#witchcraft advice

Cleansing with the 4 elements is one of the first things I learned in Witchcraft and a really simple way to cleans tools, ritual items and even yourself. The process is really simple and involves passing each item through an elemental representation. The best part is that you can find things outside or use items you already have to represent each element in your cleansing. I still use this cleanse on the reg, especially with new items, tarot and just really anything that I feel like needs a good energy clearing. 

The first thing you need to do is find or acquire an item that represents each of the 4 elements, Earth, Air, Fire and Water. Use 4 separate items. I’ve listed below my suggestions but feel free to use whatever representation makes sense and speaks to you. 

Element Representation

For Earth you can use small potted plants, dried herbs, leaves, small sticks, crystals or even smooth rocks. 

Air representations can include bird feathers (that have fallen off naturally), incense or dandelions. 

For fire you can use candles of any kind, incense or metal objects that have been welded like old keys and small trinkets like rings or pendants. 

Water is the easiest, use a small glass or bowl of water. (Bonus if it’s moon water.) You can also use sea shells, tea cups, or even brewed hot tea.

Don’t feel stuck to these items only. If something speaks to you and you feel like it represents an element for you, use that item instead. The best representations to elements are ones that have a personal connection to you. 

Cleansing 

After collecting your items, place them on your alter or on a flat surface where you will be doing your cleanse. Space out each elemental representation in a square starting with Earth. Light any incense or candles if you have them for your element representations. 

Now, take the object you are going to cleanse and ‘pass them through’ each element starting with Earth. For instance if you are cleansing a new ritual tool and are using crystals for your Earth representation simply pass the item over AND under the crystal to cleanse of the energy. When you’re done move onto the next element. Repeat until all 4 elements are used and your items is cleansed. 

Safe Keeping

Keep your element ritual items in a small box or drawstring bag until next time and leave them in a space where they won’t be disturbed. If you have items you can’t keep such as leaves from outside or water in a cup, you can bury the contents outside or use the water to water plants. 

* The graphic for this post was created by Obsidian Oddessy. Please check out her amazing painting for magical beings!  

Living With Intention

When I first heard of living with intention I thought it was just some girl boss energy that I didn’t really want to participate in. I’m not a hustle wake up at 5 am person, so that never really works for me. I’m more of a lay in bed until 11 and I’m hungry enough to get coffee gtype person. So I initially just brushed it off as another lazy way businessmen are trying to hype up manifesting money. (That never really works mind you,) But then I learned that living with intention isn’t goal setting, it’s a lifestyle that adheres to what you want and how you can live your life to make it happen, in any way that you want. And no, you don’t have to get up at 5 am everyday to make it happen. 

Intentions not goals

I HATE goals. Like deep hate for them. All that slander in the early days of hustle culture really hit a nerve because not everyone is built for that same energy. And I saw a lot of people feel really guilty when they failed simply because that system was not designed for them.

When I say we are all different, I mean it. Each member of my family has a different energy type. So when you have one recipe for goal getting, it’s not going to work for everyone in the room. And yes, some people will fail and it has nothing to do with how hard they tried or how much effort they put into it, despite what all the hustle gurus tell you. 

Because it’s all about intentions NOT goals. You see, goals are little demons that crawl around making you feel guilty for stepping outside of your dream and doing something different just because you feel like it. Example 1: Oh you overslept, you didn’t get up at 4:30am and you missed your workout class now you are a failure forever. How is that mindset even healthy?!

Intentions are more simple and have a slower pace. Intentionally I want to someday live in an old Victorian house that we can fix up and make beautiful again. So I look up how to fix things and practice in my current home. I also read blogs on fixer-uppers and DIY everything I can in my house. This helps prepare me for the big dream. Intentions are not goals, but small steps you take to move forward with what you want. Can intentions change? Sure, I may never even move (LOL) or I may fall in love with a different style home. But does that mean I’m a failure? No, it means my intentions have changed and there’s room for that flexibility. 

Intentions can be other things, like career choices, what you want to study in school or how you visualize your life. Let’s say you want to someday be a salon owner. You can start living intentionally by researching salon ownerships, studying business or researching where you can get your cosmetology license. All of these things have the intention of someday being a salon owner. You can also do other things like enjoy your life, go out with your friends and work on your mental health. None of the other things take away from living with your intentions. It just means you are experiencing a full life. 

Intentions are moving forward daily and taking small steps towards how you want to build your life, without all the drama that comes with goal setting. With intentions there’s room for failure, flexibility, and changing your mind all while still manifesting the life you want.   

How I live intentionally

Journaling

Journaling has always been a big way for me to sort out my feelings and I incorporate that into my intentional living. I know goal setting is all about writing your goals, and setting time frames but we are setting intentions here so let’s scrap that. If you want to set intentions and use your journals, write how you feel. How you would feel walking into your salon (if that’s your goal) or what you feel like researching or doing in the next month to live in your intention. If you manifested life includes owning a salon, maybe you want to look up cosmetology schools in your area, or maybe you want to do something fun like practice doing your own hair. Either Way make sure it’s bringing you energy and lots of happiness when you’re doing it. Intentions should never feel like work or a chore, they should feel fun and full of invigorating energy.

Making a mood board or collage

Start by clipping images, having a dedicated Pinterest board or just using Tumblr to get an aesthetic of how you see yourself in the future. If you’re owning a salon in your future you can imagine how it would look on the inside, maybe pick a logo or color palette or make business cards for fun on Canva. Remember it doesn’t have to be stressful or complete. Just fun ways you envision yourself living the life you want. 

I like to  categorize everything to make it easier for me, so I might have several folders on my laptop with pictures of things I’ve gathered over the years. My folders are categorized in things like, family, home, career, money etc. That way I can see each board individually and play around with the images I find online. Sometimes I print them out, sometimes I don’t. 

The important part of making a board or collage is to help visualize how you see yourself in the future. If you want to go to a specific school or live in a certain state, start compiling images in that space and picture yourself there. Use full sensory visualization. How does it feel? What is your day like? Remember visualization makes reality because our thoughts are things. 

Using spells

Spellwork is a great way to move forward with your intentions and can be the magical boost you need. Want to get a certain job? Maybe as your first step towards a new career? Before you interview, do a spell to set up that energy up for success. You can continue to use spellwork throughout your life to manifest your needs step-by-step and create a mindset where you are attracting what you want. 

It helps to break down your intentions into digestible parts and start with the first step. Each time you move towards another step in your journey see if you can incorporate spellwork into your manifestation. Each little jump forward is you moving closer to the life you want and more importantly living your truth.

Art on this post was created by Obsidian Odyssey! Thank you for collabing with me and creating the art for this post. Check out her witchy blog! Also she’s an AMAZING artist and has a free coven you can join!

Ever since I can remember I’ve had really bad nightmares. Eventually as I got older, it got to this point where I had developed insomnia and anxiety associated with sleeping. It sounds so dumb, because sleeping is a super basic natural function so why was it so stressful? 

Over the years I learned a lot about sleeping, how humans are designed to sleep and how stress, trauma and anxiety can lead to problems getting a good nights sleep. I also learned how unproductive people are simply because we are tired all the time. 

I first ran into this chant reading an article that interviewed a spiritual medium. I am no medium, I do not  communicate with spirits on the reg nor do I help people talk to their dead relatives. However, the chant still really helped me put up some barriers when trying to fall asleep.

The chant isn’t really a ‘chant’ but a series of visualizations that I throw up right before I go to sleep. It takes about a minute and I never forget to do it. 

Before you fall asleep, while you are laying in bed with your eyes closed, say this:

I ask my spirits and guides to watch over me and keep me safe when I sleep. 

I ask for protection from all ghost, demons, spirits, negativity and anything else while I sleep. 

Now imagine in your mind a bright white circler of protection around your room keeping you and wherever you are sleeping inside safe.

That’s pretty much it. Super easy. Feel free to modify it in anyway that works for you. (The original chant was different but I changed it to work for me.)

Sometimes I also picture a massive ‘gate’ and close/lock the gate to lock out anything I don’t want in my head or dreams while I’m sleeping. This is also super effective. 

In addition to this chant I also sleep next to a hunk of Black Tourmaline and a Selenite, but work with whatever crystals vibe with you. 

In the end I don’t know if it’s really ghost keeping me up at night, or just the ghost of my own stress and anxiety manifesting in the creepy-ness. Like I said I am not a medium so I don’t play in that space. But regardless this simple chant has helped me for YEARS so I wanted to share it. 

*Note sleep disorders are serious business, in no way is this advice to be taken in precedence of a doctor. If you are seriously suffering from insomnia or anxiety please seek out professional help. This chant is only meant to aid in sleeping or getting a good nights rest, not a cure for a serious medical condition. 

There are probably a million reasons why sometimes spells just don’t work. Most of the time it comes down to needing to do the inner work or just waiting a little longer than you thought necessary for the magic to happen. Just like anything else, witchcraft is a practice and spell work takes time. So if you’ve been feeling out of focus with your casting there’s probably a reason why your spells aren’t checking out. 

Read below for my top ten reasons why sometimes spells just don’t budge. 

1 You didn’t do the inner work

The number one reason why magical intention doesn’t move the energy you wanted it to is because there are blocks, energy blocks. All these blocks are blocking up your ability to push forward to what you really want. Want to focus on more of your magic? Do the work to remove the blocks so you can forge ahead. 

2 Your spell doesn’t align with your highest intention 

Yes we all have the greatest potential, but what if what you’re asking for isn’t really aligning with that? Maybe you’re destined for bigger things…like owning that big company but you’re asking for a small fry raise at a place that drives you crazy with a toxic boss instead? If you have a calling go for it, don’t settle for second best. Your magic will help you more when you’re aligned with what you’re supposed to do. 

3 You don’t have enough focus

Spells are hard to perform. They’re even harder with kids, siblings, noisey housemates or any other interruptions bargingin in during your ritual work. If you really think you weren’t focusing enough, don’t force it. Just try the spell again when you can get a little quiet time instead. 

4 It just didn’t work

For reasons beyond understanding it just wasn’t meant for you (or me). I like to think of cases like this where my spirits are looking down the tunnel of my future and saving me from some really horrible outcome. So I say in instances like these, don’t force it, just go with the flow. 

5 You’re meant to focus your energy elsewhere

Just like the spell not aligning with your highest intention, it could be that your energy is needed elsewhere. Pay attention to where you are being drawn to. Something better could be waiting around the corner. 

6 You just need to practice

Pushing your magical energy out there to attract what you want in your life is not an easy task. It takes many years of dedication and practice to get it right. No one is perfect at it, and especially if you’re just starting out you may just need to practice. Don’t get frustrated, just like anything else, practice makes spells perfect.

7 You really don’t want it

Did someone beg you to perform the spell (the worst). Or is it something you really don’t want to do or happen? Dig deep and really ask yourself those hard questions. Are you manifesting what you truly want for yourself? 

8 The spell you used was off

Spells are weird. And there are a LOT of bad spells. Sometimes it’s hard to see which spells are not it and maybe the one you’re using just isn’t vibing with your energy. If it’s something you really want, switch up the spell and try again. 

9 You don’t believe

Belief is the number one drive in your magical force. If you don’t believe it’s like driving a car with no gas in the tank. Believe, believe, believe. 

10 You’re just having an off day

Maybe you’re just having an off day. It could be the planetary alignment, some funky person bothering your vibe at the gym, or a multitude of reasons why your energy was off. Even the best witches have off days. Dust off your spell and try again. 

I know the saying is spirituality isn’t cheap, but it doesn’t mean it has to be inaccessible. I remember how difficult it was starting my practice and wanting to get all the things that cost all the money and having neither. One of my favorite go-to places from way back then (and still is)  was the dollar store. If you really look up and down the isles, you’ll find so many things you can use in your practice on the cheap.

My advice to baby witches just starting their collection of craft items is be patient. Set a budget of a few things and make sure they are the items you need to use on the reg. Once you’ve picked up your first couple of things, plan out the next few pieces you will need to help expand your craft. Don’t worry about getting everything you need at once. More than likely you won’t need everything you think you do in the beginning anyway. 

Make sure you are purchasing à la carte items one at a time as needed, and stay away from Etsy and spiritual shops that tend to overcharge. Instead, use them to pick up special items like crystals or blended oils that you can’t get at a discount store. And always keep your eyes open at garage sales, thrift shops and your grandmas house.

*Each local dollar store will have different inventory, so your dollar store might vary in what they have available. Take note of what they have but check back every few months when they rotate their stock. 

Notebooks, Pens/Pencils - Note books, pens and pencils will be at every dollar store. You can even pick up markets or colored pencils. 

Journals - Journals are sometimes stocked with the book isle. So I usually check that area to see if there are any blank journals I want to use for spell books or craft journals. 

Candles - Dollar stores are the jackpot for candles. You can get pillar candles, tea lights or votives in glass.

Offering Plates - They typically have clear glass bowls you can use for offering plates or even small dishes. 

Bottles (Glass or plastic) - I’ve found colorful glass bottles with cork tops at one time or another, this might be a seasonal item. 

Mirrors - Mirrors are always good for reflecting spells so pick up a few for protection/reflection magic. 

Olive Oil - You can use olive oil to anoint and bless. Grab a bottle if they have it in stock. 

Essential Oil - Your dollar store may carry a limited amount of essential oils, if they do you know you’ve scored big. No doubt these aren’t real essential oils and probably more like fragrance oil, so I wouldn’t put directly on my skin, but you can still use them in candles and just in general. 

Boxes/Bins/Storage - Any dollar store will have loads of bins, and storage to hold all your witch crafty items in. 

Incense/Incense holders - My dollar store always stocks incense cones, so I know they will be there, but I’ve seen sticks and some too. 

Jars - Grab some canning jars! You will definitely need them to make spell jars and hold items in. 

Yardley Soap - In my opinion, this soup is so overlooked. This original recipe dates back to the 1700s and is made in London. Use it for cleansing and ritual work. 

Clay - Clay can be used to make small pentacles and even painted with paint from the dollar store. You can use clay to create other alter items as well like candleholders, beads and jewelry. 

Calendars/Planners - Most calendars and planners will have the moon phases written on them, and if not you can always go in month to month and write it in yourself. Planners are a great way to track moon phases and spells that are coming up.

Drawstring Bags - Perfect to house herbs, crystals or anything you want to carry around with you in a little pouch. 

Chalk - Chalk can be used to draw on doors, windows and porches for protection symbols. You can also use it to draw your circle around you when you cast spells. 

String - String can be bought for tying up bags, knot spells or cord spells so definitely something handy to have around. 

Felt - Not every dollar store will have felt, but it’s worth a mention. Use for making poppets and dolls. If your dollar store doesn’t carry felt, craft stores usually carry it for a dollar a sheet.

A small stool or shelf - If you’re looking for a small alter space you might be able t find a shelf or small stool/table. 

Table cloth - Dollar stores will generally have this item either in the party section or in the household items. Typically they come in white but if you go during Halloween season you might be able to score a black one. 

Seasonal decorations - Always head over to the dollar store for any seasonal items. Think Yule décor, Halloween decorations and so much more. 

Lighter/Matches - A regular find at any dollar store and super useful. 

Paper - Loose leaf lined paper or computer paper is always good to have on hand aside from notebooks.

Spices (Garlic/Salt/Cinnamon) - They won’t carry all the spices, but a dollar store will have a small selection. Look for cinnamon, garlic, salt and sugar. 

Honey - Perfect for making honey jars and sweetening up spells. 

How to make a kick-ass honey jar

Honey Jars are nothing new. The concept is derived from adding something ‘sweet’ to ‘sweeten’ a person up to you. I guess I’m not the most likeable person because I’ve made quite a few honey jars over the years. But it’s always good to have people in your favor, especially in circumstances such as work, school, you know the important people who control your life (kidding!). 

Let’s take a minute here to say that a honey jar has absolutely no effect on things WHAT SO EVER. Think of it as a nice to have. Sure, it would be great if your boss was a little nicer to you, and you felt like they were on your side. But if shit hits the fan, your boss will still fire your ass even if they sort of like you as a person, so I’m just saying. A honey jar is not a controlling mechanism. It’s just a little energy thrown someone’s way to nudge them in the direction of liking you a little more than maybe they naturally would have. 

What you need to perform this spell:

A Jar (cleaned out sauce jars work well for this too.)

A spell candle in the color of your intention. 

Something of the targets or a paper with their name written on it 9 times. 

Honey. 

Anything else you would like to add. Some ideas include sweet herbs like lavender or rose petals, rose quartz, sweet orange essential oils or anything else you think the person might like. 

What you’ll do:

Clean out your jar well and smoke cleanse it with any incense. 

Meditate and clear your mind focusing on your target. 

Add your target’s personal item and cover with honey. 

Next add in any additional items. 

Cover your jar. 

Place a candle on top of your jar. Securing it by lighting the wick and dropping a few wax drips onto the lid of the jar. 

Let the candle burn all the way down. 

Leave your jar somewhere safe. 

Occasionally add items to it that you see fit.

*Note: Never leave your candle unattended. If you have to walk away, blow out your candle and light it when you come back.

I don’t know if ‘spell fallout’ is already a term or not, but I always feel like it’s an important thing to discuss in Witchcraft. Basically spell fallout are the unintended or unaccounted events that happen after you perform a spell. Let’s use what happened to me as a great example of how you can F up your life with magic. 

For about 4-5 years I was working at a company that I on and off loved. At first it was not great, but we moved around and I kind of began to like where I was at and more importantly what I was working on. I learned a lot and even though it was frustrating, I wanted to be there. Then after a few years we were moved again to another space and it was a little horrible. Around that time I was super stuck and not feeling like I was experiencing any growth. Of course I blamed my environment and the circumstances around me and not my own fear-driven decision making. I could have simply looked for another job that continued my career growth. But I didn’t, I blamed everything and everyone else around me. 

Out of frustration I did a spell on the waning moon to let go of all the things that didn’t serve me. I was NOT specific and I just generally did the magic without even reading my tarot. That week I was laid off at work. I have not always been financially stable in my life and having the security of a steady paycheck was a HUGE deal for me. And now it was gone. The rug was pulled out from under me and my safe little job had vanished. Being laid off or even fired was one of my biggest fears and that experience sent me into a huge month-long panic attack. 

Of course, afterwards everything was fine. It took some time, but I was able to secure employment and continue to grow in my career. I also had a lot of personal growth related to that experience. I let go of tons of fear, moved forward with my own side business and stopped giving into other people’s expectations of me and started living for myself. 

Although these were all AMAZING things that I could never have accomplished without the help of my irresponsible spell, THERE ARE BETTER WAYS to achieve this. So before you cast a spell and turn your life into a hot mess for months on end, think about why you need the spell and all the things that could happen in your life from the casting of this one spell. And most importantly, be specific about what you want in your spell. Otherwise you’ll accidentally ‘let go’ of that job that might no longer be serving you, but is still paying the bills. 

This is a fairly easy spell that can be performed without much prep time or ingredients. (My favorite!) It’s also just super useful to help manifest what you want while visualizing your goals each month. 

If you have a side hustle or small business then you know how much effort and energy it is to grow. You’re working all hours of the night, posting on social media, coming up with a strategy and even paying for ads to help bring in new sales. With that being said it’s always a good idea to back up so much mundane work with the energy of a spell for your business. 

This is a working spell, meaning it’s never really ‘complete’. You can continue to add components to it and keep the energy active as you grow your business with the spell. It also works really well for online shops and e-commerce businesses as you don’t really need a physical location to perform the spell successfully. 

What you need

• A small box (decorated however you want)
• A print out of your products 
• Cinnamon oil
• One green candle
• 4 coins

What you’ll do

Print out your products on one piece of paper. You can make them small if you have several products, or just print out your best sellers. Anoint your candle and coins in cinnamon oil. Light the candle and place the coins around the candle. Visualize your business growth with whatever that means to you. Either acquiring more sales, clients, or shop visits. Let the candle burn down all the way. Fold up your piece of paper and place it in the box. Place the coins and any wax remnants on top of the paper, in your box. 

Keep your box on display on your altar, or in a prominent place. Add items to it as you see fit, and light a green candle next to it anointed in cinnamon oil to repeat the spell every waxing moon. 

I’ve only ever really had to use this spell once a long time ago. A family member had recently gotten into a bad marriage. It wasn’t physically abusive, but it was mentally and emotionally manipulating. The spouse was pulling apart relationships and isolating in typical narcissistic fashion. He was controlling and all around a really bad guy. I usually like to stay out of other people’s affairs, but in this case they had stopped by and I did not have a positive experience with them. It wasn’t that they did anything horribly wrong, I just didn’t like what they said or their vibe and I felt like they wanted to drag my immediate family into their rabbit hole-hot mess of a situation. So once they were gone I immediately went to work on this super simple but effective spell. 

Like I said this is a super simple spell. All you need is a lock of hair from the person you want to stay away (your target) and a broom. A kitchen broom will work fine, it’s just for metaphorical purposes. If you can’t get a lock of hair that’s ok, you can still perform this spell. 

Take your broom and start with where the person sat, sweep all around in that area. If you have carpet sweep above the carpet. You’re going for the energy here, not really any actual dirt. Sweep in really vigorous motion getting up all of their nasty energy and move in the direction of your door. Keep sweeping. When you get to your front door, open it. Drop the lock of hair on the floor outside your door and sweep it outside along with all the energy you have gathered. Make sure to say the person’s name and that they are not welcomed back. Slam the door and lock it. 

That’s it! 

As far as the couple I had originally performed the spell for I never saw the spouse ever again and they never came back.

Crystals are an amazing way to start your witchcraft journey. They are perfect atmosphere cleansers, help protect and can even amplify your psychic abilities. Although everyone is drawn to different crystals for their own reasons, these are always my go-to favorites and I always highly recommend them to newbie witches.

1 - Clear Quartz The OG of crystals. This clear white stone is like the grandmother of crystals. It can replace ‘almost’ any stone in a spell and is a good all around healer, protector, cleanser. If you need to start your crystal collection, start here.

2 - Rose Quartz One of my all time favorites. Not only is this pink stone gorgeous to look at, it has amazing self love properties. I find that it helps open you up to accepting and being kinder to yourself. I always have one on my altar to remind myself that I love myself above all else.

3 - Black Tourmaline This is not the stone for everyone. If you want to try it out I recommend buying one and sitting around with it for a few days and seeing if you jive with it or not. If not, no worries replace with a Black Obsidian ideas. But if you do feel like you are bonding with your Black Tourmaline it’s perfect for keeping spirits away, bad vibes and a whole bunch of other not great stuff.

4 - Moonstone I love a good Moonstone. This beautiful iridescent stone helps me feel connected to The Goddess and all things divine feminine. I always keep one next to my altar and when I do tarot readings to help me connect to my higher self and guide my intuition.

5 - Amethyst Another OG rockstar. This purple stone is fabulous for so many things. A great protector this stone will keep you safe in any situation. It’s perfect for having around your home because it’s so pretty and it keeps the space cleansed and safe.

6 - Citrine This orange stone sometimes gets overlooked but it has great properties. Abundance, growth and energy are all in here. I keep one around to make sure things are flowing and I’m growing at the same time.

7 - Selenite This crystal usually comes in a sort of tower form. It’s a light pink but looks completely different then a Rose Quartz. It’s perfect for people who struggle with insomnia or who are restless and need guidance to find their inner peace. I always keep one in my space to instill a calmness in the room.

8 - Tigers Eye This one was one of my very first favorite stones as a kid. I could not get over the shiny orange/gold stripes mixed with brown sides. It’s still one of my favorites. It’s the perfect stone to help you focus and get rid of any fear and anxiety.

9 - Smoky Quartz A darker, richer brown tone than it’s sister clear quartz, this stone is amazing at dispelling any negativity. I actively use this crystal when cleansing my tarot or tools or just wanting to rid the space of any bad vibes.