under a blue moon i saw you

so don't get too comfortable.

ALL ICE MELTS

interpret this as you wish

There’s been a lot of talk of sigils lately but without any step-by-step guide on how to use them. So I’ve broken this down as simply as a can for those of you who are interested but don’t understand the resources you’ve been given.

The bottom five images are transparent and free to use.

“Wherever I go I am safe from harm”

Requested by Anon

Feel free to use for your own purposes and PLEASE also use basic safety precautions if you feel that you need them. If you do use please like/reblog! Thanks!

A little while ago I tried my hand at making an audio sigil. I like how it turned out, but it was a bit too complex. The range of tones was just too great. It was great to make a track and just listen to it, but I wanted something that I could easily play on the piano, hum, or whistle. So, I rethought how I chose the tones that represented the letters of the alphabet. I decided to use just one octave of notes, no sharps or flats, just the 8 notes starting on C. After I dropped the vowels, the letters fit perfectly. Here’s what I came up with.

Note = Letter of alphabet

C = B, K, S

D = C, L, T

E = D, M, V

F = F, N, W

G = G, P, X

A = H, Q, Y

B = J, R, Z

Getting from a statement of intent to musical notes looks like this. “I sleep peacefully” get rid of vowels and repeated consonants “SLPCFY” translate into musical notes “CDGDFA.”  Now my audio sigil is quite simple and easily played/sung/hummed/whistled/etc.

Here, let me play it for you.

I don’t really know what people generally call this method of sigil making, so I’m just calling it “Letter Shaping” because you’re using the basic shapes from certain letters. This is the most common form of sigil making, and it allows the most creative influence. As you see above the sigils are for nearly the same thing, yet the sigils came out completely different. Not because the purpose was different, but because I approached them both a different creative way, and that’s what I like so much about this method. There’s a lot of freedom and personalization involved.

I’m not going to lie, this is a really specific spell. It could very easily be adapted for a more generic personal protection spell, as I’m sure that’s more relevant to most of y’all, but this is my spell, so I get to choose the music!! This spell is designed to protect a couple from those who wish them harm, both as individuals and their relationship.

I personally prepared for this spell by putting on a playlist (I find music is incredibly important to my craft) brewing some rose tea, and lighting some frankincense incense. A quick “hi” to aphrodite, in the form of pearls and a rose vodka offering, also never goes amiss.

~The spell ~

• light a candle, either white for protection and purity, pink for love, or black for protection and grounding.

• add each of the ingredients to a jar, focusing on the intention. these can be changed to adapt the spell to your own needs and correspondences.

sage- protection from harm

salt- absorb negativity, grounding

egg shells- protection

bay leaves- victory, strength, healing and protection

lavender- peace, softness, stability and age

willow- love, protection and healing

chilli pepper- hex breaking (as a precaution) and love

honey- healing, nourishing, protection, preservation, and sweetness

• add taglocks- i used two items i associate with the two people

• create two poppets from paper, inscribing with their full names, and sigils

• bind the two poppets together with red thread, and add to the jar

• add the protection sigil to to jar (on the lid, probably) and seal with wax and red thread. this is a good point for an incantation (and to burn a sigil or two,) something along the lines of “x and y will lead long, happy and healthy lives, protected from any harm that may be wished upon them”

~The spell: Part 2!~

This spell is designed, due to the situation in which I’m casting it, to last a month. After the moon cycle comes to an end, the jar must be opened and the contents burned in order for the spell to be renewed. Burying the ash will ensure the spell can never be broken. If the ash is saved, it can be buried later, or the spell can be neutralised by mixing the ash with water and pouring it away.

Intent: To create a jar of potential wishes, to be used as needed.

Materials:

Small Jar

Whole Bay Leaves (12)

Moonlight

In addition to their usefulness in spells for protection, wisdom, and healing, bay leaves are a potent ingredient for wishmaking. This spell does not specifically create a wishing spell, but it prepares a small supply of leaves for future spellwork, using the fulfilling energy of the full moon to pre-charge the component.

Obtain a bag of whole bay leaves. These can usually be found in the spices and seasonings aisle at the grocery store, or you can order them from a botanical supplier if you wish. Prepare a clean, dry jar with a lid as you see fit. Select twelve leaves, as whole and unbroken as possible, and place them into the jar. Cap the jar and leave it to soak up the moonlight on the next full moon evening.

When you have need of some wishmaking magic, take a single leaf from the jar, write your wish upon it, and use it in your spell. The use of the leaf depends on your casting method - you can include it in a jar or sachet charm, cast it into fire or water, or bury it to help your desired results grow, to name just a few.

Use the leaves as needed and when the supply is exhausted, you can pick twelve new leaves and refill the jar.

There seems to be a certain attitude around Greek gods that I'd attribute to the Percy Jackson stories which seems to really "personalize" the gods as if they were actual people. They're fun stories but they present the gods in a certain manner that may not be the way to look at the gods outside those stories. (Someone recently explained the connection between Percy Jackson and Artemis being seen as an asexual deity. Which I think is possibly a fairly new take on Artemis.)

The myths themselves also aren't always presenting a coherent view of each god. From an academic perspective, you'd analyze each story by origin (time, place, etc) and perhaps the possible goal or message to humans as well as what it says about the deity.

Zeus can't keep it in his pants (or toga). Zeus, the thunder god, represents fertility. He literally "makes it rain" which makes crops grow. So of course he's going to run around trying to bestow his fertility everywhere. And, well, he'd be expected to be successful.

Stories of interaction between a god and a mortal could bestow fame or notoriety on a lineage, city or culture. The Myceneans probably didn't get along with the Minoans, hence the Minotaur as a monster demanding sacrifice. Athens is favored by Athena, hence a claim to fame. A story that implies "our king is descended from *insert god* when a favored princess tripped while fleeing him" creates a divine lineage.

(Hades does ask Persephone's father - Zeus - for permission to marry her. At the time, this was a legitimate marriage arrangement. Zeus is the one who neglected to discuss the situation with Demeter. Resulting in - Zeus pisses off yet another goddess. Which could also have been a warning to fathers of the time period - you are the ruler but perhaps consult the mother before acting.)

The ancient Greeks would never have thought of preventing anyone from worshipping their gods. In fact, if you, an outsider, where residing in or visiting a city, you might be expected to follow the local customes. Nor did they hesitate when it came to borrowing gods from other cultures. (There was a lively Cult of Isis in Greece.) And not all the Greek gods were originally Greek. Dionysus may have originated with the Minoans. (Dionysus makes it a point that everyone must be permitted to follow him.) Hekate may have come from Anatolia. Athena was probably acquired into the Greek Pantheon from elsewhere (which would explain Greece ending up with 2 gods of war.)

As modern people, perhaps our question is - why are we interacting with these gods? What do we expect from them and what do we have to offer in return?

You’re allowed to be casually religious, a “Yule Pagan” if you want to steal “Christmas Christian” from the Jesus club. You’re allowed to dedicate a day or two to worship and just stare at the sky or ground and mutter the rest of the week.

APOLLO

“Phoebus, of you even the swan sings with clear voice to the beating of his wings, as he alights upon the bank by the eddying river Peneus; and of you the sweet-tongued minstrel, holding his high-pitched lyre, always sings both first and last…And so hail to you, lord! I seek your favor with my song.”  (-Homeric Hymn, translated by H.G. Evelyn white)

APOLLO (uh-PAH-low), God of prophecy, oracles, music, art, protector of and disease of boys and men, and archery. Just as his twin sister Artemis is patron to women and girls, Apollo is both protector, and killer from disease of boys and men. In my Illustration the god holds his bow and arrows behind, while he strums the lyre gifted to him by trickster Hermes. Near the sun flies his ally and divine messenger, a white raven. The column on the right is capped with a cow, representing his sacred animal as a god of herds. The serpent Python sits dead at his feet, killed by Apollo’s arrow so that the god could take over the Delphi temple location. The temple complex sits beneath the god, while on the far right, the Pythia (Apollo’s oracle priestess) sits upon a tripod, breathing the hallucinatory gasses seeping up from the earth to get her prophecies which she bestows upon visitors.

The laurel tree has associations with Apollo because the god, chasing a Naiad (water nymph) named Daphne call out to Gaia (mother earth) for help, who transformed the nymph into a laurel tree, which the god adopted as his sacred tree. In book 1 of the Iliad, Apollo supports the Trojans by raining down a plague on the Greeks, and later helping Paris to kill Achilles. Apollo’s cruelty is shown in Ovid’s mythical lyre contest with the inventor of the flute; a satyr named Marsyas. When Apollo suggested they play their instruments upside down, the satyr lost, and was flayed (skinned) alive as punishment for his hubris.

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Beltane comes next, that little threshold holiday between late April and early May, the “spring fling” of our year. Mayday festivals have been around for centuries. Mentions of similar celebrations date back to the Roman Floralia and the Greek Maiouma, which is recorded as far back as the 2nd century BCE in the reign of Emperor Commodus. We also see similar festivals with things like bonfires, dancing, sweetheart rituals, and Maypoles all over Europe, and particularly in the British Isles. In some places, it’s connected with the Feast of St. Walpurgis (most notably the German Walpurgisnacht), and in others, it’s evolved into a kind of warm-weather romp that celebrates the month of May and the full flower of springtime. So there’s a lot of room for interpretation and a lot of activities to choose from if you’re celebrating this holiday as a secular witch.

The overarching theme of the day is definitely love. Love magic, sex magic, love divinations, marriage predictions, renewing of vows...it’s all there. There’s a reason besides the weather that May is the most popular month for weddings, and this might be part of it. So if you’re of a mind to work with any of that, DO IT. Cast spells to find love, attract a sweetheart, reconnect with your current partner, or if you’re single, maybe have a fling. Bring a little extra romance into your life. Just make sure you observe consent and common sense, and practice safe SEX as well as safe hex.

If you’re not interested in any of that, you can also work magic for self-love. Often in our conversations on love magic, we leave out that all-important relation with ourselves. Beltane is a great time to rediscover this. It can be a celebration of yourself and your own power and your own journey. Pamper yourself a bit. Have a home spa day, take a ritual bath, do whatever it is that makes you feel strong and gorgeous. Because spoiler alert - you ARE strong and gorgeous. A-bip-bip-bip...yes you are. Yes. You ARE. Even when you don’t feel like it, you’re an amazing person and the world is a better and more interesting place because you’re in it. So celebrate all the things you love about yourself - your mind, your creativity, your skills, and particularly your body, even if it’s uncooperative or a work in progress. Celebrate your strength and your ongoing metamorphosis into the person you want to be. Whether that journey is mental, emotional, spiritual, or physical, you are not the same person you were last year, and your progress deserves recognition.

Celebrate your communal and familial bonds as well. Connect with the people who make you feel loved and cherished and uplifted. If you can’t attend a party, maybe have a virtual game night or a socially-distanced movie marathon. If you’re working on coming out of your shell, this is a good time to maybe take a step in that direction, even if it’s just a small one.

This is a festival of flowers and fire, fertility and fun, so anything you want to do that involves any of those things would be appropriate. Have a bonfire, if you can do so safely, or light up some candles. Make flower crowns or garlands. Add greenery to your home decor. If you haven’t already planted your garden, or if your starter sprouts are ready and the final frost has passed, get them in the ground. Do some growth magic to help them along. Dress in something that makes you happy and comfortable. Put on your favorite music, dance around the house, and sing like you’re on your very own Broadway stage. Make your favorite foods, maybe experiment with making wine or beer or short mead if you’ve ever wanted to give that a shot. Make candied flowers or candied fruit peel.

Go on a picnic, if the weather allows it. If you’re partial to wildcrafting, gather wild herbs and flowers for your magic, always observing permission to harvest and best practices for your local ecosystem. That means whatever you want to pick, make sure you’re allowed to do so, whether on a spiritual level or on a practical one. Don’t go raiding state parks or your neighbor’s flower garden; you probably don’t have permission to take plants from these places. Take only what you need and don’t pick anything you can’t properly identify or anything that’s endangered. Make sure you label everything too; it saves time later and helps you remember what you’ve picked. I suggest bringing a pocket field guide to local flora to help you out. And while you’re out there, hug your favorite tree. If you have trees or shrubs on your property, decorate them with ribbons and streamers, give them a good drink of water, and thank them for all the oxygen. (Just make sure you take these decorations down and dispose of them properly before they become litter.)

Meditate on your passions. Think about your causes, all the things that put a fire in your belly. Think of what makes you feel happy and fierce and free. Rededicate yourself to the things that matter to you, whether in your witchy practices or your personal life, or the social and political causes that you feel most passionate about.

-from Hex Positive, Ep. 011 - Secular Celebrations (Nov 01, 2020)

Other Posts In This Series:

Imbolc

Spring Equinox

Beltane

Midsummer

Lughnasadh

Autumn Equinox

Samhain

Yule

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Apollo and Diana, an 1848 marble statue by American artist and sculptor Thomas Crawford.