Seattle, Washington

from here

to the moon

and back

on earth we’re briefly gorgeous, ocean vyoung / we are okay, nina lacour / @fairycosmos / how this ends, andrea gibson / the zahir, paulo coelho / alex hirsch

𓃶 Hearth Magic 101

⛤ Please note!!! this post will contain my personal gnosis at some points. Magic is intimately personal and everyone’s practice is different. You may agree or disagree with me at any point during this post. However, while I am sharing this to be educational, please keep in mind that this is my personal outlook on this subject ♡

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𓃶 What Is Hearth Magic?

Hearth Magic, at its core, is magic of the home. This kind of magic differs greatly between families, cultures and traditions. When starting Hearth Magic, you must take a moment to really think about what home is to you. Your hearth can be anywhere, but generally, the hearth is seen as a place of comfort, growth, and rest.

Taking care of your home has always been important and even sacred for many people. Taking care of it magically is just another way of respecting this place that takes care of you. Your home is somewhere that protects you and those you invite in. Personally, Hearth Magic is almost like showing your gratitude to this familiar place. I would suggest doing research into how the home is taken care of in your own cultures, or watch how others in your life take care of their home and take notes!

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𓃶 How can I Practice Hearth Magic?

Just like any kind of magic, Hearth Magic will be something you incorporate into your practice in your own ways. To get started, however, here are some things you can do to:

⛤ Get into the habit of cleansing your space. This can be your whole home, or just the one specific place you consider the hearth (a bedroom, living space, kitchen, fireplace etc). You can also cleanse while doing day to day chores! incorporate moon water or intention while washing dishes, or do an herb sweep when cleaning your floors. Brooms are also important magical tools!

⛤ Try a house or home blessing/spell. For me, I made a large spell jar and incorporated ingredients commonly used in my family’s cooking, our yard, and local herbs/herbs we use a lot. This can be used as an invitation for positive energy, or a ward against negativity. This will really help set the energy of the space.

⛤ Start incorporating magic into your cooking. Kitchen magic is an easy and convenient way to keep your life a little more magical. Try adding herbs to sauces with intention, or cook in honor of spirits or deities. Easy foods to incorporate kitchen magic into (at least personally!) include sauces, soups, baked goods, and pasta dishes.

⛤ Start to decorate your home in a way that makes you happy. This doesn’t have to be any specific aesthetic; just making your space somewhere you enjoy being through decor adds to the energy!

⛤ If you like spirit work, consider the possibility that, if you live in a house, there may be a house spirit attached to the space. This can give you an extra opportunity to connect to this space and the spirits within it by honoring this entity.

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⛤ In all, Hearth Magic can be a very grounding and important part of your magical path if you plan to practice it. It allows you to really grow in a familiar and comfortable space, as well as providing you with a comfortable place to come back to every day, even for mundane life. ♡

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It’s that time of year to say no to the Salvation Army.

Never forget they let a Trans woman die instead of helping her.

Never forget they have tossed entire families on the street for having an LGBT child.

Never forget they tell non Christian families that unless they convert they will not help them.

Never forget that the Salvation Army is bigoted and hateful, many of the bell ringers routinely heckle and harass LGBT couples.

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🕯️ Masterpost 🕯️

this is a collection of links to all the important

posts on my blog.

It will be updated regularly.

Last Update: September 18th 2021

If you happen to notice that a link isn't working, please leave a comment and I'll fix it.

Spirituality: Red Flags

🌬️ Things Toxic Spiritualists Say

🌬️ Things Toxic Spiritualists Say 2.0

Reminders

🕯️ Deities are not a requirement

🕯️ Friendly Reminders II

🕯️ You are deserving of love and happiness

🕯️ Your experience is valid

🕯️ You are allowed to say no

🕯️ People aren't judging you (overthinking)

🕯️ "communication is key" applies to deities too

🕯️ You're not a bad devotee

🕯️ No one knows where the giant primordial norse cow went

🕯️ Take care of your human vessel

🕯️ Your Gods love you for who you are - flaws and all.

Deity Prayers/Poems/Moodboards

✨ A Prayer For Loki

✨ Hail Thor

✨ Hail Loki

✨ Hail Odin

Worshipping

🌻 Different ways of worshipping the Gods

Resources

🔮 Different kinds of personal books

🔮 What it means to be a witch (for me)

🔮 Moon Phases And Their Meaning

🔮 Last Quarter Moon Magic

🔮 Small Things To Contact Spirits About

🔮 Spell Record Worksheet (how to keep track of your spells)

🔮 Transitions between the Wheel

🔮 So you've lost connection with a God.

🔮 Crystals - Uses and Properties

🔮 Masterpost on how to move out and live on your own

🔮 Simple explanation of different Clair-Senses

🔮 Things that made me stop wanting to die that require no effort whatsoever

🔮 Why I personally (!) advise against deity work when it comes to beginner witches

🔮 Manifesting vs working your ass off

🔮 Nordic Holidays

🔮 Protective Spell Ingredients

Cute Animals

🦊 A baby otter in the water

🦊 A black cat that brings good luck

🦊 Calling cats in different languages

Pagan Wedding Flowers (and other plants) Cheat Sheet

Flowers have been associated with weddings for almost as long as humans have been getting married. In fact, the use of flowers in ritual may actually be older than humans! Neanderthal graves in Iraq suggest that Neanderthals buried their dead with flowers. There are mentions of flowers in our earliest recorded accounts of weddings, such as in Egypt, Greece, and Rome.

Historically, couples would have used whatever flowers were available to them. While some cultures had flowers they preferred for weddings because of their symbolism, couples would have been limited by what grew in their area and by what was in bloom at the time of their ceremony. To be truly as historically accurate as possible, consider using flowers you grew or foraged yourself. Bonus points for native blooms!

For those who aren't into growing or gathering your own wedding flowers, modern florists and greenhouses allow us to choose from a wide range of flowers, many of which aren't native to our homes. This makes it much easier to choose flowers based on their symbolism, history, or cultural meaning.

Historic Wedding Flowers + Plants

Roses have been the flower of choice for Western weddings pretty much forever, and with good reason. The rose is associated with several ancient goddesses of sex, fertility, and/or romance, such as Inanna, Ishtar, Aphrodite, and Venus. (Later, medieval Christians would also associate this flower with the Virgin Mary.) Including the goddess's flowers in a wedding may have been a way of invoking her blessing on the union. Sappho called rose "Queen of the Flowers."

Roses are held in a high regard in pretty much every culture with access to them. They're strongly associated not only with love, but also with beauty, wholeness, blessings, and even spirituality.

Rose was included in wedding celebrations in Ancient Hellos (Greece) and Rome. It is associated with the planet Venus and the water element.

Wheat was also a popular inclusion in weddings in ancient Greece and Rome. Hellenic brides would carry sheaths of wheat or another grain to invoke fertility and good fortune. Wheat was strongly associated with agrarian goddesses like Demeter, Persephone, Ceres, and Proserpina. Carrying wheat may also have been a way of expressing a wish for the marriage to produce many children. Pliny the Elder explicitly says in his Natural History that wheat was included in weddings to honor Ceres.

In modern occult systems, wheat is associated with fertility, the conception of children, and wealth. It is associated with the planet Venus and the element of earth.

Olive branches also featured in Hellenic weddings. Olive was an important crop in the ancient Mediterranean, and olive branches were a symbol of peace and friendship. Olive was also used in the victors' crowns in the Olympic Games. In Athens, the olive tree was a symbol of Athena. It was also carried by worshipers of Apollo when they visited the Oracle at Delphi. Olive was also important to the Romans, who associated it with Mars in his aspect as a protector of peace.

In modern magic traditions, olive is associated with beauty, healing, stamina, wealth, fertility, protection and of course, peace. It is associated with the sun and the fire element.

Orange blossoms were included in Hellenic weddings as a sign of happiness. These strongly scented white flowers also sometimes appeared in Roman weddings. Thousands of years later, Queen Victoria wore a crown of orange blossoms at her wedding, but for her they were a symbol of chastity.

In modern systems, orange is associated with joy, partnership, sweetness, and good luck. It is associated with the sun and the fire element.

Hawthorn appeared in weddings in ancient Rome. Pliny the Elder said that Roman bridal processions included a hawthorn torch dedicated to the goddess Ceres. In Rome, hawthorn was more generally associated with love and good luck.

In Celtic cultures, especially Ireland, hawthorn was believed to be a fairy tree. For this reason, cutting a hawthorn tree or bringing hawthorn branches inside was considered bad luck.

The blooming of hawthorn trees was used to determine the date of Bealtaine, and hawthorn boughs were often decorated with flowers, ribbons, and egg shells to make a May bush, which was placed by the front door for good luck. In Britain, hawthorn wood was used to carve maypoles. Hawthorn flowers may be especially appropriate for a May wedding or handfasting.

In modern occultism, hawthorn is associated with protection, healing (especially healing the heart), romantic love, fertility, granting wishes, and happiness. It is still strongly associated with weddings and marriage. It is associated with the planet Mars and the fire element.

Lotus may have featured in ancient Kemetic (Egyptian) weddings. The lotus was an important symbol in Kemetic religion, and was associated with the sun, rebirth, and the creation of the world. Lotus flowers featured in festivals to honor Hapi, the androgynous god of the Nile. The lotus is used in art to represent Upper Egypt. An Egyptian poem from 1100 BCE connects the lotus to marriage.

Lotus flowers were also popular in ancient Chinese weddings, and they're still used by some Chinese couples today. In Chinese culture, lotus represents purity, honor, and long life.

In modern traditions, lotus is associated with protection, spirituality, and blessings. It is associated with the moon and the water element.

Yellow flowers were used in pre-Christian Ireland for blessings and protection. The exact flower used for these rituals is not specified, so it seems like the color was what mattered. Modern pagans looking to carry on this tradition have lots of yellow flowers to choose from. Some popular choices include yellow roses (see above), yellow amaryllis (associated with creativity, playfulness, and joy), chrysanthemum (associated with long life, optimism, and protection), marigold (associated with happiness, rebirth, and vitality), and/or daffodils (associated with love, fertility, and luck).

Modern Wedding Flowers

We've gone over some of the flowers that were popular in historic pagan weddings, but it's also easy to pagan-ify the flowers that are most popular in modern weddings. Here's a quick rundown of some popular wedding blooms and their neopagan and occult symbolism:

Peony is associated with purification, healing, prosperity, and success. In ancient Rome, peony was believed to be sacred to Mars. It is associated with the sun and the fire element.

Dahlia is associated with mystery, occult wisdom, and transformation. It is associated with the moon and the water element.

Lilac is associated with balance, peace, romance, protection from evil, and attracting friendly spirits. It is associated with Venus and the water element.

Sweet Pea is associated with comfort, charm, and sweetness. It is associated with Venus and the water element.

Hydrangea is associated with healthy boundaries, breaking negative patterns, hex breaking, and protection. It is associated with water and with both the moon and Neptune.

Tulip is associated with beauty, desire, gratitude, love, prosperity, and simplicity. It is associated with Venus and the earth element.

Orchid is associated with beauty, elegance, sexuality, fertility, and romance. It is associated with Venus and the water element.

Lily is associated with spirituality, beauty, harmony, and protection from the evil eye. It is associated with Venus and the water element.

Carnation is associated with beauty, love, rebirth, strength, and healing. Carnations are associated with same-gender love and especially love between men because of Oscar Wilde's fondness for them. They are associated with the sun and the fire element.

Gardenia is associated with love, peace, healing, and spirituality. It is associated with the moon and the water element.

Resources:

"New Neanderthal remains associated with the ‘flower burial’ at Shanidar Cave," Cambridge University Press

"History of Wedding Flowers" by Benna Crawford

The Roman Wedding by Karen K. Hersch

"The Olive in the Ancient Mediterranean" by Mark Cartwright

"The History, Mythology, and Offerings of Hawthorn" by Meghan Pivarnik

Where the Hawthorn Grows by Morgan Daimler

Temple of the Cosmos by Jeremy Naydler

The Magic of Flowers by Tess Whitehurst

The Magic of Trees by Tess Whitehurst (see my disclaimer about Whitehurst's books, but these are some of her better ones)

Cunningham's Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs by Scott Cunningham

you're a forest dweller, sewing your own clothes, tending to your garden and foraging mother nature's goods 🧙🏻‍♀️✨

just thinking of how our meaning or purpose in life is merely to experience. eating an orange segment, hoping for snow, being in love, returning over and over to one painting, stepping outside for the full moon, submersion in water, having a favourite colour, knowing beauty, feeling alone, feeling connected, feeling longing… it is enough.