Books, Beans and Candles Magic Shop

[ofcloudsandstars]

Just sharing something from my practice for some discreet witchery and glamour

When I don’t feel like wearing a crystal necklace, lockets are really nice to store charms in. You can take a piece of paper (color paper is great for your personal correspondences) and write a wish, spell or sigil on it then stick it in. This is great for glamour spells like invisibility or drawing specific attention, basically anything that is a way to be seen how you want to be seen. It’s simple glamour magic and good for discreet witchery

[graymanphotography]

funky fungi

[witchedways-blog]

bewitched forest 

[noise-vs-signal]

“The Catalpa Monographs” (Selected Plates), a “Critical Survey of the Art and Writings of Austin Osman Spare”, by Dr William Wallace, Jerusalem Press, London (2015).

[izzicatmeow]

Reblog if you’re a witchy blog

I’m trying to find more witch blogs to follow, so if you post spells, witch aesthetic, tarot, crystals, etc, reblog for the 99% chance that I’ll follow you

[ktt]

Moon River Lady by Paula Belle Flores

[teaastrology]

The Signs as Witches

I know its christmas time but I’m feeling really spooky today 

The Traditional Witch:  Virgo, Scorpio, Capricorn

“The witches who take the journey of traditional witchcraft, are interested in the old ways (pre-Christian), and are followers of history and the arts, building a foundation for their craft. Usually the craft is passed down generation after generation within family units. These witches are less inclined to participate in the worship of Goddess or Gods, preferring to work predominantly with the Spirit world and will often call on their ancestors or land spirits for strength”

The Eclectic Witch:  Aries, Leo, Sagittarius, Aquarius

“An individual approach that picks and chooses from many different traditions and creates a personalized form of witchcraft that meets their individual needs and abilities. They do not follow a particular religion or tradition, but study and learn from many different systems and use what works best for them.”

The Kitchen Witch: Taurus, Cancer, Scorpio

“This Witch carries practical sides of the Wiccan / Pagan religion, magic, gemstones, the elements and the earth. A Kitchen Witch is usually recognized as practicing Celtic Wicca: Goes by the elements, the Ancient Ones and nature. They are usually healers, respected highly and once they are past their 40’s tend to take on a “Wise Woman” role as they have an abundance of knowledge and are admired for it.”

The Hedge Witch: Gemini, Libra, Pisces

“Green witches usually practice a traditional form of witchcraft in which the earth, trees, herbs, plants and flowers are consulted for their medicinal and magical value. They will grow their own herbs or Wildcraft them, and are very good at making herbal remedies. Belief in deities depends on the individual witch, though many Green witches acknowledge and earth mother or series of nature spirits as their deity”

Thanks for the gifs @debbie-sketch and @evanpalmercomics! Hope you guys enjoy

if i missed anyone put them in the hashtag! Or just reblog their name

[bookbeancandle-blog]

These are so cute!  Just one criticism, hedge witchery and green witchcraft are not the same thing.  Hedge witchcraft more specifically refers to the practice of using herbs, sometimes of the toxic variety, to achieve an altered state (like flying ointment).  Think of it like having one foot in each world.  The world that you exist in every day is the civilized here, the “other side” is the outer wilds.  The boundary between the two is the hedge.  

[violetwitchcraft-deactivated202]

Because I literally never remember, I’m resolving to reblog this every month on the full moon.

[violetwitchcraft-deactivated202]

IT IS THAT TIME OF MONTH AGAIN GUYS!

[trixieone]

Oh my goodness with everything going on I had totally forgotten!!! Hmmm. Maybe if it’s still raining my full moon celebration will be in the form of collecting full moon rain water.

[phoenix-fire-witchcraft]

Hi, I was wondering if you could give me so basic info about traditional witchcraft such as a broad definition, where it originated, and its relationship to devil/Satan/ overall archetype of opposition. Any information would be helpful. Thanks!

Oh goodness, that’s a tall order. I’ll do my best though! Any fellow trad-crafters, feel free to chime in! If I get anything wrong, PLEASE correct me.

So, there are several types of witchcraft which can fit under “Traditional.” Here, I’ll be referencing only two: Cochranean, and Early-Modern.

First, there is Cochranean Craft. This is a witchcraft system pioneered by Robert Cochrane and the Clan of Tubal Cain around the same time as Gardner’s Wicca. It shares a good few elements, but the ritual structure is different and the deity figures were much more chthonic in nature. This craft follows the ideas of the Watchers as posed in the Bible, and that the Watchers are the beginning of the Witch-Blood. It also posits that the mark of Cain is the witch-mark, and so honors Cain as a very deep ancestor figure. The largest difference between Wicca and Traditional Witchcraft (big T big W) is the form of practice. Wicca is a fertility religion, while Traditional Witchcraft was an ecstatic practice, focused on the ecstasy of both body and mind.

Secondly, there is Early-Modern witchcraft. This is witchcraft constructed from academic sources such as anthropology, archaeology, ethnology, and trial records. Practitioners of Early-Modern Witchcraft focus predominantly on reconstructing the practices of old, and including aspects from local folklore. This is one example of where the Devil comes into witchcraft. Early-Modern focused practitioners pull heavily from sources such as atypical folklore, trial records, etc., to really understand how witchcraft worked in the past, and how we can apply those practices to the modern world. It’s usually much more primal, much less ceremonial, and can be very intense.

Now, the archetype of the Devil plays into all aspects of witchcraft, regardless of whether the witch in question acknowledges him. This is because witchcraft is, by its very nature a step away from society, and a return to the wild and untamed aspects of the world. It is rebellious. It focuses of fertility or ecstasy, meaning there is a loss of the traditional Christian values of prudence and celibacy. There is also a large encouragement to enjoy life. This is very much apart from the Christianized society in which we live. Witchcraft is then, by its nature, against the social norm (for the sake of this piece, I am not considering those who call themselves Christian Witches. What they practice also has historical precedent in Cunningcraft, and is what I will hereinafter refer to it as, if it becomes necessary). These are the same things our Devil stands for.

Now, there seems to always have been a clear delineation between the theological, and folk Devil. It’s something I’m working on figuring out myself.

Followers, if you have any input please go for it. I would like to give as much info here as possible.

[bookbeancandle-blog]

Christopher Penczak is in the shop! Come by before class to meet the author and have him sign your books.  https://www.facebook.com/events/564738997021939/

[gifbro]

[4gifs]

Dammit, Carl!

[bookbeancandle-blog]

This is directed at one of our regular patrons.  You know who you are... Damit Carl!

[afniel]

Latte magic.

Because this is the kind of shit I think about at work. Also, mostly highly theoretical, but worth testing.

This is taking me a much longer time than I was thinking it would so I am going to break this into a series of posts and tag them all with “latte magic”! Without further ado, the first part: drink flavorings!

Vanilla - Okay, this one I can actually vouch for. I frequently have a vanilla latte before or sometimes after work to smooth over any grumpiness I might be carrying around with me. I know a lot of sources say vanilla is for sexiness or something but I dunno about that? I mostly find it calming. Like, soft fuzzy blanket calming.

Chocolate - Oh café mocha. Why do you have to be so tasty? Chocolate was once used as currency in pre-Columbian Mesoamerican civilizations, so it could make a success/wealth drink. As well as be really tasty. Yum. My girlfriend said you could probably do the same with a basil latte (she has a pretty good memory for random shit I explain to her) but why would you want to drink that?

Hazelnut - Hazelnuts were the food that the Salmon of Knowledge ate, who was subsequently accidentally sorta-eaten by Fionn mac Cuhaill. Might be good to add to your coffee while you’re doing heavy mental lifting, studying, planning, whatever would benefit from some extra clarity.

Cinnamon - Warm. Spicy. Tasty. Oh I love cinnamon. It is probably one of my most favorite spices ever in my life ever. And I have not seen two sources to rub together that agree on what the shit it is for. So here is my take on it: I’ve had success in using cinnamon as an energy amplifier in spells. Burning the powder, carefully and in pinches, makes awesome clouds of sparks, holy shit! I also find it a really comforting, warm smell, because my favorite comfort food ever is basically French toast with a ton of cinnamon. So fuck it, even I can’t agree with myself.

Raspberry - Related to roses and, according to Greek myth, stained red by the nymph Ida when she pricked her finger on them, it’s not hard to imagine that raspberry could be used in a drink related to passion, beauty, or fertility. Raspberry leaves in tea are great to alleviate cramps, another factor pointing to fertility being a possible use. Add to a white chocolate mocha to make an adorable pink drink that tastes like Valentine’s Day!

Peppermint - My girlfriend says this should be a prosperity drink. I would think of it as a stimulating/refreshing/wake up sluggish energies drink if you’re like me and get your magic shit all blocked up easily. Who says it can’t be both? Combine with mocha for maximum Christmas.

Caramel - Okay, now HERE is a prosperity drink. Buttery, salty-sweet, and golden, yum. Whereas peppermint or chocolate could represent currency, caramel could represent creature comforts. Oh I want one just thinking about this.

Nutmeg - Did you know that nutmeg is a psychoactive? Well, it’s true! In high amounts, anyway. (Don’t test this without doing your own thorough research, unless you really like vomiting.) Now, I’m not saying to go out and swap any flying ointments you may be using with a flying latte. But my guess is that you could use this flavor to enhance trancework, journeying, hedgecrossing, whatever you know it as.

Pumpkin Spice - IT’S NOT FALL UNTIL THERE’S PUMPKIN SPICE! And what else is in the fall and has pumpkins? Halloween. (And Samhain if you’re into that.) With all its associations with the dead and otherworldly, (and being that a lot of the pumpkin spice on the market contains nutmeg but no real pumpkins, lolwat?) pumpkin spice flavoring is a good candidate for boosting communication with other realms. Or just making you want to put on a warm fuzzy sweater. Unless you’re in the Southern Hemisphere I guess.

Honey - A natural sweetener produced by bees, nature’s badass little factories of delicious goodness and lovely beeswax, honey could be used for productivity, organization, and maybe attracting and sweetening up business deals. You could get REALLY fancy and use a honey made from the flowers of a plant whose influence you want too.

Maple - I wasn’t going to throw this on but I fucking love maple and I know a place in Mountain View that is doing maple lattes as a limited thing and shut up I just really like maple, okay? I grew up with a maple tree in my yard and you would be surprised how far those little seed helicopters can go! So, after some wracking my brain, I have decided on travel and/or freedom as a likely use for maple. (…I now seem to have a fictional god of travel looking over my shoulder. *Swats* Get out of here, you’re drunk, you don’t even exist.)

Feel free to add, correct, and question anything here — it’s all hypothetical as fuck and I probably forgot someone’s favorite flavor that I just couldn’t think of right offhand.

[myceliamaleficarum]

I may not be a tumblr-popular witch who gets dozens of people in their askbox with ridiculous requests, but since I started working at a magic store, I’m starting to understand.

[stormbornwitch]

Oh wow ~ I’m sure you’ve had some ‘interesting’ customers

[myceliamaleficarum]

I’ve only been there for a couple of months, but here are some highlights off the top of my head:

-an older gentleman who tried to get me to join his group, despite my telling him I already had a coven -a woman who comes in frequently and tries to ask my advice for every single problem in her life, magical or mundane, and often stays for over an hour -a young man who, after his father left the store, pulled me aside and asked for a spell to make someone fall in love with him, then to cover his tracks, asked a couple of absent questions about our wands -a woman who told me all about her deceased husband’s haunting, and how she deliberately walked into traffic -a man who told me that he A) puts malachite in his fish tank, and B) feeds raccoons when high -a young woman who asked me for “a spell” “what kind?” “Oh, for love, or luck, or stuff like that” “…you’re going to have to be a little more specific” -two separate people who dumped a bag full of rocks picked up off the ground onto my counter and asked me to help identify them. None of them are semi-precious stones. -having numerous people tell me all about their experiences and woes, or offer me unsolicited psychic advice -multiple people per day, magically-inclined or not, who see the Ouija board for sale and immediately become scared

[stormbornwitch]

Wow - you have my sympathies. ^THIS^ is why I’ve never even once considered working at an occult/metaphysical shop.

[bookbeancandle-blog]

@dracarysmaleficarum just wait, it only gets ‘better’.

[bookbeancandle-blog]

10 days until Christopher Penczak visits our shop to teach classes

[animal-factbook]

A recent study done by Harvard zoologists showed that staring at pictures of cute animals can actually improve our health and lifestyle. The study showed that when we see a cute animal, our brain releases hormones such as Ghrelin and Serotonin whilst at the same time deducing Cortisol production. Effectively, just by looking at this picture, you will have decreased your stress levels and increased your attentiveness. Just another way animals can help humans.

[gwendolynewood]

Ravens and coffee pattern for mazz!!

[albedosoyna]

This should be a coffee room carpet pattern… Or the throw pillows on the couch.

[bookbeancandle-blog]

I want this on a lap throw for our shop!

[silvercidada]

Leather Dragon Scale Mask In Irridecent Icy Blues and Silver, Great for Halloween, Burning Man, Masquerade Costume

~ The mask you are purchasing is the exact one pictured, in stock and ready to ship to a loving home. ~This listing is for the RED MASK ONLY

New listings up in my shop

[bookbeancandle-blog]

Local artist, we sell some of her work here in our shop.  

[thestarmaker]

OK HOLD UP BROS LET ME INTRODUCE YOU TO A COOL-ASS STONE: BLUE SANDSTONE

DO YOU WANT THE GALAXY PRINT OF ROCKS

LOOK AT THIS SHIT

DO YOU WANT ROCKS THAT LOOK LIKE WINDOWS TO SPACE

OF COURSE YOU DO

HOW AWESOME IS THIS

GO AHEAD AND WEAR STARS ON YOUR FINGER

BALL OF SPACE

[miladyeve]

So pretty

[approximate-ritual]

POINT OF ORDER: blue goldstone is not a rock. It is glass with copper inclusions and that makes it even more awesome because we are NEVER going to run out of it, and it’s not mined and it is so amazing to work with if you’re devoted to Urania. Similarly red goldstone is an AMAZING Prometheus stone, because using fire to make it.