Tag Archives: folk magick

Tools of the trade: Enhancing your magick

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Black Cat Witchcraft and Beaux Magique present….Tools of the trade: Enhancing your magick, A Beaux Magique Odyssey

New to the craft and Interested in learning about how to use tools of the trade…. oils, incense, washes and more in your magickal workings? Have products you’re not quite sure on how to use? Experienced veteran and need to stock up on your magickal inventory? Then this is the workshop for you!
Come out and join Rev. Terrie Brookins of Beaux Magique and Cat Thagard of Niagara Witches and Pagans & Black Cat Witchcraft for this interactive Workshop on utilizing your tools of the trade.

In this Workshop you will learn how to use specific oils, sprays, washes and incense in your everyday magickal workings. This Workshop will also include some hands on work.

For your convenience All the products being used are available for purchase during the workshop.
Limited space available.
Be one of the first 10 people to sign up and receive your free swag bag.
Investment: $50 per person

Tickets available at Eventbrite https://www.eventbrite.com/e/tools-of-the-trade-enhancing-your-magcik-a-beaux-magique-odyssey-tickets-62056536772

Or through e-transfer to catandmonkeyevents@gmail.com

St. Catharines 2nd Voodoo and Witchcraft Fair

Come and enjoy St. Catharines 2nd Voodoo and Witchcraft Fair at the WAREHOUSE CONCERT HALL on Sunday June 16th!

A unique day with exclusive and exotic vendors specializing in spiritual supplies and curios, Integral diviners, tarot card and intuitive readers, Lectures and hands on workshops, Interactive voodoo ceremony.Close out concert by the globally acclaimed, award winning tribal music of Niagara’s own Dragon Ritual Drummers!

Tickets are $10.00, includes all day entry, in and out privileges and Dragon Ritual Drummer concert, they can be purchased at https://www.showclix.com/event/witchcraft-fair?fbclid=IwAR22Hzb9_1lbwWgGNbSJJbL0sSx2ocsDNcyRBsImzcnL14MqqshYBl_Jawc

If you would like to avoid service fees and get your ticket in person you can contact Utu at https://www.facebook.com/witchdoctor.utu

12:00 PM Doors open

1:00 PM Opening ceremony with Buffalo’s Phoenix Williams of the Correllian Nativist Tradition

2:00 PM Introduction to La Santisima Muerte, the Mexican Folk Saint of death with Devi Spring of Queen of Pentacles Conjure

3:30 PM Interactive workshop; chord magic with Cat from Niagara Witches and Pagans

5:00 PM Interactive workshop on candle magic for love, prosperity and hexing with Rev Terrie of Beaux Magigue

6:15 PM Interactive voodoo ceremony with author Witchdoctor Utu…voodoo ceremony will end with a transition into the close out concert with the Dragon Ritual Drummers!

…more surprises and interactive workings to be announced!

This is an all ages event, The WAREHOUSE CONCERT HALL is a licensed venue, have proof of legal drinking age on hand in order to be able to purchase alcohol.

Sponsored by;

Dragon Ritual Drummers

Cat And Monkey Events https://www.facebook.com/catandmonkeyevents/

Niagara Voodoo Shrine

Chad Champoux Photography http://www.champoux-photo.com/

Asking for Help

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  1. It is not enough just knowing when to ask for help. You have to know WHO to ask.

As a pagan and witch, I live in a world of Venn diagrams.  While some may share parts of my ideals, their entire world view may not be the same. That’s not a complaint. That’s just a fact. Furthermore, even if someone else shares most of my views, that doesn’t necessarily mean that they can help me in a time a crisis, magical or mundane. Again, not a complaint, just a fact. A few more just for giggles, we have to factor in how far way that “help” is in terms of: do they have their own life; have they just finished working way too man shifts and are burned out; are they in their own crisis mode; are they literally hours away in the form of distance and time zones; will my problems be a burden to them; did my spirits tell me to ask someone else; and a whole other host of parameters.

 

What all of this boils down to is that when the big mojo is going down, I may not ask YOU in particular for help. That’s not a slam on you. It’s just how I have to roll. Now this can go bad a number of ways.

 

When I began this path, there was this unspoken rule of “self sufficiency.” You broke it? You fix it.  We all know that doesn’t work out. Why? In this world of “Insta-Witchery” and “Credit Card Conjure,” it’s real easy to follow instructions from any webpage or conjure kit and find that you’ve cursed yourself. It’s not so easy to figure out how to undo those things. Now, as time passed and I learned better, that self sufficiency bullshit can still bite me in the ass. Why? Let’s talk about the shame you can feel when you have to admit that you messed up and can’t fix it.

Yeah. That.

It’s hard enough to admit that you’ve messed up. No one wants to get a dressing down from anyone. In that cycle of self shame, we imagine all kinds horrible things that someone could tell us about our follies. However, that’s not my warning in this. My warning is about those “teachers” and “elders” that will make you feel TERRIBLE while they “attempt” to “help” you out.

Yeah. Them.

Here’s where the witch earns their wand, though. Many of these teachers and elders have no idea how to help you – and they won’t even say that they can’t. The humiliation alone will be enough to drive seekers away and into the arms of apathy.  In my work with Beaux Magique, the hardest part is convincing people that they can come to me if they mess up. Hell, come to me BEFORE you do the crazy magic so we can keep the mistakes to a minimum.

So yeah, send out that help signal when you need it. However, please think hard about those who you accept help and assistance from.

 

 

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It’s not osmosis

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9. The advice about hanging around successful people only works if you all have similar goals and you actually learn from the others. Hang out with billionaires all you want. Unless you stop buying lottery tickets or shit you don’t need, guess what?

It’s not Osmosis, people. However, it goes deeper than that.

You can buy all the statues you want. You can purchase all the cool clothing from local vendors that you wish. You can even buy all the oils, sprays, and ritual items that your heart desires. You can drop every dollar you have and get the really big tattoos of your gods, and faith. Guess what?

Artwork by Teemu Jahani

IT MEANS NOTHING UNLESS YOU ARE ACTUALLY FOLLOWING THE PATH.

Yeah you can get all those things. Unless you’re doing the homework, you’re gonna fail the whole dang course. Having the fully decked out Instagram-esque aesthetic altar is nice. It’ll get you lots of likes and lots of attention. Don’t actually *work* that altar? Ha ha ha. Cuz that’s what the gods and spirits are gonna do when you actually try to petition them for something.

However, it goes deeper than that.

You can buy all the books you want. You can listen to all the podcasts you want. You can watch all the videos you want. You can buy all the magazines you want. Unless you are taking notes and using the information? IT MEANS NOTHING. Sure you can parrot to your Wannbe Wednesday witches that you heard of or saw that using rosemary in any spellwork is totally acceptable (It’s not by the way.). That might make you look “cool” or whatever you think is cool. Ya’ll know what I’m gonna say, right? IT MEANS NOTHING. If you’re doing the homework, journaling your spellwork and following the instructions? You will have a long record of RESULTS to show what herbs are truly effective for you.

And that’s what I’ve been getting at. All the successful people you idolize? They are RESULTS driven. You want to see change happen in your life? You want to have all the things? This ain’t osmosis. You learn and put those lessons in to effect.

WERK.

 

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Make Mistakes

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Make Mistakes

Yes, this post is late on purpose. SMILE AND NOD.

6. You will make mistakes. Once you’re done beating yourself up, go back to the first entry.

So. Why would I send you ALLL the way back to unlearning the “Don’t hate the playa, hate the game” post? It’s simple…..and it’s not.

Here’s the thing. We live in a ridiculous world that’s made even more terrifying with the addition of social media.  Whether we want to admit it or not, we’re in a horrible loop of looking for approval and validation. We’re drawn to other people’s drama. We’re quick to judge the train wrecks happening in the lives of others with thumbs up or some other emoji. It’s a human thing.

When we post to social media and our own little “court” of followers, we are looking for approval and validation for ourselves. We are constantly trying to: course correct our social lives by asking the “hive mind” questions we can google on our own; get validation for our feelings and mindsets if there are few people locally who “grok” us; and sometimes we need that touch of assurance that we did the right thing when drama goes down in our own lives.

Did you catch it?

Here let me single it out for you:

.…”and sometimes we need that touch of assurance that we did the right thing when drama goes down in our own lives.”

Yeah, we’re constantly looking to be “right” in our lives, to always do things the “right” way, and to always get a pat on the head and a cookie when we “win.”

HOWEVER!

Humans don’t work that way. We make mistakes. We mess up. We don’t do things right all the time. And in the Kangaroo Court of Social media? One “misstep” can spiral our already low self esteem filled minds right to the depths of whatever hell we’ve made for ourselves.

It’s even worse when you’re living a Witch Life.

Most of us are studying alone. We don’t know exactly when the Gods and Spirits are talking to us. We don’t know all the pitfalls that are around us… AND, the last “elder” or mentor we had was stark raving mad… Ahem.

For the solitary practitioner, we’re obsessed with doing things “right” so we don’t accidentally curse ourselves or burn down our houses (remember the first two rules of Fire/Candle Magick).

Guess what? We’re not going to be 100% right all the time. That’s why you use your “book of shadows” / grimoire / journal to track your work. From there you can learn what works and what doesn’t – and what fails spectacularly. Remind me to tell you about the time I: 1. Almost burned down my house; and 2. Nearly cursed myself into oblivion.

Good times.

Now, that you’ve gotten through all that? Here come the warnings:

  1. RESIST THE URGE TO SHARE YOUR FAILURE. Are you’re talking to a trusted colleague who won’t talk down to you? With they help you fix it? If the answer is “no” just stop. You’re just setting yourself up for ridicule. AND! Yes, people who you think are your friends will definitely say some crap like “well you should have known, blah blah blah,” and you will get your feelings hurt. Also?
  2. RESIST THE URGE TO COMMENT NEGATIVELY ON THE FAILURES OF OTHERS. Lookit, we know that we messed up. If we’re talking about it? We are looking for that virtual hug while we clean up the mess. No need for “I told you so” or “I hope you’ve learned your lesson.” We get enough crap from our haters. We don’t need it from our friends. Why? Because:
  3. TRACK YOUR RESULTS: Good, bad or ugly, you need to know what happened so you can see where things went sideways or wrong. That journal of yours will be your lifesaver, cherry flavor, after time.
  4. Lastly, DON’T GIVE UP! The reason why we humans go through this horrible cycle of shame is so that we can evolve. When the first humans ate berries, no one knew which ones were poisonous… soooo you can see how that worked out. As a species, we look to the failures of others to make sure we don’t make the same mistake. And yet, taking those chances made us better human beings.

 

So take chances, get messy, and make mistakes. Learn from them. Forgive yourself, and get busy making more magic.

Looking for more of me? Please consider supporting me on Patreon, supporting me on RedBubble or a Paypal tip https://paypal.me/BMQRVT/5