Merry Meet Friends
Greetings and Witchy Blessings to you all!
The first of the harvest festivals has arrived again. Although for many the hottest days of the summer are yet to come, the daylight hours are starting to shorten. The morning sky is darker a little longer each day.
As we make plans to celebrate this Sabbat, it is with pleasure and pride that I take this opportunity to note, the fruits of our work that our Grove is currently harvesting. From the growth of our Yahoo Group (currently 69 at the time of writing this newsletter), to the Courses being provided at Spiritually Speaking (Pukekohe, Auckland) and then the ongoing development of the Online Correspondence courses. We are also pleased to announce that we are working with two retail stores who have recently started stocking Witchaven products, primarily spell bags, calendars and herbs. The two stores involved are Spiritually Speaking in Pukekohe, and Rivendell in Westfield Manukau City. Courses Update:We are in the process of finalising the first of our online correspondence courses. We anticipate being in contact during the next month with those of you who have expressed interest in correspondence courses. We have scheduled a number of workshops to be held at Spiritually Speaking in Pukekohe also. Witchcraft Courses Basics12 Feb How to be a witch, working with magical energy 19 Feb Making your Grimoire 26 Feb Making Magical Amulets 4 Mar Working with Magical Herbs 11 Mar Candle Magic 18 Mar Understanding prediction/ Fortune telling Tools of the Trade14 Feb Psychometry/Clairvoyance 21 Feb Tarot minor arcana 28 Feb Tarot major arcana 6 Mar Runes 13 Mar Putting it all together Witchcraft Courses Advanced 1 April Raising Magical energy 8 April Spell casting & Charms 15 April Rune magic & Talismans, using Rune script 22 April Growing, Herb lore and harvesting 29 April Tarot– overview 6 May Palmistry– overview 13 May Life Path Rituals Craft Practitioner Development3 June Practitioner roles & responsibilities 10 June Creating Altars, and Gathering spaces 17 June Making & using Craft tools 24 June Providing Magical services 1 July Craftwork history & involvement with community projects 8 July Coven Craft Setting up & running a coven More details of these can be found at the website below or by ringing Spiritually Speaking. Spiritually Speaking
12 Hall Street
Pukekohe
PH +64 9 239 2410 http://www.spirituallyspeaking.co.nz/Services/Courses/Courses.htm Lammas Greetings
Lughnasadh, or Lammas, - 2nd February Southern Hemisphere
Deities: Ceres, Demeter, Corn Mother, Lugh, John Barleycorn, the Green Man.
Herbs: All herbs and all grains
Stones: Tiger-eye, Golden Topaz, Opal, Citrine, Ametrine.
Lammas also known as Lughnasadh is a celebration of plenty and optimism, and of the harvest of natures bounty. It is a bittersweet holiday in that the joy of the harvest is celebrated with the knowledge that summer is soon at an end. The first of the harvest festivals, it also marks the waning strength of the God; the nights grow longer and the days moderate their warmth. The Goddess, now fully enveloped in her Mother aspect, watches in sorrow at his diminishment, but finds comfort and strength in the realisation she carries the seed of the new year's Sun God within her.
Decorate Altar with sheaves of wheat, barley or oats, fruit and breads, perhaps a loaf fashioned in the figure of the Sun or a man to represent the God. Corn dollies, symbolic of the Goddess, can be present as well. Appropriate Foods include bread, blackberries and all berries, acorns (leached of their poisons first), crab apples, all grains and locally ripe produce. A cake is sometimes baked, and cider is used in place of wine.
Ways to Celebrate:
• Kindle a fire of herbs and wood to commemorate the Sun’s passing.
• Bake magical bread in celebration of the harvest. Use a normal bread dough but knead in a tablespoon or two of fresh herbs.
• Perform a prosperity spell for the coming months by making a Witches bottle. Gather together a small bottle with a tight fitting cork, a fishhook, some clover, a bit of cinnamon, and a few coins. As you place the items in the bottle visualise money coming to you from all directions. Cork the bottle and seal it with a bit of wax from your altar candles. Bury the bottle near your front door.
“Money come alive and grow,
Pour down on me from high and low,
by herb, and hook, and glass and coin,
Let prosperity and I now join,
Paper money and coins that shine,
Come to me, for you are mine.”
Places to Visit: A quite haven off State Highway 1 near Te Kauwhata, Herb Haven offers not only a beautiful garden through which you can wander at your leisure, but also a relaxing spot in which to enjoy a pleasant pot of tea or cup of coffee. Herb Haven also has a surprising array of produce: Jams, Mustards, and Chutneys, to name a few. They also stock a body products and beautiful gifts, along with herb plants. They are only open from September to May, Wed –Sun 10am-4pm. But this is a beautiful place to break a journey or for a Weekend drive if you are looking for somewhere to venture to.
Witchaven Shop is now bigger and better:
Check out the online shop http://www.witchaven.co.nz/Shop/Shop.htm We’ve added more items too it.
Calendars and Date Books for 2004 are in stock Also available are: - Specialised Gift Baskets
- Specialised Herb Service
- Personalised Divination Reading Services
Coming up:
02/02/04 Lammas
06/02/04 Full Moon - Leo
20/03/04 New Moon - Pisces
07/03/04 Full Moon – Virgo
20/03/04 Mabon Other Events ISIS Seichim 1 Intensive 6th-7th March $250.00 deposit $100.00
Reiki 3a & Master teacher intensive8th-12th March $1250.00 deposit $500.00 ISIS Seichim Master intensive 13th-15th March $350.00 deposit $100.00Reiki 1 intensive 20th-21st March $190.00 deposit $90.00Reiki 2 intensive 3rd-4th April $290.00 deposit $100.00Reiki 3a & Master teacher intensive 6th - 11th April $1250.00 deposit $500.00ISIS Seichim 1 16th-18th AprilISIS Seichim Master 23rd-25th April
Contact Rangimaria at Manu Wairoa Retreat centre on terangimarie@xtra.co.nz
Well on that note we will end this newsletter. Please let us know your thoughts and comments.
Until next Sabbat
Merry Part
Igrewl and Asrteia
For More Information Contact:
Witchaven
PO Box 93, Patumahoe, Auckland, New Zealand 1730
Tel:
FAX:
Internet: info@witchaven.com
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