Llewellyn's 2012 Witches' Companion by Llewellyn (chrome ebook reader TXT) 📗

Artemis

If you feel drawn to help adolescent girls embrace their maiden-ness and womanhood, to empower women, to protect animals and/or the environment, or to engage in midwifery, prenatal yoga, or any other practice that is concerned with birthing or the female reproductive system, Artemis just might be your girl. She challenges the meaning of the word feminine by embodying its fiercest aspects: protectiveness, independence, and strength.

The Faerie Realm

The realm of Faerie is a vast and multi-faceted place, and one can spend a lifetime exploring it. Tapping into its energy and getting to know the landscape and the beings who populate it can be very helpful, especially to those of us who are artists of any kind, work with and feel a connection to children, feel motivated to fight for human rights and sexual freedom, or are passionate about the welfare of animals and the environment.

How can I best serve the world? How can I turn the tide of my consciousness from despair to hope and from fear to love?

We can visit the Faerie Realm in meditation and in the dream state, and because it’s parallel to our realm, we can learn to perceive it at certain times when we are outdoors—especially in (pesticide-free) gardens and natural settings. One way to begin to do this is by relaxing and tuning into a blossoming plant or a tree. Mentally ask questions of the plant spirit, such as “How can I best serve the world?” or “How can I turn the tide of my consciousness from despair to hope, and from fear to love?” Then, simply allow yourself to receive the answers as a feeling or deep inner knowing.

Forseti

Forseti, the Norse god of justice, is an excellent helper to those of us concerned with fairness, such as lawyers, judges, lobbyists, lawmakers, and activists. When you call on him, he can speedily infuse your cause with positive energy and (provided you are in the right) help tip the scales in your favor.

Hecate

Some people—such as doctors, nurses, funeral directors, grief counselors, mediums, spirit clearers, and clergy—are called to help ease and foster the transition between this realm and the next. The goddess Hecate can help support us in these efforts, as she rules the threshold and crossroads between life and the afterlife. She helps us to meet and greet our fears surrounding death so that we can approach it, and help others approach it, with grace and courage. So many people are crippled by a fear of death, and so much of the world’s violence and confusion is based upon this fear. With Hecate’s assistance, we can begin to alleviate this fear and help to bring about a deeper level of universal peace and harmony.

Lakshmi

Lakshmi, the beautiful Hindu goddess of wealth, reminds us that in truth, this is an abundant universe with plenty for everyone. She can be a wonderful helper for people who want to bring greater wealth, affluence, and prosperity consciousness to those most in need of it. When tuning into Lakshmi’s energy, you might listen with your intuitive ear to the jingling coins that surround her and look with your intuitive sight at the flowing river of abundance at her feet.

St. Francis

Perhaps you are drawn to help protect the animals and to raise the awareness of humans to help change the way animals are treated on this planet. If so, St. Francis wants to assist you. Although St. Francis is a famous Catholic saint, if you spend any time with him, you’ll find that he’s actually a Pagan at heart. One of the amazing ways that St. Francis channeled divine wisdom during his lifetime was through his writings, which include the following proverb about animals:

Not to hurt our humble brethren

is our first duty to them, but to stop there is not enough.

We have a higher mission:

to be of service to them whenever they require it.

White Buffalo Calf Woman

When all humans can consciously align themselves with divine wisdom, we will be blessed with an unprecedented level of peace. White Buffalo Calf Woman is a beautiful Lakota deity with the mission of connecting our human consciousness with the infinite consciousness of the Great Spirit for the purpose of establishing true and lasting peace. We all want peace on Earth, but if you are strongly drawn to help establish it, especially through spiritual means, you might try calling on White Buffalo Calf Woman for help.

Resources:

St. Francis of Assisi. “Not to Hurt.” Environmental Ethics: An Anthology. Ed. Andrew Light and Holmes Rolston III. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, Ltd, 2003. 66.

Kaltreider, Kurt. American Indian Prophecies. Carlsbad, CO: Hay House, 1998.

Virtue, Doreen. Archangels and Ascended. Carlsbad, CO: Hay House, 2004.

Tess Whitehurst is the author of Magical Housekeeping: Simple Charms and Practical Tips for Creating a Harmonious Home and The Good Energy Book: Creating Harmony & Balance for Yourself & Your Home. She’s also an intuitive counselor, feng shui consultant, and columnist for Witches and Pagans magazine. Her website (www

.tesswhitehurst.com) and e-newsletter (Good Energy) feature simple rituals, meditations, and musings for everyday magical living. Tess lives in Venice Beach, CA, with two magical cats, one musical boyfriend, and a constant stream of visiting hummingbirds.

Illustrator: Kathleen Edwards

Reclaiming the Wise Woman and Cunning Man

Paniteowl

The Craft is currently experiencing a rebirth, and the growing pains this entails can truly be uncomfortable. Trying to reconnect with the ways of our ancestors can be difficult given the scarcity of information in many cultures. It’s hard enough to remember things we observed in childhood, and then taking another look, try to put situations into context from our adult perspective. Sometimes, we lose things in the translation. Now extrapolate those difficulties remembering your own past to try to recall our cultural past from centuries ago. Reclaiming the nature of the Wise Woman and the Cunning Man of old takes a lot of research and development!

Anthropologists, archeologists, and geologists can all help re-create a situation in a specific locality. They can carbon date fossils, explain the layers of