Caught In The Brambles

WHY EATING SEASONALLY IS IMPORTANT

•save money - food is at it’s highest supply

•food is better - it is grown closer to home so less likely to rot

•support local, sustainable farmers

(to boost any spell's speed and efficiency)

Salt cayenne paprika chili powder black salt coffee grounds clove powder dragons blood

Your end result powder should be dark in color.

Use this for when you need to give extra speed, oomph, or power to a spell, but be careful, a little goes a long way. Add too much to a spell and it can prematurely burn out (like a caffeine crash) or just become erratic and not do what it's intended (like overdosing on caffeine).

If you only study witchcraft, you're not going to be the best witch you can be. If you're going to use herbs, study botany. If you're going to use meditation and mindfulness, study theraputic methods like DBT and CBT. If you're going to use astrology, study astronomy. If you're going to use cooking and baking and drinking, study gastronomy and mixology. If you're going to use crystals, study geology. If you're involving paganism that has its roots in a particular time and place, study their histories and cultures. If you're a technowitch, study computer science.

—spider wort—

i removed some spider wort from my garden bed, it spreads like crazy, and brought some home to dry!

some things to note: typically when there is “wort” at the end of a plant name, you can count on it having magical and medicinal properties.

they are also extremely easy to propagate!

with this plant, its magical properties include:

🌿abundance spell— carry dried flower in your wallet

🌿banish negativity & attract love— spread flowers around your house

🌿relaxation & inner beauty spell— take a bath and float a handful of the flowers in the water

medicinally, its properties include:

🌿insect bites & scrapes— the sap can be used as a medicinal salve, the leaves can also be used for insect bites if mashed into a juicy substance and applied as a poultice

🌿 food— its important to credit the Cherokees for parboiling the young leaves and the small shoots, and eating the flowers raw, cooking the stems

🌿 expelling poisons— attributed to tannin constituents, the leaves hold drying properties

🌿 in tea-form— again attributed to the Cherokees, leaf extractions as tea used for non specified stomach, kidney, as well as “female” ailments

Even sleep can be magickal! Here’s a list of things that you can put under your pillow.

Amethyst ✨ to ward off nightmares.

Rose Quartz ✨ to tackle headaches.

Labradorite ✨ to boost any spells.

Snowy Quartz ✨ for when you’re revising or preparing for something important.

Lavender ✨ for a good nights rest.

Rosemary ✨ also great for preparing for anything big!

Yarrow ✨ for dreaming of your true love.

One does not become a better witch by buying the prettiest grimoire or by filling their altar with ornate jars and expensive candles. An apothecary of rare herbs and oils will not help you align with your higher self. The market for paganism is growing rapidly, and this often lures baby witches into believing that they need to spend money or invest in materials to practice witchcraft, wicca, or any spiritual path. Spirituality has become a topic for profit.

Even big-box stores have made room for crystals and astrology themed candles. When I first noticed this, I was impressed. I thought it was great to see witchcraft becoming more accessible, and having it in common stores might help to reduce the stigma. But looking closer, we can see that this is having the opposite effect. The commercialization of spirituality creates the impression that you need to purchase and collect a multitude of expensive tools and materials before beginning.

I have friends who come to me, interested in witchcraft, asking where to start. They expressed that they'd love to go on the journey, but they were afraid they didn't have enough money to buy all the crystals and books or that they couldn't do any spells because they weren't allowed to have candles in their house. The best thing I could think to tell them was that you don't need those things. Witchcraft began in the backyards of commoners, in civilizations that came long before crystals or imported herbs were accessible. Witchcraft began with people's bare hands. With people's minds and bodies. They cast their spells with the plants they could find growing by their houses. Witchcraft is not a rich man's practice.

✧ The Elements ✧

‣ ‣ Charging Items with the Elements - You can use the elements to charge a specific item with energy that corresponds with that element.

by stars: astrology, horoscopy, astromancy, judicial astrology

by oracles: theomancy

by the bible: bibliomancy

by ghosts: psychomancy

by spirits seen in a magic lens: cristallomantia

by shadows or manes: sciomancy

by appearances in the air: aeromancy, chaomancy

by the stars at birth: genethliacs

by meteors: meteormancy

by winds: austromancy

by sacrificial appearances: aruspicy (or haruspicy)

by the entrails of animals sacrificed: heiromancy, heiroscopy

by the entrails of humans sacrifices: anthropomancy

by the entrails of fishes: ichthyomancy

by sacrificial fire: pyromancy

by red-hot iron: sideromancy

by smoke from the altar: capnomancy

by mice: myomancy

by birds: orniscopy, orinthomancy

by a cock picking up grains: alectryomancy (or alectoromancy)

by snakes: ophiomancy

by herbs: botanomancy

by water: hydromancy

by fountains: pegomancy

by a wand: rhabdomancy

by dough of cakes: crithomancy

by meal: aleuromancy, alphitomancy

by salt: halomancy

by dice: cleromancy

by arrows: belomancy

by a balanced hatchet: axinomancy

by a balanced sieve: coscinomancy

by a suspended ring: dactyliomancy

by dots made at random on paper: geomancy

by precious stones: lithomancy

by pebbles: pessomancy

by pebbles drawn from a heap: psephomancy

by mirrors: catoptromancy

by writings in ashes: tephramancy

by dreams: oneiromancy

by the hand: palmistry, chiromancy

by nails reflecting the sun’s rays: onychomancy

by finger rings: dactylomancy

by numbers: arithmancy

by drawing dots: sortilege

by passages in books: stichomancy

by the letters forming the name of the person: onomancy, nomancy

by the features: anthroposcopy 

by the mode of laughing: geloscopy

by ventriloquism: gastromancy

by walking in a circle: gyromancy

by dropping melted wax into water: ceromancy