The Witching Hour

What is an Altar?

Altars are a hub of your magickal energy. A lot of witches perform spells there, seeing it as a source of valuable energy. It is also a place of worship if you have patron deities. For worshippers, this is where you would communicate and give offerings to said deities. This is also a wonderful space to charge and store your magickal tools. Altars are not a witchcraft-specific object, either- most christian churches have Altars dedicated to Jesus Christ as well!

What can be considered an Altar?

Anything that you use for any of the above can be considered an Altar. I use a bookcase as an altar but it can be anything from a table to an entire room to something as small as a suitcase or even an altoid can- something used commonly among closeted witches as it is not easily found or recognized by loved ones who might be so pleased with the concept of Witchcraft.

How do I decorate my Altar?

You can decorate it in any way you like! An altar, like the Craft in itself, is an extremely personal concept. However, here are various common ways I have seen some being decorated:

To honor their ancestors

To celebrate the seasons

To celebrate holidays such as Ostara or Yule

To honor their deities

Minimalist, having only their supplies and tools with it

Here are some ideas for each one one of these examples on the above list:

To Honor Your Ancestors 

Give Offerings of their favorite foods 

Decorate it in their favorite colors

 Have pictures of them on it 

Leave letters addressed to them on the Altar, sending your love and appreciation to them wherever they may be in the afterlife.

To Celebrate the Seasons 

Spring- decorate in bright colors such as yellow and pinks; regularly have flowers (real or fake) on or near it; dedicate your Altar to your patron fertility/life/nature deity 

Summer- decorate in bold colors such as reds and greens; leave plants such as cacti or produce plants like tomato plants on or near it; leave offerings of fresh (preferably local and in-season) plants on it; dedicate your Altar to your patron god of passion/sun/hard-work 

Fall- decorate in muted and comforting colors such as browns and oranges; leave offerings of wheat/cinnamon/squash; leave a small letter addressed to your late loved ones in this time of thinned veil; dedicated your Altar to your patron god of harvest. 

Winter- decorate in colors such as whites or blues or even black; leave sprigs of evergreen tree needles or cones near or on it; dedicate it to your patron god of death or life cycles

To Celebrate the Holidays 

Samhain- In this time of the thinnest veil, you would want to decorate your altar in a way similar to the way you would in honor of your ancestors. See above for ideas regarding that. 

Yule- Leave an (artificial) burning yule log on it, have sun imagery to celebrate the return of the sun 

Imbolc- Leave a burning candle (or an artificial candle on) on your altar all day; decorate with a bundle of wheat, a pomegranate, or other symbolism of fertility 

Ostara- Decorate with jasper or incense for jasmine or any other floral scent; leave offerings of food; if possible, move it in front of the sun

Beltane- Decorate with phallic decorations; leave items on it that bring great joy to your life, leave a candle of an earthy smell burning 

Litha- Decorate with imagery of the moon to welcome the growing darkness; leave it in dark colors for the same reason; similar to Imbolc, display symbols of fertility 

Lammas- Decorate in Fall-themed colors; Leave an offering of (preferably home-made) bread 

Mabon- Decorate your Altar in items and symbols of things that you are grateful for; leave a letter of thanks to your deity; cover in colors of transition such as orange-red, grays, blue-green, etc.

To Honor your Deities 

Cover your altar in their patron colors

 Display symbolism of their domain (for ex. A bowl of salt-water if they are over the Sea)

If their worship permits, display a portrait or artistic rendition of them! Feel free to do this yourself, no matter how you gauge your artistic abilities. I’ve even seen people represent gods with dressed-up dolls or barbies 

Light an incense in a smell that reminds you of them

The Minimalist Approach 

Typically these kinds of altars hold simply the tools of the trade and representations of the elements (none of this is mandatory ever and you should follow your gut with what is necessary for you): 

Incense to represent air 

Candles or light to represent fire 

A bowl of water to represent… well… water 

A bowl of salt to represent Earth 

Athame 

Candles 

Crystals

Wand

Hey Guys! I made some more printable reference sheets for y’all! You can download them along with my other reference sheets and printables here. Feel free to request printables and reference sheets as I am always looking for ideas to create more!! Also! Feel free to share Altar tips and decorating ideas on this post ^_^

Serpent tarot spread for when you feel stuck and aren’t seeing things clearly. Snakes have long been symbols of change and transformation, knowledge, and desire. Let the serpent steer you toward the right path and give you guidance

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

If you have a witch blog like this post!

I'd prefer people who dont have their base in Wicca ? That's just not where my magic is and I dont know nothin about it.

Lavender Lemonade

Nothing beats the summer heat like a tall glass of ice cold Lavender Lemonade! Not only will you love the refreshingly delicious taste it has to offer, but you may find yourself more relaxed since the mere scent of lavender has been shown to reduce anxiety. In addition, the odor from essential oils that are released from lavender blossoms may provide migraine and insomnia relief.

*************************************************

Ingredients

1/4 cup Dried Lavender Flowers

2 cups Boiling Water

1 cup Honey

1 tray Ice Cubes

1 cup Lemon Juice

5+ cups Filtered Water

Instructions

Put the dried lavender flowers into a bowl and pour 2 cups of boiling water over it.

Add the honey and then allow it to steep for about 15-20 minutes.

Strain out the lavender flowers.

Add ice cubes to a 2-quart pitcher.

Pour the honey and lavender mixture into the pitcher.

Add the lemon juice and top it off with cold filtered water.

Tarot Tips - Confidence

Don’t put so much pressure on yourself to be right all the time. Sometimes a reading just doesn’t resonate, and that’s okay! It’s also okay to acknowledge this and try again. When reading for someone else, and they don’t resonate with the cards, if you casually brush it off, they likely will too! 

Memorize the cards as best as you can. This is obviously going to take a lot of practice. But recognizing the cards right off the bat will make your reading go smoother and help you feel more confident.

Learn to read body language. Chances are, you’re probably already pretty good at this! Receiving positive body language when reading for others will help reassure you. And knowing when a reading doesn’t feel right for others will help you switch gears.

Ask the right kinds of questions.

Start small. Don’t jump in with a 12 card reading about your life’s destiny. Start with 1-3 cards about how your day or week is going to go. This applies when reading for others too! Answer their questions with a 3 card spread instead of 8. It’ll help you not get lost in the details. 

Read for close friends. Sometimes you know too much about yourself, and that can be confusing. And reading for people you trust can remove some of the stress if you’re new to reading for others.

On that note, read for people that don’t know enough to correct you. If you read for people unfamiliar with tarot, and you get something wrong, they won’t know! Even if you don’t get anything wrong, knowing that you won’t be “exposed” will take away some of the anxiety. 

Learn to read without a spread. If you find pre-made tarot spreads restrictive or just don’t want to remember a spread for every occasion, learn to rely on your intuition instead and do away with them!

Don’t be afraid to provide a disclaimer. If you’re still a baby diviner, give a quick “btw I’m still practicing” to, again, relieve some of that pressure to be perfect. 

Get a reading from someone else! Seeing another diviner in practice can only ever be a learning experience. You also get a sense of what it feels like to be on the receiving end of a reading that isn’t your own, and hopefully you’ll realize you’re much more focused on your own question than trying to spot your reader’s mistakes. (In case that’s something you were worried about.) 

Intent: To absorb negative energy and promote positivity.

Ingredients: Sea salt (protection, warding, absorbing negative energy)

                      Sand (absorbing negative energy)

                      Rosemary (protection, espeically psychic; association with sea witchcraft)

                     Candle of choice to seal it with.

so, my housemate decided to learn tarot and i will list my tarot advices here to beginners and anyone wants to try new things!

🕯   if you’re a beginner to divination, don’t try learn tarot, lenormand, playing cards, crystal balls at the same that will tire you out. instead focus on one (this is tarot in this post)

🕯  some witches say you should leave learning major arcana last but i learned major cards first and that helped me seeing tarot as a journey not just a way of seeing the future. 

🕯  don’t buy too many decks at once. if you’re new to tarot (and energy or witchcraft) try to focus and bond with one at a time.

🕯  buy a deck close to the classic ones because the pictures would help you to memorize meanings. 

🕯  read about tarot’s history! this will help you understand about the philosophy in it and will make you see tarot as a whole different way to practice.

🕯  practice shuffling but don’t turn tarot into playing cards. 

🕯  i don’t let others touch my decks because i’m sensitive to others’ energies. so if you feel wrong when people touch it, don’t let them do it. 

🕯  they touched? no problem, you can always apologize to your deck and cleanse them after. 

🕯  don’t expect to memorize all cards immediately. practice as much as you read about cards’ meanings, that would help you both memorize and challenging your energy into making it real divination instead just reading the cards’ meanings out loud. 

🕯  don’t expect to create a story right away or find court cards. you will be able to do that with time. trust me. 

🕯  sometimes you will say something about a card then say “no its meaning was different” but you will see how you said was the correct thing about the situation. that’s precious. 

🕯  sometimes you learn about the meanings in an unexpected way or discover or give a meaning by yourself because you think it fits that card and that’s right. trust the signs. trust yourself. 

🕯  tarot will become more of hearing in your head than seeing the pictures. give an ear to those voices. they will tell you what to do, what to say, what to decide.

🕯  and lastly, good luck with your journey. this is your “the fool” moment and it’s worth every single moment to spend. lots of love and luck!

’I approve of myself and love myself deeply’

This goes with the last post about the tarot card meanings.

Wands:

Ace: Uninspired, low self-esteem, ineffective, misdirection, unfocused

2: Hopelessness, unprepared, options/ lacking options

3: Lacking in skills or resources, apprehension, thinking small

4: Ungrateful, unhappy home, private celebrations

5: Combative Personality, unhealthy competitions, arguments

6:  Arrogance, corruption, difficulty in leadership

7: Powerless, backing down, fighting for the wrong thing

8: Nervous energy, rushing, exhaustion

9: Burn out, doubt, defensiveness, pointless struggles

10: Wrong priorities, busy work, martyr, being alone

Page: Rigid, self-doubt, fear of the unknown, uninspired

Knight:Reckless, rushing, impatient, thoughtless, manipluating

Queen: Selfish, self-choices, attention seeking, mean

King: Lust, rage, temperamental, egotistical, selfish  

Cups:

Ace: Blocked feelings, guarded heart, numbness, ignoring intuition

2: Unequal Relationship, no relationship, difficulty relating

3: Trouble in friendship, lack of support, peer pressure

4: Looking for a sign, restlessness, emotional breakthrough

5: Ongoing suffering, wallowing in sadness, picking up the pieces

6:Healing inner child, releasing the past, selective memory

7: Unimaginative, losing touch with reality, clarity, pleasure

8: Feeling something is missing, running away, refusing to give up

9: Disappointment, envy, ungrateful, superficial, overindulgence

10: Emotional lack, family problems, selfishness, separation

Page: Disappointing relationship, emotional immaturity, naive

Knight: Dramatic, escapist, obsessive, fickle, idealistic

Queen: Vulnerable, lack of emotional boundaries, moody

King: Emotional stress, blocked emotions, intense negativity

Swords:

Ace: Misunderstanding, lies, communication, denial, confusion

2:Silent treatment, undesired, coercion

3: Ignoring pain, recovery, reconciliation

4: Tired mind, mental overload, stagnant thinking

5: Mediation, debriefing, apologies, resolutions, assessing damage

6: Can not release the past, feeling alone, difficult transition

7: Regret, choosing the right thing, consequences, guilt, regret

8: Personal power, freeing yourself, finding a solution, reclaiming

9: Shadow work, getting to the root of worry, self-destructive thoughts

10: Relapse, hopelessness, recovery, clinging

Page: Misunderstanding, malicious words, afraid to speak, rebel

Knight: Vengeful words, speaking without thought, fighting for the wrong reasons

Queen: Cold, demanding, cutting words, gossip, confused, isolation

King: Forceful, cold hearted, lacking compassion, controlling, forceful

Pentacles:

Ace: Greed, cautious, unhealthy choices, materialism

2: Delays, overwhelmed, rigidity

3: Harsh criticism, sloppy work, no support, uncooperative, problems

4:Greed, hoarding, lacking boundaries, reckless with resources

5: Overspending, focusing on what you lack, financial breakthrough

6: Corruption, refusing help, hoarding, debt, exploitation

7: Ready to give up, wrong priorities, feedback, repeating mistakes

8: No progress, cutting corners, lacking skills, unfulfilled

9: Buying happiness, craving independence, resisting pleasure

10: Exile, trouble with family, burden, rejecting tradition, despair

Page: Unfocused, undisciplined, clutter, materialistic, unorganized

Knight: Stuck, second guessing, slow progress, perfectionism

Queen: Lazy, neglect, scarcity thinking, unhealthy, impractical

King: Stuck, possessiveness, workaholic, materialistic, overindulgence

Major Arcana:

The Fool: Foolish, distrust, closed mind, reckless, naive

The Magician: Illusion, trickery, lacking skills or resources, intention without action

The High Priestess: Secretive, gossip, disconnection, withdrawn

The Empress: Smothering, burn out, blocked creativity, possessiveness

The Emperor: Controlling, abuse of power, lacking structure, egotistical

The Hierophant: Fundamentalist, iconoclast, unethical teacher

The Lovers: Disconnection, uncooperative, incompatible, unrequited love

The Chariot: Stress, rushing, vehicle trouble, undisciplined

Strength: Lack of confidence, afraid, reactive, compulsive behavior

The Hermit: Loneliness, feeling lost, antisocial, needing solitude

Wheel of Fortune: bad luck, lacking control, setbacks, ongoing struggle

Justice: Extremes, self-centered, unfair, unbalanced, lacking objectivity

The Hanged Man: Procrastination, victim mentality, hypocrisy

Death: Burning bridges, running away, refusing to let go, fear of change

Temperance: Rigidity, over compromising, no consensus

The Devil: Breaking free, hitting bottom, quitting, broken agreements

The Tower: Warning, stubbornness, mounting pressure, ongoing chaos

The Star: Hope without action, pessimistic, unethical healer

The Moon: Denial, projecting onto others, repressed emotions

The Sun: Afraid to shine, bad weather, too serious, painful truth, attention seeking

Judgement: Feeling judged, being judgemental, numbness, refusing to change