Rev. (Dr.) Swati Prakash Alt. Med.
Rev. (Dr.) Swati Prakash (Alt Med) Vegan Mind Body Soul Guide

Category: Witchcraft and Wicca

Positive Witchcraft and ethical Wicca based on the Wiccan Rede as a guideline : An Ye Harm None and Do What Ye Will which means to do what a person chooses to with own will power, with no harm to self or others and without interference or domination over oneself. Freedom from limiting belief systems that have created misunderstandings about witchcraft and magic so that the right teachings are given.

  • Hope for Little African ‘Witches’..and the TRUTH about Witchcraft

    Hope for Little African ‘Witches’..and the TRUTH about Witchcraft

    Many of you might be aware that in many countries, especially in Africa, women as well as kids have been branded ‘witches’ and abused or killed due to the misconception that they can curse or harm.

    This little boy of barely two years old for example was found roaming hungry and naked for eight months! The family abandoned him and left him to die because they thought he was a ‘witch’. Emaciated and riddled by worms he was surviving on scraps thrown by passersby. Thanks to the efforts of Anja Ringgren Lovén from Denmark, he was rescued and is now healthy and safe and is named ‘Hope’.

    The problem is not a belief in ‘witchcraft’ but a false belief in ‘evil witches’ and the tendency to discriminate against those accused of being so.

    Witchcraft is a much misunderstood word and is not at all related to cursing or evil. Due to widespread fears and ignorance many innocent women and kids have been hurt and killed in the pretext of witch-hunting for several centuries all over the world, be it medieval Europe or modern Africa and India. Today we all are realizing that everyone creates and manifests their own life and there is nothing supernatural or evil about ‘witchcraft’ which was simply a name for folk-remedies, herbal healing and ancient shamanism in the past.

    In the ancient world the words witch or wizard simply meant ‘wise men and women’ who could help people with their problems using spiritual advise. Whether in ancient India, rest of Asia,  Africa, Native America or ancient Europe, astrology spells and natural healing has been practiced as something positive and useful. The below video explains how the practice of blaming and killing people labelled as witches began in western Europe.

    The ideas of ‘evil witches’ sadly spread to the rest of the world, including Asia and Africa where harmless women and kids have suffered in modern times, wrongly accused for causing bad luck, disasters, and illnesses in families and communities.

    According to Safechildafrica.com, a charity that helps African kids accused as ‘witches’, ‘It is thought that the child has been put under a spell and given the power to wreak havoc. This is a belief that cuts across all tiers of society. Some churches and Nigerian movies also play a major role in spreading this belief. And there are many so-called pastors who brand children as witches and then charge extortionate fees to ‘exorcise’ them.’

    On one hand in many countries witchcraft is today being as a religious and spiritual path based on positive thinking and nature based healing, especially as Wicca which is a modern religion based on witchcraft that Harms None. Yet, on the other hand media including Hollywood as well as common news media has still been wrongly depicting witches as well as Wiccan rituals as evil, adding to the confusions and misunderstandings all over the world.

    Some people being influenced by such media hype, have been trying to make a quick buck or gain popularity by projecting themselves falsely as professional ‘witches’ who can be paid to ‘cast a spell ON’ or ‘curse someone’, or to ‘enchant someone’…both being things that are not wisdom magick and hence not real or actual witchcraft.

    While we must rescue and help little kids such as ‘Hope’ above, we also have to deal with the bigger picture – about eradicating false fears regarding witchcraft and helping people gain more spiritual awareness about positive thinking, meditation and real spiritual healing as the real ways to magically improve our life. By creating positive awareness we can save more lives and improve the way women and kids are treated in the world today.

    Meanwhile you can contribute to these charities that help African kids accused of witchcraft today and save some precious little lives:

    http://www.dinnoedhjaelp.dk/

    http://www.safechildafrica.org/

    REMEMBER THAT TODAY:

    • Real witchcraft is based on inner wisdom or spiritual awareness 
    • Real witchcraft is no longer about cursing or harming anyone
    • Real witchcraft is no longer about attracting a man or woman to you
    • Real witchcraft is about nature based healing and natural spirituality
    • Real witchcraft is not about casting spells upon others or on behalf of others
    • Everything is self-created, stop blaming others for cursing you
    • Real witchcraft is about YOUR inner spiritual power used for improving YOUR life YOURSELF
    • Real witchcraft is not a special supernatural power found in some people
    • We all have this NATURAL inner power to create our own life!!
    • Yes, YOU ARE A WITCH! and its a good thing to be!

    swati

    Swati Prakash is a spiritual author and the founder of Global Wicca.

  • The East and West of Magick

    This lifetime I chose to be born in the ancient land of Vedic wisdom, India…the place where timeless spiritual truths still live on in the form of tradition and culture. Yet, I was born with witchcraft (and Wicca too) in my soul. It was 1989 when I conducted my first ritual at ten years of age, feeling the powers rise within me, casting a circle, calling the quarters, raising energy of the elements and conjuring a spell. At the turn of the millennium after I was formally initiated into Wicca and remembered my past lives, I started conducting Wiccan rituals for large and small groups in Mumbai while teaching tarot and then I began Magick, a small store at 16th road, Bandra west, Mumbai in 2008 that still continues there now being used as a temple of Global Wicca.

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    The best part about being a Wiccan in India was that India already is rich in ancient wisdom. Wicca found easy acceptance in the diverse cultural and religious medley of India because of the spiritual openness and pagan heritage of India. In-fact there are so many parallelisms between western pagan traditions and Indian paganism that India seemed to be the perfect place for me to have launched Global Wicca, a spiritual tradition that unites the western magickal concepts with eastern mysticism.

    • Talk about the five elements of nature and you find the ‘panch-tawwas’ of Vayu-air, Agni-fire, Apas-water, Prithvi-earth and Akasha-spirit are all honored in every ritual or yagya/ yajna since Vedic India.
    • Talk about the goddess and god equality and India will teach you how the Goddess is the all powerful Shakti or energy, the ultimate creator who is worshiped in her numerous forms through so many festivals and rites.
    • Talk about the Wiccan Rede, ‘An Ye Harm None Do As Ye Will’ and Indians would say yes to Ahimsa, a virtue of non-violence that was promoted not only by Gandhi but also by several traditions including but not limited to the Jain saints of India.
    • Talk about the Law of Three and you will learn of Karma, the law of cause and effect as your energy comes back your way not only in this lifetime but through rebirths to help you learn and grow through experience.
    • Talk about the multiplicity of deity and you will get no better place than India to see gods and goddesses of all shapes, genders and forms in each street.
    • Talk about spells and magick and you will learn about mantras (spoken spells), yantras (tools and talismans) and tantras (the craft and yogas) to weave the enchantment together), crafting intentions with focused energy – witchcraft in other words.
    • Talk about crystals, herbs and gems and you will learn all about their planets, chakras and various correspondences from ancient Indian spirituality. Some of the best crystals, stones, herbs and incenses are sourced from India the world over.
    • Talk about astrology, divination, healing and you will learn this in every street and corner of India where its been practiced in so many ways as a well established profession whether as ancient Vedic astrology or other intuitive arts.
    • Tarot cards with the five suits of Europe may have originated in Italy in 15th century but Indian spiritual cards have been around since the 7th century in the form of Dasavtara taash depicting the ten suits of Vishnus ten reincarnations.
    • Animals and trees have been regarded as divine too, with each deity connected with their own animal familiar and trees as well as herbs being worshiped for their magickal and healing powers in each corner of India.
    • Speak of the power of lunar cycles and you will find that each lunar day from Amavasya (new moon) and each day or tithi of the waxing moon to Purnima (full moon) has been celebrated and observed as special and magickal in its own way.
    • Talk about celebrating the major and minor Sabbats and cycles of earth – and you will learn how they correspond closely with the ‘rutus’ (seasons) in the Indian calendar and the annual celebrations that mark each season
      • Just like Imbolc celebrates the goddess Bridget the maiden who brings in warmth after winter, Vasant panchmi celebrates Saraswati, the maiden who brings the light of awareness as spring begins to dawn.
      • Vernal or spring celebrations of Holi, Gudi padwa, Ugadi correspond with the Ostara spring equinox celebrations where color returns to earth after winter
      • Just as Beltane is the start of summer, Vaishakh celebrates agriculture and fertility with the festivals Vishu, Bihu and Akshaya Tritiya celebrating the solar power.
      • Midsummer solstice and Litha celebrate the peak of summer and faery frolic the outdoor processions of Rath yatra celebrates the procession of celestial deities and Nag Panchami celebrates the reptilian underworld.
      • As Lughnasad is the first harvest or loaf-mass/ lammas, Shravan celebrates the monsoon and the harvest festivals of Green Teej and Krishna Janmashmi or the birth of the dark half of the year when the wheel turns towards autumn.
      • The autumn equinox and Mabon time are the harvest festivities much like Onam and Ganesh Chaturthi when grain and harvest are celebrated.
      • As the summer ends and winter draws closer, the last harvest of Samhain corresponds with the festivals of Navratri, Diwali and Kaali Puja that celebrate the great goddess energy in the dark new year.
      • Winter celebrations such as Yule and mid-winter solstice or Christmas see parallels in Lohri, Pongal and Makar Sankranti when the rebirth of the sun is celebrated.

    So what is the difference between ancient Indian customs and that of the western Wiccan witches? If we observe the parallelisms we will find that we are more similar than different and that our differences are superficial while our similarities are deep rooted.

    Core philosophical beliefs and nature based celebration rituals of harvest and cultivation deeply unite both western and eastern pagan practices. Myths and mythologies involving various culture specific deities came much later, initially the ancient natural forces were honored and propitiated through all rites, rituals and festivals all over earth.

    All over earth our rites, rituals, customs all have evolved to reflect the cultural shades of our land.Our unique herbs, trees and folklore in each country has led to a unique magickal heritage of each country . Communities within each land have their own customs and traditions. Yet the base of all magickal traditions – both in the east and the west is One. It is nature that has shaped our magickal beliefs and traditions all over earth and the oldest spirituality in each part of the world is simply – nature.

    The western propaganda against the word ‘witch’, ‘withcraft’ and ‘paganism’ had spread even to the east over the last few centuries. It is only in the west that ancient and timeless wisdom, natural celebrations, herbal and stone magick, meditation, goddess worship, paganism, idol worship and mantras/ spells were all connected with evil thanks to the fears spread to promote religious conversions from pagan to non-pagan beliefs. In the eastern world ancient magick is a living continuing tradition since thousands of years, having survived the conversion attempts of western religions. Yet we have seen instances of witch-hunting and prosecution of women and children ‘blamed’ or ‘accused’ of witchcraft even in Asia and Africa…even in the ancient magickal land of India, all thanks to the misunderstandings seeping in from all around.

    What people of India and the rest of the world have to understand is that magick is an integral power in every being of nature including humans and that it is nothing to be feared of. Calling it superstitious, irrational or evil is akin to dishonoring our deep rooted magickal heritage and the spiritual work of our thousands of gurus since ancient times. No matter what the dictionaries, bibles and wikipedias of the world might say regarding witchcraft, Wicca and magick, let us remember that these are not to be seen with the tainted shades of religious discrimination.

    If we focus on the ancient teaching from both the east and the west we will find ample guidance in favor of learning and practical magick and spirituality in everyday life. I may have been a western western witch in my past life but in this life being born Indian, I have learn to expand my consciousness greatly and to see paganism, witchcraft as well as Wicca in a new global light that unites the east and the west. There is no point arguing about whether eastern or western paganism is superior. We know that we are all one and what we all must strive towards is to let go of all our misunderstandings and accept the magick in everyone and everything.

    (*)

    Swati Prakash is the founder of Global Wicca and the author of The Global Wicca Revolution which is now amazon fulfilled all over India.

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  • The Importance of Meditation for those into Witchcraft and Magick

    The Importance of Meditation for those into Witchcraft and Magick

    If there was just ONE thing that I would suggest someone who wishes to be magickally powerful and spiritually enlightened…it would be meditation.

    Its free…you can do it yourself, alone, without any rigorous training.

    Its simple…just relax and observe yourself, your breath, your thoughts, the silence in between thoughts, keep it up… and sooner or later…all thoughts will slowly dissapear and you will be in a state of phenomenal peace and bliss. Whether it takes, days, months or years a daily practice goes a long way to find lasting inner silence.

    You can meditate anytime…anyplace…wearing whatever is comfortable….there are simply no strict rules. In the beginning you can close your eyes and meditate for a few minutes in a silent place. Increase the duration slowly to at least an hour a day…and you will enjoy it so much that you will try and spend maximum time in this state.

    It will be your second nature after a few years of daily practice…so much so that you will be in a meditative state of self-realization and enlightenment permanently. You will be in a state of constant awareness, whether you are doing something or not, whether with others or alone, whether in a quiet place or in a noisy crowd.

    Now how is all this linked to magick and witchcraft?

    Aren’t magick and witchcraft about wearing fancy robes and headgears and playing with all those crafty tools such as wands and athames …brooms and cauldrons.

    Basically isn’t witchcraft a bit more fun?

    Well…if I think about it very deeply the answer is no.

    Witchcraft and magick are NOT about playing dress up to entertain yourself and others through fantastic ceremonies and rituals. And meditative work is so much fun, you would much rather do it all the time….You can combine meditation with almost all spells and rituals for best results.

    Witchcraft has always been since ancient times a healing craft. The purpose is spiritual healing. I know that since the 20th century witchcraft has become much more popular as a kind of ceremonial magic rooted in the west, yet throughtout ancient times, wise men and women across the world who healed and gave guidance to people were always deeply aware of the spirit and highly powerful through their soul. There were ceremonies and rituals, yes, but that was to induce a trance state to make the healing deeper and more sensory, more tangible – for the crowds who required healing and the new initiates who were being trained.

    These rituals and ceremonies if done without the presence of an aware and enlightened master are just not as useful. The person conducting the healing has to have a deeply awakened soul. Then only will the right positive energy be transferred from the master to the seekers.

    It is only through a crystal clear consciousness that we can be a true channel of divine spirit. That is the only real power. Without this magick would be dark, ignorant, negative or weak in power, with hardly any benefit to anyone. Infact ignorant magical practices such as curses or hate spells could do more harm than good both to the practitioner and the recepient. Powerful magick is rooted in the awareness that ‘As Within So Without’ – that we all are creators of our reality and all our inner energy manifests outside in numerous aspects of our life. The more positive our inner energy the more it is of benefit to ourselves and the world.

    Also we have to remember that in the past,  many tribes and native cultures were developing spiritually. Shamans and seers, healers and witches were born with their powers simply because they had done some spiritual work and meditation in their past lives. Still, there was training in meditative trance, dream-working, understanding the symbolisms of the inner mind…past life healing and energy work to some extent. This formed the base of shamanic and native folk magic in many societies. In addition there was a knowledge of local herbs, stones and animal totems which helped the healer give something more tangible to help the receipient accept the healing through a solid object or special rituals.

    The world has just reawakened in the later half of the 20th century or so…thanks to a fusion of eastern and western spirituality. People are much more self-realized than before and magick is becoming increasingly simple and unbelievably so.

    Today we have meditators who can create magic with simple intentions or affirmations faster than you would take to fetch your wand. Let’s face it, the more spiritually evolved a society becomes, the less occult and less complex its magickal power. Also the more our civilisation evolves, the brighter and more positive its magick becomes. No longer are people interested in cursing and harming each other and not longer are they attached to lowly desires of acquiring a person of their choice. Enlightenment is far too common now as compared to before.

    More and more people find peace, happiness, prosperity, inner-joy, love and wellbeing through enlightened magick which is the hallmark of today’s awakened world.

    Science and spirit unite today and magick is no longer just ‘occult mumbo-jumbo’. Everyone talks of quantum science and vibrational energy… everyone speaks of mind-matter connection and the matrix theory of simulated universe. It won’t be very long…till we have all the answers.

    Today witches, wizards and magickal folk of the past are reborn as the modern spiritual scientists and healers of contemporary times.

    Whether or not we call ourselves witches or magicians, every one of us has an immense magickal power within that can be further awakened through inner work and meditation. If we want to be effective as magickal healers or witches, it will do us well to meditate and sharpen our inner power than to merely tinker around with outer objects in our magickal work.

    If this inspires you to learn more about a deeper kind of healing magick, you can find in-depth information, instructions and spiritual exercises in The Global Wicca Revolution available globally through amazon.

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    Blessed Be

    (*)

    Swati Prakash

  • How to Be a Witch and/ or Wiccan

    How to Be a Witch and/ or Wiccan

    A lot of times I have heard people ask – ‘I want to be a witch, can you teach me?’, or ‘I want to be a Wiccan, can you initiate me?’

    So allow me to clarify what being a witch and being a Wiccan really are all about and how to be a witch and/ or Wiccan.

    Witch: The meaning of the word is wise-one. In the ancient times those people who were knowledgable about healing, herbalism, native medicine and those who could guide people with their common problems, through psychic predictions such as clairvoyant visions, or through various herbs and folk magic spells were regarded as witches. They occupied positions of respect. All over the world, whether the west or the east we had plenty of witches. What did they do to ‘become’ witches. Did they take classes, pass tests or get initiated into secret naked covens of 13? Or did they have an innate wisdom that they honoured and honed, learning through nature, through their grandparents and their own intuitive inner self?

    Wiccan: The meaning of the word is someone who believes in the Wiccan Rede which means Harming None while doing as you Will. In doing so Wiccans become people who believe in recognising divinity in everyone and everything, being kind to nature, being tolerant with regard to specific beliefs, sexuality, personal choices as long as you harm none, believing in equality of gender, believing in animal-rights, sacredness of trees and forests, water and earth. All these directly flow from the principle of the Wiccan Rede. Wicca is not one of the religions typified by conversion process to be part of it. It is a natural spirituality, also called paganism or neo-paganism (being a new age revival of the ancient ways). What do you have to do to believe in the Wiccan Rede? Does it take an initiation ceremony to believe in something? Or is it something to be done within you, through your own mind?

    Being a witch and being a Wiccan is all about your inner self, your inner choices and beliefs in your divine power, in the divinity of nature, in the sacredness of life, death and the magick of the universe which is constantly unfolding everywhere. There is magick in each moment – the way we are built, the way each cell and molecule of the world is built, the way planets revolve and rotate, the way seasons change, from the smallest to the largest thing in the world, magick is our infinite reality. To be consciosuly aware of this truth, and to use this knowledge wisely for the benefit of ourself and our world, that’s what being a witch and Wiccan is all about.

    Initiation: This simply means getting accepted in a specific spiritual tradition or system, usually lineaged from a founder to a chain of initiates. A tradition means a body of knowledge that is carried forward even if the teacher is no more. The teachings are passed on from teacher to student and the student then becomes a teacher and passes it to other students and so on. This is true of several systems of ancient spirituality and it was the norm in Wiccan spirituality in the beginning till recent times. In Wicca so far, you would get initiated if you get specific skills and training with the aim of being part of an existing Wiccan tradition. However with the advent of technology, books, internet and multiple ways of disseminating information traditional initiation is no longer mandatory.

    Is Initiation for you? Will the students of the original teacher pass on the right knowledge through the chain or will it become chinese whispers? If the original teachers or founders of those traditions that are lineaged were to be alive today, will they remain stuck at their old teachings and beliefs, or would they have transformed and updated their knowledge and practice from the time when they developed it? Are the initiates as good as the original master, or are they a bunch of egotists who are more interested in showing off their lineage and playing power games?

    Thankfully today through books authored directly by the founders of the tradition it is possible to get accurate knowledge straight from the horses mouth. Yet if the authors are deceased its perhaps better to look for new authors too and be updated with the latest discoveries and inventions in the world. Whenever possible look for living masters who teach you directly instead of learning indirectly through a lineage of initiates. That is my advise and my preference as the Founder of Global Wicca.

    Training: Classes, certifications, courses, degree training, all are surely there for those who wish to gain more specific skills either for personal use or for helping others professionally. But to be a witch and to be Wiccan, both are about an inner awareness, an enlightenment you gain yourself through meditation and inner spiritual work. You can learn to be a better witch through teachers and guides who add to your knowledge, who provide you opportunities to practice and hone your skills.

    There is a vast universe within you and your inner self is the best teacher, the best master. Look for those outer teachers and guides who help you get in touch with the inner self instead of leading you to follow them rigidly.

    Also remain focused once you find the right path without wandering around collecting information, collecting certificates, collecting initiations, collecting degrees – do not be a mindless spiritual consumer. If you were doing that then there was something missing within you.

    Be on the right path and stay on the right path that goes straight within.

    All the best

    (*)

    Swati Prakash

     

     

  • Eeeek …Witches! Really?

    Eeeek …Witches! Really?

    ‘Miss. Miss. Miss…can I tell you something?’ an excited three year old girl at my son’s nursery ran to me and started off. ‘There was a woman. She wanted to eat up all the pet animals. She was so scary. She was a witch. She was so evil….’ she went on breathlessly… and then quickly ran away to play with my son. The kids had just been subject to an hour long pantomine that told the wicked tale of the supposed evil that lurks as witches in the world.

    Now what can I say to a small kid of her age? In my book ‘Yes, You Are A Witch!‘ explains in a fun way, to older kids and young adults, how being a Witch is great and positive and how witchcraft is simply wise-craft, a positive application of a spiritual power that all of us are naturally endowed with, to improve our life. Yet instead of books like these, libraries have been stocked with children’s books such as ‘Witches’ by Roald Dahl, that bring forth images of horrible women who turn innocent kids to mice. I am glad that at least JK Rowling and Sir Terry Pratchett brought some kind of balance to this situation by depicting at least a few good witches their legendary fiction books. Yet the amount of misunderstanding that little ones have been subject to, in the name of ‘witchcraft’ and ‘witches’ through fiction and fairytales over the years of growing up right from babyhood is absolutley incredible.

    The other day I was reading a book called ‘Meg and Mog’ to my son which is about a witch who lives with her cat Mog. Turns out predictably that she dresses up in black cloak and a tall hat to fly on a broom up the chimney after midnight with her cauldron brewing bats, spiders, worms, beetles and frogs with her witchy friends at her ‘spell party’ gathering on the hill, where her friends get turned into, guess what – mice.

    Funny? Enjoyable? Yes for sure! But such stories while fictional also strengthen the mis-perception of witches being crazy weirdos having strange super-powers who are upto no good.

    Have you ever heard of any such negative images regarding any other real-life, very much existing, thriving community or sub-culture made of real people being spread amongst kids and adults alike in such a widespread way across centuries? Have you heard of books that have cartooned up any other social, professional, religious, or cultural group in this manner through fiction and non-fiction alike, brainwashing us right from the time we were little? What if we depicted any other professional skill in similar derogatory ways commonly in literature – lets say carpenters as men who sawed kids up, beauticians as ladies who skinned people alive, or religious priests as horrible men who abused little boys? Doesn’t sound fair now, does it?

    The last thing I want my son to grow up thinking is that witches are pure evil, kind of weird, whacko loonies or in any way ‘not normal’ people. Not because I am a Witch, but because I believe in sharing only truth.

    So when can we have some positive stories written about witches for little kids? Any of you writers listening out there? Coz if you don’t do it I surely will!

    (*)

    Swati Prakash

  • The De-Occultation of Witchcraft, Wicca and Paganism

    The De-Occultation of Witchcraft, Wicca and Paganism

    Secret societies, underground witch-cult, hidden worship of pagan deities, clandestine initiations, ritual sex, skyclad covens, dark-magick, mystery religion, OCCULT – are these what you have been hearing all this while whenever you tried researching witchcraft and even Wicca?

    Is witchcraft something that is learnt only through initiation in a coven?

    Is the witch-power transferred only through either blood-lineage or coven-initiation?

    Is Wicca a kind of occult ceremonialism?

    Do you have to go through some secret ceremony to ‘become’ a witch?

    Is Wicca just another word for the witch-cult?

    These were questions that I have dealt with in my books but I still see a lot of darkness and ignorance being spread by certain ‘Wiccan’ traditions (also termed ‘fundamentalist’ Wiccans) who keep promoting Wicca as a secret, mystery cult that requires certain specific lineages and initiations by those who claim to have those lineages.

    In the past people had several misconceptions regarding witchcraft and Wicca. These were owing to the fact that there was no open practice of paganism, witchcraft and magick in the western world not so long ago. The western world had been quite totally Christianised and any kind of belief that was not part of the widely approved Christian teachings would be classified as witchcraft and paganism and connected falsely to satan or devil worship. The only reason this was done was to establish a superiority of Christianity over any other faith, especially older faiths. The west, just like the east, had ancient pagan faiths such as the Celtic, Norse, Greek, Roman and other beliefs, deities, magical practices and folk-magic of the old-times. However these ancient faiths were so majorly suppressed and people so heavily converted that there remained hardly any who have a direct awareness of their ancient pagan ancestry.

    Then came a host of secret societies who attempted to revive the ancient mysteries. These were perhaps inspired by travels of these occultists to the magickal eastern world that was still consisting of ancient pagan faiths and had not yet succumbed to conversions. Most of the occult practitioners of the west has some or the other inspiration from the eastern mystics for magic and paganism has been in a constant flow in eastern countries unlike the broken cords of the western paganism. At the same time in trying to somehow assemble the pieces of the pagan puzzle together, western occultists dabbled in various sources…  Egyptian, Greek, Mesopotamian, Arthurian, Hindu, Jewish and many more mystical ideas all intermixed with the prevalent Christian views. Their fear of being exposed while they formulated and crafted their ceremonial cults led to the creation of obscure, underground movements that spread in esoteric circles into which entry was barred to but a few, especially in the inner circles.

    Witchcraft is different. Witchcraft is nothing but the crafting our our life with spiritual wisdom. It can be as simple as basic folk magic practiced all over the world and not just the west. Its existed for centuries of human history much before such secret cults were formed in the west. Witchcraft is also be the timeless practice of spiritual realisation and higher mind-power such as practiced by meditators and preached by self-help gurus of today. There have been witches and wizards, shamans and druids, babas and yogis all over the world who have had magical powers since ancient times. These magical powers were not always passed genetially through the bloodline, neither were they conveyed through any special ceremonies in covens. Initiations if any were presented to students by teachers as a transfer of blessing of the master, whether in group or individualy, but in no way was initiation the only way of ‘becoming’ a witch or magical practioner. One could gain the power on one’s own through inner work. In many cases one’s self discovery was a part of several lifetimes of inner work carried forward from past to present and future lifetimes and soul’s often remembered their previous learnings and awakened their powers with or without any formal lessons or initiations conveyed externally. This is true today as well, and will always be.

    Wicca is an evolving and growing faith or religion which is spiritually open minded and based on the Wiccan Rede or guidance of harming none. It may involve witchcraft especially as Wiccan traditions have temples where trained healers help people through counseling and healing spells, rituals or therapies. Wiccan healers are highly studied in various healing modalities and therefore called witches. But not all Wiccans choose to become professional healers or witches. It is completely possible for you to accept Wicca merely as a faith by aligning with its philosophy without getting too deep into the witchcraft part of it.

    Some people who are stuck in the secret-society times and cling on to their deeply ingrained versions of the history and origins of Wicca, imagine that one has to be ‘properly’ initiated in a coven to become a witch, to belong to a hereditary or initiatory lineage by a specific British person who claimed to have such a lineage from some obsure source. Their insistence that such and such lineage is the be all and end of of witchcraft, and that British witchcraft or traditional witchcraft or the ‘craft’ is how Wicca began and will therefore will have to end is being totally ignored today.

    People now realise that most of the covens that practice such ‘traditional’ witchcraft are not practicing the original witchcraft of really ancient origin, but something that was put together or assembled from various sources by British occultists. These occultists were  indeed inspired by Margaret Murray’s witch cult hypothesis claiming that witchcraft is a religion of the horned god and moon goddess, carried out in secrecy in the western world through covens. Occultists who claimed to be initiates of such covens attempted an amalgamation of pagan mythologies with ceremonial magic which was in vogue then, and created their book of shadows full of rituals that were a mix-and match of several things. Many of these occultists were also perhaps high on substance abuse and indulged in a few ‘demonic’ practices to come up with rather kinky rituals involving harmful kinds of magical spells, sexual orgies, whipping initiates on the bottom, spewing ritual curses against those who angered them, offering animal sacrifices, harmful use of vodou dolls and secret skyclad or naked gatherings under the full moon. In the eastern world of magic too, there have been plenty of negative practitioners who focused on the left-hand path including harmful aghora to create fear of their power, sexual tantra to control women, rituals to curse and harm others and manipulative vashikarans that are equally abhorable. Practitioners of both eastern and western occultism who induldged in harmful rituals did not have especially pleasant, peaceful or happy lives of course, and had distrubed families, physical and mental health problems and complicated relationship or sexual lives as well as financial and legal difficulties to handle all the time. They clinged on to their covens and expanded their following to satisfy their shallow egos and to add something ‘special’ to their inner void. Some even took some sort of unusual prominence and a weird kind of respect in the world in which they would otherwise not be accepted very well if not for their interest value. Now to link Wicca exclusively to those kind of western occultists and claim that the real Wicca is what these people claim to be as their version of the rebirth of the ancient religion or craft is an absolutely outdated way of thinking.

    Today witchcraft is not regarded as harmful sorcery but as a magical path of wisdom which is simple and meditative, using ordinary herbs, natural stones and crystals, positive thoughts and visualisations for healing and self help.

    Today most people treat Wicca as something different from witchcraft in general as a spiritual path based on ‘An Ye Harm None, Do As Ye Will’ – the Wiccan Rede that is the main guiding philosophy making it one of the most positive of all faiths.

    Today Wiccan witchcraft is not a cult, and not normally consisting of secret activities practiced in closed covens, but a spirituality which is an acceptable religion for the masses to easily follow.

    Today there is not usually a need to get initiated in covens through any lineages, in order to ‘become’ a Wiccan, leave alone to become a witch. Thanks to the wide spread of knowledge and open spirituality through books, internet and the numerous teachers and institutes of spirituality in the new-age wave, we have a lot of people realising their inner-witch and also choosing Wicca as a faith on their own.

    Instead of secret covens of those specific lineaged traditions who claimed to be the only type of Wicca, we now have many modern traditions that are promoting a positive and open form of Wicca to the masses without trying to control or dominate the Wiccan scene by proving their ‘legitimacy’ or superiority over other traditions or ideologies.

    A lot of darkness and negativity has been lifted away from the entire gamut of Wicca, witchcraft and magick.

    Today these paths have much more light and love, being free of rigid notions or narrow minded secret practices, free of harmful content and gimmicks, and welcoming to one and all regardless of your faith, your lineage or the lack of it, your ancestry or ethenicity.

    Today while Wiccans worship pagan deities, they also realise that all deities represent their inner powers and instead of focusing on external idolatory or entity invocations, they focus on self-awareness and inner work.

    Instead of focusing on ceremonialism and ritualism based on specific chants and rote-learned motions, Wiccans in the modern world focus on energy work, meditative spellcasting, inner healing and self-transformation with the aim of being happier, more positive people.

    Today Wicca is indeed transforming the world for the better through an eco-consciousness, an awakeneing of nature loving spirituality and kindness towards all on earth. Wiccans are seen openly performing earth healing rituals that are fun and relaxing, and easy to participate in. There is a lot to learn, and even children can feel safe in these modern Wiccan events and gatherings where there are enlightened and loving souls who participate joyfully without any of the obsure mumbo-jumbo to puzzle, riddle and confuse the masses.

    Indeed these are good times for spiritual seekers of the new Wiccan paths, and things are only getting better each day.

    I hope that you will have the discretion to choose those teachers and guides who are truly helpful in your spiritual growth and will have the wisdom to understand that all teachers are ultimately here to guide you back to your inner-self.

    Blessed Be

    (*)

    Swati Prakash

    www.globalwicca.com

  • Ban or Banish…How should we handle negative things

    Ban or Banish…How should we handle negative things

    Defining negative as something that is clearly harmful for self or others..

    Is a banning beef justified?
    Is banning BBC from airing interviews of rapists justified?
    Are such bans helpful, effective or sufficient?
    Or do they make people feel powerless, as if their rights are taken away?

    What I have observed is that more and more of people have been unhappy, angry, frustrated or sad at the state of our world.
    The problem is that whatever you feel unhappy about can gain as much power as what you love.
    Hate and love are equally strong emotions, and infact two sides of a coin.
    The more you think, feel and talk about your hates, the more you attract more of what you hate.
    The more you feel and visualise what you love, the more of it you get.

    With rights come responsibility.
    Are we willing to use our power wisely without harming anyone?
    Ideally we should stop killing animals or felling trees or taking life to satisfy our greed, even if these things are not banned.
    And ideally we should speak about, publicise, promote, enjoy circulating positive, wise, useful events, people, news and energy much much more often, while banishing things that promote fear or harm, from deep within us.

    Banishing evil is an inside job..it needs to be done within our psyche.
    Learn how to banish negativity in course 6 of http://www.globalwicca.com in the free fundamental training online.
    Yes, its free, because its necessary.
    Spread the light and love.

    Blessed be
    (*)
    http://www.swatiprakash.com

  • The (reverse) Conversion

    The (reverse) Conversion

    They are everywhere

    You are watching a spellbinding moment on Charmed and the bell rings…

    Enjoying a quiet stroll by the riverside and there you hear them shout…

    Rushing to a client meeting and they will still run into you before you run for the train…

    Go to the supermarket to buy a toilet roll and there they are…lurking…waiting…pouncing on anyone who seems like a nice person

    And before you know it a magazine will be shoved through your door or a hand will firmly place a finger on that book which has the words of their God and they will read out a line or two in an attempt to demonstrate how nice the book is…hoping you will be lured into reading it. They will make every attempt to preach through their book. Yes they are passionate promoters of their faith.

    If Wiccans would take even one millionth of this kind of effort to publicise their faith, I guarantee you that even the pigs and chickens in the galaxy will become Wiccans in no time. (but thank Goddess we are not chasing followers)

    So here is today’s ‘conversion’, enjoy!

    A young woman on the street, “Hi, you look like you speak another language than English, are you Portuguese?”

    I (aware of my Asian skin tone), “No, don’t worry, I speak English”

    She begins to pulls a thin magazine from her bag

    I, “I know you are from a church, don’t worry that magazine is already delivered to my house”

    She, “So do you enjoy reading it?”

    I, “I have read it once”

    She keeps the magazine back and pulls The Book out of her bag and points at a para, “Do you know the prophecy, just like the Lord’s prayer….kingdom come….on earth as in heaven….see here in this book. The day is coming when God will establish his government on earth and it will be better for everyone. Do you believe in this?”

    I, “Its great that the world is getting better”. I look at my baby sleeping in the pram and at the road ahead hoping she gets the hint.

    She comes in front again, “See just like you love your baby our father loves us too, he is God, do you believe in him?”

    I “Sure you can call God mother, or anything else too”

    She, “Yes but Jesus said father, our father in heaven will come and change our earth. Do you believe it?”

    I, “See no one is coming from outside to heal us, we must learn healing ourselves. God is within, its our inner self”

    She, “But God is a personality who is outside and there is also a Devil who is the opposite of him”

    I, “All the positive energy is God and its in us too, like a wave flowing through all of us. We need to meditate to be aware of the energy”

    She seems interested, so I go on, “Devil is ignorance, because when we are ignorant of this energy that unites us, then we harm others because we falsely believe ourselves to be different. But all karma comes back to us eventually because we are interconnected as one. When we are aware of karma we do good”

    She, “That’s really good. Its written here in the book that God created the earth, he made Adam and Eve, in Genesis, see here…in his image…so yes it may be that we all have the qualities of God, See its written here God has these qualities, Love, Wisdom, Power…its written here…Jesus said, God is love. But I always thought God is a distinct personality, a being, who has created us like its written here in Genesis. So who has created us if there is nothing outside?”

    I, “God is an unlimited energy. Like you said, its love…its a creative energy that forms everything. Its not a person somewhere outside…its not a limited personality with a limited form. We all have it inside and we can all channel this positive energy, even you can do it.”

    She, “But we are told that this book has the words of God so everything is there in it, we have to follow it. We have to read it everyday. I can send you one.”

    I, “I have one thank you, I have read it…it was a different version, but see I have a nice way of reading this one…let’s see I will try to get a message for you from this book.”

    I perform a Bibliomancy reading for her, reading a random para after meditating and focusing on what she needs to know to give a message to her.

    Gosh, its a para about how Jehovah was angry and burnt a city and all the people. (Those kinds are what they avoid reading when they are soft selling)

    I, “Look the book says God is love so how is it that this book indicates that he had this anger issue as well, what’s all this burning cities and people”

    She trembles a bit, “Yes, I suppose he was angry because people were not being nice to each other… but yes I see what you are saying…its hard to believe that God can have anger also, if it is made of love”

    I, “Look here there is something about magic and divination written here”

    She, “Yes its written in Deuteronomy 18:10 that there should not be anyone who practices divination, or magic, or talk to spirits”

    I, “But divination is all about listening to intuition, its the only way of knowing the truth for yourself …we have to feel God within, meditate and listen to the inner voice. And magic is all about using the inner energy of God for healing so that we can be self reliant, its God’s energy, even spirits need healing”

    She, “But see we are told that God wants us to be loyal to him, just like you will want your husband to be loyal to you and not go outside, similarly we should not go to other gods, there are many other gods, there are gods of Egypt and animal gods and god in idols… and we should not believe in other gods”

    I, “Idols are not gods, they are symbols of various godly powers, like Durga symbolises protection from evil forces. Nothing wrong with idols. And all gods and goddesses are one but they all symbolise various positive powers, so what do you mean by ‘other gods’…all is one, we are all one. God will never say those things”

    She, “Yes we are all one, what you say is true. But then why will the Book say that our God is different from other gods, and we should not believe in any other gods… and why will it say we should not use divination or magic?”

    I, “Why don’t you ask the people who wrote these books why they are writing such things? Someone has written this book and then they have made so many versions of it right?”

    She (thinks for the first time instead of reading), “Right, thank you. So what do you think we should do to make the world better.”

    I, “We should all learn meditation, healing and magic. You should learn magic. That the message from the Bible through divination. Blessed Be!”

    United

  • The Resurrection

    The Resurrection

    There was once a time when people worshipped nature and its various forces, deified in the form of gods and goddesses of every kind. We all belong to that era in our soul. Somewhere we may have forgotten our past, but we can never truly shake it off. Even if we did convert into any of the popular modern faiths through time, the call of the soul is one which remains strong across our past lives, redirecting us to the time when we had faith in everything and celebrated all.

    Ancient faith through modern times slowly faded away at least in the western world, its monuments preserved as ruins of archaeological interest, where tourists can take photographs today. Look at the ancient temples and sites at Greece for example. It hurts to see that there is hardly any sacred ritual of worship conducted at those sites that once were awesome places of power and magick. And somewhere I feel great pride and satisfaction to be born in my present incarnation in India, the magickal land where history survives strong and ancient faith still shines brightly in every nook and corner in the form of millions of temples and deities that we can interact with and enjoy working with at any time. 

    Today at Lughnasad, unplanned and totally unexpectedly I was somehow drawn to visit the location of the Temple of Mithras in London. This is an ancient place that calls us to witness the culture, the tradition and the divinity of the past, where over 2000 years ago we worshipped the god of Light alongside several other deities such as Mercury the messenger who travelled between the realms, Minerva the goddess of witchcraft and creation, and Serapis who is believed to be the god of the underworld. And now this place of power is being restored is what I hear and see through the scaffolds around it.

    It is exciting indeed to see that we are discovering and learning about our roots, but more exciting is a possibility that perhaps some day we can bring back the divine traditions of worship, celebration and ritual at these temples restored back to their former glory. It is important that we celebrate and worship at sites of power and not just look at them as artefacts to be photographed with, for only then can we truly bring back our ancient power that flows through our lives, life after life.

    At the same time it is necessary to build new temples that celebrate the timeless faith of nature and the universe and offer their energy to the public for the betterment of all humankind on earth. As such at Global Wicca I propose that we join hands and create new temples, starting with any place that you own that may be suitable to be converted into sites of power and magick. Do contact me if interested. 

    Blessed Be

    (*)

    Swati Prakash

  • Words and Their Meanings

    In witchcraft words are believed to be sacred, just like spells.

    Over time we learned to use words without much awareness, thereby using the right word wrongly.

    A few examples:

     

    1. Bitch

    Now how many times have people used this word to refer to ‘a bad woman’…

    Truly what this word means is simply a female dog. That’s it. And those of you who know anything about dogs and bitches know how sweet, loyal and wonderful these creatures can be. I totally object to the usage of the word bitch to refer to someone you hate if only for the respect of the animal this word actually represents.

    So when someone calls anyone bitch – what they really must be meaning is a-  Beautiful Innocent Trustrworthy Creature or Human

     

    2. WITCH

    The meaning of the word links to wit, just like wizard to wise. Over time while wizards have been held in awe and being a wizard is taken as a compliment (eg computer wiz refers to a genius in computer technology), the word witch with its feminine connection has been wrongly used as an abuse or an accusation when you want to prove a woman is mean or nasty. Some people until now have wrongly described negative magicians or sorcerers as witches too which is another common mistake. Fears and misunderstanding regarding witchcraft were spread over the centuries painting a very ugly picture of witches. It is necessary to realise and correct this error. Harmful use of magical power is not witchcraft. All magic is not witchcraft. Witchcraft only refers to the wise use of magic.

    A truly wise woman or man will be aware that energy given is energy received and ultimately everything returns to the one self which is within. Obviously they would refrain from unwise or harmful practices while channelling good or positive power alone. Only then can they deserve the title of Witch or Wiz.

    So the real meaning of Witch – Wise Inspiring Transformational Compassionate Human

    WITCHprint in middle of pg-dont stretch

     

    3. Black Magic

    I know that most of the readers as well as this author have so far used this term to refer to bad use of magic, if only because the world has used the term black magic as such. The words, dark and black have been linked to negativity or harmful power, while the word fair, light, bright, white have been used to refer to positive and helpful power. Unfair…or unjust rather! …Or perhaps magical apartheid as I realise.

    The word black or dark actually has nothing to do with bad or harmful if seen in their true sense. Black is a colour of transformation – it absorbs the visible spectrum of light and converts it into other energy – perhaps into infra red or thermal energy. Black people are just as beautiful or nice as those who are white or fair. The dark night is as lovely as the bright day. Dark is the colour of the divine crone goddess who represents transformation of something which is no longer useful into something more useful, just like death does.

    It might be right to use the word harmful when referring to harmful energy, instead of the term black magic, if only to respect the colour black and the population of people who are black.

     

    Probably I am taking the literal meanings of words a bit too far here, but words are power, and power is to be used well and in the right way, if one has to take the path of wisdom.

    Clearly I have tried to suggest that the words bitch, witch, dark and black not be really used for abuses any more than dog, wizard, bright or white.

    Personally I also try to refrain from using negative, abusive or harmful language of any kind even in normal day to day life. Using positive vocabulary is part of keeping our energy field positive.

    After all every word is a spell.

    Blessed Be

    (*)

    Swati Prakash

    www.globalwicca.com