A look at Witchcraft in the UK in the early 70s

An extremely rare documentary about Witchcraft aired once in the UK in 1971. Featuring contributions from Eleanor Bone, Cecil Williamson, Alex & Maxine Sanders [above], Doreen Valiente et al. Very much of its time and with some very rare footage, also includes reference to the famously unsolved murder of Charles Walton on Meon Hill.

This is an interesting look at Witchcraft in the 60s/70s and nice seeing legends such as Sanders and Valiente.

Back into a daily meditation practice! Finally!

I've been struggling for a while trying to get back into doing a regular meditation schedule and I am happy to say, I finally have done it!

For a full month I've been going into my Temple in the mornings. My Temple is my 4th and smallest unused bedroom - which currently holds only my great, grandmother's table which I use for my altar, my great aunt's table that I use for an ancestor altar, a bookshelf, and a small stool to use during meditation. (I am working on a tile pattern for the floor to cover the bare subfloor left after yanking out all the horrible carpet in my house and have plans to really dress it up eventually.) It is right at the top of the stairs so I have to pass it to go down each morning - a great reminder to go in and medtitate!

I was afraid my dogs would drive me nuts trying to get in making it hard for me to focus, but after the first few days, they have learned to sit outside the door and just wait for me along with the cats.

I go in, settle on the stool, light incense and my God candle on my altar, and use my tablet to either set a meditation timer for 20 minutes (I love the Insight Timer app!) or listen to a guided meditation such as Deepak Chopra's 21 day programs.  I also did a small ritual for The Harvest the other day and found this is the perfect time to do so.

I've also started pulling my Daily Tarot reading after the meditation - and realized today that since I have my tablet with me, I can post the cards pulled with photos even right away! (Love tech!)

Then I can blow out my candle and head downstairs to let the dogs out and enjoy the rest of my day.

I do want to try to incorporate a small nightly ritual too, but haven't started that one yet. I have started a prayer ritual in the mornings when I first awaken before I go into the Temple, and still try to take a few moments in the mid-afternoons to go outside with the dogs and just be still in nature.

I feel a LOT more centered and focused than I have in a long time so am really, really glad I have gotten back into this wonderful habit.

Thinking about the Sabbats

I've been re-reading some of my Wiccan books lately and part of the chapter on Sabbats in one of them says you should think beyond the traditional Sabbats and think about what that time of the year means to you and adjust them accordingly, even skipping those that don't have meaning to you or substitute other celebrations.

This is one of those things I haven't really thought about but I've had problems resonating with some of the traditional Wiccan sabbats as most books portray them. Part of that is my desire to work with the Egyptian Pantheon and part of it is living in Florida with less dramatic seasonal changes than in other parts of the country.

So today I am thinking about the Sabbats, pardon the rambling. I'll probably expand more on each when the wheel comes to it.