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It seems to me that the Witches Ladder is one of those unique and valuable, yet greatly under-appreciated bits of craft lore that has fallen to the wayside of contemporary Witchcraft. If you're not familiar with the term, there's a good article you can read here on Wikipedia that will give you the background and basic gist on the ladder. And if you Google it (images) you'll find a wide variety of ladders, made in many different ways and used for many different types of craftwork. Like much of modern day Witchcraft, people have taken an old idea and done something new it, and so have I.

But there are certain challenges that arise from this type of new growth within the Craft. There are so many of us taking old bits like the Witches Ladder, reclaiming it, remodeling it or recreating it. But we're not renaming it. As a result, all these neat new and original creations like prayer beads are being labeled  as "Witches Ladders" and sold on Etsy. Make no mistake, I'm not criticizing the idea of "Witch Ladder Prayer Beads," in fact, I love the idea. I am however, trying to point out the confusion this form of appropriation and re-association can create.

To the uninitiated, prison chaplaincy isn't at all what you might expect. Prison life isn't always like MSNBC's Lockup Raw. I'm not challenging the shows authenticity, I've been to some of those places and sat in a room with some of those people. Although the show may paint an accurate portrait, the canvas they frame tends to promote the most extreme circumstances. It is, after all, a television show.

But not every inmate is a violent face-tattooed psychopath. Most are hard on the outside and soft on the inside. They all wear emotional and psychological armor.They have to, prison is not a place to show weakness. But as a prison chaplain, as a priest, you must be soft on the outside and very strong in the middle.

It was explained to me at a young age that funerals are more for the benefit of those left behind than for the deceased. Our rites facilitate our emotional and communal needs to grieve, mourn, express our feelings and provide an opportunity for closure. Our Pagan rite of Samhain perpetuates those opportunities every autumn and through the seasons we are able to transition from morning the loss of those who have crossed over, to honoring and celebrating their lives.

In seminary I was taught to turn to the Bible and how to employ Biblical scriptures to render aid and comfort to those suffering from the grief and trauma of death and other critical incidents. More than once I have attended funerals where the family of the deceased had given strict instructions to the funeral homes forbidding the use of any and all Christian references, especially Jesus or the Bible. This in effect, tied the hands of the chaplain leading the service and rendered him utterly useless, except to make the general announcement and invited family and friends to speak. I watched as they clutched their good books and hesitated to speak, struggling to find a suitable substitute to their gospel. More than once I have been asked to speak at these events, to read from my Grandmothers book the story of a little leaf who grew up on a tree in a city park, and to share with them the Gospel of Nature.

Last year at the Conference on Current Pagan Studies I spoke about PTSD, what it was like coming home and what many of us are dealing with. While my dealings with some of experiences in Iraq may be rough and troublesome, the hardest part was coming home and returning to civilian life.

After everything that I had been through, and strangely enough, everything I have become accustom to, I had a much more difficult time integrating back into "normal" life and relating to "normal" people (civilians). I soon discovered that most people had equal difficulty relating to me. There were many awkward silences because they didn't know what or what not say, and neither did I.

One of the first articles I ever wrote was for Witchvox way back in 2009. It was titled Kangaroo Magic, and I'm resurrecting the message of that article here because the need for it has returned.

In that article I mentioned that among my travels to numerous countries, by far my favorite was Australia. Mostly because I had spent my life as a student of indigenous Magical practices and has always been fascinated with aboriginal culture and the concept of the dreamtime.

An addendum is something added, a small supplement to the original. This post is a small addendum to the last post on Doing Dangerous Magic. First I'd like to mention how pleasantly surprise I was by how well this piece was accepted. I received a lot of feedback, all of which I viewed as positive. Including validation from a psychiatric nurse who commented on how she sees the sort of "Wand Waving" I mentions on a regular basis. She is one of those who cleans up the mess and undoes the damage done.

In that post I also mentioned that I am a certified administrator, operating a residential facility and providing direct care for developmental disabled. I also mentioned that I am required to attend 40 hours of continuing education to re-certify. And that's where I was yesterday. I spent the entire day of Ostara inside an all day re-certification seminar. Yes, you can say it, "Spiritual coma."