#basic magick

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How I do dream divination

One way that I love to do divination is by analyzing my dreams! This can be very hard, because the first step is to remember your dreams. It’s a skill that takes a while to get the hang of, but once you do have it. It will help with opening a new door of divination experience to you.

What is dream divination?

First let’s go over what dream divination is and isn’t. Dream divination is exactly what it sounds and reads like. Doing divination with the dreams that you remember or that stick out to you. Dream divination is not divinating every dream. Sometimes you have dreams that are meant to be interpreted and sometimes you dream to just dream. The brain is weird and amazing at the same time, but not everything is spiritual and is just your brain just doing brain things.

Is dream divination safe? Is it beginner friendly?

Is it safe? Yes and no. Don’t worry you won’t get hurt physically. But, I believe that when we are sleeping we are at one of our most vulnerable states spiritually. It is to me like basically opening a door to let in the spirits you wish to communicate with, this could be deities, guides, angels, ancestors, etc. It only really becomes “unsafe” when you don’t close that door or have a bouncer by the door letting in who can enter and keeping out who can’t. What will happen if you don’t close that door or you don’t have a filter? In my experience is that some spirits or energies will enter my space and basically feed off me while I’m sleeping. I might get nightmares, or really weird, uncanny type dreams. And the next morning I’m more tired than I normally would be. But, nothing physical has ever happened to me. So, is it beginner safe? Yes, BUT ONLY if you know how to do basic protection.

Why do I do dream divination?

I personally love dream divination. It is something that not only works me spiritually, but mentally as well. When I am doing dream divination I am testing my memory as well as my interpretation skills. I am testing my knowledge on symbols, omens, and helping my memory improve while doing so. My spirit team which consists of my deities, guides, and spirits I work with on either the regular or have a huge impact on my practice seem to prefer communicating this way. They send me signs of lessons or messages they have for me, they will send dreams of offerings they want from me. My guides actually came to me in a dream, to answer some questions that I had for them. Aphrodite and a nature spirit both have sent me dreams of offerings and offerings rituals to tell me what they wanted.

How to do dream divination:

1. Set up some night time protections. This will not only help put a filter up for who can come talk to you, but it might also help you feel more relaxed and safe before bed. So win-win. This can be done with something basic like a crystal or little bag of protective herbs. I would also recommend using stones or herbs for divination, specifically for prophetic dreams, later to help encourage more dreams to get more practice. But, only after doing it a couple times on your own so you understand how you do dream divination.

2. Set an intention. Before, falling asleep I announce either in my head or out loud that I wish to communicate with (insert spirit) tonight in my dreams. And for them to send me signs that I will understand and recognize in my dream message. This will help whatever spirit you wish to communicate with to know you want to specifically talk to. I asked for signs that I will understand and recognize because it helped build my understanding on what to pay attention to in a dream.

3. Fall asleep, specifically REM sleep if possible. You get dreams at any point, but you get your most vivid dreams in REM sleep. But, do not worry. If you find if difficult to get into REM sleep or don’t have the most vivid dreams during REM sleep, you can still do dream divination. It can help if you know how to lucid dream, I’ve always been able to do it, but it took some time to actually get a good grip on the skill to use it to my advantage. This is not required, but might help. I’ve found that I’ve become more aware and remember more when I’m lucid dreaming. You might want to try learning that skill to try in combination with dream divination, just to see what it does for you. If you can’t do it or don’t want to, you don’t have to.

4. Figure out how your dream divination works. When you do dream divination, it is really important to be in tune with your intuition in some way. I actually find it very hard to be intuitive, so I understand if you have trouble with this. The best way to get into touch with your intuition is listening to your body. But, that’s another post for another day. When you have figured out you intuition process, apply that to your dream divination. I realized after years of doing it, mine is right when I wake up. You know the couple of seconds where you are the grumpiest person in the world if someone wakes you up too early? Yeah, that stage, is when I’m the most intuitive. When I woke up from meeting my guides I instantly thought “I just met my guides” when I had my offering dreams I thought “Aphrodite wants this”. I then felt myself reaching for my phone to write it down. I believe that whatever you remember from these dreams where you have a “this was a dream message or divination” is a message. Anything that sticks out in your memory, like the rest is murky but this one or these few parts is your message. From the smallest details to the biggest.

5. WRITE IT DOWN! This is the second most important step right behind protection. Write down your dreams. Trust me, you will not remember the details like you do 10 minutes from now or after your shower or after breakfast. Write it down immediately. Save yourself the headache.

6. Interpret. This is the fun part. From what you have written down, now is the time to pull out books, websites, other people‘s experiences. If you had a conversation with a cat look up what a cat’s significance in dreams are and what they mean in general and in other cultures, not to take their interpretation but it is always good to know, then think about the conversation. What were you talking about? How were you having the conversation? Were you interrupting the cat? Was the cat interrupting you? Think of questions like that and find the answers to them if you can.

Happy dreaming! ✨🌙🔮

[seaside-apothecary]

Beginner friendly protection jar spell

Hello, I hope you’re all doing well today. In this Post I will be going over a very simple 3 ingredient protection spell jar. This can made with everything you have in your house, particularly your kitchen. Let’s get into shall we?

For this spell you will need:

2 protective herbs and 1 protective ingredients. What is the difference in this case? Your protective herbs will be, as the name suggests, some kind of protective herb you can find in basically any green witch or kitchen witch book. Your protective ingredient will be something sharp (PLEASE BE CAREFUL, don’t hurt yourself) this can be nails, screws, sharp rocks, toothpick broken in half, thorns, glass, etc.

A jar of some kind, it can be whatever size you want. I picked a small jar I could hold in my palm, because I enjoy working with that size more.

(Optional) if you have the resources to do this option, you can add an extra oomph to your spell. Don’t worry if you don’t, your spell will still work and be a good protection spell. Protection crystal chips and clear quartz chips. You can use something like black tourmaline, amethyst, onyx, smokey quartz, carnelian chips, etc. for a protective energy. And clear quartz to amplify the energies of all the ingredients we are putting in our spell.

Steps:

Step 1. Cleanse your space and gather your ingredients. This can be done by incense, I prefer this way. But, you can use water, salt, bells, sound, or even clap your hands in a circle or just yell. Do whatever feel right for you and what amount of time feels right for you. I usually only do this for a few minutes. Gather your ingredients, make a checklist of what you need, so that you won’t be stepping out of your protection bubble and you won’t be leaving your spell alone.

Step 2. Put up protection. I will sit down and ground myself, asking the earth to give me energy to use in a protective bubble. I do this for about 5 minutes maybe more if I feel like it. I will also do some sort of crystals grid of protection, it might be complex one time or simple another. For the purpose of this spell to be simple and beginner friendly, you can just do an energetic protection and it will work just as fine. But, if you have crystals, try out a crystal grid. You never know you might enjoy doing them.

Step 3. DIVINATION AND JOURNAL. I can not emphasize this enough. Do divination before every spell, even if it is to ask if you should add something or take away something. I usually ask, if it a good idea to do this spell, what will happen if I do this spell, should I add something, should I take something away, should I rethink this spell? Doing this will help you understand where you stand with not only your spiritual team, but the universe and the ingredients you are working with. In my belief ingredients might not want to be used for that particular spell at that time, because they have their own souls. I’ve never had a protection spell backfire on me, but I have had them just not work. Asking divination can save a lot of pain and trial to find out what you did wrong or why it won’t work. Also, please Journal. This will help you in the long run, because if you deviate from the spell you wrote down you can then later see exactly how you deviated. I have a messy spell book where I write my spell down, highlight things, take notes, and change things before I put them in my nice book of shadows. In this time if you feel like you need to redo your protection, please do.

Step 4. Set up your ingredients and get to spell-working. I like to set up my ingredients in order of what I will be using what when, I set up my spell book by me so I can always go back back to it. I then cleanse my jar and lid or cork of my jar. I will then start adding my ingredients. I start by holding then in my hands, either cleanse them with smoke, sound, water, etc. I like to visual like all the energy that is in right then that does not fit the intention of protection out.

Next, you will have to charge them somehow. You can charge them with smoke, sound, energy, moonlight, etc. I use my own energy I will cup it in my hands and visualize my energy going into it with a protective intent. I will sometimes even whisper what I want it to do while doing this.

Now to building your spell. I start with my sharp ingredient, if you are using toothpicks cut or break in half so one side in flat/semi flat. If you are using screws, nails, broken glass, sharp rocks, toothpicks put them in with their point going upwards. This is because you are essentially creating a sharp barrier that will pierce, stab, and/or scare away any negativity or non beneficial things away from you. If you are using thorns, I don’t try to set them pointing up. Instead, visualize throned vines wrapping around you in the shape of a bubble. Not wrapping to your body, but creating an enclosed space around you.

Next, start adding in your herbs. My jar had a little left over olive oil that I couldn’t wash out. If you have something like that, charge it with protective energy. Now add in your protective herbs, you can use basil, bay, anise, cumin, dill, fennel, garlic, grass, mint, pine, oak, onion, pepper, rice, sage, etc. It just needs to be a protective herb. You can probably find some of these in your spice cabinet. Tip: use plants you find in your yard or outside in your neighborhood (please be safe and don’t gather from somewhere that is dangerous or illegal), using stuff around your yard or house will put some protection on your house, but in my experience will be a stronger spell because I have more a connection with the spell’s ingredients.

Step 5. Add your herbs to cover your sharp ingredient somehow, you want the sharp ingredient to be as hidden as possible. While doing this imagine you are hidden and your sharp barrier is hidden as well. Add in the rest of your herbs, at this point you can add in the crystal chips as well. If you are little more advanced, I like to add my hair or nail clipping into the jar, something that will degrade of time, to have the protection tag locked to me. Do not do this as a beginner, because you might not have other protections set up and it is, in my experience, more difficult to dismantle when you need to get rid or refresh the spell.

Step 6. Cap the spell, no need for wax or anything of the sort if you do not wish to or can’t add it. Now you are going to sit for about 5 minutes or longer and push your energetic intention into the spell. Really charge it with your energy. And don’t be discouraged if you keep feeling interrupted or feel like you can’t sit that long. I couldn’t sit that long uninterrupted in the beginning either. If you can’t sit that long, you can’t sit that long. And interruptions happen, I stutter with my incantations, get distracted by animals or bugs, and use herbs I spill while making my spells. That does not make you less of a witch.

Step 7. Divination. Before you finish and dismantle your area do another divination. Ask questions like, what can you tell me about this completed spell, should I have done more, if so, what could I have done better or more of, if not, what did I do the best? Something that will give you critiques for your next spell or the next time you do this spell.

Step 8. Dismantle your space, if it applies clear crystals and while doing this imagine your protective barrier coming down. Then ground yourself again, thank the earth for the protection it offered, and maybe even offer a little bit of your energy as thanks if you want to/ can.

Step 9. Get a snack, hydrate, and relax. Congratulations if this was your first spell! Make sure to reward yourself, even if you think it didn’t work. You learned something, you deserve a reward! If it is not your first spell. Congratulations! You finished another spell! You also deserve a reward!

Happy crafting, and remember to rest after your spell work! Blessed be!

[seaside-apothecary]

Himalayan Pink Salt

What is Himalayan pink salt?

As the name suggests it is a pink salt that is found and mined in Himalaya. However, the pink salt you find in your grocery store or dollar stores or even metaphysical shops, might be mined from Pakistani salt mines particularly the Khewra Salt Mine in Pakistan’s northern Punjab region.

Why is pink salt pink?

Pink salt gets it light pink color from the different minerals that are in it such as calcium, potassium, magnesium, copper and iron. It mainly gets it color from the iron oxide, giving it that dusty, coppery pink color. Pink salt gets it minerals from underground sea deposits, where the sea water evaporated and the tectonic plates shifted and created the mountains where the salt mines are located today.

Why is it important to know what our minerals are made out of?

It’s very important to know what our minerals are made out of. Because, depending on what it is made out of, it’s color, and structure are very important. Like with pink salt I’ve seen it used as a energetic cleanser because it is a salt, for love magick because it is pink. But, it can also be used for very strong protection magick because of its iron content. Why is iron protective? Iron is associated, at least in my practice, with Ares and Mars the god and planet of war, high emotion, and survival. It was one of the most abundant metals on earth, making it the most accessible metal for weapons and warriors. Warriors use iron weapons and shield for protection in battle. The symbols or Ares include the spear and sword, two items used in both defensive and offensive ways of protecting the wielder. Iron has also been used in many cultures as a very powerful way to ward off evil, spirits, and even the fair folk, in things like jewelry, horseshoes, idols, nails, used in cemeteries, etc. for protection.

Pink salt: you can also find it called pink halite online. Since halite is a salt mineral.

Planet: Earth, Mars (because of its iron content)

Element: Earth

Energy: Feminine

Signs: Cancer, Pieces

Deities: Ares, Aphrodite she was born of the sea and this salt gets its minerals form sea deposits. Personally I would associate it with Hestia too, because of the increase of people using it in cooking and more domestic manners.

Properties: purification, love magick, grounding work, and protection magick

How you can use it:

• Protection, you could use a pink salt rock lamp or chunks or pieces to cleanse and protect the space around it. You can put it in protection spells to help bring a nice strong protection energy to them.

• Love magick, pink is one of the colors of romance and love in my practice and many others. So you could use this salt in spells to strengthen love spells or love relationships. And for my divine feminines, salt is associated with the feminine so it might be a good idea to incorporate them into your divine feminine rituals. Like, with helping strengthening your self image or clearing your mind of self doubt.

• Grounding and cleansing, because it is a salt mineral you can of course use it in cleansing rituals, just like normal table or other sea salts it will help soak up non beneficial energy. But, pink salt and salt in general are earth elements which means you can use them in ground rituals. You can meditate with them to bond and connect with the energy of pink salt, but you can just touch and play with it. Understand how it moves, feels, and tastes this should help you ground and be in the moment. I do this when I don’t quite understand the energy of a material and what I can do with it, it helps me bond and understand what it would like to be used for.

And please remember to never throw salt out into the earth. This can hurt the plants’ roots that are there, because it hurts the soil and water quality for plants. And please watch how your body reacts to the salt. If you are using it in consumable magick pay attention if your body is telling you that you are consuming too much. Please be responsible, safe, and earth friendly with your craft. Blessed be :)

Sources:

What is pink salt? What is it made out of? Why is it pink?; source 1, source 2,

Where does pink salt come from? Source

Properties of pink salt. Source 1, source 2, source 3, source 4, source 5

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Warding and shielding for beginner witches; practitioners, and spiritual people

The third step in my four step protection ritual is warding and shielding. In this post I will talk about the what they are, why I separate them from protection itself, why you need to know how to do them, and how to do both.

Cleansing post

Banishing post

Protection post

What is warding?

Warding is something that you put up to help protect you or your space. This is usually in the form of sigils, salt rings, spells, false targets, etc.

What is shielding?

Shielding is something that is used to protect yourself and your energetic field rather than a space. This can be both physical or energetic.

Why I separate the two?

I separate the two because it is easier for me to understand. Warding I see more as something on the physical and is used to help protect ourselves and our space, PROTECTION WILL NOT SAVE YOUR LIFE PLEASE DO NOT USE IT AND PUT YOURSELF IN DANGER PROTECTION WILL NOT SAVE YOUR LIFE, while shielding works more on the energetic and metaphysical fields.

Why you should know how to do both.

You should know how to do protection because it something that is going to keep things you want out, out. And things you want in, in. It will also help keep your space clear and safe. Think of it like this, cars have crumple zone so when they get hit or get into an accident you don’t absorb all the energy and get hurt worse or have a fatal crash. Same idea with protection, you habe protection absorb all/most negativity or attacks from spirits, other practitioners, and entities. Even if your wards and shield don’t stop all of the energy or attacks, it sure as hell will cushion the amount that you do get the receiving end of. It might also heighten your intuition to help put your physical self into better situations and make better decisions and better situational awareness. But remember, protection will not save your life. Do not put yourself in dangerous situations because you have black tourmaline in your pocket, black tourmaline or any protection spell will not save your life. 

How to ward:

Here are a couple ways I ward. You can use your own intuition and methods that work best for you. But, here are a couple that I use for myself :)

--❥ 🛡 Protection sigils, I might put these on my mirrors, in my plants, in the corners of my room with crystals.

--❥ 🛡 Protective crystals,I use crystals like black tourmaline, black onyx, black obsidian, clear quartz, gold and iron pyrite, smokey quartz. I will cleanse and charge these and put them in the corners of a room, by my door to absorb non beneficial energy, under my mattress to protect me while I sleep, etc. 

--❥ 🛡 Plants, some plants have protective properties and can be used for protection when given the intention to.

--❥ 🛡 Salt and herb lines, I will use salt and herbs with protective properties and I will sprinkle this around doors and windows. 

--❥ 🛡 You can also do protective energetic work and protection spell bottles or another way.

How to shield:

I mostly work on an energetic field when shielding. Sometimes, I will do shielding on the physical though. Here are a couple ways I shield :)

--❥ 🛡 I do shielding meditations. I will sit for a couple minutes in a calm and quite environment. Then, I will imagine a light shield forming around me. This can be made out of just light, rocks, vines, leaves, plants, a house even. I set the intention of it to keep anything and everything that is not my energy out. I will also rub my hands together and feel the heat and energy build up between them, I will then use my hands and go around my body is bubble shape.

--❥ 🛡 veiling. I will wear something like bandanna, a headband, etc. something that will protect my hair and head from absorbing others’ and places’ energies.

--❥ 🛡 Protective or cleansing jewelry, crystals, sigils, etc. Anything used in warding can be used for shielding. I will use mostly protective jewelry that had been charmed for protection to protect my energetic field.

I hope this helps with creating a safe space for yourself and keeps your energy safe!

Blessed be and Happy Venus day! 💖

Sources

[seaside-apothecary]

Late night witchy thoughts #1

I just ordered a divine feminine natal chart reading from a shop on etsy. And I was reading through it, when I realized. If someone who just got into astrology or natal chart reading, they would not be able to read this without going “what?”. It was full of astrology and natal chart reading jargon that a beginner would not understand. Which is fine, not everything is made to be beginner friendly. So, if you are a beginner at reading natal charts and astrology. It might be easier for you to understand the how to videos when you know the terms and folklore behind the signs. And I’m talking all the folklore, even from different culture because that help understand the signs, the planets, and energies better.

[seaside-apothecary]

Cleansing basics for beginner witches, practitioners, and spiritual people.

One of the most important things to learn when beginning witchcraft is something beginner witches are told all the time. And that is protection is the most important skill a witch could have. But, one thing I noticed when beginning is that finding information about practitioner’s basic practices is hard, even when they do want to share it. I will go over the four important steps of protection in my practice and how I do them. Those steps are cleansing, banishing, warding/shielding, and protection. And all of these are beginner friendly and beginner safe. This post will cover what cleansing is, what cleansing is not, ways to cleanse, why you should cleanse, and when you should cleanse.

Banishing post

Warding & shielding post

Protection post

What is cleansing? What is cleansing not?

Cleansing, to put simply is to use some form of purification to release not beneficial or stagnant energy. Then, to bring in either a complete neutral field to start from ground up, or to replace with beneficial energy. Cleansing is not banishing or protection. Cleansing in my practice will not banish unwanted spirits or not welcomed guests, it will also not protect you from said spirits or guests. It will simply help with clearing your area of energy, energetic debris, and our sacred spaces. 

Why should I cleanse? When should I cleanse?

I found in my practice it is a good idea to cleanse because it helps to clear my mind and emotions. When I have not cleansed for a while my head feels heavy, foggy, and hurts I also get irritable. I think it is a good idea to cleanse before any of the other steps to truly be able to sit down with yourself and think about what you should do for the next couple of steps of the protection process. As for when, I cannot answer that for you. That is the beauty of witchcraft, you get to decide when you do your craft and how much time and energy into it. I personally try to aim for twice a week, once at the beginning and once at the end of the week. Even if it is just a few claps and squirts with my cleansing water. But, sometimes that is not realistic and I only cleanse myself and my space once a month. I like to cleanse before doing my spell work so it is just the energy I invite in for that spell at that moment. But, it is entirely up to you. If you can and want to cleanse every day, good for you. If you can only cleanse once every few months, that is fine too. Do what makes you comfortable. 

How to cleanse:

Now to the fun part. How to cleanse. There are many ways to cleanse, and picking out a way that works best for you is trial and error. Cleansing can be done by:

🌱 Smoke cleansing (not smudging or sainting, both are closed practices and not the same as smoke cleansing)

🌱 Sound cleansing

🌱 Element cleansing

🌱 Meditation

🌱 Visualization

🌱 Sweeping or movement m

🌱 Salt

🌱 Fire

🌱 Praying

🌱 Cleaning 

The list is endless, these are a few basics and a few are umbrella ways of cleansing. Cleansing is something so personal and it can be changed to fit what you do. A basic and safest way of cleansing for beginners is sound. There is no fire involved so not danger of your house burning down or you getting burnt. But, sound cleansing can be as simple as a song being played that makes you feel light and air like, or clapping a couple times with intent, or singing, or banging some books together. Very cheap and basic and no danger of damage to yourself or your property. 

Another way to find out what cleansing method might work for you is based on astrology. I am a Libra sun, with a Gemini moon and my leading planet of my chart is Saturn. All are air elements, so I find smoke cleansing and sound cleansing to be very beneficial for me. If you are an earth sign salt and meditation might work better for you, fire sign fire and chanting, water signs water and visualization. Just test out new ways to cleanse and document how each method did or did not help. And, it is okay if it does not work or help. That does not make you a fake or bad witch. It makes you a learning and improving witch, the best kind. Blessed be 🌒🌕🌘

Sources

[funkystou]

When you need express calmness, when there is tension and a bad vibe in the air and you don't have the time for a full cleansing ritual, just light a white candle. Ask it to chase that bad mood away, to bring light and warmth into your home and your heart. Thank it when you snuff it out.

[sundayinc-blog]

Simple Tips for Strengthening Your Powers

*for beginner witches, or witches who feel themselves slipping in their Craft!

- daily meditation (especially with charged crystals!)

- daily journaling

- taking care of plants (even succulents! they’re easy to take care of and they really love you back)

- making 1 daily sigil and casting it

- charging your drinking water in the sunlight/moonlight

- visualizing yourself being cleansed of negative energies in the shower

-spending time around an animal you love

feel free to add on!