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[cladinscarlet]

Protection Amulet

This amulet is a bundle to be carried with you, so be sure to use a small stone. Create this amulet during a waxing or full moon phase. 

Stones:

One of the following, depending on your specific need:

Clear Quartz: all-purpose

Tiger Eye: courage

Black Tourmaline or Obsidian: repelling unwanted energy

Garnet: guards against thieves (good to keep in a vehicle)

Turquoise: protection during a spiritual jouney

Moonstone: protection during travel

Other Items:

Incense (frankincense if possible)

A candle of any size, white or red

A piece of red or white cloth for wrapping the stone (or a draw string bag)

String, ribbon, or twine

Create sacred space as desired. Light the incense and the candle. Pass the stone through the incense smoke and chant:

Rising smoke, clear this sone.

Next (holding the stone safely in tongs, if you wish), charge it by passing it quickly through the candle flame and chant:

Rising flame, charge this stone. 

Hold the stone in your projective hand and wrap your fingers around it. Focus your intent on your specific need. Speak it out loud if you’d like. Chant five times:

Stone as guard, danger barred:

To protect, none detect.

Wrap the fabric around the stone and tie it in a knot with the ribbon or string. Allow the wrapped stone to rest near the candle until it burns out. Allow the incense to burn out as well.

Carry the amulet with you in your pocket, handbag, briefcase, backpack, etc., for as long as you feel the need. Recharge the amulet as you feel is necessary.

(Source: The Book of Crystal Spells by Ember Grant) 

[randomevie]

Shadow Work

This post is about shadow work: what is it? how do you do it? what are some shadow work prompts? why is it important?

What is Shadow Work?

Shadow work is defined as the process of exploring aspects of yourself that you keep locked away or hidden in order to grow, heal, and learn.

What is your shadow self?

Your shadow self “dark side” of yourself. This side of yourself is the unconscious that your conscious does not identify in itself. Your shadow self holds your primitive, negative emotions. This can detail impulses like rage, envy, greed, desire, and other things largely considered as negative impulses.

How Do You Begin Shadow Work?

Shadow work, like many things, should be done in the way that is best for you. Shadow work can be done through many forms, and it’s up to you to experiment and find which are best for you. Below, I’ll list common ways to do shadow work.

1.)Journaling

Journaling is the most common way to do shadow work, as it helps you to record your progress and fully answer what your subconscious mind needs you to know so you can begin a healing process. With journaling, you can look back on your prompts and further delve into them, or look at what healing you need to do.

Journaling does not need to be done on paper. This is a form that can be done on paper, in a notes app, in a google doc, basically anything where you write things down. 
For journaling it is best to use prompts that focus on the subconscious issues you’d like to target. Later on in this post I will put my list of shadow work prompts in case you are in need of any.

2.) Divination

Divination can be a form of shadow work depending on what questions you are asking. If you choose to do shadow work through divination there are spreads and specific questions that I find work best.

The questions I would personally ask would be along the lines of the following:

-“What parts of myself do I need to focus on healing?”

-“What am I subconsciously keeping from myself that is holding back my healing process?”

-“How can I best work on healing [whatever you want to work on]?”

Shadow Work Spreads

Spread 1

Card 1: A card to represent me now.

Card 2: What shadow am I avoiding?

Card 3: What am I projecting in my relationships?

Card 4: Where am I holding myself back?

Card 5: How can I be kinder to myself while I learn?

Card 6: What can I look forward to for when I start getting to know my shadow?

Spread 2

Card 1: In what ways am I restricting myself?

Card 2: Why have I put these walls around me? What am I afraid of?

Card 3: How can I best work with or release my fears to free myself and grow into my potential?

Spread 3

Card 1: What shadow behavior is preventing me from moving forward right now?

Card 2: What work must I do to uncover and resolve that shadow behavior?

Card 3: What parts of my self must I be prepared to face in this work?

Those are just a few examples of the many shadow work spreads that are out there!

3.) Meditation

Meditation can be a wonderful step in the healing process and discovering the parts of yourself that you’ve repressed. There are plenty of meditations specifically for shadow work and releasing trauma if you just look around! This is also a good way to contact spirit guides and get help from them through your journey.

Shadow Work Prompts

Fear Prompts

1. What is my greatest fear? And why?

2. Do I fear being alone? Why or why not?

3. What does my biggest fear stem from?

4. What kind of person do I fear becoming?

5. What is the best way to conquer my fear?

6. How does my fear affect my life on a daily basis?

7. Does my fear affect other people?

8. When did I first notice my fear? Describe the memory.

9. What do I fear most about others?

10. Why am I afraid of being my true self around others?

11. What do I fear about my future the most?

12. What does my inner child fear?

13. What fear is my core driver in my life?

14. Why am I afraid of this thing?

15. Is my fear reasonable? Why or why not?

16. How can I reconcile with the people who made me fear particular things?

17. What do I fear reliving from my past?

Inner Child Prompts

1. What does my inner child need to be able to heal?

2. What has hurt my inner child?

3. What do I need to apologize to my inner child for?

4. What hurt me the most during my childhood? Why?

5. What was my happiest childhood memory?

6. Who was my childhood bestfriend? Why were we close?

7. What things made me happy as a kid?

8. What did I do for fun as a child and why did I stop doing these things?

9. Where did I feel safest as a child?

10. Who was my hero as a child and why did I look up to them?

11. Who hurt me the most during my childhood? Do I forgive them? Why?

12. When did I lose my childhood innocence?

13. How did I look at life as a child? How is that different now?

14. How can I treat my inner child with love and kindness now?

15. Did I get enough love as a child? If not, how could I have gotten more love?

16. In what ways does my inner child now affect my life?

17. What is my inner child currently feeling?

18. What is my inner child afraid of?

Relationship Prompts

1. Why do I fear romance?

2. Did I have a good example of a romantic relationship growing up? A platonic one?

3. What couple do I consider my romantic inspiration?

4. How much of my idea of romance is based on film?

5. What experiences with men make me fear them now?

6. Are my friendships healthy?

7. How do I feel about sex? Why?

8. Why does the idea of a relationship with a woman make me both excited and scared?

9. Why do I conform to society’s idea of a good relationship?

10. Am I good at communicating in relationships?

11. Are my boundaries good in relationships?

12. What relationships in the past have most affected me?

13. Which relationships in the past made me lose trust in people?

14. Which relationships in the past made me anxious I’m unlovable?

15. Do I feel loved by those I’m close to? Why or why not?

16. What relationships in the past have made me uncomfortable?

17. Why are relationships difficult for me to maintain?

18. Why is loving romantically difficult for me?

19. Why do I have a bad relationship with myself?

20. What qualities do I look for in friends? In romantic partners? In sexual partners?

21. Do I take control in relationships or give it up? Why?

22. What is my ideal friendship?

23. What is my ideal idea of a romantic relationship?

24. Do I enjoy romance? Why or why not?

Self-love Prompts

1. Why do I hate myself?

2. Why do I view myself the way that I do?

3. Why do I conform to societal beauty standards?

4. Do I think I’m beautiful physically? Why or why not?

5. What parts of myself do I hate the most?

6. What is the worst aspect of my personality? Why do I think this?

7. What is the thing I regret the most? Why?

8. Why do I have issues with body image?

9. Why do I have issues with loving my personality?

10. What would I describe myself as?

11. Do I think more positively or negatively about myself? Why?

12. Does my idea of self-worth come from others perceptions of me? If so, why?

13. Am I good enough for myself? Why or why not?

14. Am I worthy of the love I receive? Why or why not?

Happiness Prompts

1. What do I define happiness as? Why?

2. Do I consider myself happy? Why or why not?

3. What do I think would bring happiness into my life?

4. Do I think my life would be better if I was happy?

5. Do I believe happiness really exists as a constant thing?

6. What do I know makes me happy?

7. What are my best childhood memories that bring joy?

Finding Yourself Prompts

1. What would I describe myself as?

2. What is my favorite color, animal, food, etc. Why these things?

3. Do I know who I am currently? If not, when was the last time I did know who I was?

4. What makes me feel happy? What makes me feel sad? What makes me feel angry? Why do these things make me feel this way?

5. If i could reshape my life to be anything, what would I make it and why?

6. What’s my favorite movie? Why?

7. What’s my best memory? Why do I consider it my best memory?

8. Do I mold myself to fit other people’s wants? If yes, why?

9. Do I really dislike myself or is that societal conditioning?

10. What is my favorite thing about me?

11. What is my least favorite thing about me?

12. What do I need to work on to better myself?

13. What is my biggest regret and why?

14. Did trauma play a big part in who I am? If yes, which traumas and why?

15. What are my core beliefs? What morals do I have set? Why?

16. What are things that I won’t forgive? Why?

17. Do I give others too many chances? If so, why?

18. What are my favorite songs? Why?

19. What’s my favorite book? Why?

Sexual Trauma Prompts

1. Why do I blame myself for being touched against my will? How can I forgive myself and shift the blame to the person who deserves it?

2. Can I forgive them? Why or why not?

3. Do I still love them? How does being around them make me feel?

4. How did I feel in the moment? Did I know what was happening? Did it feel real? Did I think it was just another silly game?

5. How would I describe my emotions once I realized?

6. How do I feel about my body knowing that someone has touched it when I didn’t want them to?

7. Can I ever forgive them for the way that they touched me?

8. Do I still relive that experience sometimes? What does reliving it feel like?

9. What would I say to the me that was experiencing this in the past?

10. Do I wish I could take back that experience? Why or why not?

11. Do I still feel their hands on my body? What do they feel like? How does that make me feel emotionally?

12. Did this event change my view on myself sexually? Did it make me hypersexual or do I lack a sex drive now?

13. Do I feel like I’m still the scared little kid trapped in the moment I realized what was going on? Why?

14. What is my relationship with myself like after this happened? Do I view myself as a mere object compared to being a person now?

15. Do I validate this trauma? Why or why not?

16. If I were to confront my assaulter, what would I say?

Abandonment/Attachment Issues Prompts

1. When was the first time I felt abandoned? How did that make me feel?

2. Why do I get attached so easily? How does having someone close to me all the time make me feel?

3. Do I actually not like being alone or am I afraid it means I’ll be alone forever?

[growing-yet-into-magic]

Alright, here’s advice no one asked for: if you’re a beginner witch, don’t buy premade pocket altar kits online.

There’s nothing wrong with them. They’re all fine, work great. But my recommendation is that you don’t. They’re altoid tins of stuff found around the house; you can recreate that in ten minutes. Furthermore, as you move forward in your craft, I’m going to bet you stop using at least half of those things in a kit simply because as you refine your practice, you realize the things you truly want to focus on versus the things that waste your time. Get some salt and pepper packets from Burger King and birthday candles from the cabinet. Scribble a pentacle on a Post-It. Wash out a hard candy or mints tin. Buy a box of strike-anywhere matches from the dollar store and stick a few in. Bam. It’s a pocket altar. Where could you possibly be going that you need more than that?

[lazywitchling]

Also it’s fun to make them yourself? And gives you some insight when asking yourself what should go in one? Like, going through my own house and finding things that were small enough to fit and were actually useful was a nice little check-in with my craft. I got to ask myself “What do I really use, what would I want to take with me, and how do I make that fit?”

Witchy brain exercises!

[cryptotheism]

Literally building your own pocket altar is something I recommend to people who aren't even interested in this shit. It's fun to go around the house and put objects in small box.

[brenna-ivy]

Modern Male Witch Project: Masterpost

A personal project that has become very important to me: male witches in their private dens, with their belongings surrounding them that show what kind of person they are and what kind of magic they practice. I try to make every single piece emit peace and comfort, but with a magical twist!

Separate pieces

Bedroom witch | Bathroom witch | Kitchen witch | Home Office witch | Attic witch | Greenhouse witch

Buy prints on Redbubble and Society6 and TeePublic

Buy me a Coffee!

[balkansoul-deactivated20220924]

my relationship with my appearance has always been rather complicated and i'm sure any woman out there can relate but i think one of the major factors as to why i feel so good in my own skin today is because i've become so comfortable and appreciative of my own heritage and ethnicity. once you realize that your eyes, nose, lips, cheek bones, forehead, and every other part of your face, are a product of thousands of years of evolution and that your face is a reflection of every ancestor that has lived before you, you really start cherishing and truly loving living in your own skin <3

[tikkety-tok]

It's now safe and warm with some hazelnuts

[telepathylove]

[deerhoofandrabbitsfoot-deactiva]

I find a lot of the conversations on here about ancestors extremely frustrating. People say things like, “I can’t work with or honor my ancestors because they hate me because I’m gay.” (Or any oppressed identity).

And I’m like.... do you think none of your ancestors were gay? Really? Over the last thousand years? Back when everyone had ten kids? Not one was homosexual? Or bisexual? Or a person who experimented? Not one? And that they all care? Like every single ancestor from Adam to 1890 hates the LGBT community? There wasn’t one cool grandma?

It’s rooted in this notion that every person born before 1980 is some kind of mega-bigot and that’s just not the case. I don’t think that’s a safe assumption to make, especially when we’re talking about a large group of people who cannot speak for themselves. I was always taught that someone becomes a capital-A Ancestor when there is no living memory of them on our plane of existence. So unless they were keeping a written record or stories have been passed down, there’s no way to know how they feel without interaction. There have been cool people in every time period and there have been assholes in every time period.

People will try to say, “oh but my family is all really Christian” or “well in our traditional culture this was forbidden.” And I’m like, what were they before they were Christian? You don’t have any pre-Christian ancestors? Were all your Christian ancestors practicing modern American Fundamentalist Christianity? And in your traditional culture, was this always forbidden? Or was it just taboo and people were still out being gay regardless?

And even if all your ancestors are spiteful, why not adopt some ancestors? Why not call upon the Mighty Dead? Why not honor your Beloved Dead?

And why would you assume your ancestors wouldn’t change over time? I feel very strongly that they can and do. If someone can change their life around in five years, imagine what they could do with 800.

And why would you assume your ancestors wouldn’t love you? I think a lot of people who come from traumatic backgrounds hear a constant whisper - a whisper that says, “The world is not to be trusted and you are not worthy of love.” And you are worthy of love. Don’t let your trauma stop you from seeking love (from the living or the dead, for that matter).

A lot of people on here want to heal their ancestors using magical rites. I support that, but also, you need to heal from your trauma too. Sometimes pain confuses us. Sometimes we think the world has turned its back on us, when in reality, we have turned our back on it. And trauma stops us from knowing the difference.

[ei-len]

For a large amount of human history, gay, bisexual, and trans people (or those who had inner experiences that would in modern times put them in those categories, though they may not have defined their own experiences in any remotely similar way due to cultural difference) not only existed, but reproduced. Not every culture in history reviled queerness, and in cultures where queerness was reviled, those who were queer often repressed their identities and lived the lives that were expected of them to the best of their ability. Some had lovers on the side, or cross-dressed to fulfill some of their desires, but still played their part in "polite society" and behaved publicly as was expected for someone of their birth sex and social station -- for some, such as the nonbinary, demisexual, bi/pansexual folks, it may not even have been a great burden to live that life. Sure, some defied expectations dramatically! But people vary, and it's nonsensical to assume that EVERY queer person throughout history behaved in a manner that made historical record of their queerness, particularly considering how many queer people even TODAY choose to remain mostly closeted for large parts of their lives, or don't even fully recognize their own identity until mid-life or later. Shortly after high school I had a friend whose dad came out as gay only after having already spent multiple decades married to a woman and raising several biological children with her. It is VERY likely that we all have a few queer ancestors. We probably all have shitty, hateful, bigoted ancestors too, but here's the thing -- you can choose which ones to work with. Which ones to contact in the first place, and which to continue contacting once you find out a bit about who they are. Your dead grandma was a nasty pain in the ass who constantly went on homophobic rants, and you're gay, and you don't wanna deal with any of that bs? Great, leave her out of your ancestral work. You don't have to invite her. But maybe her great-great-granddad was also gay, and would love to hang out with his gay descendant and be so happy for you that you can live so much more freely than he could.

[estrellablogg]

𝑭𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒉 𝒂𝒊𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆.. 🌿

[magickaltheory]

Tarot Number Key

Aces represent new beginnings.

Twos represent dualities.

Threes represent expansion and advancement.

Fours represent stability and foundations.

Fives represent chaos and uncertainty.

Sixes represent balance and equilibrium.

Sevens represent introspection and intuition.

Eights represent evaluation and evolution.

Nines represent attainment and completion.

Tens represent the transition from endings to new beginnings.

[grumpylokeanelder]

Just a reminder: Heathenry does have a term for smoke-cleansing. Recaning. To recan. (Or reocan, in Old West Saxon.) This is cleansing via smoke, whether through incense or a bundle of herbs put together for a particular type of cleansing. Juniper and mugwort are both favorites for this. In case you’re wondering how to pronounce it, it sounds like reekening. The word “reeks” is actually derived from it, signifying a potent smell. For Old Norse fans, this seems to be related to the work reykr. In case you were wondering, Reykjavik in Iceland translates to “Smoky Bay”.

[breelandwalker]

*dances around the entire pagan community waving this post like a fucking banner* THANK YOU.

Just a little addendum: Mugwort can be dangerous due to mildly psychoactive properties in the herb. Use with caution and avail yourself of the following list of free-use alternatives:

Basil (any kind, noting that Sweet Basil smells the best)

Sage (any type, but keep in mind that White Sage is becoming endangered)

Rosemary

Peppermint

Lavender

Cedar Tips or Shavings

Thyme (especially Lemon)

[littlest-grimoire]

This literally makes me delightfully happy but it also wants to make me smack every person who didn’t take the time to learn this and instead just took something from Native Americans. (then proceeded to whine about not having alternatives when you were told NO)

[madgastronomer]

The ancient Greek term is θυμιατεύω or thumiateuo which is usually translated as “fumigate”. The Latin is suffire, which is usually translated the same. Both mean to cleanse with incense smoke.

[oshuns-ambience]

[samwisethewitch]

Banishing Nasty Spirits

If you’ve been following this series of posts, you know why a witch might work with spirits, how to establish a relationship with a spirit, and how to communicate with spirits. What we haven’t yet discussed is how to get rid of spirits that are bothersome, annoying, or malevolent.

I was planning to talk about pathworking and astral travel before getting into banishing, but in light of some asks I recently received on Tumblr, I think it’s important that we take a moment to discuss how to get rid of spirits that, for whatever reason, you don’t want around.

There are lots of reasons you might not want a spirit in your space. Just like with people, some spirits just aren’t a good fit for you and your practice. Part of being a spirit worker is cultivating a “spirit team” of beings that you can have healthy and beneficial relationships with.

Some spirits are mischievous and like to cause trouble. If you find yourself on the receiving end of lots of spirit pranks, you may want to gently encourage them to move along. And there are some spirits out there who just genuinely hate humans and will go out of their way to cause mental, emotional, and even physical harm.

Don’t get me wrong — malevolent spirits aren’t common. In my experience, the vast majority of unwanted spirits are more annoying than dangerous. I’m not saying this to scare you or make you paranoid. But these things do exist, and it would be negligent of me not to mention them in a series on spirit work.

There’s a reason that one of the most common truisms in witchcraft is, “Never conjure something you can’t banish.” If you’re going to be working with spirits, it’s a good idea to know how to banish them just in case. With that being said, here’s how you can clear out any nasties that may be lingering in your space.

Cleansing

The first step is to kick those unwanted spirits out of your space. There are lots of ways to do this, so choose the one that is the best fit for you.

Cleansing with fire and smoke is a very old and very simple method. If this is the way you decide to go, there are several magical substances you can burn to banish spirits. Burning sulfur or asafetida will clear out just about anything, but they both smell awful and are potentially toxic, so you’ll want to get an okay from the other people living in your home, burn a little at a time, and make sure you have lots of windows open. (Some people say sulfur and asafetida will banish all spirits, not just the unfriendly ones, so you may have to invite your spirit team back in later.) For something that smells a little more pleasant, you can try a mix of frankincense and myrrh resin, or burn a mix of dried rosemary, sage (garden sage, not endangered white sage, please!), and bay leaves — but again, make sure you have windows open, because these get smoky. Plus, you want the windows and/or doors open so the spirits have somewhere to go when the smoke chases them out.

If smoking up your living space isn’t an option for you, you can manually clean your space with a wash or powder. If you have hardwoods, you can make a floor wash with water, salt, lemon juice, rosewater, lavender essential oil, and either bay laurel or rosemary essential oil. (This is adapted from an uncrossing bath in the book Utterly Wicked by Dorothy Morrison.) Use this mixture to mop your floors, as well as to wipe down your walls and furniture. If you have a humidifier or essential oil diffuser, diffusing some of this mix would also be a good idea.

If you have carpet, you can make a powder by combining salt, dried lemon peel, dried roses, lavender flowers, and bay leaves. You’ll need to ground this really fine, so I recommend using a coffee grinder or food processor. Sprinkle the powder on your carpet, let it sit for a few minutes, and then vacuum it up. I would supplement this by also diffusing a mix of saltwater with rosewater, lemon juice, and lavender and/or bay laurel essential oil. If you don’t have a diffuser, at least sprinkle some saltwater around the room and on your belongings.

No matter which form of cleansing you decide to use, it’s important to verbally state your intention to banish these unwanted spirits from your space. Tell them out loud that they are no longer welcome here and that they need to leave. Don’t be rude about it, but be firm and speak clearly and with confidence.

After you cleanse your space, it’s a good idea to cleanse yourself as well to remove any psychic ties to the spirits you’ve just banished. The easiest way to do this is with a ritual bath. The floor wash recipe mentioned earlier can also be used as a psychic cleansing bath. Other options include a bath with salt, frankincense, and myrrh or a bath with salt, rosemary, sage, and bay laurel. You can use essential oils for your bath, or add the resins and herbs to a cheesecloth bag and drop it into the tub for easy diffusing and cleanup.

If you don’t have a bathtub, you can cleanse yourself in the shower. Place two cups of salt in a bowl. Add lemon juice, rosewater, lavender essential oil, and either bay laurel or rosemary essential oil. If you don’t have essential oils, you can add dried lavender and crushed bay leaves. Add some of your favorite body wash to create a scrub (if you don’t have body wash, use olive oil). While in the shower, use this mixture to scrub your skin — visualize yourself scrubbing away any psychic gunk you might have picked up.

Protection

Once you’ve removed any unwanted spirits from your space, you want to lay down some protection to keep them from coming back. There are as many ways to ward off spirits as there are witches, but here are a few ideas to get you started.

One option is to create a ward. You can do this by anointing the door frames, door knobs, and window frames of your home with a protective oil blend and/or by creating lines of salt across your doorways and just inside your windows. You can use other protective substances if you prefer. As you lay down these protections, visualize a protective shield around your home, and speak aloud your intention to keep harmful spirits out.

Iron is said to repel spirits. Keep a railroad spike or other large piece of iron under your bed to prevent nightmares and to keep spirits from messing with you while you sleep. There’s an old superstition that says that hammering iron nails into the four corners of your home protects it from spirits — this may not be possible if you’re renting, but you can create a similar effect by displaying a piece of iron in each of the four corners of your home. Hematite is a crystal that is high in iron, so it can be used in a similar way to ward off spirits.

Aloe is said to protect from negative spirits, and to bring protection and good luck more generally. It’s also a common house plant that is easy to care for, so this method of protection is especially great for witches who need to keep their practice a secret. Keep several aloe plants in your home to protect those who live there.

For witches with a crafty side, making a witch bottle is another option for protection. There are lots of different recipes for witch bottles, but the basic method is to fill a bottle with sharp objects, add something from your body, and hide it somewhere outside your home (traditionally buried on the property, but leaving it in an outbuilding works just as well). The idea is that any nasty spirit that comes looking for you will be attracted to the bottle (because it contains part of your body), get caught by the sharp objects, and be trapped. To create a simple witch bottle, fill a mason jar about halfway with sewing pins, then add a bit of your hair and some of your fingernail clippings, and finally fill it with liquid (traditionally, this liquid is your own urine, but if that makes you uncomfortable vinegar will also work). If you want, you can also include some of your favorite banishing herbs, resins, or crystals.

Religious symbols can also keep nasty spirits away. If you identify strongly with a religion, display protective symbols from that faith in your living space. For example: a Christian witch might hang up a crucifix or set out a statue of Archangel Michael, a Norse pagan witch might hang up an image of Mjolnir, a Hindu witch might display a statue of Durga, etc. Sometimes the most effective way to keep nasty spirits away is to let them know that you’re under the protection of someone more powerful.

When dealing with unwanted spirits, the most important thing to remember is that you do not need to be afraid. You are a powerful witch, and you are more than capable of getting rid of them. Be confident in your abilities and know that whatever happens, you can handle it.

Resources:

Southern Cunning: Folkloric Witchcraft in the American South by Aaron Oberon

A Green Witch’s Cupboard by Deborah J. Martin

Utterly Wicked by Dorothy Morrison

Where the Hawthorn Grows by Morgan Daimler

[expressions-of-nature]

by prostoleka

[oshuns-ambience]

[love-the-windingpath]

[saint-of-the-pit]

You put it in your soups and sauces but ancient Greek priestesses chewed the leaves to receive visions for supplicants at the temples of Apollo. The leaves of the bay laurel are excellent for concoctions for divination and the sight and are often burned or ingested to induce prophetic visions and dreams. Bay also has a long history of being used for purification, banishing, curse reversal, and protection from evil spirits and illness. Add dried bay leaves to holy water when sprinkling a space or object to purify it. Burn bay leaves to aid in curse reversals or the banishment of undesired spirits. For a bit of simple folk magic, write a wish on a dried bay leaf and then burn it hoping the gods and/or spirits will favour you.

더 보기

[fair-is-foul]

Basil – (Fire/Mars) 

A herb long considered divine which lends itself very well to rites of cleansing, exorcism, and protection. It can be burned as incense, added to magical herbal sachets, made into an herbal tea for use as a floor wash or room spray, or added to a magical bath. Basil soothes people’s emotions and anxiety making it excellent for general house cleansing. In folklore where there is basil, no evil lives, but it is still not one of the strongest banishing herbs – if you need something more “serious” I’d recommend bay, cloves, garlic, or rosemary. As an added bonus for witches, basil is also associated with flying and can be added to concoctions or baths to aid in spirit flight.

Bay – (Fire/Sun) 

You put it in your soups and sauces but ancient Greek priestesses chewed the leaves to receive visions for supplicants at the temples of Apollo. The leaves of the bay laurel are excellent for concoctions for divination and the sight and are often burned or ingested to induce prophetic visions and dreams. Bay also has a long history of being used for purification, banishing, curse reversal, and protection from evil spirits and illness. Add dried bay leaves to holy water when sprinkling a space or object to purify it. Burn bay leaves to aid in curse reversals or the banishment of undesired spirits. For a bit of simple folk magic, write a wish on a dried bay leaf and then burn it hoping the gods and/or spirits will favour you.

Cinnamon – (Fire/Sun) 

Besides its passionate aphrodisiac associations with Aphrodite, cinnamon is also commonly used in folk magic for “heating up” spells — whether they be for love, money, success, or protection. To “heat up” a spell means to make it happen more quickly or more strongly. Cinnamon is found in the ancient holy anointing oil recipe from the Bible and in ancient Egyptian incense recipes from a complex kyphi to a simple blend of cinnamon, frankincense, and myrrh.

In rootwork it is an ingredient in the popular “fiery wall of protection” blend as well as other cleansing and protective incenses, but is most commonly used to bring good fortune and prosperity to a business.  Burn cinnamon at your business and/or make a tea of it and pour it on your front step to bring in customers and their money. Burn cinnamon in your home to quiet its energies or your children’s. Burn cinnamon with frankincense and myrrh to purify a person, object, or place of evil influences and attached spirits.

Cloves – (Fire/Jupiter) 

Most people don’t use cloves except for a pinch in apple or pumpkin pie once or twice a year – what a waste of all the homemade chai you’re not drinking! Cloves are one of the strongest and best herbs you can burn for protection as the smoke will protect you psychically and physically whether from a deliberate attack or an unconscious evil eye directed at you. Any time you’re worried about a possible attack – burn powdered cloves. If you’re dealing with something really nasty, burn garlic skins and cloves together. Due to their protective and cleansing qualities, it should come as no surprise that most Florida Water recipes contain cloves. If you suspect someone is gossiping about you behind your back, stud a candle with whole cloves and burn it down or simply burn more powdered cloves while stating your intent.

Mint – (Air/Mercury) 

Mint is uplifting, refreshing, invigorating, and delightful. There is nothing like the scent of fresh mint! It clears the mind and gives one energy. If you need a mental pick-me-up brew yourself some mint tea to drink or use it to rinse your hair after conditioning. Mint is stimulating bringing activity and business making it another good herb for “heating up” spells and bringing prosperity. Slip some dried mint leaves in your wallet or cash register to attract money. Place fresh mint on your altar or working space to summon your spirits and double as a lovely offering for them in return for the magic you have planned.

Selling your house or business? Spray a mint hydrosol (or mint essential oil mixed with water) around the rooms or place some mint essential oil in an oil diffuser to attract a buyer. In rootwork, mint can also be used to protect from curses by stashing some leaves in your shoe or in a sachet you carry on your person. In folk magic, mint can be used to receive visions and enhance psychic abilities making it excellent for teas, smoking blends, incenses, or ritual baths meant to aid in divination, dreamwork, or visionary experiences.

Pepper – (Fire/Mars) 

Everyone has black pepper in their home, but most don’t think to use it for magic. Pepper is a very potent magical herb, but it is also one that can be used for good or evil depending on the will of practitioner. Belonging to Mars it is often used for martial magic – both for defensive and offensive spells. Use black pepper in protection sachets around your home or on your person when you think you are being attacked.

Mix salt and pepper together and sprinkle in a circle around your land to remove and protect from evil influences. Rootworkers believe this will also prevent unwanted people from trespassing on your land whether its your mother-in-law or a nasty witch who has it in for you. For an even stronger blend, make your own witch’s salt (aka black salt) with black pepper, salt, iron scrapings (from a cauldron or cast iron pan) and charcoal. Pepper is most commonly used in folk magic for cursing and can be found in various powders, candle spells, and other recipes for causing harm. You can put in your war water or your hot foot recipes for some extra fire power.

Rosemary – (Fire/Sun) 

Rosemary is a ritual herb par excellence used for just about every magical purpose under the sun including banishing, exorcism, healing, love, protection, and purification. Before our ancestors had exotic herbs and resins for incenses, they had rosemary and used it often. Rosemary can be burned instead of the standard frankincense to cleanse a space before ritual or spellwork. Plus, who needs sage when you have rosemary? Plagued by evil spirits or the evil eye? Burn some rosemary, smudging yourself and your home. Burn it also for divination, to receive visions, or for spells of love, lust or healing.

Place sachets of dried rosemary around your house for protection and under your bed to ward off nightmares. Make a wash with rosemary to cleanse your hands before performing healing work or making herbal healing remedies. Stuff a poppet full of dried rosemary for a healing spell. Sprinkle rosemary water around a sick room to promote healing. Rosemary mixes very well with evergreen needles and resins as well as juniper berries for a homemade multi-purpose incense which smells like a forest. Instead of more traditional floor washes, I like to use rosemary and lemon to cleanse my house. The moral of all this… use more rosemary!

Thyme – (Water/Venus) 

We put thyme in our soups, gravies, and on meat, but the ancient Greeks burned it to purify their sacred temples. We can modify this ancient use by burning thyme as a cleansing incense before performing spells and rituals. Thyme is known to be an excellent healing herb and in folk magic it is worn, burned, or added to ritual baths for this purpose. Tuck a sprig of thyme or a sachet of dried thyme under your pillow or mattress for a restful, nightmare-free sleep and also to receive prophetic dreams or visions. Thyme is found in a Scottish fairy ointment recipe from the 17th century and it is also believed that if you wear fresh thyme you will be able to see fairies. For a gentle house cleansing ritual, dip sprigs of fresh thyme into holy water and flick them about all the corners of your house for purification and to add loving energies to your home.

[my-darling-boy]

Do you have any advice for safely communicating with spirits? I'm super interested in this realm of practice but I'm terrified of doing it wrong

Short answer: there isn’t exactly a safe way (but there are arguably safer ways to do it if you do.) When you open any communication line between you the dead, you’re not in control of who or what comes through, no matter who appears to make contact. While not every mistake has to mean certain doom, harmless sessions done recklessly can seriously ruin your life.

As we near a “Stay-At-Home Halloween”, it can be tempting to start a session with your roommates. But it’s not something you should be looking into unless you’re very serious because the doors you open stay in existence forever, even if they happen to close. And if you are one of the unlucky few that receives a negative attachment, no matter if you rid yourself of it, you will always have the scar from that interaction.

This is never something to do sloppily or just for fun. If you’re looking to get into it seriously, provided you know the risks involved and understand that while the tips encourage safe practice, none of them guarantees your safety, here are just some things to remember if you are focusing on safety:

DO NOT do it where many people are buried

Don’t do it alone. The safer way is to always do it with at least 2-6 other people. More people = harder for something negative to single someone out if it comes along

Never do it when very sad, angry, or very fearful. Negative entities feed off of negativity and fear, and not only that, these intense emotions can cause you to make mistakes in your session. You may be more susceptible to attract negative things which will imitate say, a child or a loved one, who want to gain your trust. Even something like severe depression can make you a target. Entities know when you are in a vulnerable state

Don’t go looking for something that isn’t already there. It’s better to do this at places where spirits are already bound and known to a location and not in your own not-haunted home and causing it to become a hotel for paranormal activity. If a place isn’t already haunted, don’t make it haunted. Also keep in mind, it’s not uncommon to bring spirits home from a location. It can be temporary or permanent. 

Have someone specific you would like to talk to. Having an item belonging to that person or a photo of them can keep the session better centered on them. Still be careful: what comes through may not be who you want, even if they say they are

If you have items or words you use for protection, use them. This will look different for each person

Don’t use communication items that require the spirit to use YOU to work. This is why spirit boards (Oujia is a popular brand) are seen as dangerous. Spirit boards use your body as the conductor for a spirit’s energy to make the planchette move, or they physically manipulate the planchette alone. While it’s no harm done if a benevolent spirit uses this tool, it’s Bad News if it’s malevolent. If there’s nothing stopping it from easily manipulating a board, there’s nothing stopping it from manipulating you. I never see people use spirit boards correctly anyways

Don’t make yourself the target for signs. Asking a spirit to touch you to asking them to channel through you ramps up the danger level because it involves physical interaction; you “open yourself up” for something to attach itself to you. Opt for asking signs directed away from you, like knocks and so forth

DO NOT provoke things. Idc if you’re desparate for evidence. People feel pretty confident challenging something when they think it only means temporary scratches, especially when “nothing showed up”. What they don’t know is that over half the time, a negative entity will opt instead to strike more precisely over a long duration of time which means months to years of slow burning psychological torment in your own home.

Be respectful of who you talk to and where you talk to them. Getting angry nothing is happening is foolish: ghosts are not here to entertain you, they are still people and don’t have to come when asked. This practice requires patience. Be respectful towards the land or location you are communicating at and be mindful of what you leave behind at these locations (i.e. you don’t invite spirits to hang at your friend’s house.)

Listen to yourself. If something doesn’t feel right during a session, close the session.

Have ways to open and close out your sessions. Opening and closing a session means signifying start and end times to your talks. Some people like to open with a prayer, lighting a candle, ringing a bell, etc. People close in any number of ways as well, but always make sure you say “Goodbye” in some form. This is crucial to establishing where connections start, and stop. Understand: not all spirits will want to respect these boundaries, like ones that wish to cause you harm. But having them is much safer than not having them at all. It’s why people can gain attachments from spirit boards or other rituals: people use them as games, don’t close them out, and the door they don’t know they opened stays open.

Some other misc things I would avoid as well:

Trespassing in abandoned locations. I know it sounds like I’m being No-Fun-Zone, but it is HIGHLY dangerous. These places are filled with black mold, asbestos, lead, crumbling concrete ceilings, and sleeping wild animals. There are documented cases of trespassers who have plummeted to their death in the dark down 10 story elevator shafts and out of windows. There’s a reason why even investigators who go there legally have to sign waivers. So unless you’d like to join the spirits, don’t go places you have no permission to be, no guarantee an ambulance will reach you in time of something happens and your friends and you could be arrested

Important: no matter where you are, if you find remnants of someone practicing there before you (mysterious bags, ritual equipment, etc) DO NOT TOUCH THEM

Mirrors/very reflective surfaces. Mirrors are believed to be doorways spirits use to come and go through. For this reason, I hold sessions above a mirrored tray for a stronger connection. But, know that because of the “open door” theory of mirrors, it may be better to avoid holding sessions near mirrors as a first timer. Cover all major reflective surfaces in the room.

“Spirit Games”. You often see these floating around on the web, especially during October, but as a rule of general safety, never perform these, even if they sound fake. You don’t know who made them or where they come from, and most of the ones I’ve seen involve objectively dangerous methods. Most also require very strict steps to work and if you mess up or skip a step, you’ll be in big trouble.

Be safe! Happy haunting!

[khangi]

What Native people say about the use of sage: you can use sage, but you cannot smudge as nothing you are doing (waving sage around) is actually smudging. Smudging is a ceremony and you are, we promise, not smudging. Please buy sage from either us, or someone who sources the sage from us. White sage may not be considered endangered by the US government but corperate sourcing is making it difficult for us to source sage for our own religious purposes. Let alone to sell it.

What white people hear: never use sage ever, don’t ever buy it, don’t own it, don’t even look at it.

Look, y’all. There’s a couple of facets to my talk today.

1) Yes! You can buy sage! You really, truly can! Buy it from either native sellers (go to a powwow! Eat our food, buy our stuff, watch some dancing!) Or buy it from a seller who sources the sage from native people. Pick one. And no, buying it from 5 Below doesn’t count.

2) you CANNOT smudge. This isn’t just you “shouldn’t”— this is a YOU ARE INCAPABLE OF SMUDGING. Waving a sage stick around your doorways IS NOT SMUDGING. It is smoke clensing. Smudging, depending on the tradition and tribe, could easily have dancing and drums involved. You, as a white person, do not have the cultural BACKGROUND to even know how it works. At all. Period.

3) please, for FUCKS SAKE, stop making posts here on tumblr where you tell other white people about cultural appropriation and what they can and cannot do. Please stop, your license has been revoked because none of you bother to get the facts right. We native people are FULLY CAPABLE OF DOING IT OURSELVES. Consider instead: a) reblogging our posts where we talk about it! We’re here! We have made posts!! b) Making a post that states what we said and then LINKS BACK TO US. Screenshot with a link if you must. Stop centering your own voices in these conversations. You are already centered in everything, stop centering yourselves in a native space.

I’m tired of this nonsense, y’all.

Thanks for coming to my TedTalk ™

——

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