salt bowls, with some herb magick thrown in, are a potent method of ridding bad energy, harmful spirits or emotional hauntings from the home.
☾ the bowl
salt can damage porous materials like wood, so using a bowl made of glass, ceramic or metal is best. glass helps clarify and amplify magickal intention. ceramic embodies earth energy— robust, strong, and unwavering. metal of any type helps project magick to fill a space.
☾ the salt
regular table salt is a classic cleanser and protecter. other specialty salts can have additional magickal impact: sea salt, associated with the water element, relieves residual negative emotions, like sadness and anger. himalayan pink salt is associated with astral travel and can help dispel curses and hauntings. if you need some serious no-nonsense banishing, add powdered charcoal to any salt.
☾ banishing / cleansing herbs
basil, black peppercorns, cloves, cumin, fern, garlic, lemongrass, mullein, pine, st. john’s wort, thyme, yarrow
set your salt bowl in the center of your home for a day or two, until you feel that there is a discernible improvement of the home’s energy. repeat as needed.
here is a little ritual you can do to bring warmth, joy and harmony to a home to make it feel cozier and more welcoming. best done during a full moon, but you can do it any time. you will need:
☾ a small bowl of ceramic, wood or glass
☾ a clove of garlic(bringing warmth + togetherness to a home)
☾ a sprinkle of lavender flowers (tranquility and calm)
☾ a sprig of pine(home blessing, cleansing, grounding)
☾ a brown candle (home and hearth magick)
sit in the main area of your home. light your brown candle; sit comfortably on the floor or couch and meditate on the candle for a while. warm your hands with its flame.
set the offering bowl in front of the candle. take the garlic clove in your hands and visualize the way you want your home to feel: warm, lived-in and welcoming. warm the clove over the candle-flame briefly and set it in the bowl.
take your lavender flowers in your hands. close your eyes, take a deep breath and inhale the scent of them. let it calm you, as it will calm the energy of your home. place the flowers atop the garlic.
lastly, take the sprig of pine. use it like a wand; point it toward all four corners of the room you’re in. place it against your heart, and set it in the bowl.
whisper to the bowl: “may your magick bless this home with kindness and warmth.” blow out the candle; place the bowl on a windowsill, mantle, or coffee table for three nights. on the third night, sprinkle its contents outside your front door.
i’ve made one post before about the financial complications i’m facing as a result of a large, grapefruit sized ovarian cyst that needs to be removed. my surgery is scheduled for april 16th, after which i will need to take 2 weeks off of work for recovery. neither one of my jobs offers paid sick time due to a legal loophole, so i am left with no supplemental income during my recovery.
i recently updated my shop with new items i’ve been working on, including grimoires, herbal booklets, and herbal ritual blends for as little as $3. every single item in my shop is under $10. if you are able to help in any way, i would appreciate it so much.
i wrote a little book of autumn recipes, rituals, and crafts
‘the cider moon - pagan tradition + craft to celebrate the autumn’ is a 28-page hand-illustrated book full of medieval pagan wisdom, autumnal herbal magick, harvest recipes, and meaningful rituals. it’s perfect for the new or experienced witch (and lovers of autumn, halloween, and all things spooky).
this is my masterpiece so far, and i’m so excited to share it with you! ‘the cider moon’ features:
the history and symbolism of mabon and samhain, the pagan autumn festivals
a collection of spells which use autumnal herbs and colors
step-by-step instructions on making walnut shell candles and old pagan wheat-stalk charms
recipes for cardamom apple cake, a pagan currant shortbread, and roasted spiced squash + potatoes
an original poem, and LOTS of autumnal illustrations
and much more! check out some photos…
‘the cider moon’ is $10 a copy, and i can ship anywhere in the world! i self-write, edit, illustrate and publish these books all myself - i make them to help pay off my medical debt from years of asthma attacks and ovarian cysts, and also to help with my student debt. if this book interests you, your purchase would help me out immensely!
i am a green witch that pays for my medical bills by writing and illustrating little witchcraft books! this is my second book, called cottagecraft; it is a lovingly curated book of original spells, recipes, and herbal wisdom to make your home a cozy, welcoming and positive environment. it has 24 pages, every single one with illustrations, with a little section in the back to write down notes and scribbles.
i recently had an ovarian cyst surgery that debilitated me for three weeks, putting me out of work; i spent my recovery time doing all these illustrations.
here is the listing for the book on my etsy shop - the book is $11 with free US shipping and $2 worldwide shipping. if you are able, purchasing my book will help me work through the surgery bills! thank you all so much. xoxo
acorns are a cute, perfectly-sized magick charm to carry in your pocket. they represent the energy of the beautiful oak tree, which has long-held associations with strength, endurance, courage, generosity and honesty. for this reason, it has “kingly” attributes; it’s said that king arthur’s round table was made from a cross-section of a big elder oak tree’s trunk.
each acorn on the oak tree is believed to have its very own faerie watching over it. keep this in mind before you pluck an acorn from its tree; when harvesting acorns, it’s best to forage for fallen ones so as not to bring about fae mischief.
☾ using acorns as charms
carry an acorn in your pocket for health, abundance, prosperity and luck.
plant an acorn in your garden under a full moon to cultivate happiness.
use an acorn at your altar to represent the earth element.
wear an acorn around your neck to bring beauty, youth, and protection.
place an acorn in your purse or wallet to attract financial security.
an acorn at your desk inspires patience and long-term success.
☾ a simple acorn spell for strength during hardships
light a red candle, which represents strength, survival and endurance. hold an acorn in your hands and look at the flame, meditating on the hardships you’re going through and your wishes to overcome them. remind yourself that you are strong and resilient. visualize the end to the situation. warm the acorn over the candleflame, kiss the acorn, and place it under your pillow.
☾ kitchen witchcraft: acorn maple shortbread cookies
these cookies are delicious and rustic, celebrating the oak and maple trees. the cookies have powerful spiritual healing properties. here is a recipe for how to make acorn flour, which involves a couple days of labor and requires a food processor. the end product, however, is a delicious dark gluten-free flour that has chestnut flavor notes. for the cookies (makes 12), you will need:
2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature (8 ounces)
½ cup sugar
¼ cup maple sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
A pinch of salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup acorn flour
1. Combine the butter, sugars and vanilla extract in a bowl and whisk together with a fork.
2. Mix the salt and flours together with a whisk in another bowl, then pour the mixture in with the butter/sugar. mix with a fork just enough to make a sticky dough with no butter chunks.
3. shape the dough into a large disk, wedge between parchment paper and freeze for at least two hours, so they maintain their structure in the oven.
4. preheat the oven to 350°F. flatten the dough disk to about ½ inch and use a cookie cutter to cut out the cookies.
5. place the cookies on an ungreased baking sheet and bake for 23-26 minutes (or until the edges are beginning to brown).
☾ an acorn-top faerie offering
to make an offering to nearby fae and good spirits, place a ring of acorn tops on a tree stump, and fill the acorn tops with wine. leave a pile of rose petals in the center of the ring.
theathame (typically pronounced ah-tha-mey) is a blade used for ritual purposes both in traditional witchcraft and in neopagan practices like wicca. it is considered one of the four elemental tools in modern occultism, along with the wand, pentacle, and chalice. a typical athame is a small double-edged blade with a black handle (which sometimes features symbolic carvings).
purposes of the athame
contrary to naive assumptions, athames are not traditionally used for sacrifice or blood magick. they are used to direct energy during rituals, to represent the element of fire (though other practices associate it with air), for banishment rituals, and rituals involving fertility when accompanied with the chalice.
some practitioners strongly believe that the athame is not meant for any kind of physical cutting, while others will use its blade to cut plants, fabric, cord, and other things pertinent to a spell or ritual. keep in mind that the athame absorbs and channels the energy of what it interacts with, so avoid letting others use your athame and be mindful of what items you cut with it, if at all.
consecrating and blessing a new athame before use
when you get a new athame, it’s important to cleanse it and properly declare it your own. gather two candles, one white and one black.
⤏ pass the athame’s blade over the white candleflame, which cleanses it of its previously held energies and purifies its intentions.
⤏ pass the blade over the black candleflame, to endow it with protective properties.
⤏ finally, stick the blade into rich soil, to bless it with earth magick. wash the blade off with water, and it is ready to use.
ways to incorporate the athame into your craft
⤏ cast a circle by outlining it with the blade, channeling protective energy
⤏ cut open and re-close circles you’ve already cast by slicing and redrawing
⤏ use the blade to cut and harvest herbs for spellwork or kitchen witchcraft
⤏ carve sigils and other symbols into candles for candle magick
⤏ use the blade in banishing rituals to cut negative energy away
⤏ use in place of a wand during house exorcisms/protection spells
⤏ use in place of a wand during rituals involving fire
a few easy rituals you can perform with just an athame
love ritual: hold the athame in your dominant hand and visualize the kind of relationship you want to have, or your ideal partner. trace a large heart in the air in front of you with the athame and walk through the energy-heart.
protection ritual: hold the athame in your dominant hand and say “may your blade protect me from harm and ill will.” hover the blade over your body, starting at the head and moving down to your feet.
banishing ritual: hold the athame in your dominant hand and reflect on what you want to banish, whether it be a person, bad habit, spirit, negative energy, or otherwise. say with confidence “i banish you and cast you away” and extend your arm quickly, sweeping the blade away from you and pointing it outward. do this three times, or until you feel satisfied.
I recently had trouble coming up with ideas for pocket altar ideas till I finally found great ways to organize my PA.I’ll post photos of the pocket altar when I get home! Links for some supplies will be featured by clicking on certain words.
bundle up a stack of larger leaves (4+ leaves) by stacking them together facing the same directing then rolling them in half using a hair tie to tie them together
usemini bottles for oils or glitter for later spell work
write sigils with different intentions on smedium pieces of paper with their intention (ex: “protection”, “I am protected.”, etc.) written on them so whenever you need a certain sigil, it’s always there for use without having to ask someone else for a piece of paper
pocket altars are also great for closeted witches as they can hide in plain sight if you don’t decorate the outside or can be hidden easily as they are small.
decorate your pocket altar to reflect your path and personality! I’ll give some examples below:
Earth Related:
You can glue some moss (depending on from what type of tree, often has magickal properties of luck and prosperity) on the outer or inner lid of your container. You can use the moss so any hard or breakable objects stay safe; although, PLEASE keep your matches in a safe box or keep the flammable tips covered in cotton to prevent friction. Or you can do a collage of leaves on the outside/inside
Stone Witches:
You can do a mosaic of stone chips to create an image or pattern with your intent. Maybe even a sigil! You could do so much that the possibilities are endless.
Space Related:
Paint a galaxy or your most favorite constellations on your container to bring their energies to your PA. Add silver/gold glitter to represent the moon/sun.
Spirit Work Related:
Add a yes/no/maybe/probably not (you can replace any of these little sayings) pendulum board to the inner/outer top or bottom of your container for an easily accessible pendulum board. You could also maybe glue a cluster used for spirit contact to the inside somewhere so you always have it.
Water Related:
Take some miniature seashells and glue them to your container in any pattern you’d like. You could use any type of water of your choice to paint your container. Also, maybe you can use hot glue to create fake rain drops.
Fire Related *DO WITH CAUTION*:
If you have a PA made out of wood or metal, you can tinge it by burning the surface, then putting out any fire or smoke with a wet towel or by splashing water on it.
There are so many other “mediums” of witchcraft so if you have any suggestions or questions, feel free to message me!
Line the inside of your pouch/bag with a coffee filter when filling a Spell Sachet, especially if using organza bags. This will prevent any powders or other finely ground ingredients from escaping and makes for easy cleanup to re-use the bag.
The issue with realizing the problems and pitfalls of a pre-written correspondence list is that the next step is often to create your own correspondence tables. This activity can range from confusing and unapproachable to time-consuming and impractical.
While there are great guides out there on the matter, many rely on skills you may not have, such as advanced energy sensing, spirit communication, or meditation. There’s a lot to be gained from spending a year in trance communication with the spirit of your intended plant or wand, but sometimes you just need to get shit done, and now.
Hopefully these steps will be a helpful guide in getting started creating your own personal associations. This is just one way, though, and it isn’t set in stone — feel free to go in whatever order you like, taking whichever steps apply and appeal to you.
What does it do?
This applies as “How is it used?” and “How does it act?” as well. A chicken egg holds life and potential. It protects the unborn chick. It feeds the hungry. It breaks as life emerges from within. I could go on!
For this post, however, we’ll focus on three things: A lightbulb, a magnifying glass, and a hypothetical plant.
Light bulbs illuminate. Some even provide warmth or extend growing periods for plants. If you turn on a light in a dark room, you reveal what may have otherwise been hidden.
Magnifying glasses help you see clearer, make out details, and give you a closer look at things you may otherwise miss. Very obviously speaking, they will magnify the appearance of whatever is in front of them.
Now for our hypothetical plant. It’s extremely invasive, but its flowers are fragrant and draw beneficial insects. The berries are poisonous to people when unripe, along with the raw leaves, but ripe berries are edible — delicious and sweet — and a tisane from the leaves will settle and calm an upset stomach.
What does it look like?
It’s a bit Doctrine of Signatures-y but the appearance of a thing can help you define correspondence for it, and I don’t just mean the colours.
The hypothetical plant, for example. Let’s say that it has pink and red blossoms. The ripe berries are vaguely heart shaped, as are the leaves (perhaps more prominently so).
The light bulb, depending on the shape, may resemble a human head, a ball, a planet, a star or tear drop. When it’s on, you may think it looks like the sun.
What about magnifying glasses? I’ve always thought that they look like mirrors or portals. Maybe to you it looks like a pool of water. I’m assuming a round glass here, by the way, so perhaps its very shape is worth considering. There’s a lot of meaning put into circles, after all.
What is its lore or background?
What are the stories behind it? You might take into consideration the circumstances the thing was created under, or with something like an animal or plants, what led to their creation or introduction to your area (Was it meant to eradicate a pest? Was it bred as a gift for a loved one? Is there a particular quality they tried to emphasize?).
Say that in a story, someone uses your hypothetical plant to charm a king.
Or what about Sherlock Holmes and his magnifying glass?
The light bulb is popularly associated with a “bright idea”.
Your Personal Symbolism and associations
Come on, y’all knew I was going to bring up Personal Symbolism at somepoint.
Magnifying glasses remind me of my grandmother. The woman has owned at least 100 in my lifetime, and once even brought one with her to a computer class in order to get a better look at her monitor.
Light bulbs remind me of the years I spent as a child fighting for environmental protections and rights. Conservation (and later, efficiency) was a HUGE part of my fight and the light bulb reminds me of the time I spent in debate and conversation.
Since my plant is imaginary, I don’t have any real memories or associations for it, but hey, that’s okay. Like I said, you don’t have to hit everything on this list.
Now think sideways.
I don’t think this is what Holly Lisle had in mind when she came up with How to Think Sideways, but I’m gonna borrow her term for a bit.
It isn’t that much of a stretch to look at the improved vision a magnifying glass gives you and apply that to psychic vision, right?
Or to take the toxic berries from an invasive and noxious plant and use them to completely wrecksomeone.
(But maybe you want to take the beneficial tea from the heart shaped leaves to completely soak somebody’s life with an all-consuming, all-soothing love that will totally bind this person to you…or both! Know your love or know pain. Wow man, that’s cold. :|)
Speaking of manipulating people, a head shaped light bulb that has been turned into a glass poppet to fill someone’s mind with the thoughts you want them to have (thoughts that will come to them as though it were an epiphany — their very own Bright Idea!) may sound like a good time to you. Or maybe you’ll use it to scry their clever thoughts right out of their head to use as your own.
So by the end of it all, you may have a list like this:
Magnifying Glass
Vision (including psychic vision)
Details
Portals
Finding things
The illusion of plenty
Light Bulbs
Cleverness
Ideas
Revelation
The Sun
Hypothetical Plant
Curseworking
Rapid growth
Obsessive Love
Calming down a situation
Completely fucking up a situation
And those lists can get longer as time/your imagination goes on! The length isn’t really important though. What matters is that what you put on the list has meaning to you and works for you.
One of the problems that a lot of people have coming to witchcraft, and something I struggle with still to this day, is a lack of focus. I don’t mean visualisation and meditation, I’m talking about the fact that witchcraft is not a single skill but a huge collection of different practices; divination by lot, scrying, natural magic, spirit work, trance, sigils, hedgecrossing, wortcunning, energy work, ritual, astrology, ceremonial magic etc. etc. It can be daunting to realise just how much there is to learn, and to take on too much, too soon. If you set out to memorise the tarot, delve into trance and try to plant a half-acre herb garden in week one, you’re going to burn out fast. You’re also not going to achieve the results you want in any of these areas.
In any other craft, apprentices must practice the same repetitive steps before they move on to a new skill, sometimes for years before they master it. Just because magic makes some things easier, doesn’t mean learning witch crafts can be achieved instantly. There is no rush, you have years to learn these skills and it will take you years. Don’t set deadlines, just put in the hours.
Pick one practice you are naturally drawn towards. It might be one form of divination, working with tree spirits, traditional astrology, creating sigils etc, it doesn’t matter. Choose the skill that you desire to learn most passionately, the one you couldn’t imagine living without.
Seek training in that skill. It doesn’t have to be from another Witch. I’ve taken courses in Astrology, Tarot and Alchemy from practitioners for whom that is their sole specialisation. Look to other disciplines of the Occult. They have much to teach you.
If you are limited to book knowledge, read widely, be discerning and do the work. Reading 20 books on a subject doesn’t make you an expert if you’ve never tried the skills described therein.
Practice. Do the work, do it again, record your results, don’t give up when you fail. Work for yourself, work for others (for free at this point) try different methods, experiment, learn by doing.
Gain competency; the ability to do something successfully with some measure of efficiency. Read tarot without looking at the book, know which herb to use without having to look it up, identify Jupiter and Venus without using a star chart. You’ll know when you’re there because it will feel natural and automatic.
Take on another skill. Once you’ve gained the confidence of achieving competency in one area, you can probably take on a couple of new skills, although it helps if they’re not too similar (learning two forms of divination is like learning two languages at the same time - confusing.)
Rinse and repeat until you have a working knowledge and competency of several skills that together form your regular practice. Pat yourself on the back, most people never get this far.
Be humble. Competency is not mastering a skill. Don’t suddenly assume the mantle of an adept because you can do a few things passably well. Keep learning and developing those skills. Don’t even think about teaching them until you’ve been practicing for years and years.
Challenge yourself. There may be certain practices you’ve avoided out of fear, laziness or disinterest. Try something that pushes you harder, drags you out of your comfort zone. That is how you get beyond the beginner stuff.
Whenever you feel overwhelmed - too many books to read, too many divination tools, too many spells planned, too many jars of ingredients lining the shelves, bring it back to the basics. Focus on what you want to achieve and practice the skills that will get you there. Don’t be afraid to take a break from everything else to allow you to work on just one thing.
Breathe. You’ll get there, don’t worry too much. Don’t let anyone tell you you’re not a witch because you don’t do X. Your practice is yours to define, take pride in the effort you’ve put into it.
shuffle - shuffle your cards for some time with cleansing intent.
sort the cards - put the cards back in the order of the major arcana from 0-21, wands, cups, swords, and then pentacles. let them stay like this for a short while, until you feel they’re cleansed, and then shuffle them again.
crystals - choose a crystal with your intent and place it on top of your deck, or create a crystal grid around it.
smoke cleansing - pass your deck through the smoke of burnt sage or rosemary, or through the smoke from insense.
sunlight/moonlight - natural light sources give healing energies to your deck. sunlight is more masculine, while moonlight is more feminine. keep this in mind when choosing a light source and what’s best for your deck.
meditation - meditate on the cards. this may be one card at a time or the whole deck at once.
yoga - do yoga with your deck, this will soothe and cleanse you both and create a stronger bond between you and your deck.
sound - use a song, a bell, or an instrument to wash vibrations over and through your deck to release energy.
salt - sprinkle salt gently over your deck or put your deck in an airtight bag and submerge it in a bowl of salt and let the salt absorb pent up energies.
sigils - write a cleansing sigil on a slip of paper and put it in the box or bag with your deck.
fresh air - set your deck on a windowsill by a cracked open window. allow the movement of fresh air to cleanse the pent up energy from your cards.
close contact - keep your deck beside or under your pillow as you sleep to both cleanse and build a close relationship with your deck.
when to cleanse:
brand new deck - if you bought or have been gifted a new or secondhand deck, the best way to sort out its energy is to cleanse it before the first use.
after each use - this is the best way to upkeep the health of your cards.
every day - a great way to take care of your cards, routine cleansing is a wonderful daily ritual for you and your deck.
when someone else touches it - energies can get muddled when someone other than the reader touches a deck.
after a complicated reading - your deck can run out of energy quickly when you ask it to do a complcated reading, and the best way to replenish these energies is to cleanse.
after not using it for a while - stagnant energies will build up in your deck if you go a while between uses. the best way to counteract this is a thorough cleansing.
with your life cycles - whether moon cycles, menstrual cycles, or sleep cycles, cleansing your deck when your energy is high can be a good idea.
whenever your deck tells you - sometimes you will be able to feel when your deck needs to be cleansed. a good cleansing and recharging is helpful when shuffling becomes difficult, you’re getting the same cards repeatedly, or you feel your deck run low on energy.
If you’re an established witch you’ve probably run into the “Good Gods Why Won’t This Paper Just Finish Burning Already” conundrum. I, too, used to suffer from the Eternal Fire of Ain’t Nobody Got Time For This, before I learned a simple, easy way of making that paper burn waaaaaaay faster.
Substitute your ordinary paper for a standard paper coffee filter. The thin material lights quickly, and burns out fast.
Idk if people in other cultures do this but in Haitian culture we NEVER but bags on the floor. If you put your bag on the floor you will lose money….Haitian superstitions lol
Just an fyi - you can totally over-ward and it sucks
Putting lots of spells around you that limit energetic access to you can do some wild sh*t.
In my belief system, all our relationships are formed through energetic exchange. Our connection to our immediate environments are formed through energetic exchange. Our ability to communicate with spirits and receive their help is due to energetic exchange.
Over-warding can cause weird stuff to happen, like:
You feel out of step with your environment
People start ignoring you; won’t reply to your messages even though they normally would, etc
Your psychic senses feel dull or muted
You’re having more trouble with divination, or the same messages seem to be coming through again and again when normally you’d receive a variety of messages
Your spells aren’t manifesting, especially spells that would bring something into your life
You no longer get the same feelings around certain environments that you normally would (such as always feeling a certain way on a hiking trail you love, but then you kinda just feel nothing)
You’re suddenly going nowhere in life - opportunities are passing you by
It has suddenly become really hard for you to be able to make changes in your life which normally you’d be able to accomplish
You get the sense that you’re in a cocoon and you can’t quite reach the world
Yes, these symptoms can happen for LOTS OF OTHER REASONS (including mental illness) and experiencing them does not automatically mean you’ve over-warded.
Here is the fun lil part: Some of these are also symptoms of hexing, leading people who have over-warded to be at risk of warding even more to try and solve the problem.
Most people aren’t at risk for this IMO. But if you’ve been doing a lot of warding and stuff doesn’t feel right, you might have taken your Nemo self out of the ocean and plopped down into an aquarium made for one.
If you’re just starting out, instead of choosing a card at the beginning of your day, instead pick one at the end of your day. Keep a journal and try to see how that card relates to the day you had.
use modern medicine to aid your magical workings. enchant that cough syrup. bless those anxiety meds. hell, even charge your damn pepto-bismol overnight by surrounding it with crystals.
