The Witch: Gray Bennare

Solitary contemporary pagan, sharing, and learning to enhance my witchy life.

[whiteassenby]

What should you put in your bath?

black tea: soothes sunburns [1] [2] and is antimicrobial [3] contains some essential polyphenols and tannin, reduces puffiness/inflammation [4] 

green tea: antioxidant and detoxifier [1] soothes rashes, increases healing rate, softens skin [2] heals sores and wounds, rejuvenates skin cells, improve psoriasis and dandruff [3] anti-aging, mood stabilizing [4]

apple cider vinegar: anti inflammatory and softens skin [1]

ground ginger: increases circulation, promotes sweating, opens pores, relieves pain [1]

lemon: antioxidant (brightens skin) [1] 

olive oil: moisturizes skin [1]

calendula flowers: soothes burns, inflammation, rashes, insect bites, skin disorders [1] useful for small children [2]

elder-flowers: anti-inflammatory and heals rashes cuts and wounds [1]

Himalayan salt: soothes insect bites, heals blisters, relieves arthritis pain [1] softens skin [2]

oatmeal: soothes, anti-inflammatory, calms angry skin [1]

rose petals: relax mind, relieve sleepiness, soothe headaches and stress [1] promote positive feelings [2]

valerian root: relax the mind, relieve sleepiness, soothe headaches and stress [1]

lavender: relax the mind, relieve sleepiness, soothe headaches and stress [1] [2]

mugwort: relax the mind, relieve sleepiness, soothe and headaches and stress [1]

chammomile: soothes nerves [1] good for dry skin [2]

passion flower: soothes nerves [1]

hops: soothes nerves [1]

rosemary: pain relief, soothes headaches and fatigue [1] relaxing, increases alertness and clarity of mind [2] soothes sore throat[3]

thyme: pain relief, soothes headaches and fatigue [1]

devils claw: eases joint pain [1]

juniperberries: soothes muscle aches [1]

peppermint: increase blood flow, relieve congestion [1]

eucalyptus: increase blood flow, relieve congestion [1] increases energy [2]

thyme: increase blood flow, relieve congestion [1]

jasmine: emollient and antiseptic, soothes skin [1] 

organic coconut flakes: nourish the skin [1]

sage: uplifting, good for oily skin and back acne [1] stimulating [2]

marjoram: decongestant, soothes muscle pain [1]

whole cow’s milk: hydrates and mildly exfoliates skin [1]

cow’s buttermilk: hydrates and thoroughly exfoliates skin [1]

goat’s milk: thoroughly hydrates and exfoliates skin, provides nutrients [1]

[tendercomrade]

Whoa! Great ref! I just want to add that passion flower, mugwort, and valerian are not safe to use if you are pregnant.

[mousedear]

^^^

[screaming-female]

HOW TO CLONE YOUR HERBS

Ever seen another person’s herb garden and wanted one exactly like it? Want to buy loads of lovely herbs but don’t have the money? Or want to start a plant business don’t know where to start?

Well my friend, I have two words for you. Plant cloning. It’s natural, free and very easy to do.  

This method works best for herbs such as

Basil

Broadleaf Thyme/Cuban Oregano

Mint

Oregano

Basically, what it does is allow you to take a cutting from one plant, and grow an entirely separate plant from it. This means that you could have an endless supply of herbs - you can take 20 cuttings from a single plant, and when they’ve all grown you’ll be able to take another 20 cutting from each of those plants! 

So how do you do it? Well it’s deceptively simple. Here’s how:

1. Start with your parent plant. Due to my recent obsession with basil, that’s the herb I’ve decided to go for.

2. Take a cutting - about 4-5 inches long. Make sure you do it just below a node (the place where the leaves join the stem, just like above in the picture)

3. If possible, try and cut the stem diagonally. This gives it a greater surface area to suck up water with.

4. OK, so this is pretty much what your cutting should look like. Make sure you’ve removed at least the bottom pair of leaves, but it’s good to remove a few sets as the plant can then concentrate on growing roots. 

5. Place the cutting in some water so that the stem is comletley submerged. I found old plastic shot glasses worked great for this, but you can also use pretty bottles or cups or whatever. 

6. Make sure you’ve picked the bottom leaves off, and that the nodes are in the water. This is because the new roots are going to grow out of these nodes, so obviously they’re going to need to be in the water. 

7. Put them in a sunny place where you can keep an eye on them. Above is a picture of the babies with their mummy! After about a week, roots should have grown out of the nodes. 

8. That’s it, you’re done! Once the roots are well developed, you can plant your herbs in to pots. Keep the soil moist and the herb in a sunny place, and soon it’ll be as big as the parent plant. 

You can use this method to get free herbs - instead of buying them all, why not just take cuttings from a friend or family member’s herbs and use them for your own garden? (with their permission of course) 

Or, take a lot of cuttings like I’ve done, pot them up and sell them for a profit!

Good luck and happy planting! ^-^

[seabois]

Faeries, come take me out of this dull world, For I would ride with you upon the wind, Run on the top of the dishevelled tide, And dance upon the mountains like a flame.

William Butler Yeats, The Land of Heart’s Desire  (via alteringminds)

[maddiesharafian]

It’s delicious! I promise! 

[thiskitchenwitch]

Whew, finally back from school! Now that I’m free, it’s time to reassemble one of my best school essentials for next quarter—tiny, reusable packets of herbs that are perfect for spells on the go (or spicing up a dull meal…what’s the difference, really?). 

While I love the look of tiny bottles for portable ingredients, they’re not as space-saving as these repurposed straws. So though my best staples get bottled for easiest refills, I like to keep the odd ingredient (or extra backups of the classics) rattling around in my pockets like this! Some things to keep in mind:

Only melt the ends as they’re separated from the herbs by the pliers/tweezers—food safe plastic or not, you still don’t want that melting on your ingredients!

Most straws work for this, but thin plastic straws may warp and bubble further up the tube before the ends seal shut; try a few tests, and heat with care.

While I always carry around a pen knife, if you don’t, consider keeping these in a little pocket tin with a razor blade for easy opening. Cutting the small notch in the end is pretty effective for fingers-only opening, but may cause leaks in fluid-filled packets and should be avoided in those cases. Small, neat incisions with a knife also make for easier sealing for reuse! 

EDIT: while I didn’t touch on it too much here, I also use these to prepare ready-made spells. If you’re doing this, consider matching the color of the candle and straw to the spell intent!

[graybennare]

cheap, easy ways to decorate your altar for the sabbats

Imbolc/Candlemas: seeds or bulbs, candles, red and white

Ostara: flowers, eggs, milk, honey

Beltane: flowers, ribbons, acrons

Litha: oak leaves, sun symbols, sunflowers

Lammas: bread, wheat, beer, honey, corn dolls, iron

Mabon: fall leaves, cornstalks, grapes and grape vines, pomegranates, apples

Samhain: tarot cards, mirror, food offerings, muled wine, dark bread

Yule: holly, pine cones, mistletoe, fruits, nuts, bells

[beautifulpicturesofhealthyfood]

Rose Shaped Baked Apple Dessert…RECIPE

[confusementation]

I am making all the things

[stereotypicalbullshitx]

It is about time this picture comes around again.

The world needs it.

[dog-rose]

Enchanting things with touch -

A lot of witchcraft seems to be focused on visualisation as a means of imbuing things with magic, energy work seems almost entirely written to suit those who can visualise images.  I am extremely tactile, I am a touchy feely person with busy hands so I decided to share how I “enchant” items.

Enchantment in my book means to take an object and make it magical, whether it be a charm, a ward, an agent of the spell itself.

Kissing things - your lips are far more sensitive than your fingers, they are also very close to your nose so you can incorporate smell into this, too. Take the item, and bring it too your lips gently, place a plush firm kiss whilst focusing on planting your into into the item.

Stroking or brushing - I have heard people try knot magic by braiding their hair, my hair is too short for this, but you could start by brushing your hair. Really smoothing it out, deeply brushing hair or even fur is a great way to transfer magic from your mind to the hands to the object, brushing is very therupeutic and could almost be a trance inducing activity. When I had hair I could sit on, it was a wonderful sensory experience to hand brush it after a wash. 

You could also feel the surface of your item by smoothing it with you hands, really get to know the texture, let the magic explore the grain of the wood, the crevices in the stone or the cool touch of the metal.

Crumbling something - You could do this with breadcrumbs for kitchen magic or a bath bomb for bath magic (I wouldn’t crumble a bath bomb imo but I have heard some people prefer to do that.) Guide your intent to your hands and let it over whelm the object in your palms.

Stepping on something - This could be very destructive and great for curses.

Walking around it - Walking around an object features a lot in folk lore, perhaps you could use it to slowly build up intent and magical energy within you? 

Throwing or juggling - Juggling is a great skill to learn and I can well and truly say kinetic energy is magical very powerful, throwing and catching something in the air until your satisfied is a fantastic way of enchantment, the weight as you catch it in your hand and watching it fly in the air is just fantastic.

Rubbing it to give it body heat - This is very physical, you can feel the warmth you’ve transferred to this object and its very responsive as well.

[calefacientcatalyst]

A grounding/dissociation charm bag/sachet

What’s needed:

Earthy color fabric and thread

Whatever colors in a yarn or cord you associate with grounding, healing, and happiness. I chose white, green, and yellow.

Salt (not shown) - absorbs doubt and negativity. a good base for any charm bag

Parsley (not shown) - happiness, protection, and meditation

Allspice, whole or ground - healing

Basil - psychic protection, general protection

1-3 Bay leaves - peace, strength, psychic protection

1 Cinnamon stick - happiness, warmth

3-5 Cloves - happiness, healing, psychic protection

Optional:

Citrine - willpower

Amethyst - healing

Hematite - connection to the body

Obsidian/Onyx - protection

Grass (for the literal grounding)

Soil (from your home or a pleasant place)

Root of a plant, if you wish

Silver or silver plated Bells 1-3 (for grounding, a pull back to reality)

Embroidery thread

Sigil for grounding

What to do:

If using embroidery, embroider flowers, trees, whatever earthy you want then sew up your bag with your yarn or cord drawstring. Fill the bag 1/3 of the way with salt. Put in your roots then soil then grass. Envision roots going from the soles of your feet to the earth below, drawing up energy and feeding it into the bag. Add various stones of your choosing from the list or all (I used all of them). Add all other ingredients EXCEPT silver bells, unless you don’t mind if they don’t really jingle from the other herbs getting in the chamber. Sew your bells around the outside of the opening after you tie it off. Belly breathe the spicy, earthy aroma to assist in grounding or when a dissociative state starts slipping on. Envision those roots in your feet holding your mental state steady.

If you have a preexisting condition or if your dissociation lasts longer please talk to your doctor. I’m not a doctor!

[tricksterwolfe-deactivated20160]

Witches in College: Spirits

This post is geared towards spirit workers and people that interact with spirits. If you don’t work with spirits, this post might not be relevant for you. I feel like this is important because I am a firm believer that territory matters when it comes to anything in the vein of witchcraft and the Other World. Always be cautious when working with spirits, especially those you aren’t familiar with. I am assuming that you have already taken precautions and have protections established for yourself.

Observe the Spirits of the Campus: Your campus is a different environment than you are used to at home. There will be different spirit residents. Some might be friendly, some might not be. Observe them from a distance before you attempt to make contact with them.

Introduce Yourself: If you want to work with spirits or do anything magic wise and you acknowledge spirits in your practice, I believe that you should introduce yourself to the spirits beforehand. They way I see it is that you are in their territory and should at the very least introduce yourself to the lead spirit before you do anything “woo” related. I believe that you alert the spirits around you when you practice things of this nature. The least you can do is let them know so they aren’t surprised or threatened. Obviously if the spirit comes off as threatening be much more wary.

Consider the spiritual environment before you astral travel: The kind of place you are at physically can affect your traveling. If you are in a more negative environment, you are at more at risk when you travel or could be much more vulnerable to negative energy. If you feel threatened or vulnerable, it will affect you. Make sure that you feel safe and protected in the place you are at physically when you travel and be prepared to come back quickly just in case. Also depending on how you astral, you may be entering into a section that you are not familiar with when you end up in the Other World.

Be cautious: You don’t know this area. You don’t know the kind of spirit politics that are going around. You also don’t know what kind of things are drawn to the campus to feed or have been brought on by practitioners that came before you. Be aware and be wary.

Be willing to walk away: You are the guest in this case. You are on the other end of the “my house, my rules” argument and need to respect that. Also if you are in an area with nasty spirits, you are much better off walking away than starting a fight.

Don’t trust anyone or anything right away: This is a general rule for spirit work. Don’t trust any of the spirits that you meet or anyone that works with them right away. You don’t know their intentions or how they operate.

Understand that this is not your territory: Moving into a dorm room is not the same as owning or renting a home. You do not have the same territorial claim to draw power on when you are in college. You are the guest here. If push comes to shove with some of the stronger local spirits, you’re more likely to be on the losing end.

Respect the land spirits: These guys are the ones in charge here. See if there is a land spirit for your campus. It would be wise to be kind to this spirit. These spirits are also the ones to go to for information on the local spirit politics. Be respectful and don’t cross these guys.

You’ll probably see some weird stuff: College has an environment that doesn’t really happen a lot anywhere else. There are all of these young people, all of this stress, all of this partying, and other energy in a pretty small environment. This attracts creatures  that you might not see elsewhere.

Strongly consider wards and other barriers: Your dorm room should be your safe space. You might not want random spirits popping in when you are trying to work. Considering you also have a roommate, it might  not be wise to bring spirits in for a visit.

Leave it be: If something or someplace is giving you bad vibes, don’t mess with it. The last thing you need is a bad spirit problem when you are trying to do well in your classes.

[atticroses]

As someone who lived in a dorm for three years I can assure you that spirits in dorms are FUCKING WEIRD and some of them are sketchy as fuck.

[recreationalwitchcraft]

Witch Attraction Powder

Want to bring other witches into your life? Sprinkle this powder around your home, on your shoes before you go out or dust some onto a burning candle.

Basil: The Witches’ Herb

Orange: Attraction & Drawing

Sunflower: Prosperity & Companionship

[shellythewitch-deactivated20150]

[saepphire]

❁

[graybennare]

Check out my video Basic Candle Magick! I would like to know what you thought or think about what you want to see! My goal is to create a space of spiritual growth and understanding through learning and teaching! With everyone included! Many blessings! #paganism #witchcraft #wicca

[ametistamahoushoujo]

Wonderful images of the elements correspondences that I found on the internet. ☽O☾ Blessed Be your studies.

Maravilhosas imagens com as correspondências dos elementos que encontrei na internet. Uma ótima oportunidade para estudar inglês também, para nós brasileiros ;) ☽O☾ Abençoados sejam seus estudos.

[thesigilwitch]

Mobile Grimoire

Here’s an updated list of tags I use regularly on my blog, to categorize all my spells and posts into. Keep in mind the “k” at the end of “magic” is used for aesthetic only; I know of its origins and what it’s supposed to stand for, but it’s not how I use it.

———

Updated: September 17th 2015

*please note that many posts fit into multiple categories and overlap* *and PLEASE let me know about any broken links, thank you!*

———

My Spells and Magick

———

General Information and References

———

Sabbats Chakras Magick Symbols (runes, glyphs, etc.) Divination Energy Work Astral Travel Spirits Correspondences

———

General Spells Magickal Recipes Pop Culture Magick Sea Magick Storm Magick / Weather Magick Kitchen Magick Sex Magick Tech Magick Candle Magick Herb Magick Crystal Magick Sigil Magick Bottle/Jar Magick Sachet/Charm Bag Magick Amulet Magick Poppet Magick Knot Magick Bath Magick Tea Magick Space Magick Moon Magick

———

Regarding…

Protection Cleansing Binding / Banishing Warding / Shielding Confidence / Courage / Strength Healing / Health / Pain Anxiety / Stress Anger / Sadness Happiness / Peace Emotions Self Love / Self Care Beauty / Glamour Mental Health Depression / Self Harm Dissociation Gender / Dysphoria Sleep / Nightmares Motivation / Creativity Memory / Concentration Education / Employment Energy Wishing Money / Prosperity Luck Sex / Love Speech

———

Do-It-Yourself

———

Witch Tips

———

[witchtips]

Beginner Witchcraft Resources Masterpost

[thesigilwitch]

witchtips:

General Information Sites:

- Awake The Witch Within

- Witchcraft 101

- World of Wicca

- Spells For Beginners

- Wings For The Spirit

- Spells and Witchcraft (WARNING this site has autoplay music)

Specialized Witchcraft Sites:

- Explore The Types of Witchcraft

- Sea Witchcraft at Book of Tides

- Water Witchcraft at Witches of The Craft

- Faery Witchcraft at Patheos

- Satanic Witchcraft at Spiritual Satanist

- Herbal Witchcraft at The Smart Witch

- Witch’s Herbal Reference

- Kitchen Witchery at Llewellyn Worldwide

- Traditional Witchcraft

- Hedge Witchcraft