☽Darling Divinations☾

i will have a happy and peaceful Spring

i will have a happy and peaceful Spring

i will have a happy and peaceful Spring

i will have a happy and peaceful Spring

i will have a happy and peaceful Spring

i will have a happy and peaceful Spring

faeries live here

By putting certain things underneath your pillow, you will allow those metaphysical properties to interact with your dreams, and your person all throughout the night, when you sleep upon that pillow. Here is a small list of constructs you can put underneath your pillow, that will provide to you certain energies, minds states, and physical stimulus throughout the night based on what they are:

Lapis lazuli under your pillow for awareness of your dreams, and vividness of those dreams.

Clear quartz under your pillow to wake up with more energy, after you awake from your sleep.

Bayleaf under your pillow in order to have more prophetic dreams.

Chamomile under your pillow in order to promote relaxation, and good  dreams.

Rose petals under your pillow in order to bring love into your waking life.

Peppermint under your pillow in order to promote relaxation, and vivid dreams.

Lavender under your pillow in order to promote calm, and in order for you to sleep well.

Anise under your pillow in order to prevent nightmares.

Rosemary under your pillow in order to prevent nightmares, and to bring deep sleep.

Garlic under your pillow in order to promote sleep well.

You can put a blade of grass, or a leaf underneath your pillow to promote growth, and change in your waking life.

Money under your pillow for wealth, and prosperity in your waking life.

You can put a picture of someone underneath your pillow in order to connect with them better.

You can put the name of someone underneath your pillow in order to connect with them better.

TO BIND- wrap in black thread, drip wax over, or seal in a jar and hide it in the dark.

TO BANISH- burn an effect to ash and sweep off the back door step, cast it out a window, or bury in the ground and spit on it

TO ENCOURAGE-  plant it by the front door/steps, bury by a window, or place it on a windowsill

TO HIDE- place in a jar painted black, cover with cloth and bury, or wrap with a ribbon

TO CLEANSE- bury it in a bowl of  salt, burn herbs and pass through the smoke, or lay it in a moonwater bath

TO GLAMOUR- leave under the full moon, hold its reflection over a mirror with herbs, or 

TO WISH- place before a candle and blow it out, drown a coin in water, or let seeds blow into the wind

TO COMMUNICATE- (with a spirit or deity) - anoint a candle, leave out offerings, or open the front doors and windows

TO WARD- leave part of the spell in four corners, draw lines around the protected area, or plant an object of projection in the north, east, south, and west edges

TO CURSE- spit on it, drag your nails down it, or stick sharp things in it

TO DISCOURAGE - plant or bury by the back door, or burn to ash

TO JINX- say it three times out loud, or say a word the same time as someone else

TO MANIPULATE - use wax, use poppets, or tie several strings to pieces of an effect

capricorns : 

Picture Credit: Zenned Out .com

A Quick Introduction to the 8 Pagan Holidays, or Sabbats, of the Year

Dates may Vary due to year, and multiple sources I have found have different dates

Yule (December 20-23): The winter equinox and when days become shorter. People begin to make preparations for the cold months and decorate trees with many cold weather foods to symbolize the continument of life in winter.

Imbolc (Febuary 2nd): “The promise of Spring” this is a time typically when sheep would begin to lactate, meaning they were pregnant. A time of celebration for the coming spring and crops and animals would be blessed. The goddess Bridgid would be honored as she symolizes fertility.

Ostara (March 19-22): The spring equinox and a celebration of the beginning of spring! Some easter traditions come from Ostara.

Beltane (May 1st): The festival of Fire and Mayday, the halfway between spring an summer, the weather is getting warmer for most! A time to be greatful for the gifts of Spring and many celebrate on Beltane Eve with big bonfires and on my first with flower crowns and may poles. Beltane is considered by many to be a holiday where the veil between worlds is very thin.

Litha (June 19-23): The summer solstice! Days are long enough for work and play and many announce engagements during this time and many continue for a full Harvest.

Lughnasadh(August 1st): Symolizing the first harvest and the midway point between summer and autumn. When many get married and celebrate this time with breads and fruits made available by the harvest. A time for gratitude.

Mabon (September 21-24): The autumn Equinox and the holiday we are enjoying right now! A celebration of the harvest and preparations for the winter soon to come. Celebrates abundance and the good reaped from labor.

Samhain (Oct 31- Nov 1): ITS HALLOWEEN! Annnd the witches new year. One of the most important holidays where the veil between worlds is thin. A time to honor loved ones, friends, familiars, and pets who have passed on. A very powerful time where one may focus on guidance, clearance of negative energy, and the beginning of a positive new year.

These are short and simple explanations and I hope I didn’t get anything wrong! Feel free to add info or correct me on any points.

Happy Witching!

When is Samhain? October 31st to November 1st. It is the halfway point between the Autumn equinox and Winter solstice!

What is Samhain? A sabbat marking the end of the harvest and the beginning of the darker half of the year. It is also a time to pay respects to and remember the dead. It is also sometimes called the “Witches New Year.”

Activities to celebrate Samhain may include, but are certainly not limited to:

Taking a nature walk to enjoy the last bits of the harvest season before the cold sets in. 

Decorating your home with seasonal decor and autumnal colors (foods of harvest like corn, acorns, pumpkins etc. make good decor)

Set up an altar to honor your ancestors 

Prepare a nice dinner and set places for those who have passed

Tell stories about those who have passed with shared loved ones 

Visit the cemetery for your own loved ones and for those who do not have anyone left who remember them

Hold a seance

Any type of divination/divinatory guidance

Join the community! No need to celebrate the entirety of the holiday with others as Samhain is probably the most private of all the Sabbats, but hosting or attending a ritual or feast can’t hurt anything.

Foods/Herbs/Spices associated with Samhain:

allspice berries

broom

catnip

mountain ash berries

mugwort

mullein

oak leaves

rosemary

sage

pine cones

straw

corn

turnips

apples

gourds

nuts

mulled Wines

beef

pork

poultry.

So you realized Samhain’s coming soon and just like every year you’re rushing everything last second. Right? Welcome to the messy witch club. In this post I’m gonna share with you some ideas to help you maximize these days and get ready for Samhain in time;) Enjoy!

1) Buy your ritual pumpkin. Any type, size and shape would do. Whether at the farmers’ market or at the supermarket, it’s important to choose a healthy-looking orange buddy to keep you company for as long as possible, even when it dries. If unsure, don’t buy multiple pumpkins: just focus on choosing the one. Name it straight away. Call it by its name from the very start of your friendship.

2) Buy pumpkin for cooking purposes. Whole, chopped, sliced, puréed, powdered (does it even exist?), whatever. The secret here is to do your research and preselect a specific recipe that you’d like to follow, so you’re not wasting money buying random ingredients or extra pumpkin.

3) Have a ritual candle ready. Basic but important. Make sure you have at least one (preferably scented) medium-sized candle to create the right atmosphere in your sacred space. Planning ahead your Samhain ritual intentions helps you matching the color/scent of the candle to promote best results afterwards.

4) Sip spicy drinks/red wine. Stick to rustic, simple, peculiar aromas. Give space to new drinks. Anise tea anyone? Even a strongly spiced hot chocolate could be an alternative! The “red wine club” should in fact go for Pinot Noir. Carmenere, Castillo and Zinfandel are premium treats. 

5) Ditch the jeans for dresses, skirts, tights, socks and leggings. Pretty self explanatory, but I encourage you to have fun wearing fancy stuff that hugs our beloved legs or shows them now that the season isn’t freezing yet. Plus, pants aren’t always so comfy. Take care of your girls from time to time…

6) Start familiarizing with your tarot deck or pendulum. Use your tools everyday, learn how they work and how they can be interpreted. This step is key to really take heed of Samhain’s magic: the chance to communicate with that part of our family and forefathers on the other side. This time of the year is favorable for divination and readings.

7) Check moon phases everyday. Just do it. Read about each phase, what it means and what action it does promote. That’d make you aware of the potential outcome of certain types of spells that you may want to cast later on Oct 31st. Also, being aligned with moon cycles during these two weeks will allow you to slowly progress in everyday life, especially from Samhain’s night onwards, as you’ll be able to view the upcoming year from a wiser perspective.  8) Stretch. “Oh wait what? Halloween workout? No way.”… No. Hear me out, breathe. This piece of advice is for making you feel in shape and physically ready for autumnal activities/everyday life. In fall, our muscles transition from the warmth of summer to the coldness of winter. Leaving them rigid and unstretched can cause the so called “seasonal pains”. We witches want to avoid that, ok? Commit to a 5-10 min stretching routine. If you like yoga, give it a try! If you’re a yogi/yogini, you’re one upping us all at this point… Good job!;D

9) Plan a house party or a night walk. Invite people over for a movie marathon, a tea party or pj party. This sabbat is perfect for indoor events/venues. However, the night walk and the trick or treat are definitely a must! Have a drink out, go crazy with makeup and outfits and have loads of random fun. Junk food allowed.

10) Invest in lip balm, hand cream and moisturizer. This is totally up to you and your own likings, though I’d suggest to go for more buttery formulas that can prevent any type of dryness or cold fissures. So  m a j o r l y  annoying…

11) Always, ALWAYS carry a flashlight with you this month. Safety first. +50 cookie points if you have it installed on your phone.

I really wish you all a good Samhain and hope this post was inspiring :D 

1- Hecate

Greek Titan of Witches, Witchcraft, Sorcery, and Crossroads.

When I first began this project, I knew that I wanted to end with Hecate. She is simultaneously the final and the first, our alpha and omega of Witchcraft. She dominates popular witch lore, but you would never know it as she resides in the shadows, side plots, and brief mentions. Only when you seek her out does she reveal herself to you, lighting your path while casting shadows and ghosts. Many, if not all, modern Witches, Pagans, and Wiccans see Hecate as a Goddess of Witches, amongst other appropriate attributes, and continue her worship and reverence now several thousand years ongoing.

As is the case with most of Greek Mythology, Hecate has multiple origin myths and genealogies. This is most likely the result of her originating outside of the Greeks, and being adapted and merged with the existing pantheon. Most traditions have Hecate as the daughter of the Titans Perses, titan of destruction, and Asteria, titan of falling stars and nocturnal prophecy. Hecate was their only child, and was able to retain her powers post Zeus’ coup as she helped him fight the Giants. As child of Asteria, her grandmother was the Titan of the Moon, Phoebe, and her cousin was Olympian lunar all-star Artemis.

There are various stories in which Hecate plays a part. Her most notable and appropriate for this time of year, however, is her integral role in assisting Demeter’s search for her beloved daughter, Persephone. Upon Persephone’s decent into Hades, Hecate, through the light of her torches, helped Demeter discover her daughter in the underworld. As such, Hecate has become a chthonic Goddess, and Persephone’s yearly attendant and psychopomp to the underworld. Her position as gatekeeper and guide to Hades solidifies many of her numerous attributes.

Hecate is associated with ghosts, necromancy, and magic. She is identified with crossroads, torches, and dark hounds. She was a common household deity for the Athenian—her shrines placed in doorways and city gates to both protect from restless spirits and bestow blessings and safe passage. Her worship and cult was as extensive as her various attributes, with temples and shrines scattered across the Mediterranean. As a key figure in the Persephone saga, Hecate was integral in the ancient Eleusinian Mysteries, impacting secret societies and occult rituals to this day.

Out of all her characteristics, her association with the crossroads is perhaps the most pertinent to my series. Most often, we think of crossroads as the intersection of two roads, yielding four directions. This was not always the case, however, as it was more common to have a proverbial ‘fork in the road’, yielding three directions. This is the kind of crossroads in which Hecate resides. Her statues depict her in triplicity, forearms outstretched, holding torches, keys, serpents, daggers, etc. One face in each direction, Hecate is the arbiter of passages, and in this way is the consort of the God Hermes.

Hecate is one of the original Triple Goddesses of Witchcraft, if not the primordial one. Her triplicity has defined much of Modern Pagan theology, with her stance representing the three phases of the moon, Waxing, Full, and Waning (Maiden, Mother, Crone respectively). Her mythological genealogy as the granddaughter of Phoebe and cousin to Artemis has yielded Hecate as a Goddess of the Moon in her own right, most often known as the unseen phase of the moon, the New Moon (however she is just as often associated with all moon phases). In Greek/Roman Mythology, Hecate joins many lunar goddesses in addition to Phoebe and Artemis, including Selene and Diana. The five were often conflated, confused, and worshiped both in tandem and in conflict. This ever shifting, impossible to pin down, lunar association echos her transient nature of existing in the shadows.

Hecate is both mysterious and severe. Her face is hidden behind her torches, or on the dark side of the moon, however her presence is a constant. She is life, death, and rebirth. She is both light and dark magic. She was beloved in her association with rites of passage like childbirth, and feared in her role as Queen of Shades, present at the final rite of passage, death. Her nature has permeated my entire series in such a profound and indescribable way, I can only show you:

#93: Lilith— often worshiped by modern Pagans in tandem with Hecate #92: Circe: Daughter of Hecate #89, #54, #39: Bewitched: A common expression “For Hecate’s Sake!” Occurs throughout the show. #79: Aradia: Daughter of Lucifer and Diana. Often seen as the daughter of an amalgamated Diana-Hecate. #70: Medea: Priestess of Hecate #67: Charmed: The Halliwell Sisters: Appears in the episode “The Wedding from Hell” #56: Ceridwen: Often worshiped in tandem with Hecate as Dark Mothers by modern Pagans. . #52, #27: Practical Magic: The necromancy ritual the Owen’s Sisters perform, albeit pronounced incorrectly. “Black as night, erase death from our sight. White as light, Mighty Hecate make it right.” #10: Willow Rosenberg: Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Mentioned in several episodes and referred to as “Queen and Protectress of Witches.” #7: American Horror Story: Coven: Supreme Fiona Goode invokes Hecate “Come to me Hecate, Mother of Angels, Cosmic World Soul.” #5: The Weird Sisters: Macbeth: Hecate is their master

This list is pretty fitting for a Goddess whose name etymologically may mean “she that operates from afar.” She is seldom a central figure or even visible, however witches from the Owens to the Goodes, from Willow Rosenberg to Endora, invoke her name and ask for her spirit, guidance, and presence. Hecate, in many ways, is both the first witch, and the last. She is our alpha and omega. She is the embodiment of power and strength. As a Goddess of Witchcraft, she does not merely exist in the margins of society like the rest of us—She is the margin itself.

Hail Hecate.

“Hecate, Cerridwen. Dark Mother take us in. Hecate, Cerridwen. Let us be reborn.”