Tea & Rabbits

Rambles About Tyr, The Wolf, Frigga, and My Life.

[tea-rabbits]

Fruits of Your Craft

What was the most intense or effective magical experience of your life?

I did a spiral dance with about a hundred people at a festival. I’ve got to say, the power raised during that was absolutely awe-inspiring.

[tea-rabbits]

Fruits of Your Craft

5. How long have you been practicing witchcraft and why do you think you kept at it?

I began exploring paganism in high school and started exploring the magical/ritual side of that in Senior year of high school and Freshman year of college.

I don’t do magic a lot, but it’s been an on and off part of my spirituality since about 2010.

[tea-rabbits]

Fruits of the Craft: 30 Day Challenge

4. What do you wish you had known as a beginner?

I feel quite happy about how my pagan journey has gone. I’ve grown quite organically through my curiosity and interests.

Still, if I could recommend some things to my younger self it would be:

- read Drawing Down the Moon and learn about the history of modern paganism earlier.

- the local drum circle has a lot of pagans at it. Go there and you will start to be invited to local pagan events and rituals.

- you don’t need to be so anxious when you shop the metaphysical section of bookstores. No one is judging you.

- yes, all the therapy you do DOES align with and intertwine with your pagan practices.

- your early attempts at meditation are NOT failures. You’re doing just fine. Keep going!!

[tea-rabbits]

Fruits of your Craft: 30 Day Challenge

3. What are your views on cursing, hexing, and binding spells? Has your view changed throughout your journey? Why or why not?

Personally, I value examining the moral compass of a person more than labeling a certain type of action. Just as stealing can be viewed in many shades of grey once you know the whole story, hexes and curses also exist within a narrative that is important to examine. I think there are valid reasons to use tools like that, and there are also petty or cruel reasons to do so.

Personally I’ve never found myself interested in learning or practicing harmful magic, my workings tend to focus on self-healing, but I don’t mind if others explore it.

[hearsehound]

I really need to figure out ways of practicing while busy, out and about, around other people, etc. I am spending a good amount of time away from my home these days.

I do energy centering and stuff like that but other than that, it's hard to do much. I bring oracle cards with me every where I go but again, those can only do so much and I sometimes feel uncomfy using them around others.

Anyone have suggestions for this area? Things I can do in these situations to stay rooted on my path? 🖤

[tea-rabbits]

If you honor deities, I find using prayer very helpful. It can be with candles and speaking, or whispered, or even just in your mind. I often chat with my gods on the drive to work.

I love using herbal blends or products (like sugar scrubs or teas) which the non-pagan folk won’t notice have spiritual significance.

I am also fond of spending time in nature, researching plants/animals I’ve noticed or become curious about, and reading pagan or nature-focused books. Those can also be subtle ways to connect to your path.

Stones in your pocket, sigils under your clothes, chants done privately, music or podcasts you listen to with headphones… there are many ways to connect to your spiritual path without drawing much attention towards yourself.

I wish you the best of luck!

[blame-leid-blog]

Truly I don’t get the difference between Wicca and pagan and witchcraft? If someone would be kind enough to tell me 😀

[tea-rabbits]

Witchcraft is the practice of magic. A witch can be of any gender and can honor deities or none.

Paganism is an honoring of nature and deity/deities. They may or may not practice magic and identify as a witch.

Wicca is a specific pagan path. They honor deities (typically the God and Goddess) and celebrate the Wheel of the Year. They hold specific beliefs that may not be held by other pagans. They do practice magic and likely also identify as a witch.

These identities overlap a lot, but are also distinct and while folk may identify as all three, they may also identify only as two or one of these.

A lot of it also comes down to preference. I prefer to identify as pagan. I am not Wiccan. But, I do magic on occasion. I don’t do it regularly enough that I call myself a witch tho, and that part is just preference.

[tea-rabbits]

Fruits of your Craft: 30 Day Challenge

2. What’s the biggest error or mistake that you feel you’ve made when working magick?

When I was 12 I was trying to be Christian, although retrospectively I had a very pagan way of doing that. I wanted to repent and become a better person, so I lit a candle and cut myself to give my blood as an offering and proof of the sincerity of my atonement.

That was a major error as it was rooted heavily in obsessive thoughts and mental illness. The best thing to come out of that is that when I did turn to the pagan gods I had the memory of that experience to guide me away from blood magic. For me, blood magic is too close to my struggles with self-harm and is not a magic I can engage with healthily. So, I learned from that error, but it was pretty significant. My first act of ritual and offering was rooted in illness. It’s not something I think I’ve spoke of before, and it’s definitely something I am uncomfortable with.

[tea-rabbits]

Fruits of Your Craft 30-Day Challenge

What has been your most influential resource in your study of the Craft?

I’m not sure I can identify a singular most-influential resource.  So, instead I’m going to provide a thought-provoking resource I’m investigating currently!  I’m really enjoying the book’s exploration of magical theory.  Despite reading many overviews of magical theory I haven’t really gotten what I’d consider to be a firm grasp on it yet (aka I don’t understand it well enough to engage in discourse about it, apply it to varied scenarios, and break it down to teach it to youth).  I feel like magical theory may be the next deep-dive I indulge in. This is helping me get a grasp of what key words and topics I will want to start my research with.

There’s going to be a lot more than just magical theory in this book, but I’m just at the start.  I’ll keep y’all posted as it progresses through the Little Work, which Duriel defines as a bit of a play on “The Great Work”, and as the everyday magical practices/work that is needed to truly progress towards Great Work and/or a balanced, healthy, and powerful magical practice. 

[tea-rabbits]

I see, semi-frequently, pagan folk saying “your deities love you, no matter what”  and... this isn’t a fully-formed thought, but it feels off.  It feels like a remnant of a Christian belief being applied to paganism.  I’m curious how other folk see it.  

I find I lean towards the idea that deities likely view the average non-pagan person with a neutral gaze, perhaps curiosity at times, and other times little thought at all.  There are, after all, so many of us.  I think it’s only once we take the time to worship them, or draw their attention in some other way, that they form any real bond with, or interest in, us?

If you want to share your thoughts, I’d really appreciate your perspective.

[tea-rabbits]

Floral Mists for Witches!

These are a great way to cleanse, invigorate, calm, and set other specific intentions.  

Here’s a super simple way to make them!

- Add about 30 drops of essential oils. - Fill spray bottle half way with witch hazel - Then fill the other half of the spray bottle with distilled water.

Choose a few essential oils that have the scents, feelings, and meanings you desire. Here are some I enjoy:

Lavender Rosemary Peppermint Clary sage Frankincense Myrrh Sandalwood Lemon

[tea-rabbits]

[brooklynwtch]

if anyone has any beginning things i can do for headaches (spells, wards, fixes, anything) it would be appreciated 😵‍💫

i have them daily and not much works except biweekly chiropractor visits. any help for the days between those visits would be so great

[tea-rabbits]

I’m assuming you are also investing in medicine approaches too, like over the counter pain meds and dr visits. If that’s so… here’s some witchy ideas that might be useful to accompany that:

- There are many web articles about crystals for headaches. It’s not my area of expertise so I recommend researching a bit and selecting the type of crystal that seems to resonate best with your type of headaches. You’ll find they all approach the problem a little differently.

- Teas can be great for headaches. There are mixes at the store in bag form but if you like loose tea the mix I use for headaches is: equal parts lavender, chamomile, rosemary, and mint.

- Meditation, progressive muscle relaxation, and paced breathing may help if it’s related to stress or tension in the body.

- For each of these things I recommend writing a little prayer or chant that can really focus your energy towards healing. If you follow deities, invoke those you work with or healing ones from your pantheon.

- You may find some scents like lotions or essential oils may aid your headache, or may worsen it, so approach with caution if you explore that route.

- Self massage or receiving a massage from a loved one may be helpful too.

- If you think it may be caused by harmful energies or psychic attacks or such try cleansing. This can be done with incense, baths, showers, etc. I prefer showers with a peppermint salt scrub and meditation with a focused visualization of releasing energies of all sort from my body, hair, and skin. Then I follow it up with protection, which may look like creating a protective tailsman, doing energy work…

Just remember to make sure you’re also looking for mundane reasons and seeking a doctors advice since it is so long term. The brain can be tricky and you want to make sure there’s nothing seriously wrong or easily fixable through modern medicine.

If you want help fleshing out the details of a particular idea for a witchy approach, holler. :)

[tea-rabbits]

Read this book today and it has some awesome ideas for spell-specific herb bundles.

However…. I’m not sure how to buy the herbs I am not able to grow in my garden? Like, I can buy them in ground-form for tea, but how do I get a sprig of yarrow or a handful of eucalyptus branches??

If you have advise, let me know!!

[tea-rabbits]

Another new grimoire page!

[tea-rabbits]

Last time I was on here I unfollowed a ton of blogs and now… *sob* I don’t have access to the good witchy chatter. Back to the search engine I suppose … :(

[thehazeldruid]

Who remembers the 2019 Grimoire Challenge?

Well buckle up buttercups.

2022 I’m returning with another grimoire challenge. Focused more on intermediate topics and honing one’s craft (but I will be using the promots form 2019 as well, for those who are just beginning!)

Stay tuned for the blog. It will start on the first of the year, as did the 2019 challenge.

If you have any suggestions for prompts or ideas for the challenge in general feel free to message me with your thoughts and ideas!

I look forward to another year of challenge prompts and seeing your progress!

M.G.

/|\

[tea-rabbits]

Yes yes yes!!!!!

Your 2019 challenge was amazing! I can’t wait!!!

[tea-rabbits]

Another grimoire page from this week.  :)