A Witch's Word

But humans were never like that. The most famous stories are epics showing the raw inhumane effect of war ripping apart families, friends, lovers, living through traumatic events, not knowing how to unleash all this pain, sorrow, grief, rage in their heart in these unfair circumstances. You read with the characters knowing the end ,the situation unfolding, siding with chorus trying to reason with them to take a better approach, but their ego won't let them, their minds already set on a goal of chaos and more pain.

There's also a statue of Venus on Cyprus, that's bearded, shaped and dressed like a woman, with scepter and male genitals, and they conceive her as both male and female. Aristophanes calls her Aphroditus, and Laevius says: Worshiping, then, the nurturing god Venus, whether she is male or female, just as the Moon is a nurturing goddess. In his Atthis Philochorus, too, states that she is the Moon and that men sacrifice to her in women's dress, women in men's, because she is held to be both male and female.

-Macrobius (c. 400s AD), Saturnalia 3.8.2

The torches give a faint light, enough for the revellers to see what is close in front of them, but not enough for us to see them. Peals of laughter rise, and women rush along with men, wearing men's sandals and garments girt in strange fashion; for the revel permits women to masquerade as men, and men to "put on women's garb" and to ape the walk of women.

Then round that place there grew a hedge of thorns thicker every year, until at last the whole castle was hidden from view, and nothing of it could be seen but the vane on the roof. […] From time to time many Kings’ sons came and tried to force their way through the hedge; but it was impossible for them to do so, for the thorns held fast together like strong hands, and the young men were caught by them, and not being able to get free, there died a lamentable death.

- The Sleeping Beauty

Intent: To protect one’s home and property.

Ideal Timing: Full Moon, but can be made anytime.

Materials:

Glass Jar with Lid

Black Taper Candle

Planter Pot & Soil

Super Glue

Pins & Thorns

Duct Tape

Herbs: Dill, Basil, Salt, Vinegar, Lemon or Pickle Juice

Load the bottle with the pins, herbs, and just enough of your chosen liquid to fill it about ¾ full. It should be noted that some witches prefer to use urine for their home protection bottles, both for traditional and territorial reasons. This is certainly a viable choice if you are comfortable with it, but if not, then the options listed above will be quite effective.

Seal the top and secure with a strip of duct tape or electrical tape to prevent leaks. Once it is sealed well, begin to attach the flat ends of the thorns to the outside of the bottle using the superglue so that the points face outward. Be very careful not to stick yourself while handling the bottle!

Once all the thorns are in place, light the black candle and drip the wax over the top of the bottle. As the wax falls, hold the image of a thorny protective barrier in your mind and continue to turn the bottle, letting the wax spill down the sides to help hold the thorns in place. Keep dripping the wax until the cap is completely covered and all the thorns have been secured.

Pour some dirt into the planter pot, place the bottle inside, and pour in more dirt until the bottle is covered. Keep the pot somewhere on your property. You can even grow flowers in it, if you like, but it is not recommended that you use it for anything edible.

If you move to a new home, be sure to take the pot with you, or dig up the bottle and take it along; to remove the ward, break the wax seal and empty the contents of the bottle somewhere safe.

-From The Sisters Grimmoire: Spells & Charms For Your Happily Ever After, 2nd ed., © 2017 by Bree NicGarran.

Want more fairy tale spells? Check out the masterpost here and visit my shop for spell kits!

Just a quick compilation of the posts I've made about exercises to help improve your craft. These can be used as journaling prompts, inspiration for activities, or as methods for pulling yourself out of a slump and recharging your witchy inspiration.

Witchcraft Exercise - Quantifying Your Craft

Witchcraft Exercise - Dig Through The Ditches

Witchcraft Exercise - The Book of Lessons

Witchcraft Exercise - Home Brews

Witchcraft Exercise - Witchy Inspo Journal

Witchcraft Exercise - Spring Cleaning

Witchcraft Exercise - Creating Correspondences

Witchcraft Exercise - Creating Your Own Runes

Witchcraft Exercise - How to Write Your Own Spells

Witchcraft Exercise - Shakespearean Witchcraft

Witchcraft Exercise - Music To Witch By

Related Prompt - Music to Witch By

Witchcraft Exercise - Annual Review

Most of these are also available in the May 2021 bonus episode of Hex Positive (check your favorite podcatcher).

Happy Witching!

sigil magic is pretty popular, and there are many ways to do it. this is how i design and use mine!

step 1) numbers

first step is choosing the number of sides the drawing will have, and therefore the centerpiece. today im making an elemental symbol to charge spells. in my tradition we have three elements, so my sigil should be three sided.

any three sided shape would work for me, but i felt drawn to something like this.

step 2) symbology

next i want to start adding easy symbols to represent the concept my sigil is based on. this means i need to represent land, sea, and sky.

here for sky i added some birds and suns. it's important that the shapes are simple to re-create later.

i keep drawing and try to make the shapes connect to each other in an aesthetically pleasing way.

for land i added some mountains, and to connect them i tried to blend the lines in as solar rays.

lastly i need to include the sea.

i put some large waves, also coming out of the suns.

step 3) sealing

now i just want to tie it all together. usually this means adding random squiggles to close off any "open ends" in the drawing. in this sigil there are two big gaps i want to close- right above the sun, and in between the ends of the waves.

my philosophy on this is that i want the energy to be flowing through the sigil continuously, not getting stuck in a gap.

step 4) preserving

finally i edit the photo to high contrast black and white, save it to a folder on my phone, and i can reference and draw the sigil whenever i need.

some other considerations while designing

- should the sigil be symmetrical or not?

- can you picture how energy moves through it?

- does the sigil have a simple enough design to be replicated in the future? should it be simplified?