a good witch, or a bad witch?

By Diogenes ( articles ) | Jul 02, 2006

Eye of newt, and toe of frog,
Wool of bat, and tongue of dog,
Adder's fork, and blind-worm's sting,
Lizard's leg, and howlet's wing

From a sponsored link noticed on the UK Telegraph site: Witchcraft Supplies for the Metaphysical Pagan:

Wicca store and Witchcraft supplies for the Pagan-minded. Our enchantments include the finest in candles, spell crafting supplies, hand dipped incense, sabbat supplies, witchcraft and occult books and more. From our hearth to yours, Blessed Be!

I didn't notice any eye of newt for sale, but you can get devil's shoestring for the bargain price of $51.95 a pound. You'll need plenty:

The summer solstice marks the longest day of the year, From this point the days now begin to grow shorter. This is the traditional time for Witches to harvest their magical herbs because the magical powers are at there strongest on this day.

This is a wonderful time to start empowering your family meals with spells and energy by spiritually infusing your meals with magickal intent. Outdoors or indoors, work with herbs and kitchen witch tools to empower your foods with magickal health, healing, protection, abundance and most of all, love.

The Litha Sabbat rite is usually performed outside in nature, however any magical place and gathering that is suitable wherever you feel most comfortable. Many congregate at Stonehenge in Wiltshire, England on this day to watch the Sun rise. You too can set your alarm clock to greet the Sun as He rises in the sky on morning of Litha.

A fire is lit in honor of solar deities and the sun. Jumping through the flames is a common practice, and will purify and renew your energy. This is a very good time for performing any type of magickal work, especially love or healing magick. And of course, Litha is a time honored season for handfasting as seen by the popularity of weddings through the month of June.

There's a precarious lack of equilibrium to these domestications of the occult, even humdrum paganisms like horoscopes and Ouija boards. On one hand, the frank crassness of the commercial aspect (charging mass-produced magic wands on one's Visa card) and the vapidity of the lore itself may often result in harmless boredom and nothing else. Yet for unbalanced minds the same toys might provide a door into darker territory. I hope the phrase "your family meals" in the prospectus above corresponds to no real-world situation; it's painful to think of the effect on the children of some Wiccan single mom given to "spiritually infusing" the meals she serves them.