​Everyday Witchery
hosted by Inner Circle Sanctuary
Saturday, June 2, 2018 at 6 pm
Please RSVP for location

The best way to make your life more magical
is to practice a little bit of magic every day. 

Join Inner Circle Sanctuary for our Everyday Witchery event,
and let our students and elders show you exactly
how to bring that extra bit of magic into your life. 

Some topics to be discussed are:
Easy meditations and rituals,
everyday divination,
magic for the home and work place,
family and social magic,
and whatever fun things we can come up with.
Bring a pen and notebook,
because lots of wonderful ideas will be shared. 

As always, our events are potluck,
so please bring a dish if you would like. 

$10 suggested donation or bring what you can afford.
100% of the donations collected will go towards a local charity. 

If you would like to join us,
please mark yourself as "Going" on our event invite on Facebook
or private message Inner Circle Sanctuary.
Location will be given out a few days prior to the event
to those who have RSVP'd. 

Hope to see you there!

Bread Magic and Lore
hosted by Inner Circle Sanctuary
Saturday, July 7, 2018 at 6 pm
Please RSVP for location

Come one, come all to our most popular event of the year:
Bread Magic and Lore.
AKA An Excuse to Eat a Ton of Carbs
but it’s for a Good Cause Event.

We will discuss the history of bread making,
how to infuse your baking with magical intent,
and bread’s role in rituals.
More importantly, though,
we will have homemade bread for tasting and for sale. 

Our events are RSVP only,
so if you would like to join us,
please mark yourself as “Going” on our Facebook event invite
or message Inner Circle Sanctuary directly.
We will send the location information a few days prior to the event. 

Aside from bread, we will have a potluck.
Feel free to bring something if you’d like...
especially something that will be GREAT with bread!

We ask for a $10 donation or whatever you can afford.
100% of the donations and bread sales will go to a local charity.

​Join us for a 
THE MAGIC OF RUNES
with Lord Tanys
hosted by Inner Circle Sanctuary
Saturday, April 21, 2018 at 6 pm
Please RSVP for location.

Learn the history, traditions, and magic associated with the runes.

$10 donation 
or bring what you can afford.
All our events are POTLUCK, so please contribute if you can.

RSVP on our Facebook event page
​
On Thursday, April 19, 
all who have marked "GOING" 
will be sent a message 
with the location of the event. 
​Thank you for joining us.

Follow Inner Circle Sanctuary on Facebook, Twitter, & Instagram.

If you are interested in learning more about us,
​please don't hesitate to Contact Us.
​
If you are interested in Joining our classes,
please start with our questionnaire here.

For those who like to search out "obscure" holidays, today would be considered one. Unless you're a Wiccan, of course. March is the beginning of the fertility season; it makes sense! So even though we cannot find the "origin": of who made March 18th the day of the Goddess of Fertility, we are glad we found it.

Click on any photo for a larger version.
​Click on the description for the link to the source.

Ga: Lady Anwyn
Gi: Lord Tanys
Jf: Lady Byathynne
V: Lord Gwendolen

2018 Update
Friday, March 16 is the day of the EQUILUX here in Las Vegas (As close as it can be, at least). Day and Night are mere seconds away from being equal! Midday is at 12:49 p.m.

The Vernal EQUINOX will occur on Mar. 20, 2018 at exactly 9:15 am.

​2017 Update
In Las Vegas the EQUINOX is at September 22 Sat 6:54 PM PT
The EQUILUX occurs on Sep 26 - Wednesday ALL DAY with midday at 12:31 PM PT

2016 UPDATE
In Las Vegas the EQUINOX is at Sep 22 7:21 AM PDT
The Equilux occurs on Sep 25 - ALL DAY with midday at 12:32 PM

The equinox is not really when the day and night are equal. We know that "equinox" derives from the Latin: aequinoctium - "aequi" or "equi" + noct (nox) or night or "equal night"... but No, not equal by a few minutes of the day

At the precise moment of the equinox there are three things happening: 

1.) the sun is at zenith over the equator
2.) where the sun rises, it does so exactly in the east and where it sets it does so exactly in the west and
3.) both northern & southern hemispheres are EQUALLY illuminated on the side of the planet that the sun is shining on.

For us, here in Las Vegas, the EXACT moment of the equinox happened at 1:22 AM, earlier today. That's it. That one precise moment in time at 1:22 AM was the equinox.

Here in Las Vegas, dawn was at 6:29 AM and sunset was at 6:36 PM; giving us 12 hours and 6 minutes of daylight. Not equal. (But it's only six minutes... you can't forgive 6 minutes?!) No.

There are two reasons for this inequality: First, the sun is not a point in the sky. It is a disk. The apparent size of the sun (it's BIG & CLOSE) matters. Second, the atmospheric refraction of the sunlight in relation to the latitude of your location. The earth's atmosphere bends the light adding or subtracting how much actual daylight you have. Check this site for a more thorough explanation: Day and night exactly equal at equinoxes? By Bruce McClure)

Somewhere in the early 2000's, someone (probably my soul twin), usurped the word "Equilux" to mean 'equal day and night'... taken from a lighting term meaning 'equal illumination' or 'equal light'. 

But despite that most don't exactly know the astronomical details, the Autumnal Equinox is a time to give "Thanks" for the success of our harvests, whether literal or metaphorically, and to prepare and look to the future return of that bounty. 

We pay respects to the coming forces of night and Winter and learn from them as we ourselves prepare for the dark season ahead. The night starts waxing and the day begins waning and we are reminded that nothing ever remains without change. 

The Inner Circle Sanctuary celebrates all these aspects of the Autumn Equinox in it's ritual. We honor the Old Ones and pay respects to our ancestors by doing as they did in this season; by giving offerings from the harvest back to Mother Earth and to mark the season.  

We hope your Autumnal Equinox was filled with love, laughter, family, and friendship... and a deep and loving connection with all that envelops us.

~Lady Atheona

ICS had such a wonderful time at our first ever "public" esbat that we decided whenever a New or Full Moon happens to land on the Saturday we are choosing for our "public" event, they will be esbats!

​"Haste! Haste! No time to waste! It's off to the esbat, so don't be late!"

Come and learn a new craft! 

IMBOLG CORN DOLLY CRAFTING
Presented by Inner Circle Sanctuary
SATURDAY, JANUARY 20, 2018 at 6pm
Please RSVP for location

$10 donation 
or bring what you can afford.

Supplies:
-A package of corn husks that have been soaked overnight 
-Raffia
-An old towel

Our craft nights are potluck so feel free to bring a dish!

Consider soaking your corn husks in:
-Holy water 
-Protection bath salts 
-Water infused with protection oil 
-Tea made with your favorite protection herb

RSVP on our Facebook event page
https://www.facebook.com/events/160662934533250/
Click here to see last years Corn Dollies!

Inner Circle Sanctuary had a wonderful 2017! 
12 wonderful gatherings including:
Pagan Bread Making - A New Moon Esbat
Taror & Runes - An Amazing Book Faire
and so much more.

We have had initiations and a handfasting.
Spectacular new members and the sad loss of others.
Eight fantastic sabbat rituals while helping the local community.
We are constantly in awe of our people.

Inner Circle Sanctuary is proud to have donated time and money to the Las Vegas and the US community for 2017. Donations totaling $5039 were given to:

Inner Circle Sanctuary also donated time to
​Pagan Pride Las Vegas & ARS Communitas (Haven Craft).

​We ask for $15 a month in your first year and a day and $30 for every sabbat. In lieu of cash as your monthly donation, you can donate to an area charity we approve of and turn in a receipt.

100% of all monies collected from monthly dues, group events, and sabbats are donated to charity. Donations are tracked collectively for members' review.​ Any and all donations are non-compulsory.
​
If you're interested in joining our group, please read about our First Degree Classes.

Join us for a Public Crafting Night!

Bring friends and family.
We will be making
YULE LOGS
Presented by Inner Circle Sanctuary

SAT DEC 2 
from 6 PM - 9 PM
Please RSVP for location

$10 donation 
or bring what you can afford

Supply List:
Wooden Log 1 foot long
with 3 holes drilled in the top
(1 foot long or thereabouts it doesn't have to be exact; we should have plenty)
Taper Candles 
(At least 3 - Red, Green, White, Black, Silver, Gold)
(Combos: Red, White, Green OR Red, White, Black OR Silver, White, Gold)
Decorations 
(garland, ornaments, tinsel, figurines, pine cones, fir branches, pine, etc.
The more natural the better.)
Glue Gun(s)
Extension Cords

You should bring one log for every person who is going to make one,
feel free to bring more to share!
There should be plenty of extra supplies for everyone.

This is also a Potluck as well,
so please bring your favorite easy dish to share with everyone.

You can send us an email at innercirclesanctuary (at) gmail.com or
send us a message via Facebook or Twitter
if you have any questions.

RSVP on our Facebook event page
https://www.facebook.com/events/1165576973574422/
Click here to see last years Yule Log Crafting Night

Read the text story here: ​http://www.fox5vegas.com/story/36883300/las-vegas-witches-inside-local-covens

We are extremely proud of all of our members for making our style of Wicca so beautiful and wonderful. We are supremely proud and indebted to
Lady Sisterwolf
for stepping out of the broom closet to be featured in the piece, despite most of her family not knowing she practices the Craft.
Her courage is unfathomable.
​
We are grateful for Kathleen Jacob and KVVU Fox 5 Television for wanting to create a news piece that wasn't a Halloween / Samhain trope. For the seven minutes they were allowed,
​the video turned out wonderfully! 

The ritual being performed is our Samhain festival with Lady Nashoba as High Priestess and Lord Tanys as High Priest. Lady Sisterwolf was the only person mic'd for the ritual and the camera stayed outside the circle for their video pieces. The interviews with Lady Sisterwolf and Lady Walking Turtle from the Coven of the Red Dragonfly were filmed a few days later during the daytime. 

Kathleen had put out a call in the pagan community to everyone she could contact via Witchvox and met with a few people in person to pitch her story. Our Lady Sisterwolf introduced and invited her to the Las Vegas Pagan Pride Day event where they also interviewed and filmed extensively. It is our understanding that the footage from Pagan Pride Day will be used for another news video piece at a later time. We were grateful that Kathleen offered us a preview of the clip before airing so we could correct anything if needed and if possible. Lad y Sisterwolf enjoyed her time contributing to this story and is extremely proud of its result; as are we. Huzzah!

Follow Inner Circle Sanctuary on Facebook, Twitter, & Instagram.

If you are interested in learning more about us,
​please don't hesitate to Contact Us.

If you are interested in Joining our classes,
please start with our questionnaire here.

THE SUN GOD 
in the Wiccan Mythos
Presented by Inner Circle Sanctuary

SATURDAY, JANUARY 6, 2018 
at 2pm
at the Las Vegas Natural History Museum
900 Las Vegas Blvd. North 
Las Vegas, NV 89101

$12.00 Adults 
$10.00 Seniors, Military and Students 
$6.00 Children (3-11)
FREE Children (2 and younger),
Las Vegas Natural History Museum Members
ASTC Travel Passport Program (Two Adults & Two Children FREE)

https://www.facebook.com/LasVegasNaturalHistoryMuseum/

Join us for a 
NEW MOON
Open Circle
hosted by Inner Circle Sanctuary
Saturday, Nov. 18, 2017
Starting at 6pm

The New Moon marks the beginning of the moons cycle.
It is the perfect time to set your intentions in motion. 

The New Moon marks the beginning of the waxing phase.
It is the perfect time to grow the abundance you deserve.

The New Moon is the darkest night of the moons cycle.
It is the perfect time to draw into you that which you desire.

This event is RSVP only. 
Please email us at innercirclesanctuary@gmail.com 
or message us here for location details.

$10 donation 
or bring what you can afford.

Although there are folks that live areas of the country where a definite change in season is visible, even if you live in a desert, just about any leaf bearing tree will start to turn yellow and fall to the ground. As little trees as we have here in the southwestern desert, whenever I see that little golden carpet along the driveway, it takes me back to my childhood in Pennsylvania. 

Autumn was always my favorite time of year. The air gets crisper, the nights get chilly. We have made it through the blazing heat of summer; it’s perfect hoodie weather without the freezing temperatures, or the gray hued days of winter.  

Autumn Equinox is the time of the second harvest and the colors of the season burst on the scene. This is the time that crops are being stored for winter, and it is a time of giving thanks for your abundance.

This is the time that we celebrate the light, and welcome the dark. There are so many things to do to celebrate, acknowledging, meditating, and thankfulness are just the beginning.
Wishing you all a wonderful harvest season. Blessed Be.

Inner Circle Sanctuary, in addition to being a school of Wicca, is a religious institution which celebrates all the eight Sabbats, and honors ancient but living Deities of nature, fertility, and benevolence. In this piece we will discuss some of our practices, and those of other groups, particularly for the Autumn Equinox.

​We consider Sabbats to be times of communion with the Gods, and harmonization with Nature, at the turning points of the “Wheel of the Years.” Our late High Priest, Lord Mordred, always said “Sabbats are the Gods’ time,” and so we never do spell work or initiations on Sabbat days. We do however, make offerings of food and drink, and ask boons of the Gods, in the form of a wish written on parchment, wrapped around a candle, and burnt in our sacred center fire.

As our theme for the Autumn Equinox is “Thanksgiving” we write what we are thankful for on our parchment, and wrap it around a silver candle. Silver candles are used as “Thank You Candles” in our Tradition. For what are you thankful this year?

You are thankful for something, yes? If nothing else, you are still alive. Chances are, if you are reading an article about Wicca, you are doing relatively well. Feeling fortunate, and giving thanks, are well known qualities of successful people. So burn a silver candle! Safely, of course. Or maybe you’re one of those people who believe you got here on your own, with no help from anyone, not luck or good fortune. You can burn a silver candle too; just make it a Penis shaped candle to reflect your personality… 

We also play the “Candle Game” at Autumn Equinox, as described in “A Witches Bible Compleat” by Janet and Stewart Farrar. It is a very entertaining game for a group of adults to play- as long as you have a good sense of humor, and enjoy a lot of kissing, and being (lightly) scourged!

If you don’t, by the way, we are definitely not the coven for you…

While we use the proper term for the time, Autumn Equinox, we also refer to the Sabbat as Mabon. A well known pagan author, Aidan Kelly, began referring to the Sabbat as Mabon around 1970, according to Wikipedia. We love the modernity of Wicca and Neo-Paganism! Especially when they are culled from ancient roots, as the name Mabon is.

Mabon, a character from Welsh mythology, was son of Modron, whose name probably means “Great Mother.” Her name is one of the names we add to the Introduction to the Charge of the Goddess for this Sabbat.

Here in Southern Nevada, the Fire of Summer is hopefully cooled by the Water of Autumn by the time we head outdoors to perform our Sabbat. Our Sabbats are grand events, and the set up can be quite taxing, especially when the temperature is in the triple digits. 

Although Sol enters the sign of Libra around this time, an Air sign, we relate Fall to the element of Water, as it is the Dusk of the year. 

As we are a Nature based religion, we relate most to the Harvest aspects of this time of year, Mabon being the middle of three Harvest Sabbats; the first being Lughnassadh, and the last, Samhain. Other groups and traditions mark this Solar tide in their own way, with their own focus.

Note that Inner Circle Sanctuary rarely uses the terms “Greater” and “Lesser” when referring to Sabbats. We consider each spoke of the Wheel of the Years to be equal, and necessary, as they indicate varying levels or aspects of fertility. 

The eight divisions of the year can all be considered marked by the Sun, as the Equinoxes and Solstices are real, objective events that easily divide the year, and the Cross Quarter Days, the more Terrestrial Sabbats, are approximately midway between the Solar Sabbats. It is this relationship of Sol to Terra that gives us obvious occasions to celebrate Nature!

Why are Equinoxes so powerful to those of us who believe such things? I liken it to a two cylinder engine, preferably a V-Twin. At the Solstices, one cylinder is diminished- Day overtaking Night at the Summer Solstice, and Night absorbing Day at the Winter Solstice. At the Equinoxes, both cylinders are firing equally- that’s a lot of magical torque!

Let’s examine how some other magical groups observe the Equinox.

The Ordo Aurum Solis (Order of the Gold of the Sun) performs Affirmation Rituals in its Houses of Initiates. These rituals theugically reinforce (affirm) cohesion within the Houses, their attachment to the Order, and to the Egregore of the Order as a whole. ​

The Sacred Order of Sophisians, a Napoleonic Era rite of Egyptian Free Masonry, holds a simple celebration for the Autumn Equinox, probably as a foreshadow of celebrating the Resurrection of the God Osiris at the Spring Equinox. The Sacred Order of Sophisians is open to women as well as men, which makes it of particular interest to Pagans, Polytheists, and lovers of Ancient Egypt.

Aleister Crowley published a very usable, stripped down version of the Golden Dawn Equinox ceremony in his 1936 work 'The Equinox of the Gods.' 

Tarostar, a famous author of many great books of Magick and Witchcraft (several of which are used in

Solitary Practitioner, or part of a group or coven, observing this powerful time of the year with joy and reverence will join you to a large community of magical people, and harmonize you with Nature, and energize your Spirit. May Frith and good seasons go with you!

Happy Mabon!

​Demeter is the daughter of the titans Kronos and Rhea, and sister to the Olympian deities. The name Demeter comes from de, which is a derivative of the Cretan word dêai, meaning barley, and the word meter which means mother.  De could also come from the Greek word da which means earth. Whichever etymology you choose to believe, it means the same thing. Demeter is the earth mother. In the Roman pantheon, she is called Ceres, which gives us the word cereal. She is the goddess of grain and barley. Demeter’s influence was not limited to just grain, but extended to vegetation and fruits in general, and thus fertility. Women, especially, revere Demeter for her attributes of health, birth, and marriage. Demeter taught mankind about agriculture. Through agriculture, cities were created. With cities came law and order. Because of this, she was also thought to be a goddess of justice. 

​As a mother goddess, Demeter is usually depicted as a mature woman with a chaplet of corn bearing a cornucopia and a torch. Her festivals take place during the harvest season and the first corn was always given to her as an offering. Her symbol is the bright red poppy, which commonly grows among the wheat fields. To ensure the fertility of the crops, pigs were often sacrificed to the goddess. Animals that are sacred to Demeter are pigs, serpents or geckos, and bees.

​Perhaps the most well-known story surrounding Demeter is the abduction of Persephone by Hades. In short, Hades, the God of the Underworld, fell in love with Persephone, Demeter’s daughter. Demeter was so heartbroken with grief that she would not allow the earth to bear fruit until she was reunited with her daughter. Fearing that mankind would starve to death, Zeus intervened and told Hades to return Persephone to her mother. However, while in the Underworld, Persephone ate some pomegranate seeds and was bound to spend a third of the year below the earth as Queen of the Underworld and wife to Hades. This myth corresponds to the cycle of the seasons and helps to explain why the earth is barren during the winter months while Persephone resides in the underworld. When Persephone returns to the world and to her mother, she brings the spring and fruitfulness of the earth with her. 

​Persephone and Demeter are often referred to as one in the same goddess. Persephone would be the maiden form of the earth goddess, Demeter herself would be the mother aspect, and often, Hecate is considered to be the crone aspect of this triple goddess form. This idea of the goddess undergoing a change in herself to correlate with the seasons is one of the Eleusinian Mysteries so often associated with Demeter. The Eleusinian Mysteries are some of the oldest and most famous of the secret rites of ancient Greece. Initiates into the Mysteries would reenact the loss of Persephone to the Underworld, Demeter’s search for her daughter, and finally the ascent of Persephone back to the world. Through this reenactment of symbolic death and rebirth, the initiates would learn that all life springs forth from the generations that came before. 

​During these modern times, we certainly aren’t going to sacrifice a pig to honor the goddess. Most of us probably don’t have a corn harvest either. If you would like to make an offering to Demeter during her harvest season, you could make corn muffins and share them with the goddess. You could also bake cookies in the shape of any of her sacred animals and share them with friends and family, and of course, the goddess. You could gather some of the best looking fall vegetables you can find and make a nice barley and vegetable stew. Have some friends over and share your stew with the goddess. Leave a seat at the head of the table for her to enjoy the stew with you. The best ways to commune with the gods and to make offerings is just to share your time and effort with them. After all, Demeter is the mother goddess. Don’t you want to spend time with your mother? 

Throughout high school I volunteered on a regular basis at our local senior center. I will always distinctly remember two people; a woman who would tell me the same stories over and over as we looked through her albums, and a sharp-witted man who was a retired fire fighter and proud Freemason. For a while I aspired to be a geriatric nurse, until I experienced the heartache that comes when they pass on. Seeing lonely seniors whose children never visited them was a hard lesson to learn about how our Western culture commonly discards parents.

After my own Mother passed, my Father remarried a Chinese woman and she educated me about how Eastern culture puts so much emphasis on caring for parents it is now the law in China! 

Beyond the daily care of our aging parents, how can we do better as a culture to celebrate our elderly? Here are a few ideas:

As the saying goes, “Age before beauty,” proper etiquette dictates that the eldest female is given priority in these circumstances:

Consider this, if you believe in the concept of reincarnation, then we are possibly the older souls who came after them and we are caring for them now as our spiritual children from past lives. Even if you extend compassion and kindness to an unrelated elder, you never know when your souls may cross paths again in future lifetimes.