Month of March
Calendar
1. Saturday- Color Indigo- Waning moon- Birthday of the Golden Dawn- St. David, patron saint of Wales. Call upon St. David for the courage of the dragon. Light a red candle anointed with lavender or sage oil and salt. Intone: David, brave of heart, defender of Wales with her dragon defender, give me strength and courage to what I must. As I will it so mote it be.
2. Sunday-Color Yellow- Waning moon
3. Monday-Color Lavender- Waning moon- St. Cunegard patron of Luxembourg.
4. Tuesday- Color Maroon- Waning moon- The church of all worlds, the 1st pagan church is incorporated in the US. St.s Adrian of Nicomedia- patron of butchers and prison guards and Casmir of Poland, patron of young people especially of Lithuania. Call upon Casmir if you are a parent of young people or if you are a young person who is having trouble communicating with parents. Anoint a white candle with lily of the valley. Light the candle and intone: Let us speak with peaceful words and let us listen with compassionate hearts and let us counsel with profound wisdom. St. Casmir bridge the gulf between us. As I will it so mote it be.
5. Wednesday-Color Yellow- waning moon- Boston Globe prints story about witch clubs on college campuses.
6. Thursday- Color Green-Waning moon- Laurie Cabot is born- Do a money spell. Mix pinch of basil, sage and a few drops of patchouli in a simmer bowl and mix with a tea spoon of sweet oil or olive oil. Mix and intone: All that glitters is gold send me money to hold. Bills and rent this cash to pay, not tomorrow but today. An it harm none, so mote it be.
7. Friday- Color Purple- Lenten Meatless Fast- New Moon.
8. Saturday- Color Brown- Women’s Day- Waxing Moon- St. Frances of Rome, patroness of widows and St. John of God patron of hospitals, the sick, nurses and the book trade. For healing: Write on a brown candle the name of the person who is ill. (at least their initials) Light the candle and intone: With a word you are healed and by faith I am empowered. St John of God mingle your voice with mine and heal __________. As I will it, so mote it be.
9. Sunday- Color Gold- Day Light Savings Time- Waxing moon- St. Dominic Savis patron of Choirs and Juvenile delinquents. If you are being plagued by delinquents in your neighborhood or if you are in the teaching profession and you wish to change the tone of your classrooms, take a plate and draw a pentangle with salt. Sit a white candle with a peace symbol scratched into it and sit it in the center. Intone: St. Dominic Savis come my way, youthful troubles plague my day. Bring me peace and calm again and make of youth good friends. As I will it so mote it be.
10. Monday- Color Ivory- Waxing moon- John Dee and Edward Kelley of Enochian Magic Fame meets for the first time in 1582.
11. Tuesday-Color Grey- Waxing Moon.
12. Wednesday- Color White- Waxing Moon
13. Thursday- Color Purple- Waxing Moon
14. Friday- Color Coral- Waxing Moon- Lenten Meatless Fast
15. Saturday- Color Blue- Waxing Moon- St. Louise de Marillac, patroness of social workers
16. Sunday-Color Orange-Waxing Moon- Palm Sunday- Crosses made of palm leaves are excellent talismans for protection of the home or car.
17. Monday-Color Silver-Waxing Moon-St. Patrick’s Day- St. Patrick patron of the Irish and St. Joseph of Arimathea patron of gravediggers and cemeteries.
18. Tuesday- Color Black- Birthday of Edgar Cayce, Kentucky seer, Sheelah Na Gig’s Day- St. Venantius patron of leaping. St. Fra Angelico patron of painters and artists. If you have a basket ball player in your family, make a rub of mint, cloves and cat nip and rub it on the feet and legs intoning: St. Venantius help me leap and on you my rewards I heap. As I will it, so mote it be. Your athlete should thank St. Venantius in public after they win.
19. Wednesday- Color Brown- St. Joseph the Spouse of Mary patron of a happy death. Elizabethan law against witchcraft enacted 1563
20. Thursday- Color Turquoise- Waxing Moon- Ostara- Spring Equinox- International Astrology Day- Lady Sheba dies
21. Friday-Color Pink- Full Moon- Lenten Meatless Fast- Good Friday.
22. Saturday-Color Grey- Full Moon- St. Nicholas Von Flue patron of Switzerland
23. Sunday- Color Amber- Full Moon- Easter Sunday- St. Turbius patron of Bishops of Latin America
24. Monday- Color Grey- Waning Moon- Catherine of Sweden patroness of the souls of those who have been aborted.
25. Tuesday-Color Red- Waning Moon- St. Dismas patron of thieves and condemned criminals-Pope Innocent III begins the Inquisition and begins the Burning Times 1199.
26. Wednesday- Color Topaz- Waning Moon
27. Thursday- Color Crimson- Waning Moon
28. Friday- Color White- Waning Moon- Scott Cunningham died 1993
29. Saturday- Color Black- Waning Moon- St. Eustace
30. Sunday- Color Orange- Waning Moon.
Essays for the Month of March
Saint of the Month
St. Dominic Savis
St. Dominic Savis was born in 1842. He worked as a very young boy with St. John Bosco training other young boys for futures in the priesthood. He lived a life of devotion and piety and served as a guardian of the lost boys in his charge. He once said that “…I want all I do, even the smallest thing to be for the greater glory of God.” When Dominic was on his death bed he proclaimed “I am seeing most wonderful things!” and died. It was 1857, he was 15 years old. He was canonized in 1954.
As we come in contact with marginalized and abused and abusive young people, we are often stretched past the point of patience. The Christian faith and the path of witchcraft demands that we have patience and love for these young people. Use the example of Dominic’s life of service through not just magikal service but Christian service and all we do, give the glory to God who empowers us.
Zodiac Signs of the Month
Pisces and Aries
Pisces (19 February- 20 March) The twin fishes, ruled by Neptune and Jupiter. The fish is the symbol of Christ. Element: Water- Attributes: Dreamer, impressionable, imaginative, sensitive, artistic, psychic, meditative, and spiritual
Aries (21 March-19 April) The Ram, ruled by Mars. Element: Fire. Was often used as a sacrificial beast. Attributes: Leader, me first, loner, pioneer, go getter, action adventure, quick to anger.
Herb or Flower of the Month
The Lily
The lily is associated with the moon and influence peace, relief of pain and the trauma associated with loss, whether it is death or the end of a relationship. It is a member of the pitcher plant family and uses its sweet perfume to entice insects to pollinate it. It is a water loving plant and blooms in a multitude of colors.
The lily is associated closely with the sacred feminine. Many goddesses are associated with the lily as well as Mary, the Mother of Jesus. It is used as a symbol of both Ostara and Easter.
Magically, the lily can be used by women who wish to redefine themselves in a male cantered society and reexamine one’s relationship with the sacred feminine, either in the form of Mary, one of the goddess or if you have a sense of God being both male and female. This omnisexual identification of God is growing very popular among Goddess Christian and Gnostic Christian groups. If brought in the house, the lily can disperse calm and peace to a troubled family. If placed near the bed, it can ease the suffering caused by relationships which have come to an end. A white candle rubbed with lily of the valley oil can set the mood for meditation and prayer and reflection.
Tarot of the Month
From the Rider-Waite Deck
XI
Justice
Depicted as a woman seated on a throne with a sword and scales
Find what is out of balance. Reap as ye sow, Change your life and wrongs shall be made right.
Spell of the Month
Death of the Past
Since Easter is the time of death and resurrection, Easter is the appropriate time to rid yourself old hurts and guilts and start anew. All you need is a white candle anointed in lily of the valley oil, lavender incense, a small piece of paper and pen and your cauldron or fire bowl.
Take the candle and incense and light them in your sacred space. On the paper write down your old hurts, guilts, even bad habits and twist it into a taper. Touch your regrets to the flame and let it burn safely in you cauldron or fire bowl and intone:
We are born new this day in Christ
Our burdens he has shouldered
I burn away my past regrets
And become a brand new creature.
As I will it, So mote it be.
Mary, My Mother
By Elizabeth Starwolf
Native Americans have a real love hate relationship with Christian religion because so many of us were forced to become Christians and adopt white ways in all manner of our lives. I hated going to church with my mother and father and brothers and sisters and would have much rather have stayed in the kitchen with my Ulsi, or Grandmother, and listen to her tell me stories of the Corn Mother and her daughters, the corn maidens. My Ulsi said she was too old and too connected to her old ways to adopt a new religion. So she was the only one who could be a pagan or heathen and we young ones had to go to church.
We were Catholic. We went to the mission church on the reservation and I remember the first time I was given a rosary and a little book and told by the catechist to learn the rosary and be able to do it for the next Sunday CCD class. I resented it and remember sitting on the kitchen stoop with my rosary and little pamphlet explaining how to pray the rosary. My Ulsi came and sat down by me and looked at the booklet. “You know Elizabeth, your Mary looks like a pretty corn maiden we dress up for the Green Corn ceremony. Wouldn’t it be something if we were to discover that Mary is just another daughter of the Corn Mother?” I nodded and began to learn my rosary.
After that I went to church and began to love Mary a little more each time and through her, I got to know and love her Son, Jesus, who always seemed so distant to me. Knowing that he had been her little boy made him close to me.
I am now an old woman and my Ulsi long gone to the Nightland. I am a Christian shaman and native healer and I still say my rosary everyday. My parents would not have approved of my Ulsi’s methods but they did approve of my being a Christian all of my life. And Mary has become my mother. Jesus gave her to us from the cross and many people have seen her since. She is everyone to all people. If she appears to an Irish man, she looks like an Irish woman. If she appears to a French girl, then she is French and if she appears to a tribal person, she appears as a tribal person. My mother has many faces so that all of her children will recognize her.
Elizabeth Starwolf is a Cherokee who was born and raised in Oklahoma. She now resides in North Carolina in the Smoky Mountains of her people’s ancestral homelands. She is a healer, teacher and story teller.
Sons of God and the Daughters of the Goddess
By Gaelyn Moonraven
I was brought up in an upper class Episcopal Protestant house hold. My Grandfather was a minister and my mom taught Sunday School and confirmation class. When I was 12 years old, I became interested in other pantheons and wondered why people do not follow these Gods as well. I knew the Bible forbade worshipping other deities before God, but what if they worked with God the Father of Christian tradition. This is when I began to think of myself as both Christian and Pagan.
But this did not kill my love of God and Jesus and the Christian Faith. It simply seemed that the pantheons of primarily the Norse culture was just as alive to me and I just could find no reason that I couldn’t honor both, within and without competition between my Christian and Pagan religious beliefs. Because, for a while, I thought I would have to choose when I read an interesting verse in the Book of Genesis. It was concerning the Sons of Heaven finding the Daughters of Man fair and begetting a race of giants with them. I contemplated this verse for a long time. The first thing I had to do was ask who these people were. Were the sons of God celestial beings, fallen angels? Were they the beings who taught the daughters of man the Craft? Maybe they were. But what if the sons of God were the people of the one God and the daughters of men were the people who served the goddess? What if this is the mystical marriage of the God in the Judeo Christian Sense and the Goddess in the Pagan sense?
Now, my dear fiancee is Catholic and embraces what she calls a sacred feminine in the form of Mary, the Blessed Mother and I have come to love this celestial maiden with the crown of twelve stars and the moon under her feet. But I also love the Goddess Freya the mother goddess and goddess of love, marriage and fertility, and the Goddess Kwan Yin, the goddess of compassion.
There are many men who complain about the goddess centeredness of the Pagan/Wiccan traditions but the strategy here is to simply make time for God in private and public worship. There is nothing wrong with demanding time for recognition, invocation and praise of the God. And I mean God in the Christian and Pagan sense. I am an oxymoron in my religious life as is my beloved fiancee who is a Christian witch. I personally believe that the mere existence of us is proof of balance when we blend religions and practices and embrace the balance of all elements of deity and magik.
Brightest Blessings Be and God/dess Bless You
The Bible and the Four Elements
By Siobhan FaeryWoman
Irish people have a long history of having a co-mingled relationship with their preChristian past. So when I came to the conclusion that you could practice magik within the Christian religion I felt as though I'd embraced a part of myself that I had long denied. As Ireland has struggled for her Independence, our identity as Celts and Catholics have been undermined for the sake of unity. Being too religious or overemphasizing your Celtic background is on many levels discouraged unless you are contributing to the tourist industry in someway. So imagine my surprise when I met Aslinn and her lovely man in a magik shoppe in Dublin.
I was simply standing there when I see this young woman with a small hip bag embroidered with a Celtic cross and a pentacle star in the center. I asked if her if she walked the path of the wise and she said she did through her Christian practice.I had found another Christian witch.
I spent a great deal of time with this lovely couple and she and I had a great discussion about the elements. The elements of earth, air, fire and water are very important to Wiccans and Pagans but they are also very important to the Christian Crafter. The Bible is full of references to the elements.
Earth of course is the first element and of course we first encounter the earth with the creation story. Then we have the creation of humans and the Bible tells us that God shaped man from the earth and blew the breath of life into him. Then we have references of the end of life, that from dust we were made and to dust shall we return.In the New Testament, Christ himself wrote in the dirt before a crowd of men who wished to stone a woman to death for prostitution. Jesus took dirt and mixed it with his own saliva to press upon a blind man's eyes.
Air is the second element. It begins with the Lord blowing the breath of life into humanity, of the four living creatures caught up in the whirlwind, and the vision of Christ's return in the air and his being caught up in the air to return to the Father.
Fire is also well spoken of. In the creation story, again, there is the fire of the sun, the flaming sword held by the angel who guarded the entrance of the garden of Eden and the flames of the burning bush and the pillar of fire that led Moses out of slavery. Moses himself had a change of countenance when he glowed with the glory of the Lord so intensely that the people asked him to wear a veil. The sinful cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed in a heat so great that it turned Lot's wife into a pillar of salt when she looked into it. The presence of the Holy Ghost in the Upper Room on the day of Pentecost was said to have been tongues of flame burning on the foreheads of the apostle and the Blessed Virgin Mary. Then there is the promise that the end of the world would come with fire and the old world will be burned away.
Water is the final element. Water is there at creation, when the atmosphere is separated from the water and seas separated from the fresh water. It is present in the flood which purified the whole world from sinful men. It is the element of birth present in the waters of the womb. We are baptized in water, Jesus turned water into wine, he walked on water, and begged water from the Samaritan woman. Many of his disciples were fishermen who harvested their crops of fish from the water. The rich man in Gehenna begged Lazarus to come down from Abraham's bosom and give him a drop of water to wet his mouth.
There are many references to the elements in the Bible, and many more I am sure than I have mentioned. For those of you who walk the dual path of Christianity and Witchcraft, take comfort that though you may not always honor the various sacred spirits who come to a circle, you can rejoice in your connection to the elements.
Siobhan FaeryWoman is a spiritual counselor in hospitals and hospices. She runs a small eclectic, Christ centered circle in Dublin and is an active catechist in her church.
