Silver Chalice Wicca 'Zine #29 * Grimoire, Animal Telepathy, and God-less Wicca

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Silver Chalice Wicca 'Zine #29 * Grimoire, Animal Telepathy, and God-less Wicca
April 01, 2012

Silver Chalice Wicca 'Zine #29

Book of Shadows, Animal Telepathy Book Review,
and
God-less Wicca

April / May 2012

Editor's Note

Merry Meet!

Spring has sprung. Eostara has passed; Beltane is on the horizon. Plants are sprouting, winter is loosening her hold. It’s a time of beginnings and waking up.

A beginning that I’m particularly excited about is a new online course I’m developing. It consists of weekly Wicca lessons, delivered to your e-mail inbox, for people who want to become Wiccan but don’t know how or where to start. These lessons guide you step-by-step through what you need to know and give you tools to help you learn it—and there are activity-oriented “Wiccan Adventures of the Week” to help you absorb the information!

We’re aiming to have the course ready for you in late 2012 so you can start the lessons in January of 2013.

And of course the Animal Spirit Guides e-course is in progress... it might be done for the next issue. I'll be sure to let you know. ; )

I wish you the best of the season!

With Brightest Blessings,

Contact Us

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

Magick Book In Progress -- Wicca Beginners Online Course – Book of Shadows Excerpt

Book Review -- Straight from the Horse's Mouth: How to Talk to Animals and Get Answers

Ask The Priestess -- God-less Wicca?

Fave Quotes -- on Life, Growth, and Love

Word on the Street -- Remarks from Readers

Silver Chalice Details

Wicca Beginner’s Course – Online Course Under Construction

(Please Note:
This material is protected by legal copyright)

The following is an excerpt from one of the weekly lessons in a new online course I’m creating. We’re aiming to open the course to the public around the end of 2012.

Your Book of Shadows

A Book of Shadows (or Grimoire) is a reference book about Wicca that you create for yourself. It will serve to remind you of everything you need to know to be Wiccan and to work magick.

In it you will keep notes on things you might want to remember:

Wiccan info like what symbols are used for which elements and when the major holidays are
Your experiences with various practices, so you can notice how your skills grow
Tips and techniques that you've found useful, including spells
Insights that have come to you
Anything relating to your Wicca practice that you might want to look up later

The word Grimoire (pronounced GRIM-wahr) comes from the same root as the words glamour and grammar. Glamour is an archaic word for magick or enchantment. Grammar comes from the Greek and means the "art of letters," that is, writing.

This gives us a deeper understanding of what a Grimoire, or Book of Shadows, is really about. It is a book of magick, and writings about magick. In olden times, writing itself was considered a form of magick — and Wiccans know this to be true. In popular culture even today, a Book of Shadows is understood as holding a magickal power of its own.

Therefore, keep in mind as you create yours, that you are performing something like a ritual or magick, every time you write in your book. Try to be centered and very conscious of what you are writing. Choose what you write, with care — it should be things that will serve you well in the future.

Writing Your Own Grimoire

Every Witch or Wiccan is expected to create their own Book of Shadows. A Grimoire is not something suited to mass production — it needs to be specific to you, and ideally containing only what you have tried and experienced for yourself.

This is a little bit like writing your own bible. That may seem sacrilegious or pompous, but at one time the books that are now collected in the bible (and every holy book) were nothing more than notes by people writing down what they'd learned, the messages from the Divine that they'd received, the important parts of their spiritual path that they wanted to remember, and instructions for living and practicing their beliefs.

Can you imagine what the world would be like, if everyone had to write their own holy book, based on what they themselves learned and valued about their religion? I think this would be a huge improvement, since each person would understand that religion without personal experience is nothing but empty words... and since no one could hold up a book and say that everyone else must bow to its doctrine. [...]

In Wicca, we are all the experts on our own experiences. Every Wiccan is their own priest/priestess. In Wicca, you are your own spiritual authority. This is one of the chief doctrines of Wicca. I know that goes against probably everything you've ever been taught. And I know there are people out there writing Grimoires for sale.

You don't need them.

In this course, you will learn what you need to put in your Grimoire. You will not be writing as an expert, not this year, but if you don't start now you won't be writing as an expert any year! Over time, your increased skill will make your Book of Shadows a worthy text for your Wiccan practice.

Have a little faith in yourself. Have a little patience, a little compassion for you as a newbie.

This is how you develop your Power.

What Do You Think So Far?

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

Book Review

Straight from the Horse's Mouth:
How to Talk to Animals and Get Answers

If you've ever wanted to understand animals, in particular their needs or reasonings, you'll want to read Straight from the Horse's Mouth.

Especially if you've ever wanted to explain to why you want an animal to do something, and have it go along with you!

A. Kinkade gives you a highly enjoyable introduction to telepathy: an innate human ability that she believes will be in common use a hundred years from now. It's focused particularly on telepathic communication with animals, and how you can learn to do it.

The book is filled with hope-inspiring stories, as well as insights into thought, communication, and animal consciousness.

Best of all, she leaves you feeling that you really could do this!

Straight From the Horse's Mouth is a practical guide to learning to telepath with animals.

It's worth learning to understand animals, in my opinion, purely for the education you can get by listening to how animals think. (Squirrels, for instance, don't have much respect for humans, it seems, other than as potential sources of almonds.)

Kinkade offers good, practical exercises to ...

Clear your energy field so that you are able to receive telepathic information
Encourage animals to talk to you
Develop rapport and trust
Interpret the messages they give
Find a lost animal
Check animals for illness or injury
Talk to your pet about difficult issues (like behavioural problems or trip to vet)
Even communicate with those who are on the Other Side_

Throughout it all, Kinkade's warmth and obvious love for animals shines through.

One part that particularly jumped out at me is her perspective on “osmosis” illness... the way animals frequently take on illnesses or issues of their people. I was excited to read this, because I've been convinced for years that this is the case but I've never found outside corroborations before.

If you're wanting to develop latent telepathic abilities, this is a wonderful book to begin with.

And of course you can use it to communicate with humans too. According to Kinkade, we already do, all the time. But for conscious telepathy, it will be easier to start with animals!

I read this book from a library and promptly went to buy my own copy, because the exercises were so useful I wanted to have them on hand. Plus I wanted to share this book with all my friends and family!

Another great addition to any conscious person's library, but a must for Witches. If we don't talk to our Familiars and other animals we meet, when the opportunity is right in front of us, we're missing something big!

Excerpts from Straight from the Horse's Mouth

If our ancestors had not used their intuition to find safe water, food, and homestead sites, none of us would be here now. Psychic ability is our birthright as human beings.
Nonverbal communication is an art like all other arts, and in time, the ability to access the right side of the brain will become a habit, not an accident.
The greatest paradigm shift to open your intuitive channels is triggered by moving out of a state of "trying to get" into a places of "wanting to give."
I know this phenomenon is as available to you as it is to me because I see it flourish in my students all the time.
Aside from the Dumpster-like content of most American television, the noise itself and the frequency of television are forms of violence unto themselves. ... Turn it off and reacquaint yourself with silence.
Most houseflies will fly right out the door if you open the door and say, "Go!" They respond better if you see them as friendly and curious, not obnoxious and dense. I give them a few moments to buzz around me and investigate what they came in to see before I ask them to leave.
Even when we eat lettuce and carrots, it may not be the mass of the object per se—the vitamins, the minerals—that nourish us, but the life in the food, the spirit itself that becomes a part of us.
Sometimes when animals are not feeling well, they display behaviour that owners see as insubordinate. This is especially true of horses. Before you scold your animals… check in with them first to see how they're feeling. Any sort of "misbehaviour" is likely a cry for help and understanding.
The challenge is this: You must know and accept everything that is going on in your own body first, before you can enter the body of another being.
If you have conflicts about your behaviour, as we all do, tithing is a great way to balance the scales. If you feel lousy about some hypocrisy in your diet, tithe to a charity [that helps animals].

Rating for This Book: 5 Stars

Ask The Priestess

God-less Wicca?

Dear Priestess,

Your site has helped me a lot and has answered a lot of my questions. But there is something that I was wondering.

I used to consider myself Wiccan a year or two ago but lost interest because I just couldn't let myself believe in gods and goddesses. The whole idea of supreme power just doesn't make sense to me.

I've been told by Christan friends that "that's where faith comes in". I think that I either don't have any faith or if I do, it's buried deep inside me. However; I still very much enjoy and benefit from some Wicca practices.

I'd like to call myself a Wiccan, but feel like I'm sort of lying if I do. Is there any branch or sort of Wicca religion that doesn't involve the belief/worship of gods and goddesses?

- M., USA

Dear M., This is a wonderful question. I understand what you mean, I think; many people have difficulty accepting deities.

The quick and easy answer is: you DON'T have to worship deities to be Wiccan.

But working with deities is so valuable, and there's usually so much misunderstanding about this topic, that I don't want to leave you hanging there. So let's look at deities in Wicca.

"God" Is The Problem

First of all, I think it may be the preposterous ideas about God that get so much airplay these days, which are throwing you off. In which case, I want to assure you that Wiccan deities are not at all like the God of the Christians or other monotheistic deities. There is no jealousy, no vengefulness, no judgement, no punishment, no tyrannical despotism… no "infinite being far away and over and above; we are pathetic sinners that aren't fit to wipe God's feet" kind of thing.

On the contrary! Wiccan deities are like friends, helpers, parents, lovers, and partners in making life on Earth beautiful.

Experience Rather Than Faith

Second, there is no faith required. Wicca is definitely NOT about "you just have to HAVE FAITH, even though there's absolutely no evidence." Wiccan practices are designed to help us directly EXPERIENCE the connection with Divine Energy.

If we don't personally experience it, why should we believe in it? There's an element of the scientific in this: don't accept something just because someone tells you to. If we don't experience it for ourselves, it's just a story, a fantasy. We may LIKE to believe in a fantasy, but that doesn't make it real.

Nature Is Divine

Third, you say that the Earth, the Moon, and Nature are what appeal to you about Wicca. Well, you don't have to go any further than that.

The Earth is a Goddess — do you have to have faith that the Earth exists? Do you have to accept that She is a Goddess, and worship Her in some way? Or can you just go outside and appreciate Her, and connect with Life that way? That's what Wicca is about. The Moon is a Goddess — do you have to have faith that the Moon exists, and worship Her as a deity, or just go outside and appreciate Her? The trees, the plants, the rocks, the stars, the clouds, the rainbows, the dew, the winds, the sunshine — these things are real. No faith is required. They are holy, in the sense of irreplaceable beauty and bounty upon which life depends and which are gifts freely given to us all.

These are, in a sense, deities to us, when we recognise the immensity of the gift.

And even more, when we recognise the Energy that comes through each of them.

If you experience for yourself the Divine Energy that is manifest in these things, you will feel that they are deities to you of some sort. If not, it is enough for a Wiccan to appreciate and enjoy Nature. You don't have to think of them as deities if you don't want to.

What's In A Name?

Fourth, it doesn't matter what you call this Divine Energy. You can call it God or Goddess, Great Spirit, Life Force, Energy, Mystery, Source, the Universe, or whatever word you are comfortable with. You can simply call it Earth and Moon and Nature. You can call it nothing at all.

In fact, you can not even think about it or accept its existence, but I believe that you do yourself a great disservice if you ignore at least the possibility of Something Greater. Because what we're left with then is nothing more than the "little self," the ego, and its materialistic illusions of life-and-death, scarcity, suffering, etc. There is not much happiness in that limited awareness, and even less empowerment.

So I'd advise at least keeping your mind and heart open to the POSSIBILITY that the Divine exists, and that you can get to know Her.

Wicca Is Your Own Religion

And fifth, there is no dogma in Wicca (at least Wicca Spirituality), no rules about what you must believe or what parts of Wicca speak to you. You are your own spiritual authority, and you can and must decide what is true to you.

With Blessings,

erin

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

Earth, my dearest, I will. Oh believe me, you no longer need your springtimes to win me over - one of them, ah, even one, is already too much for my blood. Unspeakably, I have belonged to you, from the first.
~ Rainer Maria Rilke

Next to “God,” “love” is the word most mangled in every language.
~ Richard Bach, Bridge Across Forever

Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and then go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.
~ Harold Thurman Whitman

Beauty and grace are performed whether or not we sense them. The least we can do is try to be there.
~ Annie Dillard

We are not born all at once, but by bits. The body first, and the spirit later…our mothers are wracked with the pains of our physical birth: we ourselves suffer the longer pains of our spiritual growth.
~ Mary Antin

Word on the Street

What People Are Saying About Wicca-Spirituality.com:

I have been truly blessed by this site. I am studing wicca on my own. I have many questions and much religious brain washing yet to over come. Almost as fast as the questions formulate in my mind, I find the answer to them on your site. Thank you so much for this site.
-- J. in USA

Wicca is a beautiful and peacefull spiritual path that is a way of life, not just lip service to impress the persons looking on during sunday worship service. Wicca is a "living" spiritual path.I can not explain it in any other words. Even my altar, the tools, and statues of the God/ess feel alive as if their pressence is actually with me. I never felt that "alive" feeling in any church that I ever attended.

-- X. in USA

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

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~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
© erin dragonsong 2012. 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.

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