Sick suffering hhh

Certain forms of the craft are more suited to be used on the self as opposed to spellwork done to others.  While many of these things can still be done to others, i.e. they can drink your potions, listed here are types of spells that connect better with the body they’re performed on.  In most cases these are going to be spells you do on yourself.

Spells that Affect You

One way to utilize spellwork is to harness your own intent to change your own behavior.  This inherently comes with permission, and can be one of the most effective forms of spellwork because it combines personal choice, will/intent, and the target is one of the things that you have the most authority and control over, yourself.  Spells that might find their way into this category for example would be spells to help you focus, spells to help you drink more water, or even spells to help you feel more inspired.  Whatever the reason for it, your authority over yourself can give it an extra kick.

Potions

It has been implied that the reason that potions are effective is because water is a conduit for energy and intent.  Your body naturally carries the water to every cell.  In this manner the intent is also carried to every cell in your body.  Everything from tea, to enchanted cooking, to charged stones in water, to just water imbued with energy work can be considered a potion.  Just make sure what you’re using is food safe!

Sigils on Skin

While a tattoo is a much more permanent form of this, sigils can be drawn everywhere, including directly onto yourself.  Things like color considerations and shape considerations can be taken into account when crafting these, but it is hard to deny that a sigil drawn directly onto your skin is not an effective way of applying a spell in a way that controls your own behavior.  As always make sure what you use to write with is safe on skin, and do a small test patch before leaving it on for extended periods.

Pocket Charms

Jewelry and other things that are meant to be carried on you will naturally fall into this category.  You can attach them to bags, clothing, have them in pockets, or even have them be in your piercings.  I knew someone who had tiny jars for earrings that she kept herbs in to carry with her.  These kinds of things can be an easy way to cast spells on yourself.

Making Soaps and Baths

To establish consistent worship, it helps to make things as easy as possible: have a reminder of some type, set a convenient time, have a standard prayer, and plan for a regular offering so it’s less likely to forget about it or make an excuse not to do it.

The reminder could be having one’s altar in an obvious and unavoidable location, setting a reminder or alarm on your phone, having a physical calendar, or placing a physical copy of the Homeric and/or Orphic hymns where you can’t miss seeing it. Determine what works best for you.

My standard time to worship is between washing my face/brushing my teeth and having breakfast, if I’m going out for the day, or after lunch, if I’m staying at home, so there’s sufficient burn time for the incense and I don’t have to worry or wonder about it later. Some people worship right after they come home from work or school. Again, whatever works best for you.

Standardized prayer could be from the Orphic and/or Homeric prayers, a modern prayer, such as one of those by https://greekpagan.com or https://winebrightruby.tumblr.com/ devotional,or you might want to create a standard daily prayer to your specific deities or all the gods.

My standard offerings are fresh water, incense, and candle light. I keep a cup, incense burner, and candle holder with a tealight on my altar. Matches and incense are a few steps away. No need to ponder what I’ll be offering day-to-day.

If physical offerings aren’t possible, set a regular devotional activity, such as study, creating art, exercise, gardening, volunteer work, etc.

My music teacher used to say it takes doing something 6 times to establish a habit. So, worshiping 6 days in a row is reinforcing, and daily worship for 6 weeks in a row pretty much makes it an established routine.

However, while daily worship is a worthy goal,  it’s not necessarily a good fit for everyone or even all the time. Some of us do better by worshiping only on festival days. Sometimes, saying a casual “hello” and sharing some food or drink when we think of it is the most realistic option. The gods know us, better than we know ourselves, and they understand.

I decided to make a tarot spread based on the trans flag created in 1999 by trans woman Navy veteran Monica Helms. "The light blue is the traditional color for baby boys, pink is for girls, and the white in the middle is for those who are transitioning, those who feel they have a neutral gender or no gender, and those who are intersexed," she's quoted in an article by the website "seventeen".

The colors (and cards) mean the following:

First blue stripe: my feelings on traditional masculinity First pink stripe: my feelings on traditional femininity White stripe: my gender (for nonbinary people), my sex (for intersexed people), or my transition (for people transitioning) Second pink stripe: my take on femininity Second blue stripe: my take on masculinity

I kept things like "traditional" vague because each culture has different ideas of traditional gender roles. This is to help with self-introspection.

If you use this, please tag me in it so I can see it and link back to this post!

In my last post, I talked about different types of spirits that witches may work with. Today, we’re going to discuss how to approach spirits and establish a working relationship.

Keep in mind that these are general guidelines, and every spirit is different. I encourage you to do your own research beyond this post, especially if you plan to work with powerful entities like deities, angels, or fairies.

Remember the Four R’s

It’s important to keep these things in mind when working with spirits:

Respect. The spirits are powerful, and you need to have a healthy respect for that power when working with them. It’s also important to respect them as individual, autonomous beings.

I’m not saying that every interaction you have with the spirits needs to be a full blown ritual with incense and chanting. (In fact, some spirits don’t care for those types of rituals.) But every interaction you have with them should be conducted with an air of respect and reverence.

What this mostly boils down to is good manners. Being polite will get you better results — and it will also keep you from being on the receiving end of spirit mischief. Proper etiquette depends on the type of spirit you’re working with, which is one reason it’s important to do your research. In general, it’s polite to make an offering, use respectful language, and thank the spirits before you leave (unless you’re dealing with fairies — some traditions say you should never thank the fae).

Respecting spirits also means respecting their desires — even if that means respecting their wish not to work with you. Not every spirit you reach out to will want to form a relationship with you, just like not every person you meet in your life will want to be your friend. When a spirit turns you down, respect their decision, politely bid them farewell, and move on.

Reciprocity. The goal of spirit work is to establish a mutually-beneficial partnership — not for one partner to serve the other. On one hand, this means that you can’t just command spirits to do your bidding without giving anything in return. On the other hand, it also means that you won’t be worshiping/honoring them without receiving some kind of boon.

This is why it’s important to make offerings to the spirits you work with. These offerings “feed” the spirits by giving them power, and a good offering will likely make a spirit more willing to work with you. Offerings are not payment for favors from spirits (it’s not quite that simple), but they are a sign that you intent to practice reciprocity in your relationship.

In general, it’s important to make an offering when you first introduce yourself to a spirit and again before you ask them for anything. But you shouldn’t only make offerings when you’re about to ask for something! How would you feel if you had a friend who only did nice things for you when they were about to ask for a favor? You’d probably start avoiding them, right? You might even get angry. To avoid this kind of dynamic in your spirit work, make regular offerings to the spirits you work with. If you’re especially close with a spirit, you may want to offer to them every day.

Relationship. The spirits are not vending machines where you put offerings in and blessings fall out. They are living, sentient beings with feelings, and deserve to be treated as such. Your relationship with the spirits you choose to work with is just that: a relationship. And like any relationship, it requires time, energy, and emotional labor.

If that sounds like more effort than you want to make, there are plenty of ways to do magic without ever working with spirits. You don’t need to do spirit work to be a witch. It may not be your thing, and that’s okay!

But if you choose to work with spirits, it’s important to remember that you are working with them as an equal partner — you’re not their boss, and they are not obligated to like you, help you, or even tolerate you. Relationships with spirits are built over time, through mutual respect and trust.

You wouldn’t drive up to your friend’s house, throw a fast-food burger at them, and then demand a special favor. Likewise, you shouldn’t just dump an offering on your altar and demand something of the spirits. Take the time to sit down with them. Talk to them. Get to know them. Put some thought into your offerings, instead of just offering the same thing every time. Spirit work is, at its core, about building an authentic relationship with the spirits we choose to include in our practice. Enjoy it.

Research. When it comes to spirits, it’s important to know exactly who (and what) you’re dealing with. As previously mentioned, the etiquette for dealing with fairies is very different from other land spirits. Different deities have different standards for their worshipers, which vary from one pantheon to the next. The way you interact with your ancestors will probably be shaped by their personalities, cultures, and values. All this is to say it’s important to know who you’re reaching out to, preferably before you reach out to them.

With deities, this is easy. Most witches who choose to work with deities will feel drawn to a certain pantheon, or even a specific god or goddess. There’s a lot of information out there about most historical pantheons, so researching them is easy. The same goes for angels, saints, demons, and even fairies.

It can be a little more difficult to do your research when you’re dealing with land spirits, spirits of place, or other less well-known figures. In these cases, it’s best to take three steps: 1.) figure out what type of spirit you’re dealing with (land spirit, animal spirit, ancestor, etc.), 2.) find out what this type of spirit is like generally, and 3.) find out how that applies to your specific spirit.

For example: you want to connect with your local land spirits. You do some research to find out how land spirits have been treated in various cultures — you find out that they’re typically benevolent, are closely tied to the natural landscape, and were often given food offerings. Then, you do some research into your local plants and animals — what form might a nature spirit take in your local environment? Would it be a huge moose with snow-covered antlers, or a magnolia tree in full bloom? Is there any local folklore in your area that could be describing a land spirit? Once you have answers to these questions, you’ll have a much better idea of how to approach the spirits and start up a relationship.

Initiating a Relationship with a Spirit

Begin by identifying who this spirit is. For example, let’s say you choose to reach out to a specific ancestor spirit — maybe a deceased grandparent. Make sure you’re familiar with the etiquette for interacting with this type of spirit so you don’t accidentally do something disrespectful. (If your Grandma hated cussing, try not to drop any f-bombs while communing with her.)

Create a special space to communicate with the spirit. This can be as simple as lighting a candle or as elaborate as setting up a special altar. If you’re reaching out to a grandparent, you might set up a small ritual space with a photo of them, any of their belongings that you have access to, and some things that they enjoyed while they were alive. These items may make the connection easier, but you don’t need them to communicate. What matters is that you’ve taken the time to create a special space for this moment. (Like all ritual spaces, it should be clean and tidy, and it’s a good idea to do an energetic cleanse beforehand.)

Make an offering. Make sure your offering is appropriate for the spirit you’re connecting to. Offerings should be made with an air of reverence — don’t just toss a bag of Doritos on your altar and expect it to be well-received.

Introduce yourself. Speak out loud. State your intention and who you are hoping to connect with.

Wait and listen. You may feel a presence or receive some kind of sign — or you may not. Just because you didn’t get a sign doesn’t mean that your offering wasn’t noticed or that you’re being ignored. You may also receive a sign several hours, days, or weeks after you first reach out. Be patient.

Say your farewells. Express your gratitude for the spirit’s presence, and let them know that you are ending your little ritual. It’s up to you whether to invite them to stick around or politely tell them to leave, but if you’re going to give a spirit permission to linger in your home you better be 1000% sure you know who they are and what their intentions with you are.

Moving Forward

As you work with this spirit, it is important to establish clear boundaries for the relationship. Be clear about what you want to accomplish by working with them, and make sure you understand what they expect from you in return.

You might want to establish a time limit: for example, maybe you’re choosing to work closely with the goddess Brigid from Imbolc to Samhain, at which point you can choose to continue the relationship or to take a step back. Or, you may choose to work with a spirit on a specific task — for example, working with the goddess Aphrodite to get back on your feet and rebuild your self esteem after a breakup. Once this task is accomplished, you may choose to form a more long-term relationship or to take a step back.

Forming a permanent or long-term working relationship with a spirit is a very big, very serious commitment, and should not be taken lightly. This goes double for anything involving a ritual commitment, such as dedication to a deity. When you make these commitments, you are choosing to make a spirit and their energy a permanent part of your life. This decision requires some very serious introspection and consideration, and should not be made impulsively.

Resources:

Southern Cunning: Folkloric Witchcraft in the American South by Aaron Oberon

A Practical Heathen’s Guide to Asatru by Patricia M. Lafayllve

Where the Hawthorn Grows and The Morrigan: Meeting the Great Queens by Morgan Daimler

Wicca for Beginners by Thea Sabin

Azrael Loves Chocolate, Michael’s A Jock: An Insider’s Guide to What Your Angels Are Really Like and The Angel Code by Chantel Lysette

(image source)

Hello, friends, enemies, Witches and Pagans. I have worked in a library for one whole month now! (Wow!) I have spent hours and hours checking out books, shelving books, and telling people about the amazing services libraries offer for free, partially because I am paid to do it but mostly so that I can see the astounded look on people’s faces. I was telling people way before they actually hired me to tell people things. Sue me. I love libraries.

Now, I can’t say that each and every library will have all, or even some of these services. A conversation with a fellow witch whose county is not even a half hour away revealed that their library has, full stop, banned any and all witchcraft and witch-adjacent topics in the library. Still, most libraries can’t get away with similar full-on bans, and it is 100% worth still checking out what your local library has to offer, witchblr.

Are you a witch? Probably! The library probably has stuff for you! Yes, you! Here is my list on the top ways to take advantage of services you might already have access to:

I’ve noticed that there aren’t many posts concerning epithets for Hades, and certainly no comprehensive ones, so I thought I’d make one. This is Hellenism focused, so all will be applied to Hades, even though the Latin ones would traditionally be for Pluto. Latin epithets are marked as (L). I translated some of these into more concise titles that convey their implications, and notes are made as necessary. Sources are at the bottom but are not linked so that this will still show in tags. I hope this helps everyone!

Related to his role as ruler of the underworld:

Hades Chthonius - Hades of the Underworld

Hades Polyxenos/Polydegmon/Polysêmantôr Aidonius - Hades, Ruler/Host of Many

Hades Pasiánax - Hades, the Universal King

Hades Adesius - Hades of the Grave

Hades Zefs Khthonios - Hades, Zeus of the Underworld

Hades Larthy Tytiral (Etrurian) - Hades, Sovereign of Tartarus

Hades Ánax - Hades, the King

Hades Polydegmenos - Hades, He Who Welcomes All

Summanus/Manus/Mantus (L) - Hades, Prince of the Dead

Niger Deus (L) - Hades, the Black God || Hades of the Infernal Regions

“Zeus of the Departed”

“The Other Zeus”

Related to his roles concerning death:

Hades Nekrodegmôn - Hades, Receiver of the Dead

Hades Agesilaos - Hades, Who Calls Man To The Underworld

Hades Nekrôn Sôtêr - Hades, Saviour of the Dead

Hades Hesperos Theos - Hades, God of Death and Darkness (for those who believe he and Thanatos are the same deity)

Related to his role as controller of the earth and its resources:

Hades Ploutos - Hades of Wealth

Hades Khamaizilos Dios - Hades of the Earth (“where he likes to be” is implied)

Hades Theôn Khthonios - Hades, the Terrestrial God

Tellumo (L) - Hades, Who Provides to the Creative (denotes creative power of the earth’s resources)

Tellus (L) - Hades, Who Provides for the Productive (denotes productive power of the earth’s resources)

Altor (L) - Hades, Who Nourishes

Other:

Hades Hagesilaos - Hades, Leader of the People

Hades Eubuleus - Hades of Good Counsel || Hades, the Consoler (supposedly references death as the end of sorrows)

Hades Adámastos - Hades, the Unconquerable

Hades Aidis - Hades, the Unseen

Hades Aïdonefs/Aidoneus - Hades, the Singer || Hades of Nightingales || Hades of Sleep || Hades of Light || Hades of Poets || Hades of a Girl

Hades Amenthes (Egyptian) - Hades, Who Gives and Receives

Hades Axiocersus - Hades the Shorn (he was depicted without hair where this was used)

Hades Clymenus - Hades, the Renowned

Hades Euclius/Eucles - Hades of Good Report/the Famous/of Good Fame

Hades Agetes/Hegates - Hades, the Conductor

Hades Moiragetes - Hades, Guide of the Fates

Hades Orkos/Orcus - Hades of Oaths, Hades, the Avenger of the Perjured

Hades Opheius - Hades, the Blind || Hades of Prophecy (as the blind augers of Messenia we’re dedicated to him)

Euchaites - The Beautiful-haired One

Rusor (L) - Hades, to Whom All Things Return

Salutaris Divus (L) - Hades, Restorer of the Dead

Saturnius (L) - Hades, Son of Kronos

Uragus (L) - Hades of Fire

Urgus (L) - Hades, Who Impels

Operatus (L) - Hades, the Concealed

Februus (L) - Hades, To Whom Purification and Sacrifice Is Offered

Hades, the Good and Prudent (not historical, but reflects how he was seen)

Negative (but everything can be twisted sometimes):

Hades Agesander - Hades, Who Carries All Away (this references the Persephone myth; included because it exists but I’m not sure you’d want to use it)

Hades Clotonius - Hades, the Infernal

Hades Stygius - Hades the Hateful

Feralis Deus (L) - Hades, the Cruel God

Hades Agelastus - Hades of Melancholy Countenance

“Hades, the Tearless”

“Hades, the Implacable and Adamant”

Given by Poets:

The Grisly God (Homer)

Ruthless King (Homer)

Infernal [Zeus] (Vergil, he said Jove)

Stygian [Zeus] (Vergil, same as above)

Sources:

Hellenic Gods (dot Org)

Brown, Robert (1844). “The Religion of Zoroaster Considered In Connection With Archaic Monotheism” (also known as Wikipedia citation)

So I was asked to write about understanding yourself and controlling your emotions better and i’m going to be honest, this is a difficult one because it’s an ongoing continuous process. Here are a few ways you can try to start this journey, but I think that the key here is consistency, always trying to catch yourself and getting back up when you fall. I don’t think there’s a perfect formula here. But, here are a few ways to get started:

- Be kind to yourself. A lot of the time we tend to be harder on ourselves than we are on others. We tend to think that we’re faulty and that everyone else has their lives together. I promise you, people’s lives aren’t as perfect as they look from the outside. Be kind to yourself. Forgive yourself when you mess up and don’t expect perfection from yourself.

- Take time to be on your own. Try to be comfortable with yourself. Turn your phone off, or delete social media for a little while and just try to be content with yourself. This time can be used creatively, or to study or to just get your equilibrium and find inner peace. The point is, you don’t have to constantly be texting ppl or hanging out with friends to enjoy yourself. If you can, go a step further and do things that you’d normally do with others alone. Go shopping, eat a meal out(this might have to be saved for after covid restrictions lift), or even get drinks and make a fancy meal at home and ‘date yourself’.

- Try to be more aware of your thoughts. Do you tend to think negatively? One way to stop is to get off social media(I will advocate for this forever, especially sites like tiktok and twitter which can carry so much negativity), start a gratitude journal, meditate, actively tell yourself to think positive things. This also helps a lot if you tend to be judgmental about others. I promise you, once you start telling yourself to find a good thing about every person you come across and you start to appreciate them, you’ll feel more comfortable about yourself too. Negative thoughts take up a lot of space. I know we all love self-deprecating humor and the memes, but be honest with yourself about whether these thoughts are constructive or not. Sometimes you have to try to force yourself out of it because thinking that we can’t do stuff or that we’re just not that great can make us complacent and can eventually get us believing that. I promise you, that’s not the truth. Everyone is capable of amazing things.

- On that note, start hyping yourself. When you look cute don’t be afraid to say it. When you do something great whether it’s a great assignment or amazing art don’t be afraid to tell people or to tell yourself. Don’t let others dictate how you feel about things.

- Stop hanging out with those negative or shitty friends. The ones who make compliments sound like insults and the ones who talk shit about people they hang out with and make you feel like they might be doing the same about you. They are bringing you down and you don’t need that. Fill that space with positive friends( the ones who hype your ig photos and share them to their stories and who are proud of your successes) or fill that space with more me-time.

- Develop peaceful habits. Habits that ground you and that make you think. Journal(there are amazing prompts that will give you insight about yourself), read self-help and educational books, listen to podcasts, learn to read tarot, meditate, do yoga etc. 

- This is a super hard one to do, but try to stop giving people power over you. We’re all in our own worlds and we’re all the main characters of our stories. Don’t let what you think that others may be thinking stop you from enjoying your life and from taking chances. A good exercise you can try to do is to push yourself a little out of your comfort zone every week. Ask a stranger for the time, laugh with your friend on the subway without lowering your voice, do a little dance at a crosswalk, wave at strangers. Try to think of new things every day that you can do to interact with the people you are afraid are judging you. The more you do this the more you’ll see them as people who will forget what happened by the end of the day. I saw a quote that said most men are just ‘some guy’ and you should honestly remind yourself that. Life becomes more fun when you’re not afraid of these invisible restrictions. This will take time but it’s so worth it. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vZXgApsPCQ)

- Validate your feelings. Tell yourself your feelings are valid. Say no when you don’t want to do something, don’t apologize for it. Tell someone when they’ve upset you. Try to speak up when you feel you’ve been wronged. Defend yourself when someone is attacking you. Those are your rights. Own them.

- Every day tell yourself you love you. Do it until you believe it. Then keep doing it. Make decisions based on that love of yourself and not based off of self-loathing. 

- You’re not always going to be right. Be willing to learn from these situations. Be willing to listen to others and then you can choose whether to accept or reject their input, but be willing to listen and grow when it’s needed. Life is a learning curve, we always have room for growth.

- Be kind to yourself but also be accountable to yourself. Sometimes we mess up and we procrastinate that project for too long etc. Don’t let this be the norm for you. Hold yourself accountable for when you mess up and then make a plan to fix that going forward. We all need to be able to have self discipline. That discipline will help us achieve our goals and succeed. (Just don’t push yourself too much). If you’re in quarantine and don’t have much to do for self- discipline try starting a morning and night routine, or reading for a few minutes each day, start a 30 day challenge and push yourself through it. Once you prove to yourself that you are capable of these things you’ll feel so much more confident for your other goals.

- Try to be understanding about where other people are coming from but don’t let them walk over you or take away your voice. Learn to draw the line between kindness and peace and being taken advantage of. (Fool me twice etc). Try to set boundaries with people and if you feel they’re encroaching on them either spend less time with them, let them know or even just cut them off. (This is harder for ppl living at home in toxic environments so I understand that this situation can be very volatile).

- Remember your true friends and those you care about too. Be happy for them when they succeed, congratulate them (even when sometimes it feels like they’re always winning while we’re always losing don’t let yourself think negatively about it, your blessings are coming), support them, remember to wish them a happy birthday and to check up on them etc. Create a loving environment with them. 

- Cry. Sometimes we need a good cry.

- Laugh. Put on a good comedy, smoke weed if that’s your thing, call a friend etc. Do something you love that makes you laugh. if your classes seem to be taking your will to live away, try to take a night off and do something that brings that joy back to you. We aren’t robots, we need to reward ourselves. In this pandemic we need it even more. 

- This is an ongoing process. Knowing yourself and being at peace with yourself requires continuous work. If you fall of the wagon and lose sight of your goals, when you realize this try to pick yourself back up and don’t punish yourself for lost time or for not being 100% perfect. We’re human. We’re not perfect. But it’s important to keep going once you realize you’ve fallen. Don’t stop.

- I think the goal here is to become your favorite person. You don’t have to wait to weigh a certain weight or to own this closet of clothes, live here, make this much money etc to love yourself. Don’t hold off on that self-love. Start now, start today by noticing your favorite features. Be aware of the fact that you’re alive and your body is keeping you alive. Your brain is amazing and you have immaculate taste in music and your interests are awesome. You don’t have to be this idealized future version of yourself to like yourself. You’re amazing now. Try to realize that and internalize it because it’s true. Positive things will come into your life if you have a more positive outlook. 

And please stop believing social media and stop holding yourself to Instagram standards. You are on your own journey under your own circumstances. Life isn’t a race or competition. You don’t have to be anywhere you’re not in life. 

Hekate is sometimes named as Brimo, which is also used an epithet for Hekate.   Do you use this title for Hekate?  Why?  What inspired you to do so?

You’ve probably heard “energy work” mentioned, or at least one of the following terms: grounding, shielding, cleansing, raising, charging, visualising, casting. You’ll see these terms in spells and rituals as well as textbooks and theoretical discussions. There are other posts for theory; this post aims to give a rundown of multiple basic concepts of energy work to get you up and running. (Or at least, to help you understand other posts.) Bear in mind that much of this is personal opinion. Since everyone sees energy differently, in my “how-tos” I’ll refer to energy generally - fill in your own views. 

Also, in my methods, I mention “get comfortable” a lot - exactly what that means varies, depending on what I’m doing and wearing, but generally, stop fiddling with anything, and make sure you’re in a comfortable position, whatever the position is. You could be standing, sitting, lying down, moving, dancing - whatever, so long as you’re comfortable. 

Visualising

What is visualisation?

I consider visualisation to be a core concept to energy work in general. Visualisation is, essentially, thought. It’s imagination and memory and emotions all rolled up into one. (This is heavy on personal opinion, by the way.) Visualisation is what makes your intent for a spell come to fruition; if you aren’t holding your intent (i.e. thinking about/visualising it) while casting it, you can’t expect your spell to work the way you intended it to. 

How do you visualise?

As mentioned above, everyone sees energy differently, and your way may not be the same as mine. My basic visualisation method can be seen in the way I do any time of energy work: I get comfortable, close my eyes and steady my breath, and I focus on feeling and “seeing” the energy around me (I view all energy as white, incidentally). Say I’m cleansing something, my first step is to hold the object, focus on how it feels (is it cold, smooth, rough?) and “see” it glowing with a white light (energy). Then I’ll move onto cleansing it (see below). 

Your method will be different, but you could start with this or look through other posts for ideas. 

Grounding

What is grounding?

Grounding, basically, is all about ridding yourself of unwanted energy/getting your energy in balance. I kind of view it as a warm-up: you’re getting yourself in the right frame of mind and the right physical state before a workout (or spell). 

How do you ground yourself?

Everyone has their own techniques, and in time, you’ll develop yours. This is my routine:

Get comfortable.

Close your eyes and focus on your breathing. 

As you exhale, imagine unwanted energy leaving your body.

As you inhale, imagine the energy you want and need pulling comfortably around you. 

Continue for as long as you like. 

Many people like to visualise different places, or contact with nature. Try different techniques and take what you like from them, and just go with what works for you. 

Cleansing

What is cleansing?

Cleansing is like setting a device back to factory settings, or washing the dishes so they can be used again. You cleanse something to rid it of any unwanted energies - kind of like grounding, but for something that isn’t you. You could cleanse spaces and objects, and it’s generally a good idea to cleanse any items you’ve used before as well as the space you’re using before beginning a spell. It’s also generally a good idea to cleanse anything you use for divination, like tarot cards and pendulums (but I totally don’t cleanse them as often as I should). You can use just visualisation, or you can use tools - water, salt, incense and sage are all pretty common tools for cleansing. 

How do you cleanse?

My method for objects that you can hold:

Get comfortable.

Close your eyes and focus on your breathing.

Hold the item and focus on how it feels - its shape, size, temperature, texture, and scent. 

While holding the item, now focus on how it looks (with or without opening your eyes) - its colour, decorations, the way the light falls/reflects on it.

Still holding the item, visualise energy glowing/pulsing around the object.

Still holding the item, visualise the energy flowing away from the object, leaving it without any glowing energy.

Continue until you feel like the object is cleansed. 

My method for a space, area, or room:

Clear the space you plan on using (physically - move unwanted objects out of the way, pick up any rubbish etc).

Get comfortable.

Close your eyes and focus on your breathing.

Mark the parameters of the space you’re going to use (this can be a whole room or just part of one - just mentally or physically figure out where the “ends” of your spell space are). I generally walk around the edges of my space.

Focus on how the space around you feels and looks - temperature, light, textures etc. 

Visualise energy glowing/pulsing within the boundaries of your space.

Visualise energy flowing away from the space - if you have a broom, you could sweep the area while visualising the energy moving away as you sweep. You could also use incense or herb bundles while visualising energy moving away from the smoke as you move through the space.

Continue until you feel like the space is cleansed.

Warding

What is warding?

Basically, warding is putting up a shield to stop anything unwanted interfering with your spell, tools, ingredients, intent, belongings, etc.. It’s like an antivirus on a device, or a lock on a door. You could put up wards around your spell space, your home, yourself, anything you own, other people (with their consent) - pretty much anything.  

How do you put up wards?

My method for putting up wards:

Get comfortable.

Close your eyes and focus on your breathing.

Mark the parameters of the space or thing you’re putting up wards around (this could be running your finger around a crystal, walking around an area, stretching your arms and legs out to mark the parameters of your body, etc.)

Focus on how the space or thing feels and looks - temperature, light, textures etc.

Visualise energy glowing/pulsing within the space or thing.

Visualise unwanted energy flowing away from the space - like with cleansing, you could use incense or a broom to aid your visualisation.

Visualise “walls” growing up, over and under the space or object. It’s important that the walls connect, and there aren’t any gaps (unless you want to visualise, say, a door that you can enter and leave from). 

Continue until you feel like the space or thing is warded.

Raising

What is raising energy?

Raising energy is like creating or compiling energy with a specific purpose (intent). Up until now, we’ve been looking at ways of using energy to prepare yourself, your environment and your tools for spells - raising energy is a bit different. The energy that we raise has a specific intent, and generally, we want to use that intent somehow - like in a spell. 

How do you raise energy?

There are so, so many different ways to raise energy - such as music, chanting, dancing, walking, laughing, exercising, and a whole bunch of others. You can also raise energy by visualisation alone - as I describe here.

My method for raising energy:

Get comfortable.

Close your eyes and focus on your breathing.

If they aren’t already, position your hands so that your palms are open.

Focus on what you want to happen - your intent.

Visualise energy pulsing from your fingertips. The energy moves over your fingers and towards your palm, where it collects. As you do this, keep focusing on your intent.

Visualise the energy, now in your palm, growing larger and larger. As you do this, keep focusing on your intent.

Continue until you feel you have the energy you wanted, or for as long as you like. 

If you’re raising energy from, say, dancing, you might visualise the energy coming from your feet or body instead - I adapt this depending on the activity, but I always like to have a way to “gather” energy in one area. This could be your whole spell area, or it could be an area like the palm of your hand - whatever works for you and the activity. 

Charging

What is charging?

Charging is drawing on energy from elsewhere and putting it into an object to give that object intent. Think charging your phone, or laptop. You can also take energy you’ve raised and put it into an object - the energy can come from anywhere. People often have specific correspondences for different sources, however - so think about the source of the energy if you aren’t raising it yourself. 

How do you charge something?

Like with raising energy, there are entirely too many methods to list here. Some examples include leaving objects in sunlight or moonlight and bathing it in water or fire. You can pretty much do anything, so don’t be afraid to experiment. If you’re raising energy, you can just put it straight into the object (see the method below). If you’re charging something without raising energy yourself, then you can skip this and consider it charged after as much or as little time as you think works. 

My method for charging objects:

Get comfortable.

Close your eyes and focus on your breathing.

Visualise the energy, now in your palm, growing larger and larger. (This is the energy collected by raising energy, with a specific intent.)

Hold the object you want to charge (with one hand if you visualised the energy going to one palm, or with both hands if you visualised the energy going to both palms) and visualise the energy flowing into the object from your palm(s). Continue focusing on your intent as you do this. 

Continue until you feel that all the energy you raised is now in the object, or for as long as you like. 

Once you’ve charged an object, you can leave it indefinitely and use it in a later spell (though if you’re forgetful like me, you might want to put a post-it near it reminding you what you’re using it for).

Casting

What is casting?

Casting is guiding your energy towards the outcome you want. For me, this is the most important part of any spell - this is when you put all that work into making shit happen. So it’s important to be very, very specific. Don’t just focus on needing a job. Focus on finding a job that is right for you, will help you meet your professional goals (you can be specific about the goals, too) and will meet your needs (availability, hours, pay, travel time, benefits etc.), and finding that job at a time that suits you. This is also where you can really have fun with visualising! 

How do you cast?

My method for casting:

Get comfortable.

Close your eyes and focus on your breathing.

Hold the object(s) you’ve charged, or your spell (if it’s a tangible thing, like spell bags, candles, food etc.).

Visualise the situation you want to happen. As described, be specific. If you’re looking for a job, you could visualise a “you’re hired” email, dated at some point that suits you, with the above information that suits you - the hours you want, the pay you want, etc. Morph that situation into your first day, meeting friendly and efficient coworkers and management, then six months or a year into your new job. Visualise yourself feeling productive, happy, and relaxed. Visualise yourself at a review, hearing that you’re doing well and you’ve made great progress.

Now visualise the energy in your spell moving “towards” that situation. (I like to “keep” the situation in one part of my spell space, usually in the air in front of me, so I can “see” the energy from the spell I’m holding moving towards it. 

Continue until you feel that all the energy from your spell has “made it” to the situation, or for as long as you like.  

Bringing it all together

So, this looks like quite a lot. I promise it’s easier in practice, especially once you’ve done it a few times. Also, remember that this is a post that largely focuses on visualisation - you can minimise effort by charging objects in light or water (aka leaving them on a windowsill for a few hours) instead of by using visualisation to raise power and charge them. 

In practice, a routine for a spell might look like:

Ground yourself.

Cleanse your space, and any tools or ingredients you’re going to use.

Put up wards.

Raise power (you could raise power individually for individual ingredients, or all at once for all your ingredients).

Charge your ingredients (either individually, or all at once). 

Cast your spell. 

Personally, I can do the first 3 in about 5-10 minutes altogether. The last three are more time-consuming, and could take 5-10 minutes each, per item. So a quick, simple spell with no ingredients could be cast in 15 minutes (I would just skip charging and put the raised energy straight to casting). Let’s take an example of a kitchen spell, making soup:

Ground self.

Cleanse space, tools, ingredients.

Put up wards around the kitchen.

Raise power while doing food prep.

Put ingredients in pot.

Charge ingredients through stirring - energy goes into the soup through the wooden spoon.

Leave to simmer and continue charging.

Cast spell by eating. 

When I do kitchen magic, I’m already doing most of this just by cooking. I just add more visualisation in, and put some thought into the ingredients, and I have a spell! 

I hope this helps! You might find my other posts helpful:

The problem with correspondence lists

How to correspondence: food & herbs

How to correspondence: when to spell

What to use: food & herbs

When to spell: by moon phases

When to spell: by time of day

When to spell: by day of the week

An unidentifiable bird call

A butterfly that’s slightly off-color

An opossum with its head stuck in a yogurt tub