i always miss the full moon

One home ward for general protection, probably as a container spell or as an artificial spirit (perhaps using clove, red pepper, cinnamon, and soil or dust from the corners of the home/property), for the purpose of keeping out ill-fortune, ill-intent, and unwanted guests

One completely separate home ward, probably as a container spell (perhaps using dill, rosemary, and garlic), for the purpose of keeping out uninvited spirits, unwanted spirits, and malefica sent intentionally or unintentionally by other practitioners

One heavy-duty protective amulet, probably made of rusty nails or a piece of hematite or otherwise iron, for the purpose of behaving as a suit of heavy armor in case of spiritual alarm; to be carried about as you solve the problem; the effects of which may be encumbering and too imposing for everyday use

One more mild protective amulet (perhaps made of amethyst jewelry, or an acorn, or an oak twig cross), for the purpose of providing an immediate protection against ill spirits and energies; to be worn when a shield is desired, but a shielding energy-working technique is too draining or time-consuming; should be comfortable to wear as often as desired

Of all of these things, avoid repeating ingredients across charms, unless you are in special allyship with a certain spirit.

Those persons also suffering from nightmares or disturbed dreams may also benefit from:

One bedroom ward, probably a container spell or Witch's Ladder (perhaps containing star anise, amethyst, knotted cord, spiders or the forms of spiders, and rosemary), for the purpose of tangling up ill spirits and ill energies which inspire bad dreams.

I'm not entirely a part of any community, so I don't really have anyone else to ask, my apologies... But I would like to look more into protective wards/charms/etc in particular... and I do suffer from nightmares, night terrors, the like... Unfortunately, even medication doesn't get rid of it. It tampers it down but it never gets rid of the worst of it

I don't have repeating dreams but they can be incredibly distressing, stressful, and leave me very troubled. (if you'd like more information, feel free to message me)

I would like to have my try at wards for nightmares and the lot, but I've no idea what 'feeding' it would mean or comprise of and so any extra information would be very helpful.

Here is a longer post I wrote about how to do it.

This is another post about making a specially prepared oil to feed/charge magical objects.

House Guardian

House Guardians help keep wayward negative energies from accumulating too quickly or from “sticking” from day to day activities. They do not, however, stop massive amounts of it from being brought in.

Materials:

River stone that catches your eye and “feels right” (can be a land stone, any color but preferably you have a stock of these things you have picked up and can pick the one that your guard symbol can stand out on)

pen or brush (I prefer a short quill as you can see from the photo)

Black ink (Normally I have some ink I’ve made from fire ash but I haven’t had the chance to restock yet, so India Ink it is!)

Process:

Your House Guardian is going to essentially be your security guard, so treat it accordingly. 

As you pick out your stone, feel its energy. If it seems to resonate with a particular frequency that you associate with masculine or feminine, or if the stone outright says it refuses to be referred to in such a manner, give it that dignity. Most stones are neutral in that regard but “identifying” a stone in such a way only helps in naming and building a relationship. Every stone is different.

This process can take a long time, so don’t expect to get it done in a half hour. With this particular stone pictured above, I have been working at building a connection for a few months (and asked permission for it to be a part of this post). Over this time it has let me know what to call it, how to treat it, and what “face” it was comfortable with displaying. Sometimes a stone won’t tolerate a face but a symbol, sigil, glyph, sometimes a word in a certain language, sometimes even random squiggles or nothing at all. The stone will let you know.

The important thing to remember is that stones are OLD. They’re made up of millions of tiny dust particles that have traveled on the wind and water, been buried and compressed under immeasurable amounts of pressure, melted and “frozen” throughout the life-age of the Earth. They are parts of a larger whole broken off and slowly eroding away again to start that cycle anew. Essentialy they are the Earth’s “blood.” They’ve been through so much more than any of us can imagine and carry with them a steadfast stubbornness that has allowed their spirits to persist for so long. 

Being labeled and used as a House Guardian is hardly a lasting moment for them, but aside from that… and like a security guard they might divulge a few old war stories or open up about the state of things in the Hidden World. Just keep in mind as well that what they may share is not often comprehensible by humans….and is said VERY slowly.

When you’ve given it a face (literally or metaphorically) you’ve also more than likely been given suggestions on where your House Guardian would prefer to be stationed, now that it knows what you want out of the relationship as well.

Be it on a windowsill, in a forgotten corner of your home, buried in a flowerpot or in the yard somewhere, even in a purse or messenger bag (should they be a rolling stone ^w^). 

[[Unlike my normal stuff that tries to be a lot more general, I'm going to speak primarily just about my spirit-working witchcraft paradigm; this post may not be applicable to you.]]

I believe that all magic takes energy to work. Often, when I assist people with troubleshooting spellwork, the only problem that person is having is that they are either not ever powering their spells, or they are failing to provide the spells with more energy when the batteries have run dry.

Typically, these people are aware that spells need power to go. They just don't have a grasp on how they can do it within their unique belief structure.

Common problems I see:

Imagination/desire is falsely equated to energy work. As in, "I visualize that the spell is filled with power." But no actual movement of energies takes place.

In the way I do energy work, visualization may be conceived of as a hollow vessel or empty skin which will shape and form power that is poured into it - but you've got to pour the power, or else the skin will rapidly wither away.

A charm or action is performed, but it fails to correctly evoke power.

E.g., the practitioner has read that "offerings don't need to be physical, singing, dancing, and devotional acts are powerful offerings," and has taken this to mean that doing their homework with the intent of recharging their spells is sufficient.

The practitioner has bought into the "whatever you want to do will work because your witchcraft is under your control" thing and is basically just having fun with the vibes.

E.g., in the charm, "Sun and Moon watch over you, by the Stars you're Cleansed," the practitioner may certainly be evoking power, but the power is not a revitalizing one; it is a cleansing or purifying one.

A practitioner defending their choices to use this charm may say that it makes their space feel lovely, or vibrate with power, and that - just like putting an object under the full moon to charge it - their enchanted objects are naturally just supposed to soak up this power.

Which they may well be doing - to become cleansed. Not necessarily to become saturated with the vital power required to function magically.

Below are things about charging which may assist you if you think you struggle with properly feeding your spellwork after it has been cast.

Feeding or charging?

Same thing. I find the imagery inspired by feeding to be closer to the magical reality of the operation: the spell must consume. It must take in energy, chew it up, swallow it, and digest it.

It will likely work more weakly when it is hungry, and - just like an electronic device shutting itself off at 2% to save your user data - when it becomes too starved for power, it will cease to function until you feed it again.

What to feed?

In all cases, unless you are a trained energy worker, avoid only imagining or believing that any magical object has regained a charge.

Generally, you will want to sacrifice a physical substance (food, specially prepared feeding substances).

What you do with remnants of an offering after it has been given is up to you.

Exactly what you feed your magic with does matter - but for general purposes, almost anything will do. Your own intuition and spirits will advise on the details if special circumstances arise.

Generally speaking, we might say that if a spell is constructed with certain powers, it is best to mimic those powers in charging. If you cast a candle spell, candles may be best to charge it; if your spell is one of special waters, then mixing in empowered water may be your best choice, and so forth.

When in doubt, share some of your meal, if you can spare it.

When to feed?

For spells that are expected to function on an ongoing basis, but currently aren't carrying a heavy load (e.g., a happy job spell while your job environment is already basically fine and there are no big issues to deal with), try feeding once a month. The full moon makes a good reminder.

For spells that are carrying a heavy load (e.g., a happy job spell but they just promoted the Worst Woman Ever to supervisor), feed weekly - or more often.

For spells that are on bed rest, in hibernation, or are active but rarely used, quarterly (on equinoxes or solstices) may more than suffice.

It's a good idea to try and develop a sense for whether or not an object is charged or not - this is not a terribly advanced psychic operation. A pendulum board with the numbers 1-10 to gauge a charge level is ideal to bridge the gap.

If a spell stops working, try feeding it. A lack of energy is not the only reason spells fail, but this is a good first step to troubleshooting.

Prepare a Feeding Charm

This charm, in and of itself, does not need to deliver metaphysical power. Rather, you are instructing the magical object to come and feed.

Conceptually, we may imagine that if the spell is a hound dog out chasing rabbits, we are whistling for it to come back to the cabin and eat. Without our instructions, it may not find the food, or may neglect to eat it at all.

This charm may be as simple as "come and eat," spoken with special focus over the object. Or, it may be a hand sign. If you like, you can visualize - perhaps a hungry mouth bursting into appearance atop the object.

A simple Feeding Charm ("come and eat") may be supplemented by whatever special instructions you have in that moment. E.g., "and once you're doing eating, go right away and keep performing your duties." Or, "...then hibernate, and reserve all this energy for yourself; rest and grow strong, and I'll get you next when I need you."

Intuition may advise that for special objects, unique preparation methods must be undertaken. You can't snap your fingers at every kind of magic, after all. But for the kind over which you are lord and master, I recommend keeping your Feeding Charm very easy to carry out.

Combine the Feeding Charm with any sacrifice of digestible energy

Over any object to be fed, perform your Feeding Charm.

Then, provide energy directly to the object. This may take many forms depending on the object:

Incense and candles may be burned nearby; ideally, hold object in heat or smoke

Food may be placed in front of

Special oils or waters may be daubed on

Energy work may be performed to pour in power

Prayers may be performed, requesting that some entity or force directly donate their power to the object

If the offering must be "activated" in any sense (lighting a candle, etc), do so.

In circumstances where a spell still has some energy and is just due for a meal, let the energy "settle" for perhaps fifteen to thirty minutes, or even an hour or so.

Then, perform a closing or sealing charm to end the feeding. Proceed to direct your spell back to its task. ("Now that you've eaten, go back to do your work.")

After this point, dispose of any offering remnants in any method which you prefer.

In the case that a spell has run completely dry and is now a withered husk, more work is required

In fact, it may be easier to just cast a whole new spell, but in case you don't want to:

Experiment with a variety of offerings and energy sources; not just different kinds of food, but food combined with prayers, etc.

Instead of telling your magic to eat and get back to work, use your Feeding Charm to instruct the object to consume as much energy as it needs to grow strong and return to its former strength.

If possible, carry the object with you and allow it to feed off of your personal energy, like a leech.

You may need to place the object in a special container, such as a cauldron or coffin, to represent an embryonic or gestational state of rebirth. While the object is interred within, feed and care for as usual.

There is a maximum amount of metaphysical energy that spells can absorb at once. Like an underweight puppy, one feeding might not do; you may have to carefully feed the charm over multiple days before it begins to wake up again.

Your life may be made easier if you can get a spirit to watch over this process for you.

If strange, hungry creatures appear in your dreams, feed them.

Recharging a spell with no physical vessel

Generally, if you expect to use a spell over and over again in the long term, you should tie it to a physical vessel. This makes maintenance (such as feeding) easier.

However, you may still be able to feed a spell with no physical vessel.

Provide the spell with a clear quartz crystal, or other specially prepared temporary vessel, and call the spell down into it in order for it to feed.

When the feeding is done, seal the feeding dismiss the spell as you normally would.

If the spell can't be "called down" away from its post, take a candle and carve into it the name or mark of your spell, work over the candle until it is metaphysically relevant, and burn it with the instructions that its power goes to your spell.

You may be saying that your spell does not have a name or mark with which to identify it (and no, I do not mean the name of the recipe; I mean the name of the individual spell). If that is the case, in the future, refrain from casting spells with no vessels and no names and sending them out into the world, only to later on realize you need to call it back and mess with it.

If this is, however, the case for you currently, consider the following stopgap solutions:

Use your spell notes as an information taglock ("this power goes to the Red Pepper Spellbreaker cast on [date] for [purpose]")

Create a custom sigil specifically identifying the spell cast prior

Re-create the original spell and consecrate the reconstruction as being the body of the original, then recast it to empower the original

Just pretty much focus on the fact that the energy is going to reach the spell that you cast that one time (it will probably work)

Make your life easier by preparing metaphysically enriched offerings ahead of time

By preparing batch substances with which to feed your magic, you will save frustration and be more easily able to feed your magic when you're too tired to do energy work or full charms.

The lunar oil below is a basic example of how to enchant a feeding substance.

There are many recipes for preparing general-purpose feeding substances. Powders are a common one. Although I've shared an oil below, my favorite formula is based in water - it makes for easier cleanup.

General purpose charging oil for the Lunar Witch

Obtain a small container of palatable oil - perhaps olive oil. Transfer it into a new container if you like.

Emphasis on the small - you will use drops at a time, so even a couple of ounces can last a year.

On the container (using a masking tape foundation and permanent marker, if necessary), draw the planetary seal of the Moon (the one that looks like four bananas), and if you are able to manage it, the lunar planetary square.

On the full moon, and if you must a waxing moon, but never on the waning or dark moons, take this container of oil as near as possible to the moonlight.

Prepare to speak over the oil a hymn. Before or during the recitation, perform a charm or action which indicates the oil should capture, contain, and/or be infused with the energy you will call down.

Consider speaking the hymn to be an act of creating a road or highway to lunar power, through which lunar power spills down.

Perform your Feeding Charm.

Speak over the oil the Orphic hymn to Selene (this, or any preferred translation).

Perform a sealing or completion charm ("So Mote It Be," etc).

The oil is now charged in a basic way. Repeat the hymn every full moon and it can be used as a serviceable feeding oil.

Now that the oil has been prepared in a basic way, the real work may begin.

Put the container of oil in a special and magical place. Petition and request that you may receive special signs for what other ingredients to add to the oil.

Be specific that you seek to make a feeding oil for the purposes of revitalizing any magical object. (You never know what the spirits will try to have you craft if you're not specific).

Attempt your best efforts of omen-reading, dreamwork, and other methods of receiving spirit messages. You may find that you need to pray and petition daily, or engage in other strenuous spirit work. Be prepared to deal with sorcerous, lunar, and other emissaries during this time.

Use an item to hold excess spiritual energy after rituals. It serves to make a good reservoir for other rituals. A tip I also learnt is to put the excess energy into the altar and it empowers the altar a greater deal. Of course, energy raised during curses isn't put into the altar but maybe a second item which can then be used in future curses.

Have a pot nearby with some dirt that you've consecrated with the four elements. Then you have a place near your altar that you can bury items in to charge, especially placing them under the moon for a while. A second pot can also be consecrated during the Deipnon and dedicated towards the Holy Dead, which then can become a relatively good substitute for graveyard dirt.

Repost of the example spell from this brainstorm-style tarot magic post.

Not getting a call back from that company? Hangout plans just not coming together? Overdue for lab results? Try this spell and see how you fancy it.

A candle of any size and color (smaller might be better)

The Eight of Wands card from any style of deck

Any taglock to the situation which refuses to progress (resume, lab bill, friend's name and phone number, etc)

An offering (a small one will do)

Prepare your spellcasting space in any way which you desire.

Consecrate, evoke, or greet the Eight of Wands in any way which you prefer.

Light the candle. Plainly explain to the candle that its job is to provide fuel to the Eight of Wands. Tell it to uplift the Eight of Wands on wings of elemental fire, so that it may swiftly accomplish all your goals.

Plainly explain to the Eight of Wands your needs. Express that you would like rapid, if nigh immediate progress on the situation: that whatever should happen next should happen immediately, and that there be no more delays. Explain your taglock: "this is from the lab that won't send me my results, they are the ones who need to act." Etc.

Tell the Eight of Wands that the power of the candle constitutes part of its payment, and that it may keep any excess power which it does not need to complete the spell. Request that it use the elemental fire provided to help further your goals.

Dedicate the offering to the spirit. Place the taglock, card, and candle nearby each other until the candle has finished burning. The candle may be put out and relit later, but it should all be burned (even if the spell manifests before it finishes), as you've already promised it to someone else.

Among other things, hemp was used [as an incense] in order to be able to see into the future and to speak with the dead, ... or to come into contact with the higher self. - Fred Wollner, Duftender Rauch Für Die Seele (1998:141), Excerpt from: "Marijuana Medicine: A World Tour of the Healing and Visionary Powers of Cannabis" by Christian Rätsch.

How to make quick hash

Keif (aka sifted cannabis powder)

Pollen press (optional but ideal)

Parchment paper

Jar filled with hot water

Keif can be collected if you use a grinder that has a collection chamber, with a shake box, or sieve. Once collected, compress with pollen press, place in folded parchment paper (if not using the press make it as tight an envelope as possible containing the keif), use hot jar (carefully) like a rolling pin to roll over keif, continue for 4-5 minuets, open envelope and knead keif together, return and repeat 2-3 times or until desired consistency is obtained, should be aromatic, dark, sticky, semi-solid and malleable. Heat and pressure melts and burst open trichome resin heads, slightly activating cannabinoids and changing aroma, turning keif into hash ready to use as you please.

Finger hash is another quick hash which involves rubbing resinous cannabis flowers with hands (cleaned or gloved preferably). Rolling the flower inbetween hands causes resin to stick to fingers which can then be collected. Knead the resin together to create a cohesive ball of hash that has the desired consistency. Repeat until enough resin has been collected. This method works best with fresh, “wet”, cannabis flowers but can be done with dried flower that has been cured properly.

Vapour of Avernus: Which is used primarily for the rousing of apparitions of the Holy Dead. It is used in the Thurible upon coals. Take of White Sanders two parts, Cannabis resin two parts, Black Copal one part, Mugwort one part, and Seed of Hyoscyamus one part. The whole are incorporated together thoroughly. - Daniel Schulke, The Book of the Grove of Fire, Viridarium Umbris

When the Moon is in Pisces and you wish to draw upon her strength and power, take 1⅕ lbs. of cannabis resin and the same amount of plane tree resin and mix them together. Extract these resins while the Sun is in Virgo and Mercury is luminous and advancing directly. Grind them up in a marble mortar. When this is done, add 4 oz. of mastic gum, 2 oz. each of amber and camphor, 1 oz. of alkali and 10 oz. of sarcocolla. Blend everything very well, to which you should add ½ lb. of the blood of a stag decapitated with a bronze knife. When everything has been blended together, place it in a glass container. - Attrell and Porreca translation of Picatrix: A Medieval Treastise on Astral Magic

The empath community involves blatantly ignoring the much more beautiful reality that we all are affected by eachothers energies and the vast majority of living things on this planet (plants and animals included) are highly empathetic. The concept of an Empath existing at all promotes Us vs Them, and caring from others from a self glorifying perspective. (It's MY duty to help you because it's my Special Magical Ability few others have 😌 you're welcome.) Not to mention the online community has an extreme victimization narrative for empaths.

I think it's highly damaging to the people who call themselves empaths and who get brought into the community because rather than fostering a sense of love for the world and healthy energetic healing practices, it mainly paints the world as filled with mundane unwoke horrible manipulative energy abusers who will hurt the poor sweet magic empath.

It actively makes the world into an antagonistic place and encourages isolating ones identity from others, rather than a world of energetic beings who all share and resonate energy.

Humanity has repeatedly sought to create religion in times of upheaval, both on a societal and a personal scale. There's a reason why New Age spirituality and interest in the occult have so rapidly exploded within the past decade or so of the Information Age. People are distancing themselves en masse from organized religion--and ESPECIALLY Christianity, and its politicized trappings within the United States government--but feel the need to keep the religion aspect. In difficult times, belief in something beyond the self and the material is a thing of fundamental comfort. It makes the random suffering and confusion of the world more bearable, grants a sense of satisfaction and control in your life otherwise lacking.

But the occult, specifically, is antithetical to the Information Age in many ways, and utterly anathema to capitalism, and this intersects in a very key way for a person like Jen B. The occult is the infallibly unknowable. It is finding things you can never understand and the joy of trying to grasp the impossible however you can. The world is filled with unexplainable and the strange, and there is a deep and potent joy I feel in studying it, both on a practical level and in an academic level. I love examining why we as a species keep reinventing wizards and powerful spirits who exert influence over our lives in ways we cannot comprehend.

But that is not the occult that Jen B wants. Jen B wants a very, very, very, very, VERY new understanding of the Occult. She wants the occult to be a place of peace and tranquility and sterilized, sanitized self help. She wants clean pale blues and neutral earth tones with lots of natural lighting in a yoga group. She wants to buy crystals that will alleviate her anxiety and realign her chakras, and she does not want to examine why she thinks buying crystals will alleviate her anxiety, and she does not want to research what chakras actually are beyond Pinterest infographics of see-through people in a lotus pose. She, as a Lightworker VERY specifically, wants to feel important, and like it is her duty to heal a broken and toxic world, but she has no idea why she wants to do it or how she could actually do that, and she won't examine that because the answer isn't easy and comforting.

The world is a chaotic and cruel place filled with random suffering and deeply ingrained toxic power structures which seek to literally profit off of sucking the life out of billions of people in a slow and miasmic way. But Jen B cannot approach this from a radical mindset, cannot bear the mundane and banal reality of "These problems are caused by political and corporate structures to enforce government control and subservience". Jen B seeks the occult because she wants to discover that the reason she hates her job and feels no satisfaction from it is actually psychic emotional vampires draining her life force chi, and she can prevent them from feeding off her by thinking really hard about how they can't actually do that.

Decks are tools like hammers or magnifying glasses. You can design them to make them good for specific things, but they don't come off the printer with preloaded vibes.

Tw: mentioning of abuse

In one of your answers about curses you said something quite striking, on the lines of «a curse is like a drop of ink in water, it's bound to not stay contained». I would love to avenge myself (and protect!) from an abusive father, but I don't wanna poison the well for the rest of my family. I have been thinking about it a lot; I've read about how cursing is a bit like spitting poison (you can wash your mouth but it still leaves the bitterness) and how a curse might strike where it most hurts, so instead of hurting him it hurts someone/something else. I don't want that; I want it to be sharply specific but I never cursed nor hexed (i tried to bind him away once and a couple days later he discovered a bladder issue that could have been fatal. Was it related? Not entirely sure but the timing was uncanny).

Could you suggest something to at least make him stop denigrating me and hitting me? I have already taken mundane action, and despite not being a minor anymore I have to keep at least low contact with him.

I completely understand if you don't wanna answer this! Thank you for reading until here.

To clarify on my earlier comment, I believe most all magic is like a drop of ink in water.

When you channel prosperity or blessings for others, so too do these energies linger about you.

Is this a bad thing? No. If I hike to the Prosperity River to gather a bucket of water on behalf of someone else, I'm sure I won't mind if a little water gets on me in the process. But while I'm there, I will have smelled the river plants on the humid air, seen the glimmer of fish scales near the surface, and heard the cry of birds and the clicking of insects.

I can go home and wash the river water off of myself, but the memory of where I had to go to fetch the water remains. I cannot un-see, un-smell, or un-hear the river.

Nor should I. Remembering what I saw, heard, and felt when I went to those places is powerful indeed (curious how hard it is for many of us to remember exactly what occurred during spellwork, for one reason or another!).

By dwelling with these experiences, I am growing, learning, and developing my relationship with my own path. I very much believe Prosperity River wants to be seen. I believe it tolerates us taking buckets of water. I believe it wants us to stop and stay a while, to listen and to learn, and to remember that we are its kin.

Now let's imagine that instead of Prosperity River we are going to Curse Swamp. Will we linger here like we did at the river? Will we sit quietly on a boulder and hear the frogs croaking and the insects dinning? Will we smell the air and dip our fingers into the water? Will we acknowledge our own discomfort at the deep shadows and the murky water, and watch our inner beast we've so dutifully chained up strain at its constraints, desperate to be allowed free in its own home?

Or will we dash in, scoop up water, then return home and scrub ourselves down with lye, spitting out the air we breathed and swirling mint mouth wash to strip every trace of that awful, mean place away from us, before adding another link to the chain of our inner beast?

Of course it leaves bitterness. Why should we expect it is possible to go to any place of power and not have its perfume linger about us? Is the swamp not as beneficent and caring towards us as the river? It is no less deserving to be near us, and to be a part of us, when we go to it for help. It too wants to be seen, to be known, and to be remembered as another member of our family.

Now, ought you perhaps apply bug spray and avoid where the alligators are known to roam? Certainly. But you should also probably avoid the part of Prosperity River strewn with poison oak, near where the bear is raising her cubs.

..

Curses do not automatically strike where it hurts the most in an absolute sense. It is often said that magic follows the path of least resistance, like water flowing down a hill. I believe this to be totally true. However, you as the practitioner define the possible paths your magic can take.

Limiting and defining the possible paths your magic may take is a major part of spellcraft, which we often see manifest in the phrase, "and it harms none." Or perhaps, more germane to a curse, "and it harm one."

Being "sharply specific," as you put it, is a benefit to most all magic in my opinion. One bucket of water may slow to a trickle if dumped on top of a hill and allowed to water what it may, but will gain speed and power if it is poured in a downhill aqueduct to one specific location.

If your curse is very open ended, such as, "hit him where it hurts most," then you yourself are the one encouraging others to fall in the line of fire. If your curse is sharply specific, no, your spell is not going to suddenly develop sentience, stop in its tracks, say, "ehh, I've got a better idea," and do something else.

However, even if your spell is perfectly targeted, it's going to cause ripples. That's the drop of ink in the pond. This is not a failure on your part as a practitioner; this is the consequence of us living in an interdependent, interrelated reality. You don't get to take actions lacking in consequences, that's not how it works. Dunk someone in the waters of Prosperity River, and it affects them, and therefore it affects their family. Whether or not it affects their family for good or ill is a judgement call you have to make after the fact.

Employing divination is something I recommend for all serious acts of magic. You can see for yourself what results your spell will have.

..

Your binding almost certainly did not cause any near-fatal medical problems. It seems much more likely that your binding revealed a hidden issue in a bid to distract and tie his attention to something else. I would indeed be most impressed if your desire to bind accidentally manifested in a death curse, as even very experienced and powerful witches often fail to do so even when they really try.

..

Try a multi-stage approach over a course of several weeks. The prolonged timeline is important for two reasons: it lets the ripples in the pond reverberate out before you throw in the next stone (in other terms, let the waters settle and review the lay of the land before casting the next spell), and it lets you recharge and rest between spells, so each one is cast at full power.

I'm assuming here that other household members of the abuser (I see that you have moved out) may also be victimized.

I recommend the following course of action: modify or reject as you prefer.

Begin with a series of personal protections on everyone who is at highest risk of being the victim of the abuser. Begin on yourself (first make sure your own mask is in place before helping those around you). Especially craft these protections against the abuser. Employ a variety of powers (stones, plants, celestial bodies, saints and spirits, gods, etc), do not just use your own visualization and willpower.

Mirror spells may be employed to hide the most vulnerable people from his line of sight. One for yourself isn't a bad idea at all.

A very deep "home calming" spell may be employed to help prevent splashback onto people he currently lives with. Or a dampening spell that prevents certain actions from being taken by anyone who lives there.

Craft a cloth poppet of the abuser. This is most uncomfortable, I find, but worth it. Bind its hands and mouth. Put it in a mirror box (an easy one may be made of tinfoil, the sides kept as smooth and without wrinkles as possible) so it is powerless to send energy out and receives back what it sends.

Capitalize on any beliefs the abuser has. A Christian abuser might be strongly affected by imagery of angels or demons, for example. A secular one might be obsessed with climbing the ranks at work and always cares about how they are perceived by others.

Whatever this person cares about most, bring it into the box that the poppet is held at, and instruct the poppet that whatever it is will punish them unless they change their ways.

For that secular person, perhaps we might say, "this is your boss and all the powerful people in your industry. They're going to find out how you are at home. If you do a single bad thing to your family again, they will all know. They can see it already. You're being watched, all the time."

Situations in which contact must be maintained with an abuser are touchy. You may find that protection spells are sufficient (remember to feed them often), and other actions aren't necessary.

"Oh my god, yeah, home is my actual favorite." There was little else she enjoyed quite so much as a day just at home in bed with her pets and a good game or book, but the question was one she had once related with herself- and was started to get back to if she was honest.

" Ace of Autumn." The Aces were coming out in force it seemed. " Fall is such a homey season." She hummed, voice laced with appreciation as she presented you with a card featuring an apple sliced in half to reveal five seed pits inside to make a star. " Home can happen whenever you make it dear. That's not me being cryptic. There's nothing stopping you except a little bit of planning and hard work. It is not enough to daydream. You must come up with a careful plan on exactly how you are going to make a new home for yourself, and then put in those hours to make it happen. Either by transforming where you already are, or taking the steps needed to move yourself. Elbow grease is between you and relaxation. How annoyingly ironic. Get practical and realistic about it."

Folding the card back into her deck she tapped them on the table and laid the stack face down.

" You know this reminds me of a folklore about apple divination I learned about last fall for Mabon. You take an apple and cut it open, then you count all of the little seeds and use numerology to determine the fortune. There was a little rhyme that went along with it but I can't for the life of me find it or remember what it was."

One thing I’ve noticed as I’ve started teaching tarot cards to other people is that they have a tendency to think that every card has an individual meaning and it is their duty to memorize 78 complex sets of meanings before they can begin reading for others. 

That’s simply not true. 

It’s also incredibly inefficient and totally kneecaps you when you move on to learn another deck (and try memorizing ANOTHER 78 complex sets of meanings). Cards exist in relation to one another. Understanding those relationships lets you remember meanings quicker, better understand how cards in a spread might be connected, and give much smoother readings. 

If you’re learning Tarot for the first time or looking to bush up, here’s my advice after reading cards for 10 years. Please, learn from my mistakes.  Tarot is a language

In the same way you learn letters and string them into words and then string words into sentences to communicate, tarot is a language you learn so your intuition can communicate more fully with you and others. And like a language, it’s often best to start with the phrases that you’ll use the most. 

Practice: Go through your deck and pick out no more than 12 cards that are really calling to you and look up those meanings. Write them down if you’re up for it. Go through your deck and pick out no more than 12 cards that give you a feeling of unease and do the same. Notice any reoccurring symbols?

 Tarot is a story

How you understand that story may vary on your tradition, your experience level, your aims. Most standard Tarot decks follow the Fool’s Journey through the Major Arcana as he becomes more skilled and then more enlightened. A similar pattern can be seen in each of the suits. The Court Cards are less narrative in my opinion but a similar progression can be seen. 

Practice: Take out each of the suits one at a time and lay them out in a row. Read the meanings of each card and see how the story progresses. Write down a summary. Do the same with each of other suits’ courts and the major arcana.

Tarot is a system

You aren’t fluent until you know the language well enough to speak smoothly and in most situations. Similarly, it takes understanding Tarot at a high level to give the best quality readings and read without a book. No card exists in isolation and just like when they show up in a reading, you must read them in relation to the rest of the spread - it helps a lot to know them in relation to the rest of the deck. 

Channeling is one of the basic tools of energy work. There will be spells that will require a larger amount of energy than you currently possess, and learning how to channel other types of energy will help you to not drain yourself too quickly. For now, our lesson will focus on elemental energy.

There are a couple reasons for this. Elemental energy is generally one of the safest external energies to work with because the human body is naturally tied to it. As long as we are nice to the elements, the elements are nice to us. This type of energy is also the easiest to work with, as most of us have affinities for at least one basic physical element. The secondary physical elements (or sub-elements) probably come second in terms of easiest to cast, but not everyone has an inherent affinity for one (although most everyone can develop one).  

There are a few rules to this:

Never call an element that you don’t vibe with. Elements that don’t respond well to you probably won’t come anyway (and you definitely shouldn’t force it to come), much less work for you.

Never force an element to work with you. Think of it like trying to force a deity that doesn’t want to work with you to do something for you. It’s not good. Moreover, if you somehow do manage to force the element, you probably won’t get the results you want.

Do not abuse the elements. The elements are living, sentient beings. They may not be humanoid, but that doesn’t make them unlike any other human you’ve met in terms of emotions; except they’re even more dangerous. Believe me: you don’t want the elements against you.

That’s it! They’re super simple but really important to follow in order to make sure you stay safe. We’ll be working with the four basic physical elements today: Air, Fire, Water, and Earth. Some people include the element “Spirit” when we’re talking about these four, but Spirit is not a physical element so we won’t be working with it for now.

If you don’t know what element you “vibe” with, it’s pretty easy to get a good and reasonable guess. First, ask yourself: of these four, which one do you want to work with the most? Then, search your memories. Which element do you have the most impactful memories with? Do you have lots of memories of days at the beach or the pool? How about somewhere up high or a memory where you’re standing outside and the wind is brushing past your cheeks and the clear night sky is directly above you and you feel like you could just reach out and touch the stars? Do you have any memories of the heat of the sun on your face or sitting in front of a roaring fireplace in the dead of winter? Or what about when you’re standing outside barefoot in the garden, letting the dirt you’re digging up to give a new plant a home cover your hands because it feels soft and cool on your skin?

Maybe you don’t have any memories like this, but remember that the elements aren’t just physical. They’re emotional and mental, as well. Calmer or more emotional people tend to vibe with water. Stable, responsible people vibe with earth. Wild and spontaneous people are air people, and intense, driven, passionate people are fire types. Sound like you?

If you’re still not sure what element you vibe with, don’t worry. You’re still testing the waters so it’s not like the elements will lash out at you–they’ll just let you know whether they want to work with you or not by either not showing up or making you feel a little off until you send them away. Just pick an element you think you might get along with and go from there. If it doesn’t work out, you can always do the exercise again with a different one.

Step One

Gather a physical representation of your chosen element. Most energy work can be done without any kind of physical component, but as a beginner, it’s also nice to have something physical as a type of support. In this case, the physical representation of your element will not only help you call it, but it will also hold any energy you can’t handle channeling at the moment. Below is a guide for suggested items that can be used for each element:

It’s best to choose something that you’re okay with either tossing afterward or that you’re cool with being a permanent representation of your physical element. You can always cleanse the item of energy, but strong energy tends to leave an imprint on any item.

Step Two

Before we channel the energy of your chosen element, we have to call it to our space. Get into a relaxed state and focus on the element you’re trying to call. Think of all it represents for you. What thoughts/feelings/memories do you have associated with it? Call everything forth; immerse yourself in the very life that is your element. Take your time. I can usually stop here if I briefly need the element, but I’ve been doing this for quite some time now. You should speak something aloud or do something that will call your element to you. Find words that feel right (and if you’ve called on a powerful enough connection, the right words will come to you as soon as you call to them). I personally like to sing for air and dance for fire. For water, I have a specific sigil that I draw in water while speaking some words of my own, and for earth, I touch the rock and say some different words. Sometimes I’ll dance or sing for all of the elements… it really depends.

At this point, you probably feel a large influx of energy that is not yours. What you want to do now is take that energy and put it into the physical representation of your element. This is so you don’t overload yourself by being the host of too much energy. You can, eventually, host the energy on your own but as a beginner, you definitely need the physical representation. Don’t worry—the element is still with you, you just won’t be the direct host of its energy for now.

Step Three

The last step is to actually channel the energy. You did this briefly when you called the energy, but now that you’ve given the element a place to live temporarily you can begin to test your current limits. Take the energy out of the item you’ve chosen a little at a time. Keep pulling until you either feel like you can’t handle any more energy or the element doesn’t give you any more.

From here, you can play with the energy you’re channeling if you’d like. Manipulate the energy in any of the basic ways we’ve talked about so far. It’s very much like controlling your own energy. The only difference here is that you’re A) working with another being and B) you have to work more in order to form a tangible enough connection that you can call upon the energy with. Once you’re done or you get tired, you can gather the element around you and say something like, “Thank you, [element]. I release you.” Its energy should leave, then.

There are some spirits and gods in the worlds that really must be approached with the correct offering, or will be very offended if you bring the wrong one. This post is not about them.

Thanks goes to @river-in-the-woods for help proofreading and providing additional perspectives

Spirit and deity work is a huge part of my deal, and therefore so are offerings. When I help people with various spirit issues or perform divination that suggests a spirit wants to contact them, I usually recommend giving offerings as a first step.

This usually creates a lot of questions, like:

I don’t want to worship them, so I’m not comfortable with offerings.

I only want to work with spirits I don’t need to pay.

What kind of offerings are OK? I can't afford to buy extra stuff right now.

I can’t have a shrine or leave food sitting out so it’s not possible for me to make offerings.

The reasons why offerings are given change from culture to culture, and situation to situation. I personally see offerings as being one of two things: good manners, or equivalent exchange.

How to do so comes after the saucy radio dialogue and the fairy tale.

Good Manners

Your grandma comes over. She was just on a 5 hour flight to come visit you. She comes in through the front door. You offer her some water and a snack.

Offering grandma water and a snack isn’t a form of worship or payment. It’s polite and respectful. It took her a lot of energy and effort to come and see you. Her well-being and comfort are important to you (in this hypothetical, of course).

When I drive 10 minutes to see my best friend, she always offers me tea. She’s not paying me for my friendship – she’s happy I came, she wants me to be comfortable, and it’s a sign of mutual respect. “I value your presence; I’ll offer you some tea.”

If my friend stopped offering me tea, I’d wonder if our relationship was doing OK – and if she explained to me she was out of money, or she’s doing a no-tea challenge, we’d be perfectly good.

But if you greet grandma empty-handed and say you don’t think it’s your job to provide her meals, the situation feels a little different. It feels to me as if grandma might not be as interested in making the trip to see you next time.

Equivalent Exchange

“Hey, what are you doing here?”

“I’m going to bury some stuff. I just did ritual and an important part is burying the remnants at the crossroad.”

“Right on, we’re the spirits of the crossroad, so you came to the right place.”

“Yeah, so you’ll be opening the gates of the four directions and delivering my spell to manifestation, right?”

“Sure, we can do that.”

“…”

“…”

“Are you going to, uh… pay us for that service?”

“I don’t see why I should.”

“But you need us to open the gates for you. We have to spend our own energy to do this work. I mean it’s not terribly difficult, but still.”

“Yeah, but I don’t see why that should be on me.”

“Not even a tip? Have you got some change in your pocket?”

“To be honest, I don’t think it’s fair to me to have to pay.”

“So you want us to work for free?”

“Yes.”

“You don’t care what it costs us to do this work for you, you just want to take the fruits of our services without regard for us?”

“Yes.”

“And we should do it because you feel it's unfair to have to pay us for our work?”

“You got it.”

“And if others told you that you must donate your labor to give them what they want because it's unfair to give you a wage, this would be…”

“A huge injustice. This is actually a major problem in my country right now. We are so underpaid for what is demanded of us that it really is hurting my mental health and wellbeing. You have no idea how hard it is to be exploited for someone else’s prosperity. I kind of feel like one day I might just go off grid and refuse to be a part of their system.”

The Quality of Offerings Are Relative

The fairy queen Medb was curious about the humans beyond the Greenwood, so she decided to meet them all, from the wealthiest noble to the poorest villager, and to give a gold coin to the kindest one. Before she left, she cloaked herself in a human disguise and dressed as if she were a hardworking seamstress.

First she went to the house of a rich farmer who owned herds of cattle. She knocked on the door and was greeted by the mistress of the house, Frau Hilda.

Medb said, “I am a traveler and the road has been long, may I have some water?”

Frau Hilda kindly invited Medb inside. She sat the queen down at her large, clean table in her warm and cozy kitchen. Frau Hilda went to the larder. Medb could see that her larder was overflowing enough with fine wine, cheeses, and sausages to serve an army. Frau and fetched two jugs of milk and two loaves of bread. One of the jugs of milk was thin, and the loaf of bread was dry. The second jug of milk was thick, as if it was pure cream, and the loaf of bread was hot and fresh.

“Here, have some milk and bread,” Frau Hilda said. “It is much better than water, and will restore you from your travels.” Frau Hilda poured a glass of each milk, and handed the queen the thin milk and old loaf. Frau Hilda herself drank the rich, delicious milk and ate the hot bread.

“This is much better than water, and I thank you for your kind generosity,” agreed Medb.

The two women spoke kindly and politely to each other. Medb learned about the wealth and prosperity of the farmer and his household. They spoke until Medb finished her thin milk and old bread. As she left, Medb thought to herself that the thin milk and old bread, although better than water, were the poorest things in the larder. She kept her gold coin to herself, and walked down the road.

The next day, Medb came upon the hovel of a poor woodcutter and his wife. She knocked on the door and was greeted by Frau Brunhild.

Medb said, “I am a traveler and the road has been long, may I have some water?”

Just like Frau Hilda, Frau Brunhild kindly invited Medb inside. Frau Brunhild’s kitchen was small and cramped. She went to her larder and Medb could see it was almost empty. It only held a bag of flour, a scrap of bread, and a jug of water.

Frau Brunhild brought out the water and bread. “I am sorry I don’t have any milk for you,” Frau Brunhild said. “But let us share in what little we have.”

Frau Brunhild poured Medb some water and gave her one-third of the bread. “We must save some for Mister Brunhild,” she explained.

“I thank you for your generosity,” said Medb. “You show kindness in sharing what you have.” The two women spoke kindly and politely to each other until they had eaten the bread and drank the water. As she left, Medb thought to herself that although it was only water and a little slice of bread, Frau Brunhild had truly offered the best in her larder.

Medb was so moved by this generosity that she returned to the hovel that night, and hid the gold coin in one of Frau Brunhild’s shoes, and after that the Brunhilds always had better prosperity and fortune.

No matter what you have, your best is your best. You do not need to over-spend, give away too much, or sacrifice your wellbeing to give respectful offerings to spirits. If the best you have is a glass of tap water, that is good enough.

What kinds of offerings can you give?

I’m copying this over from my neighborly protection post.

Food and Drink: Good offerings include things with strong tastes and smells, foods high in caloric value, milk, honey, all nuts, eggs, and seeds (things which contain the potential for life are very good offerings), all home cooked/baked foods, fresh water (an especially good offering), coffee, tea, alcohol, tobacco, and juices all make very fine offerings.

Perhaps tellingly, the finest or most necessary offering is simply a glass of fresh water (yes, it can be tap water).

Consumables: Incense and candles both make good offerings. Both should be burned. I am actually more wary of using real resins and herbal powders for spirit offerings, since the natural powers of these plants are released and may affect what I’m trying to do (or make it easier or harder for spirits to speak to me, or drive away spirits I’m trying to talk to, or draw in ones I don’t want to talk to). For these reasons I like to use stick or cone incense for offerings. It is the light and warmth from the candle which is enjoyed by spirits so it can be any type or color of candle.

Artwork, fake paper money, origami, and other burnable stuff can be dedicated (another way to think about this is to gift it to them) and then burned. The point is not destruction; the astral essence of these things is released so the spirits can possess them in their world.

Non-consumables: Coins are very common offerings. Small, delightful objects (especially shiny ones), like shells, little figurines, or toys often make good offerings. The act of devoting a ritual tool or vessel to a spirit can be an offering. Things which can be consumed (like cigars or paper art) don’t have to be burned and can be given as regular offerings also.

Energy: Your personal energy is a great offering. You don’t have to give a ton of it away. Try making an energy ball and sending it upwards and away, intending that it reach the spirit you want to give it to. I often like to pattern these gifts into an object, like an energy coin or energy apple.

How do you give physical stuff to a nonphysical being, though?

Lay out the offerings on a clean surface. It doesn’t have to be an altar or a shrine, although I suspect such consecrated places can make it easier for spirits to access and enjoy your offerings. It can be just like setting out a glass of water and half a sandwich for grandma.

Do something which indicates the offering is for the spirits or a specific being. My friend can make me a cup of tea, but if she just sets some tea down on the table and walks away, I’m not going to be sure it’s OK for me to drink it until she says, “this is your tea!”

What you do can be as simple as standing before the offering and saying or thinking, “This is for [names of spirits, or ‘the household spirits’, etc], please enjoy! I’ll come clean it up by noon, enjoy it before then.”

At a minimum I recommend leaving non-consumable offerings out for fifteen or thirty minutes. If it’s a candle or incense, they burn out when they burn out (you do not have to let large candles burn completely, but be careful of promising a candle as a gift to spirits, then going back on that promise and using it for something else). Energy offerings are given instantaneously and no waiting period is necessary.

Whenever you return to clean up the offering, it’s polite to say something like, “thank you for coming by, and I hope you enjoyed! It’s time for me to clean up now. Please return to your abodes; as you came in peace, leave as friends.” I personally like to affirm the purpose of giving an offering - that it’s because I want to be a good neighbor, I want to have solid relationships with the spirits around me, and that I hope we’re all going to be friends. I also like to affirm that although I invited them all to the offering, they should go home now - I wanted you for the BBQ but it’s like 9pm now and we’re going to bed, so you need to go home too.

I throw out food. I compost it if I can. Whether or not you can eat food already offered to spirits is a whole discussion and beliefs vary. My belief is that you shouldn’t eat it after it’s offered.

Other non-consumable objects can be buried if they’re nontoxic to the environment. They can be left on an altar or shrine, and cleared out on a regular basis (like once a full moon, or on holidays).

To Eat or Not to Eat?

I mentioned briefly above that I don’t believe you should eat offerings after they’ve been offered. This is a pretty complex topic that does merit discussion.

For example, I sometimes eat the offerings while they’re being offered. I have a close relationship with various spirits, and sometimes I invite them into my body to taste and experience the food and drink I eat.

The reason I don’t prefer to eat offerings after they’ve been offered is that my belief is that the metaphysical substance which supports us as living creatures has been removed and taken away from the spirits. I don’t believe the food would be harmful, but that it also wouldn’t be helpful. To me, throwing the food away isn't a waste because it already fulfilled its purpose.

However, tons of people believe that you should eat food and beverage offerings. This is in order to avoid waste (because after all, even if I say metaphysically the food served its purpose, I’m still throwing away totally edible food). I am advised that in Buddhism, offerings given to ancestors, buddhas, and bodhisattvas aren’t degraded at all, and you can safely eat and drink offerings afterwards (and not doing so would be wasteful). For buddhas and bodhisattvas offerings are just a sincere gesture; the ancestors do get nourishment from food offerings and they greatly benefit from it. Even so, food offered to ancestors is still perfectly wonderful to eat.

In other belief systems, some people think that eating offered food can actually make you sick, especially if it’s offered to the dead. This may be due to a metaphysical change in the food, or because the spirits don’t want to share.

Sometimes, whether or not food is eaten after being offered depends on the type of spirit or god it’s given to; chthonic entities often seem to frown upon their offerings being eaten or shared.

Some believe that food offerings shouldn’t be eaten but neither should they be trashed; they should be burned or buried.

Sometimes, dedicating a food or drink offering to a spirit is a way to bless it under their power. If I dedicate a glass of water to the Indweller of the Sun, it’s understood to be imbued with the virtues of the Sun. If I drink it, it becomes a form of equivalent exchange - I gave something to the Sun, it gave something to me, and this ritual action is completed when I consume the offering.

Given all these varieties of belief, it’s safe to say that you probably can’t go wrong. If you can’t or don’t want to waste food, or it isn’t counter-indicated by your path, eat food offerings.