Silver Chalice Wicca 'Zine #41

Wicca School Welcome Lesson — sneak preview
and
Two Wiccas

December 2014 / January 2015

Editor's Note

This edition totally snuck up on me! (In fact, if it hadn't been for a fan retweeting the previous 'Zine announcement, I would’ve completely forgotten!)

I've been focusing so intently on getting the new Wicca School's lessons uploaded, and sorting out how to allow for monthly payments, that I almost forgot to do the Silver Chalice this month! So I'm scrambling to get this issue out to you on time.

This means a surprise for you — since I don't have time to put together an article this month, I've decided to let you see the Welcome to A Year & A Day: 53 Weeks to Becoming a Wiccan articles instead!

These are mostly about what's in the lessons (if you've been curious and wondering whether to take the course, this will give you a good idea of what you’ll get from it).

But there's also some good tips on how to study Wicca, as well as information like why you're lucky to be learning as a Solitary Wiccan. And if nothing else, you really should check out the wonderful Wiccan Prayer (which I think is a perfect way to begin any study of Wicca).

Other than that, I've managed to put together most of your other favourite Silver Chalice features.

And links to some Yule articles and songs.

I hope you enjoy it! Wishing you the best of the season!

With Bright Blessings,

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Table of Contents

Events & Announcement	Wicca School Update
Website Highlights	Yule Articles and Songs
Feature Article	Welcome to the World of Wicca!
Ask The Priestess	Two Wiccas
Fave Quotes	Spirituality & God
Energy Field Barometer	Words Can Be A Blunt Instrument
Word on the Street	Head And Shoulders Above The Rest
Silver Chalice Details

Events & Announcements

As the official start of A Year & A Day: 53 Weeks to Becoming a Wiccan draws nearer (like an express train! ), things are really coming together!

So if your loved ones want to buy you a Yule gift that keeps on giving, that'll be perfect timing.

Please stay tuned — when that's up and running, I'll announce it on the Wicca Spirituality Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ pages, as well as on the Course page itself.

Or you can email me and I'll let you know when the monthly-payments option becomes available.

Remember, the first three preliminary lessons are available as soon as you enrol, and then the course proper begins in January — leading you through the Wiccan year of seasons and Sabbats as they arise!

P.S. If you'd like to register now, you can click on the button below. When you pay for the full course, you save $100!

Website Highlights

Spotlighting some of the Wicca Spirituality articles you may not have seen yet!

Yule Prayer Song

  Continue...

Yule Songs & Carols for a Pagan's Solstice

Pre-Yule: Celebrating the Light 
By Honouring the Sacred Dark

Yule Tide: Journey to the Heart

Feature Article

Welcome to the World of Wicca!

Merry Meet, Wiccan-To-Be!

(Because if you were just interested in being a "weekend Witch" or dabbler, you'd have chosen one of those sketchy Insta-Wicca books / courses instead. )

. . .   Continue...

Ask The Priestess:

Two Wiccas

Dear Priestess,

I have run into some rather strange contradictions about the Spiritual religion, Wicca. The information I have read seems to point more towards Herbalism and spirituality. Not the Spell and Witch thing. That seems to be more of a Pop Culture thing.

I have been looking into my Indian Heritage (Cherokee) and have found Wicca and our Cherokee have similar ideas. So I am a little confused as to what is really Wicca. I ran into some of the nude, spell casting, power thing.

In my Heart, I was seeing Wicca as a highly spiritual ideal that involved a Great Spiritual awareness of God and the elements and one's journey into a greater understanding of life and the honoring of Creation. So can you enlighten me?

With Respect,

S.L.A., USA

It does have much in common with Native spirituality, not so much in the practices as in the spirit of it.

Of course, like any group there are people of all different kinds and at different stages of awareness. And, unfortunately, many who are into the Power trips of one kind or another (so passé! ).

So you do need to be careful of the kinds of Wiccans you get involved with, especially when you're just learning. Many are merely misguided, but some are downright scary.

Still, it seems to me that these numbers are dwindling, as humanity's spiritual progression unfolds. When I started my website, I wasn't even sure that there WERE other Wiccans who wanted the spiritual side of Wicca more than the spells and potions. Now, with about a million visitors a year and growing, it's obvious that a great many people were just waiting for someone to clarify this vision for them.

It's almost like there are two versions of Wicca going on in the world: the old school religion and the new spirituality. The one is fading away and the other is really coming into its own.

As for magick and spells, this is really just another name for manifestation, prayer, miracle, intention, etc. While you don't have to do magick per se, as a Wiccan, when you get to a certain level of spirituality, it's just a natural expression.

It's about us becoming conscious co-creators of reality. Not everyone sees it that way (yet), but that's where the power is, now.

And when I talk about power, by the way, it's not power over others or over Nature, but power with the Divine.

Thanks for asking. Bright Blessings to you!

*   *   *  

Do you have a question you'd like answered? Email the Priestess and your question could be answered in a future issue.

(Note: questions may be edited for brevity or clarity. No real names will be disclosed. For reasons of legality, all questions become the property of Wicca-Spirituality.com.)

Fave Quotes

It is our duty — as men and women — to behave as though limits to our ability do not exist. We are co-creators of the Universe.

~ Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

But beyond this creation, visible and invisible, there is an Invisible, higher, Eternal; and when all things pass away this remains for ever and ever.

~ The Bhagavad Gita

I never knew how to worship until I knew how to love.

~ Henry Ward Beecher

Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.

~ Rumi

“Of course you are discontented,” God thundered. “I made you discontented, because if you weren't discontented, why would you bother to try to become better?”
“Better than what?” I asked, trembling in spite of myself.
“Better than Me,” cried God.

~ Frederik Pohl, The Annals of the Heeche

If you wanna make God laugh, tell him about your plans.

~ Gary Halbert

Energy-Field Barometer

As I said earlier, I've been fully immersed in the Wicca School, so maybe that's why I haven't noticed a lot of Energy Fields lately.

But there is one, from perhaps mid-November on, that definitely deserves mention:

A strong desire and tendency to speak one's mind with no subtlety or patience, and only minimal manners.

It's characterised by a feeling of being completely fed up with prevarication, deception, psychological projection, and the emotional issues of those we're communicating with.

This is not always a bad thing. Like with PMS, sometimes it's a good thing to spell out what's been bothering us but has gone unaddressed.

I'd recommend, however, tempering that impulse with some social skills... at least if you want to accomplish more than mere venting of your emotions.

I have always had, as I call it, more honesty than tact — I'm often more frank than people enjoy. I've come to realise, however, that words can be a blunt instrument. They can hurt people. And we can get hurt ourselves, by using them carelessly.

Keep in mind that the person you're talking with has their own needs and desires (and may well be feeling as impatient as you!). If you can specify your needs, speak them without entanglement in your emotional reactions, and frame them in a way that makes sense to the other person, and serves their needs too, you’ll get a lot better results.

Another option: just avoid taking on any heavy conversations at this time!

*   *   *  

Notice or suspect an energy field going around? Can you confirm this reading, or shed more light on it?

I'd love to hear what's happening for you! Please let me know.

What to do about being caught in an unpleasant energy field? Click here for tips.

Word on the Street

What People Are Saying About Wicca-Spirituality.com:

I have been researching Wicca and Witchcraft for awhile and I must tell you that your website is very thorough and user- friendly.

It is my favorite (head and shoulders above the rest) and I am following it closely in my solitary practice. Thank you!

Also, I cannot wait until your course is available in January!

— J. in USA

Thanks for writing!! I appreciate hearing from you! : )

P.S. The course is actually available now! You can find out more here or click on the button below to register...

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© erin Dragonsong 2014. All rights reserved worldwide. Reprinting any of this is forbidden unless you obtain my written permission: karma and the law agree on this one. And Copyscape is keeping an eye on these things.