Article

by Claire du Nord

The World in Pastels

Have you ever noticed how brooms look like over-grown paintbrushes? Or how, at this time of year, the world seems to be awash with pastel colors? Welcome back, Broom Closet Witches, to the eighth article in our “For Broom Closet Witches” column. Claire du Nord here, a High Priestess in the Temple of Witchcraft tradition. As the Wheel of the Year turns to the Ostara season, and spring flowers are in bloom, pastel colors can be appropriate choices for a witch’s Altar, even for a Broom Closet Witch!

I love Color and Sound Magick, probably because I come from a family of artists and musicians. My grandfather, the Norwegian, (mentioned in Article #6), studied music in Leipzig, Germany and was a music teacher and orchestra leader. His children, (my mother being one of four), all played the violin. Seven years of piano lessons for me was a “typical” part of a young person’s upbringing in my family, if the interest was there. So, it is not so surprising that one of my cousins was the lead vocalist in a rock band.

As an adult, my own mother was first violin in an orchestra and played the piano, as well. She was also an artist. Her oil paintings hung in art galleries and were featured in art shows and newspapers. Our living room was pretty much an art gallery – every inch of the walls was covered with her paintings. During the few times I was allowed to watch my mother paint in my growing up years, (when I wasn’t playing outside at her insistence), I loved to watch her mixing her palette. She never spoke while she was painting, and I was in awe and amazed at how she would use a special tool, called a palette knife, to achieve just the right colors by mixing and scraping this color with that color, filling her palette with small, individual blobs of colors.

Even though I have moved over 25 times in my life, I still have the book I received for my second birthday, The Color Kittens: A Child’s First Book about Colors, by Margaret Wise Brown. This book explained to me, in simple words and beautiful pictures, what my mother didn’t explain as she was painting. From this book I learned about the Color Wheel, Primary Colors, Secondary Colors, as well as Pastels.

My favorite part of any hardware store is the paint section, especially the display where you can pick up paint color cards for free. I have a collection of them, and any time I am at a hardware store, I always spend time looking over the cards, choosing some to add to my collection, (even if I’m not planning any painting projects)!

Okay, back to Ostara. It is common practice to surround newborn babies with pastel colors – layettes and nurseries in pastels – just as the stores seem to fill to the brim with pastel baskets of toy eggs, chicks and baby rabbits in nests of pastel-colored imitation grass – at Ostara time. No wonder, as during Ostara, a celebration of rebirth and new life – “gentle”, “soft”, pastel colors are appropriate for new and gentle eyes, hearts, spirits and sensibilities – not “well-worn”, “wise to the ways of the world”, and “rough around the edges” colors.

But what is it about a pastel color scheme that seems “right” for a newborn’s tender eyes, heart, senses, spirit, and sensibilities, and indeed, those of adults, as well? There is a branch of psychology called “Color Psychology” that I find fascinating. It is all about how color affects the human mind and behavior. Pastel colors are said to bring about a sense of peace and calm, in addition to uplifting one’s mood. For those who may not know, there are such things as Sound Therapy, Chromotherapy (Color Therapy), Music Therapy and Art Therapy. Color and sound can also be linked for some people – (Chromesthesia). These are all outside the scope of this article, but mentioned for further research, if interested.

I hope this article has been helpful, and until next time –
Merry Meet, Merry Part, and Merry Meet again!

Ostara Blessings,
Claire du Nord

Caring for the Animals and Their Human Companions

Many of us throughout the Temple of Witchcraft community have special animals in our lives. Our cats and dogs seem to be the most common, but also birds, snakes, turtles, lizards, spiders, and I’m sure a few fish. Many of us know at least one person with horses, cows, pigs, sheep, goats, or chickens.

We are also caring individuals, who believe in sending healing energies to other people and sometimes to the animals.

One of the responsibilities of the Taurus Ministry is: “Providing support to animals both domesticated and wild, for healing and protection.”

As part of this, there is now a web form that people, especially members of the Temple of Witchcraft, can fill out to request help for healing for their animals. Anyone in the Temple of Witchcraft can visit the Request for Animal Healing Form and fill it out with the name of the animal, name of the human companions, type of animal, the location of the animal, if the request is for healing or crossing over services, and finally if you want us to contact you and to include the human companion in the healing.

The results of the form would then go to the volunteer in the Taurus Ministry responsible for coordinating healing for animals. That volunteer sends healing requests to other volunteers in the Temple who are trained in sending healing to animals and handles crossing over services for animals themselves until volunteers are trained to provide that support.

Volunteers interested in offering healing for animals can look for the class “Distance Healing for Animals” that will be offered periodically for Temple Initiates who have completed Witchcraft 1 or who are enrolled in Witchcraft 1 and have completed Lesson 6. The Distance Healing for Animals class is being offered for the first time in March of 2023. You can register here for the March 21st class.

Those with questions can contact the Taurus Lead Minister at [email protected] or the Deputy Minister who attends to the Animal Healing Ministry, Jason Nadeau, at [email protected].

Jason Nadeau is a Deputy Minister for the Taurus Ministry and is currently a student in Witchcraft 5. He is also a Massage Therapist, Reiki Master/Teacher, Integrated Energy Therapy Master Instructor, Bodyworker, and Spirit Worker in New Hampshire. In his free time he enjoys time in nature however and wherever he can find it, often walking the beaches or hiking in the forests and sometimes the mountains. He can be reached at [email protected].

We are in the beginning of a new season, on many levels. No matter who you are and what you are working with you can probably feel that things are changing and that new chapters in your life are starting to take shape. This is also related to the fact that 2023 in Numerology is year number 43/7 (see the previous article). It´s like we are shifting gears on a collective plane. Pluto (transformation, the underworld) is just about to change sign and move from Capricorn into the sign of Aquarius and Saturn (manifestation, karma, limitation, time) is just about to move from Aquarius into the sign of Pisces. Today, we are not going to look at these collective planets, instead we will look at something more personal and closer to home that needs our attention and that is Chiron.

Chiron and Personal Wounds

Chiron is many times called “the wounded healer”. In the astrological chart it shows a place where we are wounded and in search of healing. In mythology Chiron is a Centaur, a wise teacher and mentor to many of the children of the Olympian gods. Unfortunately, he becomes wounded by his own poison by accident and because his poison is so special there is no medicine or healing that can completely heal him. This is his dilemma. But, in his search for healing the impossible wound, be becomes even more wise and knowledgeable. What does that mean to us? Well, Chiron’s placement and aspects show a wound that is impossible to heal completely, but by trying we can, like Chiron, become wiser, more humble, and perhaps even a teacher for others in that particular area.

As you may already have suspected, Chiron is often very strong in the astrological charts of healers, doctors, surgeons, witches, alchemists, and shamans. Many times it shows why and how a person ends up on the healer’s path or on the path of service. Knowing and understanding your Chiron can help to avoid a lot of confusion in your role as a teacher, healer, or therapist, and it can also help you to navigate your personal relationships.

A Very Active Chiron

Right now Chiron is very active in the sky. It is at 14 degrees in Aries right next to Venus at 17 degrees, Jupiter at 13 and Vesta at 11 degrees. That means we are all working through some deep healing on both a personal and a collective level.

Venus/Chiron is about emotional wounding, especially connected to the women in our lives, both past and present. It may be that old things in the cupboard come out regarding the women in your ancestral line. It can also be that you don´t feel beautiful enough or worthy of love. You may fear both commitment and rejection at the same time and perhaps can´t figure out where it comes from. The good thing is this is a really good time for healing the feminine, both on the inside and on the outside. Doing ceremonies for the sacred feminine, working with the goddess, can be very helpful for healing these wounds personally and collectively.

On a collective level issues regarding women and women’s rights will intensify. Especially connected to women’s rights to their own body and their sexuality (Venus). Don´t be surprised if you dream about a specific goddess or are called to do specific healing work connected to the goddess and the feminine.

Venus and Chiron started their journey together on the 24th of February and will travel next to each other until the 10th of March.

Chiron and Vesta is extra strong for magickal people and those doing service for others. With this transit you may feel like no matter what you do, it is not enough. The priest and priestess within you may feel drained, exhausted, and in need of rest. You may even start to question if your chosen path is the right one for you. The good news is there is help at hand. Connect with the spirits, deities, totems, and ancestors that are close to you. Ask for their help. Take time to recharge and, most importantly, be open to receive their help. By calling on this deeper connection with the spirit world you may be given gifts that you otherwise would miss. Before you know it, you will be back on track again.

Chiron and Vesta will travel together from the 18th of February until the 30th of March.

Chiron and Jupiter is less personal, but can become a big thing. Jupiter expands everything that it comes in contact with. Right now it is between Vesta (service, priest/ess ) and Chiron (wound) and not far away from Venus (love, relationships). This means that both the divine connection and the wound will expand. The question is how you will use this extra power and flow of energy? Will it be guided by your wisdom or will it be guided by your unresolved issues?

It is also happening in the sign of Aries (fire, motivation, restlessness, anger). It is wise to not make problems and obstacles bigger than they are, and yet there are things that needs to be solved.

For example, don´t call down “the wrath of heaven” (Jupiter/heaven) on your children’s teacher, it might just have been a very sad misunderstanding in the classroom. Perhaps a meeting at the headmaster’s office is enough? Don´t break up with your best friend over something that other people say that he or she said. It might not be true, or only half the truth. Perhaps a heart-to-heart conversation will solve the issue?

Aries is known for the attitude of “Shoot first, ask questions later” and that can create some very sad situations. Because Chiron is involved we may ask ourselves some important things:

• Why am I reacting so strongly in this situation? Is there any logical reason behind it?
• Is my reaction connected to my own wounding? If I had a bad experience in school it is easy for me to believe that the same thing is happening to my child, but this is not necessarily the case.
• If I feel rejected or alone, is this true? Have I asked for help? Am I open to receive the help that could be given to me?
• Are these things happening to me a part of my healing journey?
• Am I ready to leave or change an unhealthy situation and how would that effect my healing process?

Chiron and Jupiter will travel together from 15th of January until the 20th of April.

This healing theme will increase as Vesta, Jupiter, and Chiron all meet up at 14 degrees in Aries on the 12th of March. For me as a numerologist the degree and number 14 is important. The shadow side of number 14 is being hard, discriminating, and judging others. The light side of 14 is being able to channel higher knowledge and wisdom. For that to happen the number 14 needs to learn to become a vessel for divine energy, without judging. The number 14 relates to the Tarot card Alchemy or Temperance. People born with the number 14 have the potential to radically change and transform during their incarnation.

During this transit I recommend breathing and calming down before taking any impulsive actions or decisions. By the 12th of March, Venus has moved on to 24 degrees in Aries, but is close to Juno (relationships) at 0 degrees in Taurus. That will create tensions in our close relationships. A lot of that tension will be released around the 21st of March as Venus and Juno pass over the north node at 4 degrees in Taurus.

Aries as the Optimist

Now we have been talking about Aries as being impulsive, angry, and restless. But there is another side to him as well. Aries is very optimistic, brave, and inspiring. Where others see problems, Aries sees possibilities. When others worries about what might happen far in the future, Aries has the magickal ability to just deal with what is right in front of him. He takes one battle and one day at a time. Sometimes that is the best way to go, because if we worry about everything all the time, we get nothing done. Right now we have Vesta, Jupiter, Chiron, Venus, and Juno in Aires. That creates optimism and hope.

Other dates to consider:

Saturn goes into the sign of Pisces on the 8th of March and will stay there until May 2025
Pluto goes into the sign of Aquarius on the 23th of March.
Pluto goes back to Capricorn again on the 11th of June
Pluto goes back into Aquarius on the 21 st of January 2024
Pluto is back in Capricorn from the 2nd of September 2024
Pluto goes into Aquarius on the 19th of November 2024 and stays there until 2043, 2044
(I will write more about Saturn and Pluto in upcoming blogs.)

Summary

Change is here and everyone can feel that in one way or another. Saturn and Pluto are changing signs. How and what we manifest (Saturn) will be different and so will how and what we transform (Pluto).

Right here and right now (Aries) we are dealing with some intensive healing with Chiron. It is wise to think twice before doing anything in the heat of the moment. Give yourself and your loved ones time to think, feel, and digest before deciding important things. Try not to be guided by anger, impulse, revenge or unresolved wounds.

On the other hand, if you have been dragging and prolonging the decision-making for a very long time, then this push from Aries may be exactly what you need to move on. As I mentioned before, Aries is known for his optimistic attitude towards life. So why not raise the sails and catch the wind of new beginnings? Who knows in what exiting adventure you will end up? After all Lady Fortuna favours the brave.

Blessed Be!
Karin Spirit Talker Turtle Red

Recommended Reading

Chiron, Rainbow Bridge Between the Inner and Outer Planets by Barbara Hand Clow, Llewellyn, 1999
Chiron and the Healing Journey by Melanie Reinhart, Starwalker Press, 2010
Saturn, Chiron and the Centaurs, to the edge and beyond, by Melanie Reinhart, Starwalker Press 2011

Karin Ugander (Spirit Talker Turtle Red) is a spiritual channeler living in the south of Sweden. In Scandinavia she is known for the AstroNumerology and psychic readings she’s been doing for over 20 years. Together with her husband Niklas, she runs KaniSkolan, a school of astrology, numerology, tarot, StarCode Healing, and natural medicine. They are also the founders of Alven Inner Ring tradition, a Scandinavian mystery school with roots in shamanism and magick. Karin loves to create magickal oils, flower essences and sigils she combines in her “Karin Victoria” sigil candles and flower sprays. In her spare time she likes to travel, walk in the forest with her dog, and spend time by the ocean. Karin is an ordained high priestess and graduate of the Temple of Witchcraft’s seminary program. Her work can be found on Instagram @flowerpowerwitch and @karinuganderofficial and she can be reached at [email protected].

Photo by Adrian RA via Pexels

by Christopher Penczak, Edited by Tina Whittle

One of the great mysteries as I learned magick is the union of opposites and the resolution of paradox. This alchemy must occur within the practitioner of magick, and they become a living talisman for the world. The philosopher’s stone of the alchemist could be a stone, a powder, an elixir, but it was really the alchemist, as the effect of their inner work emanated out into the world and the world reverberated back into them. Witches, magicians, Druids, and sorcerers do the same, but our symbols for the process are less concrete than the philosopher’s stone.

What is paradox? Usually it’s a statement, or two points of seeming fact, that are contradictory. They cannot both be true at the same time. Together they are senseless or unacceptable to our logical mind due to their contradiction. Yet when explored, they have a deep truth that can make total sense to the one who has explored the paradox. Those who have not can easily dismiss it as nonsense, missing the mystery.

In Witchcraft we have these paradoxical mysteries all the time. Heading into the Age of Aquarius we have new twists to explore in these traditional mysteries. Orthodox religions mostly abhor the mysteries because they are difficult. This exploration weakens dependence upon orthodoxy. Mystics in those same religions embrace them, but they are not actively encouraged. One of the keys to the future of Witchcraft, Paganism, and the magickal traditions will be to embrace paradox over and over again as we grow community, to avoid the dogmas that reject the mysteries. One of the keys of the Craft is that we are a mystery religion at heart.

One of the primary paradoxes is the concept that we are all separate, yet we are all one. This is a basic core metaphysical principle, be it the Hermetic concept of being one within the Divine Mind or the non-dual reality of the Buddhist. Everything is everything else, on every level. We are all part of the same system, the same body in different scales, yet we don’t have a conscious awareness of this. Our reality is often separation, pain, confusion, and disconnection. So how can this oneness be true and not wishful thinking? Well, we do have peak experiences that reveal this oneness, but they usually don’t last. We become hopeful that experience might be the true reality and then seek to repeat things that generate that sense of oneness. The truth is we are all alone and we are all one simultaneously. Both are true. Neither is absolute.

An Aquarian Age paradox, a mystery we are still unfolding, is the deep urge to be our unique selves. We are all individuals with individual identities and the need to express it. We are called in this time to be unorthodox and radical. Yet we are facing a strong social consciousness drive. We must take care of community, society, and the world, though we all define community/society/world differently and we all define care differently. We struggle with the idea that everyone must be their unique self, and our way is not the way. We struggle with who or what is included in our vision of community. The answer is that only by embodying our unique self can we contribute what we have to contribute to the greater good of society. And that goes for everyone else. We all must have that freedom and support. The old astrological ruler of Aquarius is Saturn, boundaries and rules. The new one is Uranus, rebellion and exploration. Both apply to the Age of Aquarius, but how can they? It’s paradoxical.

This gets us into the alchemy of society at large and the alchemy of the magickal communities specifically. We are moving in a time of paradox as opposition is a stage of paradox. Two things need to seemingly oppose first before resolving in a Gnostic understanding of the mystery. We live in constant social, political, and religious opposition.

By no means do I think both sides as they are today in the United States, and really the world, are equally valid. I am a queer polyamorous Witch and a liberal democratic socialist at heart. I believe everyone can be themselves, and we have a duty to come together to make a better world for everyone. I want the least amount of harm, even in our transitions, and the most amount of good, balancing the whole and the individual. But that doesn’t come with an easy label, as we all have our individual nuances.

Yet the roots of our oppositions, in both society and magick, are rooted in much the same issues for the Aquarian Age—the past and future. Obvious to some and hidden from others, this is always the struggle. And both are illusionary.

One seeks to turn back to an idyllic time of the past where everything was “good” and made sense. This is a level of Romanticism for a past that wasn’t that romantic when it was happening.

One seeks a bright future where all our problems will be cleanly and clearly solved, and we shall have paradise. Has that ever happened? No. The future is always the future. Our current miracles today, the ones that those in the past would consider solutions, have resulted in new and different problems, and the technological savvy has not been matched by the collective wisdom to resolve them.

Which side are you on? Which side are “your” people? You might be surprised. Many will read this and assume those wanting to go back to a past are regressive, the conservative forces of the far right. Yet much of Witchcraft is inspired by a pre-Industrial Revolution, pre-Enlightenment romance of village life, or a vision of a Stone Age paradise. Industry and the emphasis of reason alone have led to an artificial way of life filled with artificial things and the machinery of capitalism to sell those things to you. Those seeking the ideals of the past are seeking the mysticism and magick of the world before reason became the dominant lens. Exploring the set and the culture of the old and indigenous ways and returning to such things is often a transgression against mainstream society and values. The deep roots of the faux Viking and the Eco-villager are close to each other, and often results in similar behaviors justified by their own sense of righteousness.

The futurists can be the cold science, “let’s abandon earth and colonize Mars!” techie or the sci-fi futurists dreaming of a cross between Star Trek’s United Federation of Planets and an Ursula K. Le Guin novel. Often discussions of the future are reframed in the choice of utopian Star Trek versus various future dystopias like the ones in Bladerunner, Mad Max, or The Terminator.

Remember while the aliens of Star Trek didn’t “save” us, in that narrative we have a World War Three and a eugenics war before achieving a warp engine that attracts Mr. Spock’s people, the Vulcans, setting in motion what would become the Star Trek universe recognized on television. Many New Age paradigms promise the savior—in most cases an interstellar or inter-dimensional visitor—but do not think about what happens if such future aid never comes. This has been a big part of the Christian paradigms that await the Rapture and have been the worst aspects of the New Age paradigms.

Whether you think science and industry will save us or a universal space brotherhood, you are also missing the paradox. Those longing for the past are both right and wrong. There is a problem with the dominance of logic, artificially, industry, and a loss of a magickal worldview. We allowed a lot of unwanted consequences to ripple out. Yet there is a problem with too little logic, the struggle for sustenance, hardships of travel, and the lack of information. Otherwise we wouldn’t have started the struggle to move from hunters and gatherers to living in villages and so on.

So we have a struggle with the past and future romance. They are one polarity that needs union, because neither of these visions hold the whole truth. We need both Saturn and Uranus.

We also have the polarity between those romanticizing the past and the future as the way we should go and grow. Here is the polarity of the past with the blood and soil ideology opposed by the matriarchal eco-utopia vision. In the polarity of the future, we have the space multiculturalism of Star Trek and the robot-ruled future and cybernetic implants of the tech giants.

While my sympathies are found with the eco-villagers and the federation of Star Trek, it is both fascinating and heartbreaking to observe those at the ends of polarities, of oppositions, take on the qualities, often both bad and good, of their oppositions over time, yet this is a part of the resolution and union of opposites. Finding yourself in “other” and “other” in yourself is the mystery of paradox. The key is to see it and find resolution before you do harm. And in the prevention of harm from the other side, to do so in a way that doesn’t make you embody the very thing you are fighting, which is often the case in our tactics if not our ethos. By our ethos, we feel justified, but that justification is the start of every well-intentioned horror. I often think of the Philip K. Dick quote:

“To fight the Empire is to be infected by its derangement. This is a paradox; whoever defeats a segment of the Empire becomes the Empire; it proliferates like a virus, imposing its form on its enemies. Thereby it becomes its enemies.”

I see that attitude in a lot of our current “anti” stances from the perspective of magickal consciousness. Dismantle things, yes! Build new and better things, of course we should. But when we are firmly rooted in the identity of anti-anything, it’s like the opposing poles. Rather than a union of opposites, when we are unconscious about it, we are like matter and antimatter coming together to create a mutually destructive explosion, not a philosopher’s stone. When you fight against something, you equate with it and put it on equal footing to yourself, your magick, your ideas. When operating as an agent of change, our strength is stepping either way outside of the scene or deeply inside of it. From there we can deconstruct and repurpose what we dismantle towards worthwhile endeavors. We can reweave. Otherwise we tend to strengthen and elevate the very things we seek to diminish. Sometimes we are motivated by ego. We want to win, and we want others to lose when they oppose us rather than think about the end result and how everyone factors into it. The people who disagree will not simply go away, and so far, opposition hasn’t changed anyone’s minds easily, so how do we redirect? How do we dismantle and build simultaneously, so the benefit can become obvious to enough people?

I also think of the Taoist proverb of the farmer whose experiences are characterized as good luck or bad luck by his neighbors, but at each he says, “Good luck, bad luck, who knows?” Lost a horse. Gained it back with two more. Horse breaks son’s leg. Son is passed over for military draft due to injury. Often actions and events that seem horrible might be the necessary domino for something else to happen. Something bad leads to something good and vice versa. This is not to urge us to do nothing as citizens or magicians, but to instead be clearly aligned with our True Will and feel our actions and motivations are clear, not unclear by being purely reactionary. Every action can lead to good and bad luck—who knows?—but we must be participating consciously, not unconsciously, in the process.

When we as magicians, as Witches, summon a furious magickal intent towards something, how do we know that perhaps the bad luck harm happening now doesn’t catalyze greater good? Ideally we do a divination to see if we should act. Or we deeply meditate and reflect, asking “What is my part in this?” But today, most act first, even magically, before considering any of this and the forces we set into motion are real, but sometimes we don’t approach that with the full knowledge of the reality or a clear intention of our desired final result.

If Witches are healers, we need to realize a lot of the ups and downs are potential results of the greater healing work of society, the healing crisis we have learned to recognize in individuals. The same process happens in groups and society. You don’t ignore it. You still address the crisis and do all you can to offer aid, but you have a different context when you realize the next great surprise, shock, and harm is part of a greater context, even when it’s your own crisis. It can unfold like the bad luck/good luck of the farmer, given a different time frame. Again, you do all that you can to minimize harm and help those in need, but healing takes on a different context than opposition. Sometimes opposition is necessary to stop something. Some wounds need a tourniquet, but a tourniquet is not the answer to all wounds.

While this looms large on every level of our lives, as Witches, I think the real trick is finding a vision of our Magick, our traditions, and our community rooted in the Magick of the past, but embracing a new future. We can’t abandon our shared and individual pasts, or we become unrooted from our reality. That happens in a lot of New Age paradigms. But we can’t seek to simply recreate the past or go back to a time that never was. We see that in the romanticism of the past, from strict reconstructionist polytheists on one side to the supremacist Neo-Nazis on the other. I love ancient motherland myths and secret histories, but only as a springboard to what is possible, an inspiration of magical possibility and meaning, not a reversal of what is. If we lose either side, we unbalance what comes next.

In the work of the Witch as I’ve learned it, the Great Rite is the ritual to resolve paradoxes and find reunion. Many people dislike it for its seeming overt heteronormative symbolism, but I guess even as gay man, I was never bothered by it because it was always taught to be as a cosmic union, not a purely physical-sexual one. I learned it first “in token” and solitary, so I had simultaneously both the role of High Priestess and High Priest when it was divided. That spoke to my queer soul. And when in a group, I was encouraged to explore with polarities outside of the gender norms, so I never felt something was being forced upon me, but I was celebrating an ancient mystery and had the opportunity to participate in something that had an ancient essence to its magick.

The union of the blade and chalice or the wand and the chalice (or the stone in the cup or the sword in the stone for that matter) is one of creation, and cosmos. It is the union of primal forces to create the world according to our magickal will in the microcosm of the sacred space, and then project that intention to become a part of the greater macrocosm of creation. We make the change internally through ritual to experience the change in the world. As a part of that magick, we are required to resolve the seeming contradictions, the illogical oppositions that can be held in our consciousness, but become a divine truth and wisdom when we can see them not as nonsense, but as the true nature of reality. And through that understanding of reality, we truly participate in the world on all levels.

As the sword is to the grail,
The blade is to the chalice.
As the heavens are to the Earth,
The stars are to the night.
As the serpent is to the cave
and the waters are to the well,
As the hammer is to the anvil
And the key is to the lock,
Truth is to love.
Let us drink in the power and blessings of the gods conjoined,
And let all paradox be resolved,
For there is no part of me that is not of the gods.
So mote it be.

The numerology year for 2023 is 7. Not only that, it is 43/7 a number connected to the 3 of Cups: friendships, joy, and cooperation. But as always there are some challenges in there as well. So let´s take a closer look and see how we can best navigate forward with the help of the numbers.

7 – The Intuitive Activator

First of all, how do we get to number 7? We get there by adding 2+0+2+3 = 7. To get more information and a higher number we can also add 20 + 23 = 43, 4+3=7. I call number 7 the intuitive activator.

Someone born with number 7 is always active and loves to start new things. It is someone with many ideas and very good intuition. One of the challenges with having this number is that the number 7 person often forgets to tell the people around them what´s happening on the inside. They think and analyze for a long time in silence and when they are ready, they tell the world. And the news can many times come as a surprise! It can be a sudden proposal with the number 7 person declaring their love by saying: I love you, will you marry me? And the target of their love may not have gotten the signal of deep commitment at all. Or, it can be a sudden declaration of separation: I want a divorce, I´m moving out today!

One of the big lessons for people born with number 7 is to let other people into their inner world. To share their feelings, thoughts and their process. Otherwise it can end up with a situation when their surroundings, partners and family wonders: How did you, me, and us get to this point?

If the number 7 person had shared their growing love the marriage proposal could have been an absolute “Yes!” with no further questions. Or, if they had shared their unhappiness with certain things or situations it would not have had to come to a separation.

On a collective plane it is important this year to share our inner world with the people closest to us. Share your feelings, your thoughts, and allow your loved ones to be a part of the process.

I strongly recommend the same thing to my students taking longer classes. If possible, share your personal journey with your family, especially with your partner. If not, there´s a danger that you wake up one day very far apart from each other.

You may quickly have done the journey from burning some incense at home now and then to doing a full ceremony with new people in your garden. If your partner is let in on the hows and whys and how much joy it brings you and is perhaps invited to be a part of the ceremony, it is so much easier to understand each other. 2023 is a year when many people will make huge changes both in consciousness and their physical and practical lives.

One of the challenges of number 7 being an intuitive activator are the occasions when the ideas are not so bright when put into action. In theory it may seem brilliant, but in practice it may not turn out so good. All teachers, magickal or otherwise will have their fair share of wild students trying new unimaginable things this year. But, in their defense, new things will also be discovered.

The Problem Solver

Number 7 is an excellent problem solver and innovator. It uses intuition to get access to things hidden to others. It is very clever and intelligent. The challenge with this is that the 7 person believes no one else can help them with their problems. The number 7 person often gives counsel but rarely seeks it for themselves. If I have a client with this number, this is the first thing that I tell them: You are not used to this situation, because usually you are the one giving support and council. I´m not going to tell you what to do. I am going to share some information with you, and then you decide what to do with it.

People born with number 7 hate when people are telling them what to do.

This year we personally and globally can find new solutions and inventions. But we may have a challenge in receiving help and assistance. It is a danger in believing that we have all the answers ourselves. We may need to swallow our pride and ask for help and perhaps find out that it wasn’t so hard or bad after all?

Headaches and Depression

Because there is so much going on inside the number 7 person and that they have so many things to figure out, it can create a lot of inner pressure that can manifest as headaches or even depression. On the brighter side, people with a strong number 7 have a natural connection to water. Drinking water and spending time by water often helps them to restore balance and harmony. They often have strong reactions to pharmaceutical medicine, but usually have greats results with natural medicine and homeopathy.

On a global plane, issues about water will come up in all ways and levels: how to get fresh water, floods, lack of water. Spending time with water will be helpful for us all in connecting to the spiritual powers of water. Letting things flush through. Water is very much connected to empathy and intuition. People prone to overthinking need to guard themselves, also people with a tendency to withdraw and isolate themselves. Get out there, give people around you a chance to understand you.

If the ingoing energy goes too far, number 7 can become domineering towards others and even become something like a little tyrant, manipulating others with their mood. Often the silent treatment with outbursts of anger. (see the Tarot card Chariot further down)

People born on the days: 7, 16 (1+6), and 25 (2+5) have a strong connection to the number 7. Also if you are born in July, or if the numbers of your birth year + month +date = ends up with 7 when you have added them all as far as you can (34, 43, 52, 61, 70).

People Leaving and New Ones Moving In

As a number 7 is part of the soul cycle of 1–7. It is the last number and at the end. This leads to changes in soul groups. The people who have shared a soul connected journey together are now beginning to find other directions. It may be families living on the same street having many things in common and a lively social life in the neighbourhood. Suddenly one family are expecting twins and needs a much bigger house. Someone else is having a divorce, another couple are selling because the last kid is moving out, and in a rather small window of time many things change and people move on.

When we are in the middle of a soul group, whether it is at work or private, we seldom reflect over the change of time. It is easy to believe things will be like this forever and the people around us will always stay. But life is seldom like that. Life moves in cycles and things change. Now, on a collective plane we are in that kind of wave of change with number 7.

Was this How It was Supposed to be?

Because 7 is the last number in the soul cycle it also has a kind of conclusion in it. How things end up. If you imagine the soul cycle like a web of threads being woven from 1–6, you can perhaps imagine how the final carpet will be in year 5 or 6, but it is still rather unclear.

In the year 7 the final part is done and you end up with the carpet finished. Depending on the final result you can end up by saying: Aaah! This was how it was supposed to be! (happy, cheering) or it could be more like: Ah! Was this … really how it was supposed to be?? (confused, unhappy). If you are unhappy with the results, learn from your previous mistakes and make the necessary changes in the next soul cycle. You may also feel a lot of appreciation towards your ancestors, guides, and allies at the end of the soul cycle. Perhaps you at this point understand how much they have helped you and steered you away from trouble? How some things were not meant to be in order for you ending up at this place today?

Number 7 and the Chariot in Tarot

Number 7 in Tarot is the card of the Chariot. In the picture we often se a person sitting in a chariot ready to move and begin on a journey. He is ready and prepared, he also knows that when he begins to move forward he will leave many things behind him. This is a card that oftens indicates a move, new job, advancement, adventure, and success. The card is connected to the astrological sign of Cancer, so once again the theme of soul-searching is there. In the highest sense it is connected to manifesting your higher will on the earth plane and moving together with it forward in life. The shadow side is if the Chariot becomes a warrior machine taking over other people’s wills and becoming a tyrant and a destroyer, not a good influence considering the tense situation in the world.

Number 43 and the 3 of Cups

If we add the higher numbers of 2023 we add up with 43. (20+23=43/7) In Tarot that is the 3 of Cups. In the card we usually see three women celebrating together, each carrying their own cup. This is a card of friendship, sharing, and celebration. What we learn from this is the power of friendship, allies, and working together. In difficult times, one should not underestimate the power of friendship making a difficult day easier. In good times one should not forget the joy of sharing happiness with someone who has a heart that can rejoice in other people’s happiness. A friend who can share both the ups and downs in life is a real treasure. Friendships will be a strong theme for all of us in 2023. The 3 of Cups is related to Mercury in the sign of Cancer.

Summary

As an established soul group loosens up, new ones are formed. Souls searching for each other on a higher plane will connect. People will leave your life and new ones will enter. Some you will meet again in this lifetime, others perhaps in another life, or not at all.

2023 is a good year for covens, mystery schools, magickal orders, witches, and healers in general to open up and prepare for new students and new members. It is said in the School of Pythagoras anyone born with the number 7 had a place in the school without taking the tests to pass. I don´t know if that is true, but number 7 holds a lot of wisdom and access to the mysteries. With the number 43/7 it indicates once again the importance for new blood, and new friendships to stir the magick in the cauldron in a good and refreshing way. Flow, change, new blood and movement is the key for 2023.

Blessed Be!
Karin Spirit Talker Turtle Red

Sources:
The Crowley Tarot, by Akron Hajo Banzhaf
Tarot Wisdom, by Rachel Pollack

Karin Ugander (Spirit Talker Turtle Red) is a spiritual channeler living in the south of Sweden. In Scandinavia she is known for the AstroNumerology and psychic readings she’s been doing for over 20 years. Together with her husband Niklas, she runs KaniSkolan, a school of astrology, numerology, tarot, StarCode Healing, and natural medicine. They are also the founders of Alven Inner Ring tradition, a Scandinavian mystery school with roots in shamanism and magick. Karin loves to create magickal oils, flower essences and sigils she combines in her “Karin Victoria” sigil candles and flower sprays. In her spare time she likes to travel, walk in the forest with her dog, and spend time by the ocean. Karin is an ordained high priestess and graduate of the Temple of Witchcraft’s seminary program. Her work can be found on Instagram @flowerpowerwitch and @karinuganderofficial and she can be reached at [email protected].

Photo by Christopher Penczak

by Christopher Penczak, Edited by Tina Whittle

Who Speaks for the Gods? No one. End of story. My shortest article yet! Though this is not entirely true.

I have been to amazing oracular rituals where priestesses and priests who were overshadowed, invoked, or possessed by the gods and spirits have said some amazing things. I’ve been invoked and been told I gave helpful messages, though I have no memory of them. Are we speaking for the gods, or are the gods speaking through us? That is the mystery.

Anyone who has experienced this, be it in Witchcraft or ritual Magick or through channeling and spiritualism, knows that the vessel, the invoked, is like the lens through which the message passes, taking on qualities of the lens. It’s like a filter. Some of this is obvious. While sound, tone, rhythm, and inflection can change from their day-to-day speaking voice, it doesn’t always. And no matter the change, it is still passing through their voice box, framed by their tongue and lips. But this occurs in consciousness as well as biology. While there are greater and lesser degrees of the host “getting out of the way,” some portion of their mental and emotional body is there and can tint the process. Those who do this as a service learn to purify the body, mind, and heart before becoming a vessel for the gods and spirits. My good friend and fellow practitioner Chris Giroux often says, “You can pass the purest water through a dirty sieve and you get dirty water.” You have to be careful not just when offering yourself as a vessel, but the listeners have to be very careful as well. We have to be discerning. Just because one is speaking for the gods, one might not be speaking clearly for the gods.

Because when it works, one is not speaking for the gods at all—the gods are speaking through the invoked. It’s a big difference.

The problem comes when people do speak for the gods, often with the most noble intention to illustrate ideals and values that should be encouraged. Invoking the god’s name as your justification can reduce both the ideal and the god.

From the magickal perspective, the gods are mysteries. One can seek the minds of the gods, but not hope to know them entirely. They might be eternal, but their expressions change over time and place. They gain new titles and symbols. Some gods seem to absorb others or divide from themselves into multiple beings. Their stories are contradictory, filled with cruelty, kindness, and confusion. Their myths might be coding a historic event half remembered, deify an ancient ancestor, describe astrology, explain cosmology, teach a moral truth for that society, explain our inner psychic anatomy, give the origin for a ritual or festival, or hide a mystery teaching. We often don’t know which of these things are going on in a myth. So when we reference them in explaining a god’s will or desire for us, we can be very wrong. When someone else’s experience or interpretation differs, you are invalidating their living experience in favor of your own interpretation.

Any communication you get telling you otherwise is through your filter. It is best for you. When you apply it to others, we start to dangerously approach the territory of Christian moralists telling you to do or not do something because “God” said so, pointing to either a famously mistranslated book or what they feel is self-evident from what they believe about God.

This—along with proselytization and hard dogma—were the things I was always taught to avoid as a Witch, as a Pagan, and as a magician. These were the evils of monotheism, or at least institutional Christianity. As Paganism grows its temples, these are what must be avoided. We cannot tell another what their divine will and actions should be, beyond the basic levels of societal safety. In a secular society, institutional changes occur in secular channels. Our mythos of sacred sovereigns is to awaken those forces with each individual, our own interior kingdom, rather than impose rule on another.

Not that long ago, someone invoked Hecate’s name in a community conflict, arguing that I was not embodying the ideals of Hecate by not agreeing with them in how to go about something. I was not questioning the intention, but the motive and execution in terms of our teachings, in terms of fundamental occult paradigm. In essence, their argument was akin to WWHD, mirroring the famous WWJD (What Would Jesus Do?): What would Hecate do? Well, a viable option with all that we know about the many forms of Hecate is to poison you. Or curse you at the crossroads. Should I poison or curse those coming to me in disagreement and conflict? If we are following the example of Hecate and her ancient followers, it would be an option. But of course not. That is not a worthy notion here and now, in this context of community. These conflicts require no bodily harm to resolve. Perhaps the larger conflicts of life and death might, but Neopagan community conflict does not.

But the concept of WWHD isn’t appropriate for Witches. Hecate was never human and didn’t give commandments; she “only” inspired myths, stories, art, folklore, and perhaps techniques. The work of the Witch is to figure it out by exploring her mystery using those connections, not browbeat others into agreement. We find what she is for each of us when we seek her. She isn’t the template for everyone to follow, but one of many powers of the cosmos for us to know. Even if she were human, the point of our magick is that we cannot replicate the true will of another, but must find our own. There is no formula that fits everyone. In such cases, replace the divine chastisement of Hecate or any Pagan deity with “Our savior Jesus Christ ” and tell me if that suits you? That little switch often shows the problems to Pagans who have no problem invoking Pagan gods in their righteousness, but would abhor the same from a Christian god. No matter the god, it is essentially the same thing.

One can agree with your ideals, divine or not, and disagree with your execution and communication. I can think your ideas are poorly thought out, that they do not take into consideration the vast complexities involved in trying to change people, groups, or institutions. But if the Witch’s response is to invoke a goddess or any gods to get agreement through shame or fear, you have lost the Witchcraft and magick in this process. You are following a model of Christian righteousness that leads to some very bad places. Modern Paganism has enough problems without repatterning ourselves with the problems of Christianity just because they are familiar. Otherwise we are getting into pissing contests invoking our vision of the gods for all. It might be about justice, but it can easily be about ritual orthodoxy. If you accept it about one, then the other is not far away. That then leads to religious dogma and violations of dogma that become heresy. Then where are we?!? Yet we easily slip into, “Odin wants this!” “No, Odin wants that!” In reality Odin is a mysterious and crafty non-human being whose motives are complex and who often doesn’t care that much about humanity at all. He might care about specific humans and those that are useful to him. I wouldn’t hazard a guess to what he really wants, let alone use it in a conversation to tell another human what to do or not do. But he tends to be something cool people like to identify with to empower themselves, or justify themselves and poor behavior, and he’ll take the veneration and worship as most gods would in these tough times. And of course one must ask, which Odin? On what level? In what context?

We make the mistake of thinking our personal relationships with gods translate into something for the rest of society, or grants us special status in the world. The Morrighan has my back, so if you enter into a conflict with me, she will kick your ass. That is ridiculous. She is not a personal bodyguard, but a divine power we can engage with, and she doesn’t care who is calling me names. If a magickal line is crossed, wards and protection magick can activate, often involving the Morrighan as a power set in advance through our relationship, but those are spells and not personal and divine vendettas by a god. Our gods may help keep us on a path or grant us safety because we are working with them in a pattern, and they do not want that pattern disrupted, but they are mysteries, not best friends even when we feel a personal closeness. They are the paradox of being both the personal and transpersonal. They can appear human, but we can’t forget they are not.

Teachers of magick of the craft should help create the conditions where you as a seeker or student can speak with your gods, as well as your own soul. They should educate, yes, but never dictate or demand their interpretation of a divine will upon another practitioner. Learn the techniques to make communion. Learn the long and often convoluted context of the gods and tradition, but don’t accept a “sermon” as your truth. Someone’s experience and perspective are valid, but let those inspire your own. Don’t let them dictate your own experience and perspective under the guise of what the gods want from you. This becomes mystical delusion on the part of the teacher, mentor, or leader.

Invoke the gods in your rituals. Invoke the gods bodily for oracular rites. Call to them in meditations and divinations. But beware them creeping into your conversations, conflicts, projections, and justifications, as that might not be the full mystery of the god at all, but simply your opinion wearing the guise of a god. Speak with the gods, but don’t speak for the gods.

by Claire du Nord

Imbolc – Watching for Signs

Welcome back, Broom Closet Witches! I hope you all had a wonderful Yule and are once again ready to turn the Wheel! Claire du Nord here, a High Priestess in the Temple of Witchcraft tradition, with the seventh article in our “For Broom Closet Witches” series. As Winter turns to Spring, we watch for signs from Nature that it is time to celebrate the next Sabbat on the Wheel of the Year – Imbolc!

In our last article, a tray of holiday cookies led to the topic of researching one’s ancestry for the purposes of creating an ancestral altar and choosing a pantheon along ancestral lines. My own research into my family origins presented me with a bit of a conundrum. With so many varied homelands, how was I to choose which ancestry to focus on in my Witchcraft practice? And was it necessary to make a choice? Could I incorporate more than one, (or all of them), and “make it work”?

Thankfully, it didn’t take long for my questions to be answered. One day after a shower, I had set my white towel on the laundry hamper in the bathroom. As I was brushing my hair, a strand of hair fell onto the towel, (which in and of itself wouldn’t have been so unusual), but much to my surprise, when I chanced to look down at the towel, I saw that the hair had fallen onto the towel in the shape of a Triquetra!

I was so amazed that I had to take a picture of it! At that moment, I understood it to mean that I should focus on my Celtic ancestry for inspiration in my practice, which subsequently set in motion a brainstorm about what might be included in such a practice. Should I learn the languages of my Celtic ancestors? Should I learn to cook the foods my ancestors would have eaten? And on and on it went.

After my shower, I went to the kitchen to prepare something to eat. I can’t remember what it was that I was going to prepare, but it is my habit to use a rubber band to seal any bag of food that doesn’t have a built-in closure. I took the bag of “whatever it was” out of the fridge and untied the rubber band, letting the rubber band fall onto the counter in the process. To my complete surprise and amazement, like the strand of my hair, the rubber band also landed in a Triquetra shape!

“What in the world? Another one ?!”

That really was just way too much for one day! For the second time, I got out my camera and took a picture. By then, I was a bit “shaken up”, to say the least! I couldn’t understand how that could have happened twice in a row! Apparently, I needed more convincing and double confirmation to be completely convinced of the meaning of the “sign” . . . It was then that I zoomed in on the symbol itself – what it stood for. And another brainstorm began.

In retrospect, I suppose it was exactly what I needed to ensure that I will always remember to “look again” – at myself and at my Witchcraft practice – to always do a “double take”, even when I might be sure I have understood something. One thing is for sure – I will never forget this experience! As a matter of fact, to ensure that I never do, I found a silver pendant necklace online that has two Triquetras – a smaller one nestled inside a larger one – to remind me of the day that the two Triquetras appeared and to remind me that there can always be another perspective, another meaning – meanings within meanings – something that might not be entirely clear at first, even though it seems that all possibilities for understanding have been considered.

Thinking of them also reminds me that, for me, the takeaway lesson from Imbolc is to always be on the lookout for subtle, (and not so subtle), signs on the path of the Witch, as they can show up anywhere and everywhere. And as with Imbolc and the first signs of Spring, the signs could “pop up” in the most unlikely places – like flowers through the snow!

I hope this article has been helpful, and until next time –
Merry meet, Merry part, and Merry meet again!

Imbolc Blessings,
Claire du Nord

Photo by Greta Hoffman via Pexels

by Christopher Penczak, edited by Tina Whittle

In my previous article “Creeds, Beliefs and Faith” we explored declarations of faith and belief in the context of occult tradition and Witchcraft and how such ideas perhaps don’t apply to us as they do in many other religious paradigms. The flip side to faith or belief is work.

Of course we are framing things against a Christian theology, but that is the root of most who come to Witchcraft. I hate the comparisons myself, but I’ve found avoiding them can lead to further confusion because people make a lot of assumptions based on their past religious experiences and ideas. Sometimes the best way to inoculate our communities against harmful theologies and paradigms is to face them head on.

Faith and works are complex topics, taken in the Christian context of salvation. Witches don’t seek salvation, do we? I used to say in my younger Pagan days that Witches have no saviors, but I was actually wrong about that. We have saviors in the Greek gods such as Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, Apollo, Dionysus, Aesculapius, Athena, Artemis, Persephone, and Hecate. Soteira is a Greek epitaph used for many goddesses, as soter is for gods, denoting savior. They did not save you from Christian hell or offer heavenly salvation, but were called upon to cleanse and protect from evil and confer safety. Soter was used as an epitaph for Jesus of Nazareth as his worship spread to the Greek-speaking world.

But this is deliverance from harm, misfortune, or impurity, intercession in our life on our behalf. Is this the same as the Christian concept of grace? Not really. Not having eternal damnation or original sin, we are not seeking escape to heaven’s eternal bliss as the alternative to eternal suffering. Pagan salvation is not necessarily about the afterlife, at least not exclusively. Our mystery traditions teach us how to navigate the afterlife by providing a topography of the underworld, not by requiring us to rely on faith or intersession. Christian doctrine on salvation usually requires both faith and good works, though some only require faith or see good actions as the byproduct of faith. Behavior alone is not enough to get you into heaven, but bad behavior can keep you out of heaven.

So do Witches do good works?

It depends on the Witch.

And this is exactly as it should be, for no Witch should tell another what their will is, what they should and should not be doing.

Many Witches do good works. They see their true magickal will in service to the gods and the community. They focus on the interconnection and interrelated nature of all things and operate from a place of aiding others to create a harmonious world, or at least a more harmonious corner of it. Good works can be for people, for the environment, for animals, or for justice. I remember Laurie Cabot telling a story of encountering someone who didn’t believe Witchcraft was truly a religion because if it were, we would be funding hospitals like the Christians. “Where are our hospitals?” he asked. They could be coming, though we are still working on permanent physical gathering spaces that can outlast a single generation. I’d particularly like to see birthing centers and hospices run by Witches, finding new expressions of the magickal midwife and the keeper of the death vigil, in a way where we as practitioners could have support in offering holistic service and people in need could find us. This is true work of the priesthood of the Witch.

Some good works are paid work. Healing, readings, teaching, counseling, and ritualizing are all professions, and getting paid does not negate the good work for a Witch any more than a surgeon getting paid negates the life saved. The Witch has placed a boundary on the service they do. Some Witches take vows to never do this, and if you’ve taken a vow, then honor it, but if you haven’t, you are not bound by someone else’s vows. And many realize the vow is against initiation into a coven for money, not readings, healings, or general teaching.

Other Witches don’t believe in any form of public service, charity, or good works. It’s about them, their will, and their attainment. Believe it or not, despite the Western misconceptions, many Buddhists are just like this.

Those of the Bodhisattva school of thought believe in foregoing nirvana until all sentient creatures can also attain it. Some vow to save everyone as a regular practice. Despite having a bit of a savior complex for others, they don’t have an expectation that another Buddhist will save them. They are responsible for themselves. Other sects of Buddhism think the greatest service you can do for the world is achieve nirvana yourself, ending the cycle of rebirth. Good works for others will slow you down, distract you, and entangle you in karma, even with the best of intentions. Interestingly enough, while faith in one being is not emphasized by most Buddhists, as there are many buddhas, the idea of escaping the world through transcendence is a theme for both Buddhists and Christians, be it heaven or nirvana. Mystics of both might point out the error of such thinking as it is all one in non-dual consciousness. Sects of Zen Buddhism might embody this best with the idea that there is nothing to do, nothing to learn, only the realization that nirvana is samsara and samsara is nirvana, and while the realization helps, it doesn’t essentially change anything. Everything is as it should be, unfolding.

Many, despite an essentially good aim, have bad underlying intentions and ruin things because they are selfishly motivated by attainment for the self while professing compassion for others as the sole motivation. You can enthusiastically do both, but don’t lie to yourself.

Some project the need for change in their internal world into the outer world, demanding others conform to the beliefs and behaviors they feel are just, good, or right. It happens to Witches by outer society but also by other Witches and Pagans. We all must be in guard for the simple mechanisms of projection. Example and conversation make true change, not decree or force.

I love the refreshing honesty from Rosaleen Norton:

“I do not wish to propagate any cult, even the Witch Cult, change society, or establish a better world for others — These things leave me entirely indifferent. I have what I prefer to describe as “a function”. The function is that of Focus and Catalyst. And this function is best served by my performing my own personal Will, and not caring a damn about the effect good or bad on other people.”

So much I agree with and so much I personally disagree with, for me, at least at this time in my life. She’s not wrong at all. She is 100% right, for her and many others I know. Yet many Witches who do good work are appalled when hearing that quote. Remember she is not you. You are not her. She’s dead now anyway, so she won’t even argue with you and most likely wouldn’t have argued in life because she was too busy making art, exploring sexuality, communing with Lucifer and Pan, and being her Witchy self. That’s the whole point of the quote. She is a great example of how to live your own true will. She is a horrible example of you trying to live her true will and not your own. Yet she gets something deeply true about “a function” and it’s in the realization we might all have different functions. I think many Witches are a “Focus and Catalyst.”

Today many will tell you what you should do, how you should be, what you should be passionate about and how best to act upon it in the world. They will have codes for your behavior and standards to live. In short, they will seek to impose what they think is their will, and what they think should be everyone’s will, upon you. Often those most unclear about their own work and will are the most confident in telling others what to do as a means to compensate for their uncertainty rather than be honest about it. Projection. Others can’t confirm your own true will by doing it with you or for you. These measures come from all sides, including other Witches and Pagans, and even some of the most heinous ones are well intentioned, although distorted. If you agree with such advice or direction, then do it. If your authentic will takes you elsewhere, go there. Follow your own crooked path and determine what is right for your will in the world.

Just because it’s not your focus now doesn’t mean they might not have food for thought or good ideas, but beware the demands for your attention and requirements for your behavior beyond simple safety for everyone. You can’t do all things all the time for everyone. You shouldn’t try. Listen to others and observe yourself, your shadowy unconscious points, but in the end, you bear the final choice and ultimate responsibility.

Our good work is our true will. It won’t look like anyone else’s will. We each have a thing to do. We each have many things to do. Really those things are just learning how to be. We find our being-ness in our creativity, our play, and our passions. Doing can help us be. Being can lead to doing. We each go about it in our way. Some wills intersect and form group work. Many wills of the Witch are solitary. Some are seemingly ambitious. Some are seemingly lazy, funny, or don’t look like work at all. It’s easy to judge others and be completely wrong. Fulfilling our will in every thought, word, and deed as much as we can at any given time is the best work we can do in the world. One could argue it is the only work we can really do. That is the only good work we should ever need.

Your challenge: What is your will to the best of your knowledge in this moment? Go do that work … if you want to. Your decision to do it, how to do it, and even not do it is as much of the process as anything else.

January and 2023 are here! Many of us are ready to get going and might have even started to warm ourselves up like Formula 1 race cars. But I´m sorry to say that the season hasn’t started yet. Part of that is due to both Mars (energy, drive, will) and Mercury (communication) still being in retrograde. So if you have felt a mix of frustration and restlessness you are not alone. Let´s take a look at the stars together and see what keys we can find so that we are ready when the race begins.

Hanging Out with Friends

When Mars (energy, movement) is in retrograde our energy is somewhat blocked. This can lead to frustration and a feeling of being stuck.

Good news is that Mars is in Gemini (communication) and in a good aspect to both Venus (love, relationships) in Aquarius and Ceres (nourishment) in Libra. This creates a big trine (good aspect) of air. This opens up for hanging out with friends, socialising, and having a good time. It might even feel that finally someone has opened a window and you are able to breathe again. So if invitations come your way and you are healthy, say yes and take it for what it is – a wonderful chance to take a break and meet some friends.

Mars retrograde ends 12th of January

Venus trines Ceres until the 12th of January

Mars trines Venus until 14th of January

Mercury retrograde ends 18th of January

Mars trines Ceres until the 11th of February

Do You Have Energy and Resources for That?

On one hand things seem to open up, on the other hand we do have an energy problem or situation to consider both practically with high gas, oil, and electricity prices and metaphorically speaking with nourishment being an issue.

The goddess asteroid Ceres (nourishment, food, grounding) is in Libra. When she is there we can easily get involved in other people’s lives, their situations and relationships. This is amplified with Ceres making an opposition to Juno (relationships) in the final degrees of Pisces (bottomless depths). With this you can get a lot more than what you bargained for. Not only that, Ceres is also in opposition to Chiron (healing) and Jupiter (expansion). Together they have a theme of a lot of intense healing that can create a snowball effect.

Example: You go to the cat shelter to save one cat, and you arrive home with three. That is lovely and admirable, but you also have to take into consideration that they need food and perhaps veterinary care which may cost you a considerable amount of money. And the lovely cats also need time, love, healing and so on.

Or you volunteer to help out with the local theatre group and suddenly you end up sewing costumes for the whole ensemble and the premiere is only a few months ahead.

So, before you enthusiastically jump into a project take a breath and think it over. Do you have the time and resources to do this in a balanced way? Can you share the responsibility with others? Are others, like your family and friends, supporting you in this? And finally … are you the one best suited for the project? If the answer is yes then go ahead into the adventure. But if the answer is no, then perhaps your role is to connect the ones in need to someone more suited for the job.

This also applies for more serious situations, for example when someone is leaving an abusive relationship or are dealing with depression or filing for divorce. Think about your role in the situation. Are you the friend or the professional therapist or lawyer? Playing both the role of the professional and the relative is known for being a bad idea.

As I mentioned above, Juno in Pisces can become bottomless and you can be in danger of sinking deeper into something that you did not expect. Jupiter right next to Juno expands everything. Having healthy boundaries and knowing your role is not being without compassion or love, it´s about taking responsibility. Helping someone in an emergency situation can many times be like saving someone who is about to drown. Using a life-preserver, creating a safe space between the two of you, is the best way to go, for everyone’s safety.

Juno is in Pisces until the 14th of January.

Ceres and Juno is in exact opposition on the 26th of January when they meet up at 6 degrees. At that time Jupiter is right next to Juno at 5 degrees in Aries. The opposition ends on the 8th of February.

Health and Balance

Ceres, the goddess of grain, harvest, and nourishment, is very much active when it comes to health, food and the proper functioning of the body. She is often strong in the astrological charts of cooks, gardeners, farmers, bakers, health instructors, and hygiene inspectors to mention a few of her fields of interest.

A stressed Ceres can show up as allergies to certain foods or ingredients. I smiled a bit yesterday when I had just followed up Ceres transits and saw how active she is and later the same day I heard on the news that they were calling back eggs from some egg companies because of a salmonella outbreak. That is so typical Ceres.

Ceres can also trigger complexes like mother complex, food and body complexes. Right now Ceres is in Libra, the symbol for Libra is the scales. The good side of that symbol and energy is seeking balance. The dark side of it is when we become obsessed with perfection. Social media will probably be flooded more than usual with health and diet posts, some more extreme than others. If you or someone close to you has a history with food or body complexes take extra care, be aware, talk about it, and seek professional help if needed.

Ceres is the earth mother and she comes in all shapes and forms, all beautiful in their own way. Connecting with that grounded earthly understanding will be most helpful when Ceres is in Libra. To help people to seek balance instead of the illusion of artificial perfection.

Ceres will be in Libra until the 19th of March, then she is in retrograde and will continue to move backwards into Virgo to return back into Libra again on Midsummer, the 21st of June. She will then stay in Libra until the 16th of September 2023.

Is It All About Banishing?

When it comes to dealing with allergies, health issues, and even life situations, I detect a trend in recent years. A belief that it is all about eliminating things and people from your life. Ceres’s symbol is the sickle, and with her so active it can become even more popular to go into a “removal mode.”

As someone working with health supplements and flower essences for many years, my experience is that many times it can be helpful to add things. When you add good bacteria to the intestinal flora you get some “good tummy warriors” inside. They kill fungus and you become less interested in sugar and your health improves. Or when you add the right kind of flower essence your energetic field strengthens and you become more resilient and people who would like to take advantage of you lose interest.

Of course there are times for removing things as well. Personally I am fond of cleaning and clearing myself and my space and it is a daily routine I can’t manage without. But as I have said to some of my students and clients, you cannot clean or clear yourself away from a healing process.

I believe there are some gifts to be found if we at times change removal thinking into thinking about adding things instead. On a spiritual level it can be about adding more meditation, visualisation, and ceremony into your daily life. When more power and strength become a part of your energetic body many not-so-healthy things fall away from you naturally, like bugs and parasites unhappy with a healthy environment. It takes energy to heal and sometimes that energy needs to be added.

Summary: We move into a period of intensive healing on many levels. Healing takes time and patience. In the same way that we can´t shout angrily at a plant or a tree to grow faster, can we shout to someone else or to ourselves to heal faster? Healing is a process and it has its own time. However, as Witches and Healers we know there´s always something we can do. There is, and has always been, good magick in a warm cup of tea and a listening heart and ear.

Blessed Be!
Karin Spirit Talker Turtle Red

Karin Ugander (Spirit Talker Turtle Red) is a spiritual channeler living in the south of Sweden. In Scandinavia she is known for the AstroNumerology and psychic readings she’s been doing for over 20 years. Together with her husband Niklas, she runs KaniSkolan, a school of astrology, numerology, tarot, StarCode Healing, and natural medicine. They are also the founders of Alven Inner Ring tradition, a Scandinavian mystery school with roots in shamanism and magick. Karin loves to create magickal oils, flower essences and sigils she combines in her “Karin Victoria” sigil candles and flower sprays. In her spare time she likes to travel, walk in the forest with her dog, and spend time by the ocean. Karin is an ordained high priestess and graduate of the Temple of Witchcraft’s seminary program. Her work can be found on Instagram @flowerpowerwitch and @karinuganderofficial and she can be reached at [email protected].