A Crash Course In Warding

✨🌹 rose syrup 🌹 ✨

Ingredients: •  ¾ cup/180ml of culinary grade dried rose petals (or fresh pesticide free petals) •  1 cup/250ml of unrefined granulated/castor sugar (or sugar of choice) •  1 cup/250ml of filtered water Method: Put all ingredients in a stove top pot and simmer on medium low heat for 30 minutes or longer, until rose petals lose colour and the sugar is dissolved. Turn off heat and let sit on stove for 45 minutes to an hour steeping, you can add more rose petals if you want even more flavour. After steeping strain the liquid twice through a mesh strainer and store in an airtight container/glass. Refrigeration is recommended for guaranteed freshness.

Types of Herbal Remedies

I’ve compiled a list of types of herbal remedies, with brief instructions on how to make them. Choose your herbs carefully, as some are poisonous, some will interfere with health problems and medications, and some can cause allergic reactions.

If you are concerned about any health issue you have, or worried about herbs reacting with your medications, go talk to your doctor. This post is not intended as medical advice.

Compress

This is usually cloth that has been soaked in a herbal infusion so that it can be applied topically. Useful for skin issues, muscle pain, joint pain, and general aches.

You can make one by soaking cotton wool in a warm infusion of your choice, wrapping the balls in a piece of clean cloth, and applying to the affected area. Once the cloth cools down you can soak it again in the warm tea and reapply.

Infusion

This is basically the herbalist term for tea. The herbs are usually dried and ground before being steeped in very hot water and then strained out. If you use a bag then you can skip the straining.

Tincture

This is similar to an infusion but much stronger, and with alcohol instead of water, which helps to preserve it.

Put your herbs in a jar. Cover them with alcohol (most people I know use vodka). Put the lid on the jar and shake it daily for a month or so, then strain the herbs out. I tend to keep mine in the little dropper bottles, as you normally don’t need to take much at once.

Decoction

I like to think of these as a stronger infusion. You need four times as much boiling water as dried herb, and you want to simmer the mixture for about half an hour before straining.

Syrup

These are herbs mixed with a sugary substance, which makes them easier to consume and helps to preserve them a little. They’re a good way to get your herbs in if you have a sore throat, as they are often quite soothing.

You’ll need a couple ounces of fresh herb per pint of water. Put them on the stove and heat until about half of the water has evaporated. Then you need to add about five tablespoons of sugar/honey/maple syrup per pint of water you used originally (so if you put two pints in the pan, you need ten tablespoons). Keep stirring for about twenty minutes, then take it off the heat and bottle it up. You need to keep syrups in the fridge, preferably in a dark coloured jar or bottle.

Balm

Essential oils and beeswax, basically. Add about twenty drops of essential oil to a cup of melted beeswax, stick it in a jar, let it cool, and there you go! You can mix in juiced herbs if you like, but that’s optional.

Salve

A salve is basically essential oils mixed with beeswax, oils and herbs. I have seen them made with coconut oil, though if you live in a warmer environment then coconut oil won’t work for you as it melts. You need about fifty/fifty dried herbs and beeswax (if you live somewhere warm) or use a mixture of beeswax and an oil like olive or safflower if you live somewhere colder, just so it’s soft enough to use. Use about twenty drops of oil per cup of beeswax. You’ll need to melt the wax in a double boiler, and let the herbs infuse in the molten wax for about half an hour. Then you add your essential oils, and pour the molten salve into the containers and let it cool.

Ointment

This is basically a liquid balm or salve. Follow the methods above, but use oil instead of beeswax.

Bath

When taking a herbal bath, you are basically making a giant cup of tea! Fill an organza bag with your chosen herbs, and put it in the bath while you run the water, then remove it before you get in. You can reuse the bag of herbs, but they lose potency with each use, so I try to avoid doing this.

Poultice

This is a paste of herbs and sometimes other things that is applied to the skin. Used for infections, splinters, burns, boils etc. They’re pretty simple to make, you just mix some dried herbs with a tiny bit of boiling water to form a paste, put it on the area, and use a piece of cloth or gauze to keep it there. If you want to use fresh herbs you just mash them up.

City Magic: Painted Rock Wards

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We’ve all seen those pretty painted rocks over on Pinterest, right? These bad boys? Or perhaps you’ve even seen them around your neighborhood/public parks.

Traditionally, these are meant to be painted (sometimes with words of encouragement) and left in public spaces for people to take home, as an act of kindness. Some others paint them for their garden, either to deter pests with vibrant colors, or they’re used to label whatever’s in their garden.

Now, if you live in a big city, you probably have felt a disconnect from your craft or your practice. It’s difficult to connect with a nature-oriented spirituality, such as witchcraft, when you live in a concrete jungle! But there are many, many ways to feel connected to your craft, even if you don’t live in the middle of the woods or have a lot of nature around you. One of these ways is to connect with your neighborhood.

Your neighborhood has mass significance to your life, whether you realize it or not: this is where you live, where you work, where you breathe, where you practice your craft – you must make yourself known, and make the neighborhood known to yourself as well. One of the best ways to do this is to take walks!

Whenever you’re ready, take a walk through your neighborhood and bring a map, notebook, and a pen. As you walk, observe the behaviors of the residents around you. Do they seem to be struggling with anything? What kind of people are they like? Write these characteristics down. If you notice any parts of your neighborhood that evoke any specific emotions (such as unease, happiness, peace, or anxiety), mark them on your map. You might also notice some “problem areas” – perhaps some patches of the road or sidewalk are horribly paved and need to be repaired, or there’s a lot of loud dogs constantly barking at the end of your block. Mark these areas on your map as well, and report back to your home when you are ready.

Picking Your Purpose

Now that we’ve identified a few “problems” and made observations within your neighborhood, we can decide what we want to do. Do you want to protect against thieves? Ward against illness for one of your elderly neighbors? This is the time to select the primary purpose for your ward.

Picking The Area

Take the map that you marked up during your walk. Connect any common points you see (for example, connect up the "peaceful" areas you marked on your map, or connect any points that have a common theme). What kind of shape does it have? Does it remind you of any popular symbols? Can you use the general shape of the area to generate a sigil or symbol that represents the area? What area(s) would most benefit from your rock wards?

Here is an example of how I created a sigil from a fictional city map I found! Obviously, play around with this idea until it makes sense to you. You can connect up different routes, or perhaps create a border around the areas that feel safest to you.

Now is the time you also want to pick where you want to place your wards - you can use your neighborhood sigil to influence where you place them, or, place them based on intuition or based on need. For example, placing a rock ward at the end of the noisiest block, or in the middle of the block that has the most number of children in the area.

Creating and Using Your Sigils/Symbols

Now, you want to develop symbols or sigils for your purpose. You can use any method you’d like! You may wish to incorporate your neighborhood sigil into each one you create, but ultimately the design is up to you. This is also the point where you would “charge” your sigil, with whatever method you see fit - as long as the design, intention, and charging method makes sense to you, that’s all that matters!

Painting Your Rocks

Finally, onto the fun part!

Now, you could simply paint your sigils on your rock and call it a day. Or, you could paint your sigil, and layer a more “mundane” piece of artwork on top of the sigil, leaving the sigil hidden underneath. This technique works best if the “mundane” artwork connects with the ward’s purpose in some way (for example, if your ward is for protection against nosy neighbors, you could paint eyes; or if your ward is for health, you could paint green colors, or even a red cross). I definitely recommend this “layering” method of painting your rocks so no one in your neighborhood ends up reporting any “suspicious looking rocks” with “satanic symbols” on them to your local Facebook groups!

Materials

acrylic paint

rocks

paint brushes

toothpicks (optional)

paint markers

outdoor/water-proof sealant such as Mod Podge: Outdoor

Instructions

Lay out your rocks and other materials

Seal your rocks with a coat or two of your sealant before you begin painting. This is an important step, since rocks are porous and will suck up any paint you try to apply!

Paint your rocks to your heart's content! If you are layering paint on your rocks, please make sure each layer is dry before painting the next.

Once your rocks are completely dry, seal them up with your outdoor/water-proof sealant so they don't get damaged in the elements.

Lastly, take another trip through your neighborhood to place your rocks. Converse with the neighbors if you feel inclined, and make double-sure of the locations you chose for your wards. I recommend taking regular walks throughout your neighborhood to check on these wards, and make sure they’re doing their job. You may wish to refresh the wards with a new coat of paint, or replace them with something new if the situations within the neighborhood change.

Ultimately, magic is what you make it, especially when you live in a big city. Warding your neighborhood and showing care for the people that live there is one of the many ways you can connect to your neighborhood on a deeper level and feel more connected to your practice locally.

Recommended further reading: Urban Magick by Diana Rajchel

“Witchcraft comes so naturally; it is in the way I feel the sun on my skin and the grass under my feet, the way the stars look and how the wind whispers to me.”

— b.f.

War Water

So this is one of those things I've kept on hand ever since my days as a baby witch because it's a) easy to make and b) easy to hide if you're still closeted for any reason because it doesn't really smell or anything. I mean yes now I don't have to hide so I keep mine in an old pickle jar, but it can be kept in opaque containers to hide it if necessary.

You really only need 2 things for this - some kind of metal that will rust, and water. You're essentially letting the metal rust and using the rusty water for your craft. Of course this means be very careful, don't touch this with your bare hands/don't get it on your skin (and wash up right away if you do get it on you), and any implements you use to stir it or handle it need to be washed thoroughly when you're done.

Now if you look around some people will tell you that you need very specific metals and/or water - versions where only cut nails will do, or broken pins, or something of the sort and where the water has to be rain water, snow water, set outside in the moonlight, collected only on a certain day, whatever. And I'm not saying those versions are wrong per say, but they are not universal to everyone's practice.

Mine contains any metal I know will rust - bits of jewelry chains that broke, metal rings from pendants I pried off, a few nails from old projects that would have just been tossed out otherwise, ect. And the water? Plain tap water. I haven't had the ability to set up my rain water or snow water collection systems since I moved in with my house mates, so I just use tap water.

As for uses, war water is most often associated with a form of protection. A very aggressive, offensive form of protection that is known to basically cause your enemies to war with one another while also taking those disruptive energies and taking them far away from your life. It can also be used to take a curse and throw it back at the person who sent it at you. It's a great to sprinkle across doorways and window sills outside to protect yourself, and personally I keep a small bottle of it in a woven hang by my bedroom door along with other protective elements :)

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Pierce my heart 🖤

I haven’t sent you an ask in ages, so... Do you know any herbal remedy recipes with catnip, spearmint, rosemary, or lavender in them? Not tea, other stuff

Biiiitch, you know I do! Ok some of these (most of these) aren’t recipes really and some are spells but you get the basic idea lol and maybe might get an idea? You get everything thrown at you. ;)

Catnip:

A Little Spell to Bless a Cat

Cat Cuddle Comfort Spell

A Shiny Glamour

Drawing out Latent Talent Charm Bag

Catnip & Lavender:

Get Up & Go New Moon Ritual

Daytime Rest Satchel

Witch’s Salve

Attract a Friend

Catnip, Rosemary & Lavender:

Happy Home Jar Spell

Jar Spell to Attract Love

Sweet Scent

Bath of Renewal

Spearmint:

Spell for Confidence and Beauty

Money Jar

I don’t have a whole lot for spearmint because I am mildly allergic.

Spearmint & Lavender:

Divination Jar

Calming & Anxiety Relieving Simmer Pot Spell

Anti Stress Incense

Rosemary:

Ok you aren’t getting everything for rosemary & lavender because I would be here all fucking day.

Earth Milk Bath

Floor Wash

Curse Removing Wash

Purification Bath

Banishing bath Spell

Spiced Rosemary Sea Salt Brownies

Cleansing Spray

Home Wash

Rosemary Sugar Scrub

Rosemary & Lavender:

Bath Spell for Peace & Clarity

Sleep Sachet

Lavender-Rosemary-Lemon Shortbread (pls send some if you make them kthx)

Good Night’s Sleep Oil & Bag

Third Eye Anointing Oil

I am Majestic Bath Ritual

Lavender:

Safe Travels Powder

Love Drawing Soak

Lavender Fairy Wine (non alcoholic)

Self Love Spray

Candles

Faery Bath

Faery Queen Sugar

Ice Witch Milk Bath

Lavender Sugar Scrub

Honey Blueberry Lavender Ice Cream

Stress Fix Bath

Lavender & Honey Feel Good Potion

Peaceful Night Potion

Fruit & Herb Infused Water

Love Everlasting Oil

Beauty Bath

Lavender Wine

Cheers! Have fun, stay safe, and don’t do anything I wouldn’t do. Which I would do pretty much anything so…..

Love you!

House Witch’s Chores and Witchy Home 🏡

🧺 Ward the doors and windows to protect your home and family from negativity.

🧺 Brew and stir intent into your tea and coffee.

🧺Use kitchen witchery when cooking and baking in your home.

🧺Place a glamour spell or enchantment on your make up brushes and hair brushes or combs. Make an herbal hair rinse to use and turn it into a daily glamour ritual for yourself.

🧺Color coordinate your clothes, candles, and furnishings to match your intent.

🧺Place a piece of black obsidian in the left side of your windowsills to banish negativity from your home, and place howlite in the right side of your windowsills to invite positivity and calm. This is great for bedroom windows.

🧺Meditate in the garden in the sunshine and meet the Sun in meditation. Ground yourself too through meditation and feel the earth and grass beneath you.

🧺Put peanut butter on pine cones and dip them into bird seed to create nice treats for the birds and squirrels in your garden.

🧺Take ritual baths and showers to cleanse yourself after a tough day.

🧺Talk to your houseplants, use your pendulum to ask them if they need more sunlight or water, and bless pitchers of water to welcome new houseplants into your home.

🧺If you have dream catchers hung in your home, always remember to cleanse them regularly. Dream catchers can easily become “nightmare catchers” if they are not cleansed and cared for regularly.

🧺When knitting, weave protection charms and protective energy into your projects, especially if your making sweaters, scarves, hats, or gloves for friends and family.

🧺If sewing and repairing stuffed animals like rag dolls and teddy bears, place some lavender or small rose quartz tumbled stones if possible inside the body of the stuffed animal to not only make it smell good, but imbue it with love and soothing energies.

🧺Open the windows when you clean and smoke cleanse with sage to clear out negativity from the home or use rosemary to protect it.

🧺Mop your floors with salt water to cleanse your space.

🧺Sweep dirt and negativity out of your home through the back door.

🧺Place a protective charm on you and your family’s shoes or coats.

secret..,.,,.,

HOME MAGICK SIMMER POT

to promote a happy, peaceful, prosperous, and protected home!

ingredients:

- water

- orange and lemon slices

- lavender

- rosemary

- juniper berries

- cloves

- cinnamon sticks

- mint

- vanilla

- bay leaves:

- intentions, sigils, runes, etc. written on them. (runes included: othila, berkana, wunjo, radio, algiz, sowelo, and laguz. sigils included: happiness, protection)