#my path

Prayer is done with the expectation that the Person will help you, bless you, etc. out of the goodness of their heart. Petitioning is an explicitly magical act: you're compensating the Person for their time with offerings (candles, incense, etc.)

I used to have a real aversion to prayer, but I've been talking to a certain saint recently and he said something that made me completely flip my stance on things. He said that prayer doesn't have to be from a place of subservience. It can just be talking to a friend and asking them to do a favor for you. That's kind of the point of my brand of witchcraft: the spirits are your equal in most cases.

Recently, someone asked a question that caught me off guard:

“Do you work with both the sun and the moon?”

At first, my immediate reaction was simple:

“I work with the moon. I don’t really work with the sun.”

The question came with a perspective that viewed solar and lunar magic as complementary functions rather than opposites.

The idea was that the Sun represents action, visibility, confidence, clarity, and direct movement. The Moon represents intuition, reflection, cycles, emotional processing, and subtle change. The Sun acts. The Moon adjusts. The Sun pushes forward. The Moon helps determine when and how to move.

The more I sat with it, the more I realized that I agreed with the central insight, though not necessarily every interpretation that accompanied it.

Many magical and spiritual traditions do associate the Sun with vitality, illumination, success, willpower, and outward expression. Likewise, the Moon is often linked to intuition, dreams, mystery, emotion, fertility, cycles, and the subconscious.

As a symbolic framework, it works well.

But symbolism is not the same thing as universal truth.

Different cultures understood the Sun and Moon in different ways. Not every tradition divides them into action and intuition, direct and indirect, masculine and feminine, or any of the other common modern correspondences. These are useful lenses, but they are still lenses.

From my own perspective as a Sophian Druid and hedge witch, I find myself thinking about them a little differently.

The Sun speaks to life, growth, vitality, inspiration, courage, creativity, and expression.

The Moon speaks to cycles, reflection, intuition, dreams, memory, tides, mystery, and inner knowing.

Neither is greater than the other.

Nature itself requires both.

A seed needs sunlight to grow, but it also needs darkness, moisture, rest, and time. Growth is not created by force alone, nor by reflection alone.

For a long time, however, I thought I worked almost exclusively with lunar energies.

After all, I am drawn to dream work, ancestor work, hedge-riding, intuition, emotional healing, mysticism, and the unseen worlds. Much of my spiritual life unfolds in places that feel distinctly lunar.

The Moon has always felt familiar.

Part of this may come from the nature of my own path.

I am a Sophian Druid, a hedge witch, and a hedge-rider. While none of those paths are inherently lunar, the way I practice them often leads me toward qualities many people would associate with the Moon.

I am drawn toward dreams, intuition, ancestors, spirits of place, inner transformation, symbolism, mystery, and the pursuit of wisdom. My spiritual life is often less concerned with control or certainty and more concerned with listening deeply to the world around me.

Sophia at the center of my path does not call me toward control or certainty. She calls me toward understanding.

Because of this, I naturally found myself identifying more strongly with lunar symbolism. The Moon became associated with many of the places where I encountered wisdom: dreams, reflection, intuition, mystery, and the unseen.

Part of this also comes from being a hedge witch.

Hedge Druidry and hedge witchcraft often live at the edges and thresholds of experience. They are paths of dreams, spirit work, ancestors, intuition, journeying, and encounters with the unseen. They frequently ask us to cross the hedge between worlds and return with wisdom, healing, or insight.

Because of this, it is easy to see why I have always identified so strongly with lunar symbolism. Much of what I do naturally unfolds within spaces associated with the Moon: mystery, reflection, inner transformation, and relationship with the unseen.

Yet neither my Druidry nor my hedge witchcraft is solely lunar.

Both my hedge Druidry and my hedge witchcraft are deeply rooted in nature. They follow the turning seasons, the cycles of growth and decay, the wisdom of plants, the presence of fire, and relationship with the living world.

Where they differ is often not in what they observe, but in how they approach it. My Druidry tends to emphasize relationship, philosophy, wisdom, and the larger patterns woven through nature. Both my hedge Druidry and my hedge witchcraft value direct experience, healing, spirit work, and crossing the hedge between worlds, though my hedge witchcraft tends to place a stronger emphasis on these aspects of the path.

The hedge grows from the earth beneath the Sun. The plants used in healing and magic follow seasonal cycles. The fires lit in ritual, the herbs gathered from field and forest, the changing landscape, and the turning Wheel of the Year all reflect the Sun’s influence upon the living world.

A hedge-rider may cross into mystery beneath the Moon, but still return to a world shaped by the Sun.

As I reflected on the conversation, I found myself returning to the Wheel of the Year.

The changing seasons are driven by the Earth’s relationship with the Sun.

The solstices are solar observances.

Litha celebrates the Sun at its height.

Yule celebrates the return of the light after the longest night.

The fires lit at seasonal festivals carry solar symbolism.

The growth of forests, fields, gardens, and harvests follows the journey of the Sun across the year.

And suddenly a realization struck me.

I do work with the Sun.

I simply never called it that.

I think part of my confusion came from assuming that “solar work” meant sun worship, solar deities, sun spells, or deliberate rituals focused directly on the Sun itself.

Because I wasn’t doing those things, I assumed I wasn’t working with the Sun at all.

But in a nature-centered path, the Sun is often encountered through the living world rather than through formal solar rites.

It is present in growth.

In creativity.

In courage.

In transformation.

In manifestation.

In the changing of the seasons.

In the fire that warms, illuminates, and inspires.

When I honor the turning of the Wheel, I am honoring a solar cycle.

When I stand before a Litha fire, I am participating in a solar mystery.

When I seek confidence, reclaim my voice, step into my gifts, create, teach, write, or bring something into manifestation, there is a solar current moving through that work.

The Sun was present all along.

I just wasn’t looking for it.

One thing I also found interesting while reflecting on this is how differently people understand the Sun and Moon.

Many—but certainly not all—modern Druids and Pagans work with a symbolic framework that associates the Sun with active, outward qualities and the Moon with receptive, inward qualities. Some view these as masculine and feminine archetypes, while others see them simply as complementary forces that exist within all people regardless of gender.

However, this is largely a modern symbolic model rather than a universal Druid belief or a strict historical Celtic teaching.

In fact, several Celtic traditions associated the Sun with female figures, while the Moon was not always understood as feminine. Historical cultures often viewed these relationships very differently than many modern practitioners do today.

For that reason, I find it more helpful to think of the Sun and Moon as symbolic currents rather than fixed gendered forces. Different Druids, groves, and traditions may understand these symbols in different ways, and that diversity is part of what makes modern Druidry such a rich and evolving path.

Likewise, I have come to realize that the Moon is not merely passive.

The Moon governs tides powerful enough to move oceans.

It shapes rhythms, cycles, growth, fertility, and change. It may work differently than the Sun, but it is no less powerful.

The more I reflected on it, the more I realized that my path is not really a choice between solar and lunar spirituality.

It is a conversation between them.

Nature itself does not choose between Sun and Moon.

Forests, rivers, tides, animals, plants, and seasons all exist within the rhythm of both. The oak grows beneath the Sun, yet follows seasonal cycles. The tides answer the Moon, yet are warmed by the Sun. Fire, rain, growth, decay, day, night, summer, and winter all participate in an ongoing relationship between these currents.

As a Druid, I do not encounter the Sun and Moon only as symbols or abstract spiritual concepts. I encounter them through relationship with the living world itself.

The more I pay attention, the more I see that nature does not divide them as neatly as we sometimes do. Life unfolds through both.

The Wheel of the Year itself contains both currents.

The Moon teaches me to listen.

The Sun teaches me to express.

The Moon invites me inward.

The Sun calls me outward.

The Moon helps me encounter wisdom.

The Sun asks me to embody it.

The Moon may be where I receive the insight.

The Sun is where I learn to live it.

I can also see the wisdom in the idea that either current can become unbalanced when pursued alone. Reflection without action can leave wisdom unrealized. Action without reflection can easily lose direction. Growth requires both awareness and expression, both listening and doing.

If I were to describe my own practice now, I would say it leans heavily lunar and chthonic. I am naturally drawn toward dreams, ancestors, intuition, mystery, healing, and the unseen worlds.

Yet it is not exclusively lunar.

The seasonal festivals I celebrate, the fires I light, the transformations I seek, the courage I try to cultivate, and the creative work I bring into the world all carry a solar current as well.

Perhaps that is why both currents matter.

One teaches us how to journey.

The other teaches us how to return.

So perhaps the real lesson was not about choosing between solar and lunar paths.

It was about recognizing that I have always walked with both.

The Moon is where I descend into mystery.

The Moon is where I listen.

The Moon is where I receive insight.

The Sun is where I bring that insight into the world.

The Sun is where I create.

The Sun is where I grow.

The Sun is where I live what the Moon has taught me.

Perhaps this is why the symbolism resonates so strongly with me.

Sophia has always represented wisdom rather than power. Not the accumulation of knowledge, but the ability to see clearly and live accordingly.

The Moon often feels like the place where wisdom is encountered—through dreams, reflection, intuition, mystery, and contemplation.

The Sun feels like the place where wisdom is lived—through action, creation, courage, growth, and expression.

Both are necessary.

Wisdom that is never lived remains only an idea.

Action without wisdom easily loses its way.

Perhaps balance is not about dividing ourselves between two opposing forces.

Perhaps it is about learning when to listen and when to speak.

When to reflect and when to act.

When to descend into mystery and when to step into the light carrying what we found there.

The Moon may reveal the path.

The Sun may illuminate it.

● I don't know who started this, but this is a fun little personal survey I wanted to participate in! If you see this you can do it too if you'd like! You don't need to be a pathandpractice member nor do you need to be tagged (although I will be tagging some people at the end). ●

● If your magick had a theme song, what would it be?

This was actually the hardest one of these to answer. I still don't really know. None of the songs I really adore quite sum it up for me, and none of the more classic witchy songs/artists really do it for me either.

Guess I'll have to keep looking. If anyone knows of any rock/punk artists that have witchy vibes or tunes, please let me know!

● What's the weirdest substitute component you've ever used?

I don't know how weird it is, really, but I use cannabis leaves a lot, including as a substitute for anything related to grounding, protective, etc.

● What's a superstition you don't believe?

I don't really believe in any, but that doesn't stop me chucking salt over my shoulder to blind da de'el!

● What's the most chaotic spell outcome? How off target did it go?

I've never had a spell go off the rails, my worst outcomes have been things just not working. Possibly cos I don't really do anything too adventurous or complex, most of my workings are low key self and home care, which doesn't leave much room for chaotic or off rail results.

● What's something completely mundane that feels magickal to you?

Picking up litter. Transforming my frustration and anger at others into action, into an act of devotion to the land. And, if I'm honest, transforming it into a little self righteous smugness, too. Which is not an attractive trait, perhaps but it's less upsetting than just being angry at selfish, disgusting people, so hey-ho. Maybe one day I'll transform the smugness into something better, too!

● What kind of magick are you bad at?

Anything really complex with a bunch of parts to it, I don't have the oomph or the spoons.

● What's a sign or omen you completely misred at first?

The call to witchcraft in the first place. It took me a fair damn while to realise, or maybe more to accept, that this was my path. I've mentioned before about being raised by pretty judgy sceptic atheists, it took me a long time to unlearn their opinions and even longer to acknowledge my own spiritual and witchy side.

● If your altar could judge you, what would it say you're neglecting?

My queer ancestors space, it's been too long. Pride month coming, though so if there's ever a time to tend it, it's now.

Also, if I'm honest, neglecting myself, too. I'm doing a little better with self care rituals, but some dedicated work would not be a bad thing right now. Literally saw a post about an altar to myself after starting to write this, so taking that as a we prompt from the universe!

● What is one witchcraft hill you will die on?

That anyone can be a witch. Witchcraft can totally be inherited, of course, but ultimately, practising witchcraft is a choice.

● What's a habit you've turned into ritual?

My morning and evening routines, which I've dreamed of doing for years!

● If you could take the shape of an animal for a day, what would you choose?

(Laszlo voice) A baaaat! Seriously, to "see" the world in sound, to fly and swoop so fast and free, to whirl in the sky all night and sleep all day. Bliss, pure bliss.

● If your magic had a moral alignment, what would it be?

Chaotic good. I do slightly more good than not, I think, but definitely chaotically.

● What's a belief you had early in your practice that you laugh at now?

Not exactly laugh at, but I did very much fall into the trap of buying things for my craft and thinking I had to follow what others did. Took me a wee while to find my own path, and to generally become less consumerist in my life and in my craft.

● If you could bottle one type of feeling and use it for spellwork, what would it be?

That elusive and painfully rare feeling of being confident within myself. Sometimes I know I can do anything I set my mind to, if I could bottle that to use any time it would change my life.

● What's your "shouldn't work but does" method?

For me, working intuitively. I have never been able to trust myself, my intuition. I have learned to in my witchcraft. And that is huge for me.

● What's the most aesthetic over practical thing you've done in your practice?

Oooh, a few things! But aesthetics matter to me, and when something I do looks nice as well as being practical that's a lovely bonus that helps me connect to my workings!

● If your practice had a warning label, what would it be?

Caution - the witch is Scottish, autistic, and perimenopausal, prod at your own risk.

● What's the first magickal book you read?

Wild Magic - Tamora Pierce. Daine has wild magic, which lets her work and communicate with animals. In hindsight, it definitely sparked something in Wee Rach all those decades ago now.