Erin ❤

22 • ♓☀️, ♊🌙, ♋⬆️ • lover of crystals, Bastet, and all other things witchy • find my witchy blog on Instagram at redheadedwitchlady

[redheaded-witchlady]

I don't know who made these but I absolutely love them. ❤❤❤

[starsandepithets]

hiya! I'm a Bastet devotee, but I'm a little confused.. Ive got a bunch of things on her altar already, but I dont think she likes them too much.. any ideas on what to offer her?? I'm kind of stumped. Ive got jewelry of all kinds I can think of, red cloth for her to sit on if she wants, and lots of cat figurines, and some makeup. Im thinking rose oil?? or is that a bad idea.. I dunno. Help??

Hello!

First off I would ask why you think she doesn’t like your offerings? Have you asked her yourself? It’s a perfect question for divination :)

To divine the answer, you can ask cards or pendulums if you like. Or ask a diviner to help you. My personal way is to hover my right hand over each of the offerings and if it get a pain/discomfort in my wrist then I remove the offering - this has been my easy divining method for years, starting with how I picked gemstones when I was just starting out. It’s honestly up to you :D

Other reasons why she might not like your offerings:

☀️ they’ve been left to get dusty, dirty. Maybe you spilled something on them without knowing. If they’re permanent offerings, give them all a good clean and put them back on your altar.

☀️ if you feel like over time she has gradually started disliking your offerings. Maybe it’s time to revert or remove them and find something new. If the offerings are edible or usable in anyway, let Bastet know you’re taking them and then use them normally. If they’re not, let Bastet know they are taking them and then dispose of them in the best way - in AE things tended to be buried or burnt in the temple grounds. But please be environmentally friendly, don’t bury or burn plastics for example. Recycling will do :)

☀️☀️☀️

For new offerings the typical two are bread and cool water, but you can also offer:

[these are all ideas and none are necessary]

☀️ perfume ☀️ jewellery ☀️ knives☀️ sistrum or tambourine ☀️ cucumber ☀️ flowers☀️ carnelian ☀️ tigers eye/ cats eye☀️ alcohol

Active offerings:

☀️ writing hymns, prayers and poetry in honour of Bastet☀️ donating to appropriate charities, like car charities, domestic abuse charities or even donating to charities based in Egypt ☀️ self care ☀️ dedicating learning an appropriate skill or hobby to Bastet, like perfume making ☀️ growing flowers or aromatic herbs

☀️☀️☀️

But saying all that, you say you are thinking of offering rose oil. Which I would say go for, because you’re already thinking of doing it. Rose oil fits as a perfume and you may be thinking of offering it to Bastet, because Bastet has been nudging you to offer it to her.

If you have the equipment, skills, time and energy, it might also be fun to make the rose oil that you want to offer. This would be a double offering of the rose oil and honouring Bastet as the Mistress of Perfume Makers :)

☀️☀️☀️

I hope this was helpful and please let me know if anything I’ve said doesn’t make any sense!

[laylawolfwind]

Updated my altar space!!

Altar portion is still relatively the same but I bought a new shelving unit from IKEA and decluttered my work space so now I dont need to do spell work on the floor lmao. Plus my plants like the higher shelves where my kitty Gandalf cant get them.

What’s in my space:

*Altar to Bastet with various gems, statues and perfumes/scented bottles. *Otter, raven, domestic dog, partridge and junco skulls. *Deer antlers *Plants!!!! *Obsidian rune set *Tarot cards in box that also contains special ink pens and the skeleton of a baby bird - species unknown *Book to write down personal readings *Fox tail *Twin raven candle holders *Various gems *Teapot and cup for offerings to Bastet *So many candles *Books *Drawing of Anubis I did *TY plushie that holds my familiar. His name is Faramir *Incense and burner *Wolf plate on the wall above my altar is a guardian of sorts. She protects my home. *Below my altar is a wicker chest with misc ingredients, spell bottles and jars of moon water.

That’s about it. I feel so good in this space.

[whitemoonkitteh-blog]

Honoring Bastet

Want to honor Bastet? Please keep your negative comments to yourself. These are ways I personally honor Bastet. Please add to the list if you have other ideas on how to honor Bastet.

❤Give her offerings of chocolate, mint leaves, honey, milk, cream, catnip, yogurt, ice cream, anything dairy, cheese, carmel, vanilla, sushi, peppermint, and red wine.

❤Write a paper pouring your heart out to her, how she inspired you, why you love her, etc.

❤Buy a small fountain or something with flowing water for her.

❤Go to the zoo and stare at the wild cats.

❤Dedicate putting on your perfume or anything sweet smelling to her.

❤Dedicate any home protection spells to her. She is the goddess of protecting the home.

❤Help people who are dying, she was a guide and helper to the dead.

❤Dedicate putting on any protective ointments to her as she is associated with protective ointments.

❤If your a women, tell your secrets to Bastet. Bastet is the goddess of women’s secrets.

❤Visit the cats at your local shelters and pounds and pet them, give them, attention, and volunteer to help out.

❤Make a sigil for Bastet.

❤Make a moodboard in honor of Bastet.

❤Sing a song dedicated to Bastet.

❤Decorate your altar with peacock feathers, daggers, swords, sheer fabric, all sorts of glass, representations of cats, jewelry, baskets, flowers, cat stuffed animals, the ankh, and bells.

❤Go outside and feel the sun against your skin.

❤Dedicate your gym session to her. Imagine your a war goddess just like her and fight your workout like a warrior.

❤Dedicate your outfit to her, dress in the colors green, gold, black, orange, yellow and/or red.

❤Place roses on your altar as an offering.

❤Pray to her.

❤Plant roses, lotus, lily, daisies, edible flowers, or sunflowers in honor of her.

❤Create artwork for her.

❤Light incense, candles, or use oils of jasmine, rose, strawberry, lavender, cinnamon, vanilla, pumpkin spice, mint, peppermint, eucalyptus, lotus, sandalwood, and berryblossom.

❤Write a poem about her.

❤Create an online shrine of her.

❤Set up an altar dedicated to her.

❤If you’re thinking of buying a cat, look for a cat at shelters and pounds first, rescue a little baby.

❤Donate money to animal shelters and pounds.

❤If you’re pregnant and in labor go to Bastet for help. She is the goddess of childbirth.

❤If you’re trying to get pregnant ask Bastet for help. She is the goddess of fertility.

❤Offer rose water to her.

❤Dedicate a piece of malachite, abalone shell, dark pearl, opal, hematite, obsidian, copper, lapiz lazuli, amber, aventurine, bornite, cat’s eye, tiger’s eye, labradorite, or gold to her.

❤Make some catnip tea in honor of her.

[redheaded-witchlady]

Still love this info. ❤❤❤

[scaredykyleisgonnagosoon]

YOU'RE AN ASSHAT AND YOU NEED TO REALIZE IT YOU FUCKING PEICE OF GARBAGE spell

Because we will all need this at some point in our lives.

Materials: poppet (I’m using one of paper) Black candle Mirror Pen (and sticky notes, if you can’t write directly on poppet)

Instructions: Make a poppet to represent the person. (I’m using paper due to convenience, and a lack of better material.) Make them look like the person as best you can. Add any imagery/symbolism that you associate with them.

Carve their name and any other appropriate symbols into the candle and light it.

Once complete. Write down everything about the person you want them to realize either directly on the doll or on sticky notes that you will put on them. (I’m using “hypocrite” “mean spirited” “self centered” and “petty”)

Have the poppet face the mirror and look at all of the things they are. Put your will into making them really see these qualities in themselves.

Keep the doll there until the candle is almost finished burning, and then, with what flame is left, burn the doll, and dispose of the ashes however you wish. Let the candle finish on its own.

ALTERNATIVE TO BURNING: Keep the doll in front of the mirror until the candle burns out, and then throw it away or flush it down the toilet, because they are acting like garbage and a peice of shit so might as well treat it like such.

[nowyoukno]

[fangirling-so-hard-rn]

Crows are scary They

use tools

Can be taught to speak (like parrots)

Have huge brains for birds

like seriously their brain-to-body size ratio is equal to that of a chimpanzee

They vocalize anger, sadness, or happiness in response to things

they are scary smart at solving puzzles

some crows stay with their mates until one of them dies

they can remember faces

SIDENOTE HERE BECAUSE HOLY SHIT.  They did an experiment where these guys wore masks and some of them fucked with crows.  Pretty soon the crows recognized the masks = douchebag.  But the nice guys with masks they left alone.  THEN, OH WE’RE NOT DONE, NO SIR crows that WEREN’T EVEN IN THE EXPERIMENT AND NEVER SAW THE MASK BEFORE knew about mask-dudes and attacked them on sight.  THEY PASSED ON THE FUCKING INFORMATION TO THEIR CROW BUDDIES.

They remember places where crows were killed by farmers and change their migration patterns.

Guys I’m really scared of crows now. (q) 

[doctormemelordmd]

Yeah but have you seen this 

[stultiloquentia]

A colleague of my dad’s lives next to a lake, and looked out the window one morning to see a duck trapped in the ice. A crow swooped down. “Oh hell,” she thought, expecting carnage, because crows are opportunists. But the crow chipped at the ice with its beak until the duck was free.

[warwyrd-deactivated20170724]

Idk of this counts but a few crows saved me from a magpie swooping attack once ,they’re bros who can tell when magpies are being unreasonable and need to chill

[reallymisscoffee]

I love crows so damn much. When I was fifteen, I hit a pretty serious bout of depression, to the point I was in my room for months. Well, a family of crows made a nest in a tree outside my window. There were two parents and two chicks. One chick was healthy and strong. One was weak, and had a caw like something being strained. It sounded more like a rooster crowing and so my parents jokingly named him ‘Buck’.Well… months passed and Buck’s sibling was taught to fly. His parents focused on the sibling because the sibling was strong. The father stayed behind to try and teach Buck, but I saw him try to fly, fail, and crash to the floor. His father helped him back up into the tree.

Every day, I would watch Buck from my window until one day I opened it and started talking to him. He was small and gangly and he couldn’t caw right. His feathers were all over the place and I felt a kinship. So I made a deal with him. I told him that if he could do it, if he could fly, then I could find the strength to get up. Well… near the end of the season, after talking with him every day, I finally saw him get out of the nest. He went to the edge of his branch, braced himself, and jumped… and just before he hit the ground, he soared back up into the sky. I cheered harder than I ever had before.

That winter, Buck left the area. I was crestfallen. I felt like I’d lost a friend. But I was so damn proud of him. 

Cut to the next spring? I’m walking up the driveway one day when suddenly I hear a sound… a broken caw. I look up, and Buck is sitting in a tree above my head. He stared at me and puffed his feathers, then hopped down in front of me and cawed again. I was so damn thrilled, and I told him how proud I was of him. He ruffled his feathers and then soared off into his old tree. 

That summer? I heard two broken caws. One from Buck… and one from his chick.

Cut to ten years later? We have a family of crows who all have a very distinct caw and they come here and spend every spring, summer, and fall on our property. Buck still greets me every spring.

[ruggie-bucchis]

that last reply made me wanna cry. that’s so beautiful.

[avianawareness]

Don’t forget the Russian Crow SLEDDING DOWN A ROOF not once, but twice. 

[odpixel]

this one morning i kept hearing really loud caws, i remember it was like 5am, LIKE REALLY LOUD AND ANNOYING AND AGGRESSIVE, so loud that i could hear it through a closed window, and i eventually went outside to check it out. there was a crow on my front lawn, it had an injury on its head and couldn’t fly and there were two other crows circling right above it, and they were cawing like mad. 

i tried to get close and take a better look and one of them dived super low and tried to attack me. so i went back in the house and chopped some sliced raw meat and tossed it at him from a distance.

a few more times later, very soon after, they could tell i was trying to help, and did not attack me. i was “allowed” to walk up close and pick him up, he couldn’t drink water properly so i had to dip my finger in a bowl and stick it in his mouth.

i did this few times a day and it went on for about a week before he disappeared, i thought he recovered and left, but he came back the next day and lands on me, and i see him around the block quite often, and he would come sit on my shoulder for a few minutes and then fly away again. i feel like i’ve adopted a son.

[lilith-knight]

Best birbs !!

[dumbbbunnnyy-deactivated2021021]

Rabbits & Witchcraft 🐰

It seems as though the commonly associated animal with witchcraft or witches are black cats or cats in general but let me tell you a little bit about rabbits and their magickal associations, plus some superstitions about rabbits.

Traditionally, rabbits are the most prominent animal that is associated with witchcraft, but cats have since taken their place.

Rabbits are associated with lunar energy, luck, hidden knowledge, divination, love, creativity, success, sensitivity, agility, swiftness, spontaneity, abundance, rebirth, renewal, transformation, and fertility.

In some folklore, it is said that witches would transform into rabbits as a disguise due to their elusive and swift characteristics.

Rabbits are still considered to be a common familiar for witches.

Rabbits are symbols that represent various goddesses, such as Artemis, Hecate, Cerridwen, Freyja, Holda, Kalta, Ostara, and Eostre.

One of the classic 48 constellations as named by Ptolemy is Lepus, the hare.

Rabbits are associated with spring, the vernal equinox, and the sabbat Ostara due to the fact that cold weather is fading and flowers are beginning to bloom.

While rabbits are associated with luck, it’s not inherently good or bad luck - it can be either depending on the circumstances. Some superstitions say that if a black rabbit crosses your path, you’ll have good luck, and if a white rabbit crosses your path, you’ll have bad luck.

Other superstitions state that rabbits can dispel negativity, cleanse, and break spells or wards.

Rabbit’s hind feet, specifically the left one, are said to be lucky when carried on one’s person. (No, I do not condone the unethical harvest of any animal parts)

[moonlightacademy]

Keeping Yourself Protected

Ways to provide protection from spiritual and physical beings:

Make a witches bottle: They provide you with protection against curses, hexes, and spells sent your way as well as to protect your property and possessions.  

Salt circle: A salt circle provides the person inside with protection from negative entities and demons. Line your window sills and door way entrances with salt to create an impenetrable barrier.      

Iron: Repels evil.Three iron nails driven into a doorway or window sill will block negativity from entering your home. Note: Iron repels Fae!

Plants: Some plants have protective properties. 

Ask your deity for protection

Mint leaves in your shoes protects you from curses

Put pepper in protection sachets to protect against magickal attacks.

Burn bay leaves to reverse curses

Scrawl your home and clothes with protective sigils

Quartz Crystals: Provides protection.

Visualization

Paint your front porch blue to ward off ghosts:They fear water so this may confuse them.

Hang an upside down horse shoe above your door: to ward off evil spirits.

Hang wind chimes around your home: To scare off bad spirits

Nazar or evil eye: Protects your home from bad luck.   

Rowan: Two branches from rowan trees bound together with red thread in the shape of a cross. It provides protection when hung above doorways, according to celtic traditions.

Arrowheads: Placed above your door will help keep burglars and unwanted guests out.

Cinnamon Sticks: Tied over the door will protect your home.

Rosemary wreath: A wreath of rosemary bound with green thread can provide your home with protection. Add other plants that correspond with protection as well. 

Ivy: Grown up your house provides protection,

Mistletoe: Hung in the house protects it from thunder and lightning.

Acorn: According to Norse mythology, placing an acorn on the window sill protects the home from being struck by lightning. 

Pine branch: Where it for protection.

Create your own protection amulet

Place mirrors around your home to deflect the evil eye  

Sources: Charissascaulderon.com, scribol.com                                  

Stay safe and have a Happy New Year!

==Moonlight Academy==    

[crowofwaranddeath-blog]

                                           CERRIDWEN

Ceridwen (pronounced [kɛrˈɪdwɛn] Cer-id-wen ) was an enchantress in Welsh medieval legend. She was the mother of a hideous son, Morfran, and a beautiful daughter, Creirwy. Her husband was Tegid Foel, and they lived near Bala Lake (Llyn Tegid) in north Wales. Medieval Welsh poetry refers to her as possessing the cauldron of poetic inspiration (Awen) and the Tale of Taliesin recounts her swallowing her servant Gwion Bach who is then reborn through her as the poet Taliesin. Ceridwen is regarded by many modern Pagans as the Celtic goddess of rebirth, transformation, and inspiration.

[possumistic]

If you see this

You were visited by the magic kitten of rest. Reblog to have a good night’s sleep.

[truckhole-deactivated20181203]

i complimented an old lady customer’s little round glasses and she said “why thank you! someone told me they had a ‘steampunk look’. i haven’t been called a punk in a long time, much less a steamy one!” i’m flatlining

[fsthhdwefg-deactivated20180515]

This is so pure

[floralwaterwitch]

I enchanted my nail polish and added some herbs for a spell that’s always with me 🙊 I just used lavender flowers and rose petals but I’m really proud of how well they turned out 🌾🌸

instagram | patreon | shop | blog

[floralwaterwitch]

I finalllly made a tutorial for this ritual as well as for these floral spell nails!! ✨

[fw98]

Crash course on fake stones/misrepresentations

Because I have been too lazy to type this all up.

Quartz:

If your quartz has teeny air bubbles it’s glass.

If it’s got a fruit name it’s dyed. End of story. (strawberry, cherry, lemon, pineapple, blueberry) yes there may be some very rare exceptions-fire quartz being dubbed strawberry- but due to the rise in fakes with that name it’s generally called fire quartz now.

Aura quartz is a regular quartz that’s been bonded with another material. (man made)

Cinnabar Infused Quartz usually reconstituted and mixed together to make a red crystal.

Green quartz can be grown in a lab and anything that forrest green color is

Turquoise:

Magnesite and howlite look very very similar to turquoise when they’ve been dyed, magnesite will have very deep cracks in it though.

No there is no white turquoise. 

You can do a uv test to see if it’s real

Amber

Often faked with Copal. They look nearly identical.

Amber will float in salt water-copal will not.

Irradiated/dyed stones:

Very vibrant colors!!

Irradiated: (they irradiate the crystals to get a deeper or more vibrant color)

deeply pigmented topaz or kunzite

dark (almost black) smokey quartz 

very deep pink or red tourmaline 

colored diamonds 

some cultured pearls 

vibrant yellow heliodor 

Dyed:

Pearls

Agate

coral

other stones may be dyed as well, generally if it looks fake..it is.

Heat treated stones: (really not a bad thing but if you’re going for natural)

Amethyst-lighten color+remove brown

Citrine-heat treated amethyst.

Aquamarine-remove green

Ruby-clearer stone 

Sapphire-clearer stone

Rainbow Cal-Silica

Nope, completely fake 100%

Literally just car paint layered with calcite and resin.

Citrine: (im so sorry)

Much of the citrine on the market is lab made.

If it’s lab made it’s usually amethyst that’s been heated until it changes color

The bottom of these stones will be white with more color at the tips.

srry

Lapis Lazuli:

High quality is vibrant blue, hard to come by, and very expensive.

Low quality howlite, jasper or sodalite is dyed blue, and passed off as lapis.

Acetone will remove the dye but damage the stone.

Obsidian:

The clear green obsidian you see all over ebay is slag glass.

Natural green obsidian has been found but it is opaque and is more gray than green.

there is red obsidian as well but again, it’s not a vibrant red and is more brick colored.

Wikipedia is not always right.

Goldstone:

it’s glass it’s legitimately just glass

Opalite:

also glass. 

real opalite exists but it’s green and not commonly found

once again, don’t believe everything on wikipedia.

Bismuth:

Doesn’t naturally form in the crystals, lab made!!!

rlly pretty though

Hematite:

Not naturally magnetic!

Magnetic hematite is 100% man made!

I’ll add more as I come across them~

[fw98]

Jade:

Real jade is p. heavy! A way to tell if it is real is that it’ll be heavier than it looks.

Jade is faked with the following:

Serpentine “New Jade” or “Olive Jade”

Prehnite

Aventurine quartz

Grossular garnet “Transvaal jade”

Chrysoprase “Australian jade”

Malaysia Jade- dyed quartz that may be called by its color – Red Jade, Yellow Jade, Blue Jade

Opaque dolomite marble “Mountain Jade” (usually dyed)

Dragon vein agate: 

Quench cracked, bleached, and dyed agate and some is quench cracked, and dyed glass.

Snowflake obsidian:

Being faked with a very low grade cheap dalmatian jasper.!

Snowflake will be gray while Dalmatian should have a lighter color

Hollow galena:

A lot of pieces have been proven to have been faked through sand blasting + similar techniques (but there may be real ones I’m not 100%)

Charoite:

Chinese Charoite doesn’t exist.

If it’s called that then it’s not real, real charoite isn’t banded and is more swirly.

Moldavite:

Very very commonly faked!!

Biggest giveaway is the ‘wet’ look a faked piece has due to the molding process

White moldavite doesn’t exist!!

Sunspar:

It’s really just yellow Labradorite, which isn’t a v rare gem

[murmuring-forests]

I know some people don’t mind man-made/altered crystals and stones, but I prefer them as natural as I can manage!

[astro-signs]

Astro Notes - pt 17 PAST LIVES V2.0

As I said from my first post (PART 1 HERE) this is a big, and pretty murky topic. It’s super up to the individual and no I can’t tell you what your past life was based on your placements. Honestly, the memory resides in your soul so meditate or see a medium or someone who can take you through a past life regression. You are on Earth to have an Earthly experience and learn from this planet. 

Please note that the below are my observations from chart-readings and what I have found throughout my studies. 

- The degree in which a sign is displays how much ‘learning’ your soul has done (e.g. cancer sun at the 27th degree: you’ve done lotsa ‘learning’ but it’s not complete. Same with Anaretic degrees lol. Still learning!!!!!!!!)

- Speaking of Anaretic degrees, there are theories that when you were born, you had to make a split decision as to what sign you were to be born in and where your energy would be held, often giving the feelings of being ‘torn’. This mostly goes for personal planets but could easily go for the outer planets too - especially if they aspect personal planets in your chart.

- Retrogrades in a chart can signify what you are bringing over from a previous lifetime, and the house that it’s in represents what area you need to learn. Balancing your karma and mastery of these areas is likely to be a subconscious focus throughout your life.

- Your South node in your chart is a sweet spot from a previous lifetime/s that you are bringing into this one (the good and the bad lol). It’s where you feel like you belong, but use this energy to leap into your North node!! 

- Your North node represents what your soul is also destined to learn, forcing you to reach out of your comfy south node state. It’s an activation of your life’s mission. 

- Ppl with the same nodes as you may feel v comfy and home-like to you, as you are learning similar things and are probs part of the same ‘soul tribe’ on this planet. 

- Those with lots of pluto aspects (espec. to sun or saturn) are said to have a lot of past life energy, where the ego needs to be constantly broken down and transformed, or limitations are always challenged. 

- 9th house or sagittarius moons may feel like they have ‘itchy feet’ as there are theories these individuals have been scholars or travellers in past lives and may feel like they just want to ‘go home’ - wherever that may be to continue teaching and learning.

- Heavily aspected or lots of planets/energy in the 4th, 8th, and 12th houses can also give the feeling that these individuals ‘don’t belong’ and also just want to ‘go home’ where it feels more comfortable. There is often a long process to get them feeling at home on Earth, it’s recommended individuals with these placements meditate frequently to stay grounded.

- Aquarius has often been connected with Atlantis, with the use of Energy with Crystals and innovative techniques. Personal planets in Aquarius (or those with Uranus in Aquarius) may resonate very strongly with Atlantean energy, crystals, electricity, or the energetic fields of Earth. 

[eclectic-wix]

Eclectic-Wix Follower Giveaway

~ This giveaway is not affiliated with Tumblr ~

Please read rules before entering

To celebrate a few things converging in my life (graduating from uni, hitting a new follower milestone on this blog, and the coming of summer) I’ve decided to do my very first follower giveaway!

Prize: Mini/ Travel Altar

Small painted wooden box with a silver triple moon on the inside of the lid and a clasp

Medium crystal chips (fluorite, snowflake obsidian, moon quartz) in small glass bottle

Small crystal chips (rose quartz, Lapis, moonstone, clear quartz, red jasper, amethyst, ukanite) in small glass bottle

Jasper pendulum

Aventurine pendulum

Coloured cake candles (green, blue, gold, red, purple) x2

White tealight x3

Pale green mini altar cloth

Lavender incense cone x2

Salt

Rosemary

Small sea shell

Rules:

Must be following me (as this is a follower giveaway) - if posting to a side blog please write in the tags the blog you follow me with.

Must be living in either Canada or the US (unless you are willing to pay for shipping outside of these two countries - I’m sorry but I don’t have the money to ship internationally).

Reblogs and likes both count as entries. You may reblog as many times as you like but try not to spam your followers. No giveaway or spam blogs.

Please DO NOT tag this post as a giveaway otherwise it has the chance of being taken down by tumblr.

The winner must reply within 72 hours (3 days) with their full name and shipping address.

Giveaway ends Tuesday May 15th 2018 at 11:59pm(MST)

Each entry will be assigned a number and the winner will be randomly selected with a generator.

[sapphire-crimson-claw-archive-d]

Traditions of Beltane: oatmeal

I’m reading this Wikipedia page and I’m finding some really cute, simple things to do for Beltane.

I don’t have the means of making a bonfire, as I live in a suburb.

It’s also been too damn cold to grow any flowers yet this year.

So what I’m going to do is make some of these traditional foods:

a caudle made from eggs, butter, oatmeal and milk was cooked on the bonfire. Some of the mixture was poured on the ground as a libation. Everyone present would then take an oatmeal cake, called the bannoch Bealltainn or “Beltane bannock”. A bit of it was offered to the spirits to protect their livestock (one bit to protect the horses, one bit to protect the sheep, and so forth) and a bit was offered to each of the animals that might harm their livestock (one to the fox, one to the eagle, and so forth). Afterwards, they would drink the caudle.

You can also offer some milk to the fae.

Dew is also a very important aspect of Beltane:

The first water drawn from a well on Beltane was seen as being especially potent, as was Beltane morning dew. At dawn on Beltane, maidens would roll in the dew or wash their faces with it. It would also be collected in a jar, left in the sunlight, and then filtered. The dew was thought to increase sexual attractiveness, maintain youthfulness, and help with skin ailments.

If, however, you do have access to some flowers, make sure they are yellow! Yellow flowers like rowan, primrose, and marigolds are associated with fire. 

[beclectic-witch-moved]

Altar Tips for Beginners

Okay, so you’re a baby witch and you come to Tumblr looking for references on setting up your altar. There tend to be two extremes: People telling you exactly what they think must be included in an altar and then people telling you that you can set it up however you want.

While I agree that you can and should set up your altar in a way you want (there’s no right or wrong way to do it), sometimes when you’re just starting out, it’s hard to figure out what the heck to actually put on there. I know from experience. Here are some ideas for things to include on a beginner altar, utilizing items you might already have around the house!

A tablecloth, place mat, old t-shirt, etc. all work well for an altar cloth.

If you have a tarot deck, you can place it somewhere on the altar. You can also pick specific cards to feature around your altar, like The Empress to represent fertility, etc.

Rocks look great on altars! Even random rocks you dug out of your backyard! (Although you may want to clean them off first.)

While they might not look very fancy, you can put storebought containers of dried spices on your altar for easy-access. You could always switch them to nice jars or something if you want the aesthetic.

I like to put flowers and leaves on my altar because they help me feel more connected to nature. Fake flowers from a craft store are great too because they don’t wilt and they don’t trigger allergies!

Any magical item that you own and work with can go on your altar! This includes pendulums, spirit boards, scrying mirrors, etc. Remember that these don’t have to be fancy one-of-a-kind tools. You could even use that one dollar-store necklace you’ve been inexplicably holding onto since your third-grade birthday party as a pendulum.

Shiny things. Beads, gems, tinsel, metal cans, idk. I like to put shiny things on my altar. I swear I’m not several birds in a trenchcoat.

Have you ever found something random on the side of the street and kept it? Like a broken keychain or a shiny penny? I like putting those on my altar. They feel special, like I found them for a reason. One time I found a tiny broken ceramic bear head half-buried in my front yard. Obviously that’s gotta be magical, right?

Candles!!! You can never have too many candles. Especially fake candles. No fire hazards! Yay!

Feel free to add more! Remember the choice of what you put on your altar ultimately goes to you, but if you’re at a loss, I thought I’d offer some suggestions!