Table of Contents

Totem Animal Spirits Book In Progress	-- Nature Symbolisms excerpts
Ask The Priestess	-- Hand-Writing A Book of Shadows
Fave Quotes	-- On Nature
Word on the Street	-- Straight Talk
Silver Chalice Details

Nature Symbolisms -- Book In Progress

Nature Symbolisms excerpts

These are just a few excerpts taken from the upcoming book on symbolisms in nature. There are about 450 entries (so far!) so I've had to cut it down a lot to fit in here!

Just so you know, there are only a few categories here. Other categories, not shown, include the symbolic meanings of ...

• Colours

• Gem stones

• Metals

• Days

• Months

• Environmental conditions (like snow, dew, landslide, etc)

• Nine Directions

Please Note: These excerpts have been taken out of format and with graphics removed, for speed of loading your email.

CREATURES

(There are different categories in the book -- Insects, Birds, Animals -- that have been combined here.)

Bee

• Joyful sexuality; sensuality; loving life, reveling in the Divine manifest in all life. The sweetness of the Divine, the Earth, and Truth.

• Life as dance; celebration. Dancing spiritual ecstacy.

• Worship and devotion to service; work as intoxicating sweetness.

• Dedication, commitment; concentration; single-minded yet light-hearted pursuit of highest goals. Productive action. Fruitfulness, fertility. Achieving impossible dreams.

• Community; group action. Effective communication.

• Female Warrior.

Deity: Frey, Austeja, Artemis/Diana, Gobnait, Krishna, Vishnu, Kama

Cricket

• Good luck; success; abundance.

• Musical and singing prowess; pleasant and effective communication.

• Comfort and companionship; harmony.

• Courage and fighting spirit; guarding.

• Springtime. Fertility.

Deity: Kokopelli

Orca

• Fearlessness; nourished by the greatest of challenges; taking on great quests. Traversing boundaries; reaching beyond one's grasp.

• Mastery of the emotional realm.

• Playfulness and good cheer within responsibility and limitations.

• Matrilineal society; women as leaders. Family bonds and stability; strong, enduring mother-child bonds; group cohesion.

• The power of sound and hearing -- communication, bonding, creating and undoing, finding direction, protection, hunting.

Owl

• Wisdom; insight, intuition; knowledge. Uncovering secrets. Perceiving the hidden motives of others, and self; dismantling deception. Sharp wit.

• Spiritual realms. Magick. Psychic abilities; clairvoyance; prophecy; astral projection. Keen sight and hearing. Perceptive; sensing subtleties.

• Great healing; especially inner self and psyche.

• Patient, silent pursuit of wisdom and goals. The wisdom of keeping silence.

• Swift, incisive, effective action.

• Guide to the Underworld. Darkness, and enlightenment.

• Symbol of feminine power, the Moon, night.

Deity: Ereshkigal, Athena/Minerva, Lilith, Blodeuwedd, Yama, Cailleach, Lakshmi, Luna/Selene, Hecate, Crone Goddesses and Underworld Deities

Snake / Serpent

• Transmutation; symbolic death; change. Change of consciousness; shedding the past. Transmuting poisons (especially poisonous thoughts). Life, death, rebirth; immortality; resurrection. Initiation. Alchemy.

• Creation; creative power. Sexual creative power; sexual desire; male sexual potency; sexual attractiveness; seduction; fertility. Life Force, primal energy.

• Able to move between all the worlds. Mysticism; shamanism.

• Learning and gaining knowledge. Guardian of knowledge. Higher/deep wisdom; wholeness and union of polarities; cosmic consciousn--ess; spiritual being having a human experience; nonattachment and perfect acceptance. Perceiving inner and subconscious states. Mysteries of life.

• Spiritual idealism.

• Healing.

• Rain and lightning.

• Moving quickly and undetectably.

• Great sensitivity to scents.

• Goddess Energy.

Deity: Hecate, Inanna, Demeter, Pan, Rosmerta, Cernunnos, Mafdet, Osiris, Medusa, Meretseger, Kali, Manasa, Vinata, Shiva, Vishnu, Nagas and Naginis, Julunggul, Kunapipi, Aspelenie, Athena, Nüwa, Kadru, Angitia, Mórrîgan, Coatlicue, Quetzalcoatl, Mayahuel, Tlazolteotl, Chantico, Apep, Buto, Melusine, Ezili-Freda, Kundalini, Aido Hwedo, Cipactónal, Tiamat, Walutahanga, Mafdet, Shai, Cernunnos, Termuthis/Ernutet/Renenutet, Wadjet, Avanyu, Typhon, Bona Dea, Pythia

Starling

• Sociability. Group rules -- how one member affects all. Courtesy, etiquette.

• Use of power and pressure in groups, for good or ill. Working in unity with others.

• Sensitive communication; putting oneself in another's position; getting one's point across effectively. Elocution; effective vocal use; expressiveness; public speaking.

FLOWERS

Honeysuckle

• Bonds of love (especially physical love).

• Sexual sharing, tantric sex magick. Love, sexual arousal; generosity. Feminine sexuality.

• Exuberant, fun beauty. Vivaciousness.

• Immortality.

Magickal Uses: Sex magick. Good luck, health protection. Increase psychic ability. Attracts money. Mysteries of the Cauldron.

Deity: Cerridwen, Pan

Lotus

• Purity.

• Connection to Earth while maintaining spiritual awareness. Enlightenment. Spiritual evolution; rising above petty concerns.

• Nobility from humble roots.

• Birth and rebirth; fertility; creation.

• Non-attachment.

• Estranged love; forgetting the past.

Magickal Uses: Cleanse and protect on a spiritual/psychic level. Taking the spiritual perspective. Forgiveness. Going easily with life's twists; grace under pressure. Turning ideas into action. Offerings to deities. Scent gives protection. Open locked doors. Attracts blessings, good fortune.

Deity: Isis, Osiris, Horus, Nefer-Tum, Padma, Buddha, Brahma, Vishnu, Lakshmi, Tara, Avalokiteshvara, Hermes, Hapi, Zhao-cai

Mistletoe

• Very sacred.

• Rebirth; immortality.

• Peace; nonaggression.

• Love and purity.

Magickal Uses: Potent for any positive magickal purpose. Protection against all misfortune, evil, and illness; exorcism; protects babies. Creating peace. Healing. Restful sleep; happy dreams. Good luck (especially for hunting). Aphrodisiac; sacred sex. Conception; creativity. Immortality. Invisibility. Open locks. Accessing information from other lives and between lives. Kissing beneath mistletoe ensures enduring love.

Deity: Venus, Apollo, Frigga, Freya, Balder, Odin

(Poisonous. )

Primrose

• Eternal bliss.

• Immortality.

• Granting access to Heaven.

• The cycle of life.

Magickal Uses: Increase beauty, especially for the skin. Attract love. Protection from adversity. Prevent mental disorders; increase relaxation and calm. Inspire children's loyalty and respect. Attract faeries.

Deity: Freya, Bertha

Rose

• Beauty; the power of Good. Refinement, grace.

• Love, especially eternal love and spiritual love. Adoration that willingly overlooks faults; devotion. Spiritual worship.

• Passion, sensuality.

• Feminine sexuality and desire.

• Calm, peace; heart's ease; balance.

• Promise, hope; new beginnings.

• Honour; faith.

• Secret knowledge; wisdom; silence.

• Divine presence.

Yellow: Friendship, care, warmth, affection, joy in a loved one's presence. Protection against envious lovers, Mature love

White: Humility, honesty, innocence, purity, sanctity. Reverence. Young love. Secret admirer. mysticism

Pale Pink: Grace, gentleness. Admiration. Abiding happiness.

Pink: First love; innocence. Femininity. Elegance, grace, refinement. Healing.

Magenta: Gratitude, appreciation.

Red: Immortal love, enduring passion. Selfless love, sacrifice. Health. Commemoration.

Orange: Enthusiasm; attraction, desire.

Purple: Enchanted, charmed; bewitched, captivated. Love at first sight. Spiritual love.

Rose Bud: Love that is ever young.

Tea Rose: Everlasting fond memories.

Wild Rose: Barrier to evil.

Magickal Uses: Attracts love; increases romance and passion (red or orange). Learning to love; learning to nurture others; uplifts to spiritual love (white or purple). Finding joy in selfless generosity. Psychic ability. Love divination. Personal protection. Quick luck. Healing; beauty that heals. Relieves stress; calms turmoil. Prophetic dreams; beautiful dreams. Perceiving beauty in all. Binding secrets. May be substituted for any flower for magickal purposes.

Deity: Aphrodite/Venus, Isis, Hathor, Adonis, Mary, Lakshmi, Hulda, Chloris, Dionysus, Zephyrus, Apollo, Cupid/Eros [red]; Divine Feminine

Sunflower

• Devotion to higher causes. Virtue. Worship; adoration; infatuation.

• Warmth and happiness.

• Sacred, especially to Aztecs.

Magickal Uses: Increase joy; transmute sorrow to peace. Consecration (especially ritual robes). Protects soul from negative energy. Being in service to the Divine Mother. Conception. Humble wishes. Perceiving truth. Attracts dragons. Higher purpose. Brave heart; courage through focusing on ideals and higher values. Increases virtue. Guards the garden. Great luck.

Deity: Apollo, Demeter, Cernunnos, Huitzilopochtli, Tonatiuh, Nanauatl; Sun Gods

PLANTS

Broom (Besom)

• Humility; simplicity. Resourcefulness.

• Orderliness, cleanliness.

• Sun energy: vitality and warmth.

Magickal Uses: Purification, protection, ward against evil; dispel negative energy. Calling or calming the winds. Divination and psychic ability. Powerful magick. Magickal cleansing; clearing sacred space. Luck. Joyful enduring union.

Deity: Blodeuwedd

(Somewhat Poisonous. )

Clover

• Virtues: Faith, Love, Hope.

• Abundance; provision; nurture.

• Contentment; having enough.

• Sacred herb.

Magickal Uses: Protection, ward against evil and danger and war, exorcism, banishing curses. Accessing soul. Consecrating copper and pentacles. Psychic ability, perceiving spirits and faeries. Wealth, success in ventures, finding riches. Contentment. Healing for animals. Perfect balance. Luck. 3-leaf clovers are lucky for those who work magick; 5 leaf clovers especially lucky for spiritual adepts but too difficult and unlucky for others.

Deity: Triple Goddess, Christian Trinity, Rowen, Osiris

Garlic

• Vigour and strength.

• Courage, bold heart.

• Powerful healing.

• Down-to-Earth, unpretentious; importance of character rather than appearance.

Magickal Uses: Increase stamina and strength; protect against illness; absorbs disease. Powerful protection, guard against all negative energy, evil and theft, especially for new homes and in battle. Banish harmful spirits / energies. Purifies food from negative energy.

Deity: Hecate, Cybele

Mugwort

• Opening to higher states of consciousness; connection to the spiritual world.

• Bitter truth that must be accepted; ending delusion (especially self-delusion). Loss of illusory beliefs.

• Symbol of Moon.

Magickal Uses: Prophecy, divination, clairvoyance, ESP, astral travel, visualisation. Psychic dreams, enlightening dreams. Purifying and consecrating sacred objects; smudging; crystal balls. Protection from harm, especially poison, animals, heatstroke, disease, evil beings, and during psychic work or out-of-body travel. Protection especially for women and children. Draw out negative, stagnant or excess energy, balance the chi. Exorcism; breaking curses. Love spells; lust, passion; fertility. Safe travel and return. Healing illness of mind and body. Calm. Entering the Flow. Repel insects. Midsummer rituals.

Deity: Artemis/Diana, Hecate

(Somewhat Toxic — especially avoid if pregnant. )

Tobacco

• Sacred to spirits.

• Connecting with spirit realm; shamanistic journeys.

• Insight into Divine reality.

Magickal Uses: Psychic ability, mediumship, communication with spirits and devas of all kinds. Purification; protection; banish and ward against evil/negativity (especially effects of nightmares). Safe journey on water. Offerings to deities and spirits.

Deity: Spirits

Note: Commercial tobacco, being contaminated with many fillers and hazardous chemicals, is almost unrelated on an energetic/spiritual/symbolic level to pure tobacco.

(Poisonous; toxic even to touch.)

TREES

Alder

• Endurance, strength, courage, vitality.

• Emotion; passion for life; enthusiasm, eagerness.

• Harmony of water and fire.

• Generosity.

• Appearance.

• Restraining negativity.

Magickal Uses: Access to faery realm. Invigorating. Reduces nervousness and anxiety. Success in all ventures. Warrior power tempered by compassion. Inner fortitude, especially to cross one's own emotional barriers; face what you'd rather avoid. Glamours.

Deity: Bran, Phoroneus, Astarte

Apple

• Immortality, magic, youth, healing.

• Beauty, innocence, happiness.

• Love.

• Inner fortitude.

• Divinity.

• Magickal places. Avalon -- abode of the dead.

Magickal Uses: Fertility, aphrodisiac, love potion and love divination. Magickal wands. Access to other realms; Unicorns are said to live beneath apple trees. Illumination; gaining knowledge; wisdom. Making deep internal changes.

Deity: Aphrodite/Venus, Diana, Gaia, Athena, Hera, Abellio, Demeter, Dionysus, Pomona, Frigga, Freya, Idunn(a), Eve, Saule, Olwen

Cinnamon

• Psychic ability.

• Love, lust.

• Spirituality.

• Good luck.

Magickal Uses: Purification; protection, ward against evil, invokes positive energies. Creates peace. Stimulating, especially the mind; focus, concentration; improve communication. Aids in meditation and ritual. Success, power in the world, wealth. Attract love and luck. Preservation. Healing.

Deity: Venus/Aphrodite, Uranis, Mars, Mercury

Frankincense

• Spiritual energy.

• Priesthood, complete dedication to spiritual path; Divine worship.

• Overcoming the hardest spiritual obstacles.

• Life.

Magickal Uses: Stimulant. Spiritual development; increase spiritual devotion; aids meditation. Purification of soul; protection in energy work and astral travel. Uplifts spiritual vibrations; banishes negative energy and evil; exorcism. Consecration. Balance. Restrain pride. Handing concerns over to the Divine; prayer. Discipline; limits self-indulgence. Brings compassion. Success in spiritual or worldly realms. Increases concentration.

Deity: Bel (Ba'al), Apollo, Ra, Adonis, Demeter; Moon Goddesses, Sun Gods, Male Gods

Note: The Boswellia Sacra tree from which Frankincense is harvested is in decline due to overuse. Rosemary is an acceptable substitute.

Yew

• Tree of Life, immortality, death and rebirth; transformation; reincarnation. Change; self-renewal.

• Protection. Strength; longevity; great age.

• Divinity.

• A Guardian of the Underworld, guiding souls to the next world.

Magickal Uses: Renewal, rebirth, transformation. Eternal life. Protection against evil; magickal shield. Connecting with ancestors; speaking with the dead. Psychic ability; shamanism; dreaming; divination. Dowsing. Magick. Magickal wands; magick boxes.

Deity: Great Goddess, Artemis, Persephone, Hecate, Astarte, Odin, Crone Moon, Dione, Banbha

(Poisonous)

NUMBERS

0 - Zero

• Yin.

• Ultimate Union — the Infinite beyond/before Goddess and God; Oneness, everything, absolutes, the All, nothingness. Pure Mind; Brahma. Star Goddess; the Velvet Dark, the Pregnant Womb Of Stars.

• Gestation, emptiness, openness: the empty space that makes room for new thoughts, new forms. The place where questions arise.

• Full existence in spirit, incorporeal.

• Chaos; Quantum Realm; fabric of existence; where all possibilities exist, unmanifest.

Colour: Black, clear

Gemstone: Hematite, double-terminated quartz crystal

Flower: Seeds especially seed pods

Deity: The Nameless Unity

Other: Eggs

Angel: Lumiel

1 - One

• Yang.

• Initiating action, pioneering, original. Leading, independent, self-sufficient, ambitious, aggressive, individual.

• Alpha and Omega, beginning and completion, origin and outcome, root and fruit all contained in one seed.

• Ultimate union; unity within, with Divine, with all. The Universal; transcendence; God. Wholeness; indivisible.

• Perfection; incorruptibility.

• The Philosopher’s Stone, which can create gold from other metals.

Colour: Reds

Gemstone: Ruby, garnet

Flower: Red rose, red carnation; other red flowers

Deity: Allah, Jehovah, Aphrodite/Venus, Apollo, Artemis/Diana, Vesta, Frey, Neter, Pangu

Angel: Raphael

2 - Two

• Yin and Yang.

• Love, relationship, partnership; marriage.

• Cooperation, adaptability, consideration of others, mediating, supportive, receptive, diplomatic.

• Analysis, division; polarity; separation. Differentiation, individuation; ego; selfishness. Perception of self and other.

• Balance between opposites. Giving and receiving; love and charity; sexuality. Creative friction inspiring new ideas and expressions, love, stimulating conflict.

Colour: Oranges

Gemstone: Gold, coral

Flower: Freesia, orange rose, tiger lily, calendula

Deity: Ceres/Demeter, Venus/Aphrodite, Frigga, Loki

Angel: Gabriel

LANDSCAPES

Forest

• Sacred silence.

• Alone with Mother Earth, intimacy with nature — in Goddess' arms, breathing Her breath, sheltered by ancient loving powerful guardians.

• Opening self to expand to include all life.

Shadow: Lost, confused in the dark, fearing dangers unseen.

Garden

• Grounding, connecting with Earth.

• Beauty.

• Self-sustaining. Abundance achieved by own actions, accomplishment. Partnership with Nature/Divinity. Being nourished by Mother Earth and own hands.

• Creating your vision.

• Peacefulness, satisfaction, fulfillment.

• Feeding others; caring for community.

Shadow: Hard work, bound by uncontrollable forces, dealing with failures among successes, working against opposition, at the mercy of life's rollercoaster.

Mountain

• Austere, elevated, above everyday concerns, higher perspective. Spiritual attainment, enlightenment. Meeting Self and Source face-to-face.

• Clarity, purity, removal of excess. No distractions.

• Challenging goals, going to your limit, doing the impossible. Unremitting challenge and honesty.

Shadow: Isolated, cut off from human connection; not serving others.

Harsh, merciless, ruthless, severe. Driving yourself too hard. Expecting perfection of self and others.

Village

• Community, interconnection, caring for each other, caught up in life. Social. Being part of something bigger than yourself.

• Support, compassion, belonging, contributing, being known and honoured, important to the whole.

Shadow: Bound by cultural limits and tribal beliefs. Not following your own role but living out other's expectations.

Being locked into the past: tradition, others' perceptions of you, etc.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

What Do You Think So Far?

I'd love to hear from you… Please write and let me know!

Ask The Priestess

Hand-Writing A Book of Shadows?

Dear Priestess,

Was wondering if you could tell me something, when you make your book of shadows do I have to write every page or can I print pages off pc ? I was told I couldn’t use printed pages

K.M.

Dear K.M.,

It's your Book of Shadows... you can do whatever works for you!

In order to help you make an informed choice, however, I'll explain the four reasons that hand-printing or -writing is better than typing or printing from the computer.

Close Attention

The first reason is that when you just copy-and-paste something on the computer, you don't really know it. It's not YOURS.

Even if you read it through before you print it out, you will have only an intellectual understanding of it.

Of course, this is true even if you're writing by hand something you haven't done for yourself... but at least as you write it letter-by-letter, it gets in deeper to your consciousness. You've REALLY seen what you're putting in your grimoire.

Personal Experience

The second reason is that if you try out the practice or spell, and learn it, and then write about it, your own experience is added in. This makes it more real and powerful.

And since your Book of Shadows is the sum of everything within it, this creates more power for your whole Book of Shadows.

This practical experience is more likely if you need to write it out by hand. When you're going to the trouble of putting it in writing, you may be more motivated to test it out first.

This is especially true when it's difficult to erase or add to what's written, or remove the page. You'll want to really know what you're doing, so you can get it right!

Grammar Glamour

The third reason is that writing is magick, all on its own. The very word for a Book of Shadows -- grimoire -- comes from the same root word that gives us "grammar" and "glamour" (as in enchantment).

Your writing contains your energy and even your spirit, therefore something handwritten will have more power in it than something a mindless machine has copied and spit out.

Deeper Perception

The fourth reason is that writing something out reveals levels of meaning that the mind skips over, otherwise. You will understand it better and see connections with other spells and practices, if you write it by hand.

When you write by hand, you access different areas of your brain than you do even by typing. That's why dream-work and other spiritual practices like Reflection are always done by hand.

You earn a deeper understanding when you write it out by hand.

Going for the Power

So it comes down to your intentions.

What do you want a Book of Shadows for? If it's merely your recipe book of neat Wiccan ideas, then printing by computer won't matter so much.

If you want something that is most alive, charged with power, and meaningful, then you'll only put in your grimoire what you've experienced yourself -- even if the idea originated with someone else -- and always in your own handwriting.

As always in Wicca, the choice is yours. And the outcome reflects what you put into it.

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.)

If the sight of the blue skies fills you with joy, if a blade of grass springing up in the fields has power to move you, if the simple things of nature have a message that you understand, rejoice, for your soul is alive.

~ Eleonora Duse

Man's heart away from nature becomes hard.

~ Standing Bear

I love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting station, through which God speaks to us every hour, if we will only tune in.

~ George Washington Carver

God writes the gospel not in the Bible alone, but on trees and flowers and clouds and stars.

~ Martin Luther

I believe that there is a subtle magnetism in Nature, which, if we unconsciously yield to it, will direct us aright.

~ Henry David Thoreau

Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

There is a way that nature speaks, that land speaks. Most of the time we are simply not patient enough, quiet enough to pay attention to the story.

~ Linda Hogan

Over every blade of grass there is an angel bent over whispering, "Grow! Grow! Grow!"

~ The Talmud

Word on the Street

What People Are Saying About Wicca-Spirituality.com:

Just a simple THANK YOU!

I'm fairly new to everything you discuss (at least in terms of fully embracing and practicality), but have had no troubled "transition" in my experiences as seems to happen to so many.

It is just wonderful to get such straight talk about Wicca, particularly its history. I almost wish I'd discovered this site earlier, as I was reading Raymond Buckland (who helped give me a nudge in the right direction). However, since I've already "arrived," so to speak, I want to just tell you how much I appreciate both your content and language here.

Even people who seek to discredit what's in our hearts can't help but see it for what it is.

This site is one of the first showing when making a search for "new to Wicca," and so I'm happy that many or most will read about it here. Sincerity is dripping from the page, and that's all anyone could ask for!

. -- D. in USA

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

---

Know somebody who'd like to read this?

We really hope that you've enjoyed reading this newsletter. If you think your friends might be interested in taking a look, please feel free to forward it to them.

Haven't subscribed yet?

If you're reading this on the recommendation of a friend and would like to receive all the future editions, you can subscribe for free through this link: The Silver Chalice E-Zine to subscribe.

Contact Us

If you have any comments, opinions, or content ideas we'd love to hear from you. Please write!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

© erin dragonsong 2011. 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.