Bathing in Moonbeams

Hello, I’m Eva :) This is a side blog, I follow from @dreams-and-echoes

[lavender-pebbles]

I stand with my trans siblings!

[windvexer]

Crafts of the Witch Useful to Learn

Welcome to December 25th, here's some stuff about witchcraft to think about because you're on your phone looking for a distraction :)

So anyway here's stuff that's really useful to learn how to do before you actually need it because putting it all together for the first time on game day is stressful.

Creation and Desecration of a Poppet

A poppet is a deeply sympathetic representation of someone or something (usually another person).

According to the law of sympathy, whatever you do to the poppet will happen to the person it represents. You could cleanse and bless it, or smite it.

Poppets can be made in a wide variety of ways, from paper dolls, to clay figurines, to crocheted stuffies - anything you like. They also must be worked over magically to link them to their target.

The most ideal poppet is decorated to look very similar to the thing it represents, and is imbued with a taglock (such as hair, nail clippings, footprint dust, etc).

Learning Prompts:

The handicraft of creating the poppet - start with any arts and crafts you're interested in and see if they'll work for you

Practice making several poppets - you do not need to consecrate them. How easy is it for you to decorate it just like the real person? How easy is it for you to include taglocks?

Find a disposal plan. ""Voodoo dolls"" are steeped in public awareness; will it be safe for you to throw away the poppet in the trash when you're done with it?

Consecration or enlivening poppet as target. Find or develop a ritual to fill the poppet with magical life so that it becomes the target. Practice this once or twice (perhaps on a poppet of yourself, to cast blessings or prosperity magic on yourself)

Desecration or severing link. Find or develop a ritual to end the sympathetic link between the poppet and its target. Practice this once or twice.

Storage and tending of enlivened poppets. They are alive and they act like it. If you intend to have poppets sitting around for long-term spells or to use as-needed, you will need a system of storing them so that they "go to sleep" and remain undisturbed until you need them.

Consecration, In General

Here I mean "consecration" to be an act of magic which anoints an object as sacred unto a purpose, and therefore primed for magical use. In crude terms: you're making an object magical and giving it a purpose at the same time.

Consecration is a very useful thing to know how to do. In and of itself it can form a kind of minor enchantment (I consecrate this mug of oolong tea to be a potion of survival +1), but it can also prepare the way for powerful enchantments (I consecrate this ring to become a divine protector, ready to receive the powerful enchantment I soon cast upon it).

Learning Prompts:

Find or create a minor consecration spell which can be cast in under a minute. Strive to obtain one which is covert and can be done even in the presence of others. (Perhaps we could call this a 'cantrip'). Such a spell tends to be suitable for moving fate a few degrees over, or to dig a shallow pool in the tides of reality.

Find or create a hefty consecration spell. Consider what abilities or access you have that allows you to redefine the fate and purpose of an object. Contemplation of this spell can provide great insight into one's own belief and path. Such a spell may completely reorient fate, and carve new channels into the waterways of reality.

Practice minor consecrations on 5 different types of objects. Consecrating the tea, that's easy - stir it a few times. But how to consecrate a hairbrush? How to consecrate a mirror?

Practice major consecration twice, unto two very different domains. Perhaps a pepper oil of fiery smiting, and a crystal bracelet of deep soothing. This is an opportunity to compare and contrast the powers you raise when you work within different domains.

Desecration, In General; and Spell Reversal

To make profane; as in, to remove the magic from something and make it no more than a lump of physical matter, or a meaningless event like scattered dust on the winds of fate.

In my opinion, all witches should learn this - "don't raise up what you can't put down" also includes "don't enchant shit if you don't know how to undo enchantments."

To know how to nullify magic also means you can nullify unwanted and harmful things around you, and take the force and energy out of them.

Learning Prompts:

Find or create a minor desecration spell, one that you can cast on the fly and without tools or ingredients. Such a spell may be like a slapping a broom on a dusty rug; it will shake free things not tightly held.

Find or create a major desecration spell. Such a spell is like steam cleaning and shampooing a rug; it must remove every particle of magic and leave nothing behind but stripped fibers.

Practice minor desecrations 5 times in day-to-day life, targeting stank vibes and irritating situations that do not serve you.

Practice minor consecrations and desecrations 5 times by consecrating a stone, candle, etc., unto a magical purpose, and then removing the consecration.

Find an opportunity to cast a major desecration, which you may find the opportunity to do the next time the need for banishment comes up; or when sorting through old magical tools you no longer need, etc.

Find or create a solid spell reversal, one that you can use without having to have physical spell remnants on hand. Note that reverse to sender is not the same as nullifying your own magic.

Binding Divination Tools to Veracity, and Sundry Divination Management

Or if you like, binding veracity to divination tools. Binding is not baneful magic. Binding means to attach one thing to another thing, or to prevent something from being ways.

You can cast a binding on your divination tools to constrain them to only tell the truth, to truly peer beyond the veil, and only deliver what it can see; and never reflect your personal whims.

There's plenty of magic you can cast for your divinatory tools to make your life easier.

Prepare a binding spell to constrain a divination tool to only reflect the kind of truth you want. Do you want a tarot deck to only show your true state of mind? Do you want a set of runes to only read the will of the gods? Do you want your charm set to only read on the future, and not the past?

Find or create a protection spell to stop undue influence on a divination tool. This does not mean "evil spirits are manipulating your reading." Undue influence also means the strong emotions of querents, random psychic garbage, and the like; but it can also have an impact on the way you phrase questions and work with the tool itself.

Find or create a spell to enchant your tool as a magical seer/oracle. You can use a tarot deck out of the box, of course. You can also enchant it to be a magical object that obtains truth from mystical sources. Try it and see if you like the difference.

Find or create a charging ritual to revitalize your divination tools. This is a good opportunity to examine elemental energies; what kinds of energies are best suited to the purposes of divination and seeing beyond? The full moon is classically used for such purposes. Challenge yourself to recharge your divination tools once a month for 3 months, and see if you like the difference.

Blessing, In General

You have the power to generate and coalesce benevolent and helpful energies, and to distribute them into the world around you. You can bless anything you like, and perhaps the more the merrier; it's a very fine way to transform a space, and put love into the world.

Try considering blessings to have 2 parts; the first is to evoke a desirable force, and the second is to apply the force in a certain way: You could evoke the winter dawn as a blessing power, and then ask it to do something specific (provide a calm day, to make wise choices, to avoid bad traffic, etc).

Write your own minor blessing spell that you can perform in a minute or less. Try centering this blessing around a wonderful and benevolent force, whether it be a certain god, mushrooms, unconditional love, and so forth.

Write a separate minor blessing spell using a very different focus. Try the deep blue calming waters of the deep ocean, or the sprightly breezes of alpine hills, or the feeling of the first sip of a perfect bowl of soup; but make it have really different vibes from the first blessing.

Practice both minor blessings and see the difference. Challenge yourself to use each blessing cantrip 5 times. Try clustering the blessings to fill a space with that kind of energy (such as five items on desk blessed under the alpine breeze, and five items in the bathroom blessed under the deep ocean). Can you feel a difference in the spaces as you move in and out of them?

Write a major blessing using the various benevolent and lovely powers of your practice. This is another good opportunity to explore your practice. When you are in need of love, kindness, grace, and softness, what part of your path rises to meet your needs?

The Big Practice

Consecrate a poppet unto yourself. Bind and enchant a divination tool to be a powerful oracle of truth, and read on the most helpful equipment the poppet needs (RPG style: weapon, armor, familiar, potion?).

Whatever the answer, make a tiny container spell which serves the purpose. Consecrate it to be the tool that the poppet (you) needs.

Give the enchanted container spell to the poppet and cast a blessing on it, to be empowered with the new tool it has been granted in life.

Carefully store the poppet and its tool.

Periodically, perhaps between 1 to 6 times a year, recharge your divination tool and discern what new tools the poppet might need. Desecrate the old tool if you need to (or let them stack up), and consecrate new tools.

Keep the poppet and its tools for as long as you like, carefully severing the link between yourself and it when you're done with it.

[lucid222reveries]

“The great Mystics tend to recognize that Whoever God is, he or she does not need our protection or perfect understanding. All of our words, dogmas, and rituals are like children playing in a sandbox before infinite Mystery and Wonderment. If anything is true, then it always has been true; and people who sincerely search will touch upon the same truth in every age and culture, while using different language, symbols, and rituals to point us in the same direction. The direction is always toward more love and union–and in ever widening circles.”

— Richard Rohr

[wlw-witch]

Does anybody have suggestions for things that I should get while I’m at the beach? I have a general idea of what I need, but I still want to see if anybody has any advice!

[cunningcelt]

Sand, shells, driftwood, rocks, seaweed…everything can be utilised for magic one way or another.

[stormbornwitch]

I would also add sea glass, coral and believe it or not – fishing hooks and fishing twine. I find these all the time on the beaches near me so picking them up not only helps the environment (reducing pollution and things which can trap sea/bird life) but they are also great to use in spells!

Fishing Hooks are great to include in spells which are aimed at drawing something towards you (i.e. hooking it and reeling it in). They’re also great to include in curses.

Fishing Twine is great for binding spells and if it’s in those horrible knotted clumps then it’s great for confusion spells and spells to help you find lost items. Like fishing hooks, fishing twine is great for curses (the tangle them in nets kind).

Happy hunting!

- Marci

[delightingintragedy]

Wild Witchcraft by Rebecca Beyer, pg. 108

[lailoken]

I've always learned that it was traditionally the flower stalk—not the leaves—of Mullein that can be coated in wax and burned as a "Hag Torch" for necromantic workings. Is the idea of using a leaf like this a lost in translation thing, a making do thing, or a separate but related tradition?

[willowthewhip]

hag's tapers / torches definitely seem to be the traditional route (using the stalk & seedhead) but i've used plain mullein leaf for oil lamps in the past and they work great as wicks, so i don't see why this would be any different!

[lailoken]

Good to know! I wonder how it compares, magically speaking. 🤔

[willowthewhip]

i'd love to read your notes if you get to experimenting--personally, they feel pretty similar in their ability to amplify spirit presence, but definitely a qualitative difference (the torch is louder). part of me wonders if it's just the size of the flame, tho 🤷🏼

[lailoken]

I will consider doing that, and if I do, I will share!

My instinct is that you're right, and a waxed Mullein leaf is a perfectly viable tool for necromantic operations, though I imagine the virtues present in a whole flower stock would be more abundant and forceful than the virtues in singl leaf—louder, as you said.

[windvexer]

Hi, Chicken!

Perhaps a silly question, but maybe you know: is the chemical composition of stones (regular rocks picked up on a beach, or in a forest) somehow important in spells? Can I just use them in a protection spell if I associate them with something solid and safe? Or can I use a rock whose shape reminds me of the moon in a spell related to the moon?

I'm not really into crystal magic, but I like picking up pretty rocks and putting them on my windowsill, so I thought about using them.

Good morning! You can certainly do anything you like. Here is some theory you may find to be helpful.

We might consider that any object can have three bodies: its physical body, it's mental body, and its astral body. (this is an oversimplification).

These bodies stack together like matryoshka dolls. The physical body is the anchor that holds the mental body, and the mental body is the harbor that accepts and shelters the astral body.

The physical body is just as you describe in your post: the chemical composition and the shape of the rock.

Many rocks found in the forest or beach only have a physical body, and do not have mental or astral bodies,

The mental body is something people create by assigning meaning and possibility to the rock.

The mental body can be thought of as a gossamer vessel nestled within an object that can hold the even more subtle energies of astral (magical) power.

The concept of adding a mental body to something is more or less the same thing as "programming" or "setting intent."

Physical body: Rock that looks like a moon Mental body: "This rock looks like the moon, therefore it's good at hosting lunar energies." Astral body: Lunar energy channeled into the rock, filling the mental and physical bodies like sand filling up a shapely glass bottle

In this paradigm, the process of developing and setting the mental body is vital for acts of magic; in fact, if you're in a rush, you can skip the physical altogether.

Technically - and to actually answer your question, Anon - you can apply any mental body to anything and it will work, at least for a little while.

Specifically, all mental bodies last until they are worn down and eroded by the astral ecosystem, and the ecosystem of human thoughts (as, after all, all humans can create mental bodies - not just practitioners).

if the mental body is in harmony with its physical body, then the physical body provides support that shelters the mental body. This is like building a swimming pool at the bottom of a natural basin.

The natural curve of the land holds and supports the cement. But even if the swimming pool cement cracks, the water isn't going anywhere fast - the physical environment of the construct supports its purpose, so the effects of the construct last much longer without maintenance; and the rain supplements water in the natural basin anyway.

If the mental body is rooted in a hostile or unsupportive environment, it will fade much more quickly. This is like building a swimming pool at the top of a precarious volcano. Yes, you can do it. And it will hold water. But the extreme environment of the volcano heat cracks the cement, and when the cement cracks the water will spill out and tumble away. It may rain, but the pool is not at the bottom of a basin to collect rain - it will only get what falls right into it.

When people talk about "you don't need any tools or ingredients, all you need for magic is yourself and your energy," in my praxis what they are probably saying is, "you don't need the physical body of objects; you can skip that and work only with mental structures that you directly energize."

And this is true. You can attach mental bodies to anything, regardless of their suitability to host that type of magic.

If all of this is true, then which found rocks are the best for any given purpose?

I think starting with rocks that you associate with things (like solid protection, or the moon) is a very good start.

Work enough with found objects and perhaps you will find a system developing for yourself; rocks with a bluish tint always seem well-suited for hosting the Moon, and big heavy black rocks with mica sparkles always seem best for protection, and so on.

However, more work can always be done.

In my opinion, the single most impactful thing the average practitioner can do to increase the power and efficacy of a spell is to just decorate the physical spell vessel in alignment with the spell intent.

If you have a nice sturdy rock and you paint a protective symbol on it, then the mythical landscape of that rock changes. It becomes an environment more in harmony with a protective mental body.

Please forgive me as we delve here a little deeper:

What is the ideal form of your protective spell? Should it be like a placid moat that becomes infinitely wide and confusingly misty for intruders?

This is different from a protection which is like a goat made of fire which has a battle scream and headbutts intruders.

These two protections ought to have different physical bodies, because they are very different things.

Still you would choose the rock based on initial impressions: "doesn't this rock sort of remind you of an angry goat?"

But then you can take it home and paint it.

The symbols you choose for the placid moat might include the color blue, long waving lines, the alchemical symbol for water, and the symbol of the moon to represent illusions; words themselves make good decorations, as do sigils. (Painting the physical body with a symbol that directly translates into the mental body... a good decoration, I think).

All of these decorations terraform the mythical landscape of the stone to prepare it to hold the mental construct. And indeed, as you decorate the stone, you are also simultaneously building the mental body.

But you don't necessarily need to create permanent changes. Using knot magic and tying up the stone in a net, adding it to a jar or pouch with other ingredients, or placing it on top of specially prepared sigils or artwork can also function as decorations that modify the physical body.

Then, when the time for enchantment comes, I hazard your found stone will make a significantly better protection than someone who just bought and cleansed some celestite off of Etsy.

But what about the chemical composition of the stone? There are always attributes in any object we can't change.

Stones are slow and heavy. To me, at least. I'm never going to decorate a stone hard enough that it doesn't make a spell slower and heavier.

But at a certain point, the details become fine enough that they stop having an impact.

What if the refined white sugar I use is beet sugar, not cane sugar? What if the sugar beet was from a heritage cultivar, not a modern one? What if the cultivar of the beet was genetically modified? What if the package of brown sugar from beets is dark brown sugar, not light brown sugar?

To me, it's brown sugar.

To me, it's a heavy black rock with some mica in it.

You can go all the way down if you want. You can get really into isotope witchcraft, that would be cool.

But once I paint a big red X on it, I believe most of those fine details are superseded.

And even if you don't want to modify the physical body at all, you can attach a mental body to anything.

Once you develop your path enough to get symbols that directly link the physical to the mental (like, wolves mean protection, and red means protection, and an X means protection), you can start to really modify physical vessels to very closely match the intent of the spell.

And when the physical vessel and the intent are totally harmonized, and you add magical/astral energies that are lockstep with intent and form, the floodgates are opened and magic starts flowing through in very powerful ways.

But not all spells need to be like powerful, raging rivers.

You can dig a pond into any object, and fill it with energy. If it's a bad spot you will probably have to keep reconditioning the pond and hauling water to it, but it'll still work.

[ravenrook]

reminder that animals have their own spirits that can be venerated in their own right. I've recognized a tendency in myself and many others that if an animal is significant to us, we go looking for a deity related to that animal. this may be fruitful—I came to know Venus through the doves outside my window—but it can also just complicate things. for all that time spent wondering if this crow is a sign from a deity, you could be enjoying the company of the crow itself.

thanks and blessings to the spirit of the vulture who watches over my doorway for teaching me this lesson.

[tombsaint]

on death with 1. lilies abounded, @petfurniture, twitter; 2. frances molina, “o’death”

[1anonyymous1]

nobody is coming to save you. get up

[thedruidsforest]

How could you NOT fall in love with the glow of the moon and stars, the warmth of the sun, the ancient life within the trees, and the sweet melodies of the winds?

[creature-wizard]

"If thing has scientific explanation then thing no longer feels magical" - skill issue.

[nyxshadowhawk]

Fifteenth century tarot cards, possibly the oldest known deck. Look how beautiful they are! These are from way back before they were used for cartomancy.

[lavender-pebbles]

Looking for advice for a binding spell to be used on a trickster spirit that has been causing problems in my home. We have tried reasoning with them and being diplomatic but they are not respecting our house rules so we are going to try a binding spell, as they have been there longer than we have and we’d prefer to not banish them if we can avoid it.

My current plan is to create an effigy to represent the spirit, bind it in thread or rope and place it inside a container sealed in wax. I think I will put a paper inside the container that says the conditions of the spell and other materials like maybe black salt.

I would love any advice from someone who has dealt with a similar situation or just knows more than me about this type of spell :)

[cultkinkcoven]

whenever i get sad that i don’t have friends to worship and do rituals with, I remember that birds sing love songs into the sky everyday, and the grass dances in the wind when it blows. And the clouds blush at the sunset, and the wind whistles tunes, and the bees hum, and the deer trot. And then I remember that the river runs, and the flowers open themselves to the sun, and the bugs sleep on warm leaves. and as I walk and pray, perhaps the rabbits nibbling on shrubs are praying too, perhaps that’s why the spider spun her web so beautifully. and then I remember that I’m not worshipping alone. I never was.

[angel-void]

St Hildegard von Bingen’s Litterae Ignotae, an alphabet of her crafted mystical language Lingua Ignota. She was a 12th century nun, a mystic who experienced visions from God, a writer, and a composer of hymns.

[forestofsprites]

as if nature isn't the most prolific storyteller out there!! with her layers of sediment and mountain-top fossils. with her trodden down paths and carved out river beds. with her fresh springs and billowing waterfalls. rotting branches and hollowed tree trunks... creeping coastlines and collapsing cliff faces... a living record of time immemorial; both an archiver and witness!!

[sweatermuppet]

thank u earth for leather & fur & sex & pottery & laughter & rain & the lilac bush & hay in a field & cows to eat the hay & thank u earth for a perfect view of the moon