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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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The Great Goddess Hecate (Hekate)

Who is Hecate? She is the Goddess of Witchcraft, Necromancy, Ghosts, Magic, and, in some instances, the Night, Darkness, The Mist, and Moon. For some She is also the goddess of motherhood, protection, and the sea. She is a Hellenic deity, born of the Titans Asteria and Perses. There’s a few beliefs circling around Her being a crone goddess or a Triple Goddess, but those are modern and neopagan beliefs—which She predates. I also consider Her to be a part of the Chthonic deities.

Symbology: Black dogs, Wolves, Keys, Torches, Flames, Torches, Crossroads, Serpents, Daggers, Birds of Prey (crows, ravens, owls), the Moon, witchcraft tools (such as cauldrons, tarot, athames)

Offerings & Devotional Acts for Her:

Figurines of any of Her symbols

keys, skeleton keys, lockets

fire witchcraft and candles, flames, matchsticks

dedicating any lunar or symbolic jewelry to Her

black/dark crystals such as obsidian and onyx

nocturnal animal imagery

black/cool colored glitter

baneful/poisonous herbs and plants

pomegranates/berries (She seems to really like blackberries)

dark blend wines

honey, cinnamon, poppy seeds, chocolates (dark)

mugwort, lavender, roses, jasmine, dragon’s blood

bones and feathers from birds of prey (please check your local laws about obtaining these)

pinpricks of blood (please DO NOT attempt this if you struggle with self harm/etc, blood magic is particularly strong and isn’t for everyone. She will understand if you cannot offer that to her).

Taking midnight walks, setting up altars and rituals at crossroads, paying respects to the dead and practicing your craft in a cemetery 

Any playlists, poems, literature, whether it be your own or just a piece you associate with Her, also make wonderful offerings. 

Lunar Influences & Connections: Reaching out to Hecate tends to work best at night, and really any time the moon is at it’s peak. The Witching Hours, midnight to 3A.M., during strong lunar influences (blue moons, blood moons, eclipses, new moons, etc) all hold strong bonds with Hecate. Also, any time it is particularly foggy or your surroundings are covered in a mist is a good time to try to connect with Her.

Disclaimer: These are correspondences that have been gathered through my personal experiences working through my craft with Her. If you find She responds better to different offerings/during different times, by all means, stick to it! Your bond with Her is your own and should be cultivated in whichever way works best for you and Her. Thank You!

Just reiterating that the heart of witchcraft is (just like science) experimentation and documentation. Try things out. Get them wrong. Mess up. Do better. Write down your efforts. Make changes and alterations based on what you have access to. Above all, if it works, it works; if it doesn’t, then it’s no good. Witchcraft is a results-based practice. 

Household Spells

Here are a few of the spells/rituals I use for cleansing, household harmony, etc! :) 

Cleansing Simmer Pot/Floor Wash: 

- Rosemary, to clear out and ward off negative or stale energy.

- Garden sage (if you need a particularly strong cleansing. Sage does clear all energies, not just negative, so be aware)

- Mint, to purify and rejuvenate the space. 

- Rainwater to wash away old energy. 

- Some butterfly pea blossoms if you’re wanting to really transform the energy of the house, since transformation is a strong property of butterfly pea. 

- I sometimes add a bit of vanilla to add peace and calm to the house as it is cleansed.

Put all of the above ingredients either into a tea strainer/coffee filter, or just straight into a pot of water, depending on how you intend to use it. If you just intent to make a simmer pot, you can just put the herbs in as they are, but if you intend to add them to water to mop, or intend to use it to wipe down surfaces, I recommend putting them in something to strain them so loose herbs don’t end up on your surfaces. 

Cleansing Powder to Absorb Negative Energy:

- Salt, to clear and absorb negative energy 

- Black pepper, also to cleanse/banish negativity. 

- garden sage, if you want to add extra punch

- Baking soda, to absorb negativity. (I don’t have any real source for baking soda being used for that besides it’s physical properties of being useful for absorbing spills and cat puke, so I figure magickally it could work similarly). 

Mix these ingredients in a bowl, and sprinkle over an area you intend to sweep or vacuum with the intention that it will absorb any of the negativity lingering in the space. Then sweep or vacuum the space, and throw out the powder and with it, the negativity. 

Household Harmony Simmer Pot/Floor Wash: 

- Vanilla, for peace and happiness. 

- Cinnamon, for communication and harmony. 

- Apple peel, for prosperity in the home. 

- Coffee, to remove obstacles to family harmony, and for communication. 

- Rosemary, to protect the home from negativity. 

- Lavender, for peace and harmony. 

- Blackberry, for improved communication

Same as with the cleansing spell, this can be made into a simmer pot or sometime to wash surfaces with. If you use it to wash surfaces, I recommend you water it down quite a bit with some water and vinegar, or remove the blackberries so that the fruit doesn’t make the floor sticky or attract bugs. 

- B. 

Fungi dragons 😍🥺 🍄🐉by https://www.instagram.com/coliandrium/

“Why does tragedy exist? Because you are full of rage. Why are you full of rage? Because you are full of grief.”

— Anne Carson, from “Grief Lessons: Four Plays by Euripides”

Reminders for Witches with Mental Illness, Chronic Illness, Disabilities, or Disorders

Creating boundaries in your witchcraft is healthy, respect your own boundaries and don't let anyone give you shit because of them

Taking care of yourself is just as important as researching your practice, you need to be okay before anything else

Making your craft accessible to your mental and/or physical disabilities is a right, not a privilege

Witchcraft can 100% be used as a coping skill for mental illness (as long as it is practiced carefully and realistically)

You do not ever need to disclose your craft to anyone

You are not less of a witch for having different needs than Neurotypical or Non-disabled people

Your craft is as unique as you are and that is a good thing

Consider:

You're journey begins and ends here