When someone asking for donations says “Even a few dollars will help,” they mean it. Maybe you can’t offer fifty dollars, but three or four or five is more than nothing at all. If a whole bunch of people give that small amount, it does add up. But even if it’s just you, it’s that little bit more that the cause has to work with.
The same thing goes for volunteering. Maybe you can’t spend hours organizing an event or cooking food at a festival. But maybe you can proofread some advertising copy, or post something promotional on your blog. Again, cumulative small efforts do add up, and putting forth a little effort does more than putting forth none at all.
And, if after giving time and/or money you decide to work magic to “help things along,” there’s nothing wrong with that, either.
Resources, Accessed August 2010
Clark, Jennifer. “A Call to Create a Rolling Thunder for Isaac Bonewits.” Examiner.com. http://www.examiner.com/paganism-in-national/a-call-to-create-a-rolling-thunder-for-isaac-bonewits.
The Wild Hunt. “Pagan Community Notes” July 24, 2010. http://wildhunt.org/blog/2010/07/pagan-community-notes-adf-fundraiser-isaac-bonewits-sj-tucker-and-more.html.
Lupa is a neoshaman, Pagan author, and ritual tool artist living in Portland, Oregon. She may be found online at http://www.thegreenwolf.com and http://therioshamanism.com.
Illustrator: Kathleen Edwards
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* Plus I realize that most people who see any resemblance to themselves in this article may be leaping to their own defense, perhaps even without thinking about it.
Witchy Living
Day-by-Day witchcraft
Ten-Minute Magickal Meals
Melanie Marquis
I love magick, but it’s not always easy to find the quiet time required for complex spells and elaborate rituals. When I can’t enjoy the luxury of a full-blown magick session, I look for other ways to enrich my practice and embrace the witchy lifestyle. Magickal cooking offers a way to do just that: practice spellcasting techniques, promote magickal growth, expand awareness, and support positive change, all without taking up a single extra minute in an already busy day.
Magickal cooking is the practice of directing personal energy and magickal power to produce desired results through the mechanics of food preparation, and it doesn’t take any longer than regular cooking. With these easy and practical ideas, you’ll be out of the kitchen in ten minutes flat, as an everyday chore becomes a pleasant opportunity to further experience the power that magickal practice brings to light.
With magickal cooking, we get the most out of every meal, and it’s easy to master. All you need to get started is an understanding of three basic techniques—stirring, slicing, and heating—and a few handy hints and you’ll be reaping the rewards of magickal cooking in no time, infusing your practice, your food, and your life with new power.
Magickal Mudra Mixing
Adapted from a yoga technique, Hasta Mudras, or hand postures, can add powerful energy to your food while you stir. Forming the Mudras balances prana, the life force, and aligns our body, mind, and spirit into a harmonic and empowered state. Magickal Mudra mixing awakens and balances our personal energy, bestowing these same benefits on the food being prepared. Ingredients take on the energetic imprint of the Mudra as you stir, making for a powerfully magickal meal that feeds the spiritual body as well as the physical.
The first step of Mudra Mixing is to choose a Mudra that corresponds to the vibration you wish to bring to the food. Try the Pran Mudra (touch tips of ring finger and pinky to tip of thumb) to increase the vital energy of your recipe ingredients. For stress relief and to impart a relaxing quality to your food, the Gyan Mudra (touch tip of thumb to tip of index finger) works well. For variety, check out a book on Hasta Mudras and don’t be afraid to
experiment—only through exploration will you discover the Mudras that work best for you.
Once you’ve chosen a Mudra, it’s time to mix. As you stir with one hand, form the Mudra with your other hand and hold it several inches above the bowl or pot. As the energy, or prana, in your hands is brought into an ordered alignment, visualize this same effect taking place within the food as you mix. I like to carry the visualization further, imagining in my mind’s eye exactly what I want to achieve. For example, when I mix ingredients while forming the Gyan Mudra, I visualize stress in my body and environment diminishing, spiraling off into the distance with each stir.
Spellcasting With a Knife
You can also add power to your magickal meals by slicing ingredients with an empowered blade, a knife charmed to cast your spell into the food with each cut. Hold the knife in your hand while focusing on what you want your magick to achieve. When the energy is at its height, cast it into the knife, sending it in through the handle to flow to the very tip of the blade. As you cut, feel the energies of the knife coursing through the food, charming it with your magickal intent.
You can also add numerology to the slicing process, cutting food into a certain number of slices best suited to your particular working. For example, if you’re making a meal to enhance natural beauty, slice your ingredients into six pieces (or if large, cut in sets of six), the number associated with beauty and perfection. Here are a few key words to get you started:
1. Leadership, Courage, Creativity
2. Cooperation, Understanding, Forgiveness
3. Sociable, Charming, Friendly
4. Reliable, Determined, Loyal
5. Adventure, Intelligence, Humor
6. Persuasive, Peaceful, Angelic
7. Mystical, Thoughtful, Artistic
8. Power, Success, Wisdom
9. Excitement, Curiosity, Spirituality
Turn Up the Heat, Turn Up the Magick
You can add a touch of nature magick to the cooking process by charming your stove to mimic the power of the sun or the fire element. Simply call on these forces and invite them into your stove, asking that the appliance be charmed and blessed. If you like, place a candle or a symbol of the sun on the stovetop. As you heat food, be it on the top of the stove or in the oven, think of the magickal
