Author: A Solitary Pagan
The Dragon in Magick
The dragon is a fantastic beast that appears in almost every mythological tradition throughout the world. Often depicted as a mix of several different creatures, it represents the four elements of life: air, fire, water, and earth. The dragon has the wings of a bird and is covered with the scales of a fish or snake. It is capable of breathing fire, and usually guards a horde of treasure deep withi...
Cats as Witches Familiars
The cat, especially the black cat, is a creature of witchcraft, in all popular belief. No artist’s conception of a witch’s cottage of the olden time could possibly be complete without Baudrons or Grimalkin, sleek and purring by the fire, watching with glowing eyes over all that takes place. The witch’s cat, however, did not have to be black in color. In Macbeth, it is a brindled cat that mews sign...
Hare
In folklore, a witch’s familiar or a witch metamorphosed in disguise. It is still bad luck in the British Isles for one’s path to be crossed by a hare. Witches were said to be able to change themselves into hares and other animals with magical charms such as the following from the British Isles: I shall go into a hare, With sorrow and such and muckle care, And I shall go in the Devil’s name. Ay, ’...
A Ritual With Seven Angels
his would be a suitable ritual for welcoming a new baby or child into a family whether in birth, by adoption or through the joining of two existing families. It may also be used for sending a teenager out into the world. You can also adapt the ritual to welcome adults into a family or help them to move on to a new phase or place. You might like to use a seven-branched candlestick, like the Jewish ...
Archangels and their Seven Days of the Week
Michael Michael is the archangel who rules the Sun. Michael’s day is Sunday. Michael, the Initiator, brings illumination and inspiration in many spheres of life, through the efforts of our individual creative spirit. Michael is the guardian of all who stands alone with their unique vision for bettering the world and are not prepared to compromise their ideals for humanity, purely for money or fame...
Angelic Correspondences
You can, if you wish, use angelic rulers instead of planetary ones for the magical hours, or combine the energies of both. In practice, if your magick has a spiritual focus or is concerned with healing or global or ecological matters, angels work better than planets. If you have calculated your daily planetary hours, your angels will correspond exactly. As with the planets, each archangel rules th...
A Ritual to meet your Guardian Angel
Spirit work in the hoodoo and conjure tradition often involves enlisting the psychic aid of discarnate entities in order to accomplish specific prayerful, spiritual, or spell-casting goals. Spirit Work is also a term that covers a broad range of altar work and prayer as well as magical traditions of spell casting in which root doctors may contact or seek the aid of spirits, angels, and spirit guid...
Different classes of angels
There are many different classes of angels, and they can vary from the merciful Healing Angels to the daunting Angels of Judgment, and the fierce Reapers. An angel can be a pacifist or a bloodthirsty fighter, a musician or a mystic, either and prognosis or leaning towards either male or female energy Angel of Announcement: Who tells God’s and Heaven’s announcements to humankind? Angel of Deat...
Planets and Angels
Different days of the week and hours of the day and night are associated with specific energies and each particular time is ruled by a planet and an archangel. Though these were primarily centred on ceremonial magick, they can also be used to give focus and potency to informal spells. The planetary and angelic hours can also be applied to the everyday sphere. For example by choosing the appropriat...
Cimaruta
The cimaruta, or cima di ruta, is an unusual and beautiful amulet, pertaining to Italian witch lore. A fine example of the cimaruta is reproduced as an illustration in this book. The name of this amulet means ‘a sprig of rue’. The herb rue (Rut a graveolens) is sometimes called Herb of Grace ; and rue and vervain are supposed to be the two plants most pleasing to the goddess Diana, the queen of It...
Crosses
The Cross, is one of the oldest amulets in the world, predating Christianity by many centuries. In the commonest form of a cross, all four arms are of equal length, rather than in a T-shape. Crosses have been associated with sun deities and the heavens. In ancient times, crosses may have represented divine protection and prosperity. Crosses also are represented by the Y-shaped Tree of Life, the wo...
Ankh
The Egyptian symbol of life, regeneration, the universe and immortality, the ankh, which means “life” and “hand mirror,” is a tau, or looped cross. Witches and Pagans wear it as an amulet against negativity and as a talisman for good fortune and benevolent forces. It also represents the union of the male principle (the staff) and the female principle (the closed-loop). Egyptian art shows the ankh ...