winter

There are lots of ways to create spells, from planning everything to the minutest detail ahead of time to absolutely flying by the seat of your pants in the moment. If you'd like to write your own spells, either for use in your craft or as a creative exercise, here are some suggested steps that I use in my own practice:

1) Determine the intent or goal of your spell. Decide, first and foremost, what you want the spell to do. Refine your goal if necessary and try not to be too nebulous. Your intent tells the spell what it's meant to do. A more focused goal may increase the chances of success.

2) Determine how you want the spell to manifest. Decide how the spell should work and what the result should look like. This is a good time to build in a sign of success, especially for spells that may not work in an obvious or visible way.

3) Determine what or whom the spell will affect. If the spell is to have a target, be it a person or a place or an animal or an object, decide what that should be and how they or it will be represented in the casting.

4) Determine how long the spell is meant to work. If your spell is timebound or has a deadline, decide what that will be. If the spell is meant to work long-term, you may want to check in and refresh it from time to time. (Not every spell will be timebound. Many spells will simply expire when they have fulfilled their purpose or if they are blocked or circumstances are not favorable.)

5) Determine the timing of the spell, if applicable. Not everyone uses celestial or astrological timing for their spells, but if you do, look into the prevailing conditions and decide on an advantageous time for your casting. (Please note that magical timing can only enhance your spell and casting something on the "wrong" day will not necessarily cause it to fail.)

6) Determine what methods and materials you want to use to cast the spell. Decide how you're going to go about performing the casting, whether you're doing a ritual or making a charm or just using energy. If you're going to need a ritual space or physical components, plan that out and make sure it fits with what you want to do.

7) Determine the words, if any, which will empower the spell. If you want to include a prayer or a petition or a song or an incantation with your spell, decide what that should be. This is not strictly necessary and the words need not be spoken aloud. (Rhyming incantations are not required, but if you prefer them that way, you can certainly do so.)

8) Prepare the materials for casting the spell. Get all your necessaries together ahead of time. Make sure you have everything you need, that tools and components are in good and useable condition, prepare your workspace, and make sure everything is within easy reach so you don't have to stop and search for things in the middle of your casting. (And for goodness sake, if you're working with open flame, observe fire safety and tie your hair and sleeves back.)

9) Finalize details and perform the casting. When you're ready to begin, try to eliminate as many possibilities for distraction or interruption as possible. Go over your spell and components one more time, then proceed with casting the spell.

10) Record the particulars for future reference and to determine how well the spell worked. Make a record of the spell, including your goal, how it should manifest, the words and components used, the date of the casting, the casting method and procedure, and how the casting went. If there are any additional details or observations that seem important, include those as well. This will serve as a useful learning tool in the future and will allow you to check your work if the results make themselves known.

It's useful to write spells from time to time if the inspiration strikes you, in order to better understand how they fit together and how they work. Plus it's a fun and creative journaling exercise and recording the spells you cast a great way to measure your progress later on.

For additional tips on writing your own spells and helpful tricks for using timing and available materials to your advantage, check out my podcast, Hex Positive, Eps. 006-007, "Come In For A Spell, pt 1 & 2."

(And if you’re enjoying my content, please feel free to drop a little something in the tip jar or check out my published works on Amazon or in the Willow Wings Witch Shop. 😊)

Look no further; I gotchu. Runes are great tools. They can protect, defend, enhance, and so much more. They're genuinely one of my favorite things to use in my craft because they're easy, can be as simple or complicated as you want them to be, and are effective. However, as much as I like drawing or painting them onto things, I sometimes want something a little more... permanent. Something I could hang in front of my window or paste/glue onto the front of a book. That's why I make and use salt dough. It's simple, it's fun, it's family-friendly, and it dries really well. You can even color it with food coloring or add in herbs. You can do anything with it! So, without further blabbing, here's my recipe for salt dough:

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup table salt

3/4 cup to 1 cup water

Parchment paper

Baking sheet

An oven

Optional: rolling pin

Optional: thread/ribbon

Optional: dried herbs

Optional: food coloring

WHAT YOU'LL DO:

Preheat your oven to 225F (107-ishC).

Optional: Mix your dried herbs into your salt or flour.

Stir your flour and salt together.

Optional: To color your salt dough, stir your food coloring into water before you mix it with the dry stuff. Ensure it's very saturated because it will lighten considerably with the 3 cups of dry ingredients.

Add in 3/4 cup of water and mix. If the dough is too dry, slowly add in up to 1/4 cup more of water until it's kneadable.

Turn onto your parchment paper and knead until it's smooth, pliable, and not sticking to your fingers.

Optional: If you want to cut out shapes instead of molding them, flour your rolling pin and roll out the dough to a thickness of roughly 1/4 inch, then carve out your runes with a skewer or knife.

Roll out pieces of dough into 1/4-inch wide cylinders and form them into your rune/s.

Place them on a parchment paper-covered baking sheet and bake them for 1-4 hours or until completely dry. If you make thicker runes, they might take even longer.

Flip them over carefully every hour. If they're still pliable, try again every half hour.

Once they're dry, remove the pan from the oven and let them cool down until completely cool.

Once they're cool, they're done! You can now hang them up with string or ribbon, glue them onto things, paint (acrylic paint only, don't add water), etc. Just don't get them too wet!

As you can see, despite the long instructions, it's quite simple! It's also edible if you bake the flour first, so if a curious toddler tries to stick some into their mouth, it won't hurt them - but they might spit it out and make a mess.

Happy making, and blessed be!

Yesterday I learned my backyard is home to purple ground ivy and its place within herbal witchcraft and herbal medicine was fascinating so I want to continue this journey. Obviously I know a few herbs and plants that are good for certain things but I really want to educate myself deeply!

….Ahem. Yes, I think I can help.

I’m a huge proponent of pairing magical education with mundane learning, both for safety and for context. Thus, books on plants, for spells and medicine alike, make up a big part of my library.

For the sake of convenience, I’ll break down my recs into two categories:

GREEN WITCHCRAFT

Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs (Cunningham) 

Garden Witchery (Dugan)

The Garden Witch’s Herbal (Dugan)

The Sacred Herbs of Samhain (Hopman)

The Real Witches’ Garden (West)

The Hearth Witch’s Compendium (Franklin)

The Hearth Witch’s Kitchen Herbal (Franklin)

The Green Witch Herbal (Griggs)

PRACTICAL HERBOLOGY

The Complete Guide to Herbal Medicines (Fetrow & Avila)

Rodale’s Illustrated Encyclopedia of Herbs (Carr)

Western Medicinal Plants and Herbs (Peterson Field Guides)

Edible Wild Plants (Peterson Field Guides)

Herbal Remedies (Chevallier)

The New American Herbal (Orr)

The Herbal Medicine-Maker’s Handbook (Green)

I also have a few other books that deal with practical gardening techniques and plant-related folklore, which I’m happy to provide upon request.

Please keep in mind that everything should be read with common sense and a grain of salt in mind. I have a lot more books that I refer to, but these are the ones I find myself reaching for most often.

Hello friends! I wanted to share a term I coined a few years ago called "The Core 5."

The Core 5 are the top five practices beginners learn when they are just starting out with magic! By all means its not the only thing beginners learn, and it doesn't even have to be the only thing beginners start with! It simply is statistically the most common things beginners start off with! It also is ordered in the way beginners tend to learn them, they all help build on each other.

Since the term is popular on places like Discord I thought I could share my Google document that started it all, so more beginners get an opportunity to check it out, and it becomes even easier to share!

The Core 5 is

Grounding

Cleansing

Protection

Banishing

Warding

I hope you all enjoy the document and feel free to leave any comments for me!

Fuck it Most of witchcraft people tell you to buy shit. So here's some stuff u can do for free

grab some sticks from the ground, bind them together in a shape you like, add intent (usually protection), hang it up

make a flower crown, add protection intent, dry it out, hang it up. protection spell and real ward. regularly recharge intent.

dry plants, set warding intent, hang them up.

crushed eggshells on your window sill to prevent bad energy.

wear a bandana or veil somewhere on your body, sometimes i use mine as belts, to protect from bad vibes.

paint your nails in the color meaning you want. mine are pink for self attraction rn

when you light up a candle always ask if theres a spirit or entity there, pyromancy skills can be learned through google, tumblr, and tiktok.

Regularly clean and rearrange your altar if you can't practice everyday, this keeos the space clean and shows entities around that even if ur not active, you're still a witch

A cup of water can be an offering to anyone, imagine being an entity and you can't have water at all for centuries??

If you have glasses, draw a sigil on them while you clean them (i usually wash mine with soap and water to make it extra clean ((and dry with paper towels)))

Give your wall art jobs. Sure they can be decorative, or they can be extra eyes to watch you while you sleep to make sure no one messes with you. (Ive had so much wall art fall in the middle of the night and turns out smth was trying to get in my room...)

If you have black-out/thick curtains, let the sun in!!! I keep them tied during the day so i can use natural light and ease up my electricity bill

Change ur bedsheets semi regularly, it doesn't need to be every week, but keep in mind bedbugs and other entities can get trapped there... or even try to get there to make your sleep unrestful.

If your room is a bio-hazard, at least make pathways so you can walk without injuring yourself.

with hot chocolate season on the way, there are a lot of subtle ways to work a little magic into your mug! a compiled list of easy recipes to have some magic in your day

for all recipes, melt chocolate in the microwave, and mix in heated milk.

Caramel 🍬

½ cup milk, 5 oz. chopped milk chocolate, 3 tsps caramel, ¼ cup heavy cream.  for love, kindness, domestic works

Cinnamon Spice 🍃

1 cup milk,  5 oz. chopped dark chocolate, ¼ tsp cinnamon, a pinch cayenne pepper. divination, fortune, healing, power, prosperity, protection, psychic abilities, spirituality, wealth, and wisdom.

Orange  🍊

1 cup milk,  2 oz. chopped dark chocolate, ½ tbsp sugar, ½ tbsp grated orange peel. for beauty, divination, fortune, love, purification, and wealth.

White Lavender 🌾

1 cup whole milk, ½ chopped white chocolate, ¼ tsp lavender flowers. for chastity, happiness, love, peace, protection, and purification.

Peppermint 🍬

1 cup whole milk, ½ cup chopped milk chocolate, 1 peppermint candy.  for healing, love, psychic abilities, and purification.

Pumpkin Spice 🎃 

1 cup whole milk,  1 tsp. chocolate powder, ½ tsp pumpkin spice, 1 tsp. maple syrup.  for banishment, divination, healing, prosperity, and protection

Hazelnut 🌰

1 cup whole milk, a pinch salt, 1 tsp cocoa, 2 tbsp nutella or ¼ tsp hazelnut extract.  for fertility, protection against evil, creativity, intuition, and psychic abilities

Vanilla 🌾

½ cup milk, 5 oz. chopped milk chocolate, 1 tsp vanilla extract. for happiness, love, and lust.

Peanut Butter 🌰

when taking flowers, plants, and other living things from nature to use in your craft, it is wise to leave an offering for the earth in appreciation.

some biodegradable materials include:

soil

coffee grounds

tobacco

manure

compost

moon water

rose water

wine 

herbs and other plants

Here’s why you should get your own rune set and how to use it. Yes, Minor Arcana can suffice just fine for very short term, practical predictions… But what about daily life in detail?  Runes are the most accurate and quickest way to gain control of your everyday life right from the smallest things. 

They can be drawn on their own or featured in Tarot readings and other divination forms: a single rune can clarify the meaning of a card more effectively than any other tool at your disposal. 

The ancient who conceived futhark alphabets have assigned simple and concrete meanings to each figure: that’s why they’re easy to understand. By combining them together, one could be able to create more advanced phrases.  Runes should be kept inside a dark/opaque bag or box that won’t allow anybody to see them from outside.  Runic readings should take place in the morning, as they will warn you about what to watch during that specific day.

1. Shake the sachet and draw one rune at a time blindly. 

2. Once you pick the runic symbol, read its straight-forward meaning and keep it in mind without trying to metaphorically interpret it. 

3. If you want, you can carry the rune with you in a safe pocket or in your bag; it helps you stay aware and the rune stone/coin itself protects you in some way.

4. Keep in mind the meaning of the rune religiously: it is warning you about specific objects, events or people.

E.G. (happened to me last month lol):

I wake up in a super good mood, have breakfast and pick one rune from my sachet. This rune is raidō. I decide that “ok whatever lets just go out, take the family car and drive to this event, the sun is shining today”. I get out of the parking lot, all was fine, no crashes, no crazy noises… but after 6 minutes of driving my car had a flat tire.  And I was shocked in the middle of nowhere waiting for help.

The rune was basically trying to tell me “hey yo, check your tires before you jump in the car ‘cause yesterday somebody slashed them or maybe a family member accidentally drove onto something pointy and hard”.

I call dad to seek some kind of comfort and he goes “yes, I was expecting that to happen…” and explains how something may have pierced the left tire on the rear (the one gone flat, I got chills) on the way back home from the countryside. 

In this case, I should’ve checked the state of the car beforehand and/or ask a family member if all was ok with the car. A simple thing, which I just overlooked despite a super specific raidō showing  up in my quick 1-rune morning reading.

That’s only a small example of how runes can prevent you from getting into trouble on a daily basis.

So lovelies, please give em a try if you feel weak or lost in general. These beautiful symbols will guide you through. ♡

ᚠ fehu - wealth, cattle ᚢ ūruz - auroch, wild animal ᚦ þurisaz - the god Thor, giant ᚨ ansuz - The god Odin, ancestors, insight ᚱ raidō - ride, journey, cartwheel, wheel ᚲ kaunaz - fire, ulcer, torch ᚷ gebō - gift, interaction ᚹ wunjō - joy, pleasure ᚺ hagalaz - hail stone, precipitation ᚾ naudiz - need, necessity ᛁ īsaz - ice, cold, blocks ᛃ jēra - year, season, harvest ᛇ eiwaz - yew, tree ᛈ peorþ - dice cup, mystery  ᛉalgiz - elk, protection, shielding  ᛊ sōwilō - Sun ᛏ tīwaz - the god Tyr, creator, male things ᛒ berkana - birth, mother, beginning, female things ᛖ ehwaz - horse, transportation ᛗ mannaz - man, human being ᛚ laguz - water, lake  ᛜ ᛝ ingwaz - the god Yngvi, young person, fertility ᛟ ōþila - home, heritage, estate, possession ᛞ dagaz - day, daylight Hope this post was helpful and inspiring for you!

Stay tuned for more… Loads of love, 

My mother taught me that it was important to shield myself for many reasons:

My personal energy and emotional state can have an effect on those around me.

To keep negative influences out

To keep positive close to myself

To keep other people’s energy and emotional states from overwhelming me

And to prevent those who might actively mean me harm the ability to do so psychically.

She resonates most with the element of water and forms her shielding out of it by visualising that she is surrounded by a small bubble of sea water, filled with fish and other sea creatures. It flows around her and absorbs negativity neutralising it. She sees the sea fade, not get weaker but become transparent, so that she can still feel it but is able to see through it and perform magick without having to lower her shield.

I’m a little over cautious due to some less than pleasant experiences. I have five shields one for each element:

Earth - A stone wall that protects from taking on board other peoples emotional distress

Air - A tornado that disorientates any harmful thoughts or intentions and drags them in

Fire - A blaze that transmutes negative energy into positive

Water - A sea that absorbs this energy.

Spirit - A blue egg of energy that I can easily work magick through and where I store excess energy until I Ground it or give it to someone else.

Before I learned how to make them transparent without weakening them I would strip my first four layers and have only the Spirit shield to work within a circle. 

Each person picks the shields that work best for them. One of my friends uses quartz. Another uses mirrors to bounce off negativity, but I find this inefficient, and prefer to put any energy sent to me to good use. 

no witch succeeds with their spells 100% of the time. here’s a short list of reasons why it could have happened and some solutions

possible reasons why:

distraction - a spell you’re not invested in isn’t going to have much power behind it. if you’re concentrated more on you. if you cast a motivation spell while planning out your vacation, it’s going to subtract from that motivation. 

rosemary replaces everything - supposedly. it supplies general power, but if you add nothing into the spell that has any real meaning to you, then what is that power supposed to do? where does that energy go with no direction?

associations - the correspondences everyone else lists for herbs and stones and planets can be very useful, but sometimes you have a personal conflicting association. perhaps lavender is gross to you, and not peaceful at all. then that dream sachet isn’t going to give you peaceful dreams. 

didn’t help the spell - magic does not exist in a vaccum. spells can only do so much, but if you don’t make the effort, it much less likely to work. job spells dont work if you don’t fill out applications, love spells don’t work if you don’t go out and talk to people, and so on. 

too many cooks - if you cast 10 love spells, and yet no one is attracted to you, it’s entirely possible they all did work but they all conflicted with each other, and ended up canceling each other out. 

shot for the stars- sometimes you try to achieve something, and you set your expectations too high. either it’s impossible, you’re trying from the wrong angle, or you didn’t get as much as you wanted.

cancellation - sometimes a spell may appear not to work when it does, but the results are invisible because it canceled something else out. say you cast a money spell and get no extra cash after several weeks, it could be just helping you maintain your current income and blocking extraneous expenses.

impatience - unless you programmed a working time limit into it, the spell could be working and you just don’t see the results yet. these things can take time.

out of your depth - if you don’t feel like you’re ready to do a spell, your lack of confidence or discomfort can either disable the spell or not give it enough power to work

what to do:

take a break, ground, cleanse, and give it time. refocus your intentions

contemplate each ingredient and step in the spell, and modify

use the ingredients that you know best work for you, old standards hold up.

think about what you could do to help the spell work. what mundane methods haven’t you tried?

take a step back and look at it realistically. is there another angle you can approach this from, can you break it down into smaller steps?

Basil at the door, windows, or scattered in the home will increase money.

Lay thorny branches on your doorstep to keep evil from your dwelling.

Eat a pinch of Thyme before bed, and you will have sweet dreams.

Place chips of Cedar wood in a box with some coins to draw money to you.

Carry an Anemone Flower with you to ward against illness.

Hang a bit of Seaweed in the kitchen to ward evil spirits.

Keep a jar of Alfalfa in your cupboards to ensure the prosperity of your house.

Burn Allspice as an incense to draw money or luck to you, as well as speed healing.

Cut an Apple in half, and give one half to your love to ensure a prosperous relationship.

Carry an Avocado pit with you to let your inner beauty shine outwardly. Avocado is also an aphrodisiac.

Strawberries are an aphrodisiac.

Place a piece of cotton in your sugar bowl to draw good luck to your house.

Celery is an aphrodisiac.

Place Almonds in your pocket when you need to find something.

Scatter Chili Peppers around your house to break a curse.

Carrying a packet of strawberry leaves will help ease the pains of pregnancy.

Scatter some sugar to purify a room.

Throw rice into the air to make rain.

Carry a potato in your pocket or purse all winter to ward against colds.

Eat five almonds before consuming alcohol, to lighten the effects of intoxication.

Place a pine branch above your bed to keep illness away.

Chew celery seeds to help you concentrate.

Carry of chunk of dry pineapple in a bag to draw luck to you.

Ask an orange a yes or no question before you eat it, then count the seeds: if the seeds are an even number, the answer is no. If an odd number, yes.

Eat olives to ensure fertility.

Toss Oats out your back door to ensure that your garden or crop will be bountiful.

Eat mustard seed to ensure fertility.

Place Lilacs around your house to rid yourself of unwanted spirits.

Eat Lettuce to drive lustful thoughts from your mind.

Rub a Lettuce leaf over your forehead to help you sleep.

Add Lemon juice to your bathwater for purification.

Eat grapes to increase psychic powers.

Carry a blade of grass to increase your psychic powers.

Smell Dill to get rid of hiccups.

If you place a Dill sachet over your door, those who wish you ill can not enter your home.

Place cotton on an aching tooth, and the pain will ease.

Burn cotton to cause rain.

Place pepper inside a piece of cotton and sew it shut to make a charm to bring back a lost love.

Carry a small onion to protect against venomous animals.

Eat grapes to increase fertility.

Place a sliced onion in the room of an ill person do draw out the sickness.

Place an onion underneath your pillow to have prophetic dreams.

Place morning glory seeds under your bed to cure nightmares.

Walk through the branches of a maple tree to ensure that you will have a long life.

Mix salt and pepper together and scatter it around your house to dispel evil.

Smell Lavender to help you sleep.  (Lavender makes me fall asleep so fast).

Hang a pea pod containing nine peas above the door to draw your future mate to you.

Eat a peach to assist in making a tough decision.

Carry peach wood to lengthen your lifespan.

Rune Chain

In the midst of redecorating I thought it was time to refresh the protections I have in place around our home. A while back I saw the protective rune chain that @witchy-words made & was inspired to make one of my own! At the bottom hangs a small aura quartz point 🖤

Algiz

shield, protection, shelter, warding off evil, channeling of energy

Othala

home, shelter, group prosperity, aid in physical & spiritual journeys, follow through

Fehu

wealth, property, possessions, financial strength, success & happiness

Ehwaz

unity, teamwork, relationships, steady progress, opening doorways

Thurisaz

protection, defensive force, regeneration, breaking hidden barriers

Angel Aura Quartz

submitted by @materiamystica​

½ cup Greek yoghurt ½ cup plain flour 1tsp baking powder ¼ tsp salt 1 tbsp dried lavender 1 tbsp honey 1 egg, beaten

The intent is to increase mental clarity and connection. To clear your spiritual and mental brain fog so that you can think and see more clearly again. To improve clarity of vision and connection to your heart’s desire. Lavender is employed to stimulate clarity and connection, cleansing, memory, passion, peace of mind, healing, love, passion and retention. With the honey for added sweetness and stickiness to make visions all the more sweet, and memories stick more permanently. Harvesting your own lavender can also be intended to honour Lammas, too!