Switchy Witchy Bitch

Let’s say you had a bad day. A fight with your loved one, bad news, breaking stuff left and right, extra stress, what have you.

As soon as you can clean house. I mean pick up and clean your home because that helps alliveate stress. But also CLEANSE your house.

Haven’t gotten good news in a while? Clean your front door. A simple wash of vinegar, holy water, & rosemary can do wonders.

Leave out water & offerings to the house spirits, they get tired & cranky too.

Basil in a water bottle to spritz around will break up argumentative residue & bring in harmony.

A list of how my own personal Book of Shadows is organized ! 🌙

Section One {Introduction}

Index

A blessing

The Wiccan Rede

13 Goals of a Witch

History of Magic

Personal Correspondences

Section Two {Time & Space}

Lunar Calendar [removeable]

Moon Phases

Full Moons

Moon Glyphs

Zodiac Symbols & Correspondences

Zodiac Map 》inc. Celestial Bodies

Elements

Magical Times of the Day / Day of the Week

Witches Compass

Sabbats

Transitions between Sabbats

Section Three {Tools of the Craft}

A to Z of Crystals

Planetary / Zodiac Crystals

How to Charge & Cleanse Crystals

Spreads & Grids

Chakras & Auras

Sacred Geometry

Oils 》essential oils & their properties

Candle Magick 》colours, scents etc.

Himalayan Salt in Magic

Metals & their properties

Amulets & Protection Items

Section Four {Nature Magick}

Flower & Plant properties

Herbs 》dangerous herbs, herbal amulets, edible flowers, cooking brewing & drying, healing herbs, flower associations

Gardening 》herbal, flowers, moonlight, to attract bees, faeries etc.

Fruit & Vegetable Correspondences

Spirit Animals / Familiars

Animals & what they symbolize

Wolf Magick

Bird Associations 》feather magick, owl magick

Water in Magick

Section Five {Divination}

A to Z Types of Divination

Tarot 》summary of the deck, how to charge etc.

Runes

Tea Leaves

Palmistry

Pendulum

Spirit Guides

Symbols 》witches alphabet, sigils.

Numerology

Graphology

Superstitions

Ghost / Spirit Work

Section Six {Basics}

Basic Altar set up

Cleansing & Charging

Grounding & Centering 》circle casting.

Invocation & Evocation

Actions in Witchcraft

Recipes 》tea / coffee / hot chocolate magick, witches brew, healing salves, face / hair masks, body scrubs.

Protection associations 》herbs, stones, candles / incense, metals, symbols.

Relevant Spells

Section Seven {Myth}

Gods & Goddess

Faeries

Myths & Legends

Entities

Please note that this is a very basic overview of the index in my Book of Shadows. For each bullet point is at least one page of information in my BoS.

I am only about halfway through recording information into my BoS; so as time goes on and as I learn more about the craft / my path this order may change. Also, if you feel I have missed anything please let me know !

For more posts straight out of my grimoire search the tag #queenofbohemebos 🌻

If you’ve been on the witchcraft side of the internet for any substantial amount of time (cough, cough, tiktok) then you’ve probably seen all these practitioners pushing for beginner witches to do two things: protection and shadow work. However, I haven’t seen many people actually explaining how to do that or what that could look like.

The shadow self is a kind of metaphor for your “darker” side that follows you everywhere and infiltrates anything you do, hence the name shadow. It can be interpreted as past hurts, trauma, biases, and anything else you feel weighs you down, especially when it comes to your practice. 

There are lots of ways to heal your shadow, and you are probably already doing some of them. Meditation, therapy, journaling, psychiatric interventions, and unpacking your own biases are all common ways of healing yourself. Some (problematic) content creators might tell you that therapy or psychiatry don’t count as shadow work, but if you look at the definition of a shadow self it definitely does. Plus, there are some things that meditation and journaling will never be able to heal. 

To begin your shadow work journey, I would recommend starting with meditation, yoga, or some other method you can use to calm your body. Once you begin to unpack some of these issues, you will most likely find yourself distressed, so you need to be confident that you will be able to release that tension when the time comes. If you already meet with a mental health practitioner, this would be a great time to mention your goals and see if they have any advice for you as you begin this journey.

Your next step will look different depending on which method you decide to go with, but mine was to get a notebook specifically for my shadow work. I chose to find a series of journal prompts off the internet that I worked through. If there were any that proved difficult or that I couldn’t answer properly, I returned to them after finishing the rest. 

Before you start to unpack anything, you want to have:

- 3-4 reliable grounding techniques

- A list of phone numbers you can call if distressed: (examples include: A crisis line, a few friends, your therapist, a family member, your local mental health clinic/hospital if you might be at risk for uncovering memories or trauma that you’re unprepared for. If you know you have trauma, check in with your healthcare professionals to see what they think is safe for you to unpack on your own)

- A sensory/Calming box. Mine includes a fidget, lavender, a soft toy and some snacks of varying textures and flavours (Sour patch kids, skittles, chewies and honeycomb chocolate) and a colouring book.

- a journal so you can write notes, but include a page of things you ‘black list’ from working on until you have a professional incase you come across something that really triggers you and you’re not able to work on it alone. Give yourself that space and permission before you start even if you don’t think you’ll need it, because it’ll be easier and kinder on you if you do.

From there as you start:

- Get some prompts and start small. They tend to be more intense than you expect, especially if you challenge yourself to write at least a page of why you think how you do and get deep down to the core roots of it and then breakdown your feelings about the roots of it. I actually started with a half a page challenge and it turned into 3 pages of unpacking, so telling myself a full page made me feel better about how much I was writing.

- Do it somewhere calm where you can focus and unfocus on the work to stay grounded. I like to do my relationship based shadow work in the sun outside on a mat so I can look at plants when I’m stressed. But for more serious topics like unpacking toxic masculinity, I tend to do it under candle light where I can look at my goldfish if I’m stressing out.

- Prepare and expect to take breaks and to realise that your values and thoughts have changed and that you now have a new answer to an old prompt. Re-do that prompt with your new answer when that happens. But you need breaks to take time and observe how being more conscious of your shadow aspects works and how you feel and to implement changes for yourself.

- Take time to celebrate. Shadow work isn’t a corrective practice as I’ve seen some toxic people on TikTok portray it, it’s a growth practice. So like we do with birthdays and graduations, take time to celebrate how far you’ve come and how much you have grown and learnt about yourself and the world around you. Celebrate becoming closer to your true self and your higher self and be proud of the work you’ve done.

- Look after your body while you look after your mind. I like to sit and have lunch or dinner before doing shadow work because I don’t think well with low blood sugar and I also find myself needing lots of water and tea because of the energy it takes. Shadow work does take a lot of energy, so make sure you nourish yourself.

I hope you all grow wonderfully and that you become comfortable with your shadow.

Simple stuff🌿

This is a long post, the correspondences are under the cut.

Carrier Oils: Carrier oils, known also as base oils, are used to dilute essential oils before they are applied topically. They serve as the base for oil blends. 

Essential Oils: Essential oils are concentrated liquids that contain the volatile (”the tendency of a substance to vaporize") aromatic compounds of plants. They are obtained via distillation and the oil alone should never be applied to the skin directly as some a reactive to heat, and light, and some will give you chemical burns. You are likely to have a reaction to essential oils.

Carrier Oils:

ALMOND OIL, SWEET (Prunus Dulcis) Ruled by Mercury and the Element of Air. Sweet Almond Oil makes a great carrier oil for blends that deal with prosperity, money and wisdom.

APRICOT KERNEL OIL (Prunus Armeniaca) Ruled by Venus and the Element of Water. This makes a great carrier oil for blends that deal with love or emotions.

AVOCADO OIL (Persea Americana) Ruled by Venus and the Element of Water. This makes a great carrier oil for blends that deal with love, lust or beauty.

CASTOR OIL (Ricinus communis) Ruled by Mars and the Element of Fire. Castor oil makes a great carrier oil for blends that deal with protection and absorbing negativity.

COCONUT OIL (Cocos Nucifera) Ruled by the Moon and the Element of Water. Fractionated Coconut Oil makes a great carrier oil for blends that deal with purification and protection.

GRAPESEED OIL (Vinis Vinifera) Ruled by the Moon and the Element of Water. Grapeseed Oil makes a great carrier oil for blends that deal with fertility money and strengthening mental abilities.

HEMP SEED OIL (Cannabis Sativa) Ruled by the Moon and Saturn and the Element of Water. Hemp Seed Oil makes a great carrier oil for blends that deal with healing, love, psychic ability and meditation.

JOJOBA OIL (Simmondsia Chinensis) Ruled by the Moon and the element of Water. Jojoba Oil makes a great carrier oil for blends that deal with healing and love.

OLIVE OIL (Olea Europaea) Ruled by the Sun and the Element of Fire. Olive Oil makes a great carrier oil for blends that deal with healing, peace, fertility and protection. In many traditions Olive Oil is an all purpose oil.

SUNFLOWER OIL (Helianthus Annus) Ruled by the Sun and the Element of Fire. Sunflower Oil makes a great carrier oil for blends that deal with protection, fertility, health and wisdom.

Essential Oils:

AMYRIS (Amyris balsamifera) Anointing, astral projection, attraction, blessing, consecration, exorcism, healing, love, meditation, protection, purification, sacral chakra, spirituality.

ANGELICA ROOT (Angelica archangelica) Exorcism, protection, healing, visions.

BASIL (Ocimum basilicum) Business success, conscious mind (stimulates), happiness, lust, money, peace, prosperity, protection.

BAY LAUREL (Laurus nobilis) Banishing, exorcism, luck, psychic ability.

BENZOIN (Styrax benzoin) Purification, prosperity, attracts customers.

BERGAMONT (Citrus bergamia) Business success, happiness, money, peace, physical energy, prosperity, protection, sleep.

BIRCH SWEET (Betula lenta) Protection, purification, exorcism.

BLACK PEPPER (Piper nigrum) Courage, physical energy, and protection.

BLUE TANSY (Tanacetum annuum) Water, Venus, immortality, youth, longevity.

CAJEPUT (Melaleuca cajeputi) Purification, protection, dispel negative thoughts and energies, break habits.

CAMPHOR (Cinnamomum camphora) Celibacy, crown chakra, physical energy, psychic energy, purification.

CARDAMOM (Elettaria cardamomum) Love, lust.

CARROT SEED (Daucus carota) Grounding, fertility.

CATNIP (Nepeta cataria) Cat magic, love, beauty, happiness.

CEDARWOOD (Cedrus atlantica) Blessing, health (maintain), heart chakra, meditation, money, protection, psychic energy, purification, self-control, spirituality, unhexing.

CHAMOMILE (Matricaria recutita & Anthemis nobilis) Meditation, peace, sleep.

CHILLI SEED (Capsicum annum) Protection, exorcism, fidelity, hex-breaking, love.

CINNAMON (Cinnamomum burmanii /cassia /zeylancium) Astral projection, base chakra, business success, health (maintain), luck, lust, magical energy, meditation, money, physical energy, prosperity, protection, psychic awareness, purification, spirituality.

CITRONELLA (Cymbopogon nardus / winterianus) Exorcism (exterior use), health (maintain), purification, unhexing.

CLARY SAGE (Salvia sclarea) Vivid dreams.

CLOVE BUD (Eugenia or syzgium aromaticum) Balances chakras, business success, courage, divination, exorcism, healing, heart chakra, love, money, prosperity, protection, psychic awareness.

COFFEE BEAN (Coffea arabica) Grounding, Earth magic, Mars, ritual stimulant.

CYPRESS (Cupressus sempervirens) Longevity, healing, comfort, protection.

ELEMI (Canarium luzonicum) Mental and psychic ability, spiritual balance, solar plexus chakra.

EUCALYPTUS (Eucalyptus globulus) Healing, health (maintain), protection, psychic energy, purification.

FIR NEEDLE (Abies sibirica) Mind clearing, memory, communication, purification before ritual, , protection, hex removal.

FRANKINCENSE (Boswellia serrata / carterii) Blessing, consecration, courage, exorcism, meditation, protection, purification, solar plexus chakra, spirituality.

GERANIUN (Pelargonium graveolens /x asperum) Happiness, protection.

GINGER ROOT (Zingiber officinale) Attraction, business success, courage, love, lust, magical energy, money, peace, physical energy, prosperity, purification, sex.

GRAPEFRUIT (Citrus paradisi) Purification.

HELICHRYSUM (Helichrysum italicum) Creativity, intuition, invoke spirits, scrying, channeling, awareness, calm, patience.

HO WOOD (Cinnamomum camphora) Cleaning, banishing, subdue sexual desire, celibacy, chastity, psychic power, dream work.

HYSSOP (Hyssopus officinalis) Purification, protection.

JUNIPER BERRY (Juniperus communis) Protection, anti-theft, love, exorcism, health.

LAVENDER (Lavandula stoechas/angustifolia/latifolia /hybrida) Balances chakras, business success, celibacy, conscious mind (stimulates), happiness, health (maintain), love, peace, protection, purification, sleep, third-eye chakra.

LEMON (Citrus limonum / limon) Balances chakras, health (maintain), love, physical energy, purification.

LEMONGRASS (Cymbopogon citratus /flexuosus /schoenanthus) Psychic awareness, psychic energy, purification, spirituality.

LIME (Citrus aurantifolia) Physical energy, protection, purification.

LITSEA (Litsea cubeba) Energy, rejuvenation, letting go.

MARJORAM (Origanum majorana) Celibacy, happiness, peace, sleep.

MUGWORT (Artemesia vulgaris) Moon, divination, lucid dreaming, prophetic dreams, protection.

MYRRH (Commiphora myrrha) Astral projection, attraction, balances chakras, blessing, consecration, crown chakra, exorcism, healing, meditation, protection, psychic energy, spirituality, unhexing.

MYRTLE (Myrtus communis) Love, good luck, fertility, and Venus, feminine and water aspects.

NIAOULI (Melaleuca quinquenervia) Purification, healing, protection, clearing negative energies, aura cleansing.

NUTMEG (Myristica fragrans) Luck, magical energy, meditation, money, physical energy, psychic awareness.

OPOPANAX (Commiphora guidotti) Death/resurrection, divination, Pluto, Scorpio, change.

OREGANO (Origanum vulgare) Happiness, tranquility.

PALMAROSA (Cymbopogon martini) Healing, love.

PALO SANTO (Bursera graveolens)

Luck, cleansing, air element.

PATCHOULI (Pogostemon cablin) Attraction, banishes negativity, growth, love, luck, mastery, money, peace, physical energy, prosperity, sex.

PEPPERMINT (Mentha arvensis / piperita) Conscious mind (stimulates), exorcism, health (maintain), protection, purification.

PETITGRAIN (Citrus aurantium) Conscious mind (stimulates), protection.

PINE (Pinus sylvestris) Exorcism, grounding, healing, health (maintain), magical energy, money, physical energy, protection, purification.

ROSEMARY (Rosmarinus officinalis) Conscious mind (stimulates), exorcism, health (maintain), heart chakra, longevity, love, protective, remembrance, third-eye chakra, vitality.

ROSEWOOD (Aniba rosaeodora) Mars, Moon, Venus, spirit element, fire element, intuitive health, beauty, divination, scrying, healing rituals, maturity, wisdom, femininity.

SAGE, DALMATION (Salvia officinalis) Conscious mind (stimulates), exorcism, money, purification, wisdom.

SAGE, WHITE (Salvia apiana) Cleansing spaces and magical objects, banish negative energy.

SANDALWOOD (Santalum album) Anointing, astral projection, attraction, blessing, consecration, exorcism, healing, love, meditation, protection, purification, sacral chakra, spirituality.

SPEARMINT (Mentha spicata) Comfort, healing, sleep (for protection).

SPIKENARD “JATAMANSI” (Nardostachys jatamansi) Good luck, fidelity, and health.

STAR ANISE (Illicium verum) Psychic power, luck.

SWEET ORANGE (Citrus sinensis) Balances chakras, divination, happiness, joy, love, luck, magical energy, money, physical energy, psychic energy, purification, sacral chakra.

TANGERINE (Citrus reticulata) Magical energy, purification.

TEA TREE (Melaleuca alternifolia) Purification.

THYME (Thymus vulgaris) Conscious mind (stimulates), courage, health (maintain), purification.

TURMERIC (Curcuma longa) Purification, protection.

VALERIAN ROOT (Valeriana officinalis) Love, sleep, purification, protection.

VANILLA (Vanilla planifolia) Love, lust, mental power.

VETIVER (Vetiveria zizanoides) Divination, exorcism, love, money, peace, protection, unhexing.

WINTERGREEN (Gaultheria procumbens) Protection, healing, hex-breaking.

YLANG YLANG (Cananga odorata) Love, lust, peace, sex, throat chakra.

[Sources: [X] [X]

basil in the home will attract money

thorny branches over the door will help repel evil

eat a pinch of thyme before bed to give you sweet dreams

cut an apple in half. give one half to your partner, and the other half to yourself. eat for a prosperous relationship!

throw rice or burn cotton to induce rain

lilacs to ward/rid unwanted spirits

add lemon juice to your bath water for purification

throw oats in your garden for bountiful harvest

Darlings! Here I’ve brought together some information for those just beginning their path. Though I provide this as a Wiccan, many of the basic principles, ideas and resources are just as applicable to Witches and Pagans of other descriptions. Just follow the links >w<

Pages on general topics

An overview of Wicca A glossary of common terms My spell collection Books for beginners Pages on specific topics

Information about Chakra and energy Information about Tarot reading Information about Herbs Information about Candles and their magical properties Information about Runes and Sigils Information about the Elements and how they apply to magic Information about stones and how they’re used in magic Information about astral projection Information about Gods and Goddesses Information about Familiars Spells

Anxiety relief spells Healing spells Hex Breaking spells Confidence spells Protection spells

Other useful bits and pieces

A page of simple spells Altar set up, maintenance and layout A few notes to assist with spells Some thoughts on gathering magical ‘power’

There we are my dears. I hope these help you navigate your respective paths a little easier. As ever, you’re welcome into our inbox if you have further questions, comments, or just want to say hi. Magpie and I are, as the blog’s name implies, a very friendly, welcoming pair. Good luck and blessed be.

Maps! Maps! MAPS! If you're a death witch, get one for the cemeteries you visit and mark gravestones/areas you've practiced in! Garden witches! Map out your gardens! Green witches! Map where you find specific herbs in your area! Lunar witches! Mark the best spots to go look at the sky! Make a key! Take notes!

Recipes for COMPONENTS! Write down how to make the mixtures you use in spells often- A special salt mixed with herbs and put under the moon, a mixture of oils for protection, the herb mixes sachets you keep making to add to sachets, whatever!

For green witches- press samples of stuff and glue them in! Go to an arboretum and ask for permission to take leaves to press, they'll usually let you take some- add them in with your notes about trees

Cool ways to make spells! I make spells in envelopes and on empty spools, what are some ways you do?

The local plants in your area and what they do. You're not going to be likely to find chrysanthemums to forage in Missouri, but you will find creeping charlie and prairie plants. What can you do with a thistle?

When you celebrate a sabbat, write down what you did and include samples! Ribbons from your Beltane altar, a pressed sample of your lemmas harvest, a scrap of your Yule decorations. Maybe do a spell and tape the remnants into your grimoire in a plastic baggie

Learn how to make an envelope out of paper just by folding it, how to string seeds, how to dry plants, how to macrame rocks and hang them from your window. Find those little witchy skills and write them down.

How to incorporate your hobby into your magic. Sigiling origami paper, weaving knot magick into your crochet, making blessed bookmarks, etc

Substitutes! Rosemary, rose and clear quartz are good for most things, but there are more substitutes to be used that are more powerful. Roanoke bells are good substitutes for bluebells, apparently.

Correspondences of odd things. Turns out different kinds of cats have different correspondences, huh.

Superstitions and such from where you're from.

For kitchen witches: easy to alter recipes. An egg noodle recipe that takes herbs really well, a simple bread recipe that can be dressed up for spells or rituals, how to make a good pie crust that you can sprinkle nutmeg in or whatever you desire.

Well, I am hardly an expert, but I can point you in the direction of others who are!

Introduction

Divination Intro

Tarot Cards

How to Get Started in Tarot

How to Read Tarot Cards When You Don’t Know Shit

Tips for Interpreting Tarot Cards

Reverse Tarot Cards

Yes/No Tarot Tips

Moon Phase Tarot Spread

How to Cleanse your Cards

Cartomancy

Cartomancy ABC Guide

Cartomancy: The Suits

How to Cleanse your Cards

Tasseography

Tasseography Guide

Lithomancy

Preparing a Lithomancy Set

Scrying

Scrying [Witchcraft 101]

Scrying Tips

Runeology

A Guide to Greek Alphabet Divination (Runes)

An Introduction to Norse Runeology

Elder Futhark Rune Correspondences

Blooding Runes

Candle Work

Reading a Candle

Reading a Candle (Yes/No Questions)

Misc.

Lesser known forms of Divination

Seashell Divination

Beginner witches, listen up.

When I started practising, one of the first things I did was put correspondence lists into my grimoire. Or, I tried to. You see, correspondences are individual. To some extent, they’re based on history, folklore, mythology and medicine - but they’re also highly personal. You can look at ten different correspondence tables for the same herb, and depending on the herb, you’ll get similar answers - but you can also get highly divergent ones. The result? I ended up writing 5-20 different correspondences for a bunch of herbs and crystals that I had never even heard of. Do I remember them now, 7 years on? Hell no. 

There’s a few problems with this:

You don’t know which source to trust.

Sources may totally conflict.

You don’t know why those correspondences are listed.

You won’t know what you can and can’t swap out of a spell.

Correspondence tables often don’t provide sources or reasoning.

You may not have those associations, so they may not actually help you.

Correspondences are tools. They help you to focus your intent in your craft. What’s the point in getting the “right” colour, herb, crystal, element, and moon phase for every spell when you don’t understand why you’re using them, or they don’t help you focus your intent? 

So, what’s the solution? Figure out your own correspondences. 

This doesn’t have to be difficult! Let’s say I’m doing a spell because I have a cold. For me, being sick is associated with soup, lemon, orange, honey and ginger - because my Nan used to make me a hot drink with the last few ingredients in it. So maybe I’ll make that drink, or maybe I’ll make soup with fresh ginger in it. I’ll stir the pot widdershins first, to “banish” the sickness (because I associate counter clockwise with banishment or getting rid of something), then deosil to “bring” or “grow” my health (because those are my associations for clockwise). See? Easy! 

Okay, so how exactly do you come up with correspondences?

Well, some of them are pretty immediate. Think associating mistletoe with Christmas, or plants in your area that only bloom at certain points of the year. You can also consider:

history, mythology and folklore: throughout history, there have been associations with certain plants, colours etc. that you can read up on. Some examples include associating purple with wealth or success because the dye for purple clothing was highly expensive (Roman emperors wore it) and associating rosemary with remembrance, as mentioned in Hamlet. 

medicinal properties: even if you aren’t interested in herbalism, you could include plants with medicinal properties in healing spells. 

local associations: this is pretty likely to cross over with history and folklore, but considering local associations is important, too - especially since associations in world history and mythology may not apply to you and your path. You might also have certain associations with “local” in a general sense (see my post about food correspondences below).

cultural associations: think “pumpkin” for October, even in countries where aren’t particularly common. Are there any cultural associations that you have with particular things? (These may be some of your “stronger” associations.)

personal associations: what’s your personal experience? Did you fall into a rosebush as a kid, so you’d rather associate roses with pain than with love? Did your first crush give you a green handbag, so green is a colour of love for you? What do you find comforting?

These aren’t the only aspects to consider, but it’s a starting point. Depending on the type of correspondence you’re looking for, you could consider other aspects, too (like farming calendars for month associations and seasonal foods).

This isn’t to say there’s anything wrong with using or posting correspondence lists - I’ve posted some myself. They can be really useful - but be aware that those are someone else’s correspondences, not yours, and they may not work the same way for you as they do for someone else - and that’s okay! You have your own resources and your own experiences, and it’s your craft. 

I hope this helps! Check out my other posts about coming up with your own correspondences:

How to correspondence: food & herbs