By Katrina Rasbold
Unfortunately, life obligations made is so that Cat Gina Cole can no longer continue her Herbalism column for this blog. Since that was one of our most popular columns, I am going to do my meager best to step in and provide a not-nearly-as-good herbalism segment. This week, we’re talking about how to use herbs in magical work. Continue reading Herbalism For Your Day
By Katrina Rasbold
Essential disclaimer: I do understand that some Pagans do not actively work magic, so this particular blog references those who do. My assessment of common mistakes energy-wielding Pagans make is not an attack on people who practice magic differently than I do. Goddess bless ya if it works for you. I openly and immediately concede that some of you may have had different experiences. This is, instead, an observation of what I have personally screwed up in over thirty years of practice, as well as what I observe in other Pagans who are challenged by the limitations of their own erroneous beliefs. Will any of these five issues cause Armageddon or create irreversible damage? Likely not. The worst that will probably happen is that self-imposed limitations will minimize your magical flow. Oh, how I wish someone had told me these things when I was just a little Witch rather than having to find them out on my own. So here we go: Continue reading Witch At The Crossroads: 5 Common Energy Killing Beliefs
By Katrina Rasbold
So often in discussions about spiritual advancement or higher level spell work, we hear about the importance of meditation. What if you can’t do it? Here are my thoughts on that subject. Continue reading Ask a Witch: What If I Can’t Meditate?
By Katrina Rasbold
What is the difference between a curse, a crossing, and a hex? Continue reading Ask A Witch: Curses, Crossings, & Hexes
By Katrina Rasbold
If we are lucky, at some point in our Pagan lifetime, we will be invited to visit someone else’s ritual/grove/coven/circle/event to share in their practice. This could be at a public place such as a park or an event center or it can be at a private home or covenstead. In either instance, there are certain protocols of basic etiquette, tailored to Pagan practice, that are good to observe if you ever wish to be invited to another function. Keeping one’s name untarnished in the Pagan community is quite an extraordinary feat and it often starts with being a guest who maintains integrity and good manners. Continue reading Witch At The Crossroads: Pagan Etiquette
The Fools Journey Through the Tarot Major Arcana
By Katrina Rasbold
A common practice among those who make a serious study of the Tarot is to develop a story that takes The Fool, the first card of the Major Arcana, on a quest through the remainder of the Major Arcana until he ends up at The World card, having completed his quest and his cycle.
Continue reading Witch At The Crossroads: The Fool’s Journey
By Katrina Rasbold
In this week’s “From the Forum” article, Cat shares the Forum responses to a question I have seen frequently on the internet as of late: “Can a Christian also be Pagan?” Here is my take on a similar subject:
Continue reading Ask a Witch: Can A Witch Also Be Christian?
By Katrina Rasbold
Happy belated Valentine’s Day! If you felt lonely on this mixed bag of a holiday, your thoughts might drift to the idea of magic for bringing in a love interest. There are right ways (effective ways) to do it and troublesome ways to do it. In this (older) video, I try to unravel the pros and cons of love magic. Continue reading Ask A Witch: Does Love Magic Work?
By Katrina Rasbold
Where does your energy go?
Often, I hear even advanced magical practitioners talking about physical, mental, emotional, social, sexual, and magical energy as though these are somehow disconnected and unrelated to one another. Some even equate success as a Pagan leader with working well beyond healthy exhaustion of limits on those energy reserves. Anyone truly worth their Himalayan sea salt knows a deficit in any of these levels compromises them all and if you physically and mentally exhaust yourself, your magical energy suffers greatly. Continue reading Witch At The Crossroads: Where Are Your Power Eggs?
By Katrina Rasbold
You’ve done the spellwork with your candle. How long until you see results? Continue reading Ask A Witch: How Long For Spellwork Results?
By Katrina Rasbold
Every now and then, a person influential in your field of influence says or writes something so profound that the whole world seems to stop around you as you let the message sink in. This happened to me in February 2018 in San Jose, California when I attended a presentation by one of my favorite writers and lecturers, John Beckett. Every time I sit through any of his classes, I come away with some snippet that finds its way into my future teachings. For this presentation, his topic was “Alliances” and although he made this statement within a different context than I use it in this post, I was stunned (not for the first or the last time) by the raw truth in his words. John said, “Too many people expect a seat at the table when they bring little or nothing to the table.” Continue reading Witch At The Crossroads: A Seat At The Table
By Katrina Rasbold
It’s Knot Magic (Yes, it is magic!)
In my experience, one of the greatest magical focus tools of all time is the rosary. The intense concentration one can generate by praying the rosary is very nearly unparalleled across spiritual dividing lines.
In Paganism, we have our own form of praying the rosary that is slightly different, but accomplishes the same goal. “Knot Magic” is a very effective form of focused magic similar to praying the rosary, except that one instills their own intent into each “bead,” which is actually a knot. Here is how to do it:
By Katrina Rasbold
This week, a student asked me about scrying: Is it real? Does it work? How do you do it? I did not believe what my High Priestess told me decades ago when I asked the same questions. She said if you sit in the dark in front of a mirror with nothing but candlelight, you will see amazing things. Of course, not believing it meant I was going to try it out as soon as I possibly could, which I did. Continue reading Ask A Witch: The Art of Mirror Scrying
By Katrina Rasbold
This week’s “Ask A Witch” video is on All Seeing Eye magic or how to see things you cannot normally see.
Imbolc is arguably one of our most underrated sabbats. If you do not study the value and impact of each of the eight sabbats, you lose balance on the wheel of the year, but for many Pagans, any celebration that is not Samhain or Beltane is met with limited enthusiasm… the sure sign of an amateur, truth be told. Sigh.
Continue reading Witch At The Crossroads: Imbolc, Dawn’s Early Light
By Katrina Rasbold
At what times are we at our most vulnerable, energetically speaking? In this video, I share when my clients and I seem to experience the greatest vulnerabilty. Continue reading Witch At The Crossroads: Energetic Vulnerability
By Katrina Rasbold
Interestingly enough, both Cat and I explored the same question this week. I took a slightly different approach. Continue reading Ask A Witch: What Is Witchcraft?
By Katrina Rasbold
This week’s “Ask A Witch” addresses the question of whether it is better to use polished or raw stones in spellwork. (Recorded in 2021) Continue reading Ask A Witch: Polished or Raw Stones?
By Katrina Rasbold
Did you make resolutions this year? Have you stayed true to them? How many times have you made the same resolutions over and over, year after year, each time more determined to succeed and more frustrated and dejected when you do not? How many times do the failures of previous years stand in the way of your success for the coming year? Repeated failures are a heavy load to bear.
If you are struggling and need to regroup on the resolutions, here are some ideas for tightening up and streamlining the process.
Continue reading Witch At The Crossroads: New Year’s Resolutions
Archetypes, labels, and cubbyholes. Did we invent them or did they invent us?
There comes a time when you are an old crone sitting back and watching the world turn when you begin to feel like there is nothing new under the sun. When something does spark interest as a new thought, new idea, new concept, new approach, it is exciting, breath-taking even. Mostly because it is so rare. I never imagined that I would be as jaded as I am, thankful for all of the wonders in the world, but bored with them all the same. And yet, here I am, jaded as the evergreens that grow around me and almost as old. Continue reading Witch At The Crossroads: 22 Major Arcana Archetypes of Pagan Groups