[the--witches--garden]

Welcome, Welcome

Hi there, I go by Rea

or @shandalf-the-strange is my main for non-specific silly shananigans

Welcome to my witchy little side-blog!

I thought I'd pin a little introductory post as is customary ✨️🐚🌺

a bit about me...

I'm a 28 year old, queer (They/She/Them) witch from Darkinjung Country, on the East Coast of Australia. I love whimsy & enjoy gardening, frollicking at the beach, spending time in the bush, procrastinating making art, and procuring magnificent trinkets and doo-dads!!

Over the last few years I've been struggling with endometriosis, and chronic pain following a car accident since 2022, which has led me on a wild-goose-chase to keep up with my health while trying to complete my Bachelors Degree in Nursing - Which I completed in 2024.

Unfortunately my health became quite bad in 2025, leaving me questioning if I could physically keep up with the job after a bad experience with an employer.

One of my interests for the longest time has been herbalism and naturopathy. While doctors failed to help me reclaim my body and my life - I studied how to support my body with medicine from the earth. Which leads me to why I started this space...

a bit about this space...

I found myself back here on Tumblr recently during an attempt to be more intentional in the way I consume social media. I had a wonderful idea to try blog about my personal study of herbs and plant medicine 🌺 and how it influences my practice as a witch.

I hope to document on occasion what I learn about growing herbs and flowers, or foraging native spell components from the natural places of my home.

(Although so far its mostly reblogs - the vibes shall decide how this space grows )

As a non-indigenous person living and practicing their craft in a country that has been deeply wounded by its colonial history, I beleive it is important to honor the land, its spirits, guardians, and Elders. This always has been and always will be Aboriginal Land.

Note: This space is NOT for you if you are a biggot, racist, homophobic, transphobic, nazi, or identify some other kind of dickhead that is not directly specified here. Shoo!

Another note: If you are a minor, please stay out of my DMs. I am an adult and do not want to be responsible for your online safety. Feel welcome to interact with my content if it resonates with you, but keep it on this side-blog, & obviously keep it respectful. Kiddo's, my main is not for you.

a bit about my practice...

My practice is largely eclectic, borrowing from many elements of folk-magic, and nature based religions, modern witchcraft and seasonal observations.

I would describe myself as more spiritual than religious, with alot of my beleifs being rooted in animism and earth reverence.

Alot of witchy-content is based on the traditions from Northern Hemisphere, Europe, and America.

Its wonderful to learn about the folk magic of my ancestors, but it doesnt exactly flow with the way we experience the seasons or elements here in Australia... or the Southern Hemisphere in general.

Over the years my practice has evolved and changed alot. It is near unrecognisable from when I started, and will continue to change as I refine my skills and understanding of the plants, animals and energies that I use in my day-to-day We have alot of powerful plant allies here in Oz that I have been studying for a few years, and my practice has begun to reflect where I live, and what ingredients are seasonally availiable for me to grow and forage.

Its kinda weird for me, talking about all this so openly. Expect this little introduction passage to change a little as this space grows with me. I hope you stay for a spell ✨️

[walmart-the-official]

Hey, don’t cry. Free online database of Japanese folk lore

[bleu-guacamole]

Might I add, free database of mostly European folklore and myths

[bogleech]

A Book of Creatures by @a-book-of-creatures doesn't update these days but is another thing along these lines, really huge, fully illustrated all by the author and cites all sources

[st-dionysus]

Free database of Native American folklore, sorted by tribe.

[saint-simulacrum]

Free online catalog of African folklore and stories because everyone loves to forget we exist

[the--witches--garden]

Oh golly Yule came... wait... no... well a little late really... it was in June... but it still came!

[chthonic-eclectic-riorson]

Reminder in the word “Witchcraft” there is craft. There are many different kinds of crafts (woodcarving, metal work, pottery, painting, scrapbooking, etc). Just like how there are many types of crafts there are many types of witchcrafts (glamour, weather magic, death work, spirit work, etc). There are many ways to use tools in crafts like different gluing techniques people use that ultimately are different but bring the same result. Just how many different techniques of using tools are all valid (different ways of shuffling a deck, different ways of reading flames or incense in spell work, etc)

I see a lot of new beginner witches stressing about the minor details or asking questions “my candle flame did ___ what does that mean?” or “I don’t have this [herb] can I use [different herb] instead?”. Which truth be told I don’t know.

It’s a craft built and influenced by your own energy. I don’t know the intricacies of your spell work and the energy you’re bringing in for it to tell you that. I don’t know if that candle flame is good or bad because I'm not in the room with that candle's energy, I don’t know what that candle' s for and I don’t have your energy that it’s interacting with.

The reason craft is in the word witchcraft is that it’s a craft. You make stuff you like, make stuff you don’t like, get times where you need a break or go through blocks, make small mistakes that work out, make small mistakes that don’t, try new things and build your own methods, etc.

You can only build your own methods comfortably by doing your own crafting. Art classes or guide books can help build a better understanding of techniques but ultimately no one is making a carbon copy of each other because they know the same techniques, have the same tools, and the same prompt.

Long story short the key to excelling within your witchcraft practice isn’t asking the witch with decades of experience under their belt what is and isn’t okay and feeling entitled for an answer, the real key is fucking around and finding out and learning the hard way.

[the--witches--garden]

Yesss. The fuck-around-and-find-out method is tried and true!! I love this and its exactly the lesson I had to learn to really start owning my craft and shed the imposter syndrome 💛

BE A WIZARD AND CONDUCT MAGICAL EXPERIMENTS

[thehazeldruid]

Tumblr (Witchblr) is a vast source of information on witchcraft, sure. But a majority of it is UPG stuff, and list upon list of correspondences, which are valuable as stepping stones and starting points to your own use of herbs and crystals and whatnot...

But witchcraft is your craft, your practice. Maybe apples don't relate to love in your craft? Maybe you see the elements differently than the descriptions you see. And that's okay.

Never take anyone else's word as the be all end all on a subject on this site. Research the whys, the whens, the hows, the whos, and the whats. Why are apples associated with love? What other things are apples associated with and why? Who posited these ideas originally? Where and when did this belief originate?

The more you know.

[moth-kissed-witch]

Friendly reminder that if your spells, rituals, workings, what have you don't seem to be working despite using "these reagents for these correspondences," may I ask if you know why those things have their correspondences?

Sure some of the stereotypes may work out okay. Everyone knows roses symbolize love or sunflowers are joy/solar energy. But can you tell me about the red clovers, acorns, and maple leaves in your town? What energy do they hold, and what folklore or physiological propreties tell you about that energy?

There's no shame in using what's popular, but truly knowing what you're working with makes all the difference! Same goes for tools such as scissors, coffin nails, mirrors, cords, and so on.

(Also I promise I'll be doing more on my herbal compendium tag, I just have other personal projects I'm more focused on!)

[bewitched-moonlight]

💦 Magical properties of water 💦

💦 Water is associated with absorption, beauty, calm, change, compassion, creativity, emotions, intuition, flexibility, relations, reflection, sensibility and sadness.

-- -- --

Depending where you get it from and what it is, it can have more magical properties:

💦 Pond water: conjuration, stillness, boundaries, silence.

💦 Sparkling water: banishment, curses, power, purification.

💦 Lake water: abundance, stillness, the unknown, wealth, spirituality.

💦 Swamp water: creating bonds, invisibility, illness.

💦 Sea water: banishment, concentration, immensity, fear, power, protection, purification, life.

💦 Rain water: growth, power, rebirth.

💦 River water: charging, conjuration, energy, movement, power.

💦 Storm water: banishment, charging, clarity, energy, strength, curses, motivation, purification.

💦 Melted ice: creativity, growth, fleetingness, harmony, preservation, protection, purification.

💦 Melted hail: aggressiveness, wounds, curses, ill intentions.

💦 Melted snow: change, delicacy, balance, endings, healing, power, purity, slowing down, resolutions, tranquility, transformation.

💦 Dew: love, charm, delicacy, fertility.

[morrigans-crows]

The New Moon in Cancer tends to hit differently than other new moons. Why?

Cancer is a water sign, cardinal and lunar-ruled, which means this moon is operating on its home turf in a way most new moons don't. The energy here is deeply intuitive, emotionally loaded, and oriented around protection, home, and the kind of knowing that lives in the body rather than the mind. It's not a goal-setting moon in the conventional sense. It's more of a coming-home moon, the kind that asks you to check in with what you're actually feeling before you decide what you want to call in.

For witches working with our July theme of protection, this new moon is a natural anchor point. Cancer energy supports warding work, especially anything tied to home, family, lineage, or emotional safety. It also supports the kind of honest shadow work that looks at what you're protecting and whether those protections are still serving you or just keeping things frozen.

The five lines we posted for this moon were written to reflect that energy without softening it into something palatable. Warding what you love without apology. Letting grief be a doorway rather than something to manage. Trusting what your gut knows. Treating rest as genuine power. Coming home to yourself before you try to show up for anyone else. None of those are small asks. All of them are worth the work.

[vitterdotter]

I truly believe being able to name the world around you is integral to animism. learn the names of plants and flowers. learn how the rocks and soil you walk over daily form. sit with the streams and rivers, learn where they flow to and from. learn the names others have given, and give them your own as well. animism is interconnectedness, and one simple step is learning the names of your neighbors

[mermaidenmystic]

The Way of Freedom by Fefa Koroleva

[moth-kissed-witch]

To whoever needs to hear this...

You do not need visualization skills to do energy work, perform magick, be a witch, or anything in between.

Rituals, spirit work, spells, divination, and so on have been practiced through so many other means than just visualization since practically the dawn of humanity. There are four other mundane and psychic senses than just eyesight and clairvoyance that you can utilize.

Raise and direct your energy via movement, your breath, and music. Meditate through automatic writing/drawing, or focus on how energy feels in different locations. Hone your intuition by asking for and noticing observable signs or listening to the voices of spirits and discerning them from your own inner voice.

Visualization is just one of many tools you can potentially use. Not have to.

[landsccape]

[the--witches--garden]

Happy full moon, beautiful creatures 🌙 The days are starting getting a little longer where I live, following the winter solstice. As we welcome back the suns energy bit by bit, we also mark the season by the return of the whales as they begin to pass by our coastline on their migration north 🐚🌸

This coming July I will honor the season by spend time planning out my spring crops for August and September, finishing up my winter shadow-work, and watching the whales (and taking the occasional cold dip to listen to them sing) 🐋💙

How do you honor the seasons and the land in Australia?

[muddyswirls]

[fayriequeene]

[landsccape]

[the--witches--garden]

Counting down the days 🌸☀️

[elminx]

All of these things are true

Magic is not nearly as complicated as most people think.

But.

If you don't know the rules, you can't understand how to break them.

And.

There are no rules.

[sleepy-snakes]

Easy lazy witchcraft

Drinking tea

Stir intentions into your drink

Open a window for cleansing

Meditation

Carry a bay leaf with you (luck, protection)

Salt lines at doorways

Affirmations

Write intention on to paper and fold it towards you

Sweep with intention

Go for a walk in nature

Stand in the grass

[afoxinuniform]

sionna (fox), the irish goddess who birthed the shannon river.