I’ve Always Found It Interesting How Witches Are Portrayed In Hollywood Throwing Actual Animal Parts

Fairy Tale Spells by Bree NicGarran

Fairy tales have always been with us. Apart from teaching moral lessons and practical cautions, they remain a source of wonder and inspiration that persists even in a modern age dominated by technology.

There is magic in these tales as well - spells and charms that aid the worthy and conquer obstacles, heal the ailing and bring wealth to the poor, thwart the wicked and exact terrible revenge, or grant someone their hearts' desire and make their dearest wishes come true.

I have created over a hundred such spells, inspired by the tales recorded by the Brothers Grimm and the folklore collected by Andrew Lang. One volume was published back in 2017 and another is forthcoming. If you're curious (and maybe a little bit daring), here are some previews of the spells to be found in the pages of The Sisters Grimmoire.

After all, who couldn’t use a bit of Happily Ever After?

The Sisters Grimmoire, Vol. I

A Bellyful of Stones - A curse to punish the greedy.

Roughskin - To protect and disguise oneself from those who mean to harm you.

Table of Plenty - To obtain needed money or provisions.

The Red Flower - For removing enchantment.

The Sorrow Pot - To relieve your sorrows and bring justice for a grievance.

The Wall of Thorns - To protect one’s home and property.

The Sisters Grimmoire, Vol. II (forthcoming)

Make Sure You Lock Up - To set your household wards when you lock your front door.

The Ferryman's Curse - To curse another with the problems that plague your own life.

The Shining Web - To repel trouble from the home.

You can find more spells from The Sisters Grimmoire, Vol. I and potion and powder recipes from Pestlework by checking out the mid-month minisodes of Hex Positive, available on your favorite podcast platform.

All of my titles can be found on Amazon or ordered from the Willow Wings Witch Shop. (If you'd like to see them in your local witch shop, feel free to give the proprietor my contact information!)

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Snowflake Pepper Cookies » Fork & Flower

2013 Jewelweed (Impatiens capensis) and Witch’s Hair (Cuscuta)

Jewelweed: we found this growing wild on our property, down by the river. A lovely, carefree native annual. It had a bigger year in 2013 than in 2014, but hopefully it will do well in 2015. There is scant and not-particularly robust research to support the tradition of using these to soothe poison ivy and other skin ailments. 

The second photo shows Witch’s Hair aka Cuscuta (the orange twining stuff), literally sucking the life out of some Jewelweed b/c it’s a true parasitic plant. It communicates with the host plant (there’s a great exchange of mRNA between the two), and ends up sucking water and nutrients, while giving nothing back in exchange. At least, not that we know of now. I’d make a wild guess that this is Cuscuta gronovii, but I really have no idea. Anyone know?

So the other night during D&D, I had the sudden thoughts that:

1) Binary files are 1s and 0s

2) Knitting has knit stitches and purl stitches

You could represent binary data in knitting, as a pattern of knits and purls…

You can knit Doom.

However, after crunching some more numbers:

The compressed Doom installer binary is 2.93 MB. Assuming you are using sock weight yarn, with 7 stitches per inch, results in knitted doom being…

3322 square feet

Factoring it out…302 people, each knitting a relatively reasonable 11 square feet, could knit Doom.

People who like rocks see cool rocks everywhere. People who like birds see interesting birds everywhere. The tree on your yard could be an exceptional specimen. The world around you could be amazing and magical, but you aren’t enough of a nerd to see it.

I think a surprising amount of writers don’t realize that tragedies are supposed to be cathartic. They’re intended to result in a purging of emotion, a luxurious cry; the sorrow caused by a great tragedy is akin to fear caused by a good horror movie – it’s a “safe” sorrow, one that is actually satisfying to the audience. It can still be beautiful! It’s isn’t supposed to just be salting the earth so nothing can grow.

But that’s how you get grimdark: writers who don’t realize that they’re supposed to be doing something with the audience instead of to the audience.

My cat- Carlos the Kitty of Love. Getting his pats in the candle glow

Soups! Kitchen Witch Masterpost

One of the easiest and most heartwarming recipes for a kitchen witch, soups! Their recipes are easily manipulated to suit your intention, plus they’re perfect for the upcoming winter!

Basic Ingredients:

- Carrots, Onions, Celery. These are the holy trinity. I also like to add garlic, potatoes, tomatoes, and others.

- vegetable/chicken broth and/or water.

- many recipes call for crushed tomatoes. I like diced, and can find them canned in any grocery store, but it’s up to you!

- (Optional) beans or lentils (if you buy dried lentils, cook them beforehand)

- (Optional) meat–sausage, beef, chicken. Cook before adding to the soup please!

Directions:

1. Cut up vegetables and sautee them in a big pot for about eight minutes. This is to soften them up and sweeten up the onions. Don’t add herbs yet!

2. If you bought canned beans, drain and rinse them. If you want thicker broth, you can crush up a can of beans into a paste and add them to the broth, or even throw them into a blender.

3. Set pot aside. Add tomatoes, beans, meat, broth. Bring to a boil, then let simmer for 20-30 minutes. Add any herbs you wish.

Common Vegetables:

Carrots - sex (with parsley for best results), fertility

Cabbage - lunar food, protection, wealth, prosperity, luck

Onions - protection, purification, healing, exorcism, wealth

Celery - sex, peace, psychic powers, mental strength

Beans - wealth, sex, protection

Potato - protection, compassion

Mushrooms - psychic powers, strength

Common Herbs:

Thyme - love, psychic powers, purification

Basil - love, protection, money, exorcism

Rosemary - protection, consciousness, memory, healing, love

Parsley - protection, sex, love, wealth

Dill - wealth, love, consciousness, studying, luck

Bay - protection, psychic powers, healing, purification, strength

Garlic - protection, healing, strength, psychic powers, exorcism

Ginger - love, wealth, strength, success

Black Pepper - protection, purification, exorcism

Salt - purification, protection, healing

Most herbs are not put into the broth until the broth is simmering, to prevent burning. The exception to this rule is bay, which is put in at the beginning. BEWARE of pepper! The longer the pepper cooks in the soup, the spicier the soup will be!

IF YOU’RE ADDING MEAT:

- Do not cut your vegetables with the same knife you cut meat with.

- Cook meat beforehand, but remember that it’ll be cooking in the broth for a time afterwards, or be careful not to overcook.

- Most meat is diced into half-an-inch-squares.

Other Tips:

- Stir clockwise to create, counter-clockwise to take away.

- You can carve sigils into some vegetable slices.

- Cook with a crystal near your pot to boost a spell’s effectiveness.

- Fire and water are prominent elements here! Draw upon their power.

And that’s it!! Have a lovely winter full of great company and nourishing meals!

**if there are any additions feel free to add, and if there are any corrections, message me! :)