Spirit Guides

Spirit Guides...  All of us have them. They are all around us, all we have to do is except them, open ourselves up enough to see or hear them. Understanding what these Spirit Guides are, and what they do, is instrumental in being able to contact them, being able to receive and interpret their messages, and allow them to protect & guide us.
There are many different types of Spirit Guides... Animal Spirit Guides are but one aspect of this complicated array. I have worked with Animal Spirit Guides for about 10 years now. Before I began communicating with my Animal Spirit Guides,  I worked mainly with human spirit guides, which are simply spirits who were once a human being, like you and I. They have lived their life, performed their tasks, died, and crossed over to the spirit realm. Some spirits choose to reincarnate into a new life right away, and begin the Journey anew. Others, however, make the choice to remain in the Spirit Realm, so that they can help others still living to learn their life's lessons and spiritually advance. This is one type of Spirit Guide.
This type of Spirit Guide is often easier to understand, their messages are clearer and less open to interpretation. Because they were once human, they are well aware of the problems we face in everyday life, they understand the nuances of living as a human. They were once concerned with very similar matters. They tend to have their own special areas of expertise, often based on past personal experiences or careers they have had in a past.
The generally excepted types for this Spirit guide include; Ascended Masters, Ancestral Guides, or a Teacher Guide. These are the types of spirits you want to join you as guides. They have remained within the spiritual realm to aid and assist the living.
Many people assume that contacting and working with their spirit guides requires an extra special talent. It does not. It simply is a matter of being open to receiving the guidance that is always available to us. When most people think of contacting a Spirit Guide, they assume that you must have some sort of Psychic Ability, you must be a Medium, be Clairaudient, or be Telepathic... While having these abilities does aid in contact, it is not necessary. Most of those abilities are available to everyone, with proper training and practice anyway... but not necessary to begin working with Spirit Guides. I often hear (or read) people claiming to have Natural Psychic Abilities, and I just want to point out that Every one of us has those abilities... Maybe they didn't have to work at it, or maybe their use of their ability came natural to them... but we all have these abilities, they are just unused in most people.

There are dangers in working with this type of Spirit Guide, and anyone new to this should not attempt to contact the spirit realm without protection. Using any divination tool without proper knowledge, training and protection can open you up to dangerous forces. By studying and learning about such things, you can prepare yourself in advance. I would not recommend that anyone ever try to contact the spirit realm, even looking for guides, with out knowing these dangers and how to protect yourself from them.
Just like in every aspect of occult workings today, there are those people who will say that there are no Demons, no sinister forces who want to hurt you... I know many psychics will tell you that All human spirits are good and just want to help, but this is simply not true. Whether you call them Demons, or Shadow People, or any other name, there are entities out there that are attracted to magick. They wait and watch for an opportunity to strike. For reasons known only to themselves, they Do mean you harm. So, do not simply grab a Ouija board and attempt to use it.
Remember, a Ouija board is a form of voluntary possession. It is a way of contacting those within the spirit realm, of drawing a spirit to you. But the spirit does not move the planchette itself, it moves it Through you... In order for the Ouija board to work, you basically have to give the spirit permission to posses you.  Once you've opened yourself up to the Ouija board, it's a crapshoot as to what's going to try to make contact -- if you're just randomly calling upon any nearby entity, then you don't know who or what is moving that planchette around, or what its purpose is... You should keep that in mind. It's like meeting someone online... you don't know who that person really is, you don't even know what they Really look like... and it's all good, until you meet someone who turns out to be a psycho killer. Which is why we learn to protect ourselves when meeting someone online, just in case. It's the same thing with meeting a spirit, you have no idea who you are meeting... a little care & protection can mean allot. It's like I always say "Knowledge is Power' so if you are interested in finding this type of spirit guide, Read, Study & Learn, BEFORE you attempt contact.

One of the things about having this type of Spirit Guide and being able to communicate with the spirit realm is that it takes longer to learn. It also takes more precautions, more protection.

This is just my beliefs about Spirit Guides, what I've learnt or been taught. I'm sure there are many different opinions out there, this is just mine.

Love & Light
Wicca Dreamers, Mary

Animal Spirit Guides vs Spirit Animal Totems or Power Animals

Understanding Animal Spirit Guides:

In our society today, we have distanced ourselves from Nature and from all the things of the Natural World. As Pagans, we move back towards that state of being, we recapture that connection with Nature. And in doing so, we discover things that our culture has lost. One of those things that many of us discover is that the Divine has placed certain Guides or Helpers along our path in this life... They are there to Guide or Help us along this Journey we are making.
We may have never noticed them before, never even guessed that they are there, and yet they have been there all along. Attempting to aid and guide us, attempting to communicate with us, just trying to get our attention. And now that we are 'ready' to listen... we must let them know in some way that we are ready.
The first step is understanding who and what an Animal Spirit Guide actually is. And then we need to figure out Which Animal is my Guide? Which Animal is my Totem or Power Animal... And What is the Difference?

An Animal Spirit Guide is there to Guide you. It is not your Totem/Power animal, It is your Guide. These terms are often used interchangeably, even though they are two different things...

Totem/Power Animal:
A Totem/Power Animal is with you from the time you are born into this world, until the time that you leave it. This animal is chosen by your Spirit before you are born. In this animal you will find reflections of yourself. By studying you animal totem and understanding all the different aspects of it's character... you will come to understand yourself. Your Totem/Power Animal is with you always. It protects you throughout your lifetime. It is not a guide. It is here to teach you important lessons that you must learn in this lifetime in order for you soul to grow and advance. If you are open to your animal totem, it will assist you in overcoming the many & varied life experiences that you must face.
Your Totem/Power Animal often represents qualities and attributes that you may see in yourself. It is instructive to learn about the habits and characteristics of your power animal and see how they are reflected in your own personality and life. My Totem/Power Animal is the Wolf. I have always known this, somewhere in the back of my mind, since I was a small child. I have always had a strong connection with wolves. I was a loner as a child (still am I guess) and my mother used to say I was her 'Lone Wolf'... In the wolf I have found myself... In all the symbolic & realistic meanings of 'Wolf' I found things that 'connect' to myself, who I am, Why I am the way I am, etc. When you find your Totem/Power Animal, you will find that connection as well. By connecting to your Totem or Power Animal, you will enable the communication that will enable your Power Animal to successfully guide you through this lifetime.
Your Totem or Power Animal reflects your deeper, Spiritual Self and is always with you. Your Power Animal may, at times, call upon other Animal Spirits Guides to aid in your guardianship and this new Animal Spirit Guide may come to awaken you to the abilities the two of you share or it may come to teach the life skills you need to learn.

Animal Spirit Guide:
An Animal Spirit Guide, however, is just that, A Guide. It is there to Guide you through difficult situations. An Animal Spirit Guide is an animal spirit that comes forth to guide you through the trials of your life and to help you to understand the lessons that these experiences are there to teach you. The Spirit Animal is the one who comes to you in order to show you, through its own unique nature and skills, how to deal with the manifestations of your Spiritual Journey.

Every Spirit Animal has its own unique powers and skills to teach...it's own knowledge to share with you. Each Animal Spirit has it's own methods of overcoming life's challenges..

A certain Animal Spirit Guide may be with you your whole life, or it may be there just to help you through one special challenge. You may have many animal spirit guides or only one; this will depend on the lessons you need to learn and the trials you must face in this life.


There are Other types of Animal Spirit Guides, and they may come to you at different times during your life journey...

The Crossroads or Journey Animal Spirit comes to you as a guide when you are facing a major life decision, when you are at a 'crossroads' and your choices are likely to change the course of your path drastically. The Crossroads Guide shows up when you set forth on a  new life path.  It is there to help you find the best path for you to follow through this life-journey.  The Journey Animal will travel along with you until you have completed this present challenge and walk firmly upon this new life-path.


In Shamanism, particularly among Native Americans, There is another type of Animal Spirit that you can call upon...The Medicine Animal Spirit.
This animal spirit carries great medicine (healing energies) and comes to help heal and comfort you in times of serious illness and injury. These animal spirits only come when they are called, either by you or by a Healer or Shaman. A Medicine Spirit Animal will stay only until you are healed and are ready to let them go. Spirit Medicine Animals have great Wisdom and Healing abilities. If called upon they will guide you through the process of healing.


There is one other type of Animal Spirit, It is known as the Shadow Animal. The Spirit Shadow Animal comes to you because of lessons you have not learned. This Spirit Animal shows up in your life when you ignore life choices open to you, or refuse to change a behavior that precedes a life-lesson... causing that life-lesson to repeat over & over.  This Spirit Shadow Animal will come to you repeatedly until there is change.  It may come at the time of your greatest adversity and confusion. They call this Spirit Animal 'The Shadow' because it comes out of the Shadows, making itself known to you in ways that no other Spirit Animal does. When you are 'lost in the darkness' the Shadow Guide leads you back into the light... This Guide only shows up in your Darkest Hour. ,

I know there is allot of differing information out there about Spirit Animal Guides and Totems/Power Animals... This is my beliefs, what I have learnt or been taught about such things. I live on the Quechan Indian Reservation, and have for over 20 years. I have spoken with Native Americans about their beliefs, I have studied different Native Tribal beliefs & customs. I am not an expert by any means, I am just a student... I have been a practicing Shaman for a little over 3 years now, and there is still much for me to learn. One big obstacle that I had to overcome was 'Spirit Walking' or Lucid Dreaming... I had a great fear of leaving my body... Knowing whats out there can do that. Anyways, I still find it hard, although I have successfully accomplished it several times now... each time gets easier. Fear is a great anchor weighing me down, and I strive daily to release that fear...

Love & Light
Wicca Dreamers, Mary

Understanding Correspondences is one of the very basic steps in becoming a successful witch... 
In most Traditions, whether it's a Wiccan Tradition, or a Witchcraft Path, we practice what is called 'sympathetic' magick. So, when we say correspondence, we are talking about the connection between non-magickal items and magickal concepts.  

A Correspondence table or chart is like a cheat-sheet... It allows us to choose the correct ingredients for spells at a glance. There are correspondence tables available for all sorts of things. They list how the energetic and metaphysical connections between spell components respond to each other. 

A correspondence table, however, is just a tool. It is a way to make writing your own spells or rituals easier, but it should never be considered a hard & fast rule. Throughout different Traditions or Paths you will find that different practitioners may assign different meanings to things, and their correspondence tables may not match what you are used to seeing. Each Witch finds different meaning in different symbols. Many Witches create their own correspondence tables, due to their own experiences & belief system. The fact that it may be different than usual does not make it Wrong... only different. 
When you choose a correspondence table, you should carefully read through it... If it fits into your personal belief system, if the correspondences for the symbols involved match what you believe, then you can add it to your BoS... If they do not match, either find a new table, or create your own. Just Remember, there are no right or wrong correspondences, only differing ones.

With Herbal correspondences most beliefs follow the norm. By this I mean that you will not find many differences between one correspondence table and another. This is because the herb has certain healing abilities, and the correspondences are usually based on that. You might find that the Planetary correspondence for a certain herb is different, for example; Some correspondence tables will list Jupiter as the Planetary correspondence for Cloves... which to me is a Fire element and therefor the planetary ruler is the Sun... and there are correspondence tables that list the planetary ruler as the Sun... so, I would either list both planetary rulers... or simply exclude Jupiter, as it doesn't fit with my beliefs about Cloves... This is called 'Choice' and it is Always your right to Choose... it's up to the individual to choose what is right for them, it's neither right nor wrong, simply different.

How do we choose? 
The best way is through experience. After you have practiced witchcraft for awhile you will have a better understanding & feel for what is going to work for you. Until then the best thing to do is to find a site that gives knowledgeable advice and try it out for yourself. I always tell people to Research... Read everything... Knowledge is true power, and the more knowledge you have, the better magick will work for you.

Knowing what, when and how to work a spell will ensure that the chances of the spell working are greatly increased. 
What spell ingredients to use.
When is the best time to work the spell; taking into account the day of the week, the Moon cycle, the hour of the day or night.
How to perform the spell; how to mix or use the ingredients... how to call up the energies needed... How to incorporate it all into a working spell.

Correspondence tables will aid you in doing all of this. 

~Love & Light~
     ~Mary~

Book of Shadows

Can I have the Book of Shadows on my computer?


In this day & age, We tend to do whatever is most convenient, whatever is quickest & easiest... We can do anything, right?

With magick though, we always need to stop and think about the Best way to do things. Like when we are holding a Ritual and want to raise energies... We have to choose how we are going to do this. Some Witches choose to play drums or other music, or chant, dance, etc. And it's the same thing with our Book of Shadows, we have to consider what is the best method of creating & keeping our BoS...
Nobody is going to your home to fight with you because your book of shadows on the computer. However, there are two very significant reasons for you Not to have Just an On-line BoS:

1) When we Write in our own handwriting in our Book of Shadows, it is a physical act of power transmission . By transmitting our own energies into the BoS we can ensure that the book is ours alone, it is imbued with our energy . And this is extremely important in magick. It doesn't matter what your handwriting is like, It is not beauty that is at stake, you know, but the energy that you put in your book by writing it by hand. What I do is write out the spell onto a small piece of paper (or sometimes I do print it out, because I know that I am adding my energy when I work on the BoS page) and then I will emboss it, or burn the edges of the spell paper, and then glue it onto the page. I also add bits of stuff; like pieces of wood, leaves, dried flowers, herbs... whatever spell components I am using in the spell. This enhances the spell Page's energy.

2) The second reason is because you will need to have the book with you while doing your Rituals or Spell work. Having the book on your computer may be okay, but not very practical. In most situations you can not access the computer, I suppose you could use a tablet (if you have one) a laptop is probably going to be to bulky and distracting. Maybe I'm old school about this, but I just don't think it's practical. If you do choose to use a tablet or other device, be sure it's cleansed & warded regularly.

What I suggest is that you have Both and Online Book of Shadows and a Physical Book of Shadows, or at least a Spell Book. This way you can keep track of important information that you find online, and print or write the stuff you want in you physical BoS...






What do you want for your Book of Shadows?


The first step in starting a Book of Shadows, is to decide What you Want. It can be as simple or as elaborate as you want. I've made spell books out of a simple tablet I bought at Walmart, handwritten from cover to cover... I've also had fancy one's full of art & design... As always, this choice is yours.

Once you have that decided...

Then you can decide, What do you want in your Book of Shadows? Are you going to use it as a magickal diary? or a place to collect & store information? To always have on hand information for their rituals? Deciding this is an important step to correct the composition of his book. Decide what is right for you. If you want a book with information, make a list of the information you want in the book (Gods & Goddesses, Correspondences, Ritual, Spells, etc)


Whatever your choice, keep in mind that your book should be:

~ Functional: It should work for you. There is no use having a beautiful and wonderful BoS if you can not even turn its pages right for fear of tearing it, or if it is difficult to write in.

~Organization: Whatever the form of your book, you must have organization, or else it is virtually impossible to find information.

~Beauty: Of course nobody wants to have an ugly book. It shows that you value your religion to have decorated it, but leave it the way you find most enjoyable. You may find it better be simple, with white sheets and without any pictures. I like the Charmed Book of Shadows, and tend to stain & crinkle my pages to give them an old look. You may want to have flowers & lace all around the edges. depends on you and what you consider beautiful. I find that I often add bits of leaves or odd things that I find around, simply hot-gluing stuff here & there... each page is decorate over time. And when the pages are all filled, and the Book can hold no more... I use it for a time, and then start a New Book... Sometimes this can take years... other times, I fill it up fairly quickly. It all depends on what is happening in my life at the time.




~Mary~



The pictures are just some of the Book of Shadows that I offer through my etsy shop

~Love & Light~

~Wicca Dreamers Mary~

Book of Shadows... Handcrafted by me

http://www.youtube.com/v/Q3SbUMTcUBA?autohide=1&version=3&showinfo=1&attribution_tag=cpryx0z1ZP-cRYonhX55oQ&autoplay=1&autohide=1&feature=share

Little Spell Book

http://www.youtube.com/v/jHZCXRqxViM?autohide=1&version=3&attribution_tag=1OtkxkI2QYDbmMYEkyKQrA&showinfo=1&autohide=1&autoplay=1&feature=share