Bringing olden ways to modern days for Wiccans,
Witches,
Pagans,
And all who honor a nature-based path.
This is Desert Magic with Crow Moon.
Merry meet and welcome back to another episode of Desert Magic.
Coming to you from the beautiful and magical desert of southern Arizona,
My name is Crow Moon and I'm your host.
I've been asked many times what it is like to experience or live with the wheel of the year in a desert environment.
My answer is always that we experience the same seasonal changes as most others do,
But the onset of those changes occurs a bit more rapidly than in other regions.
As strange as it might sound,
I actually feel as though I'm even more able to attune to the great wheel here.
If you know,
You know.
Owls and coyotes call out at night.
Morning doves coo in early mornings.
As the moon rises above this precious land,
Javelinas prowl for food.
The earth slumbers,
Awaiting rain.
When the rain finally comes,
Both creatures of this land and those who share this sacred space with them rejoice.
Another comment I commonly hear is,
I could never live there.
I need to have all four seasons.
I can assure you that we do have all four seasons in southern Arizona,
And what might come as a surprise to many is the fact that we actually have five seasons,
With the fifth being monsoon season.
The monsoon season occurs between the times when the summer heat is beginning to become unbearable and when we are first able to hear autumn whisper to us that relief is on the way.
In fact,
I often find myself wishing that there was a modified Wheel of the Year for Arizonans to include a Sabbath for the monsoons,
And I will soon describe why I feel this way.
During this time,
We experience strong and almost violent thunderstorms,
Bringing downpours that cause flash flooding in some areas.
This is when we receive the bulk of our yearly rainfall,
And the way in which it happens is almost as if nature is making up for lost time and overly exerting itself in the process.
And while monsoon storms might not sound appetizing to those who haven't experienced them,
They are,
In every sense of the word,
Magical.
Those who live here either look forward to the monsoons with eager anticipation,
Or they detest them.
And while opinions of the storms are certainly divided,
The storms themselves actually create a sense of unity.
After a monsoon storm,
People go outdoors en masse to enjoy an abrupt drop in temperature,
To smell the perfume of creosote hovering throughout the landscape,
And in doing so breathe in the majesty and awe of nature.
And then,
At the conclusion of monsoon season,
We behold something that defies conventional thinking,
A desert that has become quite green.
This reemergence of green can be seen as far away as the mountains,
And as close up as on cracks of city sidewalks,
In which forgotten life springs forth with vigor.
Those of us who follow the Wiccan path hold that in nature life is continually being reborn around us.
This could not be any more vivid than what we see when nature flourishes after these rains.
The experience is nothing short of gripping,
And all but impossible to ignore,
Even for the most unobservant.
When the temperatures cool,
So do many of the flaring tempers that resulted from the seemingly endless bombardment of heat.
The unspoken mantra of this season rings out across the desert.
This is why we live here.
In preparing for the monsoon season,
We do things such as stocking up on candles,
Because we never know whether or not a power outage will accompany the storms.
The outages,
If they occur at all,
Are typically short-lived.
Whether we are aware of it or not,
By having candles on the ready,
We are attuning to our ancestors,
Those who walked this land before us.
We are allowing our focus to return,
At least momentarily,
And again often unknowingly,
To what matters most.
The home.
The hearth.
Family.
Loved ones.
We are acknowledging that the element of fire is life-force energy.
We are inviting warmth,
Inspiration,
And security into our homes and into ourselves.
Those of us who use the element of water in our practice of magic,
Especially when it comes to collecting and preparing moon water,
Find great benefit in also collecting water from the powerful monsoon storms.
This is the magical arm of the practice of harvesting rainwater.
Considering the wind,
Lightning,
And thunder that is behind such rainfalls,
Monsoon water can be an enormous energetic boost for any working you wish to perform.
In my personal practice,
I also use it quite often for workings involving strength and might.
If you wish to bolster and strengthen the foundation of your home,
Adding monsoon water to your mop bucket is a phenomenal way of doing so.
Disclaimer,
I do not recommend drinking or otherwise consuming this water.
When we call in the elements,
Or the quarters,
While casting a circle,
It can sometimes be challenging to be fully mindful of the power we are invoking each time we speak those words.
We have an understanding of such,
Of course,
But if we fail to recognize the forces at play behind each element,
We risk becoming at least mildly detached from the strength of that which we summon.
It is for this reason that when I call in the quarters,
I pause at each one to visualize that element,
And the images that play out in my mind are almost always recollections of what I've observed in the desert,
Especially during monsoon season.
I simply cannot think of a way in which the power of the elements is more vividly displayed than it is during monsoon season.
We call to the element of air,
You who carry our dreams skyward and cool us under the bright sun,
Grant us your sacred breezes,
And guide us on this path upon our arid land.
We call to the element of fire,
Born of lightning,
You teach us power and respect.
We call to the element of water,
Pour forth your cleansing rain upon this desert so that we,
And this land,
Will be restored.
We call to the element of earth,
We celebrate the crystals and stones that you bring forth to give healing to us and shelter to all who call this place home.
Beloved Lord and Lady,
You have set forth everything within this sacred desert.
We burn herbs,
Sage and rose,
In your honor.
We ask that you watch over us as we spread your love throughout this desert.
Beyond the sense of unity that comes about after one of these storms,
There is another byproduct of them that is equally as magical.
Once the lightning has stopped,
Once the rain has subsided,
And after the wind and thunder have quieted,
There is a heavy silence that falls upon this desert.
If you go outside and actually pay attention to this silence,
You will sense many things.
As beneficial as it is to collect water from these storms,
I only wish I was able to bottle the calmness that the post-storm silence imparts.
The might of the four physical elements is undeniable in the midst of the storm,
And in the silence which ensues afterward is when the element of spirit speaks just as clearly.
The next time you experience a thunderstorm where you live,
I invite you to bring your awareness to each of the elements that are in play,
And to also,
After the storm subsides,
Listen to the voice of spirit.
Until next time,
The crow flies from me to thee,
To send the message,
Blessed Be.
