A Garden Witch’s Home

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Reblog if your page is a safe space for anyone with a disability or disorder.

Reblog if your page is a safe space for anyone who has experienced or is experiencing trauma.

Random anon “baby witch:” Hi I’m interested in witchcraft I haven’t researched anything though I’m looking for a tutor. Will you be my mentor?

Me: No lmao

Them: Wtf so unnecessarily rude you said you’re open to questions why tf no

This convo literally just happened to me on reddit lmao ^ and it’s happened so many other times too and to other people. You act like this you’re never going to get help, even from the friendliest of people

What to do if you want help

Ask for resource suggestions (you can also find public posts on this)

Research on your own, then ask specific questions on things you’re not 100% on

Ask someone to mentor you if they’ve said they’re open to it and their form of witchcraft matches what you’re interested in

Keep things in google apps

Everything is saved to your account, ex. you can delete google photos when your phone is checked, and download it again afterwards and get all your photos back

Also because it’s on your account you can log into google on a friend’s computer or a library computer or something if you need to

I’m not sure about other apps but I know you can put a password on google docs

People are more likely to check notes but assume you have google docs for school assignments and not check that

A lot of people monitor texts/use programs that monitor texts, but who’s going to remember to check Google Hangouts?

Use the internet on apps that aren’t Safari

Download another browser and put it in a different folder, because most people can check your safari history but won’t find another app and then figure out how to check the search history of that app

Also use the internet when you click the link in social media ex. If you click a link on a Pinterest pin it can take you to that link on the internet but stay in Pinterest, so it won’t show up in search histories

Inform your friends and if you want to be really sneaky use code when texting

Sending messages as code helps. Ending sentences with certain letters can work. Need something? Definitely use code. Friends can help you. Or other family. Or teachers. Don’t hesitate to reach out. (the first letter of every sentence spelled out SEND FOOD)

If they’re being sneaky and checking things while you’re not around, make sure to log out of all social media after using it and try to have a slightly different password for each one.

Secondly, this might seem counterproductive, but it seems like an appropriate time to raise awareness of Noonlight for more extreme cases of abusive parents. It’s an app that can alert a list of people of your choosing when you are in danger, or summon the police in an emergency. Works at home, school, work, or anywhere in-between.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.safetrekapp.safetrek

Hey everyone! This is my list of resources I have made over the course of the existence of this blog, pertaining specifically to death witchcraft and spirit work. (EDIT: I also added divination because it is such a vital part of my own practice) I hope it helps some of you, and provides a resource for you to use! I’ve also thrown in my death work stuff as well. These posts are all mine, coming from separate blogs at times ( @shipping-the-gods , @the-daily-diviner, and @tarnished-headstone (@witchthatiam/@lonesome-bones are the names of this blog from a while ago)); none of these blogs are active. The only blogs I am active on are @shroud-of-roses and @breathing-in-gilded-dust (dodekatheism blog). 

Please note you can do these three practices individually, I just choose to put them together for my own personal practice! Pick what you like and use it if you desire.  

Thanks, 

Olivia 

Resources, Essays, and Tips:

Dead Spiders and Other Tiny Corpses

Connecting With Human Spirits When You Don’t Have Access to a Graveyard

How to Deal With Angry Spirits and Banish Them if You Need To 

Ways to Get to Know Death and Its History

Symbolism for Death Witches and Spirit Workers

What to Do When Your House Rules Have Been Violated

Spirit Worker Tip 

Fun/Unique Spirit Vessel Ideas

Spirit Summoning Bath Spell 

Forgotten Dead Funeral 

Death Witch Decor and Crafts

Selfcare for Death Witches

Tips for Setting Up a Shrine/Altar for Spirit Work 

Vessels for Death Energy

How to Call Non-Human Spirits

Sweet Passing Potion

Sweet Passing Potion (Pet Edition)

How I Bind Spirits to Vessels 

How I Cleanse Spirit Vessels for Their Future Inhabitants 

Building Spirit Vessels 

Death Witchery in the Dead of Winter

Basic Offering Ideas for Spirits 

Fearing Death - A Guide for Aspiring Death Workers and Witches

Death Witch Rituals - My Basic List (AKA What do death witches do?)

Creating and Enchanting Wards

Warding While Watched - A Secret Witch’s Guide 

Funeral Bouquets and Correspondences 

Dying Does Not Always Inhibit Your Power

Ancestral Recipes

The Butterfly’s Place in Death Witchery

General Tips for Beginner Death Witches

My Methods and Tips for Astral Travel 

Advice on Understanding Cultural Appropriation 

Collecting Bones Ethically and Legally

Greeting the (Human) Dead - Bronwyn’s Guide

Spirit Work Terminology

Death Witches Digging in the Dirt: Flowers and Funerals

The Elements of Death Witchery/Work

Ancestral Devotional 

Spells & Rituals:

“Here Lies the Ashes of My Past” Ritual

Essence of Death Potion (to overcome your fear of death)

Passing on Spell for Deceased Spirits 

“Lull Me to Sleep” Ritual for A Passing Person

Divination: 

Divining the Future With the Dead

Herbs for Divination 

My Tips for Learning Card Meanings for Divination 

How to Make a Divination Cloth 

How to Cleanse Your Divination Tools 

Teas to Drink Before Doing Divination 

How to Record Your Divination Sessions 

Mirror Gazing to See Your True Self 

Beginner Tips for the New Scryer

Divination Chants

How to Wax Scry 

How to Do a Nephelomancy Reading (Cloud Scrying)

How to Do a Stichomancy Reading

How to Use a Pendulum 

How to Smoke Scry 

How to Deal With Negative Readings You’ve Done for Someone Else

How to Design and Create Your Own Cartomancy System

Blessing Water for Your Divination Tools 

DIY Scrying Mirror

How to Scry 

Meditation to Reveal Psychic Abilities

Halloween Divination Ritual

DIY Scrying Mirrors - The Frugal/Secret Way

Curio Casting - How I Do It 

My Cartomancy System 

Scrying With Spirits: Bronwyn’s Complete Guide

Free Curio Casting Board Set

Pendulum Map DIY

How to Make a Cartomancy Spread

My Symbols and Artwork for Death Witches/Workers

The Gatekeeper 

Ally of the Dead

Metamorphosis Through Death

Other Recommended Resources:

The Order of the Good Death (not witchcraft, but death work is essential to my own practice)

@death-witch-envy (tumblr death witch blog, who I love dearly. Yunan has a few witchy zines, too!)

@darkfyretheumbrawitchreturns (He is an umbra witch, and, again, a good friend of mine)

@nightmarist (has many wonderful resources on shadow work and the like)

Master-List of Death Witches, Spirit Workers, and Necromancers on Tumblr  

Some fun things:

Death Witch Aks

Your Official Death Witch ™ Name   

Audience of Bones - My 13 Card Oracle Deck

My Small Oracle Deck - The Things I’ve Seen in Holloway

Dark Workings - A Youtube Playlist for Your Rituals 

Encouragement from One Witch to Another

Another Encouragement (about defining your path)

One More Thing:

What is shadow work?

If I had to describe shadow work in one word, it would be introspection. Introspection is the examination of your own mental state and is necessary in order to learn more about your fundamental nature. Although it may sound off-putting and even scary at first, shadow work is a necessary component in the process of healing. We all have aspects of ourselves that we’ve rejected and hidden away out of fear. Through shadow work, we’re able to reflect on our thoughts, emotions, and habits so that we can find the root cause of our suffering and heal ourselves. By reincorporating those aspects of ourselves that we’ve denied, we feel more fulfilled and can begin to love ourselves fully. 

Where does shadow work come from? 

The concept of the shadow self comes from Carl Jung who believed that our shadow self is the subconscious aspect, or “dark side”, of our personality that our conscious ego doesn’t identify with. However, I would like to clarify that “dark” does not imply or equate with bad. That which resides outside of our consciousness can be either good or bad, but aren’t inherently reflective of our value or “goodness” as a person. 

Although these repressed aspects of ourselves can manifest negatively, it isn’t because those parts of us are “bad”, but that the process of repression is inherently painful and toxic. This is reflected by Jung when he states, “Everyone carries a shadow, and the less it is embodied in the individual’s conscious life, the blacker and denser it is.” He believed that until we’ve merged our conscious and subconscious selves, that our conscious would be “the slave of the autonomous shadow”. This is due to the shadow self overwhelming our conscious selves by falling victim to our own self-imposed traps. 

Through assimilating this shadow self, not over-identifying with it, Jung believed we go through the process of enantiodromia, thereby integrating the subconscious by reincorporating our shadow selves into our personality and allowing us to solidify ourselves through wholeness. He best described this by stating “assimilation of the shadow gives a man body, so to speak.” However, don’t fall into the misconception that shadow work is a short-term practice. Shadow work is a continuous practice and integration of the shadow self is a will take place throughout your life.

How do I do shadow work?

In the last question, I identified that practicing self-reflection is a key component of shadow work, but what does that mean? What am I supposed to be reflecting on? Well, the first thing that you should focus on is being present throughout the day. Identify feelings that come up throughout the day and observe them objectively. What situation or interaction triggered these emotions? How did I react to those emotions? Were my emotions controlling me or was I in control of my emotions? Why did this situation or interaction cause me to feel this way? How did I cope with those feelings (self-harming, lashing out at others, communicating my feelings, journalling, etc.)? Did I punish myself for getting upset? If so, why? 

There are numerous ways to reflect on your feelings and experiences in order to get a better understanding of yourself. Through evaluating how you react to situations, which situations upset you, and how you managed those feelings, you’re able to build the foundation to understanding your emotions and bridge the gap between your subconscious and conscious mind.

Once you’ve done this, you’ll find that the emotions you feel in the present are reflective of unhealed emotions from your past. Perhaps the reason you feel that you’re unable to set boundaries as an adult is because as a child, your parents never respected your boundaries by going through your phone or diary, yelling at you when you said no to a request, forcing you into situations that made you feel you had no choice. 

By identifying the root cause of your emotional pain, you’re able to address it in the present and heal from the trauma. The simplest way that I’ve found to address them is through journalling. You can purchase a physical journal or even use your notes app, either way, you’re writing out your feelings and reflections to gain deeper insight. It’s important to remember that this looks different for anyone and that the best way to approach shadow work is by doing what feels most natural! You can choose to stick to self-reflective journal prompts, vent about whatever is upsetting you, write letters to whoever has hurt you, etc. Ultimately, you can guide yourself based off of what you feel you need and where you are in your journey.

What parts of yourself do you find yourself rejecting the most? Many of us have experienced the pain of rejection in some aspects of our lives and sometimes, it’s incredibly painful and leaves us with long-lasting wounds. We end up going through our lives carrying baggage that we don’t even know we have! Many times, I’ve found myself wondering why I felt so repulsed by aspects of myself and why I felt so strongly that they needed to be locked away forever. I couldn’t allow myself or others to see my truest self, my whole self, out of fear. I was scared of being rejected, shamed, humiliated by the people around me. I was scared of hurting other people by being myself and of being hurt by others. That’s no way to live, is it? When we tell ourselves that aspects of ourselves aren’t good enough, we end up going through life devaluing ourself. We’ve broken our own trust by rejecting ourselves, we’ve told ourselves that we aren’t good enough or worthy of love. In shadow work, you’re called to go inward and unpack everything that we’ve kept hidden for years and sometimes even decades. 

Bring the parts of yourself that you’ve repressed to the surface and nourish them with love, allow yourself to see that ALL OF YOU is deserving of love and support. For you, that could mean unlearning your unhealthy beliefs about food or eating, allowing yourself to be emotional around the people you love (despite how much you were told that you were too emotional, a crybaby, too sensitive in the past), allowing yourself to relax without feeling guilty about not being productive because you recognize your needs (even though you feel your sense of worth is tied to being productive at the cost of your own health).

Common misconceptions about shadow work?

Shadow work is evil or bad, the shadow is evil or bad 

The purpose of shadow work is healing through working with your subconscious to release repressed aspects of yourself and heal from painful, traumatic experiences. Your shadow side is simply your unconscious and to believe that it’s bad is to believe that you are bad. It’s merely the part of yourself that you aren’t aware of consciously and shouldn’t be feared. 

Certain emotions are “bad”

When you let go of the idea that emotions are either good or bad, you’ll allow yourself to just be and stop putting so much pressure on yourself to feel “good” all of the time. Happiness isn’t a constant state of being so stop expecting to be all of the time, we have a range of emotions for a reason so stop being ashamed of them. Your feelings are natural and if you feel like they’re out of control and something to be ashamed of, there is nothing wrong with that! It’s okay to feel like your emotions are controlling you because that isn’t permanent. Your feelings aren’t permanent and are completely manageable with proper guidance! The reason you feel like your emotions are controlling you is because you probably don’t have the knowledge to cope with them in an effective and healthy way. It’s helpful to sit with your emotions alone and look at them objectively without placing any judgement on them, this will help you calm down and assess your feelings. From there, you can identify what you need to relax and recover as well as acknowledge to yourself that your feelings are natural. When you stop categorizing your emotions as bad, they’re no longer shameful to experience and therefore you can see with better clarity how to cope with them and move on.

I’ve already released it so…

Why am I still upset?

Why does it still keep popping up in my head?

Why haven’t I moved on?

Why am I not making progress?

With the rise of self development and spirituality, I find that more and more people are rushing to complete their healing. Healing is a continuous, life-long cycle and not a destination. Putting the pressure on yourself to reach the place of ultimate healing is not only toxic, but it impedes your ability to actually heal anything. Healing is about love, compassion, and patience and it’s not going to happen according to a timeline. Allow yourself the time to experience your emotions, see them objectively, forgive yourself and others and move on without the pressure of expectations. 

 Another reason that you could be experiencing this is that despite the work you think you’ve done, it hasn’t been sufficient. I’ve found that a lot of journal prompts provided online are surface level at best and can be more pacifying than revealing. If you’re not feeling anything while doing your inner work, you’re not doing it correctly. Ultimately, this is about uncovering what makes us UNCOMFORTABLE and moving through those feelings. When you allow yourself to experience the sadness, hurt, anger, and/or frustration than you’re telling yourself that these feelings are okay and don’t need to be suppressed. The reality is that no matter what you’re feeling, you are allowed to experience those emotions and it’s only human! Unfortunately, many people associate lower vibrational emotions as bad, but this is a huge misconception! Telling yourself that anger, sadness, etc. are “bad” implies that you shouldn’t experience these emotions and that you have to get rid of them which is not only wrong, but unhealthy. There is no right or wrong emotions so don’t buy into the belief that you should feel a certain way, simply allow yourself to be and you’ll find that it’s much easier to navigate your emotions and needs. The only way to make it to the other side is by wading through the water, be patient and know that you’re feeling exactly what you should be. When you stop censoring yourself, you’ll discover a newfound sense of freedom and wholeness. 

 If you find yourself circling back to certain topics, for example, your ex-boyfriend than perhaps there are triggers in your environment that remind you of the situation, you have more that needs to be addressed that you may not have been ready for or aware of previously (hence why shadow work is a practice that is ongoing), or they’re representative of a deeper issue that you’re repressing. Whatever the cause is, the same methods as earlier will apply and can be discerned through your own intuition. 

What are some basic journal prompts that I can do?

What feelings come up when you think of ____?

How did that experience make you feel emotionally? How did it make you feel about yourself? How did it make you feel about the other person or people?

Write a letter to yourself, your inner child, the people who’ve hurt you, and the people you’ve hurt. Express how you feel honestly, without holding back and then forgive yourself and the other person.

If you could say anything to yourself or another person for closure, what would it be?

How have these situations and experiences impacted your mental health? How have they affected your belief system about yourself, other people, and the world?

What about yourself are you ashamed of? What about yourself are you embarrassed of? What about yourself makes you angry? What do you regret? Why do you feel this way about yourself and where do these feelings stem from?

What makes you feel most alone? What makes you feel most loved? How can you incorporate that knowledge into your life to make it better?

What’s the most hurtful thing someone has said or done to you? Why did it hurt you so much? How does it still affect you now? How can you heal from it and allow yourself to move on?

What do you need to forgive yourself for? What do you need to forgive others for?

Where do you feel you lack security in your life? Why? How does this impact your life and your relationships?

Please check out our Leaf Pendants! They’re $11.00 USD (shipping included). They will be bailed upon purchase. 

 Each is handmade with clay and love! They’re an excellent addition to those of you who want to take a bit of nature everywhere with them!

Check them out HERE!

If you can’t purchase, please reblog!

Also follow our instagram HERE!

All of these links will direct you to posts I made and worked hard on for the witchcraft community! Many of these are for beginners or people still finding their footing in magic. I hope this is of some use for someone out there!

Updated as of: 4/9/2020

Posts for Beginners Finding Their Way

🔮 Willow’s Beginner Guide: Where to Begin? - a guide on how to start witchcraft and step into the world of using magic

🔮 What is Visualization and How Do I Do It? - a guide for new witches struggling to visualize when doing spell work or energy work and how to help strengthen visualization skills

🔮 “What is My Path and How Do I Find it?” - an explanation of Paths in witchcraft and how to help find your own path at the start of your witchcraft journey 

🔮 Advice to Beginners (ask) - my personal advice to beginners and how they should start researching

Tools, Correspondences, Associations

🔮 Air Witchcraft: Tools and Associations - a masterpost of correspondences, tools, crystals, herbs and more for those getting started in air magic

🔮 Cosmic Witchcraft: Tools and Associations - a masterpost of correspondences, tools, crystals, herbs and more for those getting started in cosmic magic

🔮 Earth Witchcraft: Tools and Associations -  a masterpost of correspondences, tools, crystals, herbs and more for those getting started in earth magic

🔮 Fire Witchcraft: Tools and Associations -  a masterpost of correspondences, tools, crystals, herbs and more for those getting started in fire magic

🔮 Storm Witchcraft: Tools and Associations -  a masterpost of correspondences, tools, crystals, herbs and more for those getting started in storm magic

🔮 Water Witchcraft: Tools and Associations -  a masterpost of correspondences, tools, crystals, herbs and more for those getting started in water magic

🔮 Fog in Witchcraft - a masterpost about the histories, modern use, associations and spell work using fog

🔮 Love Magick Masterpost - the ultimate masterpost about love magic, tips and correspondences, types of love magic and much more (intended for mature adult audiences due to topics discussed)

🔮 Pokemon Offerings Masterpost - a simple masterpost for offerings, altar pieces, associations and pop culture tips for witches new to pop culture magic who wish to incorporate pokemon into it

🔮 House Hunting Crystals - a list of crystals and their associations that may be helpful when moving or looking for a new home

🔮 Crystals for Artsy Witches - a list of crystals and their associations that may be helpful to witches looking for inspiration, creativity and getting over artist’s and/or writer’s block

🔮 Crystals for Overcoming Fears - a list of crystals to help oneself face and overcome their fears

🔮 Insect (and Non-Insect) Correspondences - a list of insects and other critters and their correspondences for spell work

🔮 Carnivorous Plant Correspondences - a list of carnivorous plants and their correspondences for spell work

🔮 Unconventional and Affordable Ingredients for Spells - a long list for spell ingredients and their correspondences for witches on a tight budget as well as some budgeting tips

🔮 Nebula Correspondences - a list of nebulas and their correspondences for cosmic witchcraft and spell work

🔮 Autumn Leaf Magic - a list of correspondences and suggestions for using leaves and autumn for witchcraft and magic

🔮 Bubbles In Magick - a masterpost about incorporating bubbles into spell work and their correspondences

🔮 Soups and Broths in Magick - a masterpost of correspondences and uses of soups and broths in magic, also my very first post

🔮 Witch Tips: Peacock Feathers - a little post about the correspondences and uses of peacock feathers in magic

Urban Witchcraft and Indoor Magic

🔮 Stuck in the City: Forest Witch Edition - a masterpost of altar ideas, spells, correspondences and tips for witches who are stuck in urban environments or spoonie witches unable to travel to be forest witches 

🔮 Stuck in the City: Landlocked Sea Witches -  a masterpost of altar ideas, spells, correspondences and tips for witches who are stuck in urban environments, landlocked witches or spoonie witches unable to travel to be ocean witches

🔮 Witch Tips for City Witches - a list of tips and advice for witches who live in cities or urban areas without access to nature or rural spaces

🔮 Sigil Baths - a small information post about sigil baths and working them into your magical routine

🔮 Stimmy Witch Tips - a list of tips for people who stim for numerous reasons and how to incorporate it into your craft

🔮 Witchy Sleep Over Ideas - a fun list of things to do with other witches when hanging out or during sleepovers

🔮 Artsy Witch Tips and Ideas - a masterpost style list of suggestions, tips and ideas for witches who want to incorporate art and art supplies into their craft

Spell Casting, Spells and Cursing

🔮 Substitutions, Reworking and Personalizing Spells - a long guide on how to adjust spells to work  better for you or how to change ingredients for spells for ones you prefer or have available. 

🔮 Intent and Spell Writing - a guide to writing spells and how to work intent into them

🔮 Object Cursing - a masterpost and informational post about cursing objects and how to maintain them and even remove curses from specific objects

🔮 Advice on Cursing (ask) - an ask reply with advice on cursing, cleansing afterwards, preparation and some suggested ingredients

Mysticism, Spirit Work and Divination

🔮 Guide to Crystal Throwing and Crystal Divination - a guide on how to use crystal throwing for divination purposes and general associations and meanings behind crystals that can be used

🔮 Guide to Colormancy - a masterpost style guide to using colormancy for divination, suggested methods/tools and correspondences of colors 

🔮 “Get to Know Your Deck” Tarot Spread - a tarot spread for beginners to help them get to know their tarot cards better and how to improve working with them

🔮 Questions for Tarot Reading - a little guide to help those new to tarot to help better ask questions to their own cards and to other readers to get the best and most helpful answers they can

🔮 Divination Tips for Beginners - a list of tips and advice for those who are new and starting any type of divination

🔮 Guide for Cleansing Tarot and Oracle Cards - a simple guide for cleansing and taking care of cards you use in divination

🔮 Spirit House Rules - a guide on how to write and maintain rules for spirits you are working with for your own personal protection and comfort

🔮 Crystals for Divination - a list for crystals commonly used in divination and psychic practices

Dream Work and Dream Interpretations

🔮 Dream Journals and Dream Work - an advice guide on how to use dream journals and how to incorporate them into witchcraft

🔮 Lucid Dreaming Masterpost - a masterpost about lucid dreaming, how to lucid dream and how to use it in witchcraft and magic

🔮 Nightmare Prevention Masterpost - a masterpost going over a list of herbs, crystals, tips for preventing and handling the aftermath and more for those who suffer from nightmares

🔮 Dream Work Masterpost - a large masterpost of correspondences and ingredients specified for Dream Work

🔮 Dream Interpretations: Snakes in Dreams - a long post about analyzing dreams that feature snakes

🔮 Dream Interpretations: Mermaids and Mermen - a long post about analyzing dreams that feature mermaids and/or mermen

🔮 Dream Interpretations: Vampires - a long post about analyzing dreams that feature vampires 

🔮 Dream Interpretations: Teeth - a long post about analyzing dreams that feature teeth

🔮 Dream Interpretations: The Planets - a long post about analyzing dreams that feature the planets of our solar system

🔮 Dream Interpretations: The Sea - a long post about analyzing dreams that feature the sea and ocean

🔮 Dream Interpretations: Amusement Parks - a long post about analyzing dreams that feature amusement parks, carnivals and rides 

🔮 Dream Interpretations: Tornadoes - a long post about analyzing dreams that feature tornadoes and their destruction

🔮 Dream Interpretations: The Weather - a long post about analyzing dreams that feature different types of weather

***all of these posts are from my personal Grimoire and are all from my personal blog over the years. Please do not repost these on this platform or others without my permission. These posts are from years of work and research and a lot of love and effort were put into them

Made this list for my fellow witchies who like their kitchen to be full of the green stuff :

Basil : like lots of sun and warmth. More difficult to grow in the winter months

Bay : needs plenty of sun and fresh air.

Chives : needs at least 6 hours of sun and plenty of water.

Dill : prefers slightly acidic soil, needs plenty of sunlight, doesn’t need too much water.

Lemongrass : My personal favorite as you don’t plant it in soil. Grow in a couple of inches of water. Easiest to grow.

Mint : needs plenty of water and needs to be placed in an area with indirect light. Harvest frequently.

Oregano : does not deal well with cold and drastic temperature changes could kill it.

Parsley : Doesn’t require too much light or maintenance, but is a slow grower.

Rosemary : needs 6 - 8 hours of strong, direct sunlight. Only water when the top layer of soil feels dry. Needs good ventilation. A bit trickier to grow.

Sage : Needs plenty of sun. 

Thyme : Needs 6 - 8 hours of sunlight a day and maybe even supplemental light.

There is an allure to graveyard dirt; it’s one of the first ingredients that really sticks out to people just getting their feet wet in witchcraft. It fits the mysterious aesthetic of a witch: descending upon a cemetery in the dark of the night, whispering prayers and hymns as you gather soil from your great-great-grandfather’s age old grave, leaving trinkets and well-meaning offerings to his ghost as you leave with your collection.

Unfortunately, collecting graveyard dirt isn’t that simple.

Many cemeteries have strict rules and regulations for their graves. You can get a hefty fine if you are caught digging around in a cemetery, and in some states it’s very easy to get arrested for vandalizing a grave like this. Not to mention, not all of us are living close enough to the grave of a dead loved one– leaving some to ponder whether they can just scoop some dirt from a random grave with the permission of a spirit.

Please, for the love of all things good, do not go digging around and taking dirt from random graves. That is highly disrespectful to the surviving members of the family who are likely maintaining that grave still. I don’t care if you claim that the ghost of this person erupted from the earth in the middle of the night on the full moon and gave you full permission to use his coffin dirt to hex your boss. His relatives are just going to think you’re crazy, and you’re going to look ridiculous on the evening news.

So what do you do as a witch in 2020 who needs graveyard dirt? Make your own with a memorial grave.

💀 First, you’re going to need to make a grave. No, you aren’t killing anybody. You are going to make what I call a memorial casket. This is going to simulate a classic grave. You are going to take items and pictures of deceased love ones, friends or even cultural icons (have good taste with this and don’t be insensitive, if you’re going to choose a cultural icon, have a good, legitimate reason), and put them into a box. Then, you are going to seal the box. Get fancy with it if you want. You can make it as big or as small as you want, but aim for ring box to shoe box size.

💀 Next, find a place on your property where you can safely dig. A garden is a good spot. Go outside and dig about a foot down into the earth, enough where animals aren’t going to be able to dig up your memorial casket. Place the casket into the hole and cover it up.

💀 Mark your grave. Usually this can be done with a heavy rock, garden ornament, log, or if you’re really feeling like getting into the spirit, make a faux headstone.

💀 Leave the grave undisturbed for an entire moon cycle. Fresh graves are full of volatile, unstable energy. Rested graves are more earthed and grounded. For this reason, let the grave sit from the new moon to the full moon, or vice versa.

💀 Collect your graveyard dirt. Now that you have your own little grave, you can collect the dirt at your leisure. To make this process the most effective, collect it as you would traditional graveyard dirt. Sit by your memorial grave, and speak aloud to the person that your memorial is dedicated to. Leave them offerings, say a prayer and thank them for the soil that they are about to provide you. 

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