Author: Mandrake Windwillow

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Circle Etiquette is something that both new seekers and seasoned pagans could benefit from learning or relearning. How we conduct ourselves as we are paying respect to the Divine reflect on who we are as people and pagans.

We should be respectful, attentive, and work with the directions given to achieve the desired results of the ritual. Now that does not mean we need to be starch shirt conservatives who don’t enjoy our faith and its practices. It just means to act in a way that makes the celebration enjoyable for all involved.

Also remember that mistakes do happen, we are human after all. It is totally acceptable to let out a small giggle if in the middle of ritual something humorous occurs. Just don’t be disruptive or rude.I have included some basic dos and don’ts to be used as basic guidelines. Every group and tradition has their own rules regarding how one conducts themselves in ritual.It is also important to focus on what the ritual’s intended theme is. You don’t want to focus on prosperity when you are attending a healing rite. Magick only works when the mind focus’ on the job at hand. But most importantly of all have fun and enjoy the company of your pagan brothers and sisters.

Dos

relax and enjoy yourself (you aren’t in a business meeting)

 participate as much as the ritual allows (a circle is a participation event)

 dress comfortably within the guidelines of the group holding the ritual (don’t show up skyclad If its not approved beforehand)

 one word HYGEINE ( who wants to take deep meditational breaths beside someone with bad breath and body odor)

 ask the person hosting the ritual beforehand what to bring and what to wear (especially if there is to be a feast)

 show up ON TIME (make sure you ask what time to show up and what time ritual is to start)

 stay quiet and focused while preparing to enter the sacred space (this is getting your mind ready for the ritual)

 go to the bathroom before ritual (may be a while til you have a chance to go again)

 help clean up afterward

Don’ts

come to a ritual drunk or high

EVER walk widdershins (counterclockwise) in a sacred space

be loud, disruptive or rude

enter a circle if you have a time restraint issue(you can’t rush the Divine…they don’t like it)

touch the altar unless instructed to (ritual items are cleansed and charged and you may disrupt their energy by touching them)

enter the circle with negativity (will bring negative results to the magick performed)

 be afraid to sit down if you feel sick or dizzy (we don’t want you to pass out and the energy can be overwhelming)

 leave the circle without being properly “cut” out (ruins the cone of power)

 chit chat with other members while in circle (is disruptive and rude)

 forget to relax and enjoy yourself

Author Mandrake WindWillow

Originally Published in the Llewellyn 2007 Wicca Almanac

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          Stress caused by our lifestyle and culture plagues us all in one or another.  Stress can cause muscle tension, illness, depression, and high blood pressure, along with promoting use of alcohol, drugs, tobacco, food and other addictions.  We, as magical folk, can use our Divinely given talents to help ourselves and those around us reduce the stress in our world.  Here are seven simple ways anyone can create a little stress-free magic in their lives.

          1) Meditate regularly.  Most pagan traditions use meditation as part of their daily practices anyway, so why not incorporate stress reduction into those practices. If you don’t practice daily meditations then why not start. Meditating daily will help you with your focus and ability to raise energy when it is needed for spell working and ritual. Before starting your daily meditation ritual spend a few minutes clearing your mind of the stresses that could keep you from enjoying your meditation time.  Practiced over time this will result in more productive and more relaxing meditations.

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Author: Mandrake Windwillow

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            You’ve been invited to attend a Pagan ritual, welcome, we are glad to have you.  Here are some things you need to know to make your experience more meaningful, enjoyable and less confusing.  First of all, remember that Pagans are just like any other faith, they have holidays, traditions, ceremonies, rituals and churches just like any other faith.  Whether you’ve been invited to a coming of age ceremony, a pagan wedding or a holiday celebration, chances are you’ll be seeing and feeling things that may seem a bit strange to you.  That is why you are reading this, to prepare you a bit for some of the events you may encounter.

            The first thing that may be different from what you are used to is that our sacred space is not in an established church building like other faiths.  Pagans usually hold their observances in their homes or outdoors.  Make sure you ask whoever invited you what climate to dress for so you aren’t over or underdressed, we wouldn’t want you to be uncomfortable.  Also similar to other faiths pagans hold their observances in a specific order.  Ritual is usually opened by either the Priest or Priestess or Both depending on the group.  Also most groups stand in a circle for their rites.  This is done for a specific reason so make sure you follow the guide of the others in the circle. 

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Author: Mandrake Windwillow

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            We, as pagans, like our pomp and circumstance.  We like our rituals, our tools and our revelry.  And like other faiths we like to have reminders of our commitment to our Gods and Goddesses around us.  Our homes are a continuation of our personalities.  They are our sanctuaries, our refuge and our safety zones.  Within our homes we have things that serve practical purposes and things that are ornamental, and some things serve both purposes.  Altars fall into that last category.

            Like our homes, our altars are also an extension of our personalities.  We construct altars for many purposes, some being seasonal, daily devotion, personal use, family use, group use, and spell working.  Some keep altars up all the time for use daily and to protect or watch over their surroundings. Irregardless of their intent, Altars are an important part of most pagan’s practices.  They are also extremely personal and private ways to pay homage to the Divine on a daily basis through upkeep and use of a small portion of their home given to the Divine.

If you house and your altar are both extensions of your personality, they why would your altar have to be something so different from the rest of your home? The answer to that is they don’t have to be. They can easily be made to be part of the room in which they are housed.  Altars can be made in any room, in any direction and from things you have within your home already.  Items can be added or changed as the mood strikes and they can easily be changed to reflect the sabbats, esbats or other significant event.

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People who are new to the pagan community or those who are asked to attend functions as a guest are sometimes shocked or surprised by what they see at pagan events.  The pagan community is similar in many ways to other religious communities and very different in others.  It is best to prepare those who will be attending these functions beforehand so they do not go running for their cars when they encounter something they were not expecting.  Media has done its best to paint pagans as evil, supernatural and even murderous.  It is our job as the members of the pagan community to prepare our guests and newcomers so the fear they bring with them will not sully their experience.

Rituals

            You have been invited to attend a pagan ritual, welcome, we are glad to have you.  Here are some things you need to know to make your experience more meaningful, enjoyable, and less confusing.  First, remember that Pagans are just like any other faith; they have holidays, traditions, ceremonies, rituals, and churches.  Whether you have been invited to a coming of age ceremony, a pagan wedding or a holiday celebration, chances are you will be seeing and feeling things that may seem a bit strange to you.  That is why you are reading this, to prepare you a bit for some of the events you may encounter.

            The first thing that may be different from what you are used to is that most pagan sacred space is not in an established church building like other faiths.  Pagans usually hold their observances in their homes or outdoors.  Make sure you ask whoever invited you what climate to dress for, so you are not over or underdressed, would not want you to be uncomfortable.  Also similar to other faiths pagans hold their observances in a specific order.  Ritual is usually opened by either the Priest or Priestess or Both depending on the group.  Also most groups stand in a circle for their rites.  This is done for a specific reason so make sure you follow the guide of the others in the circle.  

            You may also notice that the people in the ritual may be dressed different.  Some pagans wear garb to ritual, which is similar to what you would see at a renaissance fair or mayday festival, others wear costumes of the deities depicted, but most wear robes or cloaks or both.  Pagans dress in this way to separate themselves from everyday activities.  It is similar to dressing nice to go to church as some other faith’s do for holidays and special services.  You may also see people wearing special jewelry, headpieces, masks or face and body paint.  All these things have special significance to the people wearing them.               

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Author: Mandrake WindWillow

Originally printed in Witchvox, August 31, 2008.
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Three years ago this spring my group was throwing around the ideas of what we wanted in our group, we had decided to create a chosen family from what were the ruins of a former group gone for some time. We looked at what we had learned, what we had gained, and what we foresaw as issues and solutions. We also looked at symbols.

We each sat down at our former Priestess’ kitchen table and considered an assortment of shapes, celestial bodies, and other symbols that would best incorporate what our ideals were for our own small fledgling of a coven. We had decided from the start to eliminate the pentacle as our “official” symbol, as we had multiple people who were still in the proverbial closet and we wanted something we could wear and display with pride without having to worry about stigma and problems.

We had a member research the various other stars and eventually decided upon the seven-pointed star, also known as the septagram, the pleiadian star, the faery star, or the elven star. We chose it because of the association with the seven sisters of Pleiades, the significance of the number seven and most importantly to us, the fact that we had started out with seven core members. We viewed the story of the seven sisters as a story of a celestial family and we were attempting to create a family within our group.

From there our symbol evolved, and our former Priestess suggested incorporating a triple moon in some way with the septagram. She suggested we see how it would look and meditate on it to see if the meanings and symbols would be appropriate.

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Author: Mandrake Windwillow

Originally printed in Witchvox, June 17. 2007

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Entering school is both stressful and exciting for children. This is the time that friendships are made, social skills learned and independence from parents earned one step at a time. Is this experience different for Pagan children?

The answer to this question has a lot of variables, such as the school district, area of the country, ethnic/religious makeup, etc. In my experience it is definitely different but not always in a negative way.

Learning about the school’s makeup can be a good way to decide how much preparation you need to provide your child with before setting them loose on the school bus or playground. Most schools will be happy to provide you with ethnic and religious statistics even if they are vague, such as “mostly middle income suburban Caucasian families”. Or simply ask to take a tour of the school and ask about diversity programs that are readily available to the students, faculty and administration and if those are also open to the parents.

If they don’t exist, consider suggesting or volunteer to help start one. Looking into these types of programs can cut footwork later if a problem arises and most administrators would rather deal with a few polite questions during registration or open house than an angry phone call after there has been a problem. Also find out if there are any regulations concerning the wearing of religious jewelry, etc beforehand so there isn’t any embarrassing letters or phone calls from school.

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