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How to spot fake crystals!

“Fake” in reference to crystals can mean many different things depending on who you ask, but we’ll cover all of them. Dyed stones, heat treated, glass, man made, mislabeled/marketed, etc.

As the crystal community grows, so do the counterfeit dealers! One of the fakes I see most often are the small little bullet shaped points made into pendants, with very over exaggerated color and patterns, that are being sold at extremely low prices and readily available at places like Walmart, Five Below, and Amazon. These are either made from resin/plastic or dyed glass, and possess absolutely no metaphysical properties or vibrational energy.

Another way to spot a fake is if the price is just too good to be true. While I am able to offer stones (IG @petriquartz) at a lower price than most retail metaphysical stores, it’s usually just because those places are OVER charging for their product. While you don’t want to overpay, you also don’t want to underpay, as that is an indication that the stone you are purchasing is not genuine.

If a stone is one with a natural pattern, we want to be sure that the pattern is not completely uniform or symmetrical. A patterned stone that is often faked, as it is on the rarer and pricier side, is malachite. A good way to tell if your malachite is genuine is to see if the stripes on your stone are dark green or black. Black stripes that are very uniform are a tell-tale sign that what you have is a fake.

Now what about heat treated stones??? The vast majority of the time, heat treated amethyst is marketed and sold as citrine. While this isn’t really false, it is a little deceptive. Amethyst and citrine are both varieties of quartz. The only difference is the oxidized state of the iron impurities within the mineral. Naturally occurring citrine is quite rare, which is the result of natural heat and pressure applied to amethyst over a very long period of time. We are able to simulate that effect by heat treating pieces of amethyst in order to speed up the process.

Finally, let’s talk about man made stones. Some of the most popular man made crystals include opalite, goldstone, and blue sandstone. Some people debate whether or not these man made stones still possess any sort of metaphysical properties while not coming directly from the earth. Whether you use them in your own practice or just have them as display pieces in your house is totally up to you! Do what feels right, and if you feel called to them, there is nothing wrong with using them!

I hope that this can offer some insight to anyone just getting starting, or some guidance for anyone looking to purchase crystals! For genuine, ethically sourced stones, be sure to check out Petriquartz on all platforms. The majority of my sales are done via my Facebook group, where I offer exclusive prices for members, as well as frequently host giveaways and live sales once a week or more! Click the links below to join us!!!

linktr.ee/petriquartz

Materials (not all herbs are required, but these are what I use):

A jar

Cinnamon

Rosemary

Lavender

Thyme

Salt (table salt is fine)

Bay leaf or small piece of paper

A way to seal your jar (candle wax or lid or both)

Funnel/spoon to get ingredients into the jar

Steps:

Cleanse your jar in your preferred method

If you are using a candle to seal, I carve some protection runes into the side and begin burning it as I prep the rest

Layer herbs into the jar, stating your intention for protection out loud with each one

Order of herbs I use: cinnamon, salt, rosemary, thyme, lavender

On your paper or leaf, write something like "I am protected" or draw a protection rune/sigil

Add the paper/leaf to the jar

Seal the jar with lid or cork

If adding wax, hold the candle sideways over the top of the jar to allow the wax to drip onto the lid and down the sides

With your last step, repeat your manifestation for protection one last time

Sigils are words or phrases that have been made into shapes and lines. There are many different ways to create sigils.

Some witches take the letters and break them down into the or basic shapes and then put those shapes together.

Others just think about the word or phrase and go on intuition when drawing the shape.

My personal favorite way is taking a word or phrase, cutting the vowels out, then matching the remaining letters to a number (1-9). If any number repeats itself I take that out as well. Next I draw a number wheel, scattering the numbers 1-9 around it and link the numbers together with curved lines. Of course you could use straight lines if you wanted to.

Sigils can be used in place of spells, if you don't have the tools for spells or if you have to hide your practice from others.

Let's talk about how to charge a sigil to help the energy around it manifest (also check out the post before this one called "Manifestation" to get a better understanding of the word.)

Just like spells, sigils can be used with boosters from candles, crystals, herbs or even just colors. For instance if you are hiding your practice from others and can't have all of the above colors that match your intentions can be used.

Say you do a money/wealth sigil, the color green would be best. If you do a cleansing sigil, blue would be a good choice.

If you do have the boosters such as crystals, candles and herbs then use ones that also match your intentions. A happiness sigil should be charged with a yellow candle, citrine and rosemary.

Moon phases and days of the week should also be taken into consideration when doing sigils and any kind of spell work. (You can find those posts here on this blog as well.)

If you enjoy seeing posts like this one and would like to see more of them hearts, comments and reblogs will let me know that people are seeing these. A follow and turning on notifications will keep you updated on when I post again. If you'd like to do more consider leaving me a tip?

Amethyst (grounding)

Citrine (happiness)

Rose Quartz (self love, love)

Agate (acceptance)

Amber (calming)

Ametrine (tranquillity)

Angel aura (peace)

Aventurine (luck)

Flourite (meditation)

Moonstone (astral projection)

Labradorite (dreams)

Selenite (sleep)

Cleansing Crystals

Smoke

Water

Sun

Moon

Earth

Sigils

Smoke Safe Crystals

Any

Crystals that can't go in water

Amazonite

Malachite

Moonstone

Moldavite

Azurite

Chrysocolla

Tourmaline

Emerald

Dioptase

Cuprite

Alexandrite

Celestine

Sugalite

Topaz

Ruby

Sunstone

Prehnite

Sodalite

Labradorite

Selenite

(Any crystal that ends with 'ite')

Crystals that can't go in the sun (for long)

Rose quartz

Amethyst

(Any crystal that may bleach)

Moon Safe Crystals

Any

Earth Safe Crystals

Any (just don't forget where you buried them!)

Sigil Safe Crystals

Please feel free to use these pages as a guide in your own practices or as inspiration for your own BOS or Grimoire :) All I ask is that if you wish to recreate my design or wording, please credit in the description of your post!! Thank you 💕

✨Pages in my Grimoire on Tarot ✨

These pages begin my Tarot study on the symbols associated with the Major Arcana, the 4 Suites and associated zodiacs/meanings, the court cards and what they represent in meanings, numerology and their associated majors, and lastly color symbolism. this is basically all I need to do intuitive readings with the tarot!!

The next chunk of this will be meanings for each of the major arcana, based off of my own practices and what i’ve learned about their symbols.

Forgiveness can be difficult for some, so here's a spell to give the caster a bit of a push toward that goal. Just a reminder, you cannot force yourself to forgive someone without the determination of choosing to do so--there is also the question of whether someone deserves your forgiveness, and that is dependent on the types of boundaries you hold. However, if the person who hurt you is someone you value, or perhaps you need to forgive them to move forward in peace, then this spell will help.

𝑀𝑒𝓉𝒽𝑜𝒹

Depending on your intentions, this spell can be performed best under a specific moon. For example, if you are casting this spell to move forward from a wrongdoing someone has inflicted upon you, then perform this spell during the last quarter moon. Basically, it is under your discretion which moon to perform under.

To prepare the spell, write down the actions that harmed you on a piece of paper. (I personally consecrate the paper using moon water before writing into it, but that's up to you.) These can be a list of things they've done or perhaps one thing that you can't let go of.

Then prepare a sigil on an inflammable surface. This is a necessary step because a candle will be placed in the middle of the sigil. I provided a sigil in the image below, but you can create one if you wish.

Before casting the spell, make sure to cleanse your space and items to prevent other energies from tainting the ritual.

𝐼𝓃𝒸𝒶𝓃𝓉𝒶𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃

With this flame as my witness,

I declare the desire,

To forgive your actions,

As I burn them in the fire.

Whichever will heal,

The self or another,

These words said with zeal,

Make my heart softer.

Thus I say: I forgive you [name(s)]

I forgive [read aloud what you’ve written on the paper]

Once you complete reading what you've written, burn the piece of paper in the flame. Place it in a cauldron or non-flammable bowl to prevent any fire hazards. Make sure to take note of your emotions and observe how they ebb and flow then disappear. Stay in the moment until you are satisfied with the spell. If you still feel the pain of the past haunting you, repeat the spell at another time until you are at peace.

Written by: https://afanc0d.tumblr.com/

Allow me to present...

GRAPHITE CONTAINERS!

They’re super cheap and can be found at basically any grocery store. If you’re a student you’ll likely have a ton of these lying around.

You can empty them, clean them out (I used a toothpick with some tissue paper on the end to whipe off some of the graphite smudges) and fill them with your hearts desire!

Not only all that, but also they’re super portable with how compact they are.

When creating sigils, you need to have in mind what it is you want. You want to write it out as if it has already happened.

An example for a sentence is: My house is protected.

Now you want to cross out all the vowels. You will be left with: M h prtctd

Now you want to cross out all repeating letters. You will be left with: MHPRCD

Using the chart above, match the remaining letters to their corresponding numbers. You will have 163523

Now, you create a 3x3 chart such as the one above and randomly place numbers 1-9. You want to start with the first number and draw a line to the next number. If you have repeating numbers (same number side by side) you can create a circle. After that, you continue on to the next number until you have reached the end.

Then you want to redo or trace the image on a blank piece of paper.

After that, you can add your own extras to it to truly make it more unique to you and your craft.

Here are some ideas for baby witches♥️

You will need: An incense cone/stick to burn (I used frankincense for protection and purification) Rose quartz chip (encourages self love and aids emotional healing) Lavender (healing) Peppermint (protection and healing) Rosemary Incense ashes Sea Salt

A white candle to seal the bottle

Magic doesn’t have to be tough. Here’s proof that there’s a lazy witch in all of us, and it’s easy to let them out.

Purification and Protection Scrub

Making Magical Sleep Circles

Motivation Charm Bag

Jar for Attracting Romance

Violation Salt Scrub

Anti-Anxiety Tea

Love-Drawing Bath Salt Recipe

Easy Tarot Tricks

Herbal Dream Pillow

Magical Shower Disks

Repel an Unwanted Lover

Do some Bath Magic

Tea Spell for Sleep

Gossip Stopping Scrub

City Witch Tips for all of my fellow witches stuck in apartments, dorms or other city areas.

If you can’t burn incense you can make your own sprayable incense by mixing alcohol (usually vodka or rubbing) with essential oils and a bit of oil, spray in the air to act like incense

If you are unable to go outside for whatever reason to get rain water (in my case just no where to collect it safely), fill a jar or glass with regular water and keep it near a cracked window to charge it with the wind, sound and scent of the rain outside. Same goes for storm water

Trapped in city and unable to get ocean water? Sea salt mixed with rain/storm water can be an excellent substitute

To continue on with water substitutes, if you can’t collect snow crushed ice from your fridge will suffice

Low key warding/protection you can use: spray moon water, salt water or sprayable incense about your apartment or dorm, place sigils under doormats, furniture, inside cupboards, etc; place crystals about hidden or out in the open, sweep and dust out the door or towards windows

If you need melted wax to seal a jar or for any other magical purpose, but can’t burn candles, by a wax melter and melt that wax and imagine the light from the burner acting like a flame (plus they are rather cheap, I got mine for 25 bucks)

Need stars in your craft but too much light pollution? Glow in the dark stars on your ceiling or wall can work just as well for visualization. Print out pictures of your favorite constellations or planets and place them up on your walls or on your altar. Live video feed of the night sky can also be easily found on the internet

Bath magic is amazing for low-key ‘in the woods’ witches. Use teas, milk, oils, herbs, bath bombs, bubble baths, salts, etc that relate to your intent. It is also a good place to meditate if you have roommates or family around that would disturb you otherwise

If you do for whatever reason need to burn a candle, birthday candles are small, melt fast, and don’t create a lot of smoke or smokey scent

Sigils are another great low-key form of magic. To boost them up, use color magic related to the color you draw them in, write them using quills made of feathers related to your intent, use colored paper, rub a drop of essential oil on them, charge them with crystals or in your windowsill

You don’t have to burn sigils to activate them, which is hardly an option when you are in a dorm or apartment. Other options are: Shredding them, erasing them, soaking them in a bath or shower, using body heat or your own pulse, etc

Miss having the outdoors and plants around? Windowsill gardens can really help. Small plants you can consider keeping in your windowsill or counter-tops: succulents, cacti, bamboo, lemongrass, basic, rosemary, mint, rosemary, mosses, aloe, snake plant, pothos (and other vines), carrots, beets, shallots, lettuce, spinach, garlic, chives, parsley, oregano, thyme, and marigold

Open your window to let the wind and air from outside to help energize you and clear out negative energies inside

Fun places to put sigils: under furniture, carved into soap, onto shampoo/conditioner bottles, on your make up, inside phone cases, in shoes, under bandages, sewn into pillow cases and blankets, behind pictures in frames, underside of nail polish, carved into wax squares for your wax melter, keys and keychains, behind mirrors or in medicine cabinets, on bookmarks, on or in binders and pencil cases, on medicine bottles, and water bottles/travel mugs

Easy to make and dispose of poppets: carrot sticks (one of my personal favorites), apples or other fruit, clothe, paper, popsicle sticks, paper towels/napkins, toilet paper rolls, eggs, celery stocks, and cotton balls

The internet is an amazing thing. Need some sounds to help you focus or meditate? Easily look up the sounds of rain, storms, wind, ocean waves, jungles, forests, etc

Christmas lights are fun and great way to use discrete witchcraft. Select ones in the colors you wish for them to bring ie green for growth, yellow for inspiration, white for protection, purple for psychic abilities, etc. 

Some everyday things you can use for discrete witchcraft that don’t cost much at all or that you most likely already have: water, table salt, black pepper, paper, crayons/pencils/pens/markers, vinegar, milk, tea, highlighters, make up and beauty supplies, shampoo and conditioner, rubber bands, paperclips, thumbtacks, computer/phone/tablet, music/music player, playing cards, dice, air freshener, perfumes, toothpaste, rice, flour, sugar, honey, and all kitchen herbs and seasonings.

Can’t afford gemstones or crystals on college budget? Crackle and dyed quartz you can find super cheap at craftstores and online. I bought a whole bag for 4 bucks. Use them based on their colors and shapes. Can’t afford that but still want to use rocks in your craft? Find some rocks you like outside, again use their colors and shapes to determine their correspondences. Want to use them for a specific purpose? Paint sigils on them in the color that corresponds with what you want! Charge them in your windowsill or with your own energy and intent. There you go!

Pocket mirrors are cheap, easy to carry around and great for glamours and on the go magic. 

Seriously though, glamour spells are going to be a good option for you. use your make up, skin products, hair care products, brushes/combs, perfume, mirrors, toothbrush/toothepaste and intent. Good to do while you are getting ready for your day

Dream magic is another friend of the city witch! Use crystals, sigils, herbs, etc near your bed before you go to sleep, drink some chamomile, get yourself a dream journal (mine is literally a notebook with construction paper on it), keep it and a pen near you. In the morning write down your dreams, your thoughts, how you feel (tired, refreshed, groggy, etc), and interpret them. 

Can’t afford tarot cards? Print out some, you can usually find them online and they won’t last as long as a real deck but it is a good temporary solution. Want a Ouija board but can’t keep one or need it to be easily hidden? Print one out, draw on one on paper or cardboard, fold it up and store it once you are done. Want a pendulum but can’t afford one? Use your favorite necklace, bracelet or keychain!

Tea and coffee magic is great, make your own tea blends with the herbs you like. Or just buy simple green or black tea and add sugar, milk, etc depending on your intentions

As I said before, crock pot magic. The Modern Cauldron: brew and cook all day with it, fill your apartment with the scent of the herbs and food to fill it with the energies they correspond with and you get a delicious meal to come home to! Most dorms allow them. Rice cookers also work well.

Can’t afford fresh food? Have to survive on ramen, canned soup, and microwaved meals? That is okay! They even correspond with things! Tomato soup for love, beauty and passion. Beef ramen noodles for strength, courage and longevity. Microwave mac n cheese for beauty and feminity. Look at their ingredients and what they correspond with. Sure its not as glamorous as a making a huge made by scratch traditional meal but its kitchen magic none the less. Stir it with your intent while you cook. It isn’t fancy but it works just as well!

Use a notebook or binder for a nice grimoire, decorate it as much as you want on the inside. Print out pictures of nature, animals, planets, stars, places, crystals, etc that you cant’ access/afford and use them in your craft. Spell books and grimoires are powerful tools

Don’t have a wand? Use a wooden spoon. Tie a colored string or ribbon to it to correspond with what energy you want it to have and move and flick it as you would a wand. 

Knitting, crocheting, and knot magic is very apartment friendly. As well as sewing and embroidering plus it is super calming.

Glitter, sequins, and beads are great in witchcraft! Use their colors to determine their correspondences. Put them in spell jars, sachets, bottles, etc. Glitter tip: if you spill any don’t fret, get some packing tape, wrap it around your hand with the sticky part outwards and dab at that glitter spill. You will literally pick up all of the glitter in seconds!

Enchant and charge your pots, pans, skillets, and other cookware to make every meal magical

Make moonwater in your windowsills. Use it for cleansing, beauty, divination, clarity, protection and purification

Take walks. Even if it is a city there is still nature about. Pigeons flying about, potted flowers outside of stores, grass growing in front lawns, etc. Enjoy yourself, even if it is not some wild, vast forest you can still connect with your local nature.

Pick up litter or garbage you see outside, being in the city we all see it. The natural world around you will appreciate you helping out. Bring a bag with you when you take your walks or travel and fill it with wrappers you see on the ground.

In a small jar with a cork top, layer:

Basil

Lemongrass or Lemon Balm

Rosemary

Tree Bark (I used White Oak)

Cinnamon

Fennel Seeds

Ginger Root

Mint

Pine Needles

Let it charge in the sun for an afternoon near your houseplants, in the garden, or even under a favorite tree in the woods. For an extra boost, charge it near a moss agate stone too! Later, seal it with green or white wax and recite:

“Support me and guide me, Spirits of Nature. As a Green Witch, I thank you for your many blessings. I take a little piece of the Forest with me as I walk my path. Blessed be, and so mote it be.” 🌿

As someone who is often low on energy, I know the difficulties that can come with trying to maintain your craft. Especially if, like me, you’re hard on yourself about such things. So here are some low energy ideas you can use in your craft day to day:

🌕 - Pay a little more attention to the seasonings you put on your food or what you drink, you might be doing a bit of accidental magic already! Feeling like you need a little protection? Maybe use a bit of basil and a pinch of salt on your next meal if appropriate. There are tons of simple herbs and blended teas, smoothies ect. out there that can really help boost your day if you need them.

🌕 - Talk to your Deities or spirits casually. If they don’t mind it, that is, do be careful not to offend. Though it can’t be said for all deities or spirits, there are many that will appreciate being regarded even just with casual talk. Discuss things with them, talk about how your day went, things you are concerned over, whatever you please. They might even help with issues if they decide to do so or if they are capable and even if they don’t, most of them are at least pleased to be regarded, especially if you don’t have the energy to do much more than that on a daily basis.

🌕 - Sigils. Sigil everything. Though they cannot solve all problems, I have found that sigils are an effective way to combat a lot of the smaller issues in my life. They don’t require too much energy and there are plenty out there if you look for them, so you don’t even have to design your own. 

🌕 - Time spent researching is not time wasted. If you’re too tired to actually do any craft but want to do something involving it, perhaps try sitting down and doing some research. Read books, look on various websites, research things you’d never looked into before and you never know, you just might find something new that calls to you.

🌕 - Incense/fragrance magic. If you’re able to burn incense or scented candles then take advantage of it, find correspondences for the scents you have and light any that might help you in areas of your life you feel need to improve. If you can’t use those then perhaps you can find scented things for a bath/shower and relax with the scents those provide. 

🌕 - Commune using music. You’d be surprised how many deities and spirits enjoy music. Relax with some you feel will be appropriate, even if it’s not at all traditional and you just might find yourself surprised about what they can enjoy.