Pause

I had an enforced wait of an hour for a train at Warwick this afternoon. I have never got this effect before but the Warwickshire sky felt for some reason much more like a Cambridgeshire sky, it felt huge, it felt like I was the only person there. It made me feel strangely tall - as in the LBRP - & this effect was without me doing anything at all (the picture really doesn't do justice to the effect). The pause was the occasion for this magical 'touching base' - without it the spirit of place wouldn't have had the opportunity to grab me.

I have been reflecting recently on how we relate to the world around us. Here in Britain a lot of people are finding things very tight in the second dip of our double dip recession. With this I perceive a deterioration in the way people treat each other, even the way people are more prepared than previously just to walk straight through each other, & despite the trumpeted statistics I perceive a greater ignoring of laws. The fact I've just articulated this rings an alrm bell for me, so I must just stop again to check that I'm not making out that there was a golden age of gentility, nor yet falling for the idea that there is always evil under the sun & there's no point doing anything about turds.

Neither of these approaches is the witch's, since we always seek balance. The simple fact that there are always dickheads should not detract from a change I perceive in contemporary mores. The council have taken it upon themselves to house some people in my street who are scum. How do I know? I'm like the CIA of witchcraft - give me time I could have their measurements & national insurance numbers. Anyway they picked the wrong place to start tormenting the woman next door: they're gone. Did I use witchcraft? You bet. And you can also bet they're so busy dealing with the trouble they've unleashed on themselves they won't have time to bother the neighbours where they've gone.

With these events has come a slight change in my perception. I've been talking with a witch friend about healing, & the idea of freeing myself from things has progressed somewhat. If some of the neighbours are dirtbags, that is hardly my life's work, it's a small working. It behoves me not to give my energy to these people: if I just blast them out of the way it frees me & teaches them the lesson. If they're stuck on stupid & won't get the lesson, that's their life's work, not mine. I actually find I'm returning the energy people give me *much* more than I used to, just to free my head up.

The other side of this is that I'm very uncomfortable about any philosophy that would imply that what we see is illusion: the whole point of the modern witchcraft movement is embodied, physical divinity. I can see where if you are freed up from concern & worry it is greatly liberating, but bang your funny bone & then tell me existence is illusory. I have also recently come into contact with a really nasty spirit of place - it is in a certain part of Birmingham, & is way beyond the unsettled spirits the witch walks into in everyday life. *That* is more the sort of thing that you have to really devote yourself to dealing with, *if* it is given to you as your life's work.

It isn't mine, I have other nasties (all of them masquerading as nices) on my list on the altar. That situation is one I won't be actively getting myself into any time soon. It is important for the witch to identify what (s)he can & should do: leaving things alone requires real wisdom. I also recognise that I'm in a time of flux myself - when the cat dies I'm going to move, & I have a feeling that more work will come my way this year. Reading the signs, I can identify that my magical 'family' is being reinforced around me, & also that the spirit of place continues to nourish, challenge & support me. And this enforced pause today was one of the occasions that reinforce that I am a witch, & the resources will become available when I need them. I just need to stop & let that happen: I've spoken before of my dis-ease with formalised religious or 'spiritual' practices, but making opportunities to listen needn't be one of them!

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