Gimmicks, bonfires and what witches do, the Eve of Beltane or May Day is upon us. To add to the energetic pandemonium, 5 planets, Jupiter, Pluto, Mars, Saturn and now Mercury are all retrograding in the sky, giving us the optical illusion and palpable fear that all we have set forth will now come to a screeching halt. What auspicious timing; the art of witchcraft and one of its’ most potent holidays is here and instead of running away from the onslaught of energies why not face the bonfire with gusto and jump in. The cultural mythology and true magical…
Cat Cabral, Modern Witch, Writer, Tarot Reader
Tagged witchcraft
March Manifestations
MARCH MANIFESTATIONS “Woke up, it was a Chelsea morning, and the first thing that I knew There was milk and toast and honey and a bowl of oranges, too And the sun poured in like butterscotch and stuck to all my senses.” -Joni Mitchell Every March, I continue my yearly tradition of spring-cleaning and with Joni Mitchell’s soprano in my ear, I begin the task enthusiastically, singing like a girl without a care in the world until I realize my floor, desk, basically every surface is drowning in clutter. Where did it all come from? What will remain and what…
Brigid: Walking the Line Between Grace and Gumption
The start of February marks the turning point of winter and depending on a weather prognosticating groundhog, we will either soldier on or be welcomed by the early buds of an early spring. Feb. 1st-2n encompasses a mash-up of holidays from St. Brigid’s Eve, the pagan festival of Imbolc, the Christian holiday of Candlemas and good old Groundhog Day. Flames, eternal and purifying, tie together many of these celebrations and I even add in for good measure, the life-affirming party that is Mardi Gras on Feb. 9th Despite the month starting off with a bang, I’ve been having flashbacks to…
The Two Faces of January
In Roman lore, Janus the god of beginnings and endings whom the month of January is named after had two faces, one reflecting towards the past and the other towards the future. Whatever one chose to do on January 1st marked an omen of what was to come for the year ahead. To this day we still hold on to this tradition and many of us started off 2016 with a bang of promise, magical intentions and champagne soaked seductions. As the universe would have it, Mercury Retrograde in Capricorn has proved a rude awakening to many lofty resolutions and…
Yuletide and the Promise of Light
Merry Christmas, Happy Solstice, Blessed Yule, and a Joyful Saturnalia! What many celebrate as Christmas stems from a festive amalgamation of Pagan lore synthesized with the Nativity story as the conversion of Pagans to Christians, some willing others resisting, took place over thousands of years in Europe. While singing Carol of the Bells at maximum volume, wreath making and burning a Yule log, there’s no conflict of interest for this curious seeker. Maybe it’s being an immigrant’s daughter that makes me love celebrating a melting pot of holidays. Maybe it’s the glitzy collection of sparkling ornaments as presents rest…
November Familiars (When All Feels Unfamiliar)
“It is the familiar spirit of the place; It judges, presides, inspires everything in its empire; It is perhaps a fairy or a god? When my eyes, drawn like a magnet to this cat that I love…” Charles Baudelaire. As we leave deep as the blue sea Scorpio, ending one of the most globally horrific and transformative months of the year, everything feels and here we are, exposed as a live wire. Yet the bright flame of Sagittarius has arrived, reminding us that what goes down will come up and that optimism is more necessary now than ever. I’ve been…
5 Ways to Protect Yourself From Psychic Vampires
1) Have a Daily Spiritual Practice: Be it daily meditation, chants, or prayer, some form of daily spiritual practice will not only ground and focus your own energy, but it will open your levels of awareness, sharpening your own intuitive skills. With deeper awareness, it’s harder for vampires to enter your space and it’s easier to spot their unbalanced and often charming yet ultimately harmful nature. 2) Sea Salt Baths On the Full Moon: An old and soothing tradition that will help cleanse your ethereal body. Once the Moon is full, she begins to wane, an excellent time for cleansing…
It’s Ecstasy When You Lie Down Next To Me: The Universality of Sexual Acts as Magic
As a teenager fascinated by the power of rituals, my first run in with Sex Magic was comical. One night after putting the kids I babysat for to bed, I enjoyed my usual routine of exploring their mother’s counterculture bookshelf that encompassed everything from Please Kill Me to Drawing Down the Moon. One night, I found The Art of Sexual Magic, by Margot Anand, an author and one of the New Age pioneers responsible for introducing Tantra and it’s use of sacred sexual practices to the broader public. Titillated I was, to say the least, so much so that I…
