Feeling Lost? Follow the Autumnal Wind
Posted by Vivianne Attor on 9/11/2016 to
Occult Weekly
Fall has always been a time of great exciting change. When we were children, it was the beginning of the new school year. It was a time when the possibility of new friendships, new discoveries and new experiences were surely on the horizon. September was the first month of a promised year, full of beautiful new beginnings to excite a young spirit.
Stormcasting
Posted by Monique Hargrove on 9/4/2016 to
Occult Weekly
“The elements and majestic forces in nature, lightning, wind, water, fire, and frost, were regarded with awe as spiritual powers, but always second and intermediate in character.”
~Charles Eastman
It is often easy to overlook the true magnificence of a thunderstorm. Perhaps in the days of early man, we looked to the skies and saw it torn asunder with brilliant, jagged streaks of light, followed by the deafening roars cracking across the sky. With no explanation as to how or why this sometimes happened amid the rainfall, it is no wonder that it was ultimately attributed as the domain of gods. These veritable symphonies of nature were regarded as much celestial as they were natural.
Esbats
Posted by 7witches Coven on 8/21/2016 to
Occult Weekly
We have often discussed the Sabbats as the primary days in which Practitioners of the Craft perform Rituals. In the Wheel of the Year, there are eight total Sabbats that occur at regular intervals, approximately every month and a half. The Greater Sabbats include Imbolc, Beltane, Lughnasadh, and Samhain while Ostara, Litha, Mabon (or Madron), and Yule constitute the Lesser Sabbats. While these days are generally considered a time for celebration and enjoyment for Wiccans and other followers of the Craft, there are other days of Ritual that require very strenuous work. These are referred to as Esbats.
Magickal Properties of Music
Posted by Lynda Stratton on 8/14/2016 to
Occult Weekly
Ever wonder why certain songs or pieces of music can suddenly make you feel better?
Since the dawn of mankind, there have been stories, which came as the most rudimentary form of expression. Right on the heels of expression, came music. Music has always been the art of evocation - putting into sound the feelings deep within out into the world in a way that is (often) beautiful.
Music has been the rallying behind social revolutions, shifts in culture, and changes in the collective consciousness. It is the easiest, and possibly most basic form of soul magic that we can tap into. Even modern day science, full of empiricism and data, has proven that music has the ability to heal, and music therapy is becoming increasingly more common in psychological and therapeutic fields. For instance, if the right side of the brain is affected by a stroke, rehabilitation specialists can use “Induced Melodic Therapy” in order to communicate with the patient and activate the damaged language centers.
A History of the Tarot
Posted by Cormac O'Dwyer on 7/31/2016 to
Occult Weekly
Tarotology is the theoretical basis for Tarot Reading, which is a subset of Cartomancy (the act of using cards to 
scry into the past, current, and future situations). The art itself is hotly debated as to whether or not the cards are guidance from a spiritual force, or that the belief that the cards are instruments used to tap into a collective unconscious or brainstorming subconscious. Deeply woven in the art of tarot is one basic understanding:
scry into the past, current, and future situations). The art itself is hotly debated as to whether or not the cards are guidance from a spiritual force, or that the belief that the cards are instruments used to tap into a collective unconscious or brainstorming subconscious. Deeply woven in the art of tarot is one basic understanding:"All men had shared a common language, common customs, a common culture and a common religion, which was a reflection of "an eternal and immutable order which unites heaven and earth, the body and soul, the physical and the moral."
The occult Tarot as we know it began like a common deck of playing cards. Four suits, 10 cards numbered from one to ten, with four face cards per suit, for 14 cards per suit. There was also a deck of 21 "trump cards", of which include "The Fool", which would act as the top trump, much like our modern day "Joker".
