The Wonky Witches Cauldron

I'm WillowMoon The Wonky Witch. I'm an Eclectic Witch who just happens to be disabled (aka Wonky) but I won't let that stop my love of witchcraft

[thewonkywitchescauldron]

Witchcraft and Communing with Spirit

Dealing with spirit I must say is inevitable when you delve into witchcraft and for that, people should be prepared and know what to do when they do come across spirit.

We have a flow of people coming to us with questions and concerns on what they are experiencing and we always say this….if you wish to communicate, learn how to safely do it. If you do not, then you need to know how to shut down and keep closed for business so to speak.

But we’ve found that not everyone is willing to put in the time to learn properly and want it done then and there, then come in asking further of us to basically sort them out. This isn’t something anyone can just ‘sort’ out for you, you yourself need to put in the work and develop your way of communication or closing down so you can do it whenever the time comes.

I started dealing with spirit before I delved into witchcraft which was over a decade ago and let me tell you it’s not something you just go into willy nilly. When you don’t know how to protect or shut down then you’re basically open for business all the time and spirit have no idea of time so if you’re flashing an open sign at your door then they are gonna come in and try to communicate whenever and wherever. You may not even get the opportunity to have your say in this matter, if spirit REALLY needs to communicate with you they will try their damn hardest to gain that contact and if you ignore them then things can happen stronger. For example, things moving around the house or going missing, noises you’re not used to, your name being called, the list really does go on. This is when you NEED to pay attention and find out who and what they want. If you are afraid then you can ask someone who is within this field for help in communicating with them.

Please beware of people offering clearances for hundreds or thousands of pounds because they are taking advantage of you and your issue will not get sorted. We have had many people come to us for help after being taken advantage of and we have aided them for free and they are now calm and clear of any negativity and spirits (if there was any in the first place)

Let me tell you a little story about my first encounter with spirit…

The first spirit I came across (that i remember) was my grandad who passed with cancer when I was 15. I was diagnosed with Muscular Dystrophy the same year and while we were dealing with the loss of a loved one and my health diagnosis I used to stay around my nans house quite a bit and I used to sleep on my grandads side of the bed.

A year after he passed away, I kept feeling someone by the side of the bed and waking me up with a jolt of electricity through my body. This happened practically every night and even when I was sleeping in my own bed I could feel the same energy there. This I must admit used to  scare me a bit because I had never come across anything like that before and I couldn't work out why I could sense exactly where this energy was and that it was shaped in human form. I could see the image in my mind’s eye and I didn’t know how to close down. Afterall I was only 15 and this sort of thing isn’t taught in schools. I did feel like I was going a bit doolally. 

I spoke to my nan about it and she said ‘It’s your grandad’ which then didn’t scare me, it actually comforted me knowing he was still around and making contact with me. However I was losing sleep over it and all he was trying to do was have contact with me while I wasn’t preoccupied with usual day to day life.

You see when you are in bed and drifting off to sleep your energy rises to a lighter level and this is easier for spirit to reach us for contact so that’s why a lot of the time people experience spirit while they are in bed, trying to sleep or in their dreams.

After around another year my Aunt passed away. I then started to feel 2 spirit energies at the bottom of my bed. I could feel one was male and one was female and I could feel the different sizes of them as if they were physically standing in front of me. I knew this was my aunt and grandad together coming to say hello. So I used to greet them back.

Once I acknowledged them the feeling of being unsure dissipated and I was able to easily have them around me without any fear at all.

Little did I know this was only the beginning of my journey and they were preparing me for more work with spirit. You see if you come across a spirit of a loved one first and know it is them then you’re not scared because they loved you in the physical plane, so why wouldn't they still love and care for you in the spirit world. They will protect you on the other side now as they did when they walked the earth with us.

Years passed and I used to go on paranormal investigations with mum (who bloomin loves paranormal) where I'd meet other spirit energies and communicate with them. I attended classes on different subjects such as mediumship, meditation, witchcraft and alternative healing modalities where I learnt how to communicate safely and shut down when I no-longer wanted to communicate.

This led to my grandad introducing me to one of my Spiritual Guide. I was much more comfortable and accepting of a new energy because I trusted my grandad and knew he wouldn’t let anyone come near me if they weren't safe.

And there my journey truly began with my Guides and Spirit.

Now working with my guides is my first protocol when I wish to do any spirit work whatsoever as they are my security guards on the other side. They keep me safe and help with communication or work I have to do. They have also helped me plan classes according to what my students need at that time and I must say they are always right. I usually get told that they were discussing the subject or reading up on it and then we surprisingly do it within the class, so it makes sense that I was guided to cover that subject.

So working with spirit can be very beneficial within your spiritual journey and I find it ever so important and beneficial to work with spirit within my craft. They have actually made my work more powerful as I’m able to tap into other energies to help elevate my own power when casting spells or rituals.

Working with spirit can be as simple as meditation and asking for guidance on what you need to do or go as far as conjuring spirit and asking them to join you within your space. Now here lies the danger so to speak, you need to have your protection up and knowledge of energies before you just invite an energy in because the energy that comes through may not be the one you’ve asked for and has basically invaded the space or the energy is so strong that you cannot cope with it.

Then you have to remove the energy/spirit fully so it’s not to bring any problems to you. This is where work, connection and confidence with your guides comes in, if you haven’t got them by your side and at full strength to be with you then you’re going to have problems with removing energy. This is where lack of knowledge and dabbling can bring you misfortune.

So please know what you're doing first and who you’re working with before you just dive head first into working with spirit. Not everything on the other side is all love and light.

Attend classes and work with mentors within this field of work to work on your own protection and communication skills with spirit to gain the knowledge and experience before you battle anything, if anything on your own.

As I said, working with spirit can definitely enhance your work within your spiritual journey or craft so delving into them I say go for it, but learn, grow and above all, take your time.

Rome wasn’t built in a day and no craft can be mastered in a day or one class. It takes practise, practise, practise.

Calling in and working with Deities is the same, they have stories behind them, things they like as offerings, deities that they can work hand in hand together and others who are completely opposite that it would be unwise to call them in as well. Deity work is a process again.

It’s not ‘dial a deity’ and one will come to you and it's that easy. They have to have a reason they come and work with you and it must be beneficial to them as well. They will need payment in form of offerings such as incense, crystals, drinks (wine, sale, whiskey), food etc

Each deity will respond to the correct energy, offerings and dedication above all to lend their energy to you to heighten your work. If you’re just going to call in a different deity everytime you work, your own energy is off and you need to stop, re-evaluate why you're calling them in and respect them more to know they don’t just come at your beck and call.

Again dedication is highly recommended. I personally only work with Hekate and wouldn't dream of bringing in another deity because I don't know enough about them or kick Hekate to the side because someone else may do the job better for me.

1. that deity wouldn’t come and 2. How disrespectful to Hekate. 

I do daily mantras to keep a thread of communication and connection to Hekate and regular offerings, rites and work with her to keep my connection with her strong.

So you want to work with a deity? 

First of all ask yourself why you wish to work with a deity? I know of witches who don’t believe in them so therefore don’t work with them and they get along just fine on their witchy journey.

Second, ask yourself if you want to work with a female, male or both?

What pantheon? Greek, Celtic, Roman, Sumarian? Egyptian? There are so many to delve into and explore.

So say you’ve researched and feel drawn to one or two. Or a deities name keeps coming up in books you've read or within shows you watched, there’s a reason the name keeps coming up.

Now learn more about them. What are their likes and dislikes? What do they look like and feel like when contact is made? Do they like particular times of day or moon cycle? Can you commit to dedicating yourself to them?

As I mentioned above, there’s a lot more to it than ‘dial a deity’. 

Meditate on it and ask for them to draw near for clarification, do some divination and see what is said about this connection.

Ask you guides, as they will be the ones allowing safe connections to be made.

Once you have all the necessary information then get going, perform a ritual to them and give offerings to them. However don’t expect them to make physical connections straight away. You won’t get this ‘oh my goddess you have come’ moment. Connection will take time and you may not feel the connection for a while, but keep going with your dedication and soon enough you will be heard and they will respond. Then your work with them with truly begin.

I hope this has given you a little insight into working with spirit and how important it is to be connected with your guides and have the knowledge before working with spirit/dieties.

Many Blessing to You All

WillowMoon

[thewonkywitchescauldron]

Magickal Burn Out

If you know you know….if you’ve been feeling like you're out of sorts lately and not sure why or  what’s happening….You’re exhausted! - emotionally, mentally and physically, then you know what I mean when I say ‘you’re burnt out’.

Even experienced witches have a burn out from time to time and I'm not saying you have to be a witch to have a burn out. Even muggles can feel it, but what I'm talking about is magickal burn out. Do you have Spells, Rituals and Meditations that don’t seem to be going the way they should be? When a witch is experiencing a burn out he/she has no energy to meditate let alone cast any spells and dedicate time to their craft. Their magickal energy seems to diminish which can be scary when you've worked so hard to build that energy up.

So how do we get burnt out?

To put it simply, you’ve done too much. This could be magickally or you have so much going on in the mundane world that you’ve had to take a step back because you don’t have the time or energy to practice.

As a teacher of witchcraft myself and a business owner (concentrating on spiritual classes and products) I know what it's like to experience burnout and trust me it happens more than once or twice. I’ve been concentrating so much on helping others begin their journey or build on it that I've forgotten my own. I get told all the time by my guides to meditate meditate meditate and when I've tried I've not got much at all. Then it dawned on me, it’s not so I can get guidance or anything from them, it's just so I stop and sit for at least 5mins a day and just be. Stop the rat race and check in with myself, I’ve asked for them to draw near and i get a slight bit of contact then nothing. And I know it’s not for them to sort me out, it’s my job to do the work and actually look after myself. I love doing my teaching and making things but sometimes I have to give in and take a step back and top myself up before I can help others. I suggest you do the same, take a day, a week or even a month if you can spare it (make the pigging time people) and look after yourself.

I’ve spoken to some people about feeling guilty for doing absolutely nothing for hours or a day and they feel the same. Which made me think, why have we been conditioned that we have to go go go all the time? It’s not good for us at all. We live this life once and you never know when it’ll end so why do we feel guilty for looking after ourselves and doing absolutely sod all, giving our bodies and minds a rest?

I hadn’t done this for quite some time. Covid Lockdown gave me this chance but as soon as we we’re allowed out I went back to the rat race, like many others. My personal growth and magickal energy has paid the price. I’ve neglected my practice for so long now that I need to build myself up again to feel energies stronger like I once did and perform spells/rituals without getting tired or feel like they are a lot of work to just get started with them. And above all, fall back in love doing it again. I've missed that buzz I get when connecting, that buzz I see in my students when they attend classes. Now that’s magickal burn out. 

So if you’re like me you’ll be asking, How the heck do I get out of this? I’ve made a list of things that I think are helpful for magickal burn out.

Stop. Just Stop. Stop being there all the time and letting others drain your energy. Yes you still have work to do but slow down and prioritise what needs to be done. 

Leave doing magick for others aswell. Especially if they're not willing to work with you and actually do the mundane to help the magick reach the task at hand. It’s a waste of energy on your part - again put yourself first. More often than not they are just as capable of doing the work themselves if they really want it they’ll put the effort in and if not, oh well. It’s not your problem to solve.

De-clutter. Oh I love a de-clutter when I have the energy to do it. It helps to physically clear aswell as energetically. Marie Kundo the hell out of your magickal supplies and stuff. Does it give you joy? No? Get rid!. Have you used it within a few months? No? Get Rid!…. Yes? Keep it!

Be ruthless and have a clear out, make your magickal space nice and fresh, ready for you to work again.

Don’t start again on high energy magickal tasks, start by simply cleansing and balancing your energy again. Meditate but don’t expect life changing results. Baby steps are needed to regain your power once again.

Look at a new subject within your path you may be interested in or a new class that may bring a fresh perspective to your craft. It may be just what you need to give your magickal practice a kick start.

Sit with a nice herbal cup of tea with the moon and soak in her energy, recharge yourself as you do your crystals in the moonlight.

Most importantly, don’t expect it all to come flooding back all at once to how you once was. It takes time. Baby Steps.

I’ve just started to pull myself out of Magickal Burn Out myself by doing the above and it’s slow, but I'm getting there. So why not join me and take the time to prioritse yourself and get you back to you.

I hope this has helped you and gives you some good pointers to help yourself with your own magickal burnout

Blessed Be

WillowMoon

[thewonkywitchescauldron]

The Witch's Shield

What is a Witch's Shield and why do we need them?

The witch's shield is what every practitioner needs to learn, administer and keep strong throughout their practice. Especially new witches. Think of it as an invisible force field to our eyes but energetically you and other energies can feel a resistance if they try to penetrate your protection.

Another easy example is you lock yourself and your family into your homes in the evening before you go to bed, you lock away valuables out of sight and reach of others to keep everyone and everything safe from people who wish to do and cause harm towards you. So why would being energetically open be acceptable? You’re basically leaving the door open for anyone and anything to come into your space and wreak havoc. 

Now as you're interested or have been involved in this side of life, I very much doubt you don’t know that everything is made up of energy. It’s scientifically proven as well. FINALLY science is catching up to the occult and proving what we’ve been saying all along....there are things out there...invisible things that we can only sense and sometimes see/hear when we are on the same wavelength so to speak for communication and connection.

Wards and Protection, Are they the same? So Protection is something you keep behind closed doors so to speak and a Ward is a Guardian - a bodyguard or your security camera if you will.

Do we need both? Sometimes. Is it wise to have both? Yes.

You can have protection around yourself, around loved ones, your home, your car, your work space, your purse/wallet, pets. You name it, you can protect it. You can also have a Ward around yourself, your loved ones, your car etc etc. For something untoward to get to what you want to protect, it has to go through security checks and allowed into your space before they can even introduce themselves to you.

Most people, especially those who aren’t involved in this side of life, will think you only need protection to shield yourself from evil spirits or to defend ourselves from other witches. Good old Hollywood strikes with this way of thinking. Most of us witches don’t believe in the christian god ‘Satan’ but that doesn’t mean we don’t believe or know of negative energies out there that can make themselves known to us at some point in our lives. That doesn’t mean that we think every negative thing that comes at us is a demon or poltergeist for instance - side note - EXTREMELY RARE. But we know of energetic negative energy that is sent towards someone or has been built up over time. 

Not all negative energy is evil, it’s just a lower vibration of energy of what we need to flourish. Think of it as energetic dirt, you wash yourself to physically get rid of dirt, so why leave our energetic bodies to take on muck which in the end can bring on illness, fatigue, spiritual development can be slower etc. So keep your energetic body clean and you’ll be better for it.

Most of the negative energies you will come across on your path will be rather mundane. Something you can easily detect and remedy, which we’ll get onto in a moment.

But for now what about wards? We naturally have our own Ward connected to us since birth. These are called ‘Guides’. Most of you (I hope anyway) are in connection with their guides and have a relationship with them already. If not, do not worry they are ready and waiting for you to make connections and help you along your path. These can be seen as your spiritual bodyguards.

They are here to work with you along your path and within your life (to a certain degree - don’t forget we do have free will) It is their job. They are contracted to you as you are to them. Before you came down to this earth you both made a decision who was going down and who was staying, what you would want to learn from this experience and how they can help you. Both growing together and in turn helping each other's souls progress to higher understandings.

They are with you the majority of the time especially when you are trying to develop spiritually or are in some kind of danger. However they won’t be helping you pick out the best carrots while you're shopping, they do have better things to do funnily enough. They can be funny and serious, loving and tough on us. But that’s what we need. They are our best spiritual friends, they have our best interests at heart and want us to succeed and grow as they can also succeed and grow along with us, so it’s win-win really.

Other types of wards can be put in place to help guard what we want protecting such as Spell Jars, Witches Bells, Poppets, Crystals, Witches Ladders, Mirrors, Mojo Bags & Herb Bags.

So we’re going to discuss these a little more alongside protection work so you’ll have the knowledge and means to perform these yourself when you need your security bumped up a notch or two

But how do we do this? Is it hard? Are there different types of protection and wards? the questions really do go on and on. But your here today to find out some more information from this wonky witch on what it’s all about and how to perform such things, so let’s get witchin’.

Most Common Types of Attack Psychic Thoughts/Energy - Yes just the thought sent out into the universe can be an attack. Now it depends how much power the sender has and how much protection you have as a witch, on how you’ll be affected. These attacks are to cause misfortune to the target in question.

You may just have small silly things happening that are inconvenient for you within your life or you may feel down, drained or even everytime you come across someone in particular you feel some form of negativity from them. This could be them thinking negatively about you and wishing that on you simply because they are jealous in some way or you said something they didn’t like or they just don’t like you - little fact here everyone, not everyone is going to like you and visa versa, it’s just the way energy works. We’re like magnets, sometimes we attract, sometimes we repel. It’s not intentional but sooner you accept that the better.  Some energies just don’t mix and that is fine!

There is power in words and thoughts, just have that in mind when something like this comes about. You may even be throwing a psychic attack to someone unintentionally because you just don’t like them in some form or fashion. Check yourself before you think negative of someone. Do they deserve it? and Why the hell are you even bothered by them? That’s the thing you need to look at more, is why are you bothered by what they said? because it’s true? did it hit a nerve that you didn’t want to face. Because 9/10 they will forget what they said or done in an instant and carry on with their lives, while you’re still obsessing over it and letting that psychic attack into your space.

Psychic Vampires - No I’m not talking about people running around in the dead of night, with sharp teeth and sucking the life force out of your neck. I’m talking about energy drainers which is probably a better term to give them. Now like psychic attacks this can be done unintentionally and I’m sorry to say it but we’ve all done it to someone.

Ever had a friend or family member who you dread to see sometimes because you just know they are going to be chewing your ear off moaning about every little thing over and over again but never doing anything about it. The oh worries me people. I mean we’ve all done it, we’ve moaned to people who will listen because we’re upset or frustrated by something then feel loads better just by having a moan about it to someone. But then the person listening is left almost on the floor from all the negative energy that’s been thrown at them by listening to the worries of the world from someone else.

This is a great example of having to have protection up so you're not left drained because they have basically fed on your energy to make themselves feel better. Good for them but not good for you. This can also happen even when you're not communicating with a person. You could be sitting on a bus and the person in front of you is just simply sitting there but suddenly you feel drained of energy. They have unknowingly tapped into your energy and taken what they need to boost their energy up while leaving you drained. As i said they haven’t looked at you and consciously gone ‘oh they look like they're full of good vibes, i’ll have some of that, gimme gimmie’ but their energetic body has gone ‘oh i feel weak. They look good, i’m sure they can spare some’ and zap! ‘thanks, bye’

We’ve done it ourselves. We know we’re meeting a friend today, which we may think ‘oh my god, I love their energy, they are so full of happiness, i’m going to feel great after seeing them’. Now you could either leave them feeling drained or you can feed off of each other which the later is always the best option but it’s not always the case.

Spirits - Unwanted or Otherwise - Now as i said before sometimes these can be out guides so it’s important to gather this information first before you start blocking them out. After All they want and need to help us along our path for us both to grow.

There could also be loved ones trying to communicate with us, even though they have passed they still wish to pick up the phone and have a conversation with us but because we aren’t on the same frequency to them we find it hard most of the time to know what they wish to speak about.

Now once you open up to spiritual practices and communication or stoke your cauldrons fire your going to look very interesting to an array of spirits (known or unknown). This is where you need to have ya wits about you, because yes you can have people knocking on your door, but do you want them to enter? The majority of them are harmless, and once they know you are as well, they will just leave and go about their business. But just be aware that once you turn your sign to open for business all sorts of energies will come and check you out to see what your upto. These can be thought of as scavengers, just like a rodent making their way into your home, you won’t want them in there because they carry disease and leave little presents for you, but perhaps they want to find food and warmth. We respect their lives and just want to usher them back outside where they came from so you and your family are safe, and we do so by covering up any holes they may have got through - protecting our space once again. These spirits can find a gap within your protection and make their way in just to see what your up to just like that rodent.

Other spirits can be the lost, the ones who have passed but not gone through the light, due to trauma of some kind. They can see you're open for business and come in to ask for some help. They do not mean any harm but these are usually troubled souls looking for aid so you may feel negative energy from them as they are in need of guidance of what has happened and healing to then move on.

Some people see these spirits as attachments or menacing but all they are doing is asking for some help and as your light is on, they have come to you. If you feel unsure then please do get intouch with a medium to see what they can do to help or send them here to Kallima as we do run a rescue circle and we can help them move on for you.

Jinx - Jinxes are small, relatively harmless spells. When you cast a jinx, it will cause your target minor annoyances that are temporary. You know the little annoyances like car tyre puncturing too many times, things breaking around you, electrical malfunctions, the annoying things in life that just grate on you.

Casting a jinx mainly makes you feel better about a situation and they’re usually done in the heat of the moment when someone has upset you in some way and you want to make them pay for it. The downside of doing these is that you probably won’t know if it worked unless you’re super close with the individual. Jinxes are generally harmless towards the target but are mean-spirited. They’re cast when you want something negative to happen to your target. They also don’t last that long, although you can set a specific time period before casting a jinx.

Hexes - Hexes are much stronger than jinxes. These spells will send negative energy towards your target (depending on your intention) but the hex won’t last super long. Generally, a hex is for a set duration of time or stops working when the target learns their lesson. Hexes are often useful when someone continues to do wrong and you need them to change.

Curses - Unlike hexes and jinxes, curses are meant to last for a long time. Some curses even last for generations. A curse can be placed on a person, family, place, etc. Curses really are the worst of the worst and are dangerous to the target. It’s typical for witches to cast curses on their abusers or on someone who made their life a living hell.

But don’t forget what you throw out comes back to you....in the wiccan rede it’s said it comes back threefold. If you believe in Karma then be careful unless you're willing to take on any repercussions for your actions. Especially if you're sending energy to another witch because you can cause a magickal war - literally.

Some Signs & Diagnosing of a Magickal Attack These are some potential signs to look out for when you're thinking of protection and being magickally attacked.

- A feeling of being watched, especially when you’re on your own. Now don’t forget this could be your guide or a loved one so before jumping straight to thinking you're being magically attacked do some research first. - Vivid or occuring nightmares -  these could be personal fears or phobias or a horrid dream of someone chasing you and you can’t get away. This can be a sign of someone warning you that you’re under attack and you need to defend yourself. - Energy drainage - this can feel physical, emotional or mental. This can affect all parts of your life and health if it goes unchecked. Have you been getting enough sleep yet feel tired ALL the time, have no zest for things you loved doing before. Of course seek medical help before jumping straight to magickal attack but this is a very common one that people experience. - Suddenly becoming accident prone causing objects to break, tripping over your own feet etc a run of bad luck basically. - A sudden and unexpected illness when no other causes of the illness are apparent. Again check with your doctor first but if they cannot find anything this could be a sign of magickal attack.

Divination is a good place to start, especially from another practitioner who can read something that you may not want to acknowledge. Another practitioner , especially one who doesn’t know you personally won’t have the emotional attachment to you and can see things clearer and have an unattached view of the situation.

Cleansing Your Energetic Body Now there are a few easy steps to take to cleanse your energetic body. Like I said previously you physically clean yourself of dirt so why not cleanse your energetic body from any energetic dirt that's sticking to it.

Smudging -  Smudging has long been used to connect to the spiritual realm or enhance intuition. For healers and people in traditional cultures, burning herbs is used to achieve a healing state — or to solve orreflect upon spiritual dilemmas. Smudging is a critical first step in any sacred ritual, as well as an important way to complete and seal sacred work. This ancient practice clears low vibrations and stuck energies. Burning sacred herbs and resins is perhaps the most time-tested method for energetically (and sometimes physically) cleansing a space. For millennia, our ancestors have believed that sacred smoke raises vibrations and assists with magic.

Ritual Bathing or Showering - Yes you can energetically cleanse yourself while your physically cleansing yourself. As water is connected to the Emotions this is of course a god way to help wash away any negative emotions you may be feeling down the drain. Adding salt, herbs and essential oil energy into the mix will help cleanse the energetic body further.

Salt - Salt absorbs what is in the air around it, like odors for instance. It’s a natural cleaner. It will soak up the energy around it too. That’s a good thing. Most witches use salt in almost every ritual or spell they perform. Salt can be used to create protective barriers to cleansing your magickal ritual circle before working. You can also place bowls of salt in corners of a room to catch any negative energies and banish them from the space. Some witches use salt as an offering to particular deities and spirits.

Water - As I said before Water is associated with the emotions so using water in some form or fashion when cleansing is a great idea. You can literally do it on a daily basis. Just by showering or bathing you can energetically cleanse when you have the intention behind it. Also using other forms of water is amazing. Moon water is always a firm favourite as it can cleanse and heal.  Moon water is water that is charged by the energy of the moon. Preferably a full moon or supermoon, where the energy is heightened.

Rose Water - Magickally it is used in spells for cleansing, love, romance, healing, psychic energy and protection. A magickal water that’s been infused with the essence of roses is called rose water. Rose water is popular in many magickal traditions including hoodoo and has been used as medicinal headache relief in years past. There are different ways to make rose water, but the more traditional involves infusing the rose essence into water via heat.

Florida Water - is a magical water that’s not an actual water, but a combination of essential oils mixed with a solvent. Florida Water has also been remarkably known for its magickal properties and has become a standard cleansing and protective agent among the Voodoo/Santeria followers and the Shamans of Peru, which they include in many magickal rituals and practices as well as during any preparation phase for protection and cleansing. Bathe in Florida Water on a New Moon to cleanse away negativity. Anoint your altar and tools with it. Bless your home.

Some Types of Wards Circle Casting - Circle casting refers to the practice of setting up a temporary protective space for magick or ritual. It is, by definition, round. Circle-casting is a term that’s most commonly used in Wiccan traditions, but other magick users may cast circles, as well. The magick circle is a mobile temple, a place apart from the ordinary world where magickal happenings can more easily occur.

Spell Jars/Witch Bottles - Perhaps the best-known type of jar spell is the witch bottle. In early times, the bottle was designed as a way to protect oneself from malicious witchcraft and sorcery. In particular, around the time of Samhain, homeowners might create a witch bottle to keep evil spirits from entering the home on Hallow's Eve. The witch bottle was usually made of pottery or glass, and included sharp objects such as pins and bent nails. It typically contained urine as well, belonging to the homeowner, as a magickal link to the property and family within. The other reason why using your own urine comes up a lot in traditional witchcraft is because humans are animals too – using your own urine in a protection spell is quite literally marking your territory! The best uses for witch bottles or spell jars are ones with an air of protection. Think about it – you’re encasing the spell inside of a solid object. Where else in our lives do we do that to things (or people)?

Sigils - Sigil magick is the art of using symbols and imagery to manifest a specific intent or outcome. They are a wonderfully useful form of magick. They are coded with your unique purpose and can only be deciphered by you, allowing your intention to remain a secret as the universe works to align and deliver your desire. This gives them incredible power.

Symbols - Using symbols within your craft is very useful. You can use them within the spell or as the energy themselves. There are hundreds of different symbols out there to use but we’ll just show a few here to get you started.

Some Types of Wards

Poppet Dolls - Poppets work on the magickal practice of sympathetic magick. Like for Like.

The poppet can be made into figures of people, animals or even body parts. They are worked if they contain ‘tags’ of the target. This could be hair, teeth, finger nails, clothing, things they have used or touched, photos, named paper or even curios that represent the target. You can add herbs, crystals, petals, roots, barks, bone and even flesh or animal body parts to the poppet. The more you add the more potent your poppet will be.

You breathe life into the poppet so it takes on its own soul so to speak. These are great for wards as they can literally stand guard.

Witch Bells -  Witches love to hang little bells from their door handles to scare away unwanted spirits. Usually they enchant them with spells. You can hang little bells from your door handle or on your door and chant a spell or simply hold the bells in your hand and charge them with your intent. These bells cleanse the space everytime they are rung as well as spooking any negative energy that comes into contact with the ringing bell, making them flee from the area.

Besoms - These wonderful witchy brooms are used for cleansing however also for protection and warding when hung above the entrance of a premises.

Spell Jars/Witches Jars - As said in the protection part of this workshop, Spell jars are used as a protection but they can also put that barrier up so no unwanted energies can push through into your protected space.

Iron Nails/Horseshoes - Iron Ground negative energy. If using a horseshoe, have it facing down to ground negative energy and send it away. Facing up is said to gather luck. Using iron nails you can face them outwards to prick any negative energy coming at your home or space. The energy will soon scarper.

For some more information and more in depth check out the following Authors and Books:

Jason Miller - Protection and Reversal Magick. A witches defense manual

Christopher Penczak - The Witch’s Shield. Protection Magick and Psychic Self-Defense

I hope you’ve enjoyed this Around The Wonky Witches Cauldron and that you can use this information on Protection Magick as well as read more for yourself and get yourself protected

Blessed Be WillowMoon

[thewonkywitchescauldron]

Witches Magickal Salts

Used for: Rituals, Spellcraft, Spellcasting, Water Energy, Earth Energy, Elemental Energy, Cleansing, Banishing, Protection, Offerings.

Many different magickal traditions call for the use of salt in spells and rituals.

For centuries, it’s been known as a very magickal – and also very valuable – ingredient.

But why is salt such a magickal item? Let’s look at some of the history behind the use of salt in magic, and some of the ways it’s commonly used in folklore and legend.

Salt was actually pretty important in the grand scheme of human civilization. In the early days of mankind - or at least the days prior to industrialisation - the process of harvesting salt was time consuming and labour intensive. This meant that salt was a pretty valuable commodity, and only the rich could afford it. The Romans actually paid their soldiers with salt, because it was so important for things like food preservation. Interestingly, the word “salary” has its root in the Latin word for salt.

So, in addition to being pretty important and a pricey bit of material, salt began to find its way into the metaphysical and spiritual realm. In many Eastern belief systems, such as

Buddhism, salt is used both as a purifier and to repel evil.

In parts of Germany, Normandy, and Scotland, salt was used in or around a butter churn to keep witches from souring the butter or harming the cow from which the cream was obtained.

Irish folk remedies include the use of salt, combined with a recitation of the Lord’s Prayer, to cure those who might have been “fairy-struck.” A similar story comes from Bavaria and Ukraine, in which salt were used to determine if a child was bewitched.

Egyptian caravans setting out on a journey across the desert used to perform a ritual that

involved burning salt on hot coals. This was done to ensure that evil spirits wouldn’t get in the way of the travellers.

Using Salt Within Magick Salt has maintained its usefulness in modern folk magick traditions as well.

- Creates a magickal, protective barrier.

- Salt in general is used in ritual purification, magickal protections and blessings.

- Some witches place salt in the four corners of the room before casting.

- Used in purification spells.

- Used to symbolize the earth element on your altar or when you are casting.

- Sea salt may be used as the water element due to the fact that it came from the sea.

- Use within Witches Bottles.

- Can be used as an offering to Deities.

- As salt was used as currency in history it is also used for Abundance today. Mixing the salt with green herbs and powders used for abundance and wealth will give the salt the green hue which adds the green colour correspondence as well to the salt mixture.

- Cleanses

- Repels many types of evil.

- Salt may also be added to a ritual bath to absorb negative energy surrounding a person.

(Epsom Salt & Himalayan) or Apply salt scrub directly to the skin. Once the salt has

absorbed the negative energy, it is then washed away as the tub is drained.

Most witches use salt in almost every ritual or spell they perform. As mentioned before, salt can be used to create protective barriers to cleanse your magickal ritual circle before working. You can also place bowls of salt in corners of a room to catch any negative energies and banish them from the space. Some witches use salt as an offering to particular deities and spirits.

But why stop there? Why not draw symbols and sigils in the salt to add that extra bit of energy within a ritual or spell. Simply spread a thin layer on a surface (try using a dedicated tray or plate as cleaning up will be easier) and draw your symbols with your finger, wand, wooden spoon etc. I would personally discard this salt after my spell or ritual is complete, however if you are charging the salt with a specific purpose then collect the salt up and store, ready for when you need it.

Typical Types of Salt Used

Himalayan Salt Himalayan salt is pink in color. Himalayan salt aligns the earth with the universe. This salt is great for protection during astral travel and when spiritually traveling between worlds as well as being the salt within Pink Witches Salt.

Sea Salt

Sea salt is often used in purification and cleansing baths. Because it is from the sea, ruled by the element of water, which also deals with emotions, sea salt is great for spells to help

release and cleanse negative feelings. Great to use within Black Witches Salt.

Epsom Salt

Mainly used within Bath Ritual Salts and Scrubs. Naturally removes toxins from the body therefore will help with cleansing and purification within witchcraft.

Table Salt

Table salt is the least expensive of all the salts, and is generally used for home and sacred space cleansing rituals and protection circles. This salt is the cheapest way of incorporating salt into your practice. Witchcraft on a budget!

Witches Salts

You may have heard of Witches Salts whilst riding your broom through your journey. But if you haven’t let me break 2 most popular ones down for you.

Pink Witches Salt

Pink Witches Salt is used in love magick and rituals and carries a beautiful calm and loving energy with it. Himalayan Salt is used within this Salt. Carry Pink Witches Salt in a pouch for any emotional and spiritual healing when needed. You can sprinkle it on your altar when performing a ritual or casting a spell for love, friendship, romance etc. You may wish to sprinkle it around a candle during these spells and rituals to bring a gentle and peaceful energy.

Pink Witches Salt on your altar is a lovely offering to deities and spirits that are connected to love such as Aphrodite. Use this salt anywhere you feel the need, it can be spread anywhere you wish to bring a loving energy to.

Black Witches Salt

For those who want something for protection within their stash of magickal tools, you should have Black Witches Salt. Black Salt (not to be confused with Black Salt from Indian Cuisine) is used by Pagans, Witches, Wiccans, Voodoo and Hoodoo practitioners for its extreme protective elements. It can be spread just about anywhere - your home, your workplace, your ritual circle, etc - and its purpose is to drive away those that would do you harm (whether physical or spiritual). Black Salt is also said to be an ingredient for creating a hex or curse. Remember, whatever you cast out comes back to you. You can sprinkle it on your altar when performing a ritual or casting a spell for protection, banishing etc. You may wish to sprinkle it around a candle during these spells and rituals to bring an added protective energy.

I make these myself for you to purchase within Kallima Spiritual Centre or online via our website. However if you wish to make your own then he’s a couple simple DIY’s for you to do at home.

Witches Salts DIY Step-By-Step

- Black Witches Salt -

Items Needed:

- Mortar & Pestle - Glass Jar or any sealable container - Mixing Bowl

Ingredients:

- Sea Salt or table salt - Black Peppercorns - Ash of incense or burned herbs - Activated Charcoal Discs

Step-By-Step

- Measure desired amount of salt needed and place into mixing bowl. - Place a activated charcoal disc into Mortar & Pestle and grind into fine powder. - Place charcoal powder into mixing bowl with salt. - Place some Black Peppercorns in Mortar & Pestle and grind as fine as you can. - Place Ground Black Peppercorns into mixing bowl with salt and charcoal. - Place ash of burned incense/herbs into the bowl mixture. Use herbs you have burned specifically for the banishing and protective properties. Do not mix incense ash from a variety of spells as this can influence the energy of the black salt to a different purpose. - Mix all ingredients thoroughly with Intention. Mix in a counter-clockwise direction to banish negative energies. - Recite your intention. For Example ‘May this salt banish all negative energies from my space and keep me protected as I work, So Mote It Be’ - Place mixture into glass jar and label.

- Pink Witches Salt -

Items Needed:

- Mortar & Pestle - Glass Jar or any sealable container - Mixing Bowl

Ingredients:

- Himalayan Salt - Pink/Red dried herbs for love

Step-By-Step

- Measure desired amount of salt needed and place into mixing bowl. - Place the red/pink flowers/herbs into Mortar & Pestle and grind as fine as you can. - Place the ground flowers/herbs into mixing bowl. - Mix all ingredients thoroughly. Mix in a clockwise direction to draw loving energy into the mixture. - Recite your intention. For Example ‘May this salt bring loving energies into my space and keep me protected as I work, So Mote It Be’ - Place mixture into glass jar and label.

Now there are other ways to use Salt within your craft or spiritual practice. You can add salt into hot water when cleaning the floors or washing your front door/windows. Pop some salt into a room spray to add that extra cleansing energy into the air. Or a simple and fun way to use salt within your home are Salt Bowls.

Salt Bowls Salt absorbs what is in the air around it, like odors for instance. so it is a great physical cleanser as well as energetically. That’s a good thing!. Salt will need to be replaced and recharged as time goes on. If you are in a particularly negative environment your salt may need to be cleared up more frequently. Incorporate it into your home practice by making Salt Bowls for your home. A salt bowl in your home can absorb water, emit ions, and kill bacteria. Some people like to buy fancy salt lamps for this purpose, but a simple bowl filled with salt can do the trick, too.

A few things to consider:

Do not eat this salt. You charged it with absorbing negativity, so you don’t want to consume it.

Do not leave this out in a place where your pets and children will come into contact with it.

When the energy of the bowl doesn’t feel cleansing anymore, it’s time to get rid of it. You can either tip it into the trash, or toss it outside someplace where you wish to prevent plants from sprouting (like the cracks between concrete). Please do not tip onto your grass or any other plants as this can change the PH level in the soil and actually harm the plant and wildlife.

Salt Bowl DIY Step-by-Step

Items Needed:

- Bowl - Preferably Glass or Ceramic - Mixing Bowl

Ingredients:

- Preferred Salt - Herbs/Essential Oils - Crystals (please research which ones are safe with salt)

Step-By-Step

- Choose your bowl. You can use multiple bowls for different rooms. Choose a bowl to use for your salt bowl. You can go for something plain or fancy — whatever you prefer. If you’re going to leave the bowl out for more than a couple of days, I recommend using a non-porous bowl (i.e. not wood). - Choose Your Salt and place into your mixing bowl You can use plain salt from the previous page or use Witches Black/Pink Salt (depending on your preference) - Add Herbs and Essential Oils into the salt Here’s where you can get creative. Find herbs and oils that you’d like to use that resonate with protection and cleansing. - Mix all ingredients thoroughly. Mix in a clockwise direction to draw protective energy into the mixture. - Recite your intention. For Example ‘May this salt cleanse the energy of my home and protect me from negativity, So Mote It Be’ - Place mixture into your chosen bowl and place it in your home where you feel cleansing is needed.

Be conscious of the salt bowl. When you pass by it, use it as a cleanser of your energy. You can push negative energy into the salt bowl, or touch the salt with your hands to ground any lingering negative energy.

Other people like to place salt bowls in the corners of a room. This can create a very magickal feeling space! If you want to try this out, but don’t want to commit to four salt bowls, sprinkle salt from your main bowl into the corners of your room. You can also sprinkle salt on your window sills, as long as a loving family pet won’t jump up there, and as long as the windowsills are not metal, which is susceptible to rusting in salty conditions.

You can also sprinkle a little bit of your salt over the carpet and let it absorb for an hour or so before vacuuming it up. Or use the salt within hot water for washing floors and sides down. It really does change the energy of the room!

So there we have it. Salt. What a wonderful thing to use within our craft and so easily obtainable. Multiple uses so why not use it?!

I hope you’ve enjoyed this Around The Wonky Witches Cauldron and that you can use this information and DIY’s within your magickal practice

Blessed Be

WillowMoon

[thewonkywitchescauldron]

Witches Magickal Moon

The Moon in our sky is much more than just a bright rock pushing and pulling our gravitational field and looking fabulous and it does so, it has been used and respected for millenia by our ancestors before us to help with the seasons, plantation, timings and magick.

Magick can always be conjured up, whenever there is a need. However, there is a school of thought expressing that timing your magick to align with the lunar cycles infuses your spells and magick with the mysterious power of the moon. Our sacred moon has a profound energetic influence upon our inner-world; her energy and emotions are radiated down to earth, provoking us to feel identical emotions to her.

She is bewitching and can shift from heightened energy to yearning in just 29.5 days. Her phases create the perfect climate for a range of spells - it’s no surprise that creating magick in alignment with the moon’s cycles is common in the practice of Witchcraft.

While the moon appears to shine, it doesn’t actually have it’s own light to shine itself, the light is reflected from our Sun's light onto the Moon's surface.

When the Moon moves around our Earth, it makes it appear as if it's increasing (waxing) or decreasing (waning).

These particular changes are known as the different phases of the Moon. The Moon is not actually changing, however. What is changing is the amount of light we see from the Earth. Every phase of the Moon has its own energy and influence.

Each phase of the moon holds different energy, and therefore manifests different outcomes. Timing our magick according to lunar cycles and invoking the unique nature of each phase is a fundamental practice within the Craft. We abide in these soulful cycles and allow them to direct our energy, actions, magick, and for many Witches, our everyday lives. Planting gardens, signing contracts, leaving relationships, starting new jobs and anything else of importance, can all be planned around the moon's phases to ensure favorable results, and to simply be in alignment with cosmic energy (being a Witch is ALL about living and working with energy!)

Because the Moon is the closest celestial body to the Earth, she acts as an amplifier. She filters and directs planetary energies to us, and is the reason for physical manifestations here on Earth. Lunar energy is powerful enough to control the ocean’s tides, so consider how dynamically her energy can affect tiny creatures such as ourselves: our blood, our hormones, our neurochemicals - every part of us, even our thoughts and moods..

There are eight phases of the Moon - four primary and four intermediate as well as micro moons, supermoons, lunar eclipses and blue moons.

Most witches use the 4 primary phases but when you become more intermediate you may wish to delve deeper into the other 4 phases.

The Phases of the Moon

There are four primary phases of the Moon:

• New Moon • Waxing Moon • Full Moon • Waning Moon • Dark Moon

The four intermediate phases of the moon are:

• Waxing Crescent • Waning Crescent • Waxing Gibbous • Waning Gibbous

New Moon - The Spark Of Creation & New Beginnings

During this short time, the Moon’s energy is channeled for renewing and refreshing. It is a potent phase for important spells and for seeding intentions. More powerful than the Waxing and Waning Moons, the New Moon is a time for heightened creativity and new growth. New ideas are sparked and new intentions are birthed. The New Moon is a time for looking forward and for

planning all that you wish to manifest. Now is the time for visualizing your goals as having already manifested.

New Moon Magick Uses:

- Spells where you need to cleanse and start fresh - Starting a new job or relationship - Binding when it involves starting over; for example, to bind your past so that it does not affect your present or future - Fertility spells - Contacting and communicating with those who have passed on - New ventures - Love and romance - Health - Job hunting - Justice

Waxing Moon - The Energy Of Increase And Attraction

The dark night of the New Moon gives way to the first sliver of silver in the sky and continues to swell for fourteen days until fullness is reached. This is a time to attract and to bring things to you, it is a Moon for manifesting your desires. As The Moon is blossoming, so is your goal!

Waxing Moon Magick Uses:

- Bringing things to you - Attracting your desires and wishes - Increase in general - Starting new things - Prosperity spells - Luck spells - Attracting money and success - Attracting love and happiness - Finding objects, people, or pets - Any constructive magick: such as love, wealth, success, courage, friendship, luck and health

Full Moon - The Energy Of Fruition, Sovereignty And Fullness

Bright and powerful, Full Moon energy is the most potent of all the lunar phases, powered by the Sun shining upon Her. Magick during this time is super-charged and appropriate for any aim,

regardless of the goal, unlike other Moon phases. It is a time when the energy of the feminine is strongest, calling forth our yearning for relationship and communion, but also to be in our fullness as individuals. or magickal purposes, many modern Pagans & Witches consider the full moon to include the day before and the day after a full moon, for a total of three days.

Full Moon Magick uses:

- Any spell that requires a large amount of energy and power - Binding - General protection and creating wards - Prophecy and divination rituals - All types of healing - Acquiring knowledge - Finding love - Legal matters - Receiving money - Success

Waning Moon - The Energy Of Release

The Waning Moon has begun transitioning from Full to New and like the Waxing Moon, lasts for almost half of the entire lunar cycle. It is a time for release, warding, decrease and banishing. This is a perfect time to remove negative habits, individuals and situations that no longer serve you. The Waning Moon is also the time to hone your psychic development.

Waning Moon Magick Uses:

- Ridding of something or someone - Breaking bad habits - Ending a relationship of any kind - Ending a phase in your life - Ridding illness and addictions - Removing any unwanted energy that is lingering, including putting a soul to rest - Cleansing spells & rituals, smudging, etc. - Binding harmful or negative energies - Banishing negative and destructive thought, emotional and behavioral patterns

Dark Moon - Communing With Your Shadow Self

The Dark Moon begins as the final sliver of the waning crescent is leaving the night sky, and lasts until the onset of the New Moon, where there is absolutely no trace of Luna at all. The Dark Moon phase can last up to three days depending upon your geographic location. There is much confusion about the Dark Moon and the New Moon. They are often referred to synonymously, but that is incorrect. The Dark Moon is the transitional period between the Waning Moon and the New Moon, and is an important phase in and of itself. The website Moon Giant is a great resource to learn when the moon will be dark, as well as when the other lunar phases will occur in your geographic region.

The Dark Moon is the most psychically fertile phase of the lunar cycle, as it ushers in stillness. This is a time for restoration, introspection, self-reflection, meditation, contemplation, shadow-work and the unconscious mind. It is a time for solitude and surrender. It is the perfect time for rest and release and to connect with your inner Wise Woman. The Dark Moon is the juiciest, ‘Witchiest’ time of the month

because it unveils communication between both deep consciousness and the Divine.

Dark Moon Magick Uses:

- Shadow work - Creating a deeper connection to Source - Self-healing: physical, mental and emotional conditions - Increasing psychic development and ability

I hope this has brought to light some much needed information on our wonderful moon that you can use within your magickal practice

Blessed Be

WillowMoon

[thewonkywitchescauldron]

The Time of The Winter Solstice

The Pagan celebration of Winter Solstice, also known as Yule, is one of the oldest winter celebrations in the world and has been celebrated by humans throughout the ages.

Ancient people were hunters and spent most of their time outdoors. The seasons and weather played a very important part in their lives. Because of this many ancient people had a great reverence for, and even worshipped the sun.

European Origins of Yule

In the Northern hemisphere, the Winter Solstice has been celebrated for millennia. The Norse, who called it Jul, viewed it as a time for much feasting and merrymaking. In addition, if the Icelandic sagas are to be believed, this was a time of sacrifice as well. Traditional customs such as the Yule log, the decorated tree, and wassailing can all be traced back to Norse origins.

The Celts of the British Isles celebrated midwinter as well. Although little is known today about the specifics of what they did, many traditions persist. According to the writings of Pliny the Elder, this is the time of year in which Druid priests sacrificed a white bull and gathered mistletoe in celebration.

Roman Saturnalia

Few cultures knew how to party like the Romans. Saturnalia, which fell on December 17, was a festival of general merrymaking and debauchery held around the time of the winter solstice. This week-long party was held in honour of the god Saturn and involved sacrifices, gift-giving, special privileges for slaves, and a lot of feasting. Although this holiday was partly about giving presents, more importantly, it was to honour an agricultural god.

A typical Saturnalia gift might be something like a writing tablet or tool, cups and spoons, clothing items, or food. Citizens decked their halls with greenery, and even hung small tin ornaments on bushes and trees. Bands of naked revellers often roamed the streets, singing and carousing — a sort of naughty precursor to today's Christmas carolling tradition.

Welcoming the Sun Through the Ages

Four thousand years ago, the Ancient Egyptians took the time to celebrate the daily rebirth of Ra, the god of the Sun. As their culture flourished and spread throughout Mesopotamia, other civilizations decided to get in on the sun-welcoming action. They found that things went really well....until the weather got cooler, and crops began to die. Each year, this cycle of birth, death, and rebirth took place, and they began to realize that every year after a period of cold and darkness, the Sun did indeed return.

Winter festivals were also common in Greece and Rome, as well as in the British Isles. When a new religion called Christianity popped up, the new hierarchy had trouble converting the Pagans, and as such, folks didn't want to give up their old holidays. Christian churches were built on old Pagan worship sites, and Pagan symbols were incorporated into the symbolism of Christianity. Within a few centuries, the Christians had everyone worshiping a new holiday celebrated on December 25, although scholars believe it is more likely that Jesus was born around April rather than in the winter.

Yule vs Christmas, What's the difference?

Historically, it’s more a question of why Yule is also called Christmas, instead of the other way around. A staggering number of traditions that are now associated with Christmas are actually much older Pagan practices, used by ancient northern Europeans to show respect to the yearly return of our sun.

Those asserting the holiday cannot be rightly known as anything other than Christmas, often claim to have history and tradition on their side. This may be the true beginning with the globalization of Christianity. But humankind was celebrating the return of the sun long before Jesus Christ was known.

Today, most Christians aren’t even aware that most of their beloved Christmas traditions, such as Christmas trees, Pomanders, Yule logs, Wassailing, and mistletoe were actually swiped from earlier Pagan religions. Even Santa Claus and his 8 reindeer is believed to be an incarnation of the Norse god, Odin and his 8 legged horse Sleipnir.

The early fathers of the Catholic Church were no dummies. They realised the quickest, most effective way to get the people on board with Christianity was to incorporate the traditions and festivals of the Old worship into the New. Then as now, most people resist change, so allowing the common people to keep their familiar rituals made it much easier to indoctrinate them to the worship of Jesus.

The winter solstice had always been crucial for our ancestors whose entire existence revolved around the growing cycles of the year. Winter meant the leanest time of year for most, but the fact that the sun grew stronger every day from the solstice, and the promise of spring, gave people hope and comfort during the long, dark winter months.

Our agriculturally driven forefathers saw the return of the light as a reason to celebrate, and celebrate they did. The solstice was an occasion marked by feasting, drinking, gift giving, and much merriment.

The word “Yule” itself is believed to be a derivative of an ancient Scandinavian turn of phrase meaning “wheel,” although the precise etymology is still a topic for modern debate. The connotations associated with “wheel” seem rather apt for the origin of the word Yule, especially when one considers that Yule was, and is, an important milestone in our yearly journey around the sun, or “wheel” of the year. Many cultures, both old and new, chose this time to celebrate the arrival of a new year. For us witches, Samhain is usually our New Year, however as time goes on a lot of us still celebrate new year with the rest of the world as well as Samhain. Why not be eclectic?!

Evergreens have always been an important symbolic element of Yuletide, which was later incorporated into Christmas traditions. Holly, ivy and mistletoe are all familiar Christmas greenery that has been part of Pagan solstice celebrations in Europe for thousands of years. Evergreens are potent reminders of immortality, a perfect complement to the sun that is reborn every year at the end of December.

The celebration of Christmas is simply the latest in a long line of mid-winter holidays celebrating the rebirth of a sacrificed deity. The names may have changed, but the fundamental myth has remained constant back into the mists of pre-history. Some may see this as blasphemous, while others derive comfort from the knowledge that humankind has been remarkably consistent with the basics of its belief systems, if not the particulars.

A myth spanning back through the millennia is the story of the Holly King, representing the waning year, and the Oak King, representing the waxing year, who battle each other for dominance annually on the summer and winter solstices. This story may harken back to a time when young males were sacrificed to appease the deities that controlled the changing seasons.

The Legend of the Oak King & Holly King

In some Wiccan traditions, the ritual observation of the Wheel of the Year is augmented by the legend of the Oak King and the Holly King. Representing the waxing and waning of the Sun as the seasons turn, the two figures take turns ruling over the year. The Oak King reigns during the light half, or throughout Spring and Summer, while the dark half—Autumn and Winter—belongs to the Holly King.

As the ruler of the dark half of the year, the Holly King is named for the cheery evergreen tree whose bright green leaves and red berries are a welcome sight in the cold winter months. The Oak King, by contrast, is named for the decoratively-shaped leaves that symbolize the height of summer. Both trees are considered sacred to Wiccans, Witches, and other Pagans, and have long been treasured for their magickal properties.

The two kings are brothers, but they are also rivals, who battle each other throughout the year, alternately conquering each other as the seasons shift. The dates on which the battle is won depends on the tradition. In some forms of Wicca, the Oak King takes over at the Winter Solstice, while the Holly King ascends at the Summer Solstice, as these Sabbats are the technical markers of the Sun’s waxing and waning relative to Earth. Other traditions, however, have the change in rule occur at the Spring and Autumn Equinoxes, so that the Holly King is at the height of his power at the Winter Solstice, when the darkness reigns supreme, and the Oak King is in full glory at the Summer Solstice, when the light is at its strongest. The latter makes more sense to me, but of course I will let you follow your own belief.

Some Wiccans and pagans view the Oak King and the Holly King as twin aspects of the God, in constant battle with each other for the love and attention of the Goddess. Others don’t see such an exact equivalence, but rather observe the legend as another layer of the larger picture of the Wheel of the Year. As with most legends, the actual origins of the Oak King and the Holly King are unknown.

I would like to take this opportunity to wish you ALL Many Yule Blessings and Merry Christmas to those of you who also celebrate this time of year. May the sun bring much light into your lives.

Blessed Be WillowMoon

📷

[thewonkywitchescauldron]

Have you heard the witches call?

Hearing the calling and where to start...

This time I want to talk to you about signs that may have been popping up for you a lot recently that could be the call of the witch. Now before I get started I want to explain witchcraft to the newbies...witchcraft isn’t devil worship, it isn’t working with demons or the “dark side”, it’s a very (to me) liberating and beautiful path to walk and quite frankly anyone can do it but some have it so ingrained into every fibre of their being that they just ooze witchcraft from their pores and find it more of a natural path to follow then any other path or religion.

I myself find it very liberating, it fills me up inside with such passion and wholeness when I'm casting, making oils, incenses etc and just feels like I’m whole. People have told me that when I am talking about witchcraft or I’m teaching it, that I just light up and they can see my passion within my craft and how much it fuels me which in turn excites them to delve into their own journey. I just LOVE it with every fibre of my being. Quite a few people are coming into my centre and saying that they are intrigued by the witchcraft side of things or feel very drawn to it and they can’t explain why. My answer is ‘You don’t need to explain to me, I know that feeling very well and in my experience you shouldn’t ignore that feeling because it’s there for a reason’ and very often I get the words ‘It just feels like I’m home’ which makes me smile because…..yes you are and welcome!

Now the signs you may be seeing or feeling can be very diverse and differ from person to person but some common ones could be symbols, sayings, pictures or literally words you see or hear about on a regular basis. It’s as if they are literally smacking you in the face saying ‘Hello?!’ Now these can be seen on advertisements, within programs, within books, conversations you’ve had or overheard, dreams and then some. You may literally feel as if you are physically and energetically being pulled into a direction and then suddenly turning up at places or centres like my own and meeting fellow witches. Then suddenly the penny drops...oh my! This is where I need to be, This is what I need to be doing, Where has this been all this time?. Simply put….waiting...waiting for you to realise and be in alignment with the energy to start this journey within your life. And again I say Welcome.

I often get asked ‘I’m so drawn to witchcraft but where do I start?’ Now that’s a question! If you’re feeling called to witchcraft then all I suggest is read, research and research some more. Because trust me a lot of witchcraft is learning whether that's by reading books, listening to podcasts, watching videos online and performing your own spells and seeing the outcomes. Witchcraft such as life is a huge learning curve. We don’t know everything and the craft is always evolving as will your journey within it. If you're drawn to a particular way of working, explore it. You don’t want to touch a certain part of a doctrine or path then don’t touch it. It doesn’t make you any less of a witch to another witch, it’s simply your own path.

When I teach I always say this is the way I work and trust me my path has changed over the years and I look forward to seeing how it evolves as I carry on but you don’t have to agree with everything I say or anything I say for that matter. You do YOU! It’s not for me to say that’s wrong, you should do it this way, just because my path doesn’t work that way or my ethics don’t abide by that. The only time I say ooo be careful is how you’re wording things within your spells, you need to be SO specific or the slightest thing could go the other way because you weren't direct enough with your intention.

People who come to my classes are usually ‘Baby Witches’, they are interested, haven’t got a clue if this is the right path for them or are just intrigued by what I do and want to know more. And I welcome them with open arms because you don’t know until you try right?

Now there are hundreds, literally hundreds of ways to practise witchcraft. You can be full on ritual based, follow certain doctrines or simply by cooking or making herbal tinctures etc. You can follow the moon phases, planetary movements, worship deities, work with ancestors, channel energies, work solely with candles, herbs, crystals...the list really does go on. You could be a witch and don’t even label yourself as one, and that’s completely fine.

Witches of old we’re healers. People came from far and wide to ask for their help with physical ailments which were remedied by herbal tinctures and potions. Depending on the country you we’re in depended on what kind of witchcraft was practised. I love reading about all the different ways people practise the craft because it can be so diverse yet all have the same outcome and you’ll find a lot of it is intertwined.

Witchcraft as a whole is Manifestation and Manipulation of Energy. Simple.

This can be manifesting and manipulating certain energies to go your way whether that’s for a career, healing or to simply help aid in giving you opportunities to take advantage of. You can manipulate others as well but my personal view is everyone has free will, and my personal ethics won’t allow it. But each to their own, I would never tell another witch how to practice, so you do you and I'll do me. But just a word of caution to the newbies, think about that before you start to try and control other people’s lives to benefit your own. I hear and see a lot of people trying to get their ex’s back or they have their sights set on someone and think they should be with them or even are jealous of another person and try to cause problems. You can try to get your own way but if the universe lets them carry on then I'm afraid your efforts will be wasted. Think before you do anything within the craft. Be careful what you wish for I always say because it could backfire on you and not go the way you hoped. Would you like someone to manipulate you and take away your free will? My guess is the answer is hell to the no! So think about that before grabbing ya supplies and casting those spells. If this is the only reason you're looking into witchcraft then I'm sorry to say this is not the path for you because witchcraft isn't a quick fix to make your life better. It takes dedication, understanding and work on your side too for the energies to work in unison. I see a lot of young girls now wanting to do it because of what they have seen on social media and it looks "Cool". This is where it can be dangerous because they are going into it blindly and they will get burnt, so if this is you, just please be careful and do it for the right reasons, because a lot of us witches take our path extremely seriously and it's not one to be messed with lightly.

That being said at the end of the day, this is YOUR life you're living, no-one elses...so live it how you want to live it. Practise your craft how you want to practise it, because my fellow witches, it is a practise after all. We don't just learn one thing, take one class, read one book and that's it, we need to practise to grow.

People within your life will have their own opinions and of course if it isn’t safe to do so openly because of a culture you live in or families who are very religious may outcast you then tread carefully for your own safety. Be in the broom closet as us witches like to say. You can practice without anyone knowing and stay safe within your community if you wish to do so although I'm sure when you look at the environment you’re in you’ll find witchcraft somewhere….there always is. It’s ancient after all.

Blessed Be WillowMoon

[thewonkywitchescauldron]

Different Ways to Use Waters within Your Witchcraft

Water is often thought of as the most essential of the Elements for sustaining life. Humans, animals and plant life cannot live without it. Before the construction of roads, water provided humans with the most efficient way of travel, and this is still widely performed on Earth today.

Associated with the Moon, psychic abilities, dreams and emotions, the Water Element is a shape-shifter, moving easily throughout the world by following the path of least resistance.

It can exist as a solid in the form of ice, or as tiny particles of gas in the air. It takes the form of puddles after rain, only to disappear again in the sunshine. Water is a great traveller itself as it flows in our seas and down our rivers, sits in our lakes and travels through the sky creating our clouds and rainfall. When it rains, I often wonder where this water has been from around the world? What has it seen & felt as its transformed from solid to gas then back to liquid again?.

Water is represented by lakes, streams, rivers, oceans, and rain. It’s very beneficial in its cleansing, purifying, healing and nourishing qualities.

Yet it does have a destructive side when it manifests as stormy seas and great tsunamis, floods and severe rainstorms. The Water Element is powerful when interacting with the other

elements, as it can extinguish Fire, flood the Earth and combine with Air to corrode and

dissolve metals. Generally speaking however, Water is one of the more soothing Elements when it comes to the human spirit.

Connecting with the Energy of Water

One of the nicest ways to enhance your energetic connection with the Element of Water is to go swimming! Natural bodies of water such as lakes, rivers, ponds, the ocean are ideal, but

swimming pools also work well. Take a moment to notice how you feel before, during, and after your time in the water and you’ll get a good sense of the power of this Element. If swimming isn’t an option, take a soothing bath or refreshing shower, noticing the way the water feels on your skin.

Make a point of appreciating the water you drink, giving thanks for its life-sustaining

properties. Take a walk in the rain or just listen to the sound of it falling outside your window. You can also play recordings of ocean waves, bubbling brooks, rainfall or thunderstorms to get the essence of Water flowing in your life. Finally, soaking in a ritual bath before celebrating Sabbats and Esbats, or before magical work always enhances your personal power.

- Moon Water -

Moon water is water that is charged by the energy of the moon. Preferably a full moon or supermoon, where the energy is heightened. Making full moon water can be a monthly tradition in your home and magickal practice, which you can literally use for everything, from attracting abundance, spiritual cleansing, bathing, cooking and also drinking.

- Solar Water -

A great deal of emphasis is placed on the moon in modern witchcraft.

Many nights we gaze up at the twilight and wait for the wavering, milky white lunar body to appear so that we might harness its power.

This cycle of the moon as an anchoring symbol in spell work is so ingrained in our thinking that we tend to forget the sun’s energy can be used in a similar way.

Solar Water is highly charged water to use in spells calling for ego, honor, dignity, power, and pride.

If you have spells to increase your self-confidence, improve your leadership abilities and

increase your vitality, using Solar Water to enhance these types of spellcraft is perfect.

Just as the sun brings so much life to the earth, Solar Water breathes new life into spells used, which incorporate this powerful water. You can of course drink this water to help bring vitality and strength to your wellbeing. Use the Solar Water like you would Moon Water but in the opposite way to bring extra fiery charge to your workings.

- Selecting Your Magickal Vessel -

First, you will want to select a vessel to hold your magickally charged water. It will need to be able to seal completely, and it is best if it is made of glass. Your vessel can be any color you like.

While the energy of the Moon & Sun Water is plenty on its own, you can also layer this magick by adding a specific intention such as love, healing, purification, divination, etc. You can even match the color of the bottle to your magickal intention. Use the information below to help you decide.

Beautiful, old-fashioned or ornate bottles or jars are lovely to use, but not necessary. You can use a washed out jam jar or pasta jar. Though you may wish to give it a rinse with some salt water to remove any energy you don't wish to add to your Water.

You can also decorate the jar with a moon and/or water symbols, ribbons, stickers, etc. And again they can coordinate with an additional magickal intention, or simply focus on the moon.

Clear Glass: Air element, clarity, focus, clear sight, lunar magick, healing

Frosted White: Lunar energy, storm magick, protection, healing

Pink: Self-love, relationships, friendship

Red: Fire element, passion, love, sex magick

Amber: Earth element, animal magick, protection

Green: Earth element, faerie magick, earth element, prosperity, wealth, & riches, health & healing

Blue: Water element, healing, increasing psychic abilities, divination, peace, Blue Moon magick

Purple: Element of Spirit, magick, increase personal power, protection

Just like the colour of the bottle, you can select crystals that are simply connected to the moon, sun or to water or you can create your Waters with a specific intent. You can also add crystals that are connected to your zodiac sign to make a personalized Water designed to amplify your own personal power. You don't have to add them directly to the water, some can be harmed when in contact with water and also some are toxic to consume the essence of the direct method. Safest way if you're unsure is to charge the water with the crystal on top of the lid or by the side of the vessel.

Here are some examples of crystals you can use:

- Moonstone for lunar energies

- Sunstone for solar energies

- Rose quartz for love

- Citrine or Green Aventurine for prosperity

- Carnelian for boost of energy- Blue Tigers Eye for soothing energy

- Clear quartz an all purpose crystal and also to amplify the magick

- Phases to work with -

You can repeat this entire process on the other moon phases aswell. Every phase of the moon holds magick, and now you can capture some of it for your own use.

Dark Moon Water is useful for releasing, banishing, protection, endings, completions,

connecting with crone energy, shadow work.

Blue Moon Water is useful for truth-seeking, divination workings, love spells, wishes, banishing and protection spells. The opportunity to perform spells and rituals on a Blue Moon only presents itself to us around every 2.5 years. A Blue Moon occurs when there are two full moons within the same calendar month. Because of this rare occurrence, this is the perfect time to harness the moons powerful influential energy!

New Moon Water is useful for anything you wish to start for example a new opportunity, new healthier life or outlook, new job, new home blessing etcWaxing Moon Water is useful for anytype of growth and development.

Full Moon Water is the all purpose moon phase and the phase of fruition.Waning Moon Water is an additional strengthener for all of your magicks to get rid of all the things you want to remove from your life, once and for all. A freezer spell works very well with Waning Moon Water.

Lunar Eclipse Water is used when a drastic change is needed in your life.Super Full Moon Water is great if you need a big kick to your spells etc.

Take advantage of the sun’s powerful summer energy and try one of these ideas for working with the solar cycles. Harness the energy of sunrise, noon and sunset

You might think of this pattern in the same way you’d think of the waxing, full and waning moon cycles.

- Sunrise is an excellent time to address matters like new beginnings, money-drawing & fertility.

- The Afternoons work well for charging and power raising.

- Sunset is ideal for things like elimination and binding.

- Welcoming Moon/Solar Magick Energy -

Once filled, sit the vessel somewhere where it will receive the moon's/Sun rays completely. This can be outside, on an altar, or even on a window sill. For Moon Water Set it out before the moon rises, but after the sun has set (if possible) and be sure to remove it before the Sun rises the next day. For Solar Water set it out before sunrise and remove just after sunset.

You may wish to enchant your water as you set it out by:

- Holding it to your heart for a few moments, envisioning the desire for the water

- Saying a chant over it

- Asking the moon to bless your water with her magick or Asking the sun to bless your water with his magick.

- Whatever feels right to you in the moment is the best way to invite the energy to infuse your water.

- Other Magickal Waters -

Storm Water is water that’s been collected from a thunderstorm. This magickal water has been charged with all the powerful energy of the storm from which it came. The lightning, thunder, wind and pressure have all added their energy to the storm water. Use to super-charge your water magic spells.

Snow Water is water that was collected in snow form that has melted. Many witches collect a bit of snow from the first snow of the season, then store it in a jar to use throughout the year. It has all the magickal properties of the element of water, with the added properties of ice. It can be used to “chill” out a chaotic situation or angry person. Bathe in it to cleanse negative vibrations and bring peace to yourself. Snow water is a magickal water that also holds transformation properties (i.e. water has been transformed into a solid form, then back again).

Holy Water has different definitions depending on the religion and individual. In Catholicism, holy water is a magickal water that’s been blessed by a religious official. Its used in baptisms and spiritual cleansing. Holy water in witchcraft means any water charged with pure magical intent. Holy water is used in witchcraft to cleanse and consecrate tools and your own energy, in baths, sprays and home cleansing rituals. It is charged with pure divine energy and therefore carries healing, purifying, and strengthening powers.

Rose Water A magickal water that’s been infused with the essence of roses is called rose water. Rose water is popular in many magickal traditions including hoodoo and has been used as medicinal headache relief in years past. There are different ways to make rose water, but the more traditional involves infusing the rose essence into water via heat.

Florida Water is a magical water that’s not an actual water, but a combination of essential oils mixed with a solvent. It originates in Florida and was inspired by the fabled Fountain of Youth which was supposedly located somewhere in the state. It’s been used as a perfume and cleanser for centuries, but magickal people have caught onto its cleansing power. Bathe in Florida Water on a New Moon to cleanse away negativity. Anoint your altar and tools with it. Bless your home.

War Water Similar to Florida water, war water is popular in the Hoodoo folk magic tradition in the American South. War water is used to send someone far away, to essentially end a “war”, so to speak (or begin one). Traditionally, the war water is made by placing nails, spanish moss, and water in a bottle then allowing it to sit for a few weeks. The nails will rust and the war water will turn a red or murky color. Then the practitioner throws it at a person’s door, porch or property. The jar breaks to release the war water’s magick.

- Using Your Magickal Water -

Once you have your magickal water you can use it for all manner of witchery.

- Add a few drops to your bath water for a magickal moon/sun bath.

- Use it to wash or rinse your hair as part of a glamour working.

- Bless or anoint yourself, your home, and/or magickal items (tools, crystals, jewelry, etc)

- You can use it to represent the Goddess (moon) or God (sun) on your altar.

- Bless and/or water your Witch's Garden to add lunar/solar influences to your magickal space.

- If you have/use a diffuser or humidifier you can add the magickal water to transform any area into a magickal space.

- Add magickal water to leftover incense ash, and mix it together for a potent magickally charged 'paint' for drawing sigils and magickal symbols.

- You can even drink a few sips or add a few drops of this magickal potion to your tea or regular water to Ingest the energy of the Moon and the Goddess or the Sun and the God.

- Storing Your Magickal Water -

Be sure to label your magickal water with the date, moon phase/sun time, and if you know it, the astrological sign that the moon/sun was in at the time.

Many choose to store their Magickal Water in a dark place so as not to dissipate the magick contained, allowing only lunar/solar energy to ever ‘touch’ it. Some even wrap it with a magickal cloth or meaningful scarf so that it stays in the dark.

You can always store it in the back of the refrigerator. Keep in mind though that the back of the fridge is often the coldest, so if you do choose to store your Water in the fridge but sure not to fill it all the way to the top. Leave some room for expansion should the water get cold enough to

partially freeze.

I hope this has helped you with all the information you need for the use of water within your witchcraft. Blessed Be The Wonky Witch

[thewonkywitchescauldron]

Mother Earths Little Gems

Crystals, or stones, all have their own attributes. They are often used to promote healing, provide protection, absorb unwanted energies, and to promote desired energies.

So, where do you start? What crystals should you work with? How will they help you within your witchcraft?

Crystals naturally have energies within them and radiate their energy out into the environment around them, they can change the way you feel emotionally, mentally and even physically. Crystals as I just mentioned have their own energies going on with them and they will emanate that energy naturally, However! If you give them a job to do they will be more than happy to focus on that specific task until you change their job again.

You need to have a relationship with the crystal, think of it as if you randomly ask a stranger to do something for you, they’re not going to be like yeah sure I'll do this for you. They are most likely going to say “I don’t know you, why would I put myself out there for you?”. But if you have a relationship with someone being a friend, family member, your partner etc and you ask them to help you, 9 times out of 10 they are happy to do so because they care about you and you have that loving relationship with them.

It’s the same with items you can use within your craft. You need a relationship with your tools and materials for them to work with you and be happy to do so. You need to be familiar with the energies before they work at their maximum effort for you.

Crystals within the craft can be extremely helpful, they can contain the spell themselves which you can place just about anywhere. You can wear or carry the crystal on you, place it in your car, place it in parts of your home, place it on your altar, the list really does go on. You can use the crystals within spells to help the energy stay ignited so to speak. Use within Mojo Bags, Poppets, Infront of Candle Spells, Within Vials, Use them within other materials such as sprays, waters, rituals salts, tinctures, again the list can go on and on.

So crystals can be a main part of your craft and very useful friends to have.

Those who wish to use them for a specific purpose do so by cleansing, charging & programming them to the purpose the practitioner needs these little beauties to focus on.

Cleansing Your Crystals

- Cleansing with Salt Salt is naturally cleansing — that's why people use it for things like disinfecting wounds, adding it to bathwater to draw out toxins, and creating circles of protection during ritual work. Similarly, it can be used to cleanse your crystals. Fill a shallow bowl (large enough to fit the crystals you're looking to cleanse) with sea salt and add your crystals in, partially burying them in the salt. Leave them here for a day or overnight and the salt will work its cleansing magic.

Please note: Contact with salt can be really damaging to certain types of crystals, so do some research on the ones you plan to cleanse before using this method. if in doubt you can use the “non-contact salt cleansing method”. This is considered the safest salt-cleansing method and should be used where the crystals may

otherwise be damaged by direct contact with salt. This is also a good method if you are cleansing gem stones found in jewellery or gems surrounded by metal.

First, fill a glass bowl half to two thirds full with dry salt. Then place a smaller glass container or shallow drinking glass and half-bury this glass into the salt. You can then place your crystals directly into the empty glass which is sitting half buried in the dry salt.

The salt will still be able to draw out the stored energies within the stones but this method will take longer to work than direct contact with salt.

The used salt should be thrown away and never re-used.

- Cleansing with Water Cleansing your crystals with water not only washes away any physical gunk that's accumulated on them as they've sat pretty on your altar, but this method works just as well as a nice energetic cleanse, too.

Use a bowl to create a miniature bath for your crystals (feel free to use a natural water source like rain, river, or ocean water, if you've researched to ensure your crystal can handle it). You can also add salt to your water for an extra cleansing bath. Allow the crystals to soak in the water, or "bathe" them yourself by pouring water over each, imagining them becoming fresh and clean.

But don't forget: Just as some crystals can't handle salt exposure, there are certain stones that should never get wet or be submerged in water. Do your research of any stone before using a water cleansing method — you don't want to ruin your precious pieces!

And as with the salt, don't go using this water for any other purpose after using it to cleanse your crystals. It's absorbed and cleansed away all the excess, unwanted energies, so don't go drinking it. Only drink the water when you wish to make Gem Water with cleansed and charged crystals.

- Cleansing with Smoke Sometimes you just need a little smoke to clear the air. Whether your smudging tool of choice is incense, palo santo, sage, or any other bundle of herbs, using a cleansing smoke or "smudging" is a super quick and easy way to cleanse your crystals. Light your smudging tool and wait for it to generate a strong stream of smoke. Cleanse each crystal one by one, allowing the smoke to circle around each piece and carry away any negative vibes. Place the smudging stick in a fireproof dish near your freshly-cleansed crystals so it can continue banishing the bad vibes until it goes out or you can extinguish it.

- Cleansing with the Earth It's the Earth that we must thank for giving all of us human beings life and a place safe to live within our universe. It's also the Earth we must thank for giving us crystals, in all their sparkling, healing glory. Nothing can cleanse the soul like a little bit of nature, so give your crystals the spiritual camping trip they deserve by choosing a safe (and easy to find again!) spot in your garden and burying them in the soil for a day or night. The pure and grounding earthy energy will suck away any impurities or weird vibes, and you'll dig up

crystals with fresh, cleansed energy imbued by the power of Mother Nature. They'll be fully cleansed and charged and ready to work. If you don’t have access to a garden you can always use a plant pot with some soil but I would recommend you dispose of the soil back to mother earth afterwards so the stagnant energy can be cleansed back into the earth and not linger around contained in the pot.

- Cleansing with Other Crystals Some crystals are actually known for their ability to cleanse other crystals — that's how powerful these beauties can be! For example, selenite is immaculately cleansing, and you can wave a selenite wand over and around your other crystals to cleanse them with the stone's strong but gentle energy. Some crystals are even self cleansing so that takes out half the work for you. Again do your research and see what ones they are.

- Cleansing with Sound Sound is a wonderful tool to use for cleansing, it literally breaks up molecules. Easiest way to use sound for cleansing is to place crystals inside a singing bowl and chime the bowl or use a chime/tingshas and chime them above the crystals to break up the energy around and inside the crystals.

Charging Your Crystals

- Sunlight or Moonlight Moon goddesses unite! There's nothing sweeter and more soothing than an evening-long soak in the rays of the moon's light. While you can use this form of charging any time, I think it's most potent under the bright, powerful light of the full moon. As the moon rises, put your crystals outdoors in a safe place (just check the forecast for rain or heavy mist first to ensure you don't risk messing up any crystals that are sensitive to moisture), and leave them there to soak in the moon's rays all night if you can (but even just a few hours is useful, if that's not possible!).

As much as we love the moon and her mystical night time reign, we'd be mean to leave out the life-giving powers of the sun! Placing your crystals out in direct sunlight during the day can be just as powerful as letting them soak up the moonlight all night. Do whatever feels right or works best for your schedule.The Moon works on the feminine gentle aspect while the Sun works on the masculine and more powerful aspect. Charging them in both the full moon and the sun I find gives them a balanced charge with masculine and feminine or yin and yang properties. Particular crystals as well will prefer one way of charging for example Selenite and Moonstone rather the Moons energy as they work more on the feminine, gentle side and of course are named after our wonderful friend. Crystals such as Carnelian and Sunstone prefer the Suns energy as they are energy fiery crystals so again do some research and see what each crystal prefers.

- Other Crystals Other crystals can also aid in charging others. Crystal Caves or Geodes and Beds of crystals can help charge others. Quartz are a great chargers and battery packs as they are amplifiers. Clear Quartz packs a punch and can charge/amplify crystal energies. Carnelian is another powerful stone known for its ability to charge and amplify other crystals. Try keeping a carnelian or clear quartz with your other crystals and allow them to absorb its energy.

Snow Quartz does the same as Clear Quartz but on a softer scale so if you find Clear Quartz a bit too much try Snow Quartz instead.

Kyanite is also a very powerful yet gentle energy to work with other crystals.

- Charging with the Earth As I have said previously about cleansing with the earth you can also charge your crystals with the earth. So if you wish to do an easy method then the earth aspect is the way to go for cleansing and charging your friends.

Programming Your Crystals

To program a crystal for specific use or with specific energies, sit quietly away from distractions or strong electrical devices and external energies.

Make sure the crystal is cleansed and charged using the methods discussed above.Hold the crystal in your hands and clear your mind, focus on the crystal in your hand.

Concentrate on the specific energy that you wish to program the crystal with, and 'transmit' the energies and thoughts from your mind directly to the crystal. Be clear and direct when doing this and don't try to confuse or overload the crystal with different thoughts and energies.

Do this until you feel happy that the required thoughts and energies have been transmitted to the crystal.

I hope this blog has helped you make a start or even clarify some techniques on how to get the best out of your crystals within your craft

Blessed Be The Wonky Witch

[thewonkywitchescauldron]

Witch’s Altars

Altars are wonderful things, I am very fond of having them and I like to change them and dress them up with the turning of the wheel. Many of you ask me during my classes and when you pop into the centre if you need an Altar to practice?, What is it used for? Do you need more than one? What do you need on your altar? And the questions go on...The answers I give are always very simple…but firstly, No! you don't NEED one but they are a lovely way to hone in on ur practice, to have a space where the energy is ready and waiting for you to cast your spells or perform rituals.

  A lot of people just starting out on their witchcraft path (or other spiritual path that uses altars or shrines) get information online or in books and start obsessing over following the directions in it exactly - finding the perfect items for rituals and their altar. But what they often fail to realize is that the most powerful altar is one the means the most to you - altars are very personal objects so don't worry if you can't or don't want to follow directions in some book. Do what feels right to you. Your altar is for you, and should be assembled, customized, modified, and changed according to your needs. It is a place that should make you feel relaxed and invigorated all at once.

What is an Altar? An altar is really just a working space set with objects that reflect you, the purpose of the altar, or the ritual or season you are celebrating at it. There are many types of altars - an ancestral altar, meditation altar, or moon altar are all great supplements to your main, working altar. Perhaps you will want to create your altar fresh every time you need it (practical if you don't want everyone in your house to know what you are practicing) instead of being set up permanently. Decide what the main focus of your altar will be (and don't be afraid to change it as your practice evolves). 

Before you go hunting for all those items you want to buy for your altar, relax! First decide the best location for your altar. It should be one that is relatively "safe" - meaning a place that isn't in the main traffic zone of your home where it might be bumped or disturbed (or become a place to dump mail or keys) or where your children or pets will think it's the perfect spot to play. If you have a spare bedroom or unused space you can use, awesome but even a small shelf on the wall or a unit in the corner of a room can work well. You could even keep your altar in a box or storage chest and only get it out as and when you wish to use it. It doesn't have to be a permanent fixture. And remember, you can have more than one altar depending on your path and what you want to use them for.

How to Create an Altar Once you find a place and decide the purpose of your altar, start with a simple altar cloth - measure the flat surface you are planning to use and take a trip to the fabric store. You can often find remnants of very beautiful fabrics for just a few £1. Get some fabric paints, beads, feathers - whatever you like and decorate it if you want. Get several fabrics of different colours if you want to set up a seasonal altar. Let your intuition guide you and have some fun with it - your altar doesn't have to be serious! Now that you have a cloth, most altars have one item for each of the elements of the Craft - Earth, Air, Fire, Water and Spirit. Look around for things you already have that mean something special to you - they will already have great energy. - Traditionally a chalice or cup is used for water, but perhaps a beautiful sea shell you found could represent water. Small fountains are also perfect adding the beautiful sound of water to your rituals. - Candles are wonderful, but not always practical depending on where you set up your altar or if you have animals and children that can knock them over, then perhaps a night light or battery candle would be a better fit for fire for you or the more traditional witches dagger known as an Athame - or even a photo or painting of flames. - Air is usually represented by incense or a wand, but a feather would do as well, especially if you cannot have the smoke incense creates. - A pretty potted plant, a crystal, a rock or pine cone works as well for Earth as well as the traditional pentacle. - Spirit could be represented by a candle again or any image of a God or Goddess that you like, or have statue representations. Don't feel like you have to stay traditional or use tools that may not feel comfortable to you. The more personal the items you use, the more personal the energy of your altar.

Beyond the basics, add special objects depending on the purpose of your altar. Ancestral altars are great to make and pretty easy. These are great to do around Samhain. Photos or mementos of members of your family in pretty frames with a candle or offering dish is all you need.  On the birthday or another special date of the person that has crossed over, you can sit down and write out one of your favourite memories of them or find a photo or make something that reminds you of them and place on your altar. 

Moon altars can have any shiny, round object to represent the moon such as a silver tray. Crystal spheres, pictures, star decorations, you name it, if it screams moon and celestial energy to you, use it. Do your magical workings and rituals for the moon and celestial work via this altar to help keep the energy of the moon around as you work. I personally have a Celestial Altar which I use for my Moon spells and rituals along with other celestial bodies I want to work with.

Spell altars should focus on the purpose of the spell so take the time to consider correspondences of colour, candles, oils, herbs and anything else you want to use. Set up the basic Elemental altar first to balance the energies of it and then add whatever you will need for your spell or items you want to charge or cleanse. A Lot of us witches will use the same altar for every part of our work, I personally cleanse my altar space before any spell work or ritual so I'm starting with a clean slate. 

Keeping A Secret Altar If you're in the broom closet so to speak and you want to set up an altar where others don't appreciate or don't follow your beliefs, Keep it simple and secret. No-one has to know you have an altar, it could just be a shelf with some pretty items like a plant, a candle, a picture and a sea shell. 

Traditional Wiccan Altar Tools - Athame - Besom (Broom) - Bell - Candle - Cauldron - Chalice - Incense - Pentacle - Wand

While these altar adornments are some of the most commonly used items in the Witchcraft and pagan traditions, they are by no means required. Every altar is unique, and should reflect the personality, interests, aesthetic, and goals of its creator.

I hope this has helped clear up a few things for you all when questioning your Altar spaces. Below are some of our altar setups which I hope gives you inspiration when you may start to set up your own. Blessed Be The Wonky Witch

[thewonkywitchescauldron]

Magickal Energy of Plants

I am a HUGE fan of herbs, whether it’s growing them myself in my witchy herb garden and harvesting to use within teas, tinctures, beauty products and my spellwork or having a dried selection or essential oil form in my witchy stash to use at any time I need these wonderful beings within my path.

I use essential oils within magickal dressing and anointing oils, within magickal sprays, oil diffusers, holistically whether it’s topically to help aid an ailment or inhaling the oil for mental and emotional support. However these do need some training and much research before using them in such ways as these little bottles of oils are extremely concentrated extracts of the plants themselves and without proper training and research these can cause more harm then good.

Dried & Fresh herbs are much safer to use for all, but of course again research is needed before using herbs for specific ailments concerning the human body as they can cause problems as well if used incorrectly.

However using herbs within witchcraft is safe and doesn’t need to be considered too much unless when handling you are sensitive and of course if you're working with particular poisonous herbs, so still air on the side of caution.

Now the careful chat is out the way let’s talk herbal history. As we all know the plant kingdom came into existence on our Earth millions of years before the existence and evolution of human beings. Saying that, it’s fair to say that herbs are the oldest magickal tools and ingredients in existence. Known for millennia to have beneficial properties for both the physical and spiritual well-being, many different species of plants were incorporated into the practices of healers, shamans and other medicine men and women of the old days within villages and tribes - this is where, as we know it, the origin of herbal magick. You still see to this day in Chinese, Ayurvedic and Native American medicines being used from the knowledge of their ancestors centuries ago. In these traditions there is still a good amount of chanting, prayers and spellwork adding to the curative effects of the plants themselves.

Back before medicine was separated from magick, physical healing was often accompanied by ritual and prayer, so that a patient might be treated with an herbal decoction, as well as a smudging ritual and an incantation to the spirits for a quick recovery. Today, the simple daily ritual of enjoying a cup of herbal tea can have emotional and spiritual effects as well as nutritional benefits. This combination of healing and magickal properties makes herbs incredibly powerful components to use within your magickal practice or your daily life for that matter.

The healers of old would pass this information down through their lineage or to people they trained to become the next healers. This was all done verbally so you can imagine the concentration and memory they had to possess to keep track of every plant they worked, what it looked like, where it grew, how it grew, antidotes to them if a reaction occurred, what reactions may occur, along with their correspondences if working spiritually, this was all a trial and error for them as they did not possess the equipment we do today to tell how a plant may react to situations and know the dosages for medicinal use or magickal.The Egyptians used plants in the majority of their magick, they didn’t only use the plants for healing but also for their powers of protection, strength, love etc. The Egyptian practitioner knew the metaphysical properties of many plants and knew how to blend them together within spellwork and rituals.

The Greeks and Romans both used medicinal herbs regularly. Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine lived during these times and he’s work is fll of known plants and their uses for medicinal purposes. Other names such as Galen and Dioscorides complied 500 plants into a reference text which we have Medieval Monks to thank for reproducing these texts for future use.With all this happening we did still have the wise woman or the wife at home using folk medicine to help aid any ailments that came. They used plants from their own gardens or woodlands nearby as well as their own kitchens and used them everyday to help aid illnesses like colds and also help heal bruises. These simple acts blended beautifully with folk magick, this is where the first herb witches were born.

From the 15th to the 17th Centuries herbal aids were popping up all over the place which also included astrological elements.

Nicholas Culpeper an English botanist, herbalist, physician and astrologer wrote a book called ‘The English Physician’ which is full of pharmaceutical and herbal knowledge, as well as Astrological Judgement of Diseases from the Decumbiture of the Sick which is one of the most detailed works on medical astrology in Early Modern Europe. Within he’s work was The doctrine of Signatures which states that herbs resembling various parts of the body can be used by herbalists to treat ailments of those body parts. This method is still widely used today. For Example: A Walnut is the shape of the brain, so therefore helps with brain health. Ginger Root resembles the stomach, this in turn helps aid in stomach sickness. Nature always has a remedy for an ailment, you just ned to know where to look.

Herbs in Magick

As magickal practices with plants grew over the centuries, so did the approach of use from witch to witch. They were added herbs to flames or candles to increase their power as well as creating bundles for burning or mixing together for a specific goal. Others used the moon and phases of the moon to gather particular herbs for the best results.To hide their recipes, codes were put in place so the ‘muggle’ so to speak wouldn’t recognise the ingredients used by the witch. Eye of Newt is a great example which would be a common flower or plant used that only the witch who wrote it would understand. Historians aren’t sure why this was done, but the general consensus is that it was done for protection of their personal power. We don’t see much of this anymore however some practitioners will use the Theban Alphabet (witches alphabet) to hide information from prying eyes.

Today this use of herbs within witchcraft is exceedingly widespread and so many herbs are now so readily available there is no need to go out and forage. However it is a fun way of doing it as well as really getting that connection to the earth and the plants themselves. You can also of course grow plants within your own garden or in the home. This way they are readily available to you as and when you need them. Growing and harvesting your own herbs keeps you in touch with the powers of the Earth - not to mention the Sun, the rain, and the wind, as well as the role played by insects and other animal life in sustaining the cycle of life and death in all of its forms.Gardening and growing your own herbs and plants allows you to charge these wonderful beings with your own energy.

Herbs are also probably the most versatile when it comes to hands-on magic. You can use them to create your own magickal crafts, such as spell jars, dream pillows, poppets, sachets and other charms. Some people like to create their own incense and oils with herbs, which adds even more magickal power to their work. Herbs are also used in all kinds of ways whether we’re talking about magical teas, baked goods or other foods.

Why not add this knowledge to medicinal remedies in your witchy first aid kit as well, tinctures, salves, creams etc. Working with herbs, plants, trees, berries etc can really be so beneficial in so many ways. The Green Witch knows this.

Aristotle, the famous Greek philosopher of ancient times, believed that plants have “psyches,” a word normally used to describe the human quality of soul, or spirit. Many Witches today would agree. In fact, even scientists are starting to realize that plants actually have what we might define as consciousness.

Plants both communicate and cooperate with each other in the wild, even among different species. In a forest setting, trees, shrubs, and other plants will exchange information with each other through an underground network of roots and fungi.

This natural “internet” allows plants to exchange nutrients with each other, helping each other make up for any shortages at various points in the growing season - much like you might “borrow” a few eggs from a neighbour and return the favour later on with some extra butter! Plants are also able to warn each other about nearby predators. For example, if one leaf is bitten by an insect, a plant will release chemicals that both repel the insect and prompt its plant neighbours to release their own chemicals to do the same.

These discoveries serve as wonderful illustrations of the inherent intelligence of Mother Earth. Whether working with a plant’s roots, seeds, stems, leaves, flowers, or berries or even the bark of a tree. Witches tap into these magical energies when incorporating herbs into their practice.

The Four Elements within Plants

In terms of magickal symbolism, plants embody the power of the four classical Elements working together to create and sustain life. They begin as seeds in the soil of the Earth, where the minerals needed to sustain their life are found. They interact with the Fire of sunlight, which makes the process of converting carbon dioxide into oxygen possible - a process that directly affects the quality of the air.

Air then fosters more plant life in the form of wind, which both stimulates the growth of stems and leaves, and scatters seeds in order to continue the cycle. And of course, all plants need Water to live.

But they also play a crucial role in the regulation of the Earth’s water cycles by purifying water, and helping to move it from the soil to the atmosphere. Indeed, there is perhaps no better illustration for how the elements of Earth, Air, Fire and Water come together than in the magickal existence of plants.

So where should a beginner witch start with their herb cupboard?

Here are a few firm favourites that I like to say are a must in any witches stash which are easily accessible.

Basil is a firm winner for the green witch. So easy to obtain. Basil covers Abundance, Prosperity & Wealth, Love, Happiness, Mental Power and Confidence.

Bay Leaf is another easy to obtain herb to use within your craft. These wonderful leaves are used for Psychic Power, Divination, Purification, Success, Money, Strength, Protection and is widely used for Wish Magick.

Chamomile is a beautiful little flower to work with, its gentle, calming and a firm favourite amongst witches. Chamomile helps with Money, luck, love, reversing hexes, happiness, meditation, sleep and purification.

Cinnamon adds some lovely aroma and boosts magickal potency but also helps with Spiritual and Psychic Abilities, Creativity, Divination, Luck, Protection and Success.

Clove is one of my favourites for boosting spells and adding a little potency to my workings but it’s also used for Cleansing, Protection, Banishing, Prosperity, Courage and Divination.

Dandelion is the dreaded weed that everyone wants to get rid of in their gardens. But is it really? This misunderstood so-called ‘weed’ is full of life. I love seeing these pop up in my garden, they are full of goodness and shouldn't be looked down upon in disgust. Magickally they can be used for Divination, wishes, transformation, calling spirits, sun energy (yellow flower), moon energy (puff ball).

Lavender is such a wonderful plant to work with. I cannot stress this enough.Lavender is used for Psychic Power & Awareness, Love, Divination, Happiness, Healing, Peace & Sleep, Meditation, Purification and of course Protection. A great plant to grow by your front door for protection.

Then there is the Witches Protection Herb of Rosemary. One of my absolute favourites. Grow this by your front door for some herbal witchy protection. It is also used for Purification, Courage, Confidence, Blessings, Mental Power & Remembrance, Strength and Wisdom.

You can always tell when a witch is present in a household when there is Lavender and Rosemary growing. Have a look when you're out and about, I am sure you will notice quite a few houses with these wonderful plants outside.

Sage being a firm favourite across many cultures which is used for Purification, Prosperity, Clairvoyance, Divination, Banishing, Inspiration, Wisdom and Protection. It’s usually the main herb used in most smudging sticks.

Just having these herbs in your witchy stash will cover an array of magickal needs you may desire. However if you’re like me this isn’t enough, I love to work with herbs and oils so much, I need a whole array of herbs to work with within my craft.

If you’d like to learn more about using herbs within your craft then please do join me at Kallima Spiritual Centre in my Green Witches Craft Workshop on Sunday 29th August 2021 Or my Magickal Witches Incense and Oils Workshop on Sunday 1st August. To book your space please visit www.kallima.co.uk

Stay Magickal & Blessed Be WillowMoon The Wonky Witch

[thewonkywitchescauldron]

Candles, Candles and More Candles

Candles have been used in the craft for centuries and to this day candle magick is one of the simplest forms of spellcasting, it doesn’t require a lot of fancy ritual or ceremonial tools so

it's perfect for beginners or for a quick spell when you don't have the time or space to do a whole ritual.  Us witch's LOVE a candle or two....or three.....or four. We tend to have a candle for every occasion and all sorts of sizes, shapes & colours too.

We use candles for practically every spell we perform in some way or another, whether it's part of the spell or just as a focal point in your space.

 Anyone with a candle can cast a spell. Think about birthday cakes, you always have candles on the cake which you then blow out and make a wish. That would have been your first candle magick spell as a child without anyone even knowing it. We still do it now and no-one even thinks of this as a spell, but that’s such a simple form of candle magick, yet many religions or even just people still have the conception that witchcraft is devil worship, dark and malevolent. Witches don’t believe in the devil and most of us don’t throw curses and hexes around like you're led to believe, but my friends, if another practitioner is throwing something negative towards another witch there could be a war of the witches let me tell you. However most curses and hexes don’t even come to fruition as witches tend to have a defensive in place just to be safe.

But back to the topic of candles….within witchcraft candles don’t even have to be special shape, size or colour, but these elements can add to your intention to give your spell some extra strength and power. With candle magick even the size doesn’t really matter unless you want one that burns for a particular amount of time for a particular spell. Really big candles may actually be counterproductive. For instance, a candle that takes three days to burn can be highly distracting to someone working a spell that depends on the candle burning all the way down for quick spells rather than long drawn out ones (which of course do have their purpose). Small birthday candles can also be used especially when out and about so if you want to make a travel altar, these are the candles that are amazing to have and they come in a variety of colours and shapes.

  Typically, a short taper candle or a tealight candle will work best. In some cases, a spell might call for a specific type of candle, such as a seven-day candle or a figure candle to represent a particular person - a form of sympathetic magic. But if you haven’t got a particular colour, size etc then a simple white unscented tealight will do.

One of my favourite candles to use is the ‘Pull-Out’ candle, these are great because you have a large surface to scribe onto the candle, dress with oils, glitter, herbs etc. they really do look good when you go to town on them and they are in a safe container which when the candle has finished burning you can reuse. The burn for a long time and you can make the candle spell last for as long as needed from several hours to days.

  An important thing to remember is you should always use a brand new candle for each spell you cast if it is part of the spell or ritual and not candles that you burned at, say, the dinner table or in the bathroom the day before. A candle picks up vibrations from the items around it once it starts to burn. If a used candle is already tainted by vibrations it will lead to a negative or ineffective magickal outcome. So always start fresh.

Now let’s talk about Elemental Energy within Candles as they are often only seen as the Fire Element but thinking about it as a symbolic object, the candle is a well-balanced representation of all the Elements.  The wick and the base of the candle represent the Earth Element, which is necessary to keep the flame both grounded and able to stay lit.  The wax, which transforms from a solid to a liquid and then to a gas, represents the shape-shifting characteristics of the Water Element.  The Air Element, in the form of oxygen, is necessary to keep the flame alive, and is often made visible in the smoke emanating from a burning wick.  The flame itself, of course, quite literally represents the Fire Element. Add the Element of Spirit, by charging the candle with your intention, and you have a magical tool that embodies the totality of the Universe in one small package.  So as a whole candles play a massive part in the craft when you actually think about it. All the elements rolled into one, literally multi purpose for any spellwork you want to perform.

- Colour within Candle Magick - Many witches like to use colour to symbolise their magickal intent during spellwork. Colour is especially utilised in candle magick. You can use colour correspondences to help choose the colors of your candles, altar decorations and more when planning a spell or ritual. Colours can also be used in home decor and clothing choices to bring their energies into your everyday life.

Red - Passion, courage, strength, intense emotions , love, physical energy, health, willpower. Pink - Affection, friendship, companionship, spiritual healing, romance, spiritual awakening, partnerships. Orange - Energy, attraction, vitality, stimulation, adaptability, encouragement, power, road opening. Yellow - Intellect, inspiration, imagination, knowledge, communication, confidence, divination, study. Green - Abundance, growth, wealth, renewal, balance, prosperity, employment, fertility, health, good luck. Blue - Peace, truth, wisdom, protection, patience, healing, psychic ability, harmony in the home, understanding. Purple - Spirituality, wisdom, devotion, peace, idealism, divination, enhancing nurturing qualities,  balancing sensitivity. White - All Purposes, Peace, innocence, illumination, purity, cleansing, clarity, establishing order, spiritual growth, understanding. Black - Dignity, force, stability, protection, banishing and releasing negative energies, transformation, enlightenment. Silver - Wisdom, psychic ability, intelligence, memory, spiritual development, psychic development, meditation, warding off negativity. Gold - Inner strength, self-realization, understanding, intuition, success, health, ambition, finances, good fortune, divination. Brown - Endurance, solidity, grounding, strength, balance, concentration, material gain, home, companion animals. Grey - Stability, contemplation, neutrality, reserve, complex decisions, binding negative influences, reaching compromise.

In addition to choosing the colour of your candle, you can enhance your spellwork in a number of ways. Dressing the candle with a magickally charged oil is a long-standing tradition, and it adds the benefit of magickal scent to the equation. Many practitioners like to follow this up by rolling the dressed candle in corresponding herbs to add even more magickal power.

If using tealight candles you can also add the oils and herbs on top of the candle or melt the candle wax on a hotplate then add the herbs and oils into the wax, then let it cool again ready for your spellwork.

Beeswax candles are one of my firm favourites and if you roll them yourself you can add the oils and herbs sparingly into the candle as you roll. This gives the candle an extra special touch. Or of course if you’re buying a pre-rolled one you can add the oil and herbs to the outside.  *Be Careful* When burning candles with flammable oils and herbs this can make the candle burn quickly and more intense so please be careful and keep the candle away from flammable objects and have a holder for the candle that can take the heat if need be.

Candle talk can go on for so long when you get into them and if you're anything like me I use all sorts of colours, shapes and scents on a daily basis from subdued lighting to casting spells. A witch needs her candles, better yet, she won't be without them.

Stay Magickal & Blessed Be WillowMoon The Wonky Witch

[thewonkywitchescauldron]

🌑♏️Super New Moon in Scorpio Today♏️🌑

Well well well..what do we have here?

Most of you know New Moons are all about new beginnings, new opportunities etc but this new moon my friends may make you feel uncomfortable but it can also be very positive and I’ll tell you why.

It’s currently in the astrological sign of Scorpio. Scorpio is a very deep sign and hidden things lurk there. It’s an emotional place where your deepest desires and feelings are buried, but with the super new moon which means it’s gonna be kicked up a notch more in power. This brings about feelings you may have forgotten about and masked.

Well...they’re going to be coming to the surface folks so be prepared. Don’t push them back down though, deal with them, it’s emotional clutter your hanging onto because you don’t like the outcome or energy they possess. But how are you going to grow if you don’t clear out the old ready for the new?. Try to look at the emotions and situations from an outside perspective, what would your best friend or your elder say? Would they say ‘look, this really isn’t anything to worry about. You are fine and everything will be fine’ then listen to them, because it will.

Scorpio likes to drag up hidden deep emotions but that’s because it’s needed! We can’t hold onto things because they are uncomfortable to deal with, it’s not good for your wellbeing.

It’s just a Phase of the moon and this too will pass, don’t be afraid. For when you release you can make way for new love, positive energy, growth and opportunities.

I’m always a fan of a burning ritual (us witches love a fire) so write down all your deepest insecurities, hidden emotions you don’t want cluttering your wellbeing anymore and burn them asking for the moon to cleanse those energies away. As you release those energies into the universe and as the smoke rises see that energy coming away from you and rises through the smoke, up and away, out of your life.

Just like the Phoenix from the ashes of death becomes life. Allow this New Moon to take you through this transition in your life.

Blessed Be Everyone and Be Strong 💙

WillowMoon 🌒🌕🌘

[thewonkywitchescauldron]

The Wonky Witches View on Witchcraft

Grab a cup of your favourite tea and join me for Around The Witches Cauldron with WillowMoon. it’s a long one!

So these last couple of months have been a roller coaster of emotions from frustration, sadness, worry, happiness, relaxation to growth. Each emotion coming to each person in waves as we’ve had to isolate ourselves from the outside world and each other, which can be extremely hard for some people as they 're unable to see family and friends which are a great support to many of us when we are going through a hard time. Many people unfortunately living on their own or in difficult circumstances really had to battle through to make it out the other side.

This situation got most of us thinking about what really matters in our lives, who matters, how we want to grow and learn from this situation, and many of us have learnt what truly is important and who really are our true friends. Unfortunately so many lives were lost and people are still losing their fight against this virus which follows with so much heartbreak for those who loved them. Their life and memories will live on within their family and friends for many years to come, they will not be forgotten! We are thankfully now on our way out of getting back to the “new normal”, I suppose you could call it, as that’s as close as we can get for the time being anyway so we are very happy to be back open and ready for you lovely lot to come back and carry on your spiritual journey with us.

This situation got me thinking more about the craft, the differences you come across from practice to path. How each path either follows certain rules/guidelines or is so eclectic that how they practice, depends on what they are drawn at that time. To me there aren’t really any rules of witchcraft, However I do believe in Karma, what you put out there certainly comes back to you, whether you believe in the threefold rule or not, Karma is something to be very wary of.

I am currently very drawn to the Hoodoo Practice, however I do not read out psalms during spells which is very heavily done within the Hoodoo practice. That side of it, the religious side makes me feel uneasy. Some witches will say that is wrong and you should only follow a particular path the way it is written to do so and that’s how it is always been done. But each practice started somewhere, people had to start and lay out these guidelines to begin with so why are you not allowed in some eyes, to start your own magickal practice and guidelines?

The term Gatekeeping comes to mind, which there has been a lot of talk about Witch Gatekeeping the last several years which basically means not everyone can be a witch and what gives anyone the right to simply do witchcraft.

Personally I am yes and no within this argument. Yes I believe anyone can do witchcraft, after all we all blow out birthday candles every year and make a wish. This is such a simple spell to do as you are effectively performing candle magick and blowing your wish into the smoke to flow up into the universe for manifestation. That is withcraft! Witchcraft is manipulating energy to the goal you desire. Then there is the No side of the argument which does have its merits. Not everyone should be involved in witchcraft and those people, use it for the wrong reasons.

For example, I have been approached in the past by people who have never done any witchcraft, have no knowledge etc to put hexes on people to cause them harm as they have upset someone and they want them to pay for what they have done. I will always say “NO!, that is not my way of working and I would never put harm onto anyone who has upset someone else as I personally do not know both sides of the story for one, and two I will not take the brunt of the Karma aspect for anyone wanting to cause harm to someone else”. So they then go on to ask me, “Ok, so how can I do it then?, as I really want to hurt them back, tell me what I need to buy...can you write it all down for me then I will perform the spell instead of you”. My answer is still “NO! I will not tell you how to perform such a spell as that is still me putting that energy out there and I will not be a part of anyone causing harm to another person simply because you do not like them”.

I have also had people approach me who again have never done a spell or learnt about witchcraft who want to 'Win the Lottery'. Oh my Goddess! My Reply is always "Now if it was THAT easy all of us would be doing it and be financially better off. How wonderful the world would be if we could all win the lottery and live happily ever after" I then have the reply 'But I will share it out and not be greedy with it'. My finishing statement to that which I read in a Protection Magick Book which was like a YES moment... is 'Nothing is Gifted, Nothing is Entitled! You only get what you deserve, so deserve what your desire'. In other words just because you say your going to be doing it for the highest good of all doesn't give you the right to have it.

Now these people have no education on witchcraft or experience for that matter and they want to just jump in and perform spells without knowing what they are doing and just leap into something they don't understand or respect.

Witchcraft is NOT something to play with! It is NOT the only answer to every little thing! If done incorrectly it can go very wrong, so I ask you please don’t jump into doing witchcraft when you don’t know what you are doing as it can literally come back on you and also work completely differently to how you intended as you weren't clear and precise in what you were asking for. If your not clear and precise, the energy has no direct orders so to speak, so basically does the job how it sees fit, which could be detrimental to the person who cast the spell. You wouldn't (I hope) just get into a car and drive without any lessons or a seatbelt on. You need to know the basics before you get onto the road. Working with energies is the same, you need to learn the very foundations which they operate on before you delve into performing spells and rituals.

Witchcraft is a practice and lovely path to follow if you mean well and do it with the best intentions. Protect yourself by all means. To be honest that should always be your first protocol within any practice. Protection is such an important step to take, so those who do mean harm against you cannot penetrate your ward so it won't affect you.

It’s about ethics basically. Would you like bad energy sent your way if someone took a dislike to you? I’m pretty sure the answer would be a firm no!, so why send it out to them.

That’s all from this witch for now Blessed Be WillowMoon - The Wonky Witch