What Does the Well-Equipped Witch Keep in the Medicine Supply?

 (I was going to say 'her medicine supply' but quite a lot of men are witches too – and call themselves that, not 'wizards' or 'warlocks'.)

My basic list –

Band-aids of course, like everyone.

Medications prescribed by one's doctor and/or pharmacist, if applicable.

One's own healing hands, if that applies. (To some it comes naturally, inborn. Others of us learn things like Reiki, Pranic Healing, Theta Healing, MAP, or various other forms of energy healing and/or spiritual healing.) 

Rescue Remedy. A staple in many non-witchy homes too, for good reason.

(Maybe other flower essences as well, for specific emotional needs; but RR is all-purpose.) 

Teatree oil.

Eucalyptus oil.

Lavender oil.

(Perhaps other essential oils too, but those three are my must-have.)

Pawpaw ointment.

Comfrey ointment.

Calendula cream.

Crystals. Clear quartz: all-purpose. Rose quartz: healing. Amethyst: protection. Obsidian: grounding. (There are plenty for more specific purposes; consult one of the many books which list them, or try Google.)

Healing spells. I guess everyone has their own favourites, so I won't begin to list them. (I like the quick and basic.) Again, these days one can look these up in books or online.

Being with one's own

... and coming home to oneself. 

It's already several weeks since Wendy Rule came back to Murwillumbah to give a concert, after a long absence due to COVID and lockdowns and all that. She lives in the United States now, but has come back frequently, pre-pandemic, to delight her loyal followers throughout Australia – until, for many months, she couldn't.

Murwillumbah is a smallish country town (albeit the centre of a large surrounding rural district). One of Wendy's oldest friends lives just a little out of town and organises concerts for her here, finding venues, advertising the dates, arranging ticket sales, and so on. This woman is in the Goddess group I belong to, and is one of several witches in that group. For those who didn't know, Wendy herself is a witch, writes songs with a Pagan sensibility, and always begins her concerts by casting circle onstage.

I talked to a friend about attending the concert: one who, like me, is one of the elders of the Goddess circle. In our octogenarian years, we're not mad keen on going out at night any more. I'm not fond of driving at the best of times. This friend, who lives near me, often drives me to events we're both attending, but this time she was awaiting a cataract operation and wasn't keen on night driving – which I understood, remembering how distorted oncoming headlights looked before I had my cataracts done.

But this was just a gig in town, easy even at night. I realised I could drive her for a change, and pay her back a bit for all the times it's been the other way. We decided to go. 

It was a wintry night, unusually cold for these parts. We wore long socks and spencers, which we seldom need, and several layers of outer clothes. We arrived in time to get a good parking spot and only had to walk a short way in light rain. The hall filled up fast – mostly women, and some men who looked perfectly comfortable in such a gathering; also a few children.

The music was wonderful! As always. 

I was transported, fulfilled, immensely thankful. I felt deeply myself, in touch with my core.

My companion, who is very spiritual, very involved in earth healing, very aware of energy and the cycle of the seasons, is nevertheless not a witch. At interval she looked around and said,

'Interesting audience. There's a particular vibe here, connecting these people. I can't quite work out what it is.' I took a quick glance around and said immediately,

'Oh, it's all the local witches.' And understood at once why I had such a feeling of home-coming.

Not that I knew many faces. I found out later – because Wendy thanked them from the stage – that a number had travelled interstate from south Queensland, even as far away as Brisbane. And it's years since I've taken part in any local gatherings of witches; never any of the larger events. So if not the faces, what was it I recognised – that my companion also recognised without knowing what it was?

It wasn't their clothing. Everyone was rugged up against the cold. Some looked a bit hippyish, or a bit witchy, but not as if they'd dressed up specifically to create that look. I think we'd all just worn our normal gear for going out somewhere special on a cold night. I myself had on a wonderful purple velvet jacket over the other layers – a garment which I don't think of as specifically witchy, just something warm which also looks good for a night out. But yes, I guess our collective tastes were not exactly running to the conservative, even while they weren't flaunting the freaky. Some people, wrapped in overcoats, were even a bit drab.

As I was leaving, I had a quick word to Wendy. Her audiences respect and admire her enormously, and love her too, but we don't hold her on a pedestal like a star. She is a star, and a wonderful talent – and she's also a down-to-earth Aussie girl. She wouldn't have remembered my name, but she'd have known my face from other concerts over the years and some interactions there, so I didn't worry about introducing myself. I just leaned in and told her how wonderful it was 'that all this could happen again, and we could be here'. I instinctively put a hand over my heart as I told her it was like coming home.

There happened to be no-one else around her at that moment. She looked into my eyes and thanked me simply – clearly from her own heart. 

'That means a lot,' she said. 

A few days later I tried to explain that deep feeling of homecoming to a couple of friends who weren't there – how rare and special it was. They seemed a bit puzzled. One was a member of the Goddess group (not a Pagan but a Buddhist; we include many spiritualities).

 'Don't you get that feeling at the Goddess gatherings?' she asked.

The Goddess gatherings are wonderful. I love the rituals, the sisterhood, the coming together, the purpose of what we do. It is indeed a kind of homecoming, and beautiful. 

But no, not the same.

'Witches are very earthy,' I said. 'The Goddesses are all about light – taking it into ourselves, sending it out into the community. It's more, um ... ethereal ... on a different level.' 

Not a very definitive explanation! (About either the Goddess group or witches.) But my friends seemed to get it.

It's not an either-or. I can be many things, and am. 

I think it has to do with witchcraft being such an integrated, even ordinary part of my life. I don't stop to think about what I'm doing, I just do. Not much in the way of elaborate rituals – well, they don't feel elaborate to me after many years. It feels natural to honour the nature spirits, put protection around my home, speak to any guides or deities who might help with specific issues, say thank you to the Universe when it puts a beautiful feather or interesting stone in my path, blow a kiss to the full moon, sometimes cast circle just to connect more consciously with the elements, wear a pentacle somewhere on my body even if no-one can see it.... 

I feel it would be much the same for other members of that audience. People speak of finding their tribe. I think I have several tribes – poets, the Tasmanian-born, Whovians.... But witches are my tribe in a much more basic way. I don't even need to connect with them in person; it's just that I feel it when I do: feeling it in the way we are each, simultaneously, connecting to our deepest self. It seems I can breathe more deeply; I feel more fully in my body; I become more surely aware of my place in the scheme of things.

Some things can't be satisfactorily, logically explained. They just are. You just know.

Dealing with Intruders, Human and Otherwise

a request from a friend

An online friend asked me, in my capacity as a witch, to please get rid of the wasps, termites and mice in a country home she’s about to occupy, and also to put a curse on anyone breaking into the place.

It’s not quite how witchcraft works. Or anyway, not how I work.

First of all, I don’t do curses. (Some do; it’s a personal thing.) I believe, along with many others, that the energy you put out comes back to you multiplied – so I try to be careful what I put out. In any case, as I explained to my friend, I think it’s much better to prevent people from breaking in, if possible. Cursing someone after the event might seem like a fitting revenge, but won’t fix any damage done or goods stolen. Better if there were nothing to be revenged for. Setting up some magical protections would be a preferable idea! That's both easy and effective. Dealing with human intruders (without cursing) is the easiest of these requests to meet.

Witchcraft is earth-based, down-to-earth, practical. We like to work with, not against Nature. Also we prefer to be pretty specific in our goals. And if there’s a way to get something done without needing to use magical energy, we’ll try that first. (Telepathy’s wonderful, but phoning is easier.) Or we’ll use the mundane methods as well as the spells – on the theory that you try everything which might help.

So I’ve been trying some things, as requested, to clear the invaders out of a house I have never even seen a picture of, and which I don’t know the location of. (A banishing spell. Sending Reiki to the situation. Putting protection over the house.) They may or may not work. And I have some suggestions as to what my friend could do herself.

Because, unlike me, she does know what her house and its location look like, she would surely be better than me at doing some serious visualisation exercises: spending some time getting into a meditative state first and then seeing the place free of pests, clean and shining, structurally sound…. It would be most effective to visualise this in detail, repeatedly and with fervour.(Creative visualisation is a very well-known technique by now. It’s not regarded as specifically Pagan, more New Agey.)

If she wants take things further, in the spirit of working with Nature, she might use some kind of repellent for the wasps and mice – and maybe even for the termites. It could be a spray of some kind, but that’s rather anti-Nature. I’d be investigating the possibilities of repellent plants she could grow, which would keep working year after year. If there are any, that is.

There are ways to communicate telepathically with living things. (I assert without further justification. I know this is so, from experience; but I realise many people might find it hard to believe.) My friend could try this, or I could try it for her – but I’m not sure how effective it might be in this case. Mice, for instance, are usually quite uncooperative. They have trouble seeing any point of view except their own. It might be necessary to provide another place for them, if possible – depending where the house is (I am imagining it deep in the bush, but she only said ‘in the country’, which could mean practically anything). 

Ants, I find, are extremely cooperative – but they apparently have a fairly short life cycle. When I find ants returning after having kept away for a few years, it becomes clear they are great-great-something-grandchildren of the ones with whom I made the agreement, and the agreement has been lost in the mists of time. So I make a new agreement, until the next generation-down-the-track needs reminding. 

I haven’t worked with either wasps or termites before, so I have no idea how well they respond to requests or persuasion. I have in fact attempted this for her, but at this stage I have no idea if it was successful – nor, if so, how long it would last. I think it's best to try other methods as well.

While I’m not fond of killing things if it can be avoided, sometimes it’s the only or best option. I remind myself that Nature is not always kind and gentle. My friend might do well to invest in some mousetraps! (They could be the kind that catch the mice alive so they can be taken to a different place.) Wasp nests can be destroyed before the wasps hatch. And I am sure there are plenty of experts who could advise her how to get rid of termites.

The most alarming thought is that the termites could already have done irreparable damage. Maybe it’s prosperity magic she needs, to be able to afford to deal with that!

Spring Equinox (Ostara) Reading for Myself, September 2021

(using Everyday Witch Tarot)

What do I need to leave behind now?

1. Three of Wands.

(Wands is the suit of the spirit.)
Yes, I have had to let go of the plan to meet with my sisters in the Goddess circle, in joyous celebration. The Pandemic and consequent restrictions on our movements have prevented it in recent months – and just when we thought we'd finally manage it for Equinox, there was a sudden new lockdown in this area, which vetoed the crucial date. Ah, well.

2. Knight of Swords.
(Swords is the suit of the mind.)  
Perhaps it is my own combative thinking I need to leave behind? The Pandemic is very divisive; I strive to remain aware that even the conspiracy theorists are motivated by wanting the wellbeing of us all – they just have a different view of how to achieve that. And those who are losing wages because of lockdowns, and wondering how to keep feeding their families, may have an understandably different view of what our wellbeing even consists of.  Arguing and name-calling is not going to help; it only keeps people entrenched in their opinions.
Or might this card represent someone else who is trying to browbeat me? No-one comes to mind.
Sometimes – in other decks – I see Knight of Swords as a rescuer. Although the image in this deck doesn't suggest that so much, it is one possible meaning according to the accompanying book. But if, this time, he represents something I need to leave behind, perhaps it is time to take responsibility for my own thoughts? Or time to stop mentoring and counselling others, even if they ask for it?
The first interpretation seems to fit best: I must guard against being argumentative and righteous.

3. Four of Pentacles.

(Pentacles is the suit of money and the physical/material world.)

On the face of it, time to stop hoarding money. Except I've never done that. I've seldom had enough to hoard, and in any case am no good at saving. But hoarding treasure, that might fit – my material wealth in the form of things. I am certainly going through a massive decluttering exercise right now.
'Keep at it,' the card seems to say; 'Don't weaken. Don't revert to old ways. Cherish your memories, and stop hanging on to the things which remind you of them but are not them.' Also it could well be saying, 'What good are all those boxes of stuff filling up the garage? Give the contents to those who could use them now.' 
The cat in the card reminds me that although I haven't stopped loving the cats I used to have, it's been a great blessing to move on to a dear new companion. I mustn't get stuck in the past but enjoy life now.

What am I bringing in?

1. Eight of Cups.

(Cups is the suit of the emotions.) 

Although I have an abundance of emotionally fulfilling things in my life, the card shows me turning away from them to begin a journey towards something new (not abandoning what I have so much as seeking something additional to bring back to my store). And indeed, I have very recently committed to some new work that excites me.
The message of this card is that one should go on the new quest. It's nice to have this confirmation.

2. THE TOWER.

(A Major Arcana card, a messenger of Fate.)

This card says that there will be an apparent disaster, a catastrophe – but it will be a blessing in disguise, breaking down rigid structures and bringing in good new energy. I think and hope this is already coming in; that it refers to the mould problem in my unit which seriously compromised my health and could have killed me, but has been addressed. Already my respiratory problems have abated significantly. The addressing did involve breaking down some rigid structures, including removing old flooring which was much harder to dislodge than the workmen expected.

Now I am in the process of restoring my home to order, Spring-cleaning and decluttering as I go. Some furniture and curtains etc. have been replaced, my big crystal collection has been washed and recharged, and altogether the place is looking very different, to the extent that it is acquiring a whole new energy.

3. THE STAR

(Another Major Arcana card.)

I love this card. It means hope, optimism, the light at the end of the tunnel.... It is about getting rid of old, worn energy and bringing in the new and healing, namely the energy of Unconditional Love.
I look at the image on this card,  and am reminded of The Magician: 'As Above, so Below' – seeming to suggest that I am going to be even more actively magical in the time ahead. 
Above all, I look at it and see clearly the Light Worker I am more and more becoming. A pretty good way, I reckon, to spend my Senior years!

There might be more answers to each of these questions, but I set my intention at the outset to pull three cards for each, so these will be the most relevant and important answers. (And they do seem to cover the ground pretty thoroughly.)

We Shall Not Meet

Spring Equinox 2021

In this Southern Hemisphere, Spring has arrived: the time of renewal. In my garden, two irises bloom, abundant with colour and light. 

With joy after many months apart, we Goddesses of Shining Light prepare to meet for Equinox. After months of staying COVID-safe, we plan for glorious reunion. We’ve missed gathering – to dance in circle to honour the Goddess; to sing and meditate; to send out our light, drawn from the heavens, to our community here and to the wider world. To feel our hearts revive. And to lunch together afterwards in friendship, reconnecting with each other’s individual selves and lives.

Then comes a sudden new lockdown for our area. The gathering cannot happen.

A facebook friend reminds me, inner reality is paramount and I can celebrate very well alone. I can … but he fails to understand the power of the communal. We women are aligned in our purpose, our understanding, and in the mystical joy and peace we share, uniting for this service. 

It is above all our own renewal, an energy source. There are many things we do for others. This coming together is also a time for us — for each in her inner core, and collectively. Here we renew our strength. Here we renew our hearts. Here we renew our deep inner truth ... our spirit.

We want to look into each other’s smiling eyes, and hear again each other’s voices.  

We are not all Pagan, though several of us are. We include Christians, Krishna devotees, Buddhists, Indigenous people on their own timeless spiritual paths, New Agey types, and one avowed unbeliever — who nevertheless has an excellent understanding of energy flow and subscribes to our ideals.

What ideals are they? 

We seek to embody the qualities of the Divine Feminine, both privately and collectively. ‘Light workers’ is surely the most accurate term for us.

But can this summary convey how much we’ve been longing to meet? How our gatherings nurture and restore us? How they carry us through the months to the next time?

‘I see you,’ we say to each other without needing words. ‘I see you,  I know you. You are precious and distinct … and we are one.’ 

We relinquish our plans. We shall meet etherically instead. 

At Poets and Storytellers United, in Weekly Scribblings #88: Equinox, Magaly invites us to write on one or all of three phrases. I chose, 'I see you.' What I wrote seems to belong best in this, my 'witchy' blog.

A Prayer of Gratitude in Troubled Times

Dear Earth, our Mother — 

Even as we acknowledge the problems we face and those we have caused others of your children, your living species, we also recognise the many joys and delights in our lives. Being alive on this planet is, above all, a blessing.

Thank you dear Mother for the ground that supports us, the air we breathe to take in life; the water we drink to keep us alive, cleansing us inside and out; the food we eat to sustain our lives; the sun we orbit, warming us, giving us light, making life possible.

We give thanks for small daily joys — the smile of a child, the kind word of a friend, the hug of a family member, the kiss of a lover. We are grateful for jokes and laughter, the healing that comes with tears, the pleasure of good conversation, the useful power of thought; for taste and smell, art and music, the colours of flowers, songs of birds, the ever-changing moods of the ocean. We thank you for our guardian mountains, our companion rivers, the fields and forests filling our lives with beauty. We thank you for this land where we live. Thank you for our being here.

We thank you for major miracles: illnesses that didn’t kill us, accidents from which we emerged still breathing, emotional traumas which have not sent us mad, obstacles we overcame by apparent magic or by strengths we didn’t know we had, fore-ordained meetings which brought important friends and surprising opportunities into our lives. We thank you for experiences we considered bad or unlucky, understanding now they were opportunities, gifts to enrich our lives.

We give thanks for being here now, for whatever part we are called to play in this present crisis and whatever new challenges may come. We ask to be of service to the greater good of humanity, and the whole planet — whether our personal roles appear large or small. We know that every strand in the fabric is not only important but essential. Thank you for this momentous opportunity, and for ensuring we are equal to it.

Thank you for the Love within and surrounding us, making everything possible. Thank you for everything.


Written for the Wisdom Circle of The Goddesses of Shining Light (Murwillumbah, Australia).

Shared with Writers' Pantry #33 at Poets and Storytellers United

The Gender of God

A poet whose blog I read just posted this wonderful haibun. (Go on, read it; it’s quite short and truly delightful.)

I fell in love with it.

But then, a little while later, I had the thought that it would have been even more perfect if she’d said ‘Praise God’ instead of ‘Praise the Lord’. The word Lord is clearly male, whereas I like to think of God as female.

Of course, many many people all over the world – probably the majority – believe that God is male, as the widespread book religions* teach. But a substantial number believe that God is female – or that God encompasses all genders and much more besides, whilst they personally prefer to focus on the female or Great Mother aspect. (This latter is my own position.)

Well, it’s obviously a bit much to expect that devout Christians will stop equating ‘Lord’ with God, or that the devout of any other book religion will allow their Deity to be more gender-inclusive. So, if that seems to some of us to be selling God very short, it’s up to us to find our own words.

It’s seldom necessary to make huge changes. I do use the word Goddess sometimes, but ‘God’ works for me too. In my mind ‘God’ is all-encompassing and can be interpreted as ‘Goddess’ if I choose to focus on that aspect. In fact I see the words ‘Goddess’ and also ‘Deity’ as being similarly all-encompassing. (Sometimes I say 'the Universe', giving it this same meaning, way beyond the physical universe. But that's a bit tricky, as I might sometimes refer, in another context, to the physical universe.) The reality of God, I believe, is so vast as to be far beyond our understanding. Paradoxically, each of us can have a personal relationship with the Deity – and to do that, it helps to focus on one aspect we can relate to.

‘Praise God’ works for me.


*The books: E.g. the Bible, the Koran, the Torah, the Vedic texts, the Buddhist sutras and shastras…. (
Individuals have written books about the Pagan or earth-based spiritual paths, but they are not ‘have to’ books of laws to be obeyed; they are not regarded as the sacred words of God which emanated from the Deity even though written down by people.)

Taking Issue with the Word ‘Abundance’

People often recommend that we ask for it in our spells, visualisations, affirmations, whatever. It’s better to use that word than ‘money’, they assert, because ‘money’ is too limiting.

I think ‘abundance’ isn’t limiting enough.

I’m inclined to be fat. I’m afraid to ask for abundance in case I acquire, among other things, an abundance of flesh! In fact it’s a very general word altogether. The Universe might interpret a focus on abundance as meaning you wish for an abundance of anything and everything you experience. There are some experiences I definitely would not want more of!

So what I ask for is  prosperity.

This is a much more specific word. There are, of course, various kinds of prosperity one might be blessed with, but all within a certain category, all positive in nature.

I’m a witch and a poet. Both poets and witches understand that they need to be very careful and precise in the way they use words. Words have power!

By Caitlin Johnstone

How To Love Yourself

Caitlin Johnstone

Jan 14, 2019 · 4 min read

Bring a deep, enthusiastic “yes” to whatever feels like the center of your experience right now. Not with your thoughts, but with your feelings.

Go on. Try it. You can’t do it wrong.

If you have a thought rattling around in your head that’s taking up a lot of attention, that’s the center of your experience in this moment. Bring a deep, enthusiastic “yes” to that. Take it in the exact opposite direction of rejection, and embrace it fully.

If you have an emotion, if you’re looking at something interesting, if you’re just feeling your body, whatever’s in the spotlight of your attention in the present moment, bring a full, unequivocal “yes” to that experience. Not to the thing itself, but to your experience of it. If you’re thinking about a murderer, you’re not sitting there going “Yeah, murderers!”, you’re bringing a deep, penetrating “yes” to your experience of thinking about the murderer.

If you are having difficulty fully yessing what’s in the center of your experience, bring a deep, experiential “yes” to that difficulty. If you’re having some elements of rejection or revulsion toward what happens to be at the center of your experience in a given moment, bring a deep, enthusiastic “yes” to your experience of that rejection or revulsion. You will notice the rejection or revulsion relaxing the more “yes” you can bring to it.

Practice doing this in each moment. Keep turning your attention to whatever feels more or less like the core of your experience, no matter how insignificant or petty it may seem at first glance, and give it a full embrace of felt affirmation with 100 percent of your being. If there is resistance to this embrace, embrace that resistance with 100 percent of your being. Practice doing this from moment to moment to moment throughout your day.

This doesn’t mean accepting anything anyone tries to impose upon you, and it doesn’t mean ceasing to say “No” with your voice. You can say “No” with your mouth while fully and deeply yessing that experience in the present moment. It simply means making a practice of bringing a deep “yes” to the core of your being in each moment.

This is the direct path to self-love.

Many people say the words “I just need to learn to love myself,” or intuit that many of their inner difficulties stem from self-hatred, but putting self-love into practice is a confusing ordeal that people rarely seem to know how to navigate. If they were raised in a loving environment, they tend to do it naturally, and if they were raised in an environment full of rejection, they tend to internalize that rejection.

The reason self-love is such a confusing ideal to put into practice despite one’s ability to intuit its central value is because our society is full of so much confusion about what the word “love” means, and because there is no actual, tangible “self” that can be found anywhere in experience. Two things:

1 — The most useful definition of love I’ve been able to come up with is a deep, enthusiastic yes to something. It’s the exact opposite of total rejection, which is the experience of “No, all no to all of this.” It’s the experience of “Oh! All yes to all of this!” It’s as simple as that, and it’s a skill you can get better at.

2 — When I say there is no self that can be found anywhere in experience, I mean no matter how hard you look within your own field of experience you’ll never find a solid thing in the here and now that can accurately be labeled “me”. You’ll find sensory impressions, feelings, thoughts, and a mental story about an individual with a particular name who’s led a particular kind of life, but an actual self only exists linguistically as an abstract concept we invented to differentiate one human body from the others in our speech. I am saying “I” and “you” in this essay, but these are just concepts of distinction which only exist out of linguistic convention in a totally boundless and inseparable field of experience.

Self-love in practice is therefore the deep, felt yessing of the core of this swirling, shifting, shapeless light show that is the human experience.

As you become more skillful at loving the core of your experience, you’ll notice yourself becoming more skillful at loving everything that comes up, including family, co-workers, animals, trees, music, the wind, the ground beneath your feet, and the sun upon your face. It’s like pouring water upon the point of a cone: by pouring love into the center of your experience, you ensure that it will spread outward and everywhere.

If you make a diligent practice of this, rejection will find less and less purchase within you, and you will quickly transform into a deeply loving and joyful being. And from there, miracles can happen. And a new world can be birthed through you.

Note from Caitlin's website:
The best way to get around the internet censors and make sure you see the stuff I publish is to subscribe to the mailing list for my website, which will get you an email notification for everything I publish. My articles are entirely reader-supported, so if you enjoyed this piece please consider sharing it around, liking me on Facebook, following my antics on Twitter, throwing some money into my hat on Patreon or Paypal, purchasing some of my sweet new merchandise, buying my new book Rogue Nation: Psychonautical Adventures With Caitlin Johnstone, or my previous book Woke: A Field Guide for Utopia Preppers.

A Night Visitor

(A lesson in self-protection)

I’m used to spirits of the dead turning up in my space. Most often it’s my own dear departed, particularly (but not only) my late husband Andrew, popping in to see how I’m doing, or responding to a call from me — which might be a yell for help, but more often just that I’m thinking of that person and missing them.

(Less often nowadays, but commonplace in the past) I’ve been a conduit for lost spirits needing to find their way home to the Light — a ‘clearing house’, as one psychic described me. I know how to clear whatever is holding them up and send them on, swift and straight, in the right direction. (Perhaps they have found a more sympathetic helper now. It got to the point where there were so many, and I became so blasé about it, that if I was busy writing a poem, or having a conversation with a living person, I would say — telepathically and brusquely — ‘ Not now! Later.’ That later, I’m ashamed to say, could be a long time coming.)

I have protection in place, and tools and guardians I can also call on if needed. On the rare occasions I sense a negative energy, it’s quickly blocked. So I was more puzzled than worried when an unknown being emanating extreme cold came up behind me in my kitchen the other night. For quite other reasons, I hate the cold; but I also know that cold associated with ghosts is not necessarily sinister. It simply means they’ve been dead a long time: the longer, the colder. 

All the same, I got a little spooked. I had a sense that this one wanted to enter into me, merge with me in some way. I wasn’t having that! The feeling of the energy was a little like a sexual predator — wanting control; prepared to commit intrusion, violation — and likely to be sneaky rather than brutal. Even so, I could have chosen to engage in a dialogue, find out their purpose and reasons, help them resolve the underlying cause and move on in Love, towards the Light. This has worked in the past, even with formidable entities. But this time I didn’t want to engage. 

I called on my angels. Nothing changed. Maybe this was a friend after all? Or else an unusually powerful threat? Either way, I wasn’t in the mood. I recited, in thought, some protective mantras I know. I visualised shields. No physical actions, nothing spoken aloud. I felt that, for some reason, I should be sneaky too, not overt about my awareness or protective measures. 

I sensed it right up close at my back. Casting about for something else to do, I recalled some ways of being that I aspire to: honesty, integrity, loyalty, respect.... I began, almost instinctively, declaring in my mind, ‘I stand in honesty, I stand in integrity....’ Then I gathered them under an overall label: ‘I stand in honour.’ It's not a thing I'd ever done before as a protection ritual. I think I was more shoring up my courage.  My mind was still stumbling around, trying to find the best thing to say, the thing that would work. I didn’t realise until later, looking back, that the intruder had already halted. I found more qualities to invoke. ‘I stand in peace, I stand in joy, I stand in strength, I stand in my courage.’ I wanted to assert, ‘I stand in my power,’ but was afraid that could be interpreted as a challenge, that the entity might respond with some version of, ‘Oh yeah? Go on, show me.’ I didn’t want to entrap myself in a battle. I kept searching through various phrases, clutching hastily at whatever virtue popped into my head. Serenity, determination, authenticity.... Suddenly it all solidified into a statement that settled in my heart, calming me. I spoke it aloud: ‘I stand in my truth.’

I liked it. I breathed easier. I repeated it aloud several times — not aggressively but with certainty. Even with a kind of gladness. 

(Could I have articulated the specifics of ‘my truth’ if I’d been asked? It was more a sense that I would know it in any situation, I could rely on it absolutely, and it would always guide me.)

I went about my usual activities, no longer feeling threatened, although still shaken by the experience. Gradually the evening settled back into normality. I wasn’t afraid. I almost forgot that any of it had happened.

Next morning, recalling it all, I renewed my self-dedication to ‘Love, Peace and Truth’, which I had let lapse for some time. To me, those are the universal essentials. They are also qualities I can align with in my intention for the day, taking them as my own on a personal level while continuing to trust them as the essence of the Divine. Surely this practice, this daily renewal, is my very best protection?

What if that cold energy invading my space was not so much a threat as a test? Or it might have been a manifestation of some self-doubts and deep self-questioning that had assailed me recently. The Universe has a way of giving us exactly what we need.

It is wonderful to me that the thing which grounded, centred, empowered and freed me was finally to stand in my own truth.

My Virtual Ritual

The Goddesses of Shining Light gathered on the etheric plane. We won't meet physically during the pandemic.

I dressed in the nearest I have to autumn colours: long, russet skirt and top and coppery jewellery (plus my usual silver pentacle). Although this wasn’t Equinox, April’s still autumn [in the Southern Hemisphere]. Adding my magenta cloak, I felt wrapped in the arms of the Goddess. 

I used the room where I usually perform magic or give psychic readings (aka spare bedroom). At 12 noon — one of the magical hours — I used my cleansing wand, first to clear the space, then my aura, then imagined doing the auras of all present, using physical actions, as I envisaged them arriving in their coloured cloaks: blue, red, purple, aqua, burgundy, orange, forest green. Laying aside my wand, I walked around the room in a circle – a very small circle, in that fairly small room – visualising the space expanded and the others with me, chanting a song we always use.

With my crystal-laser-tipped athame (witch’s dagger) I brought in the elements / directions. I spoke our traditional Light Ritual, with the requisite actions. I have great love for it, and I like the continuity of having worked with it for years, building that energy. 

Thereafter, I followed a procedure we’d been emailed, including bringing light to each of us around the circle, in all our various physical locations, and to those loved ones we’d called into the centre. 

This time we omitted the singing and dancing we normally do. Circle dancing does need a physical group!

On my iPad, I tuned into Goddess Elizabeth singing her inspirational song, ‘Lifting the Veil’, knowing others did too. 

I spoke aloud Section 1 of our Shining Vision*, with focus and intention.

I recited our closing prayer.

I thanked the beings who had come to be with us — clear that it was us, not just me — and opened the circle.

Finally I sang aloud, ‘May the circle be open but unbroken ...’ three times.

Later I took a selfie, still in my cloak, to mark the occasion. Then I changed back into everyday wear and went about my day, feeling at once grounded and uplifted, calmed and elated.


*To hear Our Shining Vision (with preamble). 


Note: 'The Goddesses of Shining Light' is not a group of witches, although there are witches among us. We are women of all beliefs (Christian, Buddhist, Hindu, New Age, agnostic ... and yes, Pagan) and all ages (from 3 to 93) living in and around a particular locality, who seek to embody the qualities of the Divine Feminine and to spread our light to the community in ways both practical (e.g. feeding the homeless) and energetic. Our monthly gatherings are also occasions for taking time out of our busy lives to nourish ourselves.