Little Witch Magazine

Winter 2010

Yule

Imbolc

Familiars

The Parabeurs

Science v.s. Religion

Sacrificing to the gods

How winter came to be

3

In thIs Issue:

4 Poetry5 Examining the season Winter6 Pagan world Science v.s. relgion8 Witchy Things Discussing Familiars 9 Discussion Sacrifices to the Gods10 Yule11 Imbolc12 Branching out Wi(t)ch way?13 Practical Pagan Getting time off for the feasts14 Interview Introducing The creators of LWM16 By the firelight The kidnapping of Persephone18 Visiting: The Parabeurs

This Little Witch

have asked myself multiple times during the creation process of

Little Witch Magazine if we were the right people to add a new Pagan magazine to the world. There are people out there who have followed Pagan paths for forty, fifty, sixty years. They have knowledge and experiences I can only dream of possessing one day and here I am, trying to teach them something. You maybe. Then it came to me; I may not have all the knowledge or expe-riences but I have been practicing Wicca for nearly half my life. I have lived with it through puberty, through high school, through college and maybe, maybe I have something to add to your life that you did not yet know, even if you have been practicing Paganism for a lot more years than I have. The same goes for those who

write this magazine with me. Ladies, I owe you everything. Thank you!Every Little Witch issue will be centered around a season and its appropriate festivals but it will also be about Paganism as a lifestyle. We’ll look for links to science and to add a little aware-ness and knowledge to your life if at all possible. We will write about the topics that we feel most pas-sionate about but will always be open to your suggestions as well. Our greatest hope is to entertain and to honor the Goddess and God in our own little way.Thank you for reading and we hope you will continue to do so. You are this magazine’s life’s blood. So if you like Little Witch Magazine, let us know, let other people know. It’s free, after all!

Blessed be,Elani Temperance

John William Waterhouse (6 April 1849 — 10 February 1917)The Magic CircleOil on canvas, 1886 | 183 cm × 127 cm (72 in × 50 in)Tate Britain, London, UK

I

4

NATURE, the gentlest mother,Impatient of no child,

The feeblest or the waywardest,—Her admonition mild

In forest and the hillBy traveller is heard,

Restraining rampant squirrelOr too impetuous bird.

How fair her conversation,A summer afternoon,—

Her household, her assembly;And when the sun goes down

Her voice among the aislesIncites the timid prayerOf the minutest cricket,

The most unworthy flower.

When all the children sleepShe turns as long away

As will suffice to light her lamps;Then, bending from the sky,

With infinite affectionAnd infiniter care,

Her golden finger on her lip,Wills silence everywhere.

Emily Dickinson--Part 2: Nature

5

Examining the season

inter. It’s the season of the largest contra-dictions. On

the one hand, days are short, it’s cold and there is a high chance of accidents out on the road. It’s the time of the year with the highest amount of suicides and the least amounts of trains and busses that run on time. On the other hand, mother nature gives us chilling beauty, long nights to spend with our loved ones in warm homes and an excuse to eat until we feel we might explode. This season is one of the most magical, even though most trees are bare and everything in nature

seems dead. Below the ground, seeds are lying in rest, wait-ing for the time to rise. Bears, snakes and frogs find a place to hibernate through the cold in an extraordinary feat of survival. Animals especially tailored to survive the winter change the color of their fur or grow more of it to withstand the cold. Some animals, like mice and moles use the snow as insulation, surviving the cold... because it’s so cold. Winter gives us a chance to play unique games and sports, either with our children or alone. It brings out the child in all of us. Who has not thrown snowballs or made snow angels way beyond their youth? Do you smile with

memories as the first flocks of snow fall from the sky?Winter’s reputation swings back and forth between a symbol of death and hominess. It is, of course, the season in which we humans are our most vulner-able. We need shelter to survive the harsh environments mother nature can dish out in these dark months. It’s in those shelters we find our family, either biological or chosen. It’s a time to come to-gether and strengthen bonds. It’s a time to be grateful and contem-plate what we will do when nature rises again. It’s a time where no light is taken for granted and in that sense, winter is unique.

Winter - By elani temperance

ActIvItIes for wInter tIme

Most of the activities concern-ing winter are a bit obvious. Any activities with the snow that’s falling or the ice that’s forming. How about a beauti-

ful walk through the winter landscape? If you don’t want to go outside or you can’t, it may be a fun idea to create some bird food. It’s a great activity

with kids. Also fun to do with kids are drawing or cutting out a winter wonderland or firing up the fireplace and sharing stories. It’s all about family.

w

6

Pagan WorldScience v.S. religion - By alandriel an cuiileur & elani temperance

hat is faith? It is implicit trust, without

proof or reason in a person, god or philosophy. Religion is opposed by science which is based on proof and factual reasoning. Science is the collection of best fitting explana-tions scientists have been able to come up with to explain a problem or answer a question. If the given explanation turns out to inadequate, scientists think of new theories to explain what is happening, often using the one that has the best explanation and fits the observations best.Science and religion seem to be complete opposites. They need not be, but often are. Science accepts what seems to be the best explanation; at a certain point in time the scientific world believed the Earth was the centre of the universe. Then Nico-las Copernicus disproved this hypothesis in his experiments. The trouble was that the former hypothesis was supported by the

Christian church. Nowadays we luckily don’t have this problem anymore. Science and religious organizations have long since parted ways making science an independent way of thinking and open to all. In theory it is Atheist. However, many scientists are also religious followers. We are, after all, human. While it is pos-sible to practice science without being influenced by one’s reli-gion, it does tend to influence the ideas and creativity of scientists when they try to find facts which support their findings.The extreme disputes between members of opposing religions you will not soon find in science. There is, however, a certain unwillingness to change the ideas with which scientists were raised or which they have adopted as truth. This is why topics from certain religious groups are constantly challenged or why new ideas that don’t match the scientist’s image of the world are dismissed without scientific proof. Just think of the God vs. evolution debate.Most scientists have found a

shaky balance between their sci-ence, which helps them under-stand and interpret the world, and their religion which largely acts in the same manner. Both give a sense of security, confidence and control over everything that is happening around them.Calandriel has studied psychol-ogy and uses this as an extra tool to help her understand the people around her. She uses this acquired science as an addition to her intuition and her empathic feelings. In her profession she uses her religion, intuition, balance and empathy but makes sure to keep scientific control over it. This way she has found a balance in her life where her religion does not overtake her science and her science does not overtake her religion. This balance is a necessity for any Neopagan practicing in this day and age. We tie our believes to legends and myths constructed and passed on from a time where much was incomprehensible and unexplainable. Our ances-tors saw the lightning and heard the thunder and thought that this

W

7

force could not come into life by itself; someone had to control it. As no mortal could summon the thunder and lightning, Gods were invented; beings with enormous power. It was they who brought down the thunder and lightning and shook the earth.We now know that this idea is outdated; well, science has yet to find any facts which either proof or disprove the existence of Gods and Goddesses. However, many of the Neopagan branches believe in a God and Goddess who created the Earth. Religion is full of contradictions, it seems. While we know we are shaping our life aorund a story, we hold on to those stories to shape our reality.Is this a bad thing? No, not at all. Believing in something, be it God, Jesus, the Goddess or earth spirits, gives us hope, direction and something to hold on to when times are tough. It lessens our fears and unites us. It also gives us a way to explain away the facts science can’t prove yet. People who can talk to spirits for example. There are many

of these stories and there is no proof to back it up, from either side.The difference between Neopa-ganism and the big five religions on the planet is that our unproven assumptions aren’t widely accep-ted. No one will laugh when you tell a story about a man who was conceived by means of immacu-late conception and who died at the cross for our sins. Share your memories from a past life with people and they will laugh—whether to your face or not.Most likely, science will never exclusively prove anything when it comes to religion. For those who want to believe in stories and who want to let go of the facts, this isn’t a problem; there are a lot of beautiful stories in the world and the only thing that is really important is to find the stories that match your own believes, values and way of life.Still, there will most likely be a voice in the back of our brains reminding us of the facts; what-ever we believe, it is most likely a story. This keeps us grounded and allows us to combine our

faith with modern life. To hold on to your faith, you have to modern-ize it and this means growth. Facts are unmovable. Changes in science are slow and will some-times be held back by scientists refusing to change. The best religions and believers are always open to change and new informa-tion. They let themselves be taken to a place where the facts and adopted stories mix and give new meaning to life. In order to survive, religions need to adapt. If they don’t they will soon be left behind and their place overtaken by religions that can keep up with the changes in society. This is actually not so different from the way science works, except that there are already religions waiting and scientiffic explinations will need to be found first. Instead of putting science and religion opposite each other, it would be better to put them next to each other. Trust the facts but believe in the magic of believing. You will need more than facts to live a full life and finding religion is one of the most substantial ways of achieving this goal.

8

Witchy Things

veryone knows the stere-otype of the witch and her cat, or the

greying wizard with his toad or crow. There are, however, actual animals who live as familiars or animal companion of a witch, druid or other type of Neopagan.

What are familiars?A familiar is an animal that has an exceptionally close bond with his or her pagan. Familiars often choose who they will join. Take as an example how cats will choose a new master, or a dog who always goes to one speciffic member of the family.Another characteristic of a famil-iar is that they are often uncom-monly smart and crafty. For example, my familiar knows how to open my outside door, making me very careful about locking up. Due to this cleverness familiars are much easier to train and can learn more than normal animals of their species. Communicating your intentions to them is much easier than to other animals.

the bondFamiliars have such a close bond with their human partners that they will know when you are very happy, or sad, and if you are very tired, or energetic. My familiar, Onyx, will come and comfort me when I have had a bad day, or he will convince me to take a walk outside together to clear my head. He will be calm when I’m tired and bouncing with energy when I’m energetic. This bond is not one sided and you will be much more connected to your familiar than you are to any other animal, even though you may be great with animals. Onyx can tell me without a sound or glance that he wants to go outside, needs fresh food, wants me to refresh his water of pet and cuddle him.

responsibilityFamiliars are first and foremost animals. This means you will have to take good care of him or her and make sure all their needs are fulfilled. This includes but doesn’t stop at feeding and supplying fresh water, letting the

animal go outside. When the ani-mal is an inside animal they need to get enough exercise and fresh air. You also need to give your familiar a lot of TLC; even though the bond is magical, the relation-ship still needs love and respect to grow and remain strong.

How do you know if an animal is a familiar?An animal you are close to does not need to be a familiar; people have domesticated al sorts of animals throughout the ages. The bond can be called that of a familiars when there is an intensely close bond and an awareness between the two of each other’s feelings, moods and often a vague sense of location. It is possible that a close bond be-tween animal and human grows to the bond of a familiar but most often it is an instinctive draw to each other which leads to a bond which is often subconscious in the beginning. In these cases the start of the bond is already in place when the two partners find one another and will continue to grow from that point onwards.

diScuSSing FamiliarS - By calandriel an cuiileur

E

9

DiscussionSacriFicing to tHe godS - By elani temperance

ur Gods are not the Abra-hamic God. They are not vengeful and

they are not always watching. Frankly, they have better things to do. Their stories are clear; they have lives, trials, difficulties to overcome. We might even say that as much as they have created us, spiritually and mor-ally if nothing else, we are the ones who sustain them with our thoughts, words and actions. If we forget them, could we not say they have died?

dissecting the wordThe word ‘sacrifice’ has gotten a bad reputation. It has come to mean a gift or action taken to please or appease a God or, dur-ing the burning times, the practice of offering one’s children and in-nocence to the—Christian—devil. It has come to mean a loss.At its core sacrifice is—or should be—a way to devote, be thankful and aware of the forces around us, no matter what name(s) we give them.

Through sacrifice we grow be-cause we become aware of the many gifts given to us in our lives, even if—and maybe especially when—our life has been filled with hardship.

the art of sacrificingDepending on your way of life and religion you will either sacrifice to your God(s) and Goddess(es) or to someone or something else on this planet. There are many ways of sac-rificing. We burn incense, take offerings out into nature and give back to nature when we take something from it to use in our rituals and devotion. Sometimes we fast to show we are aware of our consumption patterns. Many of us sacrifice their time to help clean up or restore nature or help animals and people in trouble. Some of us make magazines to give back to the community.Some of us, especially when starting out, wonder what is good to sacrifice and how much of it you need. It’s important to realize it’s the thought that counts. There are no rules and guidelines.

Bigger and more is not always better nor is small or little always worse. Do what feels right.

do we have to sacrifice?Most neopagans believe you don’t need to sacrifice anything for anyone if it doesn’t feel right. Giving sacrifice should be a joy-ous and preferably selfless act of love. There is no need to burry your most price possession at the foot of a tree because you took a branch for wand making. An offering is a way to be aware; what you give is of much lesser importance. If you don’t give sacrifice, how-ever, no matter in what form, it may be hard to dedicate yourself fully to your religion or way of life. Most neopagan religions encour-age their members to be open to the world and to try and better it. Not for yourself but for others. Say a few words of thanks and burn some incense. Volunteer at a soup kitchen around Yule tide. It will cost you very little energy but it can mean a lot for some-one else and add to the positive energy surrounding our world.

O

10

Yule

ule is tradition-ally a celebra-tion of light. In those traditions where the story

of the God and Goddess play an important role, Yule is the time where the God is reborn and the Light returns to Earth slowly but steadily. Decorating your altar with yellow candles and items and anything shaped like the sun is a plus. Also good on your altar are things that symbolize winter. Cold blue gems, mistletoe and maybe even a bowl of snow do nicely.Yule is a time of cleaning and a time of promises. Not just to quit smoking but also those promises that go deeper and are potentially life altering. Yule is a great time for any cleaning rituals, especially those of tools of the Craft.Of major importance is compan-ionship. It’s a time to share your light with others. A great tradi-tion for this is to light a Yule log together with your loved ones. For instructions on how to do this, please check the Little Witch Magazine website.

sImple Yule rItuAl

This ritual is intended to awaken the Sun and lift your spirits and that of those around you.

Requirements: a golden or yel-low candle (the God Candle), matches or a lighter, a fireproof bowl, a piece of paper and a pen. If performed in a group: one extra candle for each person participat-ing.

Decorate your altar as you like. Make sure the only candle on the altar is the gold or yellow candle. Place as many unlit candles around your sacred space as you want. If you are performing this ritual with a group, give each member a candle and leave it at that. Be careful none of the can-dles can burn you while you work.If your tradition requires you to cast a circle, do so now. Take the time to focus and then light the God Candle while you say something like:

“Great God of ages, awaken now. It’s the time of light. You have slept and rested, now be reborn. We of the old ways welcome you.”

Light all other candls in the room or around the circle now. Do so in a clockwise manner. If you are performing this ritual as a group, ask the first person on the right of the altar to come up to the God Candle and light their candle. While they do so, let them say something like:

“I welcome you”.

Take a moment to think about the return of the sun and what it means in your life. Give each member of the circle pen and pa-per and let them write down what they want to leave behind in the new year and what they will strive to do. Light all notes with the God Candle and meditate on the ritual, the sun and your promise. Close the circle. Your work is done.

Elani Temperance, 2005

Y

11

Imbolc

he festival of Imbolc has always been closely related to the God-

dess Brigid (or Brighid). Though rooted in the Middle Ages, it has been revived by Neopagans over the last decades. The name Imbolc comes from the Old Irish ‘i mbolg’, meaning ‘inside the belly’. It’s not strange, then, to conclude that the most prominent theme of this yearly festival is fertility. February 1 has been observed as a special or holy day since the beginning of man. Stone circles and monuments from ancient times have been found that reflect this date and the festival is mentioned in some of the oldest Irish texts found. Because of its strong links to the Goddess Brigid, Imbolc is a very female oriented feast and amongst Dianic Wiccans, the time for initiations.

Brigid One of the oldest and most respected in Celtic mythology, Brigid’s name loosely translates

as ‘fiery arrow’. She is related to everything that is high, like flames, mountains and the higher brain functions required for poetry and knowledge. She also offers a safe home and is a Goddess of smith’s work. Amongst the Greek Pantheon, she would be represented by Athena, who has most—if not all—of Brigid’s themes in her portfolio.

St. Brigid’s dayImbolc is celebrated by Christians as Candlemas or St. Brigid’s Day. A popular Christian tradition which has been adopted by many Neopagans is to make a corn dolly to honor Brigid or to make Brigid’s Cross out of the same material. If you want to learn how to make either of these, please come to the Little Witch Magazine website around Imbolc and we’ll tell you all about it!Once you have made your dolly and cross, they can be kept on your altar and used in your Imbolc celebrations. Many festivals use a dolly so you could also make an all purpose one and dress it up for the occasion.

chAnt to BrIgId

Hey hey hey heySmell the fire burnHey hey hey hey Brigid of the Cross

Hey hey hey heyTaste the healing herbHey hey hey hey Brigid of the Cross

Hey hey hey heyWatch the hammer landHey hey hey hey Birgid of the Cross

Hey hey hey heyFeel the lyric flowHey hey hey hey Brigid of the Cross

Hey hey hey heyHear the children’s laughHey hey hey hey Brigid of the Cross

Hey hey hey hey Birgid of the CrossBrigid of the Cross

Elani Temperance, 2009

By elani temperance

t

12

Branching OutWi(t)cH Way? - By elani temperance

hen we first discover pa-gan ways, a world opens up to us.

There is so much to do and dis-cover. That first year at least, our primary goal is to come home, to find the pagan branch which describes us best. Even if we already know which branch we feel most connected to—Wicca, paganism, druidism, etc—there are a lot of different sub-branches for us to choose from and be confused by.

What are the differences?At its core it comes down to the basics; do you (want to) believe in Gods and Goddesses and use their stories and believes to guide your life? Do you want to practice witchcraft? How close are you with nature? How about animals? There are no right or wrong answers and, oddly enough, none of the questions and their answers are mutually exclusive to the others.

What are my choices?

Most neopagan ways have more in common than they are differ-ent. This is a part of the freedom inherent in these branches of lifestyle and religion. They do differ, however, and sometimes quite dramatically. In short and very generalized, fol-lowers of witchcraft don’t believe in Gods. Magick comes from the universe and within. All forms of magic—black, grey and white—are acceptable. Followers of paganism believe in one God and Goddess and focus less on Magick and ritual spell craft. Much of their faith lies in woodland beings, community and nature. Druids generally believe in Nature as sacred. They prefer to worship Her instead of Gods or Goddess-es from different pantheons. They use very little spellcraft and tend to observe only the eight annual festivals.Shamans are conduits between the world of the living and the world of the dead and divine. They often honor ancestors who have passed and identify greatly with nature; in particular its

animals. Their Magick is the oldest and most primal but also the one most dangerous as they use toxic herbs to facilitate their transitions between worlds. Wicca is the youngest of the branches. Followers believe in a God and Goddess and they use their images and stories for wor-ship and selfactualisation. They practice white Magick only.Of course there are more branch-es and every branch has multiple sub-branches. We will talk more about those in the coming issues of Little Witch Magazine.

do i have to choose?No, not really, but it is com-mon and handy in research and conversation to at least map out where you stand. You don’t have to pick just one—in fact, most neopagans have taken parts from the branches to fit their believes. As long as you keep in mind what is important to you and you take care to be safe and close to your heart, you can’t go wrong in experiencing different paths. Let’s face it; the search is a large part of the fun of being pagan!

W

13

e all know that, despite the fact that most of our holy days

were adopted by Abrahamic faiths, the Abrahamic holidays come close to our holiday’s dates but aren’t always exactly the same. Some of ours fall on the weekend… but what about the rest of them? For most of us, we are generally stuck at work or in class. This time on Practical Pa-gan, we discuss your option when it comes to arranging time off for your celebrations.

What are my options?Well, you can always play hooky. Use a sickday or simply call in sick if you are still in school. You won’t have to explain anything but it goes against the spirit of our lifestyle and religion a bit, I’m afraid. Another option is to check what your company or college’s policy is on getting time off for religious celebrations other than those of the Christian faith and follow the instructions. If you go this way

there is a chance you will not have to disclose your religion if you really don’t feel like it. On the other hand, there is a chance the people in charge won’t give permission because they are unaware of our religion or don’t take it serious enough to award days off. The easiest option is to ask your boss or teacher for the time off. Most teachers will accept your reasons without further questions. Your boss and certain teachers probably won’t. This means that for this option to work, you will need to be very secure in your believes and discussing them with potentially skeptical others.

BarteringIt may be important to show you are willing to work on the holidays others are automatically off because of the Christian faith. Ask if you can have the day off and you will catch up on work on Easter or make up the time when you are usually off yourself. That way no one looses hours and you get to do what is important to you. If you don’t want to lose those

days, you need to do some soul searching first and get all your ducks in a row. There is no pagan law that says you need to take time off or even celebrate at all!

When is it time?When you are at a point in your spiritual path where you feel the need to stop planning your cel-ebrations about your obligations, you are arguably also at the point you are comfortable being open about your religion. We know it can be scary if you haven’t been open about your believes to a lot of people yet. In a way it’s like coming out of the closet as ho-mosexual or bisexual; it’s still not widely accepted, you’ll be coming out all your life and there are a lot of stereotypes to face. In the end it is all about com-munication. You can, and most of the time should, get time off to celebrate. The important thing is that you ask because it will be a long while yet before our holidays become mainstream and fully accepted.

Practical Pagangetting time oFF For tHe HolidayS - By elani temperance

W

14

Interviewintroducing tHe creatorS oF lWm

name: Elani Temperanceage: 25gender: Femalerole: Editor-in-Chief, designer and creator of LWMlife quote: “Dawn brings a new day and a new day brings hope”

about meI am an international corporate communication student who has dabbled in ICT and social welfare before I landed here. I live to-gether with my beautiful girlfriend of six years. I do volunteer work for an organization which helps and informs lesbian and bisexual women and I’m a rather huge nerd. I used to role play a lot, both online as well as at a table with

life quote: “Live life less ordinary”

about meI like animals, reading, sci-fi television shows… wait, what do you mean this isn’t for a dat-ing site? Oh! Right, well, enjoy writing, which comes in handy every now and again because I study communications. It’s the same major as Elani. I have the crazy aspiration to become a writer some day but for now I’ll just stick to communication.

about my spiritual pathI grew up in a somewhat spiritual family; my mother has a few gifts of her own and she wasn’t afraid of talking about it to us. When I was a kid my mom sometimes worked at the parabeurs and I would tag along with my dad. We would either spent the day there or do something else and then picked up my mother as the day drew to a close. It was usually quite interesting to say the least.

friends. Through this I met Calan-driel. Ragnild and I met at college and I met Vlinder in my housing complex.

about my spiritual pathI have been a solitary Dianic Wiccan for nearly eleven years. I self initiated at Imbolc in 1999 after roughly a year and a day of study. The Wiccan faith has influenced my life in ways I can’t even explain. It has formed me into who I am and LWM is my way of giving back.

name: Ragnildage: 21gender: Femalerole: Writer

15

a little over nine years ago.

about my spiritual pathI have been busy with my spiritu-ality since I was fifteen years old. All this time I have been search-ing for the right path or paths to fit my spiritual needs. Currently my spiritual path lies somewhere between Wicca and Druidism and I am taking my time to find the perfect place for me. Working with LWM came at a perfect time in my life as I was searching for a way to spent more time on my religion.

name: Calandriel an Cuiileurage: 24gender: Femalerole: Writerlife Quote: “That was a basic rule of witchery; It’s up to you.” - Terry Pratchett, A Hat Full of Sky.

about meI have been studying psychology at the university for a couple of years now. In the little free time I have in between schoolwork and research I try to read as many books as possible. I am an incredible book freak, mostly fantasy. Other than that I love to spend a quiet night with friends. I especially love having crazy con-versations with them or roleplay-ing. This is also how I met Elani,

about meI am a nurse with a very sweet boyfriend. I’m very new to the spiritual but very driven.

about my spiritual pathReligion has always been a inter-est of mine. I realized quite early on I didn’t agree with the many rules of the large religions and that I found some of the religions or ways of life hypocritical. The great time of leaving home to live on my own and the time I spent working at the hospital have real-ly opened my eyes to everything else out there. I used to think my housemates were a bit odd with their incense and coloured candles but that was nine years ago. I now have a great collection of incense and coloured candles. Druidism combined with the ritu-als of Wicca is a great balance. Religion helps me to thin clearer about the way I act and I hope to learn much from the work I will do for Little Witch.name: Vlinder

age: 28gender: Femalerole: Writer

16

By the firelighttHe kidnapping oF perSepHone - By ragnild

ave you ever heard the tale of how Winter came to all the lands? No?

Then sit down by the fire and enjoy the story my child. You see, when I was your age, so very long ago, my grandfather told me the story of how Winter came to our lands. It was of nearly forgot-ten, ancient, times. Back when the Gods still walked the Earth, when they were still revered and loved.Then, so very long ago, Demeter, Goddess of harvest, walked the Earth together with her daughter Persephone. Demeter’s daughter was the Goddess of Spring and she made sure the lands were gentle and lush and food was plentiful. People were happy. Both Goddesses were loved and brought much joy and warmth upon the world.All was well until one sun filled day, Demeter and Persephone were out in the fields. Demeter performed her duties as a God-dess and made sure the harvests would go well and the people

would have plenty to eat. Perse-phone, enjoying the beautiful day, had decided to gather flowers for her mother. What is that you’re asking? What kind of flowers? Well, there were many beautiful flowers growing in the field, but the most beauti-ful flower in the entire field, the one that grabbed Persephone’s attention was a bright yellow narcissus. It was perfect; the yel-low deep and rich like the sun on a cloudless day, its stalk perfectly straight and its leaves without flaws. It was so perfect and fragrant, the young Goddess couldn’t help but pick it and once she did the ground split beneath her feet and the Earth swallowed her up. It was a frightening experience as poor Persephone had no idea what had just happened to her. Persephone landed and Hades, Lord of the Underworld, came storming in riding his golden chariot. Immediately Persephone knew where she was and it did not calm her fears. Hades took her with him and, to Persephone’s utter shock,

proposed to her. He told her how much he loved her and how he had watched her from afar, how he yearned for her and wanted her to become the Queen of the Underworld. Persephone couldn’t stand the thought of the endless darkness that awaited her in there but Hades would not let her go.As Persephone did not return later in the day, Demeter began to worry, as all mothers do. She searched and searched but her beloved daughter was nowhere to be found. Hopeless, she wan-dered around the lands and ne-glected her duty as the Goddess of Harvest because of it. With Persephone gone and Dem-eter bitterly searching for her, the lands began to wilt and die, grass turning a muddy brown and trees losing their lustrous leaves. Harvests failed and the people began to despair.It was during her travels Demeter learned that it was Hades who had taken her daughter. She begged with Zeus, Persephone’s father, to convince Hades to release her daughter.

H

17

pAgAn AgendA

activities by the Silver circle (nl)www.forum.silvercircle.org/calendar.php

activities by the cikel van de godin (nl)www.brownbearsw.com/freecal/lichtengel60

(Your Neopagan schedule or activ-ity here? Contact us!)

Zeus could not stand to see the suffering of the people and of Demeter. He told Demeter that he would see what he could do, but he did not promise her anything. He left to find Hades in the Un-derworld. When Zeus returned, he told Demeter that he had been able to work out a deal with Hades. Persephone could return but only if she hadn’t eaten from the Underworld’s gardens.And before you ask, yes, the Underworld does have gardens. How else can they feed the souls that live there? Now, let me con-tinue with my story child, for it is getting late.Now, as you may have noticed, Persephone had been gone for quite some time and even Gods and Goddesses get hungry at times. Hades had seen her grow hungry and had brought her a pomegranate. Little did Perse-phone know what would happen if she ate from his gardens and took the offering gladly.Demeter returned to the under-world together with Zeus, wanting to see her daughter. Their meet-ing would have been a festive

one, had it not been for the fact Persephone had already eaten from the fruit when her mother arrived. Demeter cried bitter tears as she told her daughter of the deal. Persephone had grown quiet and pale, knowing Hades had known about the deal before offering her the pomegranate. Luckily for her she hadn’t eaten it entirely and she had only swallowed six seeds. The Lord of the Underworld would not shirk the agreement he had made with Zeus and agreed that Persephone would stay in the Underworld for six months every year; one month for every seed she had eaten. When Persephone was away with Hades in the Underworld, Dem-eter would weep and depress, choosing to walk the Earth and travel instead of acting out her duties as Goddess of Harvest. And it is so that Winter came upon us, only to be chased away by Persephone when she was free from her duties as Hades’ wife and Queen of the Under-world.

18

Visiting:tHe paraBeurS - By ragnild

arnormal fairs offer a multitude of services and products of in-

terest to anyone interested in the spiritual or paranormal. Services I have seen offered on my visits to such fairs encompassed things such as palmistry, laying of cards, whose laying methods may vary per person offering the service, reading of photographs, making contact with your spirit guide and the like. With every chance to visit I noticed that there always seems to be a new thing to do

or try out since the psychics are never the same. How do you choose to go to a certain psychic, you might wonder, well, there really isn’t a standard answer to this. I have been visiting these fairs for quite a few years already and all you can do is visit who you like. Take your time to choose, walk across the fair once or twice before deciding. See how they handle the people when their offered services seem interesting, do you like them? Would you feel comfortable visiting them? How do you know you’re not pick-ing somebody that’s a complete quack? To put it simply, you don’t know. Again my advice would be to see how they interact with other clients, see if the people before you seem satisfied. Some psychics might be great with one person but not as good with you however, keep this in mind. If you don’t agree with them or they make a lot of mistakes you. of course, have the right to leave. Aside from the paranormally gifted and the... less paranormally gifted with their own stands, there

are also lectures on a myriad of different topics, which are given by psychics that also tend to have their own stands.My personal favourite is pretty much having my cards read; usually when you have them read they tend to have more to say that may not even use cards. It can be quite enlightening and the results may vary per visit depend-ing on how accurate the advice has been and what you may or may not have done with it. I also recommend trips to the iridolo-gist if there is one, especially if you may have worries about your health. Even when you don’t they can be quite useful; they may be able to give pre-emptive advice and give you some tips about your general health and feel good. Take your time and visit whoever you feel comfortable with. You might be surprised with what they may know and what they tell you. And above all, enjoy yourself; it’s a great way to spend a relaxing and likely somewhat contempla-tive afternoon.

The parabeurs is a Dutch, travelling, weekly event to do with spirituality. Things most commonly found there are stands with items of interest as well as personal stands of people that offer their various paranormal gifts as a service. There are usu-ally also one or two stands that offer aura pictures with analyses.

p

19

Next in LWM

n the 21th of March, Spring is upon us and the second issue of the

Little Witch magazine will come out. In it we will talk about Ostara and Beltane, one of the most important holy days of the year. We will let our newest writer, Vlinder, share with you the trials and tribulations concerning set-ting up your first altar and share with you more stories, events and information about our religion and believes. For more information concern-ing the season and its special days, check back often on the Little Witch Magazine website or follow us on Twitter. We will keep you informed and share sneak peeks of the coming issue and its artwork. If you have anything you’d like to share with us for the next magazine, like poetry, photo-graphs, artwork or rituals, please contact either Elani Temperance, use Twitter or the general contact email. We are open to anything and we give credit where it’s

due. If you have any questions you would like to ask, use the contacts mentioned above and we might answer them in our next issue.Until then, blessed be and merry part! We hope you have enjoyed this issue of Little Witch Maga-zine and are looking forward to the next one like we are.

colophone

Little Witch magazine was launched in November 2010 as an initiative to bring a personal and universally Neopagan magazine to Neopagans and those interested in the Neopagan paths in both the Dutch and English language. Little Witch magazine intends to be a grounded, modern take on a life with Neopaganism and hopes to inspire and enlighten.Feel free to contact us with any ques-tions, tips, remarks, or to just let us know what you think.

CONTACT US AT: www.littlewitchmagazine.com Twitter.com/LWMag Contact@littlewitchmagazine.com

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Elani Temperance(Elani@littlewitchmagazine.com)ART DIRECTION: Elani TemperanceARTWORK: Maaike Kramer (www.maaikekramer.nl)all images copyrightedWRITERS:Calandriel an Cuiileur(Calandriel@littlewitchmagazine.com)Ragnild(Ragnild@littlewitchmagazine.com)Vlinder (Vlinder@Littlewitchmagazine.com)

O