involve subservience to what is meant to be, but delight in all that is.

I found a map, well, in truth, a collection of fragments of maps which I found links between… have you ever noticed how all the maps of the multiverse have the same landmarks? And every map has your self at the heart?

So that is where I started, spiralling into my heart.

My point? If you live from your heart, as best you can at this moment, others will see.

If others see, they will also see, they can choose to do this too.

Be your Self, and others will see that they, too, can be their Selves.

One reason for my Faery Hearted Book is so that others with a heart like mine might find inspiration from its pages to let their heart shine too, just as others have inspired me.

I’m curious: where is your inspiration? In what ways are you living your life that you hope will inspire people to live well?

To Be a Witch

29 Tuesday Jun 2010

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I wonder what it takes to be a Witch, what it means.

I feel like it is a title that should be earned, and I feel that you earn it by working on yourself, constantly working to be the best you can be as a human being; as part fey, part animal, part divine.

I feel that it represents an inner power, earned through clearing yourself and connecting to the realms beyond the physical, beyond the so called  ‘mundane’. To be a little Fey, deep down.

I feel that it involves a balancing act between the light and the dark, in yourself and in the world.

I feel that it involves a deep sense of Pride which, in its true form, includes humility. Pride is knowing your place in the world, knowing your value and valuing all other beings in the world, knowing everything has a place and a function and is sacred, including yourself.

I feel that it involves acting in alignment with your values, your beliefs, walking your talk and speaking your mind.

I feel that it involves constant attunement to the flow of nature, the flow of magic, coming back to yourself when you notice you are distracted, reconnecting at every moment possible.

I feel that it involves magic, striving to know your True Desire, True Will, who you are fundamentally, and changing consciousness in accordance with this.

I feel that it means someone fiercely joyful, deeply compassionate, righteous in their anger when necessary, powerful in themselves, truly honest  and eternally loving.

I feel that it involves doing your best, not Perfection, but a process of improvement.

I feel that to be a Witch is to do all these things, and with a particular flavour, of deep forest greens and cool nights, of full moons through starlit skies, of Northern landscapes before the snow. The emerald lands of home.

I strive, every day, every moment, to do these things, to live connected, aware, to reconnect when I find myself scattered and distracted, to know myself and act in accordance with my Self, to be passionate and compassionate and full of joy. Mine is not a path of yellows and oranges, of sand or smoke or baking sun, but of cool deep forests and winter’s rain, of the hearth fire that holds the damp at bay, and the sun which warms but rarely burns. I am not perfect, but I am in process, and so I use the title ‘Witch’.

Haunted by Gods

24 Monday May 2010

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I have, in my life, two rather different groups of gods. The Feri gods, and the Others.

I am still in the process of accepting these Others, although my actions tell me that I have, really. The altars, the offerings, the studying of their lore… all actions which say; yes, yes I see you. Yes, you are entering my life, and I am not fighting.

I’m not fighting anymore, but I’m still wary, still scared.

I’ve spent the past few years slowly opening up to the fact that one of Them is present… as gentle as She has been with me.

This year I learnt who the other face, the hidden one, was.

And in opening to this hidden piece, opening rather than hiding as I’ve always done (every night she came I cried out ‘go!’ And she would leave), in opening, I let the others in.

Some are still on the fringes, waiting for the right time. I know now that I cannot simply avoid them, they will arrive when they choose to. For now I am given work to do, to become strong, to learn things that can serve later, though I’m not sure how.

And all this raises questions.

Why did I avoid them? Was I scared of the power I can feel they hold? Was I scared of the reality, the reality in magic that I believe but often doubt? It feels that way. They are real, powerful, capable of turning my life upside down. And yet, they are being oh so gentle with me. This does not match the stories I’ve heard of them from others.

And so now, I doubt. I doubt that they are who I think they are… and then I remember the external confirmations (coincidence some part of me states firmly, I shake it away).  I doubt that they are really interested in me, and wonder if I’m just hoping that I’m useful. And I doubt that any of this will be useful, to anyone.

And here is where the hard lessons come in; trust, surrender, risk.

I heard once that it is better to fight with a sword in both hands and your heart open, than to hide behind a shield.

What else am I doubting? What other powers am I scared of? What is it that will come of this?

So I’m learning to trust, working out a way of building up a relationship with these beings that are entering my life, learning about the things they’ve pointed me towards… and generally finding that everything is enhanced as a result.

And I’m trying not to invite catastrophe by doubting them because my life is still up the right way!

Run, Run! – or The Beltane Fire Festival

18 Tuesday May 2010

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Go! Go!

The May Queen has passed!

We watched her, saw her, ascend, descend over the steps before us.

We watched, saw, the fire-lighters start the nied fire.

We watched, we saw, the path cut through the crowd, past us, past us, the procession moved past us.

We ran!

Run! Run!

Do not lose her! Never lose her!

We ran, ran, over the grassy hill, down a tunnel of bodies bemused by the sudden space where magic had passed us.

And found ourself stopped. In the cold. Behind the wall of blue-faced men who told us no.

Stopped. Lost. Cold.

No. We smiled. No. We can say no too.

We said no, said yes.

Our band of fey-folk flew apart, found our places. Mine and hers, my beltane-friend, our place was running!

We followed the Queen, she led our hunt!

We flew, cross the hill, round and about, past people bemused, over rocks and dips that lifted us gently over their treachorous forms (one fey-folk twisted her ankle, others sat with the stillness of the rocks holding their bones, we, somehow, flew unscathed, the earth herself letting us pass).

We flew! Flew! From space to space, always, just and perfectly, keeping pace.

For long stretches we flew beside her, so close as to almost touch her, but always striving to respect the boundary which kept her safe. (So grateful, I am, to the blue-faced folk that kept us all at bay. So grateful, while I longed to touch her. So grateful for that line, uncrossable, sacrosanct.)

Sometimes the crowd became too tight, too close, too confused, and we flew away, to the edges, still running.

Time and again we let the stillness touch us. I pointed the direction, she led the way. Together we flew, together, mapping out  a perfect path.

At every space the procession stopped we found a niche, once the fire-space came upon us unexpectedly and we watched, entranced, by the spinning flames and the red-people charging, the white-people keeping the line, the line that must be crossed. The pain of division.

We saw Him die and rise again, his dance frenzied in the strobe-light of camera-flashes.

Their kiss, love shining from them like a star.

The red and white, chaos and order, together, united, in love.

Each element, a gift in themselves.

The whole path winding round and round, the serpent of great Beltane found.

We watched, we flew, we laughed.

We were touched by madness, running in the wake of her winter-hunt, running like the joyous hounds of hell as the sun-fire rose and burned away the last of the winter’s dark.

We ran, flew, followed… and we rejoiced.

The fire festival, a ritual carving its own space through a crowd, deliberately confused.

This was no mere spectacle, but a marvelous sacrifice of life to life for life in life.

Life rises like the sun.

The May Queen blessed us all.

The fires of our hearts ignite as the sun kisses our skin, and they will never die.