SPIRIT ANIMALS AND POWER ANIMALS

SPIRIT ANIMALS AND POWER ANIMALS:

 

spirit and power animals

Posted by: Magickal Winds
Original contenet from: http://www.spiritanimal.info

What is the Difference Between a Spirit Animal and a Power Animal?

The terms “spirit animal” and “power animal” are often used interchangeably, even though they have slightly different meaning depending on the context in which they are used.

Spirit Animal Definition

Spirit animals are typically associated with traditional as well as modern Western shamanic practices. During initiations or shamanic journeys, the shaman would find one or several animals that she or another person is associated with. Traditionally, the spirit animal is used for guidance.

Think of your spirit animal as a guardian spirit or spirit guide. It can play the role of protector and provides guidance. It’s like a “personal guide or protector” that has a personal affinity with the person it’s associated with.

Power Animals

In addition, the spirit of the animal could unite with the person it “chose” in more personal ways and one will often find similarities in traits of personality, characteristics, and synchronicity between the two. As such, the power or essence of the animal can be felt or communicated. In that sense, spirit animals can also be referred to as “power animals”.

On this web site, the terms spirit animal, animal spirit guide and power animal are used interchangeably.

Connect With Your Spirit Animal

A spirit animal characterized by a personal relationship to the individual it is associated with. You can have one or several spirit animals throughout your life, during a specific phase of your life, or at specific occasions.

It is that connection at the individual level that differentiates the power animal from the animal totem that tends to symbolize a group or person’s identity. As such, power animals are the equivalent of animal spirit guides or spirit animals.

Your spirit animal often represents qualities and attributes that you may see in yourself. It is instructive to learn about the habits and characteristics of your power animal and see how they are reflected in your own personality and life.

How To Find Your Spirit Animal

There are many different ways to find your spirit animal:

  • Meditation
  • Going in nature and observing
  • Calling the animal
  • Process of self-inquiry
  • Writing about it in your journal
  • Imagination
  • Journeying with sound

These are a few methods among many used to find the animal or animals you have a special connection with. >> Learn more on how to find your spirit animal.

When developing a meaningful relationship with your spirit animal, prepare yourself to explore a world where you can rely more on your imagination and intuition, rather than only using your intellectual abilities and rational mind.

When developing a meaningful relationship with your spirit animal, prepare yourself to explore a world where you can rely more on your imagination and intuition, rather than only using your intellectual abilities and rational mind.

Spirit Animal Symbolism

Animals are omnipresent in our lives whether they are pets or live in the wild, yet we often lack a clear understanding of their symbolic nature and what they could mean. When we relate to the spirit of animals, they may offer us powerful insight.

In the world of spirit animals, animals can symbolize:

  • Aspects of your personality
  • Skills or traits that we have cultivated successfully or have yet to develop
  • A situation or emotions that have recently arisen
  • Spirit animals can also offer guidance, an intuitive understanding

Search the list above for more information.

Spirit Animal Meanings

Spirit animals carry meaning, wisdom, and power. Finding out what your spirit animal or totem means is like a going on a journey. Meanings will be revealed as you deepen your personal connection with it. Here are tools to help you go beyond generic animal symbolism and connect with the true essence of your power animal.

Posted in Animals and tagged , , , , , , by with no comments yet.

The Symbolic Meaning of the Pentagram and Pentacle

Symbolic meaning of the Pentagram and Pentacle
Posted by: Magickal Winds

The Pentagram:

Pentagrams

The Pentacle:

Pentacle

The Pentagram is a symbol of a star encased in a circle. Always with 5 points (one pointing upward), each has its own meaning. The upward point of the star is representative of the spirit. The other four points all represent an element; earth, air, fire, and water. All these things contribute to life and are a part of each of us.

To wear a pentagram necklace or other form of jewelry, is to say you feel the connection with the elements and respect the earth.

The number 5
The number 5 has always been regarded as mystical and magical, yet essentially ‘human’. We have five fingers/toes on each limb extremity.We commonly note five senses – sight, hearing, smell, touch and taste. We perceive five stages or initiations in our lives – eg. birth, adolescence, coitus, parenthood and death. (There are other numbers / initiations / stages / attributions).

The number 5 is associated with Mars. It signifies severity, conflict and harmony through conflict. In Christianity, five were the wounds of Christ on the cross. There are five pillars of the Muslim faith and five daily times of prayer.

Five were the virtues of the medieval knight – generosity, courtesy, chastity, chivalry and piety as symbolised in the pentagram device of Sir Gawain. The Wiccan Kiss is Fivefold – feet, knees, womb, breasts, lips – Blessed be.

The number 5 is prime. The simplest star – the pentagram – requires five lines to draw and it is unicursal; it is a continuous loop.

Human stars
Expressing the saying Every man and every woman is a star, we can juxtapose Man on a pentagram with head and four limbs at the points and the genitalia exactly central. This is Man in microcosm, symbolising our place in the Macrocosm or universe and the Hermetic / Tantric philosophy of associativity as above, so below.

The Golden Proportion
The geometric proportions of the regular pentagram are those of the Golden Section. The Golden Proportion is one beloved of artists since Renaissance times and also to be found in post-Hellenic art and in the geomantic planning of Templar sites, being those proportions of a rectangle considered most pleasing to the eye. Here, the ratio of the lengths of the two sides is equal to the ratio of the longer side to the sum of the two sides. Or :

a/b = b/a+b = a+b/a+2b = a+2b/2a+3b = 2a+3b/3a+5b ….etc.

If a square is added to the long side of a golden rectangle, a larger golden rectangle is formed. Continuing this progression forms the basis for a nautilus spiral. The ratio of the distance between two points of a pentagram to its total width is in the golden proportion, as is the ratio of the height above the horizontal bar to that below, as is the ratio of a central part of a line to the outer part.

This ratio forms the foundation of the Fibonacci series of numbers 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, etc. where each number is formed by adding the previous two numbers. The Fibonacci series is much found in nature in the pattern arrangement of flower heads and leaves and many flower heads and fruits themselves exhibit a fivefold symmetry.

Protection against evil
The pentagram has long been believed to be a potent protection against evil, a symbol of conflict that shields the wearer and the home. The pentagram has five spiked wards and a womb shaped defensive, protective pentagon at the centre.

Five elements
Here are five elements, four of matter (earth, air, fire and water) and THE quintessential – spirit. These may be arrayed around the pentagrams points. The word quintessential derives from this fifth element – the spirit. Tracing a path around the pentagram, the elements are placed in order of density – spirit (or aether). fire, air, water, earth. Earth and fire are basal, fixed; air and water are free, flowing.

The single point upwards signifies the spirit ruling matter (mind ruling limbs); is a symbol of rightness. With two points up and one (spirit) downwards, subservient, the emphasis is on the carnal nature of Man.

Drawing a Pentagram
These point attributions are used in ritually inscribing, as a flourish of the hands or the athame, different forms of pentagram for invoking or banishing (grounding) each of the elementals according to the nature of the ritual. The line traces as illustrated for earth (the last stroke is optional).

Another way of seeing this path is as Man’s spiritual journey through evolution. The spark of Life descending from God, the divine source of life to the simplest embryonic form (earth), rising to flow (water – air) on our plane of existence (compare with the intonation of the AUM mantra), then again descending to the fire of purification before again rising as a divine spark to find again his spiritual source.

The pentagram may be shown as an interlaced line symbolic of the web-weaving power of magick. The descending spirit-earth line may pass under (male) or over (female) the water-air line to give two slightly differing forms.

Open Pentagram
A pentagram may be open, without a surrounding circle.This is the active form symbolising an outgoing of oneself, prepared for conflict, aware, active. (One wearing an open pentagram must be physically aware of the danger of sharp points sticking in their skin from time to time). As a pagan religious symbol, the open pentagram represents an open, active approach.

Circled Pentagram (Which I call a PENTACLE, not a Pentagram)
A circle around a pentagram contains and protects. The circle symbolises eternity and infinity, the cycles of life and nature. The circle touching all 5 points indicates that the spirit, earth, air, water and fire are all connected.

The circled pentagram is the passive form implying spiritual containment of the magic circle, in keeping with the traditional secrecy of witchcraft, and the personal, individual nature of the pagan religious path, of its non-proselytising character.

Inverted Pentagram
Although some 2nd Degree High Priests and Priestesses wear their PENTACLE (not Pentagram) inverted, that is to symbolize their 3rd degree status not the same meaning as an inverted Pentagram. The pentagram may be inverted with one point down. The implication is of spirit subservient to matter, of man subservient to his carnal desires. The inverted pentagram has come to be seen by many pagans as representing the dark side and it is abhorred as an evil symbol. Fundamental christians, indeed, see any form of pentagram as such. However, these are recent developments and the inverted pentagram is the symbol of Gardnerian second degree initiation, representing the need of the witch to learn to face the darkness within so that it may not later rise up to take control. The centre of a pentagram implies a sixth formative element – love/will which controls from within, ruling matter and spirit by Will and the controlled magickal direction of sexual energies. This is another lesson of initiation.

The Pentagram As A Christian Symbol
Up until medieval times, the five points of the pentagram represented the five wounds of Christ on the Cross. It was a symbol of Christ the Saviour. This is in stark contrast to today where the pentagram is criticized by modern Fundamentalist Christians, as being a symbol of evil.

The church eventually chose the cross as a more significant symbol for Christianity, and the use of the pentagram as a Christian symbol gradually ceased.

Posted by: Magickal Winds


Posted in Uncategorized and tagged , , , , , , by with no comments yet.

There is no more simple Magickal charm in the universe than… “Blessed Be.”

Magickal Winds

Posted by Magickal Winds
Author: Ariel

Probably the most common phrase that we use in the Craft is “Blessed Be.” This phrase is possibly the major common denominator in all of the different Craft traditions.

It is something that is a unifying principle within Witchcraft and although it is the most often articulated saying we have, it seems to me to be the least understood one I know of.

When we say “Blessed Be, ” all too often it is simply new jargon, or a substitute for “Hi, ” “How are you?” or “Good Bye.” Yet, these two words comprise one of the most powerful and sophisticated sentences in the English language.

“Blessed Be” is an ultimate Zen phrase, “Blessed be that which is”; “All that is, is blessed”. We are recognizing a truth that all is inherently blessed. We are reminded that in the present moment, everything is perfect. There is nothing that needs to be changed, and nothing that needs to be improved.

In this moment, everything is sacred. Being at one with the sacred now is a blessed state indeed, and saying “blessed be” from that point of view is a potent statement of recognition of the perfection of this moment. There is no future to obsess about, and no past to regret.

There is only this moment; it goes on forever, and all is truly blessed.

Another important facet of this gem of a saying is that it is a constant reminder of our function in the Craft: We are here to bless.

Once we develop a significant relationship with Spirit, in whatever way it presents itself to us, we eventually come to recognize that what the world needs from us is our blessing. The only significant contribution we have to offer the world is blessing.

In any situation, with any person or group of people, we are here to say (and mean) “Blessed Be, ” either silently or aloud.

When we take an honest look at any problem in the world, it becomes apparent that the problem stems from a lack of blessing, and the only cure is to bless.

I know for myself, I can honestly say that anytime I have been less than loving or compassionate in my life, it was in response to a great deal of pain I was experiencing at the time.

What I didn’t need in order to turn my life around was more judgment, anger and criticism. What I needed was love and blessing.

I needed someone to say “Blessed Be” and mean it.

We are children of divinity–children of the Mother and Father, of Spirit, of God, or whatever you choose to call it. As divine children, we are here as expressions of our parents. We are here as lights in a dark world. Our function is to recognize the light and divinity in everyone else.

“Blessed Be” can also be another way of saying “The divine love in me recognizes the divine love in you”. We are here as healers of this world. Whether we take this job seriously or not will determine what direction our world takes.

We have the power to transform the world in every moment just by seeing any situation from the point of view that we are divine beings here to bring blessing.

It isn’t a question of whether or not we have the power to bless, it is a question of whether we choose to use it or not.

If we say “Blessed Be” consistently and mean it, this planet can heal very quickly.

One thing that I have learned in my life is that there is enough pain in this world. We all know what pain is. We have been to hell already; we don’t need to indulge in pain any longer in order to know we want something else.

I can honestly look at my life and say that what I really need is not more misery. I see that what many of us are doing is indulge in misery out of habit, or addiction. It takes a great deal of determination to understand that our addictions are not serving us any longer and then decide that we are going to relinquish our investment in them.

Unfortunately, like any addiction, we often wait until we hit rock bottom before we realize that we have a problem. In Alcoholics Anonymous, the first step to sobriety is for the alcoholic to recognize that they are powerless over alcohol, and that there is a higher power who can restore them to sanity.

This is what blessing is all about. Whatever our wound, the healing comes about from blessing.

If we have a strained relationship with another person, our greatest work to bring us happiness in that relationship is the honest blessing of that person.

If we have a problem with our job, the healing comes about from blessing the job, and all the people in it on every level.

The act of blessing that I describe is not an abdication of power; it is a reclaiming of power.

Some might worry that we need to protect and need to defend ourselves, and that if we are blessing all the time, it will just leave us vulnerable to attack. This worry comes from the erroneous point of view that Spirit is ineffectual. We would do well to remember that the power of love is fierce.

Spirit is intelligent. It knows what to do. When we bless the world, we are in a position of ultimate power. Just as when our physical immune system is healthy, it takes care of all the viral and bacterial activity without us needing to know what is happening.

The Craft of blessing results in building a spiritual immune system that is so strong that nothing can touch us. It is not necessary for us to carry out punishment (curses) on others in order to be safe and protected. In fact, cursing is a domain in which we leave ourselves the most open and vulnerable to attack.

Cursing is very subtle stuff. Curses aren’t necessarily consciously cast. Anytime we desire the pain and destruction of another person for any reason, we are withholding our blessing, and are by default cursing.

Resentments and grudges do come up however, and I am not suggesting that we are supposed to just suppress our feelings and pretend like we are not feeling rage when we are feeling it.

What I am suggesting however is that when we are feeling anything other than love for people that we recognize it and bring it to Spirit to heal.

This is the ultimate magic: transformation.

When we are feeling anger toward another person, we can say “Goddess, I am really pissed of at so-and-so, and want to crush their big fat head right now. Please heal this situation. Please bring me back in harmony with your compassion. Show me what I need to do in this situation, let me know what to say in order that this situation be healed.”

We aren’t denying our rage, but we are embracing our ability to move beyond it. A curse is when the rage and desire to destroy are kept within us to fester.

Curses are psychic malignancies.

Blessing is a silent art. Just because we bless someone doesn’t mean we have to have lunch with him or her.

Blessing is not about forcing our personal wills on any situation. It is simply recognizing the people and situation before us as divine, and seeing the love at the heart of whatever is going on regardless of the drama that is being played out.

We simply access the Spirit within us and ask for its will to be done in our presence. We withdraw our preconceived notions of what is supposed to happen, or what we think we want to have happen, and allow ourselves to invoke the presence of pure love.

When we are facing a problem, and we think we have tried everything, it is very important that we ask ourselves whether or not we have given our blessing. Often this is something that we have overlooked.

I can’t count the number of times I have been in the throes of misery and the one thing I have NOT tried is asking Spirit directly to take the problem and heal it for me. Once we renounce our addiction in the pain, we are transformed.

We have shifted our plane of experience from one of cursing, to one of blessing.

There is no more simple, or more powerful magical charm in the universe than “Blessed Be.”

Posted by Magickal Winds


Posted in Origins and tagged , , , , , , , , , by with 1 comment.

The Meaning Of Our Moon

Moon_phases_small

Moon Meaning

By: Magickal Winds

 

Each Full Moon has a different meaning and magickal purpose. Because of this, it is a good idea to plan your Full Moon Rituals to work with the meaning and purpose of the Moon. The Full Moon is also a traditional time for divinations of all kinds, as the power of the Moon aids in such work.

If you want to gain something (friendship, money, job, intelligence) do your Magick during the WAXING MOON (when the moon is getting full)

If you want to lose something (bad habits, negative energy) do your Magick during the WANING MOON (when the moon is getting small)

The FULL MOON is a good time for Magick of all kinds, for the full moon brings great power to all Magick.

The NEW MOON is useful for starting new ventures.

 

October ~ Blood Moon: Plan a ritual to remember those who have passed from this world, and be sure to make an offering to them.

November ~ Snow Moon: Plan for a ritual to work on ridding yourself of negative thoughts and vibrations.

December ~ Oak Moon: Plan for a ritual to help you remain steadfast in your convictions.

January ~ Wolf Moon: Plan a ritual of protection around your home and family.

February ~ Storm Moon: Plan a ritual to ask the Old Ones for help in planning your future.

March ~ Chaste Moon: Plan a ritual to help fulfill your wishes is appropriate.

April ~ Seed Moon: Plan a ritual to physically plant your seeds of desire in Mother Earth.

May ~ Hare Moon: Plan a ritual to reaffirm your goals.

June ~ Dyad Moon: Plan a ritual to balance your spiritual and physical desires.

July ~ Mead Moon: Plan a ritual to decide what you will do once your goals have been met.

August ~ Wort Moon: Plan a ritual to preserve what you already have.

September ~ Barley Moon: Plan a ritual of Thanksgiving for all the Old Ones have given you.

 

By: Magickal Winds

 

 


Posted in Moon and tagged , , , , , , , , by with 1 comment.

A Brief Summary of Wicca

The following information, like all of our informational posts are intended to educate, learn, share knowledge, and inform those who wish to be informed.

All of our information is from various resources, (including our own), that wish to share their/our knowledge with the public.

Magickal Winds does not promote any religion or tradition to the public; because of this, some of our posts and articles do not necessarily reflect our personal opinions, beliefs, or practices.  We simply want to inform, not promote our beliefs.  Is this difficult?  YES!  But very necessary to maintain an open mind and allow the individual to think for themselves.

What is Wicca?

(A Very Brief Summary)

Wicca is a highly spiritual religion based on the ancient pre-christian pagan religions.  Not all pagans are wiccans!  (A separate article explaining the difference between pagans and wiccans will be posted later).  Wiccans believe in divine forces as the source of all.  It is both immanent and transcendent while encompassing the whole universe.  Therefore the world and all aspects within the world, “nature” and “life itself” in particular, are considered sacred.

Wiccans use ancient and modern ceremonies, rituals and shamanic practices to attune themselves to the natural rhythms of nature, the world, and the universe in their efforts to commune with this divine force.

To communicate with the force, wiccans believe it to be manifest in the form of a goddess and god.  As they emanate from the same source, both retain equal power, hence equal status.  By manifesting the power in two deities (goddess and god), the natural balance of opposites, cause and effect are retained, e.g.  Summer/winter, light/ dark, life and death etc.  Each opposite is essential to maintaining the balance and rhythm of life on earth.

During ritual ceremonies and while working with Magick, wiccans call on many other deities.  All other deities (the names of which are endless) are in essence merely differently named aspects of the same goddess and god.  (Due to the size of the list, I will list some of the more known gods and deities in a separate post).

Wicca has no high authority, no single leader, no prophet and no bible to dictate its laws and beliefs.  Every witch is as important as another and all share equal status.  Most wiccans are solitary practitioners known as “Hedge Witches” (I will list these different traditions with their differences in a separate article), but there are also many “Covens”.  Covens include groups of up to 13 people, which is equal to the 13 phases of the moon during the year.  Covens are normally presided over by a Priest or Priestess (High Priest and/or High Priestess) who has had years of practice in Magick and ritual techniques.  The Priest or Priestess is respected as an Elder and teacher of the craft.

All wiccans adhere to one overriding ethical precept as stated in the “Wiccan Rede”:

“Though it harm none, Do what thy wilt”

This is not a license to do whatever they want, more that it allows them the freedom of thought and actions to ascertain the truth, to communicate with and experience the divine and to determine how best to live their lives, if by doing so they cause no harm.  I will post a separate article with the details of the Wiccan Rede and Wiccan Crede.

This can also be taken as a cautionary reference to the one fundamental law governing Magick and its use.

“The Three-Fold Law”

This states that whatever they do – be it for good or for evil – it will be returned to them, but magnified three times over.  Therefore witches accept responsibility for all their own actions and are especially careful about how they use their Magick, for to hurt someone or to cause distress, a spell is returned to sender three times better or worse.  The Three Fold Law article will soon be posted with details.

Wiccans celebrate 8 major rituals each year called “Sabbats” (a list of the Sabbats and their traditions will be posted soon).  There are 4 major and 4 minor Sabbats.  The major Sabbats include: Imbolc (February 2nd), Beltane (April 30th), Lughnasadh (August 1st) and Samhain (October 31st), while the minor Sabbats are: Ostara (Spring Equinox, March 21st), Litha (Summer Solstice, June 21st), Mabon (Autumn Equinox, September 21st), and Yule (Winter Solstice, December 21st).

The Sabbats are solar rituals marking the points of the sun’s yearly cycle, and make up half of the wiccan ritual year.  The other half is made up with “Esbats”, the Full Moon celebrations.  There are 13 full and new moons each year symbolizing the goddess, wisdom, and the inner self of the individual.

Wiccans and pagans are ordinary everyday types of people and come from all walks of life, from all spectrums of society and from all over the world.  Most are individuals seeking a personalized practical religion that can be adapted to suit their own needs and criteria.  Wicca is a wonderfully diverse religion that meets those needs.

There are many differing paths and traditions contained within wicca, each with it’s own brand of ritual and Magick, (a list of these traditions will be posted separately); but perhaps the single most common theme among all these traditions. is an overriding reverence for life, nature, and the environment, as seen through the goddess and god.


Posted in Summary, Wicca and tagged , , , by with 4 comments.
Better Tag Cloud