Author: Lady Abigail [a WitchVox Sponsor]
Posted: October 20th. 2013
Times Viewed: 1,740
I am proudly a Witch of the Old World. No, I was not born in the Old World nor am I thousands of years old (though some may consider me so) , yet, by the blessings of all the powers that be, I was blessed to be raised and trained in the knowledge and understanding of the old ways.
My Great Grandmother taught me to trust my intuitions, that first impression or feeling you receive from the powers within all things and yourself. She taught me to watch the signs of nature, to see beyond what others see and trust my own heart, even when others would ridicule and judge.
I've always respected weather magick as it's too easy to mess things up. Weather systems are usually huge and even a minor change here can have unexpected side effects. Divert rain from your picnic and you may flood somewhere else or that rain may have been needed by local farmers and never came.
Recently, I have been made frighteningly aware of some odd and unyielding weather patterns, not only in my area, but also all over the world. Droughts, floods, fires, winds, storms… all somewhat more intense than expected and in many cases, slight almost unnoticeable changes are causing great effects.
We have all done it. Made a wish upon a star. As children, one of the first chants we learned was, “Rain, Rain go away, come again some other day.” But what if it doesn’t? What if all of us, Witches and mortals alike, affect and change the weather each day without being aware of it or understanding how we did it.
As a child, I remember summer days playing as my Great Grand mother worked in the yard. But this one day, had been a peculiar odd day and I was confused with all the unfamiliar sensations that keep coming into my spirit. I set on the back porch swing of my Great Grandmothers house, with my one leg dangling down so I could keep moving. I was staring into the nothingness of something I could not explain.
The weather was hot and dry and, even on this morning, I could see the haze across the top of the corn that seemed to be wilting it away as I watched, Even as a child, I knew it was much too early for harvest. For a farm family, where your crops are your livelihood, the death of any crop is not only financially painful but also personally hard. You eat and live from each one of the crops.
The hot air moving across my skin seemed to be hard, not like a morning wind should be. As I looked down at the dry brown yard, I noticed it was cracking open. There was a tiny crevasse going down into a lost darkness. I could see ants working up and down in the cracks and watched as the sun’s heat seemed to drive them even deeper into the ground, seeking out a cooler place.
I must have been deep into the consideration of it all when my Great Grandmother walked out from the kitchen. “You all right, Little One, or did someone walk across your grave?” My Great Grandmother sat down with me on the swing and smiled as if she knew every deep thought I had. “Don’t worry honey, ” she said. “The rains will come once everyone remembers we need it.”
Looking into those dark and soulful eyes of my Great Grandmother I asked her where was the rain. They keep saying it was going to rain but it had been weeks and weeks since we had had any kind of a real rain. Even our well was beginning to get very low and the water had a nasty smell when that happened.
I guess as children we don’t really understand that there are rules of nature and life and that these are carefully mixed within our magickal desires, dreams and yes, even the wishes of a child. My Great Grandmother explained to me that each wish and secret prayer of man/woman likened unto a small spell filled with magickal intent. Many secret wishes are chanted by people every day, over and over, each just as true and powerful as any other spell… but without intention, perhaps more dangerous.
An example comes around very weekend, every holiday, and every special event from baseball games to going to the zoo. You know what I am talking about and I would venture to guess you have done it. “I HOPE IT DOESN’T RAIN TODAY!” Unintended, each person requesting a rain free day for whatever personal fun we have planned. I know I have done it without thinking, wishing there would be no rain or whatever, without thinking there might be some kind of consequence. But then, if you take that one wish and combine it with the other thousands of like wishes… that is going to be some strong energy going forward.
Only a few years back, most people farmed, even if it was a back yard garden for food, saving where we could. Few had sprinkling systems and to water their precious gardens, plants, and flowers, they counted on the Goddess’ magickal rains.
We sometimes forget that nature hears our calls, be it for rain or to hold the rain at bay. Our weather is very much a reflection on the energy of request going forward, although in these times, we allow the ideas of the modern world to bring doubt within ourselves. (*Yes, I understand global warming; that is not what I am talking about. That is a whole different ball of worms.)
As a witch, working weather magick is not exactly out of the range of possibility. In fact, it's absolutely within that range. You know of Shamanic "Rain Dances". Our history is replete with magickally created droughts, storms and of witches and conjurers who worked to bring good weather for the crops, or to destroy the crops of an enemy.
For myself, bad weather tends to happen when I'm sincerely down. I'll never forget the lightning storm a few years ago when I lived in Florida; during a storm I did a call of energy spell. Instantly, there was a crack of lightening and we were blacked out for a day or so. I heard fire trucks and alarms, so it seemed as though someone’s home got hit by lightning!!! So be aware of what you do.
All joking aside, do I really believe we can cause the above-mentioned weather, be it drought or storms? Or at least make them worse? Umm . . . well . . . yes, definitely. So I work hard to NOT do weather magick. I may, from time to time, request changes in the weather but only according to the desires of the Goddess.
Why shouldn't you play with weather magick? Because we are really not "mature" enough to understand the whole system. Chaos theory teaches us that if a butterfly flaps its wings in the UK, it may storm in Chicago. Systems are huge things and one tiny change here can create a much larger situation somewhere else.
While living in Florida, having many storms bearing down upon us (hurricanes) , it was tempting to want to change the weather accordingly. But where do you send the next hurricane? Do you turn her path westwards and chance the fact that New Orleans won't be wiped out again? Unless there's an assurance that I can turn a storm out to sea, where it will harm no one, I don't dare create more destruction than will naturally happen. I can, however, do what I can to ward my own areas, in hopes that those within my smaller sphere of influence will not be harmed.
So why am I talking about this? Certainly not because I want you to think I am "oh so powerful" that I can control the weather. We can all do that. But to make these points: Yes, we can certainly affect the nature of weather within all magick. But as with all things of life and magick, sometimes the best choice is to allow nature to take her course and for us to think before we cast. Intentionally or otherwise.
No I am not suggesting that anyone has caused the weather to change around us. Okay, maybe I am. After all, I'm just some wacky bohemian Witch lady who thinks she can work weather magick, right? Not really. What I am asking is that you think about it and investigate for yourself. You know the importance of every last magickal ingredient in every spell, even thought.
According to legends, Witches were able to control the wind and weather. One method was three knots tied into a rope or sometimes into a handkerchief. When the three knots were tied in the proper magickal way, the wind was bound up in them. Witches gave, or sometimes sold, these magick knots to sailors to help them experience safe voyages. The release of one knot brought a gentle, southwesterly wind; two knots, a strong north wind; and three knots, a tempest. In the folklore of the Shetland Islands and Scandinavia, some fishermen were said to have commanded the wind this way. The belief in controlling the wind by tying it goes back to the legends of ancient Greece. Odysseus received a bag of wind from Aeolus to help him on his journey.
So the question: Who is responsible for the weather? I think we all might be. So maybe next time the forecast is for rain, or you see a few clouds in the sky during that golf game, just let it be … for rain washes the soul of man and feeds the land. Like my Great Grandmother said, "The rain will return when “WE” remember we need it."
Blessed shall you be in magick.
Lady Abigail
Copyright © 09262013
Copyright: Lady Abigail
Copyright © 09262013
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