A Witch That Wanders

Come wander with me ...✨🖤🌙

[a-witch-that-wanders]

🌑 Spellwork: Mirror Boxes for Self Reflection

✨ I put in a clause that if they can't focus on their own problems and stop projecting / causing drama, then they need to leave

✖️ Target: Co-workers

✖️ Moon Phase: Dark

✖️ Taglock -- their first and last names written on a piece of paper, my grievances written in a spiral around their names, so that these thoughts surround them

✖️ Black Pepper for banishing their b*s*

✖️ Cayenne for speeding up the process and acting in a hotfoot manner should they end up vacating

✖️ Cloves for keeping their mouths shut

✖️ Black Duct Tape to bind

✖️ Black candle melted on top to further seal their mind in a state of self-reflection

✖️ I also channeled my intention into these as if I could say what I wanted to say to them without fear of reprimand (felt a bit weird yelling at candles, but I just pictured the people in my head)

As I will it, so it will be 🍂🎃🌙

[a-witch-that-wanders]

Witchbust #3 - The Moldy Lemon Test

My first encounter: I saw this circulating on Facebook around a year ago and I was just as skeptical then as I am now. I started seeing it make rounds again at the end of last month. ✨ Note: While the following post doesn’t specifically mention cutting the lemons, the photos show them cut. The bottom two photos also show them structurally cut into bloom-quarters (still attached at the base), which is the cut that commonly shows up in spellwork using a lemon to clear and protect. 

To be clear: I am not contesting that lemons can be used to remove negative energy. I also fully support using them for protecting and cleansing space. What I am questioning is the idea of placing lemons around your home and using the spread of mold and level of deterioration to gauge the how much negative energy exists in that area.  Why? Because science has already been down this road and the idea that positive or negative energy can affect mold growth has been disproven. What? Yeah. You may or may not have heard of Dr. Masaru Emoto. If you haven’t, here’s the TL/DR version: Dr. Emoto is famous for his study of water consciousness, where he exposed water to various words and music that had negative or positive connotations. By his observation, water exposed to “positive” affirmation created more geometrically appealing ice crystals. He also did this with jars of cooked rice -- which by default contains water -- and measured mold growth. The problem is, not only is it easy to logically poke holes in many of his assertions, his experiments have never been able to be replicated, especially with larger sample sizes. Therefore, his experiment is widely held as disproven, with a side of biased results. I’m not going to go into it any further, because Emoto deserve his own Witchbust (stay tuned). What does this have to do with lemons? This lemon test is the same concept -- instead of water and rice, we’re using lemons. As far as I’m concerned, this concept is already dead in the water. But, this wouldn’t be a proper Witchbust if I didn’t follow the breadcrumbs, so let’s go! After thinking of Emoto’s study, my second thought was that there are already too many variables that affect mold growth in general for the average person to be able to judge, for 100% certain, that the varying levels of mold are solely being caused by negative energy. Unfortunately, people will believe what they are told without giving the concept a second thought. As I’m thinking of these variables, I started to wonder where the hell people were getting this from. As I started searching, first I found ton of spells and rituals for using lemons to cleanse, protect, and attract. I even saved a few to use. The first article I found corroborating the detection method was this one: https://psychicblaze.com/how-to-detect-a-negative-energy-with-a-lemon/ “Studies show that lemons have several health benefits, but not many know that they can also be used for spiritual practices. To detect signs of negative energy, place lemons in different areas of the house that you suspect reeks with negative energy and leave them there for seven to nine days. How moldy the lemons get (i.e., if it dries like usual or turns black) will tell you how much negative energy a specific area holds.” There was no mention of cutting the lemons. I didn’t find any leading clues to guide my search, either. So I turned again to prior knowledge. I knew that drinking lemon water to remove toxins and boost metabolism is from Ayurveda, originating out of India. I also knew that citrus fruits also originated from around there. I made a mental note to keep an eye out for Asian and Indian sources. Discouraged by only finding one article about detection, from a questionable source at best, I diverted to reading up on factors that attribute to mold growth ... until I decided to turn to YouTube. Again, at first, lots of spell work involving lemons, but no detection, until I found this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUfmQdL_NCM  Notes as I watched: ✨ Uses whole lemons ✨They mention to place the lemons where you already think the bad energy is, so the person laying them out already has a predisposition to thinking negative energy is there, which one could argue is already biased. ✨Suggests to leave them out for “a few weeks” ✨Also asserts that mold is the key factor for detecting negativity ✨If they are soft & squishy, that means the area is simply damp ... but why wouldn’t mold also indicate this? They mention that the squishy lemons were placed in an area that is frequently exposed to steam. Specifically mentions that these are to be interpreted as “good”. I went back to searching for articles: ✨An inquiry on Quora about removing negative energy that was answered by a Pranic Healer, who asserted that lemons will remove negative energy from a person when consumed. ✨An article from the Times of India that highlights how hanging lemons, and storing lemons in a jar of water, are used to repel and remove negative energy from spaces. I cringed a bit when I noticed Tiktok had now popped up in the search. While I avoid WitchTok like the plague, I can’t leave it out when tracing online trends, so ... https://www.tiktok.com/discover/clearing-negative-energy-lemons Out of the ten videos provided, only one covered the detection method: https://www.tiktok.com/@divinelytimedesigns/video/6993066894378929414?is_from_webapp=v1&item_id=6993066894378929414 Notes from the video: ✨Cuts into wedges ✨No presence of mold ✨Gauges level of negativity on structural integrity of dried fruit ✨ Uses this method to absorb initially, and then judges how much negativity was already removed from the area I noticed that Tiktok automatically searched “clearing negative energy lemons”. I swapped “clearing” for “detecting” and it only came up with removing or just “negative energy lemons”. I checked both. Lo, and behold:

Let’s watch, shall we? Oh, nevermind, it’s literally the Facebook post re-posted on Tiktok, fall leaf emojis and everything. The body of the post is the description of the video. Notes from the conversation in the comments: ✨Creator responds to a question stating that it’s for removing energy ✨ Also states that black spots mean negative energy  Next video, where a Creator goes around checking her lemons: ✨Cuts lemons ✨She salted them, which salt, when exposed to moisture, can inhibit mold growth ✨Salt is also a natural preservative that draws in moisture ✨No mold found No other videos found. I noticed people were tagging feng shui on these videos so I added that to my keywords. While of course I found articles tying the use of lemons to create positive energy to asian cultures, no detection methods. I turned once again to YouTube and found my last, but not least, detection method source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRGw-jhwvN8 Notes: ✨He’s a reiki practitioner, he’s drinking lemon water ... we already can see where the influence is coming from: Indian / South Asian practices.  ✨Shows a whole lemon ✨States that the proof lies in the fact that negative energy was previously felt in the area Okay. Let’s talk about lemons and mold: ✨The shelf-life of anything is varied by how it’s stored ✨Heat is bad ✨Room temperature is slightly less bad, but stored on the counter is not recommended ✨A cool, dark pantry is better, but the fridge is best ✨Cut lemons are even worse and “are highly prone to mold and organic growth” 💭So then randomly around the house would not be considered ideal conditions for shelf-life, especially cut lemons (Source) ✨Citrus attracts bugs and fungi ✨Organic lemons perish faster (Source) ✨ How long your lemons are good for also depend on when they were picked and how long they sat in the store before purchased ✨Exposure to mold spores can come from anywhere down the supply chain (Source) But lemons are anti-bacterial ... To an extent. Lemon juice will stymie some forms of bacteria in high concentrations and when used as a cleaner is recommended to be mixed with a household disinfectant, like vinegar. They’re also not anti-fungal, which is what mold is -- A fungus. My take-away: It seems like this method has been inspired by the positive principles of lemons from Ayurvedic medicine as well as the attractive qualities used in Indian and Asian folklore. New Age philosophy has a nasty habit of taking something from another culture, twisting the original meaning or ignoring it, and pretending they discovered something new. Most importantly, science has disproved the idea that mold growth is affected by perceived negative or positive energies. While I did delight in finding some lemon-themed clearing and abundance spells, using lemons as a detection method holds no weight and seems to be another empty internet trend. Despite science already disproving the idea, there were also too many unmeasured potential environmental factors that could have attributed to mold growth on the whole lemons. Cutting the lemons open makes them rot faster by exposing the insides to the open air, and no one that cut their lemons open found them molded. Granted, small sample size to be sure, but I’m still not buying this one.  The Lemon Energy Detection Test Status: Witchbusted  AWTW ✨🖤🌙

[a-witch-that-wanders]

I went almost 10 years without a mortar & pestle. ✨ Since I am getting into creating my own powders and oils, I decided it was time. 🖤 I chose food grade stainless steel for practical reasons: 🌙 Durability & cleanliness ✨ 🖤 🌙

[a-witch-that-wanders]

This Is What ‘Self-Care’ REALLY Means, Because It’s Not All Salt Baths And Chocolate Cake

Did you use the right filter for that ‘gram of your impeccably prepared acai bowl?

"Self-care is often a very un-beautiful thing. It is making a spreadsheet of your debt and enforcing a morning routine and cooking yourself healthy meals and no longer just running from your problems and calling the distraction a solution. It is often doing the ugliest thing that you have to do, like sweat through another workout or tell a toxic friend you don’t want to see them anymore or get a second job so you can have a savings account or figure out a way to accept yourself so that you’re not constantly exhausted from trying to be everything, all the time and then needing to take deliberate, mandated breaks from living to do basic things like drop some oil into a bath and read Marie Claire and turn your phone off for the day. A world in which self-care has to be such a trendy topic is a world that is sick. Self-care should not be something we resort to because we are so absolutely exhausted that we need some reprieve from our own relentless internal pressure.True self-care is not salt baths and chocolate cake, it is making the choice to build a life you don’t need to regularly escape from. And that often takes doing the thing you least want to do. It often means looking your failures and disappointments square in the eye and re-strategizing. It is not satiating your immediate desires. It is letting go. It is choosing new. It is disappointing some people. It is making sacrifices for others. It is living a way that other people won’t, so maybe you can live in a way that other people can’t.It is letting yourself be normal. Regular. Unexceptional. It is sometimes having a dirty kitchen and deciding your ultimate goal in life isn’t going to be having abs and keeping up with your fake friends. It is deciding how much of your anxiety comes from not actualizing your latent potential, and how much comes from the way you were being trained to think before you even knew what was happening. If you find yourself having to regularly indulge in consumer self-care, it’s because you are disconnected from actual self-care, which has very little to do with 'treating yourself' and a whole lot do with parenting yourself and making choices for your long-term wellness. It is no longer using your hectic and unreasonable life as justification for self-sabotage in the form of liquor and procrastination. It is learning how to stop trying to 'fix yourself' and start trying to take care of yourself… and maybe finding that taking care lovingly attends to a lot of the problems you were trying to fix in the first place.It means being the hero of your life, not the victim. It means rewiring what you have until your everyday life isn’t something you need therapy to recover from. It is no longer choosing a life that looks good over a life that feels good. It is giving the hell up on some goals so you can care about others. It is being honest even if that means you aren’t universally liked. It is meeting your own needs so you aren’t anxious and dependent on other people. It is becoming the person you know you want and are meant to be. Someone who knows that salt baths and chocolate cake are ways to enjoy life – not escape from it." - Brianna Wiest

[a-witch-that-wanders]

Today's spellwork: New Moon Manifestations ✨ If I don't use a sigil, I like to write out my intention and burn it anyway. 🔥 I then coat the candle in the ashes, along with whatever else I'm using. 🖤 I am trying to atune myself into nature's cycles more, using the moon and seasons. 🌙 I use the moon phases to assess my goals and life plan, and the seasons to work with the ebb and flow of nature. ✨🖤🌙

[a-witch-that-wanders]

Yesterday's spell work: Cord-cutting ✨ This is the first time I've done one as a physical spell and found it to be very cathartic. 🖤 Watching the twine grow hot and then break was such a relief & release. 🌙 Since my intent also involved protection for me and banishing them, I chose to do this on the Dark Moon. ✨🖤🌙

[a-witch-that-wanders]

My newest earth specimen:

Malachite

When I pulled it out of the box my fingers tingled. When I took the bubble wrap off my ears rang. My head kinda feels tipsy as I look at it now. This one is a doozy 💚🪨

Purchased from www.TwistedBlissDesigns.Etsy.com

[ghosttcryptids]

I Curse You Until The Day You Die

*Note, This isn’t for a person who annoyed you at work or such, this is for someone who has ruined your life, for someone who has made your everyday existence into a living hell. You have to hate this person so much that you are willing to, well, curse them until the day they die*

The Spell

You will need:

An object of theirs or something to represent them (I had a drawing they did for me when we used to be friends)

A black candle

A cauldron or container big enough to fit the object in (It has to be heatproof and fireproof, also, take it outside if it’s bigger than your hand)

Your tears or something to represent your pain, like screaming.

A knife or pin.

water (As a safety measure)

Take their personal object and hold it in your hands. Now, I want you to remember everything they did to you, how much it hurt and how much you wanted to give up. Just let it all out, scream, cry, shout etc. Do whatever you need to release that emotion and just let it fill the object with every ounce of your anger, your sadness and your pain. Direct it all at them.

Now, Take your black candle and light it, you can chant this or something else:

“(Target’s Name), You will feel all that I feel, And you will squeal, Everytime you think of me, of my pain, You will feel my struggle tenfold, for all your life. You will carry this to your grave.”

Take you knife or pin or hammer and go all out on the object, fucking wreck it and let it show it’s distress.

Light the object on fire and place it in the container.

Now watch it burn, focus all that hate and anger into the flames, let them carry those emotions to the target, let the person feel everything, visualise them crying alone with no one to help them, let them be alone, they don’t deserve companionship.

Once it’s burnt, pour the water over it to make sure it’s out.

After-Care This can be a very exhausting spell, spiritually, physically and mentally. Take time to relax and calm down.

Take a Healing Bath by adding sea salt, rose petals and chamomile to your bath. Focus on the warmth of the water and let it absorb all your troubles.

Do something that you enjoy, whether it’s snuggling up in a blanket, listening to heavy metal or going for a jog. You do you.

Take time to cleanse the spell area too as energies can sometimes be left behind.

Just take care of yourself.

[orriculum]

🔥 Burn Your Wishes Curse 🔥

a simple curse to keep someone’s wishes from coming true. 

🔥 gather: seeded dandelions, matches, burnable area, paper, taglock

🔥 you can choose to make a ring of dandelions like in the gif, or bundle, or simply use one. note, the more dandelions the more wishes you destroy. 

🔥 if you want to target specific wishes, write them down on slips of paper and wrap them around the stems of the dandelion

🔥 place taglock in the middle of the circle, or around the bundle. 

🔥 burn the dandelions.

🔥 dispose of safely. keep the taglock.

[cunning-conjurer]

Binding someone’s mouth.

objective: to make it someone can’t talk about you, too you, or at all depending on what you want. This can be with a real physical poppet, but it can also be done as a quick visualization in your head. It has been effective for me done both ways.

Get a poppet to represent the person you are binding. It’s better to make it yourself and fill it with things that represent/symbolize that person to make it more personal to them.

Put red thread on a sewing needle and start sewing the mouth of a doll. Chant, “Open lips say too much. So i seal your mouth; I bind it shut.”

 Tie off the thread at the end of the mouth. Hide the poppet away somewhere it won’t be bothered or messed with.

To remove the binding cut the thread from the poppet’s mouth.

[orriculum]

‘Red in Your Ledger’ Curse 📖

a curse to inflict all the pain a person has caused back on them, one item at a time. 

📖 gather: a disposable notebook, red ink, matches, and a taglock

📖 write down an itemized list of everything awful the person has done to you, and anyone else you know they have hurt. fill the book if you must

📖 bind it with the tag lock inside. 

📖 chant three times:

you must know you have debts to pay and your scorned will collect one day

📖 burn the book. 

[claritaofthesouth-deactivated20]

The Seven Stings Hex

This is a hex intended to provide long term irritation and discomfort to the target until they’ve learned a specific lesson.

Materials

- 7 white tealights

- 7 thorns (I use bougainvillia or rose but any will do)

- Vinegar

- Sea salt

- Small bottle

- Needle

- Target’s name on paper 

Steps

1. Soak your thorns in vinegar for whatever amount of time you feel you need. I usually leave mine for a few hours

2. Line your seven candles up so that they are next to each other, you can have them in either a row or a circle, whichever you like!

3. Light all your candles and place a thorn in front of each. Picture the energies of each thorn and candle linking to one another.

4. Fold the piece of paper with your targets name so that it has three layers.

5. Needle in one hand and paper in the other, recite the following chant (I like to do another chant more specific to the situation before this one as well). As you speak it, pierce the paper with your needle.

“Mind, body, soul - my hex will take its toll.”

Place the paper and the needle in your bottle for later.

6. Next, repeat the following words. As you say each line, extinguish on of your candles and place its respective thorn into your bottle.

“Seven days of slight unease

Seven nights of restless sleep

Seven dawns of nagging guilt

Seven dusks of bad luck built

Seven days of karma coming

Seven days of endless running

Seven days of all you’ve earned

Until your lesson you have learned

But should the lesson stay unheeded

These seven days shall be repeated”

7. Throw a pinch of salt in the bottle. Meditate with the open bottle for awhile and focus on your intent, allow your energy to flow into it. When you’re ready, seal the bottle. You may use wax for this if you wish.

8. Leave the bottle in a cold, dark place to add to the discomfort. I left mine outside during a storm. Don’t forget to cleanse your space and yourself after performing a hex! Once you feel the bottle has done its work, burn its flammable contents and cleanse everything else.

I like to perform this hex at night on the evening of a new moon, and of course for any hexes or curses a stormy night is always best, however as always your intent is the main ingredient!

(My photo, please don’t use without permission.)

[bewitched-moonlight]

✨ Daily rituals using the 4 elements ✨

🌪️ AIR 🌪️

→ Wear yellow colors to honor this element

→ Practice your spells at dawn to draw energy from air

→ Places associated with this element: airports, libraries, high-rise buildings, high mountains, schools, plains

→ Daily rituals:

Listen to music that makes you feel awake and energized

Open your windows and let fresh air cleanse your room

Burn incense and observe the smoke filling your space

Pick a perfume that gives you confidence

Observe birds and collect their feathers for your altar

Close your eyes and listen to birds chirping sounds

–

💧 WATER 💧️

→ Wear blue colors to honor this element

→ Practice your spells at dusk to draw energy from water

→ Places associated with this element: bathrooms, rivers, lakes, sea, swimming pools, beaches, wells, fountains

→ Daily rituals:

Listen to music that makes you feel soft and creative

Infuse your water with seasonal herbs or fruits

Draw sigils on your face when applying moisturizer

Take a ritual bath during the full moon

Focus on cleansing and healing thoughts in the shower

Close your eyes and listen to sounds of waves and the sea

–

🔥 FIRE 🔥️

→ Wear red colors to honor this element

→ Practice your spells at noon to draw energy from fire

→ Places associated with this element: bedrooms, kitchen, fireplaces, deserts, oven, saunas, volcanos, terraces, bars

→ Daily rituals:

Listen to music that makes you feel wild and strong

Turn on candles to draw energy from the flames

Move your body to feel its warmth and strength

Draw sigils when warming up your food

Meditate in the sun (or under a sun lamp if it’s not sunny)

Close your eyes and listen to sounds of crackling fire

–

🌱 EARTH 🌱

→ Wear brown or green colors to honor this element

→ Practice your spells at night to draw energy from earth

→ Places associated with this element: caves, fields, forests, gardens, farmers’ markets, parks, greenhouses

→ Daily rituals:

Listen to music that makes you feel grounded and wise

Walk barefood on the ground and press your palms on trees

Whisper secrets to your houseplants and take care of them

Use specific herbs to cure a cold or stomach ache

Buy yourself flowers or a new houseplant

Close your eyes and listen to forest sounds

[a-witch-that-wanders]

Elemental Magic, Note

[themanicnami]

Solar Witchcraft: Tools & Associations

Tools: Ashes, Astrolabes, Bells, Candles, Cingulum, Citrus (Fruit and Wood), Coins/Money, Compass, Copper Bowls and Vessels, Cords/Ropes, Crowns/Halos, Incense, Fire, Glitter and Sparkles, Gold Leaf, Gold Jewelry/Bowls/Tools/Decor, Harp, Horns (instrument), Lanterns, Light/Lamps, Matches, Mirrors, Oils, Pendulum, Perfume, Solar Energy/Chargers, Solar Calendar, Solar/Heat Maps, Solar Music, Sparklers, Staff, The Sun, Sun Salt/Fire Salt, Sun Shapes and Symbolism, Sun Oil, Sun Water, Sundial, Wands, Wheels

Colors: Gold, Yellow, Purple, White, Orange, All Warm Tones

Corresponds To: Pride, Masculinity, Knowledge, Passion, Beauty, Strength, Courage, The Divine and Holy, Purity, Cleansing, Joy, Wealth, The Harvest, Law and Justice

Crystals: Sunstone, Citrine, Quartz, Ruby, Red Spinel, Garnet, Pyrite, Opal, Jacinth, Sulfur

Metals: Gold, Bronze, Copper

Plants/Herbs: St. John’s Wort, Sunflower, Marigold, Orange, Lemon, All Citrus Fruit and Trees, Star Anise, Angelica, Chamomile, Mistletoe, Tomato, Rosemary, Cinnamon, Walnut, Eyebright, Frankincense, Saffron, Safflower and Bramble

Animals: Rooster, Snake, Horse, Lion, Eagle, Cattle & Oxen, Dragons, Salamander, Tortoise, Ram, Pheasant and Horse

Beasts & Creatures: Phoenix, Dragons, Three-legged Bird, Chalkydri, Angels, Kua Fu, Giants, Khepri, Kitsune, Huli Jing; Aethon, Pyrois, Phelgon & Eous (Apollo’s 4 Chariot Horses)

Sense: Touch

Body: Hands, Wrists, Core, Heart, Face, Knees, Shoulders, Upper Back, Crown of the Head/Scalp, Skull & Jaw

Sun Related Magic: Healing, Strength, Sports and Competitions, Victory, Money and Wealth, Career and Business, Fertility, Justice and Legal Matters, Love and Marriage, Faith and Prayer, Cleansing, Blessing, Energy, Celebration, Self Improvement, Fire Magic, Vengeance, Love Magic and Overcoming Fears

This post is compiled from my personal research and grimoire, please do not repost.

Like what I do/post? Interested in letting me know? Feel free to buy me a coffee!

[a-witch-that-wanders]

Notes ✨🖤🌙

[a-witch-that-wanders]

Witchbusted #2 - The Matchstick Curse Test

My First Encounter: I was scrolling the witch groups on Facebook, when I came across a post asking for help. The photo featured a bowl full of water and two burnt matchsticks floating on the surface, with a caption asking if the procedure was done correctly. Curious, I read the comments for more information.

What is it? It is a curse-detecting spell circulating on Witchtok. I’ve seen it done with burning the matches, not burning the matches, and even using q-tips. The way the materials settle on the surface of the water is supposed to give you the answers as to whether you are cursed or not. The general rules are if they are apart, you’re fine ... if they touch, someone tried but it did not work ... if they cross, you are cursed. Why it doesn’t work -- the SCIENCE: The way you apparently know you’re hexed with this method is if the matches cross. The unlit matches and q-tips will usually float on the surface of water, since they are both made of light materials -- they have less density than the water. Once they hit the water, it is physically IMPOSSIBLE for the materials to cross on their own. So unless you drop them that way, a controlled variable, the matches will never cross, meaning that this method is already unreliable. You are welcome to assume that based on your intention the matches were meant to fall that way. But hear out the rest of my research first: Where did this come from? The research: (Sources are linked) It took me a long while to find anything concrete. The first hit I got was on the r/witchcraft forum, where someone was asking how this ritual even worked, because the person that made the video didn’t explain. General consensus: WitchTok was unreliable with information and this spell was most likely made up for views.  The next hit was for a completely different take on this ritual, which involved specific steps, five burning matches, and shaking them up in a jar to read the ashes after they settled on the bottom.   I found another matchstick curse detection article, but was very suspicious of the website. Things that stood out were how the website header buttons were for weird articles on the “best wallpaper”. I quickly realized it was a Russian website and my intuition started to think it was less that they were attempting to be shady and more like they were hiding in plain site.  I was solemnly reminded that there are still countries that exist where witchcraft is punished by death. Sure enough, after some googling, I found a few examples of how witchcraft is perceived in Russia, such as this article about two men that tried to kill a young woman and her small children. I noticed the methods listed matched the previous website, with variations. In this version, it’s three matches burnt all the way to the ends. If they disintegrate, you’re cursed. If they stay whole, you’re fine.  The next hit I got laid out the Tiktok version to a T, or an X, or a V ... 🙃 This article outlines the exact method being shared on Witchtok, and it was the only one I found that matched. Upon further inspection of the website, it appears to be a clickbait site that pulls sensational stories and spells from trends on the internet. The first red flag: the name of the website is Mysteries24. They are trying to draw people in with 

to generate ad revenue. Take a look at their “advices” page if you don’t believe me. Notice how all articles are written by one person and the subject matter is more along the lines of a Ripley’s Believe It or Not season than shared knowledge from someone who practices the Craft. Both of these are major red flags. I found an Italian version of the spell that involved oil on water, passed down to the blogger from her grandmother. The specific curse detection mentioned was the Evil Eye.  My final piece of evidence came in the form of a Factsheet from Project Education of Roma Children in Europe, a society dedicated to teaching the youngest generations the old ways of Romani culture that have been lost through relocation and persecution. In Chapter 2.3, Markéta Hajská speaks on the Jakhendar, the Evil Eye, and how to detect it. The ritual is called jagalo pañi, ‘coal water’.  

“The belief in jakhendar ‘the evil eye’ is widespread among the Roma in Slovakia. It represents an example of magical thinking which is common still today. Curse by the evil eye is generally caused by the look of a person during which evil forces are transmitted through his or her eyes to the affected person who as a result feels weak or uneasy. These signs of being cursed are diagnosed during a ritual by means of jagalo paňi, ‘coal water’, which is prepared by the ritual leader. The cursed person is then ritually treated with the coal water. The cause, the symptoms, and the treatment of the curse by the evil eye vary widely from locality to locality. However, the main characteristics of the curse as well as the consecutive stages of the following ritual are the same.” There are two ways to do this ritual: “According to the first type of the ritual, a pot of hot or boiling water is needed into which a certain amount of coals are thrown one by one. this can be considered a more archaic method of diagnosis of the evil eye. When there is a suspicion of the evil eye, clean water is taken, preferably fresh from the well. Regarding the water, it is especially important that no one drank from it. Someone begins to throw the coals into the water while a participant of the ritual is counting negatively: aňi jekh, aňi duj, aňi trin... ‘neither one, nor two, nor three...’ Elsewhere, the negative counting is even reverse: aňi eňa, aňi ochto, aňi efta... ‘neither nine, nor eight, nor seven...’ According to some Roma, the live coals should be thrown into the pot with an upturned knife or the hand. If the coals fall to the bottom of the pot, it means that the person has been in- deed harmed by the evil eye, and therefore he or she must be treat- ed with the coal water in order to ward off the curse. the more coals fall to the bottom, the more the person is cursed. In some localities, the roma make a cross by means of two straws which are placed over the pot, and the coals are thrown into the water through this cross. the number of coals used in the ritual varies from family to family. the most common number is three or nine.” “The second type of the ritual is a simplified version of the first: Instead of hot water, cold water is used. In some places there are no restrictions on the ritual purity of the water; for instance, it does not matter if it is not completely fresh. Instead of coals matches can also be used and instead of a pot a plastic cup. Nevertheless, there are restrictions on the ritual purity of the cup. It is washed both before and after the ritual and it should not be used for any other purpose. Shortly before the ritual, the cup is filled two times with water and emptied. After the cup is filled for the third time, the water is left in it. the number of matches ranges from three to twelve. Similarly to the treatment with coals, the number of matches is most commonly three or three times three, that is nine. in some romani communities, the number of match- es corresponds to the degree of curse. However, it must always be a multiple of three, that is three, six or nine. The matches are gradually fired before throwing them into the water. The ritual leader must proceed with care by burning the matches completely. Often it is important that the matches are lighted from each other: When the first match is getting burnt down, it is used to light the second one, then the third and the fourth one. all matches are thrown into the water after extinction. In some localities, only the burnt parts of the match are thrown to the water, so the unburnt ends are broken off. If the matches fall to the bottom of the cup, the person is said to be cursed. even a single match which fell to the bottom can be a sign of the evil eye. However, if all the matches sink, it is considered to be an instance of a strong and dangerous curse. the ritual of throwing the matches into the water is accompanied by a ritualised speech act. Meanwhile the matches are thrown to the water, the ritual leader recites a magic formula such ‘as sar kerav avka sig te našľol’ -- while i am doing this, may (all evil) quick disappear -- or ‘sar kerav sig te predžal’ -- while I am doing this, may (all evil) quick go away. Naturally, there are several local variants of this magic formula. In some Romani families, the Lord’s Prayer is prayed instead, or yet elsewhere the ritual murmuring of the word ‘saint, saint, saint’. It is also a common practice that both the ritual leader and the cursed person is completely silent during the whole ritual which is only interrupted by the ritual leader when reciting the magic formula.” Source: (clicking the following link will immediately download the .pdf to your phone / computer) http://romafacts.uni-graz.at/get_pdf.php?file=pdf_docs/ROMANI_CULTURE/English/C_2_3_evil-eye.pdf Conclusion: The matchstick / q-tip test originated from an old world Evil Eye detection spell from Eastern Europe. Variations exist across cultures (Italian / Russian / Romani / Slovakian). There was no reliable information found to back-up the crossing of the sticks as the method of detection. All detection stems from the sinking of the ashes.  The method circulating on Tiktok is not only physically impossible, but is a clear example of someone inaccurately simplifying an old ritual, rebranding it as their own without any credit to the original ritual or cultures, and then spreading the misinformation for views.

WitchTok Matchstick Curse Detection Spell Status: Witchbusted ✨🖤🌙

⚠️ Cross-reference anything you find on social media that does not source it’s information. ⚠️ As always, though ...  Do your own research. Make up your own mind. Take no one’s word for anything, not even mine. Until next time, 

AWTW ✨🖤🌙

[a-witch-that-wanders]

Witchbust #1 - Angel Numbers

My First Encounter:  I’m fairly sure I ran across some random blog on tumblr about 11:11 sometime in late 2014. By February 2015, I was obsessed. I carried a notebook and kept track of as many number sequences as I could, even while I was driving. *cringe*

What are angel numbers and where did they come from? They are the concept that angels, spirit guides, ascendant masters, and / or ancestors are using the vibrational frequencies that exist around us to communicate using numbers. The name was coined by a psychiatrist turned new age motivator turned evangelist, Doreen Virtue. 

In the late nineties, the licensed therapist-- with a ph D -- transitioned from family therapy and treating yo-yo dieting to chakras and communicating with angels. The transition spawned from an encounter where angels intervened in a violent car-theft attempt against Virtue. Her first book on angel numbers was published in 2005 and the book that gives us the coded meanings that we tend to google comes from “Angel Numbers 101”, which was published in 2008. She has over 50 published books on angel therapy and 10 different oracle decks in circulation. Well-versed in past-life regression, she also claimed that she was in service to Pythagoras (yes, THEE Pythagoras) in a past life, the inspiration for her work with angel numbers. In 2017, she went through another spiritual transition, this time becoming an evangelist christian and claiming that Jesus saved her from the hedonistic ways of the New Age Movement. She has since renounced all of her previous work. Well, sh** .... Now what?  Like this person said: “If the woman who coined the term ‘angel numbers’ no longer believes in her own work, does that make it invalid? Of course not. Just because someone denounces their work, doesn’t make it any less truthful or valid. She simply transferred her knowledge into the Christian community and has since used Christian vocabulary to describe the meaning of numbers.” 

(⚠️ I always link my sources, so if you do take a look at the blog post that the excerpt just above is from, please be warned that it is ripe with misinformation that I don’t have time to break down. ⚠️) The problem with the above statement is that it’s not really true. But don’t take it from me, listen to Doreen Virtue herself: “I really apologize for teaching about ‘calling on angels’. I was deceived by New Age teachings and by demons who were posing as angels. Not one person in the Bible calls upon angels. If God wants to send an angel to someone, he will send it. Calling on angels is dangerous because demons masquerade as angels (2 Corinthians 11:14)”.

They say you cannot kill what you did not create. Virtue is undeniably trying to kill a concept that she created. For me, that’s enough right there. Witchcraft is based on intent. A lot of the tools, associations, and methods we use have been passed down for hundreds, sometimes thousands, of years, creating massive intention through collective consciousness. Her denying this work kills its original intention. However, you can also use this argument in favor of angel numbers, by arguing that the work has risen above the author -- that angel number information has been taken up by the collective, therefore its meaning and power live on. There are still people out there loyal to her work with numbers, if not to her. You can check out that perspective from a fellow witch and blogger here. My take-away: I’m not following a code that was invented and then renounced in less than ten years by one person. You can chalk it up to collective consciousness having the upper hand, but as history and current events around the world have shown us, even collectively humans are easy to deceive.

I am, however, interested in Numerology itself, which is basically divination through numbers. And since we have a lot of evidence to support the theory that everything is math (shout out to Pythagoras and Da Vinci, among others), I still wholly support the concept of numerology, that I will research from it’s more ancient origins and move forward. Stay tuned for updates!

As always, though ... Do your own research. Make up your own mind. Take no one’s word for anything, not even mine. Angel Number Status: Witch-busted

[a-witch-that-wanders]

The issue with commodifying witchcraft

Witchcraft gains internet popularity and big brands are wrongly trying to cash in.