One of my favorite personal touches to spruce up envelopes when sending or including a letter or card within a package is to use a sealing wax stamp. This effectively, through both intent and action, seals your letter or card’s intent as it would in a spell. And wax seals have such a charming antiquarian feel to them.
It is wonderfully fun to set up a care package exchange with magickal friends. Exchanges can be arranged in a variety of ways. One arrangement is to simply periodically send each other packages in turn. A more structured method would be to exchange packages on each sabbat. Yule would naturally lend itself to such an exchange; however, creatively themed packages can be derived for any of the other sabbats as well. Mutually arrive at an exchange arrangement that works for all parties involved. Remember, this should be a fun project and not a source of undue stress.
The reasons for sending care packages and creating exchanges extend well beyond the actual occasions we send them for. A care package exchange is a welcome way to attract abundance into your life and the lives of others. The Law of Attraction will be automatically set into play, and simply by sharing and putting your intentions out in the world, you’ll be welcoming those same energies to return to you.
A care package exchange is a welcome way to attract abundance into your life and into the lives of others. The Law of Attraction will be automatically set into play.
Care packages are a great way to cultivate and strengthen community bonds. Perhaps you have magickal friends who live in rural areas with very little in-person community fellowship. In this day and age, it’s also not uncommon to have people whom you consider part of your spiritual family living many thousands of miles away from you. It is for these reasons that “just because” is reason enough to send someone a care package. As Pagans we tend to form our own sacred tribes. Anyone who has found themselves a part of such a tribe knows the bond of community holds a magick all its own—and that knows no geographical bounds. Nothing says “I care and wish to include you as part of my community” more than a spontaneous package in the mail for no reason other than the fact that you were fondly thought of. Through care packages, we also have the ability to be with loved ones in spirit when we may not be able to be there in person for occasions such as graduations, weddings, initiations, childbirths, and other milestones or rites of passage.
When a care package project is taken on at a coven or community level, it can serve as a wonderful community-building activity. Decide within your group whose strengths lie where and what items each person could contribute. Everyone has something to offer, it’s just a matter of deciding what to include. If you have adept kitchen witches, they can commit to contribute baked items. Perhaps you have an artisan skilled in sculpture and pottery who may make a mug to include in the package. If you have a knitter in the group,
a pair of cozy socks or mittens knitted with caring intent would be a great addition. The package is now not only well on its way to being the perfect assemblage to make someone very cozy and loved on a cool autumn or winter night, but in turn your group has worked closely together to make this happen for the recipient or recipients. You can see how care package exchanges bring the entire community closer together—the sending party gains just as much as the receiving party.
Blake Octavian Blair is an Eclectic IndoPagan Witch, psychic, tarot reader, freelance writer, energy worker, and a devotee of Lord Ganesha. He holds a degree in English and religion from the University of Florida. Blake lives in the Piedmont Region of North Carolina with his beloved husband, an aquarium full of fish, and an indoor jungle of houseplants. Visit him on the web at www.blakeoctavianblair.com or write him at [email protected].
Illustrator: Christa Marquez
[contents]
Witchcraft Essentials
Practices, Rituals & Spells
Dancing the Morris:
Where Old Meets New
Chandra Moira Beal
It’s May Day in the Cotswold region of England, and a group of middle-aged, bearded men wearing white stockings and green sashes are dancing in a circle, waving handkerchiefs. They are dancing the Morris. Down on the south coast, another group of dancers weaves in and out of a circle. They are young men and women, dressed all in black, including their faces. Some of them wield sticks that they bang together rhythmically. They are also Morris dancing.
For the past century, Morris dancing has been mainly the domain of older English men partial to traditional costume and drinking bitter beer. However, a new group of dancers is emerging and bringing with them elements of Goth, Paganism, and a swirl of modern values.
Morris dancing is a distinct English folk tradition, usually performed in groups, that involves stepping in rhythm and choreographed dance. Dancers may use sticks, swords, and handkerchiefs to accentuate their movements. Music is provided by a pipe and tabor or a fiddle, or more commonly, a melodeon. Accordions and concertinas may also be heard, and drums are often employed.
The dance got its name from its origin in the Moorish sword dance, which was devised to celebrate the unification of Spain in the fifteenth century with the driving
