Dusting off my altar

I have been working towards getting back to practicing Wicca again, slowly dusting off my altar and ritual tools and getting back to the basics of practice.

One of the best things for me has always been meditation - I've been practicing since I was about 12 and found an old book of my dad's on how to meditate. It really helps me focus and concentrate and not practicing regularly in the last year, I've been really feeling scattered. So every morning before I get too distracted by the craziness of my day, I step out on the back porch with my dogs. Starting with simple stretches and breathing, I settle into the lawn chair and spend about 15-20 minutes just breathing paying attention to the grass under my feet and the sun on my skin. Then I focus for a few minutes on my chakras pulling energy from the earth up thru each one clearing out any negative energy and energizing myself for the day.

By the time the dogs are ready to go in, I feel totally refreshed and ready for anything!

If anything stresses me out during the day, I try to go back outside for a few moments and breath. At the very least, I take a few moments at my desk to close my eyes and breath.

Baby steps, but good ones :)

What is Wicca?

Wicca is a spiritual practice which believes everything in nature is connected by energy - some think of that energy as God or various Gods and Goddesses, others as a universal force similar to the force in Star Wars.

Whatever you call it, it is created by and connects every living thing on the Earth and the Earth itself. That force is within us all so we are all part of it (I'll refer to it in the rest of this article as God for convenience) and we all have God within us.

Is Wicca a Religion?

Getting back to basics

I admit it - I've been a bad Witch. A very bad Witch.

Over the past year or so, I've gotten so caught up in work and life, that I haven't been practicing rituals, barely been meditating, and I feel like I've gotten away from my Spirit.

There are several reasons why. First - though I adore cats and have loved every one that has passed my way - I admit having nearly 50 at one time in the house (long story) was too many. Carpets, walls and the house in general suffered from it. We have this year re-homed most of them and are now down to our core family of 13 cats but my altar in my bedroom shows the carnage with broken statues, scattered stones and general chaos. The small altar above my desk became my primary when I couldn't use my larger one, but the problem there is trying to ignore the work on my desk to focus on the altar.

As I have been suffering a lot of chaos in my business as well (again, long story) his year, I've had "no time" for proper rituals so then tried to do small ones or participate in cyber rituals in Second Life, though I barely even realized the Summer Solstice was this week.

So, I am starting to reconnect. And I decided instead of trying to do full rituals or worry about altars right now, I'd focus on the basics.

For me, the basics of Wicca and the Craft, are the elements. So I woke up before dawn this morning and stood outside in the grass, in the dark and windy and soon to be raining yard and allowed the elements to envelope me. I watched the sunrise with my hair being whipped by the wind and the wet grass at my feet and felt the magic around me.

It's been a long time since I've taken even a moment to just be in nature - and it felt like coming home.