How to Become a Witch by Amber K. (large ebook reader txt) 📗

up your Book of Shadows and record your experience. What did you see? What did you feel, outside and in? Hear, taste, touch? How do you feel now that is different from the way you usually feel? What do you notice around you that you didn’t notice before?

Spend as long as you want in this place, recording your feelings and observations, so that you can come back as often as you want in your mind, even when you are physically many miles away. When it is time to go, thank the spirits of this place for letting you be here, then return home.

In the comfort of your home, ground and center again. Think about these questions: What does Earth mean to you? What do health, strength, and abundance mean to you, and how can you enhance them in your life? Write your answers in your Book of Shadows.

Living as a Witch in the World: Find a good book about the geology of your region, and start to familiarize yourself with that face of Gaia. Go back outside at least once a week, and get to know nature at this time of year. How is she different from the last time you enjoyed her presence?

Think about how you live on the earth—gently or not so gently? Consider joining Green America (GreenAmericaToday.org) and getting connected with the best of green living. When you join, they send you the National Green Pages, which has green vendors for everything from advertising to wine and beer. Check it out, and plan the steps you can take to live more gently on this stressed planet. Write about your thoughts in your Book of Shadows.

Exercise for Abundance: Inventory your wealth according to the pentagram. How are you wealthy in terms of intellect and imagination? In terms of energy and vitality? In terms of love and intuition? In material terms? In terms of your relationship with Deity? Make a prosperity treasure map based on your greatest need or desire. A treasure map is a collage of pictures on a sheet of poster board, with a few words thrown in, to remind you of your goal in a visible way. Hang it in a prominent place in your home, and meditate on what you can do today to manifest your goals and how it will feel when you have achieved them. Make up an affirmation, such as “My life is filled with good things and good friends, and all good things come to me easily and with joy!” Repeat at least twice a day. Write down the practical steps you can take to make it real—and do them.

Air

Air is the wind, from soft breezes to hurricane gales, the air that we breathe to survive, and the carbon-dioxide-to-oxygen cycle of the plants around us. Air also corresponds to our thoughts, intellect, and imagination. Without these three, we would not be able to appreciate our world or create magick.

Exercise: Go to a place with clean air (or get a picture of a wide-open sky above a meadow, forest, or mountains, and place it before you while you meditate). Take a deep breath and let it out, ground and center, then take another deep breath and let it out slowly. Focus on the breath moving in and out of your body, the breeze that comes in your window, the gale that brings the thunderstorm. What do thought, intellect, and imagination mean to you, and how can you enhance them in your life? When you have finished meditating, write your thoughts in your Book of Shadows.

Living as a Witch in the World: Think about the air you breathe—are you lucky enough to live in a rural area where the air is usually clean and safe, or do you live in a city with air pollution warning days? How do you contribute to air pollution (driving your car) and how can you cut back (riding a bike sometimes)? If you live in a polluted place, consider buying an air filter for your home, especially your bedroom, where you spend a third of your life. Also consider joining the Nature Conservancy, the National Resources Defense Council, the World Wildlife Federation, or some other conservation organization (contact points are in appendix C). Many of them are in the business of saving habitats, which includes the air we breathe. Or join the Arbor Day Foundation, whose mission is to plant trees (which produce oxygen). Or go to TerraPass.com or NativeEnergy.com to purchase carbon offsets.

Exercise for Imagination: Pick a tarot card at random, or a picture from a magazine of a person doing something, and imagine it in great detail. Make up a story about the character in the picture. What are they doing, how did they get there, where are they going, and why? If you draw a blank, ask yourself, “If I did know, what would it be?” You’ll be surprised how that can loosen up your thoughts!

Fire

Fire is the smallest candle flame, the hearth fire, the deep heat at the earth’s core, and the fire of the sun. Fire corresponds to our desires and passions, our will, purpose, and goals. It is the energy that animates us and all living things, and that we bring to our magick to make it work.

Exercise: If you don’t have a desert or volcano handy, build a small fire outdoors or light a candle in a darkened room. (Take appropriate safety precautions.) Take a deep breath and let it out, ground and center, take another deep breath and let it out slowly, then focus on fire: will, passion, and purpose. Do you want more of them in your life? What is your passion, anyway? You may have already addressed this back in the earth exercise, when we asked what you would do if your physical needs were taken care of. That may give you a glimpse of your true will—that voice inside that says, “This is my contribution to the world!” How can you make your passion