Book Of Shadows

I think I’ve never seen such an artistic and beautiful explanation ❤

🌷🌿 spring witchcraft 🌿🌷

a list of things to do through the spring months, as a witch 🌷

🌿 studying flower and herb correspondences for spellwork

🌿 going outside and letting the wind and sun hit you to recharge

🌿 putting your bare feet in grass or soil and imagining being rooted to the earth to help with grounding

🌿 planting wildflowers around your house to save those bees baby

🌿 working with fae and other nature spirits and guardians

🌿 starting an herb or vegetable garden

🌿 spring cleaning to get rid of any old energy and welcome new, clean energy

🌿 opening your windows and letting spring breeze into your home to invigorate you

🌿 harvesting flowers to use for spells (ask nature spirits for permission first and maybe leave a lil somethin in its place as an offering)

🌿 making sunwater/flower teas

🌿 making wishes on dandelions

Lay thorny branches on your doorstep to drive away evil.

Put thyme in your last meal of the day to have pleasant dreams.

Place coins and cedar chips in a box for an easy money spell.

The bark of the willow tree is a natural painkiller.

Put almonds in your pocket to recover a lost object.

Light candles throughout the house regularly.

Sprinkle oats over your garden (especially herbs) to ensure good growth.

Honey is a natural antibiotic and antibacterial. Got a cold sore? Put that stuff all over that. Got a cold? Eat a tablespoon every few hours.

Place lilacs all over the house to get rid of unwanted spirits.

Drink cranberry juice to get a good detox when in need of grounding.

Hang dill over your door to keep people who wish ill on you out.

Place half an onion in the room with someone who is sick to draw out disease.

Place morning glory seeds inside your pillow to get rid of bad dreams.

Pour salt in your bath (or shower floor if you don’t have a bath) to cleanse and ground yourself.

Use chili peppers to break a curse.

Plant rosemary next to your front gate or door for a little good luck.

Energy:  Feminine♀

Element: Water 🜄

Planet: Venus♀

Deities: Aphrodite, Eros, Isis, Venus, Mother Mary, fairies

Qualities: love, romance, beauty, youth, purity 

*Different colours have different meanings

Red - romance, passion

Pink- appreciation, femininity 

White - purity, innocence, youth,sympathy  

Yellow - happiness, joy, friendship

Orange - Enthusiasm, desire

Magickal Uses: Glamour spells, love spells, beauty spells, carry petals to attract love or ward off negative energy, attract fairies 

Remedies: aphrodisiac, calms redness salves are great for treating sun burns,  reduces stress and anxiety, rose hips are an excellent source of vitamin C, uplifts mood, make rose water to hydrate and tone face.  

Description: There are so many species of roses but in general they are flowers that grow from a woody shrub, bloom in an array of colours and belong to the Rosaceae family.They have a pleasant scent to them and are a popular scent for perfume. Their stems are usually woody and have tiny thorns on them. The shrub also produces tiny fruits called rose hips that are full of vitamin C. They like to be placed in the sun and watered everyday if there isn’t rain. Roses are perrenials :)

History: In Rome, huge gardens full of roses showed nobility and were placed in dining rooms to signify that conversations that took place there were secret. They also used roses for perfume, medicine and at weddings. In the Christian faith, red roses symbolise the crucifixion of Christ, red symbolising the blood and five petals representing the five wounds, roses are strongly associated with Mother Mary. Roses are also one of the three floweres mentioned in the bible. In greek mythology, it’s said when Aphrodite rose from the sea, the sea foam turned into white roses.

“Faeries, come take me out of this dull world, For I would ride with you upon the wind, Run on the top of the dishevelled tide, And dance upon the mountains like a flame.”

So the Fae have a court system and the most well known courts are the Seelie (the blessed) and the Unseelie (the unblessed). There are many more courts than that such as the Forest court, the Day court, the Lunar court, etc. I’ve worked with the seasonal courts before therefore having more experience with them. So today I’m focusing on…

The Winter Court

Winter is a time of death, reflection and hibernation. The Winter court is  associated with the Unseelie and can being very cold (haha get it) towards humans. Being part of the Unseelie, people tend to think they’re cruel but from what I’ve experienced they’re just very closed off to outsiders. If you want to work with them you have to be very patient and give them sometime to warm up to you.

 My experience with this court is meeting a faerie who I think was the local Snow Queen. Her presence was very strong and stern and she was very beautiful, she watched me as I walked to school. I began to acknowledge her presence and greet her, after a couple days her presence warmed and I felt comfortable walking by her. I’ve also seen little frost pixies when there are snow storms.

The winter fae have a wise aura to them and are very observant, they’re also  associated with death. If your craft revolves around death definitley contact the Winter Court. These Faeries can be as small as snowflakes or very tall elf-like beings. They tend to have features associated with winter (from what I’ve experienced), ice blue, crystalline or white skin, white, silver or black hair and are very regal. The Winter Court corresponds to shadow magick, death magick and glamour magick. You can connect with them by doing ice witchcraft, do a walking meditation through the winter forest and leaving them offerings.

The Court rules over all things winter: snow, ice and cold and rule from the winter solstice to the spring equinox. The types of fae associated with the court include: Jack Frost, frost fairies and dark elves.

Colours-cranberry, dark green, ice blue, black, white and brown.

Herbs-cranberries, pine, mistletoe, holly, peppermint, juniper.

Crystals-garnet, clear quartz, apophyllite, and blue/white calcite

🌼 One of the most common tricks fairies around the world play on humans is leading us deep into the woods, or into some other strange and indecipherable world, where we lose sight of all things familiar to us and wander dazed and confused for an indeterminable period of time- perhaps forever. In fairy tales, the forest serves as a metaphor for the unknown. We dread going there, but ultimately we must plunge onward-guided, as it were, by magical beings-if we are to unravel the age old mysterious and grow into our full potential. The forest also represents the unconscious, where all fears, memories, and wisdom lie, the quintessential realm of darkness waiting to be illuminated and explored. It symbolizes the “road less traveled”, the primal,unadulterated , and uncharted path that leads us away from conventional, “safe” thinking and into the uncertain and creative territory of our own psyches.

🦋 Getting lost in fairyland can be one of the most enlightening things that could ever happen to a mortal. Following the fey into the forest represents reconnecting with what you know to be true in your heart of hearts, rather than going along with what society has taught you to believe. It signifies relying on your intuition, not just your intellect. And, as so many legends warn, you may never come back- for once you’ve gone beyond the limits of mundane thinking,plumbed your depths, and achieved a heightened sense of awareness, you can never return to the ordinary world you inhabited before the fairies intervened.

First of all, what is a liminal space? A liminal space refers to a place or time that is in a period of transition between two phases. These are usually places where reality feels altered because you are neither moving forward or backward, like a rest stop. The word liminal originates from the Latin word limens, meaning threshold. These places often give off a sense that time stands still and that you are experiencing some sort of reality shift. 

        In magic and witchcraft these spaces are considered to be the boundary between our world and the other, it is known as “the in-between”. These places are considered areas of great magic because it is believed this is where the veil is thin. These places are great for divination, spirit work, meditation and astral travel; they are ideal for hedge witchcraft.

Times & Spaces of Liminality:

crossroads manmade or natural

river, creek or lake shores/ beaches

hallway/corridor/stairwells/landings/doorways

graveyards

dawn, dusk, afternoon, midnight

valleys

forest glades

many more!

      Samhain/Halloween is considered the best time to communicate with spirits and faeries because of its liminality, it is a time of transition between autumn and winter. Irish folklore tells that this is the day faeries and ghosts come out to play because of the veil thinning. The equinoxes and sabbats like Beltane and Imbolc are also days of liminality because the time of day and night are equal (equinoxes) or it is a transition between seasons.  

       Mental states of liminality are also times of spirit communication. While being in a meditative state we are in a state of transition between our concious and sub-concious minds, this is where we sometimes experience astral projection or messages from spirits. People often experience spirit while falling asleep because this is another state of liminality. 

     In my craft I often practice in liminality in order to connect with the faerie realms.

witchy🌹In Old Greek legends,countless earth fairies lived in the forests- and they were quite particular about which trees they chose for their homes. Like the water nymphs, the tree fairies were named according to their habitats. They protected the woodlands, as forest fairies elsewhere do, and unless humans encroached on their homeland they usually left mortals alone. We also find human-animal hybrid creatures in Greek-lore, as well as dragons,giants and assorted monsters, usually the products of mixed-species parents.

🦋 THE DRYADS 🦋-

THESE FOREST FAIRIES SERVE THE HUNTER-GODDESS ARTEMIS AS HER COMPANIONS AND ATTENDANTS.THEY PREFER TO LIVE IN OAKS AND WILLOWS,AND PROTECT THE WOODLANDS. USUALLY PLAYFUL AND HARMLESS TO HUMANS, THEY ONLY SHOW THEMSELVES TO MORTALS WHEN THEY’RE ANGRY- SO IF YOU SEE ONE, BACK OFF FAST. IF YOU NEED TO APPEASE THEM, TRY OFFERING THEM WINE, OLIVE OIL, OR HONEY.

🦋 HAMADRYADS  🦋-

A SPECIAL TYPE OF DRYAD, THESE TREE FAIRIES ACTUALLY EMBODY TREES AND ANIMATE THEM, ESPECIALLY OAKS AND POPLARS IN SACRED GROVES. THEY PENALIZE OR REWARD HUMANS, DEPENDING ON HOW THE HUMANS TREAT PLANTS. IF A TREE DIES NATURALLY OR IS CUT DOWN, THE HAMADRYAD’S SOUL DEPARTS AT THE SAME TIME. IN AN OLD GREEK FAIRY TALE, A MAN NAMED RHOECUS COMES UPON AN OAK THAT’S ABOUT TO FALL DOWN AND PROPS IT UP, THEREBY SAVING THE HAMADRYAD WHO WOULD HAVE DIED ALONG WITH THE TREE.TO REWARD HIM FOR HIS KINDNESS, THE FAIRY BECOMES HIS LOVER.

🦋 OREADES,MELIAI, AND OTHER TREE FAIRIES 🦋-

ACCORDING TO GREEK FOLKLORE, DIFFRENT TYPES OF FAIRIES LIVE IN DIFFERENT TYPES OF TREES. ALL THESE WOOD NYMPHS ARE BEAUTIFUL, GENTLE CREATURES. OREADES,FOR INSTANCE, INHABIT AND PROTECT PINES,FIRS,SPRUCES,AND OTHER CONIFERS. MELIAI ARE THE SPIRITS OF ASH TREES; MALIADES GUARD FRUIT TREES; DAPHNAIE LIVE IN LAURELS, AND SO ON. EVERY TREE HAS A NYMPH IN RESIDENCE.

🦋 SATYRS AND SILENI  🦋-

HALF-GOAT,HALF-MAN, THE SATYR MAKES HIS HOME IN THE WOODS AND MOUNTAINS, HANGING OUT WITH THE GOD DIONYSUS. THESE GUYS SPEND MUCH OF THEIR TIME DRINKING,DANCING,AND RUNNING AROUND AFTER FEMALE FAIRIES (AND SOMETIMES HUMANS). ALSO COMPANIONS OF DIONYSUS, THE SILENI ARE DESCRIBED AS FAT,UGLY,BALD DRUNKS AND LECHERS, WITH ONLY ONE REDEEMING QUALITY; THEIR MUSICAL TALENT. LIKE SATYRS, THE SILENI SOMETIMES APPEAR AS COMPOSITE BEINGS, USUALLY PART HORSE, PART MAN- SIMILAR TO CENTAURS ,BUT NOT AS GOOD-LOOKING.

-source: @dnd-5e-homebrew

- grow flowers, walk and dig in the soil

- eat wild strawberries and blueberries, have fruit picnics

- dance your heart away while the moon is shining upon you

- drink water infused with lavender and honey

🐝 Are the most curious towards humans of all the Fae

🐝 Are very mischievous

🐝Don’t intentionally hurt people out of malice (unless someone did something very bad to them), but are pranksters and sometimes they’re pranks might hurt others

🐝Like to do things just to see how a person would react

🐝Like to hide things as part of a joke but will always return them by the time you really need them

🐝Like to play around with pets. So if you see you’re pet playing around seemingly by themselves, they may be playing with a pixie

🐝Love to give gifts to those they belive deserve them, and show off things they made to people they feel are deserving

🐝Are very childlike so patience should be used with them

🐝Like shiny things as gifts, including glitter

🐝Love to be around children and babies and make them laugh and smile

🐝Are very good at charms and glamours

🐝Love to explore and go on adventures

🐝Are actually more humanlike in they’re mannerisms than faeries but are still under the fae umbrella

🐝They reside in gardens, shrubs, hills, woods, meadows, and tree stumps

🌸Altar Items/ Symbols/ Offerings:

Fae star (septagram), milk, apples, wild flowers, mushrooms, alcohol, fairy statues, butterfly and/or bee symbolism, dried or fresh fruits, fresh water, plants, bells, bubbles, non-plastic glitter, tree symbolism, dancing, 4 leaf clovers, nuts and seeds

Don'ts: anything plastic or unnatural like plastic glitter (that’s littering and fae hate littering), chocolate (it’s extremely dangerous for animals), Himalayan salt (it gets its pink color from iron and iron repels fae)

💎Stones and Crystals:

Pink tourmaline, rose quartz, aura quartz, chyroprase, amethyst, peridot, opal (opalite), tree agate, moss agate, dyed quartz, holey stones, goldstone, copper, honey calcite, calcite (any)

🌻Herbs and Plants:

Rose, lavender, thyme, chamomile, blackberry, apple, clover, elderberry, violet, bluebells, lilac, peony, st John’s wort, oak, holly, willow, moss, fern, dandelions, berries

🙏🏽Deities:

Brigid, Aine, Rhiannon, Lugh, Morrigan

💨Essential oils and Incense:

Bergamot, lavender, rose, fir, pine, ylang ylang, geranium, jasmine, lemongrass, strawberry, violet, gardenia, grapefruit, oakmoss, tea tree

🍀Natural Gateways (to the fae realm):

Rivers, stone or tree arches, lakes, springs, mountains, old trees, (wishing) wells, hills, wildflower fields, stone circles, flower gardens, rainbows, clover patches, mushroom circle

🦋Fae Elements (7 elements of fae):

Water, Earth, Air, Fire, Moon, Sun, Stars

🔮Spells and magic fae can help with:

*this isnt a complete list, but it’s a list of what I’ve found fae to be the MOST helpful at

Cottage witchcraft, kitchen magic, garden magic, prosperity, happiness spells, elemental magic, art magic, life witchcraft, animal magic, cannabis magic, solar and lunar magic, nature magic, air witchcraft, fertility spells, magic/witchcraft that has to children

🌹Fae Tea blend:

Raspberry leaf

Rose

Lavender

Lemonbalm

Strawberry

🌼Fae Tea blend 2:

Earl grey tea

Jasmine or rose or lavender (optional)

Cream (or any milk substitute)

Fae witch bath (mine)

Fae work guide for witches (mine)

Pixies!! (Not mine)

My personal favorite fae sigil (not mine)

Faery sugar recipe (not mine)

Gift ideas for Fae Witches (not mine)

Fae witch self care tips! (Not mine)

Fae witch activities:

🌸 clean up litter!

🌸 spend time in or near natural gateways

🌸 wear a rose, lavender, or floral perfume blend

🌸help animals when you can

🌸 grow a faery garden

🌸 study local fae

🌸stay hydrated with fruit infused water and floral infused water (or teas)

🌸have an outdoor tea party or picnic to honor the fae

🌸 make offerings regularly, especially before asking for favors

🌸 things going missing or lost things suddenly reappearing is a sign of fae near

🌸 carry a satchet of, or wear a locket of rose quartz, thyme, st John’s wort, rose petals and lavender to attract fae and help you see them

🌸 dance, sing, or make art

So I was looking out my window and saw two birds and the idea of making a list of symbolism associated with types of birds came to mind. My mom always taught me if you see an animal -especially if they are doing something out of the ordinary- you should take it as an omen. So here’s a list of some basic birds, some of the associations are personal but I hope you like it!

Blue Jay-the truth will be revealed, high energy, playfulness, clarity and communication.

Cardinal-hope, joy, good health, some associate them with angels or deceased love ones, passion and warmth.

Crow-often associated with magic and witches, transformation, power, intelligence and mystery. 

Duck-friendships, new friends, happiness, good fortune and protect against negative energies “water off a ducks back” :)

Dove-peace, harmony, joy, love, might be telling you to break away from a toxic situation, think positive, often associated with Aphrodite or Jesus or Angels

Eagle-power, leadership, freedom, adventure, breaking free.

Hawk- common as spirit guides, courage, protection, and awareness. 

Hummingbird- I adore hummingbirds and often associate them with faeries. Creativity, joy, love and beauty. Can be a sign that you are moving too fast in life and need to take a break.

Magpie-Magpies represent duality because seeing them can be really good or really bad, I know it’s confusing :/ Seeing a magpie can be a good luck omen and new oppurtunities will appear. They also represent illusion and trickery, maybe someone is being a two-faced friend to you. 

Owl- wisdom, associated with the goddess Athena, intuition, spiritual exploration, change, observation and intelligence.

Raven- associated with the nordic god Odin, mystery, magic, fae magic, knowledge, mischieve, and can be seen as a death omen (but can also mean change) 

Robin- luck, prosperity, good things will happen, joy and your hard work will soon be rewarded. 

Sparrow- associated with Aphrodite, new love and relationships, fertility, team work, time of productivity and stop procrastinating.

Stork-long life, prosperity, fertility, new life, wisdom, take time to relax, motherhood and luck.

Swan- also associated with Aphrodite and Apollo, gracefulness, beauty, music, poetry, creativity, loyalty, and long lasting relationships.

Vulture-death, cleaning up other people’s messes, renewal, patient, use your resources and be perceptive.

Woodpecker- hard work, take advantage of new oppurtunities, attention, progress and determination.

☀️sunrise is the best time for: healing, positivity, happiness, anti-anxiety/depression, spirituality, self care/love, air magic, cleansing, soft energy/ positive energy amplifier, truth spells, protection, and peace

☀️sunrise associations: citrine, lemon, peaches, ginger, orange, morning dew, orange calcite, coffee, bergamot, lime, earl grey, mint, sage, cinnamon, grapefruit, morning glory, marigold, saffron, calendula, daylily, daisy, black tea, and frankincense

☀️tips and things to try:

🌞yoga (especially sun salutations!)

🌻sunbathe in the sunrise to cleanse and charge with positive energy

🌞if you can’t wake up before/during sunrise, just leave your window blinds open to help you wake up naturally and/or to charge in the sunlight while you’re sleeping

🌻this is a great time for tea and coffee magic

🌞this is a great time to charge stones, especially sun-sensitive stones. (Here’s a post on solar stones)

🌻listen to and charge with soft or acoustic music

🌞 spend some time outside, take some deep breaths of fresh air, enjoy the birds chirping, flowers, dew, fog, and the beautiful colors in the sky that sunrise brings

🌻charge some lemon juice in the sunrise for extra boost of cleansing, positivity, and happiness properties (to make it stronger you can infuse it with mint or grapefruit, which both have similar properties and correspond with sunrise)

🌞if you’re comfortable with it, leave an offering out for sunrise deities and dawn sprites & other sun fae

🌻sunrise is a spiritual time, it’s the perfect time for meditation, exploring spirituality, astral travel, etc.

🌞here’s my post on how to connect to the elements in the morning/dawn

☀️My sunrise recipes:

🍋Sunrise tea: (has cleansing, happiness, positivity, energy boost, and protection properties)

1 part grapefruit (be careful if you’re on medication) optional

1 part sage or basil (whichever you prefer, both work)

1 part lemon

1 part orange

1 part mint

1 part hibiscus

🍊Sunrise oil/diffuser blend: (helps you connect to the sunrise, and it’s energy. It has positivity, happiness, anti-depression/anxiety, glamour, cleansing, and love properties)

Bergamot

Grapefruit

Rosemary

Lime

🍑Dawn faeries/spirtes:

☀️What they’re like- human looking, lots of pinks (their skin as well as ‘clothes’), they love dancing during sunrise, waking up the animals and plants sweetly, happy attitude, gentle, they love dew, pink clouds, they have a soft yet sparkly pink glow (it feels warm but not hot), and can bring about peaceful and positive feelings

☀️Offerings- rose quartz!!!, grapefruit, pink chyroprase, pink roses, peaches, peach roses, peony, geranium, hibiscus, marigold

hi, angels! you didn’t think i forgot about Mabon, did you? the autumn equinox falls in September, typically ranging from the 21st to the 24th. this year, in 2017, it is occurring on the 22nd. Mabon is symbolic - it the first official day of Fall, as well as a time to show your thanks and count your blessings - a witch’s thanksgiving, if you will! the days and nights are now equal in length, and it is a wonderful period to celebrate such a balance. this was the first holiday i celebrated as a witch. it may even be my favourite holiday on the Wheel of the Year. Mabon is the pathway to a beautiful season, and the air offers a warm essence. it is full of good feelings: being extra appreciative of what you have, recognizing the potential you have to change, and being inspired to grow. with that said, here are some ideas to incorporate into your Mabon altar!:

🍂 colors. this is always the first thing my mind goes to when creating a themed altar! it is the basis for the whole feeling of your sacred space, and will help to get you in the mood for the season. oranges, reds, gold, browns, yellows, and deep purples are a few good fits. objects such as candles, cloths, ribbons, flowers, or statues in these colors are a few wonderful ideas.

🍂 imagery. for this particular time of year, some things you should incorporate include pumpkins, gourds, baskets, acorns, apple or pumpkin seeds, and corn/corn dolls, all of these things symbolize the second harvest, and should also get you in the right mood for the autumn season. if you like, try adding some collected fallen leaves and sticks, as well. (if you cannot add any of these objects in their natural forms, dollar and craft stores have faux or decorative versions of all of them)! 

🍂 balance. after all, this is a time of year in which light and dark are at their balanced peak.  quartz on one side and obsidian on the other, a light and dark feather, dark and light pumpkins or gourds, a black candle and a white one - try including this symbolism in a creative way!

🍂 candles + incense. what altar is complete without some sort of candle? add ones in the colors of fall, or in yummy autumn scents. if you cannot add real candles to your altar, consider LED ones or fairy lights, spritzing a holiday scented spray around your space. for incense, try to include some scents such as myrrh, sage, pine, frankincense, sweetgrass, cinnamon, and even pumpkin.

🍂 herbs, spices, + crystals. add small dishes or bottles of herbs that compliment the season! marigold, sage, chamomile… just to name a few! citrine, clear quartz, amber, gold, or yellow topaz are a few crystal ideas to get started, as well. 

🍂 food. once the actual holiday is closer, consider adding some fresh offerings in bowls or baskets, or on pretty plates/trays. food offerings may include grapes, apples, nuts, grains, and wine.