I first heard the wisdom of the visionary teacher and writer, Louse Hay 25 years ago when my dear friend Duncan gifted me his well-worn cassette tape of her speaking about how to develop a mindset of abundance. I admittedly brought a bit of a scarcity mindset to California with me from West Virginia and was eager to learn new ways. I loved Louise Hay’s insights, wholly new to me. Duncan patiently explained to me his takeaways from Hay’s wisdom and how it had worked for him and changed his life for the better When paying bills, instead of resenting the utility that had supplied water and electricity, instead, write the check and seal the envelope and say aloud “thank you, Pacific Gas and Electric for supplying me with power for my home and trusting me to pay you. Blessings to you, PG&E!” We even began a ritual of paying bills together and then walking together to the mailbox and pronouncing our gratitude to all the recipient of our money. We even added the finishing touch of kissing the stamped envelopes and saying “Thank you!” before dropping them in for mailing. We got some looks of surprise at our mailbox rituals but we believed wholeheartedly in Louise Hay and this was working for Duncan. Soon, it began to work for me and I fully embraced the mindset. Most surprising of all, I stopped being filled with dread and worry when bills came in started paying bills the same day they came in, whenever possible. In addition to abetting an attitude of abundance, it helped my credit score

In the early 1990’s, we had to go to the mailbox for our 5 minute gratitude ritual. Nowadays with all the instantaneous ways of sending money and electronic payments, it might be closer to a 5 second ritual. However, before you hit send, get into your Manifestor’s Mindset and express thanks before you hit “send.” This attitude of abundance that stems from the mindset is like a muscle; the more you use it,  the stronger it will be and you will see much manifestation. A lot.

Happy Yule from all of Us at the ATC!

Thank you for the expression of Deity that you represent, and for all the many things you do to make this world a kinder, happier place. 

Here is our gift to you.

Click here to download your free gift. https://www.atcwicca.org/yule-gift 

We all have unexpected expenses that come out of the blue- car repairs, medical bills or helping a loved one in need. I had the latter with my family and had to reach deep into my coffers to heed the call.  When you need to quickly recover financially, this coin spell will fill the bill, literally.

Gather together:

I don't know about where you live, but here in Minneapolis the Winter Solstice is hot stuff.

Every year I'm struck by the ever-increasing number of (non-pagan) Winter Solstice events going on: drum-jams, concerts, performances. This year I was dumbfounded to hear that even the local Episcopal cathedral is getting in on the act, holding a special “Light in Darkness” service for the Solstice.

Christmas' religious origins will always render it problematic in an increasingly secular culture.

The Solstice, on the other hand, is an event that engages us all, no matter how we see things, or where our ancestors came from. Conveniently, it also comes at a time when most people don't have family obligations.

Once you've embraced the Winter Solstice, of course, it only makes sense to do the same for its bright Summer twin. And then...well, if you're going to do the Solstices, you might as well do the Equinoxes too.

And so we'll go together, step by logical step. That's how we'll take back the West.

The coven had been together for not quite a year when we all decided to move in together. Hey, it was the 80s.

Soon our second Yule together rolled around. Naturally, we had our discussions about whether or not it was ethical to kill a tree just for purposes of decoration. Like I said, it was the 80s.

Some felt one way, some another. As it turned out, though, we didn't have to kill a tree for Yule. Instead, one offered itself.

Just before Yule, an early blizzard blew through town, dropping lots of heavy, wet snow. The weight of the snow snapped off a tall, slender arbor vitae in the back yard.

(By the way, for those of you who didn't happened to grow up speaking Latin, arbor vitae means “tree of life.” Interesting.)

So we dragged the tree into the house and decked it out. Goddess will provide.

This being early on in our pagan careers, we didn't have much in the way of Yule ornaments between the lot of us. So we hung the tree with jewelry instead. Pagans, of course, have lots of jewelry that looks good on a Yule tree. Interestingly, the German word for Yule tree ornaments—Tannenbaumshmuck—means exactly that: fir tree jewelry.

So that was our first coven Yule tree together. But there's a coda to the story.

Nowadays, the popularity of candles has reached an all-time high. Candles are used by folks of all walks of life for relaxation, meditation, and aromatherapy. This simple yet profound tool can make powerful magic. Notice how candlelight transforms a dark room and fills the air with the energy of magical light. Suddenly the potential for magic is evident.

*10 minutes a day is all you need to do these techno-spirituality movements, to strengthen your brain and bones!

1. THE LUNGE: With fingers entwined, shoved downward, then with thumbs and forefingers connected make a triangle, then bring hands to forehead, pressing lightly on the third eye, then flip hands up on top of the head, stretching upward; at the same time lunging to the right with right leg, then bring arms down to your side and bring right leg in; repeat this finger entwined motion, and lunge to the left with left leg.