30 Days of Gratitude ~ Day 1

For the whole Month of November I will be taking part in the the "30 Days of Gratitude" project on my blog. I practice the art of Gratitude and giving thanks daily and have been for a while now. I've seen it change my life and the lives of others. I was always brought up my Mum & Dad to say Thank You and to always do something nice to help others. I've really learnt in the past 8 years since the passing of my Father just how much of a Spiritual Teacher he was to me. Thank you Dad. 

Which, now leads me onto today's post of Gratitude. Each day I will post about 1 thing/person/event/situation that I am grateful for. I could give you a list of things I'm grateful for, but I doubt they would mean much to you, so I'm going to do it this way. 

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November 1st 2012 

I am eternally grateful for the Loving influence of my Father in my life that still teaches me how to live life successfully to this day even though he is in the Spirit World/Summerlands because he has helped me to see the powerful tools and abilities I have within me that can truly make my dreams come true. Thank you Dad x 

My father was a very successful and lived a full life that was full of ambition, meaning and achievement. He was most proud of his time spent as  Police Dog Handler, and Scenes of Crime Plan Drawer. He also had many other professions from being in the Army, Grenadier Guards where he actually stood at St James Palace and Guarded our Queen. He took part in the Queen's Coronation and even was a Boxer for the Police Force. 

I always knew that he was successful in life, not because of his job titles but because he worked hard and achieved what he set his mind to. He was a fantastic artist and loved painting with oils and sketching with me.  I do wonder sometimes what my artistic ability would be like had I let him teach me more. Still, he was always very proud of me and continually praised me to everyone he met. (It sometimes - OK a lot of the time, was very embarrassing). It didn't matter what I was interested, what Job I wanted to do be it; teacher, accountant or nurse, he "sung my praises". 

He also taught me a lot of things that I've since come to look upon as "Spiritual Keys to Life". Both Mum and Dad instilled in me morals, manners and Love of all that is from birth. I always say thank you, I always allow people to pass if there isn't room for both to walk on by, I open doors, offer help, show my appreciation to others the best way I can, and I always listen to what people have to say. One thing my Dad always said to Mum and I was that "Every night, I thank god for you both." I think this really is important to do, sometimes we can take people for granted, perhaps thinking that they will always be there. Especially our loved ones. Maybe we don;t say Thank you to them individually enough, but could we perhaps dedicate some time throughout our day to give thanks for them? I think so. 

So, today, I am saying, "Thank you God for giving me a wonderful Father who always did his best to teach me how to live a happy and successful life. Thank you for giving me a father who wasn't afraid to stand in his power and do what he believed was right. Thank you for giving me a father who helped hundred and thousands of people in his professions he had over the years. And thank you God for giving me a Father who made my Mum so very happy." 

What are you grateful for today? 

HedgeWitch @ Home 

xXx

Samhain Blessings

Samhain Blessings to all my blog followers/readers. 

I am very sorry that I haven't been posting. This kind of thing happens with me when other areas of my life tend to take over. My work is the culprit this time. Rushed off my witchy feet at the primary school where I work. Although I've cut down my hours to 3 days a week now so that I have 4 full days to be ME and can focus on my Life Coaching study, Uni study and also my writing and witchy pathway. So, I'll try and get some more Tarot Posts up for you. 

Also, tomorrow starts my 30 days of gratitude project where I will post (even just a short post) daily about the things that I am grateful for in my life. 

Tonight I'm spending my Samhain thinking about this past year, all my achievements, successes, apparent failures, good things, bad things, things I want to release, things I want to embrace and even things I wish to come into my life over this coming year. 

I just want to share with you some of my dreams I have for the coming year. 

1. To connect more with the Goddess and God (Daily) 
2. To develop more as a Intuitive Psychic (Developing is a constant)
3. To Continue writing daily gratitude lists
4. To qualify as a Life Coach and Advanced Life Coach 
5. To Train as a Neuro-Linguistics Practitioner. 
6. To pass my Psychology and Counselling course with High Grades at University
7. To complete my AAT training as an Accountant
8. To get more paid opportunities for my writing
9. To practice Yoga twice a week
10. To have more fun
11. To love myself
12. To find true love.
13. To learn more about my witchy pagan pathway 

Of course, I have lots more on my list, but for now, that's what I feel able to share with you all.

Tomorrow I'll post more about my Samhain rituals and practice tonight along with some pics of my Samhain altar and of course a Tarot post and my new Gratitude post 

I hope you all have a wonderful Samhain, and I hope this coming year will be happy, healthy, abundant and joyously successful for each and every one of us. 

*78 Days of Tarot* ~ The Magician

Merry Meet, 

Welcome to Day 2 of *78 Days of Tarot*

The Magician - Card 1

Keywords; Power, Belief, Law of Attraction, Challenge, Gift, Skill, Elements, Dreams, 

Today we meet The Magician who to me always inspires me and fills me with such hope. He also reminds me of a Universal teaching that has become so popular these days we can actually deem it fashionable ;  The Law of Attraction. 

In my first days of learning tarot, The Magician was my most hoped for card as I learnt that not only was he balanced (being a Libran, this is important to me) by his awareness of all 4 elements; represented by the cup, wand, sword and pentacle (water, fire, air and earth respectively) but he had the ability to do anything he put his mind to. 

I think everyone, regardless of their pathway or life circumstances can be inspired by the presence of this energy. Don't we all want to be told that WE CAN IF WE TRY? I believe that The Magician arrives in our lives when we may be feeling hopeless, despair or lacking in confidence, to remind us that if we only use the tools that we have around us (just like he does laid upon the table) then we can be living a life that others may see as only merely a dream. 

I also believe this card can mean that we are about to enter a phase in our lives where we are going to be tested, perhaps to the max, but definitely we are going to have our boundaries pushed. What do we do in this situation? We use all of our elemental spirit, our experiences, our heartaches, our passions, our ideas and thoughts, and our resources to throw everything we have at this situation and by utilizing the power of our thoughts (WE CAN IF WE TRY), come out the other end happier, healthier, wiser and proud of our achievement. 

I hope everyone can take the energy of The Magician with them over the next 24 hours or so and carry him with them throughout their lives, as we prepare to meet with The High Priestess tomorrow. 

Blessed Be, 

xx HedgeWitch @ Home xx

78 Days of Tarot ~ The Fool

Merry Meet, 

Welcome to my first *78 Days of Tarot* post. 

For this project I will be using my brand new deck, "Witchy Tarot" by Ellen Dugan. I had this brought for me for my birthday a few weeks ago. I've used them a few times for readings for myself and have found them to be highly accurate. 

Let's get on with the post then and save the chit-chat for later! 

***

The Fool - Card 0 

Keywords: Journey, New Beginnings, Adventures, Ideas, Taking a chance, 

The Fool to me has always meant a new beginning, a journey perhaps more of a personal soul searching journey rather than a physical "lets get in a car or jump on plane" kinda journey (although if you're lucky that might be just the journey you're going on!). 

I love the symbolism of 'The Fool', the delicate white rose symbolizing the purity of the soul embarking upon the journey, the innocent gaze skyward symbolizing that old "not a care in the world" feeling and attitude, the cute doggy who is trying to warn us, but whom we are oblivious to. 

At first when I learnt about the Dogs warning, I thought that whenever this card came up it meant that you should be really careful and that perhaps it wasn't a good card. I've since learnt from personal experience that it's more a case of not letting yourself be too stupid and naive. This message extends when you look and see the Soul who is very close to the edge of the cliff... 

This card also can mean that you should be embracing new opportunities and ideas that are floating your way right now. New job? New Home? New romance? Perhaps there is something you'd like to try? This card can be a sign to say that you should "Go For It!!" 

The message from The Fool : Be careful on your journey, enjoy it and embrace all it has to offer you, learn from the mistakes, embrace the tears and smiles, but don't be silly enough to fall off the edge of the cliff. Be aware, remain balanced, and most of all, STAY SAFE upon your journey. Call upon the Lord & Lady to bless and protect your pathway ahead. 

***

I hope you have enjoyed my interpretation of The Fool, look out for tomorrow's entry where we shall travel to meet The Magician. 

Blessed Be, 

xx HedgeWitch @ Home xx

Witch Book First?

Merry Meet,

This will be my first of two blog posts that I write on here today. Later I'll be writing up my first entry for my "78 Days of Tarot".

As promised, I said that I would share with you the journey of my walking the pagan path. I have gotten my witchy hands on some super-tacular books about the craft but I have no idea "witch" one to read first.

I have the following to choose from; Bucklands Book of Saxon Witchcraft by of course, Raymond Buckland, Natural Witchcraft by Marian Green, Spell in your Pocket by Kate West (I have 2 more on the way by her; The Real Witches Craft being one of them!), Wicca by Scott Cunningham, Natural Witchery by Ellen Dugan....Ok that's enough of a choice...

So does anyone have any recommendations from that list? I'm slightly drawn to the Saxon Witchcraft book, but equally drawn to the Natural Witchcraft, so I don't know. (I'm very indecisive as you can probably tell) haha.

***

In other HedgeWitch @ Home news, I've been looking into the Gods and Goddesses and trying to figure out which ones I'm drawn to working with. I have been able to whittle the great big choice down to about 5 Goddesses, but I really am finding it difficult to feel drawn to any God energy. My friend and I agreed that it could be due to my personal circumstance right now where I am feeling unable to contend with male energy. So I'm not too worried, I believe that the right God energy will come to me when it's time. 

So, who are the Goddesses? 

Well, I feel really strongly drawn to Hecate right now, as I feel like I'm at a crossroads in my life, and also I like the aspect of her protective energy. I certainly feel like I need that energy around me right now, and her imagery is comforting to me right now, so I really feel, that right now, Hecate could be the Goddess for me. 

I have always felt drawn to Artemis and Diana too, perhaps the links with the moon energy draw me to that and I have been working a lot over the past week or so with Rainbow Moonstone. Perhaps Moon Magick and Artemis & Diana is an area for me to look more into. 

I do have a very tiny calling to Athena and Demeter, but I haven't really looked too much into those yet, as I have the overwhelming attraction to Hecate. 

Also, this weekend, I plan on putting together my Wiccan Altar, and when I do I'll take some pictures to show you all what I've come up with. 

So, that's it for now, please feel free to leave a comment and also "follow" this blog, I'd love to get to know you all more. Thank you for taking the time to read this post. Keep a look out for the 2nd post for today which will be my "78 Days of Tarot" post. 

Blessed Be 

xx HedgeWitch @ Home xx

Merry Meet

Merry Meet,

Thank you so much for taking the time to visit my blog. I hope that you will stop by often for a chat and I very much look forward to getting to know you.

As you can see, this is a brand new blog for a brand new chapter in my life. It is my intention that throughout this blog I will share with you my journey as I walk the path of the craft.

I am starting back at the basics and after discussing with a very dear friend of mine the "hows", I agreed with her that I should start at the basics, learn about the sabbats, and as we have the wonderful sabbat of Samhain fast approaching; I will be performing a Self-Dedication ceremony ritual on Samhain, as I dedicate myself to serious study and practice for a year and a day. I hope that in that time I can settle on a specific pathway that works for me and feels comfortable to me. I will also be needing to learn about altar layouts and finding what feels right for me.

As I read and learn about the different aspects of the craft I will be (intentionally) blogging about them for beginners like me to perhaps learn from, but I also REALLY welcome the more advanced and knowledgable practitioner to comment on my blog posts to help me learn more and gain fresh perspectives.

I hope you return to read more about my journey and also I'd really love the company,