The Witchy Wood

I have been off tumblr for a little over a year (other than occasional boredom scrolling) and I wanna get back into the polytheism/pagan/witchy community! It seems a lot of the blogs I was following before are now inactive or have switched topics, so please reblog if you post:

🌿Gaelic polytheism 🌿Irish polytheism 🌿Any polytheism, really 🌿Paganism 🌿Druidry 🌿Faerie Faith 🌿Hedgecrossing 🌿Folk witchcraft

Extra points if you enjoy having intelligent conversation about myths/culture/witchcraft!

Or if I’m already following you, I’d also appreciate recommendations on other blogs I’d be interested in!

So maybe you’re a college witch with limited space and money, limited to the one window in your dorm. Or, maybe you’re a witch without extensive backyard space who wants to start up a magical garden. Perhaps you’re a kitchen witch who wants the freshest herbs right at her fingertips.

For many witches, having a garden seems to be a bit of a no-brainer. After all, plants and magic go hand-in-hand. Plus, when thinking of a witch, it’s hard not to think of a cottage in the woods with a little vegetable garden out front. Unfortunately for the majority of us, our cottage in the woods is a tiny flat, and our garden out front is a windowsill with limited space.

This is when it comes time to embrace your craftiness and bring your garden indoors! Not only does it place your garden in a convenient location, it also allows you to freshen the air, recycle what would otherwise harm the earth, and embrace your witchy green thumb!

Garden’s Got Balls

Last week, I addressed a trend in parts of America which centered around placing glass bottles on trees as a form of charm and as a bit of aesthetic. In that same article, I mentioned gazing balls. It only seems right that I should talk about these lovely garden features next! After all, there’s more to gardening in witchcraft than just the plants or the containers. It’s also the additional features that can add or affect the magic that you’re using as a whole!

First, for those new to gardening, or witchy gardening, gazing balls are glass or metallic spheres placed in gardens for various reasons, whether magical or simply for aesthetics. Their popularity can be traced back to their height in Victorian society, where gazing balls were not only aesthetically pleasing, but also incredibly functional. The polished reflective surfaces allowed chaperones to unobtrusively watch over young lovers in courtship, while the servant class could place the spheres in strategic locations in which they can more easily see a room and provide needed service without having to interrupt their employers.

Like many aspects of the Victorian era, there were some more mystical qualities to this practice, as well. First, gazing balls were also referred to as witch balls, because like the blue bottle trees, they were said to capture malevolent spirits and witches who caught their reflections in the surface. When hit by the light of the sun, the spirits would burn away. It was important to keep the sphere clean, because if the glass broke or got dirty, the spirits could find a way out.

Though witches won’t be caught inside of them as a result of the reflection (I should know… I love gazing balls, and I’m still here instead of in some shiny ball somewhere), witches have used reflective spheres for other reasons! And this is where we turn to how a garden can be made witchy with these lovely decorations!

Gazing Into the Crystal Ball

Gazing into crystal balls and other reflective surfaces is a practice referred to as scrying. It’s a form of divination that allows for intuitive and subconscious interactions that can help the diviner consider various outcomes to a situation for the sake of finding a wiser course. For many witches, it helps to be in a comfortable place to do so. As such, placing a gazing ball in a garden is a wonderfully discreet way to practice divination.

Like the blue bottle trees, it’s possible to use blue spheres as well, for both protection from malevolent spirits and the Evil Eye and for good luck.

Consider the different materials available and the different colors available for gazing balls, and pair them with your intent and the purpose of your garden. If it’s a garden for prosperity and health, for instance, placing a white gazing ball may enhance that energy for that garden by providing that association for you each time you look at it or gaze into it during garden meditations. If you are maintaining a faerie garden, having multiple gazing balls of various sizes and colors can be a great way to attract friendly fae to your garden.

If you’re of the crafty sort, you need not have to buy fancy gazing balls. Instead, it’s fairly easy to make your own by taking an old lamp globe and painting it, as well as using strong glues to add stones, glitter, and other decorations! I’ve seen homemade gazing balls with faerie silhouettes, flat-bottomed marbles, and even glowing lights on the inside! The possibilities are fairly endless with such a project!

Items:

Picture of person OR pen and paper

Something to tie the picture/paper up

Sigil (optional)

Some place to bury the picture/paper (optional)

Instructions:

Best done during the waning moon

Write the name of the person on the paper (if you’re not using a picture) Using a cord or string, wrap the item up while saying:

“I bind you, (person’s name) from doing harm against me (list other people if needed). In (deities’ name), I command you! (Deity optional, if secular you can just say “I command you”, or “with my power, I command you”)“

Tie the string or cord.

Optional:

On a separate piece of paper, draw a sigil representing binding this person. Concentrate your energy into it and then tear it up to release that extra energy for the spell.

Optional 2:

♪ Let it Snow, let it Snow, let it Snow ♪

Whether or not we want to admit, winter is approaching and with it for many of us snow will follow. Here are some ideas and methods of incorporating winter into your practice.

*Please be careful about ingesting snow or ice, much of it is treated with chemicals or is run off from other unsafe sources. If you’re set on doing so there are some things to consider when boiling water in order to consume it.*

Snow:

Snow is often described as pure and clean especially when untouched. Undisturbed snow is ideal for cleansing. 

Snow can be powder and soft or heavy and hard, consider the different textures of snow when using it for magic.

 Thick and heavy snow is ideal for clinging magic like glamour or curses. Powdery snow is ideal for light spells or spells you don’t want noticed.

Sometimes snow retains shapes which allows for sigils to be drawn into it before it is collected.

Using Snow in Magic:

You can either melt down the snow and use it as water or perform the magic outside so the snow retains it shape. If you’re doing a spell for change or to get things into motion you can utilize both in and outdoors so the snow melt during the spell.

You can build with some types of snow if there is enough. Snow altars, snow huts, snow sculptures. Protection magic lasting so long as the snow doesn’t melt. Or spells that will go into effect when your sculpture breaks or melts away are also ideas to consider.

Divination with Snow:

You can try your hand at diving with snow as well. Winter is often well known for how silent it is. In the early morning hours you can listen, what secrets can you hear?

Alternatively you can collect snow in a jar and bring it indoors. As it melts what do you see? 

Outdoors just looking for shapes in the snow is also a method to explore.

What can you find in the snow? What tracks do you see? What do they mean to you? What debris, branches, berries, rocks, and so on. How do you interpret them?

Have Fun This Winter:

Candle Magick - Green Candles

Green candles can bring balance to an unstable situation or give a fresh outlook. This is a good color for affection, as opposed to red’s passion and lust. Green is a color for healing, abundance, and prosperity.

Green is associated with the astrological signs of Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Aquarius, and Pisces.

Green candles are used for:

Element of Earth

Abundance

Fertility

Good fortune

Generosity

Material gain

Wealth

Success

Renewal

Marriage

Balance

Healing

Communication with Nature spirits

Earth Mother

Tree and plant magick

Growth

• New, young, or considering witches can ask you questions

• Your blog is free of hate and is a safe learning community (this includes bashing christians/non-pagans)

• No questions (as long as they aren’t creepy) will be laughed at or shamed

• It’s okay to ask you for advice or opinions, even if you are an experienced witch.

• Your blog is inviting and welcoming and is a space for education on the craft.

Disclaimer: I am not an expert, don’t burn your house down please.