moonchild

cancer sun | leo moon | pisces rising | 22

[vvitchdiaries]

me in my virtual meditation space just vibing

[wolfricivarrwitchythings]

Snow Magick

I realize this probably applies to a limited group of people that geographically experience snow, I figured I would share some snow magick things because its winter!!

I’m a winter baby, so I LOVE the snow. But, there are also certain things you can do with snow, or water made with snow 😊

Snow water (melted from snow- obvs) has properties of purity (symbolically) and can be used to help cleanse objects

Snow water can also be used when working with spirits, as this time of tear is particularly connected with the spirit realm because of the symbolizm of winter and death

Divination during a snowstorm could enhance your vision

Spellwork during snowstorms can be used to end destructive habits or negatively as all of that can be “swept away in the storm”

The morning after a big snowstorm is always calm, with fresh, beautiful snow on the ground. Use this energy to ground and center yourself

Winter is about new beginnings- use this time to perform spells that help you do just that. Out with the old, in with the new. Spells like this are especially powerful when paired with the new and waning moons.

Use wintertime as a time to reflect on the year. What worked? What didn’t? Set intentions and create a “snowstorm” of your own to help drive you into spring. Remember- and abundance of snow in the winter makes for a plentiful harvest and new, fresh growth in the spring.

Seasonal depression is a very real thing. We feel downtrodden because the sun doesn’t shine as much in winter. Couple that with Covid, and we’ve got problems. Be sure you are still going out into nature to reconnect! Even in a winter wonderland, nature can be refreshing.

Build a snowman! Use him to imbue yourself and others with childlike wonder and curiosity.

Make a snow fort and use it as your sacred place. It’ll feel so magickal! I promise!

Go to all the 🎄 things you can! Yuletime is beautiful, and all the snowcastles and beautiful light shows will refresh you! Just be safe 😉

Winter is a time of reflection and preparation for the next season. Take the time to get some R&R. Focus on self-care and stay warm- but don’t forget about the magick that can also be embraced in the winter. A well rested mind and spirit can do great work, but too much time not engaging in your craft can also be unhealthy, so make sure to have balance.

[will-o-the-witch]

Time For A Witchy Checkup

Hey you! Stop scrolling for a moment, it’s time for your checkup. Take a moment to check each of these things and fix any problems you might find.

Wards and Shields

Are your special spaces still warded properly? Are the barriers still strong? Are there any holes or damages?

Are your personal shields still there? Do they need refreshing? Are there any gaps in coverage? Can you still do your work through the barrier?

Altars and Tools

Are the altars clean and organized? There’s no dust?

Are there any offerings that have been sitting out that need to be refreshed or disposed of?

Is there any unusual energy in any of your consecrated items?

Does everything feel charged and ready?

Your Body

Have you taken all of your meds that you need today?

Have you been eating/hydrating properly?

Getting enough sleep?

Does your body need anything from you right now to feel a bit better?

Entities and Other Things

Are there any regular offerings you give that you could/should check off?

How are things with your familiar? Your companions? The local land wights? The spirit(s) of your house? Do they need anything from you to keep the relationship strong, if you have one?

Are there any unexpected entities hanging around/taking up anchors? (Give your knickknacks a good check for this, as well as any old toys and jewelry.)

Do you have any promises, dedications, or oaths you’ve taken up? Have you been maintaining your end of the deal/is there anything you can do to be progressive about it?

[etsycult]

Antique map of the Moon by mapsandposters

[binchtids]

Boiled down to its essence, a self-initiation is a declaration to the universe that you have a seat at the table, that your Highest is united with your Lowest, and you expect the cosmic croupier to deal you in. It is a fundamentally radical act, a transgressive move. It runs counter to almost two thousand years of social, economic, and religious diktat. There is a lot to burn through, which is why you must persist in your transgression until the volume of High Strangeness in your life is so extreme that it cannot be interpreted as anything other than contact.

–Gordon White, The Chaos Protocols

[betweenrealms]

An early Mabon post

Hey everybody ! :) mabon may be a teensy bit away still but the days are passing fast and the day is slowly nearing! I wanted to make an informational and fun post telling some stuff about mabon and what you can do, movies to watch 🧡

What is Mabon?

Mabon is the autumn equinox dated for September 21-24 this year (2020). The autumnal equinox occurs when the sun crosses the equator on its apparent journey southward, and we experience a day and a night that are of equal duration. Up until Mabon, the hours of daylight have been greater than the hours from dusk to dawn. This is the time to look back not just on the past year, but also your life, and to plan for the future. It marks the middle of the harvest, Mabon is a time of rest and celebration, after the hard work of gathering the crops. Warm autumn days are followed by chill nights, as the Old Sun God returns to the embrace of the Goddess. All Sabbats are occasions to express gratitude to the God and Goddess for the blessings in our lives, but Mabon is particularly so, coming at the height of the harvest season.

How to celebrate Mabon

You can start by decorating your altar if you have one with acorns, pinecones, seasonal fruits and nuts, and some of the colored leaves that drop from the trees in your location. Baskets are good things to use and scythes since they are symbols of harvest. As for candles, autumn colors can be used such as reds, yellows, oranges, golds, and browns. If you have a feast, whether solo or with others, include seasonal vegetables like onions, potatoes, carrots and other root vegetables. Spellwork related to protection and security is appropriate now, as are workings for self-confidence, prosperity, harmony and balance. If you are one who struggles with seasonal depression during the fall and winter months, use this time to set an intention for inner peace and strength. You might make and charge a talisman for this purpose, to accompany you through the next two seasons. You can also do things that aren’t related to witchcraft if you feel unmotivated or don’t have the time. Cozy up and watch some appropriately themed movies maybe even some horror or Halloween movies, make some hot chocolate or a good cup of tea with appropriate herbs to settle down and drink, you can even do things like read or make some cool looking pieces of art to either put on your altar, use as decoration, or just because you want to.

Mabon symbolism

• Foods: Grapes, Acorns, Wheat Bread, Goat, Indian Corn, Horn of Plenty, Cornbread, Corn, Root Crops (Onions, Carrots, Potatoes, etc.), Nuts, Dried Fruits, Apples, Beans, and Squash.

• Drinks: Wine, Ale, and Cider.

• Colors (for those who work with Candle Magick): Red, Deep Gold, Orange, Brown, Maroon, Violet, Russet, Yellow, and Indigo

• Animals: Dogs, Wolves, Stag, Birds of Prey (especially the Blackbird, Owl, and Eagle), Salmon, and Goat.

• Mythical Creatures: Gnomes, Sphinx, Minotaurs, Cyclops, Andamans, and Gulons.

• Stones: Yellow Topaz, Carnelian, Sapphire, Yellow Agate, Lapis Lazuli, and Amethyst. Also, river or stream stones which have been submerged for the Summer may be used.

• Plants: Vines, Garlands (made of these various plants), Gourds, Pine Cones,Acorns, Wheat, Dried Leaves, Corn, Pomegranate, Ivy, Hazel, Hops, Cedar, and Tobacco.

• Herbs: Myrhh, Thistles, Tobacco, Oak Leaves, Hazel, Mums, Hops, Acorns, Marigold, Roses, Sage, Milkweed, Solomon’s Seal, Asters, Ferns, Honeysuckle, Benzoin, Passionflower, Pine, and Cedar.

• Incense would include: Aloes Wood, Cinnamon, Cloves, Benzoin, Jasmine,Frankincense, Myrrh, and Sage.

• Dieties: All wine Deities (especially Dionysus and Bacchus), the Mother aspect of the Triple Goddess, Persephone, Thor, Modron, Morgan, Snake Woman, Epona, Pamona, Muses, Mabon, Thoth, Hermes, Hotei, Harvest Deities, and Aging Deities.

• Other: Burial Cairns, Rattles, and Sun Wheels

Movies to watch

Frankenweenie

Sweeney Todd

Edward Scissorhands

Sleepy hollow

Coraline

Corpse bride

( as for some books I really recommend Edgar Allen Poe for poetry around this time of year. Reading it during this specific time of year just gives it an amazingly good oomph i absolutely adore his work )

That’s all for this post! Information from about two websites and my brain haha but I hope you enjoyed this post and it’s never too early to start researching up and preparing !! Also sorry about all of the tim burton movies I may be a weeeeee bit obsessed but they’re absolutely perfect for this time of year!! Especially on rainy cozy lazy days inside the house when you have nothing to do.

I hope you all have an amazing and blessed day 🌜🍁🌛🍂🌾

[elminx]

Wild Crafting: Violet Syrup

I am so excited to say that I made violet syrup for the first time this week!  I love wild crafting and have tons of local wild sweet violets so I couldn’t wait to try out this wonderful experiment.  Plus, its gorgeous and came out amazing!

A word of wild crafting: if you are going to consume any wild plants, please make sure that you know and understand the risks.  Eating plants that have been sprayed with chemicals = eating the chemicals.  Also, be careful of leeching of other chemicals.  For instance, I love in an old mill town and wild flowers grow in many ditches on the sides of the roads.  These are NOT SAFE TO EAT because they likely have absorbed mill chemicals from the soil.   I collected the violets from the yards of two friends who I know care for their lawns without the use of toxicity.

Firstly, you need wild violets.  I collected 4 cups worth.  The original recipe called for 3-3.5 cups.    The first step is to make a violet “tea”.  Boil one cup of water and let the water sit for 5 minutes - this is so that you don’t burn the color out of the violets with boiling water.   Then let the violets sit for 12-24 hours - the longer you let the violets steep, the better the color and flavor.  I wanted to make mine during the sunlight to get good photos, so I let mine steep for about 36 hours.

Once your violets have steeped, you need to strain them out of the water. As you can see, the leftover “tea” was a beautiful deep indigo color.   This is normal - violet syrup is almost always blue at first.  You can make it purple again later in the process…we’ll get to that.

Next, take your cup of violet tea and combine it with 2 cups of sugar on a VERY LOW HEAT to make a complex syrup.  This will take a while - be patient.   Do not increase the heat as this will burn the color out of your syrup and (I at least) think that the color is a wonderful addition to this recipe.   You want to stir this until the water becomes see through again. Your syrup will most likely still be blue though as you can see, the sugar turned mine back to a lighter shade more reminiscent of violet.  

If your violet syrup is too blue, you can add a dash of lemon juice to it to color it purple again.  Be careful here - a little goes a long way - I made the mistake of trying it with a bit and turning it bright pink, not violet at all!

Then, let you violet syrup cool on the counter.  This is so that the sugar doesn’t crash back out of the mixture, undoing all of your hard work.  When cool, store in an air tight container in your fridge - complex syrup can keep for up to 2-3 months.    What should you do with your violet syrup?  It can be used in Spring cocktail recipe, as a drizzle over pancakes or waffles, or in any other culinary way that you see fit!  It is sweet and floral and pairs well with gins as showed below.

If you’d like to learn more about the magical properties of violet, you can check out my post here.   And as always, if you’d like to support my work, you can Buy Me a Ko-fi.

Because I believe in credit where credit is due, I got the idea for this recipe from this video by The Green Witch on Youtube.

[maleficarum-naturae]

“Witch is a political term. It was forged by political forces. It was a word that got you killed if you were called it. If you call yourself a witch you have a duty to stand in solidarity with all those who face oppression today.”- Sarah Lyons (via Twitter)

[artisticlog-deactivated20231213]

We stand by you. We love you. We will never stop fighting for you. 🌟🔮❤️

[marleys-craft]

Orange cake recipe!🎂

(Also works with lemons 🍋)

Ingredients:

☀ 6 eggs

☀ 6 dl sugar

☀ 250 g Butter

☀ 1 dl milk

☀ 11 dl flour

☀ 4 teaspoons of baking soda

☀ 4 teaspoons vanilla sugar

☀ 2 dl pressed orange juice

☀ Grated orange peel from 2 oranges

Icing:

☀ 6 dl icing sugar

☀ 4 tablespoons of pressed orange juice

Down to business! :

Whisk the eggs and sugar until the mixture gets white. Put the mixture in a big baking bowl.

Melt the butter. Mix the milk with the butter.

Strain all the dry ingredients together.

Add the dry ingredients to the eggs and sugar mixture alternately with the butter milk. Mix carefully the dough til its lump free, but make sure you don't mix it too much to keep the cake nice and fluffy after the flour has been added.

Put the dough in a large pan covered in bakingpaper (pan size approximately 30×40cm)

Bake the cake at 200° in the middle of the oven. Bake it for around 25-30 minutes. Chill the cake in the pan.

(Unless you want the icing to melt in like I did // scroll down to see pic)

You can carefully move the cake from it's pan once its chilled and move it onto whatever plate or surface to put on the icing. Or you could keep it in the pan.

Apply the icing once the cake is chill and nice.

Leave the cake until the icing has stiffened and part it into whatever shapes you want!

(You can also freeze this cake without it being ruined! So you'll have cake for days)

✨🎂☀🍊☀🎂✨

Here's my cake... Hehe. Hopefully yours will turn out looking better than mine!

Aaaand its done! Bon appetite!

[thebrynreese]

Avoid illness

🧂🧂🧂

🍀💪🏻🍏🧑🏽‍⚕️🧼🏡💚🏡🧼🧑🏽‍⚕️🍏💪🏻🍀

🧂🧂🧂

[hexeandharmony]

✨Daily Affirmation ✨

‘I am in the process of a positive change in my life’

[samwisethewitch]

Why Your Spells Don’t Work

You set your intention. You had all the correct correspondences. You even timed your spell with the appropriate moon phase. And yet – no results. What gives? 

Failed spells happen to the best of us, and for a variety of reasons. But a spell gone wrong doesn’t necessarily mean that magic isn’t real or that you’re bad at witchcraft. Magic is complicated, and there are a lot of reasons it might not behave the way you want it to. Here are some of the most common causes of ineffective spells: 

1. Lack of real-world follow through

Magic is meant to be used as a tool to supplement your mundane efforts – not as a substitute for them. How can you expect your job hunting spell to bring in results if you aren’t applying for jobs? 

Magic does not exist in a vacuum, and it can’t make something out of nothing. If a spell doesn’t bring you the desired result, make sure that your non-magical actions are aligned with what you are trying to manifest. 

2. What you’re trying to manifest isn’t a realistic possibility

Wait, what? Isn’t magic supposed to be, well… magic? Shouldn’t you be able to ask for whatever you want and get it? Yes and no.

Magic is simply a way of directing energy. Magic can’t defy the natural laws of the universe. It can’t make something happen unless it was already a potential possibility.

If your intention is unrealistic for where you are right now, try splitting it up into a multi-step process. No spell is going to make you a billionaire overnight, but magic could help you get hired at a better paying job… and then get promoted… and then get offered a profitable side gig… etc. Starting small and working your way up is always going to produce stronger results, because you laid the foundation first.

3. Your intention was either too vague or too specific 

Whether you use written petitions or spoken incantations, clearly stating your intention is an important part (maybe THE most important part) of any spell or ritual. A good intention is specific enough to get you the results you want, but open enough to let those results manifest naturally.

Let’s say you do a money spell, and your intention for the spell is simply, “I have more money.” If you find a penny on the ground the next day and pick it up, technically that is more money than you had before. A better alternative would be to use an intention like, “I have enough money to buy ___,” or “I have enough money for everything I need and want.”

Using an intention that is too specific creates the opposite problem. Let’s say you want to manifest a scholarship to a specific school. You do a candle spell with the intention, “I have been chosen for the John Smith Scholarship at Jane Doe University.” But maybe the John Smith scholarship had already been awarded by the time you did your spell. Maybe there’s another scholarship at the same school that would be a better fit for you, or maybe you’re eligible for a grant that would make tuition more affordable. A better intention for your spell would be “I have enough financial aid to easily and affordably attend Jane Doe University.”

Magic always follows the path of least resistance, so you want to make sure that your intention is specific enough to give your magic a clear direction, but open enough to allow it some flexibility. 

4. Lack of focus/concentration

We all know the struggle. You’ve been planning this ritual forever, and it’s finally the full moon, but you’ve got a really full schedule today. If you hurry, you can probably squeeze it into the thirty minute window between school and work, right? 

If you say a few quick words and burn some incense before you head out the door in the morning, that totally counts as a spell, right? 

Not so much. Rushed, lazy, and/or half-assed spells rarely, if ever, work. Spells revolve around the raising and direction of energy, and that requires two things: a clear intention (see above) and intense focus on that intention. If you don’t have the time/energy/mental capacity to focus, it’s best to take a break, have a self care day, and come back to your spell some other time. 

5. You’re subconsciously blocking your own results OR you did a spell for someone else who isn’t open to it

I decided to lump these two together, because they’re different variations of the same issue. 

Whenever you are doing magic on yourself, it’s important that your mindset is aligned with your intentions. You can do love spells all day long, but if deep down you don’t believe that you’re worthy of love, that belief is going to block your spells from working. This is why mindfulness, psychology, and self care are all such important parts of a successful witchcraft practice. It’s also why I recommend doing the mental work before you sit down to ritual. 

If you did a spell on yourself, or are trying to manifest something for yourself, and it just isn’t working, I highly recommend setting some time aside for journaling and meditation and asking yourself 1.) if this is really what you want, and 2.) if you truly believe that you can have it.

The whole mindset thing gets even more tricky when you’re doing magic on behalf of another person, because their energy is also at work in the situation and could be at odds with yours. For example, if you do a spell to help a friend land a job, but that friend believes that they’re totally underqualified and could never get it, they probably won’t get the job even if you did everything “right” in your spell. 

This should go without saying, but it is extremely unethical to use magic to mess around in someone else’s head. Even if you think you know what’s best for them, they need to be open to it. If someone is blocking the spells you do on their behalf, all you can do is try to be supportive and find other ways to help them out.

Other (Rare) Reasons for Failed Spells

If a spell goes wrong, it will almost always be for one of the above reasons. But maybe you did everything “right” – you did the mental work first, had a strong, realistic intention, put lots of focus into your spell, and followed through in real life – and you still aren’t seeing results. There are a couple of other things that could be blocking your spells, but they’re very uncommon so I’m not going to talk about them in as much detail. These may be things you want to look into if you really, genuinely can’t think of any other cause. 

It’s possible that another witch has done magic that cancels out or blocks yours. This is not common, and it does NOT mean that someone has cursed you. It could be as simple as two witches unknowingly casting spells with opposite intentions, which end up cancelling each other out. (For example, maybe two different people both cast a spell to get the same job. Obviously, they can’t both get that job.) This is why it’s never a bad idea to incorporate a protective element into your spells to block outside interference.

There is a very, very remote possibility that someone has placed a curse on you specifically to block your magic. However – and I cannot stress this enough – this is VERY uncommon. If you were cursed you would know it, or at least know that something was very wrong in your life. If you feel like you have been cursed or hexed, I recommend looking into uncrossing spells, which are specifically designed to undo negative magic.

It’s also possible that a higher power is intervening. This doesn’t necessarily have to be a deity, although it certainly could be. Most witches believe in some form of fate or destiny, and it’s possible that your spell didn’t work because what you asked for is not in alignment with your destiny. In these situations, really the only thing you can do is surrender to the bigger picture. 

[ladyastrelle]

[essenceevocation]

Art by Cécile Berrubé

[troubledandwandering-deactivate]

“The planets exist at a higher level of being than humans do, just as we exist at a higher level than the cellular organisms that help compose our bodies, such as mitochondria. We are all parts of a greater Being that is our solar system, in which individual human beings are comparable to individual cells, and the planets are comparable to bodily organs. This isn’t simply a mystical metaphor. Even looked at strictly from the point of view of physics, our solar system is a whirling vortex of ripples in the fabric of space-time—a swirling pool of eddying, intersecting gravitational and electromagnetic currents. We, too, are made from space-time, as are all material things. Our essential nature as spirits accords us free will, but the actions we magically will as individuals are constrained by the collective movements of the whole of which we are each a part. Cooperate with the universe. Harmonize your actions and movements with it throughout life, and your individual efforts will be nourished and supported in both direct and indirect ways—ways you can see, and ways you have yet to imagine. Don’t ignore the rhythms and patterns of the whole and act solely by force of your own individual will, or you are liable to end up in the kind of chaotic, self-destructive mess that humankind finds itself in following 300 years of willful contempt for nature.”

— Dixie Deerman. The Goodly Spellbook: Olde Spells for Modern Problems.

[wild-cabins]

Brandon Gray