Using Tarot To Read On Magical Events In Your Own Practice: Quick Theory, New Card Meanings, And Spread

A sacred space is so important in the home, I’m not just talking about an altar either, a sacred space can be anywhere where you feel most comfortable and at peace, the best thing is you can have as many as you want too!

This is only one of 3 of my sacred spaces at home, and it’s just been re-decorated with new flowers and new crystals ✨🤍 do you have a sacred space? 🕯

Insta: hexeandharmony 🖤🌙

I ask myself this a lot lately: is everything exactly what it seems?

The mind and the senses kind of naturally rail against those spirits we engage with that can't be categorized or rationalized easily - not the unknown, but rather the can't-be-known.

Some things have no name, others have no form. On a very surface level, we work to let go of expectations so we can see what's really there. In a deeper sense, I believe we have to continue to cast aside these constraints we put on the spirits we engage with, and our way of perceiving them.

Spirit work involves a lot of fighting against our own apophenia - a need to distort by forcing into form and creating connections that aren't there. It's really easy to want to assign name and nature to something that can't fit neatly into a box.

It's a fact that we will make mistakes, be mistaken about the nature of, or identity of, a spirit at some point in the journey. The trick is to keep peeling away the layers, until pretty wrappings and trappings fall away and we can see what's really in front of us.

Don't blink. Don't be afraid to take yourself apart. Let yourself, and the spirits around you, become complicated.

RETURN TO SENDER SPELLS

Return to Sender (RTS) spells are a great way to send back any negativity sent towards you, whether this be a hex, a curse, the evil eye, or just someone sending general bad vibes your way. You don't have to put up with that. Send it right back to them. I do not follow any wiccan redes, nor do I believe in the rule of three because it does not apply to me or my practice. If you are justified in your actions, hex them. If they sent you nasty shit, send that shit right back where it came from. It's like Mike Wazowski from Monsters Inc.

Send that shit right back!

I'm going to give you a couple RTS spells to try out, They all send shit back but it's your preference.

Return To Sender #1

1 black candle 1 white candle protection sigil cinnamon garlic juniper black salt cayenne pepper

carve "return to sender" into the black candle and dress with juniper, black salt, cayenne pepper

carve protection sigil into white candle (or put candle on top of sigil on paper) and dress with cinnamon and garlic.

light both and say "as this flame burns bright, so does my protection grow stronger. as this candle burns down, this energy will return to it's sender ten fold.

(any substitutes that may be needed for juniper or black salt or whatnot, just use herbs or spices that correspond to banishing.

Reflect a Hex

(Return to sender #2)

1 Protection candle 1 black candle paper and pen black salt small mirror

write target's name/birthday on paper and fold away from you.

Place black salt on mirror, covering it completely

scrape some away in the middle so the paper can stand up in a '/' shape

Light black candle (off to side) and say: "I reflect this spell back to you, enemy estranged. All harm and ill intent is yours to obtain. so mote it be"

How do I prevent this shit in the first place?

Make baneful wards. Create wards and protections that send back all negativity that is "not of your highest good" so that maybe anything you view as troublesome can get in BUT it will be for character development and growth. Any negativity sent for no damn reason except to be shitty will be sent back.

Hell, make your ward catch their bullshit, charge it up for a while, and send it back 10 times stronger. Make them regret it.

Baneful Wards that Bite Back

(please, for the love of fuck, do this outside)

. personal item or taglock of the person bothering you . florida water (to ignite, literally, this spell will literally go up in flames. Also for protection and warding) . dragons blood (banishing negativity) . defensive sigil (or protection sigil) . 3 juniper berries (for returning negativity back to sender) . rosemary (protection) . vervain (protection from harm)

Crush taglock and mix with florida water, rosemary, vervain, and dragons blood.

form mixture into your defensive sigil

pop the juniper berries in the middle

set it on fire and let it burn itself out.

bury remains.

2013

Elminx's Long-Form Lemonade for Sweet Cleansing

If you've been hanging out for more than a hot minute, you have probably caught on to a secret about my kitchen witching: it's not the NUMBER of ingredients you enchant; it's how you enchant them. For the purposes of witching, I prefer simple recipes (ingredient-wise) that have a bit of oomph to them. Do you need to stir a pot for 45 minutes straight? (see also my french onion soup recipe) What about starting a vinegar infusion that needs to be shaken every day?

This, as the saying goes, is where the magic is made. At least, for me.

So, imagine my surprise when my friends introduced me to a long-form way of making lemonade. Rather than simply juicing the lemons and adding some sugar and water - you combine the sugar and lemon peels and let them sit for some time to release the lemon's essential oils.

Not only does it make a superior lemonade (can confirm!), but it immediately had my magic wheels turning.

The goal is to make lemonade that will sweetly cleanse you of what ails you. This spell can easily be adapted to add specifiers—see the end of this post for more details.

As always, I will not tell you how to do YOUR magic. This is a technique, not a magic tutorial.

The Basics: When Life Gives You Lemons

Lemons have a long history of use as a cleansing agent. Cunningham's infamous green book lists them as a feminine plant, under the purview of water and the moon and used for the powers of "longevity, purification, love, friendship." (for what that's worth) From an herbal energetic perspective - lemons are considered to be cooling - they are used in the summer to cool hot termperatures and applied to the sick to help bring down fevers. Citric acid is also a bladder stimulant, which we will be making use of for the purposes of our potion-making.

What we associate with lemon as the "cleaning agent" is believed to come from limonene, a terpene found in the peels of most citrus fruits that is both antiviral and antibacterial. Lemonene is used in many cleaners that you can buy on the market but can also be extracted directly from the fruit, as we will do in this recipe.

The Technique

This standard high-end bartender technique makes wonderful, complex sour mixes that can absolutely make the perfect cocktail. Rather than extracting the limonene from the citrus using alcohol or vinegar, we use sugar.

This technique is called oleo-saccharum, which means "oil-sugar" - you are using sugar to draw the essential oils out of the lemon peels, making a natural (no heat) syrup. Note here: this syrup can be used on its own for all sorts of syrupy needs - you could stop the preparation here if you don't love lemonade.

This can be done on the fly (an hour or so), but I highly suggest letting this sit for 12-24 hours for the full effect.

The Recipe

You will need:

5-6 lemons, the best-looking ones you can find

1 1/4 cups sugar

Filter Water (to taste)

Peeler, citrus juicer, optional

Additional magical flavoring, optional

Become better acquainted with your lemons. For the purposes of this recipe, I do this by holding them, talking to them about what I want from them (general or specific cleansing), and rolling them across a hard surface. This last part helps to separate the peel from the pith, which will help you cut away the peel in the next step. Because we intentionally try to release the limonene compounds in this recipe, you may wish to begin by carving your lemon at this step (BEFORE you peel). You could carve your intentions, your name, the names of the people you are looking to cleanse, or any cleansing runes or sigils that you use in your craft.

Carefully peel your lemon. You want to get as little pith (white parts) as possible, as they don't taste good. Take your time here. Really breathe in the scents of the lemon during this. This is the first part of the cleansing process - you are incidentally cleaning yourself and your kitchen as you do this part of the spell. Lean into this. It smells amazing. Revel in it. Think about how it reminds you of everything being shiny and clean as a child. Lemons ARE cleansing - really feel into this here. We won't use the rest of the lemon until tomorrow; you can juice it here or store it overnight in an air-tight container)

Add your lemon peels and the sugar to a mixing bowl and thoroughly massage the sugar into the lemon peels. This should take some time - think fives of minutes at least. You want to do this until you can feel the change in consistency in the sugar - try to incorporate all of the sugar with all of the lemons. Remember, sugar is inherently sweetening, and lemons are inherently cleansing - you combine these two elements here to make a sweet, cleansing spell. Let the smell of it clean out your nose and your sinuses. This is the meat of your spellcasting - you are working your spell into your ingredients. Talk to it. Use your energy. Pray over it. You will know when this step is complete.

Cover your bowl and let it sit at room temperature overnight or for up to 24 hours. The longer this extracts, the more intense the flavor in the finished product. In a pinch, give it an hour, but I suggest waiting at least 8-10 for the best effect.

The next morning, add 2 cups boiling water to your lemon paste and stir until it has thoroughly combined - this is a great place to reinforce your magic from the day beforehand. (This version had the addition of some freshly picked sour cherries which gives its red color)

6. When this has cooled, add the lemon juice and additional water to taste. I personally put this in a half-gallon ball jar and filled it with water, and then my partner and I further diluted it from there.

7. Drink and enjoy. For an extra cleansing effect, consider that part of the act of citrus is that of a urinary stimulant - it will make you pee. Think about how peeing removes things from your life. Remove what needs cleansing. Your spell is complete.

This spell is as simple as that but it can be dressed up in some many different outfits with very little effort. Do you know a flavor (remember, all edibles here) with the right magic associations to add to this spell?

Add some blackberries at the infusion stage for good old-fashioned hedge witch protection. If you really need something out, you could experiment with infusing some jalapeno after you've made the lemonade (tread with a lot of care here...). I've worked with lavender and hibiscus here for calming, cool energies. I recently added a cup of sour cherries to Step 3 for a love-cleansing effect.

There are two ways you can add flavors to this spell: you can mix your flavor in during the sugaring phase, or you can do a secondary infusion after your lemonade has been made. Use your best judgment here - fruits can go in with the citrus peels for sure, but herbs and other more "tea like" ingredients might be better steeped afterward.

I haven't tried it yet, but I'm eager to use some of my savory kitchen herbs the next time I near to clear out my money flows.

Or alternatively, use it as the first step in a witchy cocktail (my go-to, as you know). This lemonade makes an exquisite base for a margarita—for a bougie twist, use white Patron and some Chambord; you will not be disappointed.

This is almost a blank slate - sweet cleansing could be used for anything you put your mind to.

Do you like my work? You can support me over on Kofi by tipping me, ordering an astrology commission, buying some art, or signing up to be a monthly supporter of my work.

long time no see, Freyja 💐🍃

Witch Tip: Pay Attention to Your Protection Magic

Items that you use in your protection spells become a part of your protection. Not just the pieces that you put into your spellwork, that spirit as a whole.

Let's just say that I was protecting with basil (I know that is not the best protection plant, lol, but I'm being consistent and using basil as my forever example). If I had a basil plant that I was growing in my house and it suddenly start dying, I would immediately want to check and make sure that wasn't a sign that something had tried to breach my protections.

There are always mundane reasons that a plant starts dying (not enough or too much water or light and pest pressures) but that doesn't mean that it still isn't a sign. You should see to your plant but then also do some divination to look into things.

I get that "this could be a sign" must be the most frustrating thing to inexperienced witches but also to overly anxious witches.

But here's the thing, anxiety - if well controlled - has some evolutionary advantages. If you are actually looking out for things, you notice what is going on. Some people could have all of the signs of their protection being attacked and they would never notice. Congratulations, you pay attention. Now double-check that it's not something you did (like gross negligence in watering your plant is not a sign) or a story that you made up because you're emotionally dysregulated.

I also want to clarify that seeing a random robin when you have no connection to robins is almost certainly NOT a sign whereas my basil plant is suddenly dying for no reason when you use basil as one of the primary ingredients in your protection spells is more likely a sign.

Do you see what I am putting down here?

This is obviously a ton of UPG (why do I have to say that - all fucking magic was once somebody's UPG) but whether you realize it or not, you are interacting with the Spirit of basil every time that you use basil in a spell. And if you used basil for protection - even if you hadn't used the basil from the plant growing in your kitchen (say its brand new, for example) - then the Spirit of basil has to take some of the brunt of any attack on you and it will be reflected in the plant in your kitchen.

That is, by the way, one of the benefits of using plants that you grow yourself in your protection magic but, also, it is also the disadvantage of using the plants that you grow in your protection magic.

It's really quite scary to watch your plant eat a spell. You have to be ready to watch that plant die.

Resolving conflicting magical recommendations (for beginners)

(This isn't reactionary I promise, it's been on my mind for a couple of days 😅)

Idk really how helpful this will be, but if you're a beginner who is confused by a lot of apparently contradicting information, here are some thoughts/ideas that are too basic to have been this hard earned, but I'm not called Fool for no reason.

[All of the following are just my beliefs and aren't universal or applicable to everyone]

Resolving magical conflicts through intent

You can find apparent contradictions in almost any magical action. For example:

Light a candle to charge a crystal with energy

Light a candle to burn away an energy and dwindle it down to nothing

When you light the candle, is it going to fill the crystal with energy?

Or, is it going to burn away energy until nothing is left?

My belief is that this is where the idea of intent plays one of its most basic and vital roles in witchcraft.

When you perform a magical action, "setting intent" can be a vital first step that should not be skipped.

If you are aware that the fire could either charge or burn away, then it is very literally up to you what it does. As the agent of control and/or chaos, it is the witch who determines which facets of power come out to play.

Setting intent can be done inside of your head. Or, speak, sign, or write intent.

Rules about how you totally have to write intent can, for the most part, be ignored (e.g., "your intent must be present progressive tense or the Universe will never let you manifest your goals." Nah, the Universe doesn't even speak human language tbh.)

Setting intent is not the only step to working magic, and sometimes literally doesn't matter. ("It's my intent to honor the spirit of this lake with an offering! *Dumps cigarette butts and beer cans into the water* "The lake is honored because that was my intent 😌")

Having a limited set of beliefs about what a certain power can do is like automatically setting intent. ("It's only possible that candles burn away energy, so when I light it, of course it will have a banishing effect.")

Setting intent in this manner only works to the extent that the power you are working with could already do the thing. If you've got a freezer with an ice dispenser on the door you can intend to store food inside it to chill, or, you can intend to get water out of the door, but it doesn't matter how much you intend to fry a chicken. The fridge does not do that action.

Resolving magical contradictions through tradition

Tradition in and of itself can advise how to resolve contradictions of magical meaning. This includes religious, magical, and cultural traditions.

What's important to remember is that just because one group does it one way, it doesn't mean that their way is universally correct.

A lot of people enter into the world of witchcraft with the concept that there is one universally correct set of methods and rules by which to perform magic. These methods are secret, but written down somewhere, and the key to learning magic is to just find the truest set of rules to magic. Magical truth is mutually exclusive, and contradictory information must either replace current truth, or be rejected as falsehood.

And fortunately for everyone, none of that is true!

This is why someone in one school of magic can make a certain claim ("letting spell vessels touch the earth immediately robs them of their power and the magic becomes inert,") and someone else can make a totally contradictory claim ("bury spell vessels for three days to supercharge them with the power of Nature,") and both people can be equally right.

Which set of rules might be true for you?

Well, whichever tradition you're a part of.

This is why it's really important to understand where your beliefs come from, and also to engage in self-examination about what you believe about the cosmos, our planet, and your role within it.

Entering into a tradition has a curious effect - you tend to be bound to those rules and assumptions, whether you like it or not.

Reflect on whether or not your current traditions and beliefs can resolve conflicting information.

Ask yourself what beliefs must be inherent before an assumption about magical 'rules' can be true.

(P.S. you can learn multiple contradictory systems of magic and flip between them depending on needs)

Resolving magical contradictions through experimentation

One witch may be able to charge excellently by burning candles and using intent to direct the burning energy.

A second witch may discover that they really can't charge jack shit with a candle. The energy seems to slip between their fingertips. When they direct it at something, it seems to have a consuming effect - not an invigorating one.

Setting magical intent is like choosing which path to walk down. But, the paths are unique for each of us. For the first witch, the path of "Charging Through Candleflame" is wide and open, a beautiful paved boulevard they can stroll down.

For the second witch, the path of "Charging Through Candleflame" is like hiking up a steep hill littered with boulders, and also the hill is on fire.

Many magical contradictions can be explained by practitioners simply having different personal experiences, and incorrectly assuming that their experiences must be universal.

One excellent way to learn not only about magic as a whole, but also how magic works for you, is to earnestly experiment with contradictory meanings and discover which ones A) make sense to you, but more importantly, B) actually work for you.

Whether or not you can use a candle to charge, banish, or both; and whether or not that's more or less effective for you than using water, or the sun, or pop culture icons, is something that you'll only be able to discover for yourself through experimentation.

Resolving magical contradictions through technique

If setting intent is choosing what path to walk down, then on the course of walking down that path, there is a chance you trip and fall flat (see: "I'm honoring the lake by dumping trash in it!").

Tripping and falling flat doesn't mean that path of magic is impossible for you, or shouldn't be further explored.

It can really just mean that you need some hiking boots and a trail guide.

Or, in other words: setting intent can be insufficient to actually access and manifest certain types/aspects of power.

I have personal beliefs about sorcerous power that dictate that various powers can be more or less difficult to access depending on a variety of factors. And, a witch must learn techniques to access the power. The more remote or hidden that power is, the more capable or attuned a witch must be to access that power.

That is to say, someone intensely aligned with underworld powers may be able to easily access the facets of death and decay that exist within many natural forces. But, someone without that alignment might instead need capable techniques gained through learning and practice in order to access those same powers.

And someone with neither of those things, who only tries to set intent and starts on a difficult path filled with roadblocks, may falsely assume that something "just doesn't work for me," when in reality, it's just more difficult to access.

This is why one witch can say, "roosters are a powerful source of connection to the underworld," another witch can say, "roosters only connect to the underworld if you use their feathers in a certain ritual," and a third witch can say, "roosters don't connect to the underworld," and all three are speaking from valid personal experience.

Experimenting with different techniques means learning a wide variety of ways to perform magic, including different paradigms, rituals, techniques, and methodologies.

Many systems of witchcraft contain concepts of when power is more or less available (the easiest example is the types of power more freely available due to the phases of the moon). Learning these systems can assist in discovering the accessibility of various powers.

Research is your friend.

In summary,

There are many reasons why witches have different lived experiences with magic (the topic of which would be enough to fill a book or two). As a witch-practitioner, your role in the creation of magic can't be ignored.

It's through your own culture and traditions, your own intent, and your own sorcerous techniques and education, through which you will be able to determine what aspects of magic are true to you - and which do not apply.

Witchcraft Exercise - Quantifying Your Craft

Witchcraft is a complicated business. There are lots of moving parts, dozens of things to study, and so much information to try and keep straight in your head. It’s easy to become overwhelmed. Sometimes we forget things. Not just when the full moon is (although plenty of us do) but what it is we want to do with our craft.

And sometimes we feel like we’ve lost our drive. Like whatever moved us to become witches in the first place has somehow slipped away, leaving us with just the dregs. Sometimes we feel stuck, unable to make progress. It’s easy to become frustrated too, but it’s important to push on.

To that end, I offer this exercise.

Choose a journal or open a word document and begin quantifying your craft.

Start by outlining the broad concepts. Do you follow a particular path or tradition? How would you classify your craft, i.e. green witchcraft, cottagecraft, sea witch, lunar witch, and so on? Do you work with any deities, and if so, which ones? Do you work alone or with others? How long have you been practicing? What, to you, is the most important aspect of your craft?

Then get into your working space. Do you have an altar? If so, what’s on it and why? Do you have a dedicated workspace, or a place you go to work magic outside of your home? If you could describe your ideal workspace, what would it look like? 

Next, describe your tools. Do you have cards or runes or a wand or other specialized tools that you work with? What do you use most frequently? Do you have favorites? Do you make or grow any of your components? Where do you acquire the things you use in your magic, if you can’t make them at home? Do you have a personal library? What are your favorite sources of information? Do you have ritual garb or jewelry that connects you with your craft?

Sketch out your year as a witch. What holidays do you observe and how do you celebrate them? What seasonal festivals or special occasions do you mark? Which ones do you enjoy the most? Is there a time of year when you feel more energized?

Once you have all of this recorded, think back to what first interested you in magic and witchcraft and describe that. Was it a movie? A favorite book? A personal experience? Were you raised in the craft or did you come to it on your own? What made you decide to become a witch?

Then think about how you’ve progressed since you started. Have you achieved a particular goal you set when you began, or are you closer to achieving it then you were? What have you gotten really good at? Where are you still struggling? Where would you like to be a year from now? Are there things you’d like to try but haven’t yet?

And of course, if anything else occurs to you, record that too.

There is no need to share these thoughts with anyone if you don’t want to. This is purely a personal exercise, to help you understand where you are, where you’ve come from, and where you want to go. Quantifying this information might provide some much-needed inspiration, in addition to helping you solidify any nebulous thoughts that might be floating around. It’s much easier to progress in your craft if you have an outline for what you’re already doing.

Happy Witching!

For the witchy asks: 🌹🦄

witchy asks

8. (🌹) - what's something that isn't talked about enough in the witchcraft community?

I don't know if it's not talked about "enough," but I find it very curious how many witches who are also animists totally ignore inherent correspondences within nature.

Arguments about where correspondences come from and what they mean very often seem to focus totally on human decisions and desires.

I've always been under the impression that the fact that correspondences for a single thing often vary from culture to culture causes people to assume that humans make them all up.

There rarely ever seems to be an idea that oak trees in England are different fellows from oak trees in Ohio (pretending that the couple hundred of species of oak don't exist and it's all just One Guy), and that authentic connection to the tree will validly produce different correspondences in each area.

Or that spirits are as multifaceted as humans. As an individual, to some people I bring pain and injury, and to others I extend deep love and protection. But if an animal spirit does so, that means those two "correspondences" are incompatible, and therefore the human made them up and projected them.

Or that as humans, two of us may see the same facet of a spirit and we ourselves respond to it differently - so of course, there is nothing inherent in the herb, all that matters are our own reactions, and there is no meaning within the plant beyond our attitudes towards it.

Or that the individual spirit of a single plant is an individual, and is not a nameless hivemind pouring fourth an unwavering, set pattern of meaning and power.

Of course not everyone works with spirits, or is an animist. But for spirit-working witches who are animists, I often question why they speak of natural things as being meaningless until a human ascribes the meaning.

9. (🦄) - what's something that's talked about too much in the witchcraft community?

I'm not sure I can say. I haven't been back in a "big" community long enough to comment on it.

But you know what, let's go ahead with TikTok.

People talk about TikTok too much.