Keep The House Safe Amulet

chasing the moon

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Cunning Celt's Beginner Guide #6: Magical Properties of Common Fruits and Vegetables

I chose to write about fruit ‘n’ veg because you so often see magical properties of herbs, but these babies get left behind, and are a great resource, especially for kitchen witches.

Apple: red apples for love; gold apples for fame and popularity; green apples for prosperity.

Apricot: rejuvenation, love, longevity, healing; use in love spells to heal and reunite a couple whose relationship is on the rocks.

Artichoke: protection, use to get to the heart of a matter (peel away leaves to the heart).

Asparagus: power, protection, sexual stamina.

Avocado: glamours, love, lust.

Banana: protection (especially for travel), sexual stamina, fertility, prosperity.

Beans: butter beans to reduce stress, canary beans for happiness and success in the arts, black eyed peas for luck and psychic vision, fava beans for power, chickpeas for conquest, green beans for prosperity, red kidney beans for wisdom/love/healing.

Beetroot: prosperity, longevity, conquest, love. Juice may substitute for blood.

Blackberry: list, brings out the darker side of sex and sexuality (use sparingly), healing, wealth, protection.

Blueberry: protection, strengthen aura, strengthen determination.

Broccoli: protects against disease, protection, prosperity.

Brussels Sprouts: prosperity, protection, peace.

Cabbage: white for spiritual wholeness, green for prosperity, purple for power, red for love.

Carrot: psychic vision, lust, energy, willpower, fertility.

Cauliflower: protection, calms tempers.

Celery: communication, male virility, love.

Cherry: happiness, love. Juice may substitute for blood.

Corn: prosperity, protection, love.

Cranberry: can bond people together or tear them apart depending on how you use it.

Cucumber: alleviates stress and calms the mind, rejuvenation, glamours, lust, fertility.

Date: psychic cleanser, conquest, love.

Eggplant: wisdom/insight, purple for power and strength, white for purification and protection.

Elderberry: psychic protection, fidelity, spirit summoning, blessings, healing.

Fig: healing, peace, prosperity, happiness, fertility, creativity, protection.

Grapefruit: protection, uplifting, confidence.

Grapes: green for prosperity, purple for psychic and magical power, red for love and list and fertility.

Guava: fertility, sex, wealth, creativity.

Honeydew: love, marriage.

Horseradish: male virility, sex, fertility, purification, exorcism.

Kiwi: love, sex, prosperity.

Leek: exorcism, purification, protection, conquest.

Lemon; purification, love, beauty, longevity.

Lettuce: dark leafed for abundance, iceberg for calming, red leafed for employment; a money and prosperity vegetable.

Line: induce jealousy, command and compelling, release inhibitions, healing, protection.

Mandarin: cheerfulness, relaxation, calming, friendship.

Mango: love, sex, protection.

Mulberry: insight, inspiration, focus clarity, increased magical awareness, good for premonitions and precognitive abilities, protection.

Mushroom: illusions, glamours, love, psychic power.

Nuts: communication, money, luck, love, joy, produce quick results. Almonds for love; walnuts for prosperity and employment; peanuts to prevent poverty; pine nuts for lust; hazelnuts for wisdom; pistachio for love; pecans for prosperity; chestnuts for love and wisdom; cashews for luck and love; Brazil nuts for love.

Olive: wisdom, longevity, protection, prosperity, peace, fertility.

Onion: red for lust; white to clear obstacles; purple for power and seduction; yellow to dispel anger. Also healing, protection, exorcism.

Orange: prosperity, love, passion, creativity, luck.

Papaya: sex, fertility, wealth, lust, protection.

Parsnip: grounding, centring, prosperity.

Passionfruit: fertility.

Pea: peace, prosperity, beauty, love.

Peach: fidelity, happiness, longevity, love, protection, exorcism.

Pear: health, longevity, wisdom, protection, lust, love.

Persimmon: powerful fruit of luck for LGBT people.

Pineapple: prosperity, fidelity, luck.

Plum: summoning, spontaneity, love, protection.

Pomegranate: wealth, fertility, wisdom, luck.

Potato: sympathetic magic, protection, hearing.

Prune: longevity, beauty, clears obstacles.

Pumpkin: spirit honouring, protection from spirits, fertility, wealth.

Quince: love, protection, happiness.

Radish: red for love; white for spiritual protection.

Raisin: wisdom, longevity.

Raspberry: protection, courage, fun, playfulness, love.

Rhubarb: fidelity, protection, peace, happiness.

Scallion: communication, prevents misunderstandings.

Spinach: health, prosperity, energy, strength.

Strawberry: love, luck, infidelity.

Tangerine: love, cleansing.

Tomato: seduction, passion, love, prosperity, protection. Is a nightshade, so can be used in curses.

Turnip: cleansing, banishing, removes obstacles in love life, protection.

Watermelon: infidelity, luck.

Yam: summoning, love.

Zucchini: sex, fidelity, protection, prosperity.

Sources: Encyclopedia of Magical Ingredients by Lexa Rosean; Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs by Scott Cunningham; The Real Witches’ Kitchen by Kate West; my own Grimoire.

How to Keep Yourself Protected Before, During, and After Cursing ~ Pt. 1 of 4

As many of you probably know, I am a very curse-friendly witch. If someone is out to harm me, or is willing to harm the people in my circles, I can and will curse them.

I will not curse people for no reason of course, and neither will I curse the people that have done small, insignificant things. As such, my curses are strong, and usually pretty fierce. I have learned a thing or two about protecting oneself when casting curses, and I thought sharing a few of these things may be helpful to you all :) 

This is the first post out of four in which I will be giving advice and personal insight on methods of staying safe before. during, and after cursing. I hope they help you and keep you well!

Before You Curse

Set up a nice protection system ahead of time. 

Even if you’re not someone who uses curses, it’s a good idea to have barriers and enchantments set up just in case. You never know when you might need them. It’s important to feel and be safe, especially when you’re doing something a bit risky.

As some of you may have realized, there can be backlashes when you curse. This can be caused by a number of things:

the witch you are trying to curse has reflective protection 

you made a mistake when casting

someone decided to curse you with whatever curse you placed upon them

You have some unresolved negative energy acting somewhere in your life, and it is triggered by the curse

In all of these scenarios, protecting yourself from harm is a great plan. If the curse does happen to backlash or something goes wrong, it will be diffused and your hide will be saved. I have been hit hard with a reflected curse more than a few times, and all of them happened when I was lazy and decided not to set up protective barriers.

So being protected is nice and all, but it may seem like something that is complex and hard to understand. I’ll break down a method that is pretty simple and easy to follow.

I like to start off my shielding spells with a list of what areas of my life could use some protection.

Things like the self, your home, your career, your relationships, etc. are all pieces of your own little world that definitely need to be guarded. Figure out what you want to place little bubbles around, and write it all down. Keeping the list for reference is something I personally recommend, since I tend to forget, and it could be useful later. Looking at my lists always makes me feel secure.

After you’ve done this, research what type of protection you want to use. Reflective, neutralizing, or offensive are three different types.

Reflective protection just means that whatever curse or energy is directed towards you will be reflected back at the sender. It is usually a bit varied on intensity; the more effort you put into the shielding, the more imminent the reflection will be. But if the sender has a good system set up, they may not be affected at all. 

I find that this type of protection is best used if the person you are going to curse will figure out that you are cursing them. I don’t recommend using it for pre-curse protection unless you specify that it must originate from an outside source. It takes a lot of energy, but is worth it for the witch-on-witch curses.

Neutralizing protection neutralizes the backlash/curse directed towards you. Whatever runs into the barrier is made into neutron-esque energy, not really positive nor negative. It works like a shield, and is nice for cursing backlash worriers. I like to use black tourmaline as small neutralizing charms, so that may be a way you can protect yourself.  It is my personal favorite pre-curse protection method.

Offensive protection works on the offense; any curses that are trying to reach you are automatically countered with a stronger, more brutal curse. I like to add a reflective protection within offensive protection, since it does twice the damage. But again, be careful and specify where the offense will be directed to. 

Now that you’ve got all that information sorted out, you can choose some spells to use! You might even like to blend and mesh a few of them together to create a super protective shielding system, closing all the holes and back doors. Don’t leave room for someone to get to you if you can help it. 

Once you find something you believe will work, or have written it out, get to work gathering supplies.

Clean up your house, cleanse anything you feel is holding stagnant energy, and get prepared. I like to take a day of rest in between this stage and the actually protection rituals, but I have done it one after the other in the past, and it does make me feel more focused. (You’ll use a lot of energy, but as long as you feel like everything is good, you should be alright) Burn some sage, scatter salt, and ground yourself. Take a deep breath, and continue.

Finally you can do the rituals!

Spend time and work hard on them. Do the things that make you feel safe, and put all of your protective energy out there to work for you, and get yourself ready to curse. Feel confident in your own abilities as you do this. You are a strong witch.

Here are two protection spell masterposts to give you inspiration:

x

x

Take a break. Let yourself cool down so you can curse using as much energy as you want. Do some self-care rituals and surround yourself with invigorating things.I enjoy drinking a lot of gem elixir/moon water during the week leading up to the day I curse (careful with the crystals you use! some are toxic, or dissolve in water). Adding energy to your food is another good idea. 

Check your system for breaks or possible weak spots. Reinforce these places with more spells until you feel comfortable. Now you can begin planning your curse and feel safe doing it :) 

Hopefully this was helpful and indepth! :D I am writing the other three parts now, and hope to have them out very soon ^_^

Also what are altars used for?

Altars are used for your craft. To practice, to write in your book of shadows and for those who decide to follow a deity, its a place for you to connect with him or her, to worship, give thanks etc. Long story short its your own personal little “church/temple”

Hey, Tumblr. We’re making a quilt. We want you to help.

We’ve partnered with the NYC Department of Health (@nychealth), ThriveNYC, the First Lady of New York Chirlane McCray (@flonyc), and Tumblr Creatrs (@creatrs) to build a digital Mental Health Quilt.

What’s this, then? Each patch on this wonderful thing will represent an individual’s relationship with mental illness. That’s where you come in. Whether you’ve battled it before, are going through it now, or are helping others in their struggle, we would love to see you contribute.

How do I submit a patch? It’s easy. Three New York City artists and four of our fantastic @creatrs made these templates for you to download if you want to color in a patch.

Want to submit something more original? Sure! Just a couple formatting things:

Try to keep the post captions under 100 characters.

Your work must be 600x600px at 72 DPI, in a JPG or GIF format.

It must be 100% your own. Totally and completely original.

Whichever method you choose, just submit here.

You’ll be helping out some pretty great charities, too. All you have to do is tag your post or submission with #The Trevor Project, #NAMI, or # The Steve Fund and we’ll donate $1 to the tagged charity, up to an aggregate total of $20,000 for all three organizations.

And the end result? While all of these patches will live on the Mental Health Quilt Tumblr forever, some of these patches will actually be printed out and turned into a real life quilt. We couldn’t ask for a better monument to you and this project.

Keep reading

Aries?

Pagan Things You Can Hang on Your Yule Tree

- Witch Balls (see through spell bombs with the spell inside and a nifty hanging ribbon) very pretty and practical.

- Herbal Sachets

- Salt Dough Ornaments (1 cup salt, 2 cups water and 1 cup warm water)

- Lots of Lights!

- Magical Items like Tarot Cards, Bits of String, Stones, Lemon Grass, Herb bundles and others.

- Fertility symbols like antlers, cups, or eggs

- God’s eyes (use cinnamon instead of popsicle sticks!)

- Other natural items or special things like feathers, wings, pine cones, popcorn strings, childhood ornaments, homemade crafts!

- 

The Star Signs as Witches

The concept is based on this post and the live model poses are found here More info on my Witches in the links below:

Aries the Fire Witch Taurus the Earth Witch Gemini the Ink Witch Cancer the Moonlight Witch Leo the Sunlight Witch Virgo the Future Witch Libra the Midnight Witch Scorpio the Graveyard Witch Sagittarius the Seasons Witch Capricorn the Shadow Witch Aquarius the Storm Witch Pisces the Ocean Witch

A Little Weather Witchery

I’ll be frank, I do not do a lot of weather witchcraft – mostly because I have little need for weather manipulation. I’m not a farmer; I garden, but only recreationally and rarely for food. However, I have collected over the years quite a number of weather witching rituals – that I hope may be of more use to some of you than I.

Storm Salt

This is undoubtedly what I use most in regards to weather witchcraft, as it can be used in countless ways – specifically in hexes, curses and crosses. Plus, it can be equated to Storm Water, only with the convenience of a powder, making it easier to store and giving it a much extended shelf-life. Creation is very simple.

Simply collect storm water and add it to a stock pot – or whichever size pot matches the quantity of storm water you’ve collected. To this, add salt. Add as much as you can, stirring all the while until the salt no longer dissolves in the water. No need to worry about this extra salt left, it will dissolve when the water is heated – which leads me to the next step: bring the pot to a rolling boil. Stir regularly until the remaining salt has dissolved. Reduce heat to a medium boil, and leave it to boil. It’s integral to check on it regularly, so as not to ruin your pot! Once the water has evaporated, you will be left with newly reformed “storm” salt crystals. Just scrape/collect and bag/jar.

(Being that the water is rain water – soft water – it should leave little to no calcification/hard-water build up on the pan)

It can also be used to turn regular water into storm water, with the addition of the salt – which is quite handy!

Storm Raising

Storm Raising rituals are, admittedly, a dime-a-dozen, but nonetheless I’m bringing this one to you. It’s similar – in essence – to the old, rag-beating summons, but incorporating a few added “ingredients”

You will need:

Storm Water – which can be “reconstituted” by adding the Storm Salt to regular (or preferably soft) water, though fresh is always best

Pine Boughs – gathered to form a whisk or “broom” of sorts – these must be fresh and the more flexible, the better

A Large Rock – I live in a national forest that is rife with huge rocks, we even have the Garden of the Gods (IL), so I’d say doing this “on location” would be all the better. The higher vantage point, the better! But, a large river rock or decorative rock should work just fine

Place the storm water in a large-mouthed bucket or pale, and arrange it near the rock. Dip the collected boughs into the water, and give them a stir. You’ll want to move quickly for this next part, because the saturation of the needles is key. Grab them up, and without letting them drip, lash the rock with them (you will most certainly get wet – embrace it). 

While doing this, recite:

Lashing rain and maelstrom might,

Born of sky – horizon’s blight –

That which turns the day to night –

Thunder roll and lightning strike,

I calleth forth: The Storm

With each line, lash the rock. The process would be, Line #1, lash the rock, Line #2, lash the rock, and so on. 

When complete, shake the excess water from the boughs and wrap them in a cloth or towel. This can then be burned, hung in a tree, or stashed in a high place as an offering.

Rain Conjuring

As with most weather magic, this should be done from a high vantage point, as nearest to the sky as you can get (safely) or in a vast field/meadow. Again, rain conjurings are plentiful, but you can’t rightly do a piece on weather magic without including at least one, right?

To perform, simply gathered a bag or bowl of whole barley or ground oats. A combination of fine, but no benefit. To this, add in the storm salt. You can also use fresh storm water, but that gets very messy and drippy (which may or may not be beneficial to rain summoning or not – but either way, I’d prefer to stay dry and not be wearing damp oats, honestly). In your chosen location, cast the grain in the four cardinal directions, saying a prayer for rain of your choosing. Repeat three times and scatter any remaining meal.

Wind Wielding

As an Air Sign, I have an extraordinary love for wind (as well as most weather – except snow, I hate snow) and love a powerful gust – messy hair a welcome effect. This particular calling is for summoning up wind, not tempering it, as I could think of no situation in which wind would not be welcomed. For this, I bring two options: 

Method One:

To summon up the wind, first collect 8 or 9 weeping willow branches (In all honesty, you could also use pine, but you’d get far more wind resistance which is counter-intuitive to this process). These will be fashioned into a “whisk” – however, if you happen to have a whisk (such as a horse tail whisk – a “totem” of the Orisha, Oya) feel free to use that. For this particular method, a broom is not recommended, see option two for that.

To construct the whisk, simply bare the branches of any leaves, and bind them together with string, twine or rope – it can be as decorative or as minimalist as you’d like, as it can be reused or used once and left.

With whisk in hand, find a fitting location. As above, “high” places, life bluffs or outcroppings are well suited, or a large, flat expanse. Line yourself up and attune yourself for a moment to the wind – which is best done with closed eyes. Feel the wind (if there is any) and the air, align yourself thusly with your back to any wind or breeze. If the air is still, face the direction in which you want the wind to blow. Briefly dangle the whisk at your side, and gently shake it to “charge” it. When all feels right, bring the whisk up and snap it in front of you, first to your right, then to the left. Be careful, you don’t want to put your eye out and being that this is much like a natural, cat-of-nine tales, you don’t want to relive the “switches” from days of yore.

Continue to whip the air with the whisk until you feel a change in the air – even if it minute, you should be able to feel the pressures changing.

Method Two:

This one is one you probably shouldn’t do in your front yard unless you want your neighbors closing the blinds and pulling their children inside for fear of the crazy witch next door.

You will need:

A Broom – preferably one made of an “airy” wood, I’d recommend ash, birch, or a sturdier willow.

– or –

Simply a Limb of the same variety

With your “weapon of choice,” choose a suitable location, and like before, attune yourself to the wind. Hold the broom or limb with both hands in a passive manner (palms beneath the wood, not above). Held it near you, with bent arms – as you are mimicking the air as it is, passive and reserved. Once you have attuned yourself, flatten your palms and straighten your arms, as though you are presenting the branch as a gift.

At this point, one hand at a time, take a more dominant grip over the limb, palms now above the wood. Raise it above your head in a single, abrupt movement, at which point antagonize the wind.

I know how that sounds… Hence why I said not to do this in your front yard.

You’re literally trying to enrage the wind, but calling it weak and docile. Ask it to show you the power it possesses, command it to move, scream to the proverbial heavens to “show me what you’ve got!” Get it rustling, bully it into retaliation, basically, until it’s to your liking – at which point, commend it. “See, that’s better! Well done. Keep it up.”

Sometimes the wind just needs to be reminded… We air signs are much the same.

Cloud Cutting

Surely you didn’t think it was all going to be conjuring up bad weather… This, this is to dismantle those clouds and brings some much needed sunshine – which makes this particularly useful in the long bouts of spring rain, when a bit of sunshine would really help lighten the mood, and cut that lingering chill.

This process is relatively simple and is done much the same way as the above, but with the addition of a knife. Any knife will do, no need to get fancy – grab one out of the kitchen or from the garage and make your way to a suitable spot. Much like before, high places and wide places are most suitable, but for this one, you’ll be looking for somewhere with a great view of the sky.

To begin, warm yourself up – focus your energy to feeling the heat of your skin, as though the sun was beaming down on it. It is with this warmth that you will be cutting the clouds, much like the sun does.

Once poised and ready, knife in hand, draw the flat blade over your tongue (not the sharp bit, obviously – you’d also ideally want to make sure it’s clean first), imbuing it with sun’s heat. Hold it over your head, parallel with the sky, then drive it town into the earth. Pull it from the ground until just the point remains in the earth, and draw it straight to the right, then turning it upward, arking around to make a counter-clockwise circle around the initial point – making, roughly, the alchemical sign for sun. Clean the blade and go on your merry way, waiting for the clouds to part and the sun to shine.

Lightning Ward and Summons

There are several types of Lightning Wards – and I do mean several. I’m not sure if people used to get hit left and right with lightning or what, but they sure wanted lots of charms to prevent it. Any rudimentary search through Google will turn up countless charms to prevent personal injury from lightning, so I’ve elected to, instead, bring you a means of preventing lightning from striking your crops or homestead.

The recipe is relatively simply, gather:

Corn Kernels – from the last harvest

Storm Salt

Oak Ash – as in, the ashes of a piece of oak

– and –

Copper – coins, buttons, fixings, whatever you can find – or, alternately, a copper bowl to mix the above in

Combine the ingredients in a bowl – copper being the best, and doubling as the copper called for above. As strange as it sounds, when mixing this, do not incorporate any silver, which includes mixing while wearing silver rings, necklaces or jewelry of any sort. This is because silver is extremely conductive – far more so than copper.

When all ingredients have been incorporated and the kernels and salt have been well coated by the ash, sprinkle the mixture at the four corners of your property lines. For your home, this can be as simple as the actual corners, but for crops and vast, farm land, merely corners that roughly encompass all the land. Basically in such a way as to form a barrier around the property.

The Lightning Summons, conversely, also uses copper, but in the form of a lightning rod. Now, I’ll be the first to wonder why anyone would want to attract lightning, though I image its energy would be extraordinarily useful in the craft – and is always a nice, old-fashion go to for curses. You know, what with: “I hope you and everything you love are struck by lightning! I smite you!”

Regardless of your desires, a simple lightning summons can be made with:

A Length of Copper – solid being best, however, what with the rising prices, a cut length of pipe should do nicely, perhaps even wire. You want a piece that measures roughly 3 ft. or a meter – as your purpose is not to construct an actual lightning rod, simply a metaphorical one. 

– and –

A Branch from a Tree that has been struck by Lightning – alternately, another piece of copper would work nearly as well

For the summons, you’ll want to be in much the same location as above, or near a spot where lightning has struck before. Needless to say, this should not be done in the midst of a lightning storm, considering waving metal around – while probably a sure fire way to attract some form of lightning – is probably not the best decision if you don’t want to be the victim of your own summons.

Once in position, hold the copper in your right hand and the limb (or other piece of copper) in the left over your head, one crossed over the other. Strike them together in series of three. Knock, knock, knock…. Wait, then repeat.

As you do so, recite:

Come ye: fire – of the sky (knock x3)

Blinding light – and thunder crash

Grounded by my call;

Spit white-tongues of devastation, (knock x3)

Wrought in the fires of my

Command.

 (knock x3)

Rod and bolt – 

Creator, Destroyer – (knock x3)

Abide this call,

By Heathen-tongue – 

And from the skies,

My Will be done. (knock x3)

My Will be done. (knock x3)

With rope or string, bind the rod and limb (or two rods) together and leave them near where you desire lightning to strike.

photo source