Magic in Many Forms: Candle Magic by Lucya Starza

Magic in Many Forms

Lucya Starza wove a fine little grimoire in Pagan Portals Candle Magic: a witch’s guide to spells and rituals published by Moon Books. Candle Magic jumps right in from the first page supplying the reader with hands on teaching about spelling with candles. All my favorite spells are in there: money, love, health, happiness. She encourages the readers to trust their instincts and to use colors and scents that are meaningful to the practitioners. I think that is important.  For example, she typically uses yellow and gold candles to symbolize wealth since the pound coin is gold color. She acknowledges many people use green, perhaps because US money is green.  She’s right, but there is something so fitting about a gold candle and a money spell. I fortify mine with a little vial of gold flakes on the altar. Now I’m going to add citrine and a gold candle with the green.

Starza says she writes for the beginner. In many ways she does. Her style is upbeat and readable. She levels her information and sends it directly to the reader with a clear shot to the soul. Yet even an old experienced witch like me can find a new idea. I was particularly pleased to read about the fondue pot spell. You anoint the warming candle; write your group wishes on it, perhaps for harmony, healing or a decision that needs to be made together. Then you prepare the fondue chocolate, supply the long forks, strawberries, bananas or marshmallows and dip away together. All the while, everyone focuses on the wishes for the spell. When the food is gone and the candle burns down, the spell is done. I’m teaching a Wicca I class this spring, and this feels like a good opening or closing ritual. I think they will love it too.

Candle Magic provides more than spell formulas. The reader learns color correspondence, gemstone significance, herbs and aromatherapy uses. Starza packs a lot of information about magic in a little book. In addition she holds to a responsible ethical standard, directing people to add “an’ it harm none” when formulating spells. She’s not afraid of a hex now and again to bring back stolen goods and take justice to a thief. I general discourage new witches from doing that, but the truth is they do it anyway. All in all there is much to admire in this book. I’m adding it to the reading list for my next class, Wicca II: To Will the Magic coming this autumn.  I recommend Candle Magic that strongly.

Names and Identity.

The beginning of self=knowledge is in naming.

Some names are given. Some are chosen. What do your names say about who you are?

What are the names in your ancestry? They can be significant. My family surnames are Abrams, Russell, Lyon, West, and Parkman  for starters. Oh and Hagenbrach.

The Abrams shortened their name from Abrahams around 1800-1810. Were they Jewish before that? not immediately but maybe. The rumor persists. Seven generations back John Abrahams was a carpenter in Newburgh NY. The book of British surname indicates that the name came from Adburgham, a place name in Lancastershire. That is an interesting possibility too.

The Russells were British but which country or county? I'd like to know. My great grandfather Russell was an immigrant from Canada but his father was born in Vermont to David Russell and Keziah Plympton, she of Sturbridge MA. The Plymptons were named for a city in Devonshire England. The Russells  appear to have been farmers and perhaps investors. I don't know if they were successful investors in Canada or not. I suspect they were there because they backed the Royalist side in the American Revolution. People lost their fortunes and their lives doing that. They were given passes to Canada, short term passes which meant they left everything behind.

The Lyons were likely Irish, but I haven't proved it yet. The name comes from the French city of Lyon. They ones I can trace were farmers in central New York, Michigan and back to New York.

The Wests all came from southern England. Our branch landed here in 1640. My immediate ancestors were Wests in Oswego County. They ran a saw mill as a family venture.  The name could be Norse, Flemish or English. Vestarr, for example. It might mean a person lived west of a given settlement. Or it might be linked to the old county of Wessex.

The Parkmans were an old and revered family out of Boston, many of whom were ministers. Before that they were English. One of them founded Parkman Ohio and his progeny went on to settle in Mexico. My branch ended up in central New York as farmers. The name comes from the occupation, a park man ie gamekeeper.

The Hagenbrachs were German immigrants who moved to Oswego NY in the 1850's. He was a butcher/grocer who closed up and went home for lunch trailing change from his pockets for the neighborhood kids to find. I think he did that on purpose. This is from a place name in Germany.

What does your name mean? Dorothy means gift of the gods.
 
Why do you have it? My mother and her close friend who died just before I was born were Dorothys. I never like being named for a dead woman. It felt creepy. But I liked the meaning. I tried to live up to it from an early age. A gift from the Gods does good stuff for other people. It is my aspiration.
 
How do you name yourself? Webweaver and Anemone. Eric calls me Lulu which is what one grandfather called my grandmother to annoy her. It really was her name but she didn't like it and went by Pearl. Can't say as I blame her.

What about you? You may not want to share info on line but write it down in your journal. Check it out on Ancestry. Find out who your grand parents, great grandparents and great great grandparents were. It is their love that formed you. If you need me to check something on Ancestry, I can do that. Google the surnames and find their meaning or origin. But be advised. You might get hooked on the research.

Fourth Thursdays: Book Discussion on Identity and the Quartered Circle

Beginning February 25th, I will hold Fourth Thursdays at the Web PATH Center, 2 William St. Lyons NY 6 pm to 8 pm for book discussions. Leading off with Identity and the Quartered Circle, going chapter by chapter through my own book. You can get one through all major book sellers including Amazon, e books or hard copy. For those who can't get to Lyons, I'll post some discussion questions on my Facebook writer's page and along with my favorite replies from the group. You can join in through the comments over there.
One of the differences you will find in Identity is in the journaling and artwork projects included with the chapters. I included those because I believe creative expression is an important part of spirituality. We will give the discussion group opportunities to do the projects that interest them. Perhaps we can post some of them here on the Blog.
So come on out and have some fun. Chapter of the month and projects will be announced here and on Facebook. Tell your friends! This is open to the public.

We won't start until next week but here's the first teaser. Keep private what you wish to keep confidential. This is the internet after all.

The beginning of our new self-knowledge is in naming.

Do you know anything about names in your ancestry? They can be significant
What does your name mean?
Why do you have it?
How do you name yourself?

Announcing Sacred Sex and Magick

Publication Release date: June 26, 2015

This book is for people who want a spiritual path that involves the physical ecstasy of sex and the dynamics of magick that works.

Pre-order now from your local books store, Barnes & Noble, Amazon or from the publisher, Moon Books.

  Eighteen of us from the Web PATH Center, a pagan church and spiritual community in Lyons, NY, wondered what would happen if we wrote a book about sex.

o The book needed to be spiritual.

o It needed to be sexy.

o It needed to be explicit.

Sacred Sex and Magick is the result.

We describe how ordinary ritual practices like grounding and creating a cone of power involve sensuality and rising kundalini energy.

We explain how to use that power in making magick happen.

Then we share secrets of the Great Rite and how to include the power of the sacred marriage at home.

 

 

Solitaries, pagan partners and spouses, and people with spirit lovers all dance with the ecstasy found in this book.

The Writing Horse

Writing is not so very different from other processes. One has some success, one falls off the horse. One gets back on. Additional achievements follow. I am at the point or scrambling back up on the horse after a whole year of disruption.

In 2014, my partner Eric who will be 78 this month had a year of medical issues culminating in a hip replacement. He's fine now, though still regaining his vigor and stamina. Yesterday he was out on the tractor plowing snow so we could get out after yet another impressive blizzard. Today he is doing desk work because his body is protesting. People who have never driven a tractor fail to realize what a physical workout that is. First you have to get up into the damn thing....kind of like remounting the horse we fell off.

So here I am back up on the horse. Well, that isn't exactly me in the picture, but that is how I feel. I'm writing again, everyday. This is really a new start. My blog Books and Ideas rises up from the ashes with my promise to write twice a week. Look here for my thoughts about books I'm reading or writing, books and stories by my friends, and current events which I must skewer with my feminist wit or temper. Look for something every weekend and again mid week.

To that end, I invite you to follow this blog. I know I link it to FaceBook and you may think that is sufficient, but in the world of writing and reviewing, publishers want to know how many followers one has. So step out of the shadows and be counted on my blog. You do that for me, and I will do my best to be entertaining. Promise.

Today's Idea: Feminism

I want to complain. I have been advocating for women's equality all my life, and today I needed to start all over again. True, I had the too-early-morning crankiness. Still 3 things hit me wrong before lunch.

First, I read a post on sacred sex by David Deida which set me off. He said women begin their journey with their through a focus on beauty. Men approach from the meaning of their lives. I cleaned it up. His statement was

"The feminine sexual essence identifies with the love-light of being ("How do I look? Am I loved and loving?") and the masculine with the freedom of being ("What is my purpose? Am I successful and free?"). Spiritual growth, for women and men, is about growing from superficial to deeper levels of these identities."

Really? Women begin with the concern about appearance and men with an eye to freedom? Is that some kind of excuse for bad behavior on both parts?  What about little girls who revel in the joy of movement and play? Who love roaming free? What about little boys who love their mommys and daddys and sacrifice their last dime to help them out? What about teenagers who hook up too early because they fear freedom? What about the vanity of a boy with a zit in the middle of the forehead? These are not sex linked characteristics. They are cultural.

Oh he meant the sexual essence. Nah. no difference. Both sexes want to know if they look stunning without their clothes, especially when they are young. They also resist control and limits, though women soon learn to accept them out of necessity. They we have the opportunity to unlearn that acceptance. Our souls have male and female essence combined in them because they are the eternal us. Our real journey to oneness is a balanced walk of the many genders humans express.

Deida did say those statements were a person's starting points and that we all seek to evolve into oneness. Not very much consolation there for me. If a woman does not find her purpose in life, stretch her wings in pure freedom to be who she is, she isn't likely to seek oneness as an equal. As a friend of mine said when we began writing our community's book on Sacred Sex, when the two become one, which one? The male. that's why women give up their names more times than not. They also take on a different identity--his.

That identity and naming issue is more complicated than I can address here. You might want to check out what I wrote in Identity and the Quartered Circle.  This blog is a rant about feminism, not identity. On to point 2.

Going along in the car, my partner had a country station on the radio. Because he was on the way to the doctor and in a lot of pain, I acquiesced. The rhythms and harmonies aren't so bad if you can get passed the fake southern accents.  And the lyrics. I lost count of how many guys were singing songs to women leaving them in order to score one last lay. What part about "I never want to see you again" means "Let's go to bed?" What are they thinking? That they are so skilled in the sack the women will readily see the error of their ways and stay put? Or maybe they intend to prick a hole in the condom and get her pregnant? The songs sound so poignant and sweet. He wants something to remember me by! Just be sure he doesn't take pictures. My teeth were on edge.

Then I heard a series of  radio the ads for some skin cleansing program by Danica Patrick, race car driver . The script trivialized this powerful woman as she pretended the mechanics were talking to her about her skin instead of her car.  She came across like a female ditz that somehow happened to fall into a lucky opportunity to race fast cars. I am sure she was well paid to sound like an idiot. I hope she understood what the boys were doing.  She is pretty smart. She probably decided to laugh all the way to the bank.  On the other hand, those commercials reinforce the stereotypes about women not being competitive because...well why? Oh because women begin their journey by focusing on their beauty. Do the ad gurus on country stations read Deida? I doubt that. This stereotype is so ingrained in our culture, we get stuck with it all the way from red necks to tantic gurus who ought to know better.

End of rant. Except to say, when I commented on the Patrick ad to Eric, he didn't see it as demeaning. Maybe he was in too much pain to pay attention. Ya think?




 

Free e-book Cawing Crows and Baying Hounds

Pagan Writer's Press is having contests to give away 3 free copies of each title in the For the Love of the Gods series. That includes my novella Cawing Crows and Baying Hounds.  As you may know, this story is snipped from an as yet to be published novel, so get the short and encourage the long!  It is a hot sexy tale that tangles the Gods in the sheets along with the young lovers. There is mystery and history, and a woman saves the day!  Something for everyone.