Latest Posts by grimoire-archives - Page 2

You can use this method of drying herbs for flowers too, as long as you’re delicate and don’t break them!

Anyone who can make a cup of tea and dye a skein of wool, or linen/cotton. It almost like alchemy that such common garden plants can produce an amazing array of vibrant colors. The way that this wheel works is the plant corresponds with the different mordant to help preserve the color. Natural dyeing has endless possibilities of colors that are able to be created depending on factors like soak time, varying up mordants, even which part of the plant you’re using! These mostly act as suggestions to a place to begin, even though there are limitless ways to produce plant based dyes. Here’s an example of how this process would would be done: Dyeing: 12 oz. marigold heads 5 cups water 2 tbsp alum Steps: Bring water to a boil with marigolds. Reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes. Strain and transfer only liquid back to pot. Add damp fabric and simmer 10–20 minutes. Rinse, or leave in bath overnight and rinse with hot water until water runs clear. Dry. Heat set by ironing for 5 minutes. What plants are your favorite to dye with? 

*I am not an expert dyer, all of this information was researched via Garden Flower Folklore by Laura C. Martin. .

Witchcraft for the Home: Herbs and Spices

Kitchen and Cottage witchcraft is really what I focus on and I love to do little things to encorperate little things into my every day practice and a great way to do that is in the kitchen. So I’m going to list some of my go to herbs and spices that I use. A page straight from my Book of Shadows DISCLAIMER: NOT ALL HERBS FROM YOUR LOCAL WITCH SHOP ARE FOOD GRADE. MAKE SURE TO ASK FIRST. USING HERBS THAT AREN’T FOOD GRADE TASTE AWFUL AT THE LEAST AND CAN MAKE YOU SICK AT THE WORST.

Basil- Good for Protection. A favorite for pasta dishes. Use pesto as a good way to incorporate it. It’s also really good in soups.

Bay Lead- My favorite use for Bayleaf is healing, but not really physical wellbeing. I use it motly for emotional and spiritual healing. Really great after a long, stressful day. Cooks best in slow cooker meals like soups, stews, and pulled meats

Cinnamon- Protection and passion. I always find that it always brings a sense of warmth to whatever I’m making. I use it in a lot of sweets or whenever I’m making Chai.

Clove- Brings in warmth and casts out negativity. Clove is my favorite spice so I’ll add it to just about anything that’s “spicy”

Nutmeg- Strengthens divination. Nutmeg is really good in fall flavored baking and warm flavored stews, like those with a tomato base.

Pepper- Used for protection. I like to think of it as sort of a ‘bite’ at the things you need protection from. Actively expelling instead of putting up a “wall” like cinnamon.

Poppy seeds- Prosperity. Lemon poppy seed muffins are an amazing good luck charm to use before a a big test or meetings.

Rosemary- Purification, intellectual protection. Rosemary is a sort of go all herb. It goes great in roasts and traditional English and American cooking. Use a spring of rosemary on roast veggies, chicken, or steaks.  It’s also good in homemade bread and can be used during Sabbats and Holidays as part of the feast.

Thyme- Divination and clarity. This is another sort of ‘old school’ herb. You can find it in a lot of simplistic cooking (three or four ingrediant meals) and in a lot of italian food. It pairs great with marinara, eggplants, and peppers. Roasted egg plant with olive oil and thyme is one of my favorites.

Vanilla- Love. I put a drop of vanilla in my coffee almost every morning to try and bring love into my day. It works great if you have a stressful job you need to remember to stay caring and level headed at (childcare, health care, support lines). I also like to use it in small short bread or sugar cookies and use those as offerings (particularly to Aphrodite)

Unconventional & Affordable Ingredients for Spells

Here is a list of unconventional and affordable ingredients that can be used in spells and witchcraft along with their correspondences; good for witches “in the woods” and witches on a budget. Many of these can be easily found for inexpensive prices or at home.

Acorns/Acorn Caps: security, abundance, longevity, good luck, youth and brings good health

Animal toys/stickers: relates to correspondences of that animal

Artist’s Charcoal: banishing negativity, protection; cursing

Baby Powder: cleansing, beauty, youth

Baking Soda: cleansing, purification, protection

Birthday Candles: wishes, joy; color magic and number magic depending on their color and/or what number they display

Black Tea Bags (used): earth magic, grounding, strength, stability, banishing negativity; ending, death 

Bottle Caps: prosperity, luck, material gain

Bubble Bath: self-love, relaxation, emotional healing, serenity; plus whatever scent the bubble bath is affects correspondences

Bubbles/Bubble Liquid: wishes, joy, whimsy, imagination, fantasy

Buckeye Nuts: luck, sexual energies, warding

Butter: femininity, flattery, friendship, warmth, happiness; good for fae work

Candy Bars: love, romance, happiness, lust, fertility, emotional healing, healing of the heart, forgiveness, friendship

Candy Corn: courage, imagination, endurance, energy, motivation, happiness, celebration

Candy Foil: sweetness, secrets, protecting one’s emotions; color magic

Chocolate Syrup/Milk: happiness, love, lust, romance, sweetening relationships

Cocktail Swords: strength, assertiveness, competition; cursing, revenge; ending rumors

Cotton Balls: beauty, gentleness, warmth, sleep

Cotton Swabs: cleansing, purification

Dice: chance, opportunity, luck; number magic

Dirt: grounding, earth magic, growth, prosperity, patience, home and family; cursing

Dish Soap: cleansing

Duct Tape: binding, storing energy, cursing

Egg Shells: cleansing, protection, warding

Energy Drinks: energy, motivation

Envelopes: messages, communication, protection during travel

Epsom Salts: purification, cleansing, protection, pain relief, serenity, comfort, stress relief

Fake/Play Money: wealth, prosperity

Fish Sauce: prosperity, water magic, curses

Foil: glamour, protection, storing energy, binding

Glue: sealing, immobility, binding, curses

Googley Eyes: vision, divination, scrying, creativity, protection, imagination; curses, paranoia, nightmares

Grass: growth, nature, learning, healing, new beginnings, recovery from loss

Hand Soap: cleansing, curse removal

Hole Punches: good for cursing

Hot Sauce: motivation, lust, confidence; cursing, anger, revenge, emotional pain

Koolaid: youth, sweetness, happiness; color magic, corresponds with flavors as well

Lip Balm: glamour, confidence in speaking, honesty, beauty

Lollipops: sweetness, innocence, ending rumors and lies, lust and sexual energies, love

Lotion: protection, beauty

Laundry Soap: cleansing, purification

Marshmallows: friendliness, comfort, gentleness, fidelity, sleep and dreams

Metal Crafting Wire: binding

Modeling Clay: poppets, earth magic, grounding, balance, stability, creation, change

Mud: grounding, earth magic; curses

Muslin: poppets, change, creativity

Noodles: Longevity, good health

Pompoms (craft): gentleness, comfort, love, sleep, dreams

Paper Clips: balance, focus, organization; curses, binding

Pennies: luck, wealth

Pickle Juice: curses to sour things

Plastic Bags: protection; binding

Plastic Ribbon (wrapping): happiness, glamour, delight; binding; color magic

Plastic Wrap: binding

Popsicle sticks: poppets

Scissors: offensive magic, curses

Seltzer Water: purification, removing negativity; curses

Sewing Needles: curses, pain

Shaving Cream: cleansing, softness, patience, calmness

Stamps: travel, communication

Sour Cream: cursing

Soy Sauce: protection, banishment; cursing

Sticky Notes: communication, memory

Strawberry Milk: love, self-love, beauty, sweetness, friendship

Syrup: joy, sweetening one’s emotions

Taco Sauce: Focus, Energy, motivation

Taffy: joy, flexibility

Thumbtacks: curses

Tissue Paper: softness, serenity; color magic

Toothpaste: cleansing

Toothpicks: curse

Walnut Shells: protection, warding

Wasabi: Energy; curses, anger, envy

Whipped Cream: beauty, light-heartedness

Whistles: communication, attention grabbing, warding

Other Tips:

Recycle bottles, jars and medicine bottles for jar/bottle magic

Reuse tea bags (though not too long after use) in bath magic

If you do wish to use herbs, it is cheaper to order them online in bulk rather than the supermarket. Trust me, supermarkets and grocery stores really over price most herbs. You can get triple the amount for 2 dollars less online

Make up and toiletries are great for glamours

Its fine to use kitchen knives if you can’t afford am athame

Look at the ingredients in food you eat to see what is in it and determine that food’s correspondences, quick and easy kitchen magic

Crayons, colored pencils, markers and pens are good for easy sigil and color magic

Binders are cheaper than blank books and make great grimoires

Got some new witchy books yesterday!

Yule/Midwinter/Winter Equinox

Overview and History

Winter Equinox, Midwinter or Yule as it’s more commonly known is the period of time where we celebrate the Sun’s rebirth and entry into a new year full of light. 

This year’s Yule starts on the 21st of December for the Northern Hemisphere.

Most of this information is for the Northern Hemisphere but can still be celebrated in the Southern, I personally still celebrate but have a personal celebration for the new year on the last day of the year.

This year’s Yule starts on the 21st of June for the Southern Hemisphere.(Hey! That’s me)

Until the 16th century, most cattle owned were slaughtered to prevent the need to feed them during the long and dangerous winter, therefore it was a time of feasting and where meat was plentiful.

In pre-Christian Scandinavia the “Feast of Yule” lasted 12 days and it was common place to burn a “yule log”. 

In ancient Rome the winter solstice was celebrated at the Feast of Saturnalia, a feast to honour the god Saturn, it lasted about a week and was a period of gift-giving, easting and debauchery.

One of the most famous celebrations of the winter solstice in the world today takes place in the ancient ruins of Stonehenge, England. Thousands of Druids and Pagans gather there to chant, dance and sing while waiting to see the spectacular sunrise.

Activities for Witches

One of the most important Yule practices revolves around the Yuletide altar, which consists of three main parts: the Yule log, candles and greenery. All three are symbols of bringing the outside in and welcoming the rebirth brought by the Sun. Greens, such as holly and the evergreen trees that are decorated in silver, gold, reds and greens, symbolize rebirth — a miracle that they prosper in the harsh cold while other plants are barren. For new-age pagans, the festively coloured candles are a safer way to bring the warmth of the sun into the home without risking fires that could be caused by burning the ceremonial log. Traditionally, the ceremonial log is ash. It is decorated in seasonal greens, doused in ale and dusted with flour before being set aflame and left to smoulder for 12 days. 

Easy Activities

Kiss someone (who gives permission) under some hanging mistletoe

Give gifts to those you love

Have a feast with family and friends

Make spell wreaths and hang them around your space

Use cinnamon and pine smudges

Decorate a living outdoor tree

Use natural materials to make yule decorations then decorate your room/altar

Make seed covered apple treats for birds

Clean your pets space and re-decorate

Have meals by the fireplace (roast marshmallows)

Buy some new warm blankets to keep you warm

Knit sweaters for your pets, and scarves for your friends

Sing and dance under the moon (while wearing several layers)

Light cinnamon incense 

Show love to everything deserving of your love

Reset your sleep cycle

Make some goals

Ask your tarot for some advice

(optional) Thank your gods for bringing a new year

Litha Recipes with Correspondences and Vegan Alternatives

Cinnamon Red Sun Tea

Ingredients:

- 6 cups water

- ¼ cup loose red (rooibos) tea leaves

- 2 Cinnamon Sticks

- Simple syrup or Agave to taste

Directions:

- Place water, tea leaves and cinnamon sticks in large container or pitcher. Stir. Cover with lid or plastic wrap. Let stand in sun for 3 to 5 hours.

- Strain tea, discarding tea leaves and cinnamon sticks. Serve tea over ice or refrigerate until chilled. Sweeten with Simple Syrup, if desired.

Correspondances:

- Tea ~ courage, mental powers, prosperity, restfulness, strength

- Water ~ purification

- Cinnamon ~ healing, love, luck, lust, peace, protection, psychic powers, strength, success

- Sugar ~ love

Peach Earl Grey Fritters

Ingredients:

- 1 ½ cups whole milk (almond or soy for vegan)

- 1/3 cup earl grey tea

- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter (coconut oil for vegan)

- 5 cups all-purpose flour

- 1 pinch nutmeg

- 1 pinch cinnamon

- 1 teaspoon salt

- ¼ cup sugar

- 1 tablespoon active dry yeast

- 2 eggs (egg substitute for vegan)

- 6 cups Vegetable oil, for frying (use more if needed)

- 3 large peaches, diced

For Icing:

- 1 cup powdered sugar

- 3 tablespoons honey (agave or maple syrup for vegan)

-  1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

- 2-3 tablespoons milk or cream (almond or soy for vegan)

Directions:

- In a small pot, heat the milk, tea, and butter until the butter has melted and the mixture is warm. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly.

- Mix the flour, nutmeg, cinnamon, salt, sugar, and yeast in the bowl of a mixer (or a large bowl if mixing by hand). Add the warm milk mixture and mix to combine.

- Add the eggs, scraping the bowl well. Turn the mixer up to medium speed, and, using a dough hook, mix until the dough begins to pull away from the edges. If mixing by hand, knead until it easily pulls away from the sides of the bowl as you knead (it will still be quite sticky).

- Transfer the finished dough to a well-oiled container and cover. Allow it to rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour. Alternatively, you can refrigerate the dough overnight so that it’s ready to make in the morning—but you may need to punch the dough down once or twice during that period to prevent it from over-fermenting.

- Roll out the doughnut dough on a lightly floured surface into a rectangle about ½ inch thick. Size/precision of the rectangle isn’t important—just focus on an even thickness for the dough. 

- Use a knife, pastry scraper, or bench knife to cut the dough into long vertical strips about ½ inch wide. 

- Next, cut the strips horizontally about ½ inch wide—this should make a whole bunch of ½ inch squares. 

- Divide the dough squares into 12 even portions. 

- To shape each doughnut, take about 2/3 of one portion of dough squares and smoosh them gently together. Place about ¼ to 1/3 cup of diced peaches on top of the dough.

- Top with the remaining 1/3 of the portion of dough squares and smoosh the dough gently to adhere to the peaches and other dough. It’s best for each piece of peach to be touching dough in two places (on top and on bottom), otherwise some may fall out when you go to fry them.

- Cover the doughnuts with greased plastic wrap and let them rise for 20 to 30 minutes.

- While the doughnuts rises heat the oil. If you have one, use a deep-fry thermometer to test the oil and help regulate the temperature—around 350° F is best. If you don’t have one, throw a doughnut hole or scrap piece of dough into the oil and see if it sizzles and rises to the surface. When it does, you’re good to go.

- Working in batches, gently drop the doughnuts into the oil, frying until they’re golden brown on both sides, 2-3 minutes per side. It’s helpful to use a spider or slotted spoon to support the fritter for the first 15-30 seconds, until the dough sets.

- Drain the doughnuts on several layers of absorbent paper towels. Let cool for 5-10 minutes. 

-In a small bowl, whisk the powdered sugar, honey, cinnamon, and milk or cream to combine. Add more milk or cream as needed to make drizzly glaze. Drizzle each doughnut into the glaze, and serve immediately.

Correspondances:

- Milk ~ Goddess energy, love, nurturing, spirituality

- Tea ~ courage, mental powers, prosperity, restfulness, strength

- Butter ~ smoothing relationships, spirituality, tenacity

- Flour ~ revealing hidden matters, consistency

- Nutmeg ~ confidence, emotional openness, fidelity, healing, luck, prosperity, social interaction

- Cinnamon ~ healing, love, luck, lust, peace, protection, psychic powers, strength, success

- Salt ~ cleansing & purification, grounding, protection

- Sugar ~ love

- Yeast ~ grounding, purification

- Egg ~ fertility, lust, protection, spirituality, strength

-  Oil ~ spirituality

- Peach ~ happiness, healing, fertility, longevity, love, wisdom

- Honey ~ happiness, healing, love, lust, purification, spirituality, sweet things in life, weight loss, wisdom

- Maple Syrup ~ prosperity, love

Raspberry Banana Bread

Ingredients:

- ¾ cup fresh or frozen raspberries, thawed

- 1 ripe banana

- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

- ¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon

- ½ teaspoon baking soda

- ¼ teaspoon salt

- 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

- 1 cup white sugar

- 2 eggs (egg substitute for vegan)

- ½ cup vegetable oil

- ½ teaspoon lemon extract

Directions:

- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease a loaf pan.

-  Mash raspberries in a bowl with a fork. Mash banana in another bowl with a fork.

- Combine flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg in a bowl.

- Beat sugar, eggs, raspberries, banana, and vegetable oil in a bowl with an electric mixer set on low until smooth, 2 to 3 minutes.

- Stir flour mixture into raspberry mixture until batter is just moistened; stir in lemon extract. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan.

- Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 1 hour. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes before removing to cool completely on a wire rack.

Correspondances: 

-  Bread ~ (in general) kinship, sustenance

- Cake ~ (in general) celebrations, hospitality

- Raspberry ~ happiness, love, protection, stamina, vigor

- Banana ~ fertility, love, luck, potency, prosperity, spirituality

- Flour ~ revealing hidden matters, consistency

- Cinnamon ~ healing, love, luck, lust, peace, protection, psychic powers, strength, success

- Baking soda ~ raising energy or expectations

- Salt ~ cleansing & purification, grounding, protection

- Nutmeg ~ confidence, emotional openness, fidelity, healing, luck, prosperity, social interaction

- Sugar ~ love

- Egg ~ fertility, lust, protection, spirituality, strength

- Oil ~ spirituality

- Lemon ~ faithfulness, friendship, happiness, longevity, love, marriage

hi! i'm a baby witch and i wanted to see if there are any spells you'd recommend for protecting others.

Sure thing. Though, just as a note, protecting others is a bit more difficult than simply protecting yourself just because (like all magic worked on others) you’ll need something of theirs or you may want to make something that they will carry with them. I won’t link many particular spells here, but I’ll give you some ideas and you can begin to craft your own. You might want to look through the protection tag for further ideas as well. I would recommend either creating a poppet of the individual you want to protect or (if you’re trying to protect more than one person at a time) you might make up a jar to add all of your items and taglocks into. Alternately, it might be easiest to create a charm or satchet or to simply cast on an object and have them carry it with them for protection. You can also, if you work with any spirits or ancestors, make an offering to these powers on behalf of the person you’re hoping to protect and send them to watch over them. (You can also use a picture of the person/their name/some taglock and, placing it in the center of the table, build a ward of protection around them with stone, earth, candle/fire much like this ward is being built) Either way, protection items typically include garlic, basil, salt, eggshell, witch hazel, aloe, (I usually also include mint cause the best defense is a good offense), tiger’s eye, oak, etc. Have a look about your area and see what is local to your space, what’s accessible, what associations do they have in your area that they may not have elsewhere.  

If you go for a walk in the forest, remember these ten things:

If you pass by a ring of mushrooms, don’t step in the circle, but do tell the mushrooms your dreams. They love to hear stories.

If you see large, foreboding pawprints in the middle of the trail, do not follow them; the path leads only to sorrow and despair.

If you hear the lull of a flute by the bubbling of a river, you may listen, but not for long; if you linger, you can never leave.

Be sure to keep any items you bring secured in your rucksack, with a few seashells hanging from it; the crashing waves from the shells will scare off thieves.

Return home before night falls. You never know what might appear when the forest is cloaked in darkness.

If you do stay after sundown, do not look at the stars. They are temptresses in their beauty, but can bring death and destruction.

If you come across wildlife, avoid eye contact. Some creatures may steal your soul if you stare long enough.

Never pass under a gnarled, curling tree, for you may enter a world that looks like your own, but is different still.

If you find a jar of honey or jam resting upon a boulder, ignore it. There are those who would tempt you with sweet nothings; don’t accept their gifts.

Mark a trail from your starting point with plain yarn. If you cut the trees, they’ll come for you. If you tie a ribbon on branches, they’ll capture you.

Be wary of the forest and all of its inhabitants. It is beautiful and wondrous, but can be frightful and merciless.

BETTER SHIT TO PUT IN YOUR GRIMOIRES THAN THE BASIC SHIT EVERYONE SAYS:

Maps! Maps! MAPS! If you're a death witch, get one for the cemeteries you visit and mark gravestones/areas you've practiced in! Garden witches! Map out your gardens! Green witches! Map where you find specific herbs in your area! Lunar witches! Mark the best spots to go look at the sky! Make a key! Take notes!

Recipes for COMPONENTS! Write down how to make the mixtures you use in spells often- A special salt mixed with herbs and put under the moon, a mixture of oils for protection, the herb mixes sachets you keep making to add to sachets, whatever!

For green witches- press samples of stuff and glue them in! Go to an arboretum and ask for permission to take leaves to press, they'll usually let you take some- add them in with your notes about trees

Cool ways to make spells! I make spells in envelopes and on empty spools, what are some ways you do?

The local plants in your area and what they do. You're not going to be likely to find chrysanthemums to forage in Missouri, but you will find creeping charlie and prairie plants. What can you do with a thistle?

When you celebrate a sabbat, write down what you did and include samples! Ribbons from your Beltane altar, a pressed sample of your lemmas harvest, a scrap of your Yule decorations. Maybe do a spell and tape the remnants into your grimoire in a plastic baggie

Learn how to make an envelope out of paper just by folding it, how to string seeds, how to dry plants, how to macrame rocks and hang them from your window. Find those little witchy skills and write them down.

How to incorporate your hobby into your magic. Sigiling origami paper, weaving knot magick into your crochet, making blessed bookmarks, etc

Substitutes! Rosemary, rose and clear quartz are good for most things, but there are more substitutes to be used that are more powerful. Roanoke bells are good substitutes for bluebells, apparently.

Correspondences of odd things. Turns out different kinds of cats have different correspondences, huh.

Superstitions and such from where you're from.

For kitchen witches: easy to alter recipes. An egg noodle recipe that takes herbs really well, a simple bread recipe that can be dressed up for spells or rituals, how to make a good pie crust that you can sprinkle nutmeg in or whatever you desire.

Or: What foods go good with what herbs. You'll make a better apple pie (and get the benefits of apples, nutmeg, and cinnamon together!) If you know how your herbs taste together with your cooking. (Most kitchen witches know this stuff, but for a green witch who likes to make teas or a sea witch that likes to make soup, etc, this is important)

Mental clarity bottle

Salt - cleansing

Mint - refreshing

Ginkgo - memory

Lotus incense ash - purity

Sage - cleansing

Juniper - rejuvenating

Clear quartz - clarity

White candle - purity

Cleanse your space well and layer the ingredients in the bottle, focusing on the intent of each one. Now some of these are more personal and can vary for different people, e.g. I used desert sage because it grows wild here. Maybe you hate mint, if so then don't use it. Etc. Put the candle in the bottle and light it any time you need to clear your brain fog or make a tough decision.

I don't have an incantation for this one because I typically don't use them. Instead I use bells (pictured) or some other instrument to raise the energy and bring everything together. In this case I rang the bells over the bottle, focused on their ring, and let the sound gradually fade, then focused on the silence.

I feel like selenite works be a good addition, I just didn't have any extra on hand.

A tarot spread commissioned by @beetlepool​ during @technocoven​, for helping them find the source of their stress and how to achieve inner calm.

They asked:

“How can you achieve calm and stability only comparable to the biggest fish in the ocean?” 

And as a Marine Biologist, I was super hyped by the request and had a lot of fun with this spread! Thanks again, and welcome to your witch-y journey!

Keep reading

MY BELTANE 2020

how i celebrate Beltane whilst in lockdown for 2020

I started of the morning by making Gluten-free pancakes with my younger brother. He loves them and i’ve recently had to go Gulten free so we were trying them out. They were amazing!! I then got dressed into my red dress but had to wear a black top as well as it was so cold.

Later in the afternoon I made oat cookies for my family.

I also made a fruit smoothie for me and my mum but forgot to take any pictures to document it. I used fresh strawberries and bananas!

In the evening, I unpressed all the flowers i pressed to try a few weeks ago - id been leaving it until Beltane to do so!

I then made my offerings to the fae. It was honey, milk and some of my oat cookies. I left it under a beautiful flower in my garden that’s surrounded by our strawberry pots.

I also took a moment whilst outside to appreciate the sunset i could just see.

I then proceeded upstairs to write my wish letter to the Gods and Godesses i celebrated with today. (it’s only the title as i didn’t want to show it)

When i go to bed, i plan to fully pray to the Gods and thank them for a beautiful day!

I’d love to hear what you did below!

English vs French Lavender

While it’s well known that lavender has a calming and soothing effect, (I’ve seen it used a lot in sleep spells and drinks, etc) I’ve only recently found out that it’s not true for all varieties.

English lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) in the picture on the left is your go-to for those soothing bed-time vibes. This is the more common variety.

French lavender (Lavandula stoechas), the tufty flower on the right, actually has an invigorating effect. It’s also brilliant for cuts and grazes to prevent infection and promote healing, but if you’re growing this plant to help you sleep it will not have the desired effect in your bed-time tea/pillow sachet!

“It is also important to avoid making regular offerings to the spirits, including you familiars. Each offering should be made as payment for a specific service performed. In this way they will always be active and eager to earn their keep. As it is written in the Book of Abramelin the spirits are industrious creatures and must not be coddled like pets.

 On the other hand, a spirit who expect to be fed on a schedule will be less inclined to work and may become a lazy glutton. Your only option then is to withhold food until they agree to work, which is counterproductive and certainly not the kind of hostile relationship you want with them!

… Other exceptions to this rule would be offerings made to your ancestors and your personal head-spirit/guardian angel - for whom you can make regular offerings without harm. However, such regular offerings should be kept very simple (such as fire, water, and incense), and special or more elaborate offerings given only as thanks for specific work accomplished.”

- Ritual Offerings

just some things i was thinking about this afternoon

Hey if any of you guys are interested in demonology at all to any extent, grimoire.org is the most amazing and well-sourced resource I’ve ever seen, it cites everything from multiple historical grimoires, has a publishing timeline for them, displays sigils, has a section set aside for each demons powers, even lists similar demons, and it’s all very easy to understand the way it’s set up. Can not recommend it enough, it has more demons and more info than I’ve seen listed elsewhere

💌Spell Envelopes💌

Y’all this is seriously a game changer!! 

As a college student, I’m super broke and haven’t wanted to buy sachets for spells, but I have a solution! Just use an envelope instead! You can get a whole box for like $3 (or you probs already have some) and they work just like a sachet: you put your herbs, pieces of paper, little crystals, etc. inside.  

You can also decorate them with designs, colors, and sigils that correspond to the spell you’re doing!  The one in this picture is a love spell I made for a friend! Art isn’t your thing? Just use stickers! Washi tape! 

You can carry them around easily and discreetly too.  You could even mail a spell to a friend! And add a layer of enchantment to bless your postal delivery person while they’re carrying the spell :)

✨✨

Addition:  As the lovely @crystal-w0lf added to the comments, you can also bury them for offerings or protection spells!!!

Earl Grey and Lemon Cupcake Recipe - Your source of sweet inspirations! || GET SWEET DESSERT BOOKS! || GET AWESOME DESSERT MERCH! || GET COOL BAKEWARE! || GIFTS FOR THE DESSERT LOVER!

Resources of Interest for Early Modern Magic in England & New England (circa the 1500s to 1800)

Primary Sources

The Key of Solomon. I’ve heard a lot of good things from several ceremonial magicians, including @thedesertgod , that the edition to go for is Skinner’s. He’s compiled, edited, and added scholastic commentary to The Veritable Key of Solomon, as well as The Magician’s Tables. Joseph Peterson, also recommended, has worked on The Lesser Key of Solomon and the Clavicula Solomonis (or Key of Solomon). I probably would read it in its original Latin, if you have the means. 

Agrippa, Cornelius (false attribution). The Fourth Book of Occult Philosophy. 1655. Stephen Skinner also worked on an edition of this book. Unlike the actual Agrippa’s original three books, this volume does not hold much in the way of theory but offers plenty of practical instruction.

Casaubon, M. A True and Faithful Relation of what passed for many years between Dr. John Dee…and Some Spirits. 1659. As a record of the seances held by Dr. Dee and Kelley, it recounts the techniques used to conjure spirits. 

Chamberlain, Richard. Lithobolia. 1682. One family’s account of witchcraft perpetuated by the fetch of a neighbor.

Culpepper, Nicholas. Complete Herbal. 1653. It provides a comprehensive description of the herbs, along with their medicinal uses and instructions on preparing them to treat illnesses. 

Culpepper, Nicholas. The English Physician. 1652. The first medical guide published in the American colonies (apparently), it is intended for the average person. 

Defoe, Daniel (assumed). A Compleat System of Magick; or, The History of the Black-Art. 1727. As a skeptic, like Reginald Scot, this anonymous author (who we’re pretty sure is Defoe) provides much information on the work of witches, conjurors, and cunning-folk. 

Hale, John. A Modest Enquiry into the Nature of Witchcraft. 1702. After the Salem witch trials, he challenges the legal proceedings and religious principals of witch hunts in general. 

Magnus, Albertus (false attribution). The Book of Secrets. “Provides a portrayal of the magical culture that predominated in the 16th century. This work includes secrets which are divided into five distinct parts: Of the Virtues of Herbs, Of the Virtues of Stones, Of the Virtues of Beasts, Of the Planets, and The Marvels of the World.”

Mather, Cotton. Memorable Providences. 1698. Having fanned the flames of the Salem hysteria, this book discusses several witchcraft cases in New England before the Trials arose.

Mather, Increase. Cases of Conscience. 1693. Intended to vindicate the Mathers’ involvement in Salem, it was intended to prove that witches and devils could assume the shape of an innocent person. 

Scot, Reginald. The Discoverie of Witchcraft. 1584. By attempting to debunk witchcraft as a hoax, it managed to record a good cross-section of their formulae. 

Turner, Richard. Botanologia The Brittish Physician: or The Nature and Vertue of English Plants. 1664. Another guide to British herbs and medicine, by an astrologer, occultist, and botanist.

Modern Accounts

Davies, Owen. Cunning-Folk: Popular Magic in English History. Hambledon and London, 2003. 

Demos, John. Entertaining Satan: Witchcraft and the Culture of Early New England. Oxford University Press, 2004. 

Godbeer, Richard. The Devil’s Dominion: Magic and Religion in Early New England. Cambridge University Press, 1989. 

Merrifield, Ralph. The Archaeology of Ritual and Magic. Batsford, 1987.

Semmens, Jason. The Witch of the West: or, the Strange and Wonderful History of Thomasine Blight. Semmens, 2004. 

Thomas, Keith. Religion and the Decline of Magic. Peregrine, 1978.

Weisman, Richard. Witchcraft, Magic, and Religion in 17th-century Massachusetts. University of Massachusetts Press, 1984. 

Wilby, Emma. Cunning Folk and Familiar Spirits: Shamanistic Visionary Traditions in Early Modern British Witchcraft and Magic. Sussex Academic Press, 2005.

Old Herb Names

Raven and Crone

Adders Tongue: Dogstooth, Violet, Plantain Ass Foot or Bulls Foot: Coltsfoot

Bats Wings: Holly Leaf Bats wool: Moss Bears Foot: Ladys Mantle Birds Eye: Germander Speedwell Black Sampson: Echinacea Blood: Elder sap or another tree sap Blood of Hephaistos: Wormwood Blood from a Head: Lupine   Blood of Ares: Purslane Blood of a Goose: A Mulberry Trees Milk Blood of Hestia: Chamomile Blood of an Eye: Tamarisk Gall Blood from a Shoulder: Bears Breach Bloody fingers: Foxglove Bloodwort: Yarrow Bodily Fluids: Houseleek Bone of an Ibis: Buckthorn Brains: Congealed gum from a cherry tree Bread and Cheese Tree: Hawthorne Bulls Blood or Seed of Horus: Horehound Burning Bush: White Dittany

Calfs Snout: Snapdragon Candelmas Maiden: Snowdrop. Capons Tail: Valerian Cats Foot: Canada Snake Root and or Ground Ivy Cheeses: Marsh Mallow Chocolate Flower: Wild Geranium Christs Ladder: Centaury Christs Eye: Vervain, Sage Clear-eye: Clary Sage Click: Goosegrass Clot: Great Mullein Corpse candles: Mullein Corpse Plant: Indian Pipe. Crocodile dung: Black earth Crowdy Kit: Figwort Crows Foot: Cranesbill, Wild Geranium Cuckoos Bread: Common Plantain Cucumber Tree: Magnolia Cuddys Lungs: Great Mullein

Daphne: Laurel/Bay Dead Man: Ash or Mandrake root carved in a crude human shape or poppet Devils Dung: Asafoetida   Devils Plaything: Yarrow Dew of the Sea: Rosemary Dogs Mouth: Snap Dragon Doves Foot: Wild Geranium Dragons Blood: Calamus Dragons Scales: Bistort Leaves Dragon Wort: Bistort

Eagle: Wild Garlic Ear of an Ass: Comfrey Ear of a Goat: St. Johns Wort Earth Smoke: Fumitory Elfs Wort: Elecampane Enchanters Plant: Vervain Englishmans Foot: Common Plantain Erba Santa Maria: Spearmint Everlasting Friendship: Goosegrass Eye of Christ: Germander Speedwell Eye of the Day: Common Daisy Eye of the Star: Horehound Eye Root: Goldenseal Eyes: Aster, Daisy, Eyebright

Fairy Smoke: Indian Pipe Fat from a Head: Spurge Felon Herb: Mugwort Fingers: Cinquefoil Five Fingers: Cinquefoil Foxs Clote: Burdock Frogs Foot: Bulbous Buttercup From the Belly: Earth-apple From the Foot: Houseleek From the Loins: Chamomile

Goats Foot: Ash Weed Gods Hair: Hart’s Tongue Fern Golden Star: Avens Gosling Wing: Goosegrass Graveyard Dust: Mullein Great Ox-eye: Ox-eye Daisy

Hags Taper: Great Mullein Hagthorn: Hawthorn Hair: Maidenhair fern Hairs of a Hamadryas Baboon: Dill Seed Hair of Venus: Maidenhair Fern Hand: The expanded frond from a male fern used to make the true hand of glory, which is nothing more than a candle made of wax mixed with fern Hares Beard: Great Mullein Hawks Heart: Heart of Wormwood Heart: Walnut Herb of Grace: Vervain Hinds Tongue: Hart’s Tongue Fern Holy Herb: Yerba Santa Holy Rope: Hemp Agrimony Hook and Arn: Yerba Santa Horse Hoof: Coltsfoot Horse Tongue: Hart’s Tongue Fern Hundred Eyes: Periwinkle

Innocense: Bluets

Jacobs Staff: Great Mullein Joy of the Mountain: Marjoram Jupiters Staff: Great Mullein

Kings Crown: Black Haw Knight’s Milfoil: Yarrow Kronos’ Blood: of Cedar

Lads Love: Southernwood Ladys Glove: Foxglove aka Witches’ Gloves Lambs Ears: Betony Lions Hairs: Tongue of a Turnip [i.e., the leaves of the taproot] Lions Tooth: Dandelion aka Priest’s Crown Little Dragon: Tarragon Love in Idleness: Pansy Love Leaves: Burdock Love Lies Bleeding: Amaranth or Anemone Love Man: Goosegrass Love Parsley: Lovage Love Root: Orris Root

Maidens Ruin: Southernwood Mans Bile: Turnip Sap Mans Health: Ginseng Master of the Woods: Woodruff May: Black Haw May Lily: Lily of the Valley May Rose: Black Haw Maypops: Passion Flower Mistress of the Night: Tuberose Mutton Chops: Goosegrass

Nose Bleed: Yarrow

Old-Maids-Nightcap: Wild Geranium Old Mans Flannel: Great Mullein Old Mans Pepper: Yarrow Oliver: Olive

Password: Primrose Peters Staff: Great Mullein Pigs Tail: Leopard’s Bane Poor Man’s Treacle: Garlic Priests Crown: Dandelion leaves Pucha-Pat: Patchouli

Queen of the Meadow: Meadowsweet Queen of the Meadow Root: Gravelroot Queen of the Night: Vanilla Cactus

Rams Head: American Valerian Red Cockscomb: Amaranth Ring-o-Bells: Bluebells Robin-Run-in-the-Grass: Goosegrass

Scaldhead: Blackberry See Bright: Clary Sage Seed of Horus: Horehound Semen of Ammon: Houseleek Semen of Ares: Clover Semen of Helios: White Hellebore Semen of Hephaistos: This is Fleabane Semen of Hermes: Dill Semen of Herakles: Mustard-rocket Seven Year’s Love: Yarrow Shameface: Wild Geranium   Shepherds Heart: Shepherds Purse Silver Bells: Black Haw Skin of a Man: Fern Skull: Skullcap Snake: Bistort Snakes Blood: Hematite stone Soapwort: Comfrey or Daisy Sorcerer’s Violet: Periwinkle   Sparrows Tongue: Knotweed St. Johns Herb: Hemp Agrimony.(this is not St. John’s Wort) St. Johns Plant: Mugwort Star of the Earth: Avens Star Flower: Borage Starweed: Chickweed Sweethearts: Goosegrass Swines Snout: Dandelion leaves

Tanners Bark: Common Oak Tarragon: Mugwort Tartar Root: Ginseng Tears of a Hamadryas Baboon: Dill Juice Thousand Weed: Yarrow Thunder Plant: House Leek Titans Blood: Wild Lettuce Toad: Toadflax Tongue of dog: hounds tongue Tooth or Teeth: Pinecones Torches: Great Mullein

Unicorns Horn: False Unicorn:Helonias Dioica Unicorn Horn: True Unicorn Root Unicorn Root: Ague Root

Wax Dolls: Fumitory Weasel Snout: Yellow Archangel Weazel Snout: Yellow Dead Nettles/Yellow Archangel Weed: Ox-Eye Daisy White: Ox-eye Daisy White Mans Foot: Common Plantain White Wood: White Cinnamon Witch’s Asprin: White Willow/Willow Bark Witch’s Brier: Brier Hips Wolf Claw: Club Moss Wolf Foot: Bugle Weed   Wolfs Milk: Euphorbia Worms: Gnarled, thin roots of a local tree

hi! im always trying to learn more about tarot, but i keep coming across the same entry level tips and lessons. do you have any advice for more advanced or intermediate tarot readers?

Advanced Tarot Techniques

You come across tips for beginners because tips are generally for beginners. External sources, such as books and websites, are mostly meant for readers who are in the early stages of their journey. They are training wheels.

The moment you consider yourself intermediate, your growth should mainly be internal. That is, as you read for yourself, you discover new ways of how the cards manifest. And as others approach you with questions you have never been asked before, you develop new ways of seeking answers. That is how you mature as a reader.

Here are methods and findings I uncovered for myself back when I was intermediate and further enhanced once I was advanced:

How to Predict Your Sex Life

How to Predict Timing

How to Foretell the Whole Year Ahead

How to Predict Sports Matches

Extreme Card Meanings

How to Use Oracle Cards with Tarot

How to Use the Cards for Vengeance

Tried and Tested Reversal Meanings

How to Read the Cards as Advice

How to Speak to the Dead

The Major and Minor Arcana Twins

How to Uncover Your Past Life

How to Really Answer Yes or No Questions

Literal Card Meanings

Polar Opposite Cards

What It Means to Keep Seeing the Same Suit

How to Make a Difficult Choice

How to Uncover Hidden Health Issues

Meanings for Sex

How to Determine Physical Appearance

How to See Someone’s True Intentions

How to Use the Cards for Mind Control

How to Discover Your Life Purpose

Knowing If Someone Will Ever Get Married

Ideal Spread for Fortunetelling

How to Predict How Long You Will Live

Why Self Readings May Fail

How to Read the Cards as Someone’s Feelings

How to Use Lenormand with Tarot

The Greco-Roman Gods in Tarot

How to Identify Your Soulmate

doing another tarot card tip, today with our good friend Death! 

1. Find Death in your deck 2. The card above: What you need to put to rest 3. The card below: What you can grow in its absence

I hope it does some good for y’all :)

Small things you can do for Yule 🌲✨

Decorate your Altar with Pine cones, Holly leaves and Pine leaves 🌲

Wear winter colours of dark greens, Black, Grey and Maroon.

Grown indoor plants during the winter🌱

Cleanse your space with Musky incense and candles and be fresh for the colder months ahead ✨

Use various nuts in cooking for any correspondenses in your kitchen Witchcraft

Cook veg stews (or meat) with herbs to keep you warm ✨

Put birdhouses in your garden to keep the birds warm and feed them seed 🐦

Do some winter inspired make up looks and outfits with your glamour spells ❄️✨

🎄Yule Mulled Wine🎄

This time of year is the perfect excuse to inject a little magick into the dark evenings and some steaming Mulled Wine is a delicious addition to a cosy night-in of Yule preparations :)

This recipe is scaled so it works for one 750ml bottle of red wine.

YOU WILL  NEED:

1 teaspoon crushed cinnamon sticks (warmth and protection)

1 teaspoon nutmeg (love, luck and warmth)

1 teaspoon slightly crushed allspice (fire and healing)

½ teaspoon cloves (fire, love and purification)

½ teaspoon ginger (fire, energy and passion)

1 ½ teaspoon orange peel (uplifting, the sun)

1 ½ teaspoon lemon peel (purification, the moon)

Orange & Lemon slices

5 teaspoons honey (sweetness, stability and good health)

A clean pair of old tights that you no longer need

Take the dry ingredients and the peel, combine them all and give them a little mix to start releasing those flavours! 

Take the tights and chop the feet off them - we’ll be using these as our bag to keep all the ingredients in. Cut them long enough so that you can tie the top off easily to stop everything falling out.

Add all the mixed ingredients into our newly chopped bag and give it a little squeeze.

Grab a saucepan and decant your bottle of wine into it, also adding your orange and lemon slices and your honey.

Keep on a low heat for 25-40 minutes (do not let it boil).

For that extra witchy goodness, be sure to stir some strong intent into the mixture. While I made it last night I focused on the joy, love and togetherness of this sabbat and tried injecting all those feelings into the wine ❤ 

Voila! Festive goodness for everyone :)

Enjoy, my pagan witchy babes xxxx

A Yule Ritual

Spell originally by Cassandra Eason.

What you need:

12 white candles or tea candles (in a circle)

A red candle in the center

Festiveness around the candles (greenery, baubles, etc.)

Timing: Between December 21-23 in Northern Hemisphere; June 21-23 in the Southern Hemisphere (Yule’s timing)

1.) Light the red candle and from it the circle of candles. Say “I walk into the darkness without fear at the turning of the year, knowing the light will return. Candles no more burn.”

2.) Extinguish the candle circle so only the central candle flame remains. Say “ Let the old sun die, carrying away what must go, the illusions, the excuses, the inertia, and open the door to a new tomorrow.”

3.)After a few minutes relight each candle in the circle, clockwise from the red candle, saying “ The sun is reborn and light returns to the world. The dark times are ended.”

4.) Let the candles burn and use the decorations around the home (keep an eye on the candles so you don’t burn down the house :D )

Yule ball

Ingredients:

🌙 salt/sea salt, pine needles, dried rose petals, rosemary, dried orange peel, lavender, star anise, *coffee beans

Process:

🌙 First add the salt, then your herbs. After this you can add *optional items like crystals, ribbons, sigils, ...

As you add your items, state your intent and the purpose of each one.

Now you can decide, were to hang youre Yule ball - I prefer it in the corners of the room or near the window.

Please feel free to put other ingredients in it and hang the ball wherever you like. ❤ Try to collect some ingredients outside. 🌙🌲

Have fun. 🌙

Winter Solstice Spell

Happy Winter Solstice! I’m excited to celebrate the longest night of the year and hope we can reflect on ourselves together. I’ve created a spell that enchants us with winter wonders and helps us calm down so we are able to look inside ourselves. I like to drink this tea before I go to bed. I hope you have a wonderful night!

Ingredients

1 cup or mug of water

1 candy cane

half a tbsp of chamomile

half tsp on vanilla

Directions

heat up the water until at your preferred temperature

stir in the vanilla counterclockwise and place the chamomile in to steep

let it sit for about four minutes and strain out

mix again with the candy cane, but this time stir clockwise and chant

“A tired sky closes its eyes to dream,

creating a wondrous dance with the stars.

Time is remembered through its color and gleam,

but when the sky opens and light begins again so do we.”

Make sure you imagine a blue color swirling around you like snow in the breeze. A white snow with a tint of blue and although it feels cold on your skin, it creates a warmth underneath.  

Then let your mind wonder in the past memories that swim around your mind. Take in the good and the bad and come to a peace and reflection stance. Slowly blance your mind and body. And take your first sip.

I hope you all have a happy holiday!

- Kenzie!

☀️ Yule Energy Sun Spell ☀️

Recently I’ve been feeling burnt out, and I was struggling to find a spell to do on Yule, so I decided to kill two birds with one stone!

feel free to alter this spell as needed

ingredients

☀️ a gold/yellow candle

☀️ orange, lemon, and grapefruit* slices, preferably dried

☀️ one full orange

☀️ a cup or chalice

steps:

☀️ lay your fruit slices in a circle around you and your altar and say: “with each slice that i place, i make this circle my sacred space.”

☀️ light your candle

☀️ grab your full orange and wave it through the smoke, visualise the energy of the sun transferring into the orange

☀️ once you’ve decided you’ve waved in the smoke for long enough, take your orange and squeeze its juice into the chalice/cup

☀️ when you have enough juice to drink, stop squeezing and drink all the juice

☀️ once finished, thank the sun for lending you his energy and blow out your candle

…and there you have it! Merry Yule!

* you can substitute these with any citrus fruit, lemon, orange, and grapefruit are just my preferred fruits for this spell