Some Herbs And Their Magical Properties From Cunningham's Encyclopedia Of Magical Herbs 🌿

The Use of Hornets and Wasps in Witchcraft

Image Credit: Alclear Pest Control

I’m sorry for my absence my lovelies! It’s been a difficult few weeks for me recently, because I’ve been trying to cope with exams, then the end of classes, and then constant exposure to an abusive family member, all whilst struggling with significant depression. However, I’m pushing on through, and one of the things that’s getting me through is thinking about new things to post on!

A note about the ethics of animal part usage

Insects parts are a very traditional element of witchcraft, and they are much more ethical than any other animal parts because (like bivalve and gastropod molluscs), arthropods do not have a brain capable of supporting consciousness. Killing hornets for your craft, then, is an ethically safe thing to do. However, killing animals that are capable of consciousness exclusively for the reasons of Craft is disputed by many witches from different traditions and is usually considered to be unacceptable. Please don’t take this post to be in support of killing conscious animals for usage in Craft activities – I am personally strongly against pointless slaughter, including sport-hunting and sport-fishing.

Witchy Uses for Hornets and Wasps

Curses that involve pain and fear – Any curse that has pain or fear as a major component of its magick (either because it’s what you want to cause, or it’s what you want to get justice for) would be greatly enhanced by the addition of dried and crushed wasps or hornets.

Curses that involve falling afoul of spies, infiltrators, or deceivers – Wasps and hornets are most infamous in apiculture (beekeeping) for their tendency to enter into a beehive and kill every single bee inside, completely destroying a colony in a matter of hours or days. They do this by camouflaging their scent, and then sneaking into the hive round a back entrance. Once inside, they will kill everything in their path to achieve their goals. Any spell that involves either retribution for those that have done this, or hope to invite these kinds of people into someone’s life, would do well to have crushed or whole hornet or wasp nest in them.

Curses that involve projects or structures going wrong – Wasps and hornets are also well known for causing colony collapses. Using dried and crushed hornets and wasps in your spellwork can be very effective in causing organisations, projects, or communities to break apart, or again to get retribution against those who performed these actions. Most effective against organisations with power that’s highly consolidated in one person, like in a beehive.

Any spell focused around matriarchal or feminine-specific social structures – Using wasp or hornet nest in your spell can (if you properly cleanse it with salt and smoke to remove negative inclinations) help boost spells that are focused around matriarchal social orders. This is also true with ant nest and honeycomb pieces, though honeycomb is the best of the options.

Any spell focused on people who leech things off of others – Hornets and wasps don’t work for their food like bees or ants do, but prefer to target those who work hard and steal or leech off of them. Any spell that’s aimed at human leeches, mooches and other human parasites can be increase with the addition of crushed wasps and hornets. Parasitic creatures like actual leeches, mosquitoes and ticks are better, but less readily obtainable in some areas.

Spells that involve wasps! – You’d be surprised how non-obvious this is to some people, but yes, if you want your spell to literally involve wasps or hornets, it would be a good idea to include one or two in your spell!

I hope this is of use to all you lovely witches out there!

– Juniper Wildwalk

ACNH: honeybee

x x x | x ♡ x | x x x

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.

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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

Minor ways to save bees.

• Plant bee safe plants in your gardens. Make sure not to use chemicals, they can negatively affect bees.

• Some good bee plants are: lilacs, penstemon, lavender, sage, verbena, and wisteria. You can also check out sites online that have information about pollinator safe plants.

• Clover and dandelions are havens for your little bee friends. let your lawn, garden, yard live a little.

• Bees can actually become thirsty too! Leave out bird bath sized containers for them to drink out of. A nice touch is put little stones that they can crawl onto, it’ll save them from drowning. The bees will most likely appreciate this.

Please protects your bee friends!

Web Water: Magical Home Alert

I channeled this from my spider spirit Ester when I moved into a new home and had some... hexing concerns. I needed a way for me to KNOW if I need to refresh wards, etc. Well, luckily my house is old so there were PLENTY of cobwebs to use and what better to use as a trip wire than unbreakable spider silk!

Use: warding, protection

Channeled from: Lamiya, Ester

Components:

Cobwebs

Dead Spiders (optional, adds strength)

Saltwater

Bottle

Sigil Powder (optional)

Collect cobwebs and dead spiders from around the house. If they are super dusty, put them in a ziploc bag or tupperware with some water and soap. Shake and then pour the water out.

Put webs in bottle with salt water for 3 days in the sun, shaking every few hours. 

Take out big web chunks, water should have traces of web in them. Spider bits can be added now or put around the property. 

Pray over the water and ask the spiders to use their webs to alert you to any trespasses via agreed upon alert such as spiders coming from the ceiling. Ask the spider spirits to trap and eat the bad energy they find.

Pour around the edge of the property and anoint the members of the household you want to be included in the ward.  Should see pink/purple webs outside the house* *This is UPG. After I did this the first time I noticed lots of webs around the yard that turned pink in the sunlight.

I see you unfollowing. Good. Don’t fucking stop. This blog is pro choice, pro gay, pro black, pro trans, pro sex work, pro go fuck yourself

ward checkup checklist

if you have an astral or physical space that is warded, you’ll probably have many layers of wards or at least a few strong wards, but regardless of the number of wards you have it’s always prudent to do regular checkups. 

do note that each of your wards will have a different composition and function so these checkups probably won’t apply to every ward, so based on the type of ward you will have to learn to adjust your checkup accordingly. 

leaks and weak spots. this is quite universal for a lot of wards out there, especially for large wards or wards that involve more complicated shapes or that cover spaces that are filled with corners and objects. certain parts of the ward may be less concentrated than others or may receive less attention when being made, which makes them tend to become more vulnerable faster. make sure that the energy distribution is consistent when making or repairing wards.

stiffness or rigidity. sometimes wards can harden or become rigid in certain areas, which makes them more vulnerable to impact from attacks as they are more likely to break or shatter. there is a difference between rigid wards and sturdy wards, wards don’t necessarily have to be completely unmovable and inflexible to be sturdy and durable. keep energy flowing through wards until it breaks down the rigidity and keeps the wards more malleable.

decrease in concentration. sometimes wards can lose their energy when not in use, especially wards that are made to only activate when provoked. these can lose essentially the body and what powers the ward and make the ward less effective when in use. check up on these wards frequently and make sure that they are still functioning optimally.

clumps and clogs. the energy in wards can gather and clump up or cause a clog sometimes, especially in wards that involve moving energy. this can pose a problem as clumping often leads to well, blockages and decreased flow which can just slow the flow of the ward and stop it from doing what it was meant to do, you know? find clumps or clogs and work energy through it until it spreads out and the energy is flowing like it’s supposed to.

energy reactivity and selectivity. for wards that are meant to filter stuff (e.g. anti-glamour ward) or wards that only react when a certain set of conditions are met (e.g. offence ward that sucks intruders’ energy), they can get less reactive or less selective over time without use. check these wards frequently and test them to ensure that they still work optimally.

energy contamination. for wards that are used a lot and involves a lot of passing through, or wards that are for cleansing or absorption, these can get contaminated very easily. cleanse these regularly or reset them to ensure maximum function.