The Mundane Beside The Magical:

For the witches and pagans who need to hear it, connecting with nature is supposed to be about like, actually observing nature over long periods of time, not doing stuff like hoarding endangered bird feathers and beach sand, or just meditating out in aesthetically-pleasing locations. Can you tell me exactly when your wildflowers and weeds start blooming? When do your bugs come out of hibernation? When do migratory birds come and go? How does the air feel during different times of year? If you can't do stuff like that, you aren't connecting with nature.

“I Observe Witchy Holidays. Observe them as they pass by me because I forgot. Again.”

— Stormwaterwitch (via stormwaterwitch)

For new witches:

You don’t have to accept everything you’re told, your journey is yours to create. Don’t feel pressured to label yourself or fit into someone else’s idea of what a witch should be. Trust your instincts, explore what resonates with you and remember that your craft is deeply personal and will evolve over time.

The Woman Behind The World’s Most Famous Tarot Deck Was Nearly Lost In History

For centuries, people of all walks of life have turned to tarot to divine what may lay ahead and reach a higher level of self-understanding.

The cards’ enigmatic symbols have become culturally ingrained in music, art and film, but the woman who inked and painted the illustrations of the most widely used set of cards today – the Rider-Waite deck from 1909, originally published by Rider & Co. – fell into obscurity, overshadowed by the man who commissioned her, Arthur Edward Waite.

Now, over 70 years after her death, the creator Pamela Colman Smith has been included in a new exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York highlighting many underappreciated artists of early 20th-century American modernism in addition to famous names like Georgia O’Keeffe and Louise Nevelson.

CNN

Nature Signs

Witchcraft and Self-Care: Nurturing Your Mind, Body, and Spirit

Witchcraft is not just a craft; it's a path that intertwines with our daily lives. Amid the spells and rituals, it's vital to remember that self-care is a cornerstone of our practice. By nurturing our minds, bodies, and spirits, we empower ourselves to be more effective witches and resilient individuals.

In this blog post, we'll delve into "Witchcraft and Self-Care: Nurturing Your Mind, Body, and Spirit," exploring the importance of self-care and suggesting rituals and practices to help you flourish on your magical journey.

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1. Grounding and Centering 🌳🌌

Start your self-care journey with grounding and centering. Take a moment each day to connect with the Earth. Stand barefoot on the ground, feeling the energy of the Earth rise through you. Meditate, visualize roots extending from your body into the soil, anchoring you to the Earth's nurturing energy.

2. Daily Affirmations 🧘‍♀️🌟

Affirmations are powerful tools for nurturing a positive mindset. Each morning, recite affirmations that align with your intentions. These affirmations reinforce your sense of self-worth, strength, and resilience. For example, "I am powerful," "I am loved," or "I am in control of my destiny."

3. Bath Rituals 🛁🌸

A soothing bath can work wonders for your well-being. Infuse your bathwater with Epsom salt, lavender, or rose petals. As you soak, visualize any stress or negativity melting away, leaving you refreshed and renewed. This simple practice can be profoundly healing.

4. Moon Meditation 🌕🧘‍♂️

Harness the energy of the moon to nurture your spirit. During the Full Moon, find a quiet space outdoors, and meditate beneath its radiant glow. Visualize the moon's energy filling you with light, cleansing away any emotional burdens, and empowering you for the month ahead.

5. Herbal Tea Ritual ☕🌿

Create a mindful tea ritual using your favorite herbs. As you brew and sip your tea, focus on the sensations and flavors. Allow the warmth of the tea to envelop you, bringing comfort and serenity. This practice can also enhance your connection with herbal magic.

6. Journaling 📓🖋️

Keep a magical journal to record your thoughts, experiences, and spellwork. Journaling is not only cathartic but also a powerful way to track your progress, uncover patterns, and celebrate your successes. Use it as a tool for self-reflection and growth.

7. Self-Compassion 💖🌈

Practice self-compassion in your daily life. Be gentle with yourself, just as you would with a close friend. Understand that setbacks are part of growth, and mistakes are opportunities to learn. By nurturing self-compassion, you'll foster resilience and inner strength.

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As witches, our practice is a reflection of our inner and outer worlds. By prioritizing self-care, we infuse our craft with authenticity and power. Remember that you are the most important tool in your magical toolkit, and by nurturing your mind, body, and spirit, you become a beacon of light in the world.

So, let's embrace self-care as an essential aspect of witchcraft. By nurturing ourselves, we empower our magic and cultivate a deeper connection with the universe.

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The Witch of the forest

You don’t have to have fancy crystals and herbs for spell jars btw. You can use sugar, coffee grounds, leaves, acorns, etc. Don’t fall victim to witchcraft consumerism.

Witchcraft Exercise - Creating Correspondences

There are dozens of plant species in the arsenal of the green witch. Commonly-used varieties and usage varies somewhat between traditions, but most of us are fairly familiar with industry standards like basil, bay, rosemary, sage, and so on.

But what do you do when faced with a plant that has no listed magical correspondences anywhere that you can find in your witchcraft library? Simple - you create some.

Allow me to demonstrate with a little plant I found in my own backyard. It's a common weed called Virginia copperleaf (Acalypha virginica). But despite it's widespread range and abundant growth as a field weed, there are surprisingly few references to the plant in regional folk medicine and none at all that I could find in contemporary witchcraft.

So in order to incorporate this hardy little weed into my practice, I set about creating some correspondences for it.

First, I researched the physical properties of the plant. It is a small annual spurge with long taproots, a resistance to drought and many herbicides, and a reputation for fast growth and being difficult to eradicate from fields due to prolific seeding. The leaves turn coppery-red in the fall and small spiky flowers bloom among the foliage. It is also mildly poisonous. The juice of the plant may cause contact dermatitis or a mild rash in some people and if ingested, it may cause GI symptoms such as vomiting and diarrhea.

Next, I researched references to the plant in folk medicine. I could only find a single reference that cited copperleaf as a possible diuretic and expectorant. That does track with the previous mention of GI symptoms, but it doesn't mean the plant is safe to use. I did discover that an alternate name for the plant is three-seeded mercury or mercury weed, likely because of its' tendency for fast growth and the fact that it is propagated by the wind.

So now comes the business of creating the correspondences, using the physical properties of the plant as a basis.

The first and most obvious association is strength. Any weed that is resistant to drought and herbicide and uprooting is bound to be useful for spells involving tenacity and fortitude. Prosperity is also a likely use, both because of the name copperleaf and the way in which the plant grows and spreads quickly. Because of the alternate name mercury weed and the wind propagation, it could be used for wind magic or communication spells. (I often associate the element of air with communication and the name of a messenger god is right there as well, but your mileage may vary.)

The plant could also be used as an ingredient for baneful magic, either to bind and frustrate someone's efforts by consuming available ground where their ambitions might grow, or in its' capacity as a mild poison, to cause physical discomfort and stomach trouble.

So in the end, I have a handful of copperleaf and a listing in my witchbook that details the properties of the plant and notes that it could be useful for spells involving strength, tenacity, prosperity, wind, or communication, as well as possible baneful uses including binding, discomfort, and sickness.

This is my system for assigning correspondences to previously-unknown plants, and I encourage readers to use it as a template for their own practices or to create their own system. Either way, I recommend the use of a field guide or plant identification app like PlantNet to properly identify plants as you find them. Remember to forage and harvest responsibly, be a good steward of the land around you, and always label your plant cuttings.

Happy Witching! 💚🌿

(If you're enjoying my content, please feel free to drop a little something in the tip jar or check out my published works on Amazon or in the Willow Wings Witch Shop. You can also check out my show Hex Positive wherever fine podcasts are heard. 😊)

More witchcraft exercises here:

The True Value of Tools in Magic (It’s Not What You See Online)

When you’ve spent enough time looking at the occult and witchcraft communities online, you begin to notice patterns that repeat themselves. The type of tools people use, the way people set up their altars, how much money people put towards their craft… I feel like it is important to talk about the true value of these things, because ultimately the tools aren’t what matter the most.

Before I go any deeper into this post, I want to put out a little disclaimer. There is no shame in spending a lot of money to buy fancy tools and such. This is all a matter of personal preference. This is not a post meant to shame people with expensive tools. This post is meant to reassure those who don’t have the luxury of buying expensive tools for their craft.

There seems to be a growing number of people online who talk about why you absolutely need this or that in order to do a little spellwork or honor some sort of entity. You need to buy this expensive candle to honor a deity. You need to use a cauldron of some sort to burn things. You need to be using this herb because it is the best thing you’ll ever use. I’m here to tell you: you don’t need anything that you cannot afford or do not want. Although I do believe they are the minority, I have seen some individuals who will drag others through the mud because they aren’t seeing a reflection of their personal craft in other people’s personal crafts. I feel like some people in the occult and witchcraft communities need to humble themselves and accept that some people simply cannot afford to buy expensive tools, or they just simply do not want to buy them.

I grew up asking my parents “can we afford this” instead of “can you buy this for me”. I was always aware that my family wasn’t as financially well-off as others. I often saved my begging for Christmas because at least that was the time of year when people would go out of their way to please their families. Even today, now that I am an adult, I still pay extra attention to my finances. I don’t buy myself expensive things for my craft often. When I do, it is because something was on sale. I prefer to grow my own herbs, make my own tools and create things by myself. That’s just my preference and it is also more affordable to me. I wasn’t like this when I first started practicing witchcraft, though. No, I was pretty set on buying all kinds of things when I first started. I saw all the pretty things other people were using and thought that I was going to need it. It took me over two years to figure out that all I needed was what I wanted. Two years is how long it took for me to realize that my passions beyond witchcraft could also be applied to my craft.

So, what is truly valuable in magick if not tools? If intention is what you are expecting me to say, sorry. That ain’t it. I’m not a believer in “intention is everything”. I feel like intention is similar to tools, in a way. You can have them, but that doesn’t mean they will make the magick on their own. What I find to be most valuable, beyond intention and tools, is the ability of the individual.

I’m sure many of us have failed when doing spells and rituals, especially when we first started to actively perform spells and rituals. We didn’t get the results we were seeking. Some of us may have gotten the exact opposite. I know that was the case for me. I believe that is because our abilities were only just beginning to grow. You see, I like to think of the individual’s ability to perform magic like a tree. It starts off as a seed. It has potential, but that potential needs a few things in order to grow. In the case of an individual’s ability to use magick, what they need is energy, practice and patience. The individual may not see any results for a while, and if they do see results it may not be anything impressive. After some time, though, the individual will see their abilities grow. They will find what works for them. They will find their path. The individual’s ability grows from that one, little seed into a sprout, then into a sapling and eventually, it grows into a magnificent tree.

Tools and intentions are only two parts of the formula to success in magic. The final, and most important thing, is the individual’s abilities.