Llewellyn's 2012 Witches' Companion Read online

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  Llewellyn’s 2012 Witches’ Companion © 2011 by Llewellyn Worldwide

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any matter whatsoever, including Internet usage, without written permission from Llewellyn Publications, except in the form of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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  Any unauthorized usage of the text without express written permission of the publisher is a violation of the author’s copyright and is illegal and punishable by law.

  First e-book edition © 2011

  E-book ISBN: 9780738732145

  Cover art © Tim Foley

  Cover designer: Lynne Menturweck

  Designer: Joanna Willis

  Art Director: Lynne Menturweck

  Editor: Nicole Edman

  Interior illustrations: Kathleen Edwards: 12, 14, 17, 20, 58, 61, 103, 107, 112, 153, 157, 197, 201; Tim Foley: 9, 33, 34, 35, 65, 79, 81, 83, 123, 133, 137, 171, 177, 185, 207, 208, 211; Bri Hermanson: 48, 51, 54, 92, 96, 98, 141, 144, 147, 188, 190, 193, 238, 242, 244; Christa Marquez: 25, 28, 70, 75, 114, 116, 119, 163, 165, 227, 229, 230, 233;

  Rik Olson: 38, 41, 44, 86, 89, 125, 127, 129, 181, 215, 217, 220.

  Additional illustrations: Llewellyn Art Department

  ISBN 978-0-7387-1211-6

  © Llewellyn Publications, Woodbury, Minnesota, USA. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever, including Internet usage, without written permission from Llewellyn Worldwide Ltd., except for brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

  Llewellyn Publications is an imprint of Llewellyn Worldwide Ltd.

  Llewellyn Publications does not participate in, endorse, or have any authority or responsibility concerning private business arrangements between our authors and the public.

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  Llewellyn Publications

  Llewellyn Worldwide Ltd.

  2143 Wooddale Drive

  Woodbury, MN 55125

  www.llewellyn.com

  Manufactured in the United States of America

  Contents

  Community Forum

  Provocative Opinions on Contemporary Topics

  Melanie Marquis

  Cannabis and the Environment

  Banned from production in the United States in the early twentieth century, the Cannabis plant can provide surprising and profound benefits for people and the environment we strive to protect.

  Gede Parma

  Syncretism Versus Eclecticism

  Gede Parma explores the line between a meaningful synthesis of varying ideas and a casual hodgepodge of practices.

  Mickie Mueller

  But, You Don’t Look Like a Witch

  Have you been called “too witchy” or “not witchy enough”? Mickie Mueller takes a fun look at the different guises of witches today and ends up with the old rule: you can’t judge a book by its cover.

  Dallas Jennifer Cobb

  Witch Parent

  Having a child changes your life, but what do you do when it changes your faith? Dallas Jennifer Cobb provides one story of a mother adapting her faith to her newfound motherhood.

  Susan Pesznecker

  Reconsidering the Spectre of Pagan Standard Time

  Does a flippant attitude toward timelines erode our credibility as Pagans? Susan Pesznecker discusses the ethics of Pagan Standard Time and how it affects the public image of Pagans everywhere.

  Lupa

  Should You Do Magic for a Cause or Donate Money?

  We all want to help others when we see a need, and many consider spells to be their unique way of contributing. But is doing a spell for a cause just a cop-out to avoid reaching into our pockets?

  Witchy Living

  Day-by-Day Witchcraft

  Melanie Marquis

  Ten-Minute Magickal Meals

  Finding time for magickal practice can be difficult when you’re struggling just to get dinner on the table. Melanie Marquis gives some tips for adding magick to your meals in just ten minutes.

  James Kambos

  The Sun Also Rises: Dealing with Grief

  Grief is a complicated and inevitable emotion. James Kamobs shares here his personal experience with grief, and how his Wiccan faith helped guide him through that difficult period.

  Boudica

  Being Pagan in a Bad Economy

  Being out of work is a stressful and frustrating thing. Boudica provides some tips on using Pagan practices to get yourself back in the job market.

  Jenett Silver

  Making the Most of the Moments

  Go, go, go! Today’s world is a nonstop machine. Take a few minutes to read about how to make the most of a few spare moments in a busy day.

  Gail Wood

  Starting a New Moon Group

  Creating a study group can be a great way to foster community and learning. Gail Wood gives us some tips and advice on starting your own monthly group.

  Blake Octavian Blair

  The Art of Magickal Care Packages

  Receiving a package from a loved one can truly make your day, whether you are celebrating, coping, or simply cruising along in life. Add a dash of magick to the care packages you send for added benefit.

  Witchcraft Essentials

  Practices, Rituals & Spells

  Chandra Moira Beal

  Dancing the Morris: Where Old Meets New

  Read all about this Old English practice that is seeing a revival and transformation on both sides of the Atlantic.

  JD Hortwort

  Healing Tree Damage

  Learn how to provide magical and practical care to damaged trees.

  Deborah Blake

  Witchcraft On a Shoestring

  Deborah Blake gives us her top ten tips for working magic while stretching your dollars, from her book Witchcraft On a Shoestring.

  Gail Wood

  Needles, Threads, and Pins

  Work some magic into your mending for charms and blessings you can literally carry with you each and every day.

  Blake Octavian Blair

  Shopping for the Magickal Amid the Mundane

  New Age shops are appearing even in somewhat rural communities, but knowing how to find magick on mundane store shelves can be a real time saver.

  Ann Moura

  Rituals for Open Circles

  Public events can be incredibly rewarding—and incredibly tricky. Ann Moura provides an outline and advice for performing open rituals.

  Donald Tyson

  Necklace Numerology

  Use ancient numerology to create a charm necklace that you can discreetly wear every day until your goal is manifested.

  Magical Transformations

  Everything Old Is New Again

  Linda Raedisch

  The Snow People

  What to do on a boring winter’s night in
the old family cave? Tell some spooky stories, of course!

  Tess Whitehurst

  Being the Change

  Changing the world starts with changing yourself.

  Paniteowl

  Reclaiming the Wise Woman and Cunning Man

  The Wise Woman and Cunning Man were once integral parts of society. Paniteowl writes about the new role of these venerated magic workers.

  Susan Pesznecker

  Hibernation: Embracing Winter

  Does the heavy winter snow make you want to hibernate until spring? Maybe you should follow those instincts instead of fighting them.

  Denise Dumars

  Magical Ecotourism

  Inspried by her love for hurricane-ravaged New Orleans, Denise Dumars explores motivations and methods of doing good while vacationing.

  Jhenah Telyndru

  Making Space Sacred

  Anywhere can be your place of worship if you choose to make it a sacred space.

  The Lunar Calendar

  September 2011 to December 2012

  September 2011 to December 2012 Calendar

  Moon Void-of-Course Tables

  Community Forum

  Provocative Opinions on Contemporary Topics

  Cannabis and

  the Environment

  Melanie Marquis

  It can end world hunger, clean the air, reduce pollution, restore depleted soils, and save forests. It provides a quickly renewable source of fiber, fuel, energy, and complete nutrition, and it can grow nearly any place on Earth. Talk about a magickal plant! Cannabis, considered sacred by many witches for its value in spellcraft and ritual, can also play a major role in healing the planet. As more and more localities around the globe welcome the growing and use of cannabis, it’s time to take another look at the environmental (and magickal) benefits of the herb we call Herb.

  An Herb Most Magickal

  As one of humankind’s first domesticated crops, cannabis has helped man survive and thrive for thousands of years. Cannabis cultivation began in China around 8000 bce and spread to surrounding regions. It became a common crop throughout Asia, used for fiber, oil, food, medicine, and ritual. In Japan, cannabis was an early and important element of the native religion of Shinto, where it was considered sacred to the solar goddess Amaterasu and used also for purification, banishing, and summoning spirits of the dead. Cannabis made its way to England around ad 70, and by the sixteenth century, cannabis crops dotted the landscape in Russia, North America, and Europe. Early American colonists grew hemp for its useful fiber. It has been regarded as one of Earth’s most useful and sacred plants for thousands of years. Yet today, cannabis is regulated by law, and permits to grow it are difficult or impossible to come by in many places around the world.

  But times are changing, and cannabis is making a comeback as governments and populations conclude that the benefits of this plant far outweigh objections. As we observe more and more effects of man’s greed and devastation of the environment, we come to reject the current order and open our minds to other possibilities. Cannabis offers a key to a greener and friendlier planet, capable of repairing man’s relationship with the natural world. As witches, we specialize in independent thinking—decide for yourself what you think about the cannabis plant, then let your voice be heard.

  What’s In a Name?

  Hemp, cannabis, marijuana—what’s the difference? The distinctions can be confusing but are nonetheless important to understand due to governmental restrictions pertaining to various classifications of the herb. Marijuana (which is psychoactive) and hemp (which is not) share the scientific name, Cannabis sativa. Strains of cannabis are custom-bred into either marijuana for

  recreational or medicinal use, or into hemp for industrial or nutritional use. Although hemp won’t get anyone stoned, looks distinctly different, and would be avoided like the plague by any serious marijuana grower (placing marijuana plants near a hemp crop would yield very seedy buds), many governments fail to make exceptions for hemp in their anti-marijuana provisions, classifying both hemp and marijuana as cannabis, thereby shutting down what could otherwise be an incredibly profitable industry.

  Was it an accident or simple oversight that allowed industrial hemp to be demonized along with its high-inducing sister? Hemp had, after all, been in use for thousands of years without stirring up a fuss. So what happened?

  In the United States, hemp cultivation was an active and promising industry until 1937, when the Marijuana Tax Act was passed, imposing a hefty tax on hemp, which made it less profitable to produce. This move coincided with the rise of timber and oil interests, companies whose products directly competed with the more environmentally friendly and (previously) cheaper-to-produce hemp products. Economic giants—including William Randolph Hearst, who owned a thriving timber business, and DuPont, which procured patents in 1937 for making plastics from petroleum and coal—engaged in a propaganda campaign against the evils of “marijuana,” a term not commonly known at the time.

  Advocates for the hemp industry are therefore adamant about drawing clear lines between high-inducing marijuana and industrial hemp, asserting that hemp and marijuana are entirely different plants. Personally, I find no reason to draw distinctions; I feel that advocates on every side of the marijuana and/or hemp legalization movement could better accomplish their aims by working together. People today can understand that just as other crops can be bred into certain varieties with particular characteristics, the versatile cannabis plant can be bred in a multitude of ways for a multitude of purposes. The fact that certain varieties of it can catch someone a buzz should not overshadow cannabis’ greater applications in providing for the needs of humans while healing the planet.

  Weed Can Feed

  Hunger and malnutrition still plague humans, and cannabis could provide the cure. Growing in nearly any weather, thriving in poor soil conditions, reaching full maturity in only 120 days, and naturally resistant to weeds, diseases, and pests, cannabis gardens could provide a renewable, high-yield food source in barren areas where good soil and precipitation are scarce. One tiny cannabis seed contains 25–35 percent protein, and just a handful of these little beauties a day is enough to sustain an average adult. Second only to soy in protein content and easier to digest, this botanical has even been called a super food, as it is the only single food source that supplies all of man’s daily nutritional requirements necessary for survival.

  Marijuana (which is psychoactive) and hemp (which is not) share the scientific name, Cannabis sativa.

  Cannabis seeds contain all twenty-one known amino acids, which are often described as the building blocks of protein. Amino acids provide energy and are vital to the maintenance and repair of tissues, muscles, bones, hair, and skin. They’re also essential to the production of neurotransmitters, enzymes, body fluids, and certain hormones. In addition to its amazing mix of amino acids, cannabis is also the only food to contain all the essential fatty acids, which are vital for proper body functioning and growth. In fact, cannabis ranks highest among all plants in its total essential fatty acid content, and it’s one of the few foods to contain the perfect balance of Omega-6 and Omega-3 fatty acids, the 3:1 ratio most recommended by nutritionists and health experts.

  The cannabis plant is not only nutritious, but versatile. The seeds can be made into cooking oil; added to foods such as pastas, rice, soups, and salads; ground into flour; or eaten straight, hulled and perhaps lightly toasted. The seeds can even be made into vitamin rich, easily digestible hemp milk and ice cream products.

  Cannabis leaves and buds are also edible, and the plant can be bred to either minimize or maximize THC content. The leaves and buds from plants grown to minimize THC can be used fresh or cooked like other vegetables, offering a ready source of vitamin A that won’t get you high, while food cooked with cannabis grown to maximize THC of
fers an herbal relief for many ailments. In impoverished areas where pharmaceuticals are often hard to come by, marijuana offers promise as a medicine that could be locally grown and obtained at little or no cost.

  Cannabis grows quickly in nearly any climate and any soil, and it’s one of the healthiest foods on the planet. Producing a foot-long taproot in only thirty days, the plant prevents topsoil erosion and actually leaves the soil in better condition, making it useful in helping restore over-grazed areas and depleted farmlands. Self-sufficient, renewable cannabis farms could provide many impoverished communities with a reliable, renewable source of complete nutrition. If there is really such a thing as a single loaf that can feed the multitudes, that loaf is most certainly made of miraculous cannabis.

  Keep the Trees, Use the Hemp

  Trees provide beauty, shade, oxygen, and wildlife habitat, often growing for hundreds of years before being chopped down in seconds to be processed into paper, furniture, and other necessities. As witches, it’s important to us to protect and conserve what’s left of the world’s forests, and hemp offers a way to do just that. Whereas an average acre of forest yields less than two tons of fiber and takes years to grow, an acre of hemp can yield up to eight tons of fiber and matures in only four months, quickly leaving the land ready and in good condition for the next planting. This fiber can be made into a pulp that outperforms wood-based paper while being more environmentally sound and less costly to produce. Hemp-based paper lasts longer and is much stronger than paper made from tree pulp. In fact, the oldest surviving piece of paper is a Chinese relic made of hemp and mulberry dating from around 100 bce. Because of its natural brightness, hemp paper can be bleached using hydrogen peroxide. This is a simpler, cheaper, more environmentally sound method than bleaching with the toxic chemicals required in tree-based paper manufacturing, so it saves costs while reducing pollution.

  Hemp is a highly viable, renewable, and recyclable paper source, growing much more quickly and able to withstand many more trips through the recycling process than wood paper. As current paper-manufacturing equipment can make paper from hemp pulp just as well as from tree pulp, reducing deforestation in favor of hemp cultivation would be a smooth and cost-effective transition. Why waste irreplaceable trees to satisfy our paper needs when hemp can do the job better? Hemp paper was good enough to record the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution—isn’t it good enough to take into the bathroom or host the morning news?