The Basics - 13 Goals of a Witch
. Know yourself.
. Know your craft.
. Learn.
. Apply knowledge with wisdom.
. Achieve balance.
. Keep your words in good order.
. Keep your thoughts in good order.
. Celebrate life!
. Attune with the cycles of the earth.
. Breathe and eat correctly.
. Exercise the body.
. Meditate.
. Honor the God and Goddess

.Know yourself. As far back as Socrates, and most likely much farther,
this was advice best followed. If you don't know what you want, you are
not likely to get it. Consequently if you don't know what makes you
happy, you are not likely to find your happiness. You also need to know
your own strengths and weaknesses.
.Know your craft. Wicca is a craft, hence the term Witchcraft, the
Craft of the Wise. This is not something you learn from reading a few
books, although they can point you in the direction your path can take.
This is something you will learn by living it. Know what you want to study
- understand your spiritual path.
.Learn. Learn everything you can, everything you have an interest in.
You don't have to master every subject completely, but a thorough
knowledge of many subjects will help you grow spiritually, and be open
minded about subjects you don't know anything about.
.Apply knowledge with wisdom. This is perhaps one of the hardest to
practice. Put it this way: You can read a dozen books, but until you put
into your life what you have read, it is useless to you. Also, the wise
person will use their common sense regarding whatever it is print, and
especially on the Internet One person's "truth" is not necessarily
truth for all; only you know in your heart of hearts what rings as "truth"
for you. Knowledge is power, but without wisdom, you will not be able
to have control over that power.
.Achieve balance. Is this like "moderation in all things"? YES! Your
time cannot be totally consumed by something without the rest of your
life suffering the consequences. We have a tendency, most of us, to dive
into a new area with total concentration, and that can be wonderful, as
long as we don't ignore everything else. Women are usually pretty good
at this, since we have to balance husband's needs, children's needs,
and job needs all at once. What most often suffers, though, are our own
needs. Many times we all feel as if we are too rushed, and pulled into
many different directions at once. Try to balance your life so that you
feel invigorated instead, and so you also enjoy what you are doing.
.Keep your words in good order. Have you heard that "A witch is only
as good as her word"? It comes from a time when the person's word was
their bond, and it still is as important today. When you say a thing, you
make it so. Why does your magick work? Because you say "So mote it be",
and your words and your will have that power. When you don't keep your
word, you are breaking that bond. Be very careful HOW you speak, what
you say, negatively or positively is what you bring into manifestation.
Another reference to this is found in the Christian Bible, in Genesis,
where it says "In the beginning was the word". Words have power, which
is recognized many religions
.Keep your thoughts in good order. "Energy follows thought" is another
Wiccan saying. Again, what you think, thought often enough, you bring
into manifestation. Every single invention started out as a thought.
Think about it! Positive thinking and positive affirmations can make a
difference in your life.
.Celebrate Life!. Life is meant to be joyful! The whole earth is alive,
and so are you! Think about all the senses you have, and all the
sensations you feel, and how fantastic that is! We are linked to all life,
everywhere
.Attune with the cycles of the earth. Be aware of the seasons, and the
phases of the Moon. Wiccans do this by celebrating the Esbats and
Sabbats. Everything runs in cycles, our bodies, the animals, and the plants.
Gardners know that timing is important in planting, not just with the
seasons, but also with the moon. You can even do such things as trimming
your hair more effectively by utilizing the moon's cycles.
.Breathe and eat correctly. Breathing is very important to life, and
to proper magick, to energy raising, not to mention, your health.
Breathing deeply from the diaphragm should be mastered. Also breathing in
through the nose and out through the mouth, especially during meditation,
or other forms of energy control and consciousness control. Eat to
live, don't live to eat. Eat what is a proper diet for you, and not until
you are stuffed. Eating the wrong foods, and eating too much of
anything, will inhibit your ability to do much except take a nap!
.Exercise the body. This is so important, and gets ignored so much in
our techno-pagan society. Exercise relieves stress, tones muscles,
burns fat, and adds years to your ability to enjoy life. This is the
physical vessel your soul has incarnated into, at least take care of it! And
while we're on the subject, along with exercising, drink plenty of
water, at least 6-8 glasses a day. This will flush out the toxins that are
caused by stress, as well as by other factors.
.Meditate. This concept one of the most misunderstood by many students
today. What people think of when they see this word, is perhaps an
Indian Yogi sitting in the Lotus position and chanting "om". While that is
one valid way to meditate, there are many others, including mediation
through concentrating on an object, a thought, your own breath, your own
body rhythms, or concentrating on nothing at all. Other ways to
meditate are to dance, to move the body, as in T'ai Chi, or Sufi Dancing, or
just in exercises such as walking, when you are being at one with your
body and not thinking about anything at all. Another form of mediation
is by doing a skill over and over, something repetitive, to the
exclusion of all other thoughts, except the total concentration on the skill
you are doing. Many people who say they can't meditate, or have trouble
with it, are only aware of one kind. There are so many different ways to
do this, that there is a method to suit each person. (For more
information, get the very small book "How To Meditate" by Lawrence LaShan.)
.Honor the God and Goddess. Since God/Goddess dwell within ourselves,
while we are honoring them, we must also show honor to ourselves, and
to others. Try this simple exercise: the next time you are standing in
line somewhere, try to see the God and Goddess in each person in line
with you. Really look at them and see their innate deity. This is one
that may take practice, but when you really see it, it will have impact.
We are all divine, we are all God and Goddess both.