Bewitched Moonlight

⟡ hi, i'm pauline. french, cottage witch, thirty-something, living in the countryside with my partner and a garden that keeps me humble.

⟡ this blog is my little corner of the internet: i started it more than five years ago to document my spiritual practice. it's basically my grimoire shared with the rest of the world, intermixed with quotes that help and inspire me.

⟡ next to this, i'm also a writer working on my first novel, and i document a lot of that journey on my other channels.

⟡ if you're new here, welcome. if you've been here a while through my witchcraft content: hello again, i'm so glad you're still around.

⟡ you can also find me here: ‎ ‎ ╰‎ TikTok: @storiesofpauline books and literature ‎ ‎ ╰ Substack: the quiet life personal essays on quiet living and books

0️⃣ - acceptation, fluidity, potential, emptiness.

1️⃣ - creativity, grief, energy, independence, new beginnings, positivity, unity, willpower.

2️⃣ - love, change, choice, compassion, compromise, softness, duality, empathy, balance, harmony, imagination, romance.

3️⃣ - activity, adaptability, ambition, authority, communication, control, growth, expression, fertility, results.

4️⃣ - calm, base, control, home, respite, rumours, health, security, stability, structure.

5️⃣ - adventure, challenges, sudden changes, conflict, destruction, divination, energy, impulsivity, passion, travels.

6️⃣ - affection, friendship, money, art, luck, conjuration, sharing, sincerity.

7️⃣ - art, clairvoyance, imagination, intuition, manifestation, mystery, psychic powers, secrets, spirituality.

8️⃣ - abundance, continuity, cycle, strength, perfection, prosperity, health, stability.

Thinking a lot about witchcraft as a path that feels separate from parenthood or picking a career. Historically, isn't that what us witches have been doing? Living on the edge, choosing a path for ourselves, refusing to follow what society wants us to do.

💦 Water is associated with absorption, beauty, calm, change, compassion, creativity, emotions, intuition, flexibility, relations, reflection, sensibility and sadness.

-- -- --

Depending where you get it from and what it is, it can have more magical properties:

💦 Pond water: conjuration, stillness, boundaries, silence.

💦 Sparkling water: banishment, curses, power, purification.

💦 Lake water: abundance, stillness, the unknown, wealth, spirituality.

💦 Swamp water: creating bonds, invisibility, illness.

💦 Sea water: banishment, concentration, immensity, fear, power, protection, purification, life.

💦 Rain water: growth, power, rebirth.

💦 River water: charging, conjuration, energy, movement, power.

💦 Storm water: banishment, charging, clarity, energy, strength, curses, motivation, purification.

💦 Melted ice: creativity, growth, fleetingness, harmony, preservation, protection, purification.

💦 Melted hail: aggressiveness, wounds, curses, ill intentions.

💦 Melted snow: change, delicacy, balance, endings, healing, power, purity, slowing down, resolutions, tranquility, transformation.

The new moon occurs when the sun and moon are aligned. At this phase, from our perspective on Earth, the dark side of the moon is facing us, as none of its side is illuminated by the sun.

This is the first phase of the lunar cycle, perfect time to get started on a new project.

✨ Focus: clean slate, new beginnings, fresh starts, hope, openness  

🔮 Mantra: “I am strong, I am powerful, I am calm, I can do anything”

🕯️ Self-care prompts and rituals:

Create a new playlist with music that inspires you.

Tidy your home and reset the energy in your space.

Take care of your house plants and/or your garden.

Start a new project or build a new habit.

Designate a new space for your work, or clean-up your desk.

Plan for a new activity that you've been willing to try.

Start a journal to write about your new journey.

Read inspirational quotes.

Take a close friend out to lunch and share your ideas and dreams.

Go to a museum in your city or look up artwork online.

Change your bed sheets and pillowcases.

"Finding yourself" is not really how it works. You aren't a ten-dollar bill in last winter's coat pocket. You are also not lost. Your true self is right there, buried under cultural conditioning, other people's opinions, and inaccurate conclusions you drew as a kid that became your beliefs about who you are. "Finding yourself" is actually returning to yourself. An unlearning, an excavation, a remembering who you were before the world got its hands on you.

🌿 Mint - love, money, luck, desire, memory, protection, purification

🌿 Oregano - animals, happiness, growth, harmony, peace

🌿 Lemon balm - calm, friendship, family, relaxation, sleep

🌿 Rosemary - confidence, money, beauty, courage, luck, strength

🌿 Thyme - clearing out nightmares, banishment, divination, loyalty

🌿 Basil - honesty, peace, positivity, romance, wishes

🌿 Coriander - abundance, love, healing, immortality

🌿 Nettle - cleansing, banishment, healing, curses, psychic powers

Beautiful quote from A Psalm for the Wild-Built, a book that entirely changed my perspective this year...

Correspondences

✨ The moon is associated with emotions, intuition, dreams, femininity, growth and manifestation...

🌱 Plants: evening primrose, jasmine, lavender, poppy

🌿 Herbs: mugwort, lemon balm, sage

💨 Scents: vanilla, jasmine, sage, mint

🔮 Crystals: moonstone, selenite, labradorite, opal, pearl

🍊 Food: cucumber, watermelon, milk, coconut, papaya, water, seafood...

-- -- --

Simple ways to work with the moon

🌙 Practice at night, ideally when the moon is visible and high in the sky.

🌙 Follow the moon phases in your practice. Start new projects on the new moon, celebrate during the full moon, and then recharge.

🌙 Leave out jars of water at night during the full moon. This is called moon water and can be used in all kinds of spells.

🌙 For shadow work, leave out jars of water during the new moon instead.

🌙 Charge your crystals, tarot deck, and other magical instruments under the moonlight to cleanse and recharge them.

🌙 Research what offerings suit the moon (white flowers, silver items, milk) and leave it outside as a gesture.

🌙 Wear its colours: silver, white, or soft blues and greys.

-- -- --

July affirmations

I will remain soft, even when life is determined to harden me.

I will be kind to myself, even if cruelty is still what feels familiar.

I will keep going, even when all I want to do is stop.

I will remember who I am, no matter how much others might want to change me.

I will not lose myself this July.

Some of the books on witchcraft that I'd recommend to anyone getting started on the practice:

🌿 For the garden witches: Cunningham's Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs by Scott Cunningham All about magical herbalism - in this book you'll find the magical properties and folklore of about 400 herbs.

🔮 For the spell-casters: Spellcrafting by Arin Murphy-Hiscock A step-by-step guide to writing your own spells and timing them for the best effect

🧐 For the witches interested in history: Drawing Down the Moon by Margot Adler A sociological study of contemporary Paganism in the United States, discussing the history and various forms of the movement.  

📅 Important dates

New moons: July 14th and August 12th

Full moons: July 29th and August 28th

Festival: Lughnasadh (also called Lammas) on August 1st

-- -- --

🌞 Associations

Element: water

Zodiac: Cancer and Leo

Deities: the Oak king, Demeter, Sól/Sunna, Lugh

Herbs: mugwort, basil, vervain, chamomile, sunflower, mint, rosemary, calendula, marigold

Animals: lion, horse, eagle, roosters, snakes, bees, butterflies

Colours: yellow, orange and red

Food: corn, bread, mead, edible flowers, berries, grains, honey

-- -- --

🎨 Activities

Sunrise or sunset ritual: days are long in summer, so marking the actual sunrise/sunset is a classic and very direct way to honour the season.

Bonfires: fire is central to Midsummer and Lammas folklore, jumping over a small fire (safely!) for purification/luck is a traditional practice.

Sun water/sun tea: leave water or tea infused with herbs out in direct sunlight to charge it with solar energy, then use it in cooking, baths, or rituals.

Charging crystals and tools in direct sunlight, especially solar-correspondence stones like citrine, carnelian, or sunstone.

Flower crown making: using seasonal blooms (lavender, chamomile, marigold) for a Midsummer crown.

Baking bread from scratch, ideally with intention/gratitude work baked in.

Visiting a farmers market or your own garden and consciously harvesting/gratitude-journaling about abundance.

As a witch deeply linked to nature in my practice, I'm thinking a lot these days about trad wives on the internet trying to "claim" what has always been ours: a close relationship with nature, the connection to spirituality, a calm and quiet life...

If you're like me, a witch loving her home and family, but holding a lot of disgust at the repressive and morally conservative values of the trad wives era, please know that you are not alone.

And it's time to reclaim what's ours.

---

Things that look trad-wife but are actually witchcraft (to me):

🍞 Baking your own bread - kitchen witches already know it; kneading is a moving meditation, fermentation transformation magic.

🌽 Canning and preserving the harvest - especially relevant as we're approaching Lughnasadh on August 1st. It's all about gratitude magic, storing abundance for the dark months, working in rhythm with the Wheel of the Year.

🌞 Drying laundry and herbs in the sun - this is all about solar charging, gathering strength and energy from one of the most important deities. More on solar magic here.

💐 Flower arranging with what's blooming nearby - working with each flower's magical correspondence (protection, love, clarity), casting spells by mixing special kinds together.

💕 Caring for others - historically, witchcraft practices have always been used to help others (to cure them of diseases, make them feel loved and seen, and more).

🧹 Cleaning your home - it's not just about clearing out the dust, but it's deeper than that. Think about cleansing rituals, banishing negative energies, clearing the space...

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Correspondences

✨ The sun is associated with success, power, empowerment, ambition, health, vitality, joy...

🌱 Plants: pine, walnut, witch hazel, sunflower

🌿 Herbs: chamomile, yellow Roses, marigold, eyebright, laurel

💨 Scents: amber, cinnamon, citrus fruits

🔮 Crystals: tiger’s eye, citrine, gold

🍊 Food: Sun tea (that's tea that's been warmed in the sun's heat), cider, orange juice, sunflower seeds

-- -- --

Simple ways to work with the sun

💛 Prefer practicing at sunrise. For extra magical intent, wait until the sun is at its peak in the sky.

💛 In the summer months, try to sunbathe every day, even if it's just for a few minutes. It will help you absorb the sun's energy. You'll be able to redirect it in spells or rituals.

💛 Research what kinds of offerings are most appropriate for the sun, and leave them outside for a blessing.

💛 Make sun water by placing jars of water outside at midday.