Crone and Friends visit the Witches of Grim County for Beltane.

 Hope you all enjoy the story.

Crone and her friends were talking on their crystal balls one day when Crone said “Beltane will soon be here, I think we should all go on a broom trip to Grim County for the celebration.  What do you think?"

Everyone begin to talk at once.  "Let's do it!”, "Great idea!”, "Broom Trip!”, "I'm in!"

"Are we taking the Broom Bus Crone?" asked Elizabeth P

"Of course, since Grim County is hard to find, it's easier to take George." replied Crone

"Ok, so you all fly here to my house, and we'll leave from here.  For once we won't take the pets which means I will be doing the flying solo.  So everyone bring your crystals in case we need them!" explained Crone.

"We haven't had a broom trip in a long time. “commented Elizabeth L.

"I know!" complained Ron

"We need some fun!" said Susan

"Oh we are going to have a grand time.  Should I bring some soup for the trip?" asked Elouise

"Oh dear, I hope I don't get lost on the way to your house Crone.  I am use to Shield doing the flying."  Elaine said worrying.

"Me too!  Kam does the flying!"  said Jurni.

"Don't worry folks.  I will get Mem and Storm to help me make a spell that makes a sky path to my house!" replied Crone.

"Oh good!" Jan, Cindy and Lyn all sighed in relief.

"Well I hope that Ron doesn't want to wear his kilt.  He ripped it when we fought the Trumpkin Bunch and I haven't got it mended yet. “commented Tena.

"Will we get to meet Rhiannon and her sisters and cousins?" asked Debra

"Oh I hope so.  I want to meet them also." commented Janice

"Me too!" said Deb, Luisa and Sarah.

"But not that Angela."  commented Darlene.

"I agree" Geri and Tracy all said at the same time.

"She doesn't seem very likable at all." said Jennifer.

"Oh Jennifer, didn't you want a dragon?  If so, Kam's little brother Sage is looking for a human.  If you do, we'll discuss it later. " asked Jurni.

"Yes!  I do.  Wonderful and thank you for thinking of me!" replied Jennifer.

"Ok everyone; let's make our plans to have a good time.  I am in need of some fun."  Susan said.

And so the friends discussed everything and soon the day arrived.

Crone with the help of Mem and Storm had cast a spell that made a golden path in the sky that stretched from her house to the houses of all her friends.  They were the only ones who could see it.  While she waited for her friends to arrive, with the help of Mem and Storm she had converted George the Broom into a Broom bus.  Soon her friends began to arrive and land.  Everyone was hugging and laughing and talking as they waited to board George and take their trip.  "So Shield wanted to go.”, "So did Kam.", "I had to mend Ron's Kilt!  But at least he left the war hammer at home!", “I brought some soup for the trip, in case we need a snack.."  "The trip here from California is fantastic."  And so they chatted and socialized.

“Ok everyone, I believe we are ready to go.” And with that Crone began the spell for the trip.  “Up and away in the air we fly, as quick as can be, and all safely arrive” George began to rise in the air and hover as everyone climbed on.  Soon everyone was on and buckled in.  “As quick as the wind to the festival we go, up and away now we go”.  ZOOM!!!!  And George was speeding through the air.

“Oh good!  See that silver path?  That’s the way to Grim County!” Crone cried excitedly.

“These broom trips never get old and boring.” Commented Lyn

“It is relaxing to sit back and observe everything isn’t it?” said Sarah.

“Soup anyone? “asked Elouise.  “And let’s sing “Flying on a broom.”

Soon everyone was sipping soup and singing such songs as “Flying on a broom”, “Broom rider” and “Stirring the cauldron”.

“ETA in about 5 minutes.  We’re almost there! “Crone informed everyone.

The friends all began to chatter excitedly as George began to slow down and descend.  And they were there.

Everyone looked around.  There were food booths, tents, games and a May Pole.  There was a stage and hurrying towards them were Rhiannon, Cerridwen, Stacy, Tracey and Kellie!

Debra grabbed hold of Jennifer’s arm and exclaimed “Oh my Goddess!  It’s them! We are going to meet them!”  And all the friends hurried forward to meet the Witches of Grim County.

“Hello Crone and all your friends!  We are so glad you could join us for the Beltane Celebration.  I am Rhiannon, this is my sister Cerri, and my cousins Stacy, Tracey and Kellie.”  And Rhiannon pointed to each one as she named them.

The friends were shaking hands with the Witches and chatting excitedly.  “I am so glad to meet you”  “It’s our pleasure to be here.”, “I am so glad we get to meet you.”

“We’re so happy to be here and to meet all of you.  As you know I am Crone, these are my friends” And Crone named and pointed out who was who.  “Debra, Elizabeth P, Elizabeth L, Cindy, Janice, Elouise, Elaine, Jurni, Jennifer, Lyn, Sarah, Ron, Tena, Darlene, Tracy, Geri, Susan, Luisa, Deb and Jan.”

“Well come join the fun.” Said Cerri “We have all kinds of games, and food, a band, dancing, cooking contests, the May Queen contest, and tons of things to do.”

“Ron, there is a hammer throwing event I am sure you will want to join.” Said Tracey.  “And Elouise how would you like to be a judge for the Soup cook-off?”

“I’m your man for hammer throwing! And Ron looked at Tena, “And you made me leave my War Hammer at home!”  At this Tena rolled her eyes and sighed.

“Me?  I am flattered you asked and I certainly will be a judge” And Elouise beamed happily at the group.

“Sue I am told you like bats, would you like to meet our messenger bats?” asked Stacey.

“Indeed I would!” replied Susan.

And so all the friends were included in one way or the other in the day’s festivities.

“Eww, WHO are these people?” the friends turned around to see a blonde sniffing with disdain.

“Angela.” Geri, Darlene, Jennifer, Sarah, Lyn, Debra, Deb, Luisa and Tracey all said at the same time.

“These are friends of ours” replied Rhiannon sharply.  And Rhiannon, Cerri and their cousins gave nasty looks to Angela.

“Ahh yeah.  A bunch of wanna be witches and a wanna be warlock.  And I’ve told you before its Angelique.”  Angela sniffed.

Just as Rhiannon went to rebuke Angela, Tena spoke up.  “Don’t you dare call my husband a warlock you hussy!”

“Shows how much you know Missy Prissy, male witches are called witches not warlocks!” remarked Janice.

“If anyone is a wanna be anything it appears it’s you.” And Jennifer gave Angela a cutting look.

“Go play little girl before you get hurt.  You better watch out before you break a nail!” and Geri snarked out.

Everyone began to laugh at Angela who stuck her nose up in the air and stalked off.

“Sorry about that folks” apologized Rhiannon.

“Not a problem, nor your fault.  I can see why you girls like to throw little hexes at her.  She makes it so easy to try and teach her a lesson.” Replied Geri.

“Isn’t that the truth!” Said Cerri.  “Now let’s have fun.”

The friends were all standing and sitting under a large Sycamore tree.  They had needed to take a break from all the fun.

“I came in third!  If Tena would have let me bring MY hammer I probably woulda won.” complained Ron.

Tena rolled her eyes and turned to Elouise.  “That vegetable soup looked really good, and smelled great”.  Elouise nodded.  “It was good.  I got the recipe for it.  “Aunt Athena’s vegetable soup” is what it’s called.  The lady who made it says it’s been in her family for generations.

“I think it’s a great idea they use the bats to carry messages at night.  We need to figure out how we can do it.” Sue said. 

Jan was admiring the henna artwork on her hands.  “I need to learn how to do this.  It’s so pretty.”  "It is." agreed Lyn, Jurni and Cindy.  Jennifer said “I think there is a class on it down at the Hindu Community Center.  I can find out if there are any teachers in your area, Jan."

“Thanks” said Jan.  “That would be great.”

"Jurni, Jan and I were admiring the dragon sculptures.  They are so realistic looking.” Commented Elaine.

Elizabeth P turned to Crone and said “I’ve eaten entirely too much festival food.  But I don’t feel guilty; Elizabeth L was sampling a good bit also.”  Elizabeth L laughed. “I haven’t had so much fun in 30 years.  I feel like a teenage again.”  Crone lowered her eyes.  “Well I certainly had my share of cotton candy, candy apples and…

Deb broke in “and funnel cakes and popcorn and ice cream.

The friends all giggled for they had all been sampling the various festival foods and playing games.

Cindy said “I wonder what this pageant is like?”

Sarah replied “Rhiannon told me they pick the woman who has done the most for the community during the year.”

“OH that sounds wonderful” exclaimed Tracy “Better than looks and dancing”

“After the pageant, they light the bonfire Kelli told me.” said Lyn

“And after that I guess we will be leaving, right Crone?” asked Jurni.

“Yes, after we dance through the bonfire we’ll have to leave.  But I hope everyone has enjoyed this broom trip.  I know I have.” Replied Crone.

Everyone assured Crone and each other that they had had a wonderful time.  Janice spoke up “Well off we go to watch the pageant.  It starts in 5 minutes” 

The friends found a spot near the stage just as an elderly woman on the stage began to speak.  “Welcome everyone.  As most of you know I am Iris Morris. It is my pleasure to announce this year’s finalists for May Queen.  Our 4 finalists are Amber Cook, (A young woman in her late teens stepped up on the stage), Morgan Morris, (A woman in her late forties stepped up on the stage), Hecate Grim (an elderly woman of indeterminate age came on the stage) and Violet Adams (a woman in her 20’s or early 30’s came on the stage).  As you know,,”    At this an angry scream was heard in the front row.  “Again I don’t get picked!!!  What is wrong with you people!  I am the beautiful one!!  Why wasn’t I picked!!!”  Everyone looked to where the commotion was coming from and it was Angela.  Her face was red as she screamed and stomped her feet in anger.

“Don’t you make me come down there Angela Grim!  Doreen you need to calm your daughter down right now before I zip her mouth and she won’t be able to talk for a month.  Angela you do not want to push me!” Iris said from the stage.  At this a woman who looked like she was a cross between Dolly Parton and Tammy Faye Baker hurried to Angela’s side and pulled her away.  “Angela you have been told this is not a beauty contest!  It’s based on community service.  If I have to tell you again, you are NOT going to like the results!  Bleached hair and designer clothes do NOT a May Queen make!  Well everyone we’ve had the annual Angela Grim meltdown.  Now let’s proceed.”  Violet turned to the contestants.  “Ladies the entire community appreciates the contributions you’ve made to our community.  For your work with the children teaching them the history of Grim County, and the properties of herbs, teaching a class of advanced spell casting, organizing tree plantings, organizing various community projects and helping mother earth to heal from pollution, this year’s May Queen is Hecate Grim!”  Everyone applauded and cheered. 

“We will be lighting the bonfires and forming the lines to dance between them in 15 minutes.  I will see everyone there.”

The friends met up with Rhiannon, Cerri, Tracey and Stacy and Kellie at the Bonfires.  At the head of the lines were the May Queen and the runner ups. 

“We will be leaving after we dance through the smoke, but we just want to tell you we’ve had a wonderful time.” Crone told Rhiannon.  All the friends chimed in exclaiming over the fun they had.

“The smoke will cleanse you of all bodily ills and all negative energy and give you wonderful luck.  We are so glad that you joined us and hope you’ll come back next year.”  Replied Rhiannon. 

The lines began to move and the friends all held on to each other’s hands as they danced through the clear space between the bonfires.  The smoke wafted over them healing, cleansing and energizing them.  As they headed towards George they all hugged Rhiannon and her sister and cousins and said their goodbyes.  “Up George, it’s time to go home” spoke Crone.  George floated up and hovered while everyone climbed on.  Soon everyone was seated and buckled in.  “Home we fly George at the speed up light, follow the gold path light.”  And with a zip and a zoom George was up and flying.  The friends all waved and shouted goodbyes at the Witches of Grim County.  “Now that my friends was a wonderful broom trip.” Sighed Elaine as George followed the golden path home to Crone’s house.  “Another wonderful adventure Crone” said Elizabeth L.  And the friends all agreed. 

The End (until the next adventure!)

Malevolent and Malicious Magic

 As you've seen me say a million times, I am not a Wiccan, I consider myself a Traditional Witch.  Meaning I am not an adherent to to the Gardnerian paths.  I understand what Gardner was trying to do when he created Wicca; he was trying to expand the information with what he felt were similar pieces of the puzzle of the craft that had been lost over the centuries, by combining with other paths.  

So much information had been lost and much erroneous information had been spread over the years that a basic understanding of the craft had been corrupted by bias of the various Christian Churches and their clergy and Witch hunters.  Add to that the creation of Satanism by disgruntled Catholics (yes, that is who created Satanism, not the pagan community) and you have a flood of misinformation and beliefs.

With the advent of Wicca, and various cultures changes, the world became more open to the various pagan paths.  This was both a good thing and a bad thing.  Information became more easily found, but it also left it easy for wrong information to abound.  You had wanna be's arriving on the scene and add to the chaos.

Nowadays there are so many various paths available for folks to study, that paths have splintered and grown and some have become twisted, and not in a good way.

Recently I read a book that was filled with malicious and malevolent magic, and advice.  Now, I am no saint, and firmly believe that sometimes you have to pull out the big guns and use a bit of darker magic.  By that I mean sometimes you gotta throw a few hexes out there to check evil doers.  BUT and this is the key word here, EVIL.  Evil exists, make no mistake about that.  I define Evil as that which desires to destroy beauty, goodness and love for no reason other than it abhors it.  Evil delights in destruction and spreading harm.  And also realize that Evil sometimes is dressed up in a glittery, pretty, appealing package.  

Now let's say you dislike someone because others like them, so you get up one morning and decide you are going to hex someone because you are tired of their bubbly nature, that is malicious magic.  You don't do it.  Oh sure you may get away with doing malevolent and malicious magic in this lifetime, but I promise you, you will pay for it in the next.  Hexing or cursing someone because you don't like them is wrong, and you are not justified in doing so.  Hexing someone who is running around spreading lies, and deliberately harming others is justified.  Again to paraphrase Sibyl Leek, to allow evil to exist and go unchecked harms everyone and everything.  

The book I had picked up was filled with malicious and malevolent magic.  If you didn't like someone go ahead and hex them, steal their luck, steal their health, attack them through psychic means and so on.  It was a horrible book in my opinion.  And it contributes to the nasty and bad reputation that the rest of the responsible Witches have to deal with.

I won't even do hexes and curses for others, because you don't know if the person who is asking you to hex or curse someone else is justified.  And if they aren't, there will be blowback.  I have heard others claim that there isn't blowback for the caster, because they are just offering a service.  I disagree with that.  If you don't know the situation first hand, and just start slinging spells you are going into the situation blindly.  Meaning you may be causing harm to someone who doesn't deserve it.  If that is the case you will end up owing a debt to that person.

So be careful what you do.  Remember there is malevolent and malicious magic and then there is justified magic.  Which side will you be on?