Monday, May 25, 2020

30 days of Witchcraft: Potions

I don't do potions or oils. Not my skill.

Also: Research a rock

I have a chunk of opalite, an opalescent glass often used as faux moonstone.

It's a pretty thing but I never checked on its properties.
It's good for meditation.
It helps remove chakra blockages
It assists during transitions of all kinds.
It helps soothe anxiety and alleviate depression
It improves sexual performance.

Not a bad thing to keep on my nightstand!

Friday, May 22, 2020

30 Days of Witchcraft: Sigil craft

I love sigil work. Like wards, this is an area where I really excel.

A Sigil is just a symbol you create to store energy in, that brings about the desired end.
It's the barest essence of witchcraft for me. I state my intention in the most precise way possible. I focus on it like a mantra. I make the sigil from the letters themselves. And then I execute it.

It's a series of simple steps. The first, always, is most important.
Craft a statement of desire.
You can't just say "I need a job." It will work but you will get offers on any job and not necessarily the one you want.
A better statement is I have a job that uses my skills and talents, provides enough money to pay my bills with an ample cushion for savings, and is legitimate and useful.

It's long, but you want to cover all the things you want in a job.

Once you have your Statement completed, and this can take days or even weeks, make the sigil.

Write out the Statement. I write two thousand words a day.
Write it again with no vowels. WRTTWTHSNDWRDSDY
Write it again, with no duplicate letters: WRTHSNDY
Now, arrange those letters into a design. Simplify, cut away lines that don't look as if they belong. Keep working on this as long as you need to.
Draw and redraw until you are satisfied.

This is one I did some time ago:


It started as letters and morphed into a symbol.

Concentrate on your desire as you draw.

But, as with all magic, you have to not only know your will but do it. You can make your sigil but you must also job hunt. The energy you put into the sigil will guide the job to you, but you must look.

To loosely paraphrase Stephen King, You can't play hide and seek with your muse. You have to be there looking for it so it can find you.

Method taken from here: https://lonerwolf.com/sigil-magic/



The second part of the post is about crafting an item for worship or your altar. My altar is pretty full right now. So here's a couple pics of things I've made instead.
 

I like grapevine pentacle wreathes a lot.





Thursday, May 21, 2020

30 Days of Witchcraft: Aesthetic

I'm using the term to mean personal style.

I've loved Halloween as long as I've known about it, and delighted in the dark and dreary, the macabre and abandoned. I have a small collection of post-mortem Victorian photography. And the tradition continued in my family into the 1990s, when Grandpa died in 95. Mom sent his sister a photo of him laid out, since Aunt Wilma was unable to fly.

But my aesthetic is Witch Kitsch. I have a dozen (that's 13) signs in my house and on my door. Everything from Lucky Raven Cafe and Sleepy Hollow Inn (Broom Service available) to the one above the broom on the door that reads "come in for a spell." Even a little one that says "Yes, I do know how to drive a stick" under a broom.

If I still presented female, I would be all long gray hair and flowy skirts.
I'm more practical, jeans and novelty tee-shirts and an apron because I'm usually in the kitchen.



Also: Research a path that is not yours.

Hereditary witchcraft fascinates me. The women in my family are quite mad (5 generations of them), very psychic and not one would claim to be a witch.
I mean, we did the megavitamin and health food thing in the 1970s. We used certain herbal remedies: slippery elm for sore throats, peppermint for upset stomachs, aloe for burns, Vitamin B1 to ward off mosquitos. My grandfathers planted by the signs, just as their almanac said to.
But we were Methodist or Baptist (depending on the year), and we didn't subscribe to a lot of superstition.
My kids grew up with me reading weather signs. Olivia does it herself now and is usually right. They know how to ward and shield and ground. They knew I could make money happen when it was vital. They know I am not afraid to hex the daylights out of people who need it. And have done so several times, most recently, my grandson's birth father who was sending criminal buddies to harass my daughter-in-law.

I wonder if my kids will pass it on, and if we have started a hereditary witchcraft family of our own.

Wednesday, May 20, 2020

30 Days of Witchcraft catch up post: Nightscape, Altar'd state and worship

I got behind this week. My head still hurts a lot from being sick.

Nightscape:
The night sky has always called me. One of my first complete sentences came from seeing the Moon landing (at 18 months) and was "Anhe want go moom." (Angie wants to go to the moon).

By the age of 7, I knew a lot of constellations, by 10 I could read a sky chart and follow the ways they moved. And always was the dream of flying among them. That ended because of higher maths I couldn't manage

But now, I watch for planets. I sing up the sun and the moon. I  follow Orion and Scorpio as their duel their way across the dome.  I worship by moon phases and plant by them too. (beans go in Sunday)

Researching a new form of divination was one of my assignments this week. I learned about Scrying. I haven't tried it because I'm still sick. And a good friend advised me to have someone else along because I am highly sensitive to the other side and don't need to get lost. She also strongly suggested I not go looking for the Akashic Records the first time out.

The idea of the Akashic Record fascinates me. A complete record of all human thoughts, words and actions. It's like having access to the Library of Astinus on Krynn or the Library of the Great Race of Yith, both ideas I love. But trying to get there the first time is like the guy in boxer shorts with a guitar on his back stopping chasing the squirrel to go tackle a grizzley.

Altar'd States:

This is my altar.
The tarot cards have been moved to a bookshelf.
Left to right:
Ancestor section: statue from Mom, Mom's teeth, dragon pendant from Mama Dragon, Little Brown Church in the Vale bank from my grandma, Galadriel, Han Solo (bracelet around him that says Free Spirit), glass winged unicorn
.
Glass cat, because Freyja and Bast are welcome here

Medusa

Hera, flanked by peacock balls, in front of a peacock feather painted by Ollie Sparrow, with a cauldron of brooms at her feet.

My spell section:
White candle, candlestick with Horned God pendant and pentacle, 6 tarot decks with crystals, corn dolly, chalice with trans mojo bag (from Billy Martin), bowl with wand and St Michael oil, St. Michael Archangel candle, incense, cauldron with Matala seed, and screamer and Love mojo bag (from Kiwi Carlisle), pentacle plaque (from Gabriel Rodgers) and a screamer in a Frolicon shotglass.

A Crow for the Morrigan
4 nice rocks
A small sea shell for Aphrodite
A record turned art from the gay youth group.
A Hermes shrine with bunnies, draped in luck and gay pride beads, with coin offerings
6 owls
A bronze Athena

I have, of late, been considering moving Medusa and Athena closer together. Shift everything to the right, and put Hermes on the end, and Hera more in the middle where she belongs as Queen.
(The poppies were painted by my other grandmother)


Learn about a plant.
Yarrow has been popping up a lot lately, just...everywhere. In media, on pinterest.
Achillea Millefoillum. Achilles's plant of the thousand leaves. Legend has it that when Achilles was wounded during the siege of Troy, Aphrodite herself healed him with Yarrow.

It's been used to stop blood flow from ancient times, getting it the name woundwort and nosebleed plant. It grows throughout Asia, Europe and North America and has been introduced into Australia.
It's a plant with lots of white flowers and feather like leaves that spiral up the stem.

In addition to topical use, it is taken internally for gas and diarrhea. It is, however, only listed as Likely Safe, so use a lot of caution.

It has a long history of use as medicine and in love spells (because of the Aphrodite connection)
An ounce of Yarrow sewed up in flannel and placed under the pillow before going to bed, having repeated the following words, brought a vision of the future husband or wife:
'Thou pretty herb of Venus' tree,
Thy true name it is Yarrow;
Now who my bosom friend must be,
Pray tell thou me to-morrow.'
---(Halliwell's Popular Rhymes, etc.)

It can attract love, draw in distant people, serve as protection against negative people,  It can be combined with mint and chamomile for a cleansing and restoring incense.


Worship:
Worship has been a thing my entire life. Every Sunday morning (unless I was throwing-up sick) was spent in uncomfortable clothing (wrestling with tights and later panty hose) and bored silly.
It took a long time to understand more about worship than just singing songs and praying and listening to someone drone on during a warm summer morning.

Worship is the food of the gods. It is their life. A god without worshipers dies. It doesn't have to be hours of bored and elaborate classical hymns.
 I sing of golden-throned Hera whom Rhea bare. Queen of the immortals is she, surpassing all in beauty: she is the sister and the wife of loud-thundering Zeus, -- the glorious one whom all the blessed throughout high Olympus reverence and honour even as Zeus who delights in thunder.

It can be a morning greeting, a small prayer to each, an offering if one has been located. A weekly dusting as you talk to each god the items represent. (Wednesday is my dusting day)  Now, it's a time to chat with people who love me, to tell them how things are going here, to wish them well and thank them for the good.

A new to me form of magic:

Since I'm a fiber artist, cord and knot magic intrigue me. I made my daughter's boyfriend a knitted wool hat with seven braids of seven turns, and felted it to make it water resistant. It was to keep him safe as he traveled on his trucking.

Knot spells are often used for protection or to manifest something. But they can also be used for hexes. The caster ties their intent and power up in the knot, creating the spell. It store the power until it's needed

The pattern of tying the knots is as follows:
1--6--4--7--3--8--5--9--2

Cords are traditionally 9 feet or 9 inches long and of a color correspondence appropriate to the spell:
Red: strength, health, love, energy, passion
Orange: Adaptability, business goals
Yellow: Intelligence, memory, confidence
Green: luck, money, prosperity
Blue: Tranquility, patience, wisdom
Violet: psychic ability, spiritual growth, power
Black: Protection, binding, repelling negativity
White: purity, higher self (also can sub for any color)



For binding things: 3 or 9 knots are best used. The object to be bound is visualized and power poured into the cord. To seal the spell, it can be burned so the knots can never be untied.

For manifesting, it's best done on the new moon and the knots released over days until the full moon.

For a hex
You will need a piece of thick string or yarn about 9 or 10 inches long. You will tie 3 separate knots a couple inches apart as you recite the following while tying each knot.

"With this knot I seal this hex
you will not sleep, you will not rest
Knots of anger, knots of hate
Discord brings you to your fate

This knot makes two
Bringing darkness over you
Slander, discord, evil too
Bringing darkness straight to you

With this third knot, I do bind
Weaving chaos in your mind
Hex of anger, hex of hate
Bring them down, I will not wait"

So it be now made manifest! As you do this spell be thinking of all the chaos that it is going to bring to your enemy and make sure you are worked up into a rage before doing the spell. This will make it all the more effective. When you are done see if you can hide this string (with the knots now tied) around your enemies home, this will make it more potent. If not then save it in a special place until you decide to untie the knots and give your enemy a second chance.

For more ways to use or make knots:

https://thetravelingwitch.com/blog/2018/8/26/11-unusual-ways-to-use-cords-knots-in-your-magic

Thursday, May 14, 2020

Sick leave

Regular posting, including the 30 days of Witchcraft will resume when I get over the bronchitis.

I had a Covid-19 test this week. It was worse than having my ears suctioned.
It came back negative. So I see the doc tomorrow to see if this is just bronchitis or something worse.

But for now, all I'm doing is drinking decaf tea with honey, loom knitting and watching TV.
My head is very unhappy. and coughing is terribly distracting

Thursday, May 7, 2020

30 Days of Witchcraft: Divination

An appropriate topic as the full moon is excellent for divination.

I'm blogging the Penniless Pagan's Full Moon' Secrets Tarot Ritual
http://www.pennilesspagan.com/2020/05/full-moons-secrets-tarot-ritual.html

I'll be using the Fantastic Creatures Deck

I meditated on the Moon and drew Her energy into my deck, and then shuffled chanting "Full Moon Goddess, reveal your secrets to me in a draw of three."

The cards are
The Seven of Cups, The Ace of Cups and the Knight of Pentacles

Seven of Cups: Spoiled for choice, but not all choices are good ones.Don't abandon goals too soon. And drifting between people and places and things only brings discontent.  My selkie is looking at all the options but not seeing what she wants. She's passing over things she may need in her discontent.

Ace of cups: A fertile time for creativity, emotions are high but positive. The little water fairies are spreading happy loving thoughts, especially to lovers and dreamers.

Knight of Pentacles: Slow, cautious and steady. New opportunity, new job or experience. A new talent awakening. The elf has accumulated vast knowledge but is cautious of sharing it with humans.


Keep at things, don't get distracted. Stay upbeat and alert for new opportunities.

Wednesday, May 6, 2020

30 Day of Witchcraft: Herbal remedies

When I started in the SCA, my idea was to be an herbalist.
As I read more, I realized this was not a terribly safe or easy path. There was the ever-popular problem of "Half their remedies cured you quite dead" to contend with. So I sat back and let modern medicine handle most things.

But there are some herbs I use:

Peppermint is a known carminative. That means it helps you pass gas on through. When my stomach is upset, I reach for a peppermint humbug, the kind made with real peppermint oil.

Chamomile. Also a carminative. That's why you feed chamomile tea to colicky babies. It soothes them and gets the gas out. It can interact with blood thinners

Lavender is a soothing agent. Mixed with chamomile, it is a very effective bedtime relaxer for anyone. That's why some night time baby lotions have it. It can irritate skin, and my daughter is allergic to it.

Ginger works to calm the stomach as well. Candied ginger is a must on long car rides for us. And when we are near Birmingham we buy Buffalo Rock ginger ale, which makes Vernors taste like tap water for ginger content

Vinegar is a demulcent. It strips mucus. The best thing for a sore throat is to gargle 1 Tablespoon of apple cider vinegar in 1 cup of water. Gargle as long as you can for 3 times and swallow the third. Yes, it tastes terrible.

And of course, if you have cats, growing catnip is a must for any witch.

Cough Tea is also a favorite:
1/4 ounce dried lemon peel
1/2 ounce mullein
1/2 ounce angelica
1/4 ounce dried orange peel
1/2 ounce burdock
1/2 ounce coltsfoot

Directions
Mix all in a jar… sometimes you can mix with a tea bag … let one tablespoon steep for 10 minutes in boiling water.
It tastes better with honey