The Domestic Garden Witch: Crystal Balls!
So maybe you’re a college witch with limited space and money, limited to the one window in your dorm. Or, maybe you’re a witch without extensive backyard space who wants to start up a magical garden. Perhaps you’re a kitchen witch who wants the freshest herbs right at her fingertips.
For many witches, having a garden seems to be a bit of a no-brainer. After all, plants and magic go hand-in-hand. Plus, when thinking of a witch, it’s hard not to think of a cottage in the woods with a little vegetable garden out front. Unfortunately for the majority of us, our cottage in the woods is a tiny flat, and our garden out front is a windowsill with limited space.
This is when it comes time to embrace your craftiness and bring your garden indoors! Not only does it place your garden in a convenient location, it also allows you to freshen the air, recycle what would otherwise harm the earth, and embrace your witchy green thumb!
Last week, I addressed a trend in parts of America which centered around placing glass bottles on trees as a form of charm and as a bit of aesthetic. In that same article, I mentioned gazing balls. It only seems right that I should talk about these lovely garden features next! After all, there’s more to gardening in witchcraft than just the plants or the containers. It’s also the additional features that can add or affect the magic that you’re using as a whole!
First, for those new to gardening, or witchy gardening, gazing balls are glass or metallic spheres placed in gardens for various reasons, whether magical or simply for aesthetics. Their popularity can be traced back to their height in Victorian society, where gazing balls were not only aesthetically pleasing, but also incredibly functional. The polished reflective surfaces allowed chaperones to unobtrusively watch over young lovers in courtship, while the servant class could place the spheres in strategic locations in which they can more easily see a room and provide needed service without having to interrupt their employers.
Like many aspects of the Victorian era, there were some more mystical qualities to this practice, as well. First, gazing balls were also referred to as witch balls, because like the blue bottle trees, they were said to capture malevolent spirits and witches who caught their reflections in the surface. When hit by the light of the sun, the spirits would burn away. It was important to keep the sphere clean, because if the glass broke or got dirty, the spirits could find a way out.
Though witches won’t be caught inside of them as a result of the reflection (I should know… I love gazing balls, and I’m still here instead of in some shiny ball somewhere), witches have used reflective spheres for other reasons! And this is where we turn to how a garden can be made witchy with these lovely decorations!
Gazing Into the Crystal Ball
Gazing into crystal balls and other reflective surfaces is a practice referred to as scrying. It’s a form of divination that allows for intuitive and subconscious interactions that can help the diviner consider various outcomes to a situation for the sake of finding a wiser course. For many witches, it helps to be in a comfortable place to do so. As such, placing a gazing ball in a garden is a wonderfully discreet way to practice divination.
Like the blue bottle trees, it’s possible to use blue spheres as well, for both protection from malevolent spirits and the Evil Eye and for good luck.
Consider the different materials available and the different colors available for gazing balls, and pair them with your intent and the purpose of your garden. If it’s a garden for prosperity and health, for instance, placing a white gazing ball may enhance that energy for that garden by providing that association for you each time you look at it or gaze into it during garden meditations. If you are maintaining a faerie garden, having multiple gazing balls of various sizes and colors can be a great way to attract friendly fae to your garden.
If you’re of the crafty sort, you need not have to buy fancy gazing balls. Instead, it’s fairly easy to make your own by taking an old lamp globe and painting it, as well as using strong glues to add stones, glitter, and other decorations! I’ve seen homemade gazing balls with faerie silhouettes, flat-bottomed marbles, and even glowing lights on the inside! The possibilities are fairly endless with such a project!
May all your harvests be bountiful! )O(
jacobvanloon
dededos
dailybridgerton
baratheonpilled
