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Completed November 10, 2018

Random One Shots: These are little one shot fics just to get you acquainted with the Egos and how I write them! However, a few of the stories might get into more of the lore of the blog, which might require reading some of my other stories first.

Markiplier Ego Imagines

Amy and the Egos

Ego One Shots

Anti Imagines

Disney AU’s

Reverse Prompts

The Good Stuff: Now here’s where things start to get interesting. From here on out, the posts are arranged in a timeline for you to follow. Be warned: there’s a lot!

I had to draw my special boy Yancy with Mark’s new hair

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Reblog, don’t repost

passing cars

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(PLEASE DON’T COPY/EDIT/USE/REPOST, REBLOG INSTEAD)

https://twitter.com/_gabrielpicolo/status/1322309088538222593?s=21

Every single time you do something good, you’ve made a decision to make the world a little brighter.

be careful with that hat JJ

So I made these a long time ago as a series of bookmarks I wanted to make, I might make another three with the light sides as I wanted all of them to have a connection together. 

Hey! So I don’t know of any witchcraft classes at a university level, although a good Religious Studies program will probably touch on paganism at some point. 

If you live in or near a big city, you can probably find “Witchcraft 101” classes being offered somewhere. I found out about a woman who teaches witchcraft classes in my city by going to our local metaphysical store and asking if they knew anyone. These classes aren’t always advertised online (a lot of older witches are very cautious when it comes to publicly advertising their services) so asking around in person is probably your best bet! If you want to learn about witchcraft from a real person, this is what I’d recommend. 

The one downside to in-person classes is that the things you learn will be filtered through the beliefs and experiences of your teacher. A lot of them also tend to be Wicca-centric, so keep that in mind when looking for a teacher. 

 As far as learning on your own, I highly recommend the book Green Witchcraft by Paige Vanderbeck as a starting point. This is a pretty new book (came out last month), but it truly is the best non-religious guide to witchcraft I’ve ever read. It’s very beginner-friendly and presents witchcraft in a way that is easy to incorporate into an existing spiritual practice.

If you’re interested in pagan witchcraft, I recommend Wicca for Beginners by Thea Sabin. Even if you’re not specifically interested in Wicca, this book does a great job of covering the basics of pagan theology and worship, and is a great jumping off point for your spiritual journey.

YouTube is also a great resource, especially for visual demonstrations of spellwork, but you do want to be careful that the channel you’re watching is open and transparent about where they get their information from. One of my favorite YouTube channels is The White Witch Parlour – she’s an eclectic pagan witch and just has really great energy. BehatiLife is another favorite – she incorporates more Christian elements into her craft (although she’s also talked about goddess worship on her channel before) and draws more from American folk magic. Harmony Nice is VERY Wiccan, but if that’s your thing she has a series called Enchanted Endeavors that is all about (Wiccan) witchcraft basics. Gem Goddess is another channel that might interest you if you’re more interested in New Age spirituality. 

Here’s a playlist I made with some of my favorite videos on the Law of Attraction. This is a great place to start, because these videos explain why and how magic works from a more scientific/psychological angle. 

Once you begin actively trying to develop your psychic abilities, you may notice that you are more sensitive to the energy around you. You may find yourself receiving unwanted psychic messages at work, in class, or at the grocery store. This isn’t necessarily bad, but it can be very draining. For this reason, it’s a good idea to keep some psychic shields in place.

I want to stress that the reason shields are a good idea is NOT because evil spirits or other witches are out to get you. (In my experience, most spirits don’t care enough to make the effort to intentionally fuck with you.) You aren’t protecting yourself from harm — you’re protecting yourself from minor annoyances and unnecessary drains on your energy.

Think of it like a raincoat. Going out in the rain without a raincoat probably won’t cause any lasting harm, but you’ll be more comfortable if you have one. Another way to think of it is as closing your psychic inbox. A shield lets the world know that you aren’t receiving psychic messages right now.

There are lots of ways to create a psychic shield. Here are a few of the easiest methods:

Visualization. This is probably the most popular method of psychic shielding, because it doesn’t require any tools or elaborate ritual. To use this method, find a quiet place to sit or lay down. Close your eyes, and imagine yourself surrounded by something protective. It can be a sphere of white light, an iridescent soap bubble, a suit of armor, or anything else that resonates with you. The imagery isn’t important, as long as it makes you feel safe. Keep focusing on your visualization until you feel it become solid around you. It’s best to do this exercise every morning before you leave the house, but you can use visualization to strengthen your shield throughout the day if you feel you need some extra protection.

Herbs and oils. There are several herbs that are associated with protection. Keep a stick of cinnamon or a sprig of rosemary in your pocket for protection from both physical harm and psychic overload. You can also make or buy oil blends specifically for psychic protection. I wear a Fiery Wall of Protection oil to reinforce my psychic shield. When you apply the oil, you can say a prayer or incantation for psychic protection.

Iron. Carrying iron for protection is a very, very old practice. In medieval Ireland, iron was said to protect from fairies, but it can be used to protect from all spirits. This is especially helpful for natural mediums who often have spirits popping in at inconvenient times. I work at a very spiritually active place, and I carry hematite in my pocket because of its high iron content. You could also carry an iron nail or other small piece of iron for similar results.

Crystals. There are several crystals that can be used for psychic protection. My favorite combination is selenite and black tourmaline. Selenite is a cleansing stone, so wearing it on your person keeps psychic and energetic garbage from sticking to your energy field. Black tourmaline, in my experience, is more useful for blocking things out. When you wear them together, very few things will be able to get past. Other crystals that work well for psychic protection are hematite (as previously mentioned), shungite, jet, or any other black stone.

Religious iconography. In many traditions, religious jewelry and talismans are believed to have protective properties. Many, many Christians wear cross necklaces for protection, or carry rosaries or images of saints. Wiccans wear pentacle necklaces, because the pentacle is a strong protective symbol. Norse pagans might wear a Mjölnir pendant, Kemetic pagans might wear a wadjet, etc. If you identify with a religion that has its own protective symbols, wearing or carrying those symbols can provide strong physical and spiritual protection.

Ask for protection. Although I think it’s important to be able to create your own psychic shields, there’s nothing wrong with asking for help. If you have a good relationship with a spirit or several, you can ask them for psychic protection. You might ask your ancestors, spirit guides, familiars, deities, saints, angels, or any other spiritual beings that you frequently work with. Remember that it’s rude to ask spirits for favors right off the bat — work on establishing a relationship first, before you start asking for things.

Nothing bad is going to happen to you if you don’t use psychic protection. But you’ll probably be more comfortable and find it easier to conserve your energy if you have one or more of these systems in place. Experiment with the different methods of shielding yourself and see what works for you!

Resources

Wicca For Beginners by Thea Sabin

A Green Witch’s Cupboard by Deborah J. Martin

Where the Hawthorn Grows by Morgan Daimler

“Crystal Meanings” on the Energy Muse website

Dr. Jackson Crawford’s YouTube channel

If you’ve been following this series of posts, you know why a witch might work with spirits, how to establish a relationship with a spirit, and how to communicate with spirits. What we haven’t yet discussed is how to get rid of spirits that are bothersome, annoying, or malevolent.

I was planning to talk about pathworking and astral travel before getting into banishing, but in light of some asks I recently received on Tumblr, I think it’s important that we take a moment to discuss how to get rid of spirits that, for whatever reason, you don’t want around.

There are lots of reasons you might not want a spirit in your space. Just like with people, some spirits just aren’t a good fit for you and your practice. Part of being a spirit worker is cultivating a “spirit team” of beings that you can have healthy and beneficial relationships with.

Some spirits are mischievous and like to cause trouble. If you find yourself on the receiving end of lots of spirit pranks, you may want to gently encourage them to move along. And there are some spirits out there who just genuinely hate humans and will go out of their way to cause mental, emotional, and even physical harm.

Don’t get me wrong — malevolent spirits aren’t common. In my experience, the vast majority of unwanted spirits are more annoying than dangerous. I’m not saying this to scare you or make you paranoid. But these things do exist, and it would be negligent of me not to mention them in a series on spirit work.

There’s a reason that one of the most common truisms in witchcraft is, “Never conjure something you can’t banish.” If you’re going to be working with spirits, it’s a good idea to know how to banish them just in case. With that being said, here’s how you can clear out any nasties that may be lingering in your space.

Cleansing

The first step is to kick those unwanted spirits out of your space. There are lots of ways to do this, so choose the one that is the best fit for you.

Cleansing with fire and smoke is a very old and very simple method. If this is the way you decide to go, there are several magical substances you can burn to banish spirits. Burning sulfur or asafetida will clear out just about anything, but they both smell awful and are potentially toxic, so you’ll want to get an okay from the other people living in your home, burn a little at a time, and make sure you have lots of windows open. (Some people say sulfur and asafetida will banish all spirits, not just the unfriendly ones, so you may have to invite your spirit team back in later.) For something that smells a little more pleasant, you can try a mix of frankincense and myrrh resin, or burn a mix of dried rosemary, sage (garden sage, not endangered white sage, please!), and bay leaves — but again, make sure you have windows open, because these get smoky. Plus, you want the windows and/or doors open so the spirits have somewhere to go when the smoke chases them out.

If smoking up your living space isn’t an option for you, you can manually clean your space with a wash or powder. If you have hardwoods, you can make a floor wash with water, salt, lemon juice, rosewater, lavender essential oil, and either bay laurel or rosemary essential oil. (This is adapted from an uncrossing bath in the book Utterly Wicked by Dorothy Morrison.) Use this mixture to mop your floors, as well as to wipe down your walls and furniture. If you have a humidifier or essential oil diffuser, diffusing some of this mix would also be a good idea.

If you have carpet, you can make a powder by combining salt, dried lemon peel, dried roses, lavender flowers, and bay leaves. You’ll need to ground this really fine, so I recommend using a coffee grinder or food processor. Sprinkle the powder on your carpet, let it sit for a few minutes, and then vacuum it up. I would supplement this by also diffusing a mix of saltwater with rosewater, lemon juice, and lavender and/or bay laurel essential oil. If you don’t have a diffuser, at least sprinkle some saltwater around the room and on your belongings.

No matter which form of cleansing you decide to use, it’s important to verbally state your intention to banish these unwanted spirits from your space. Tell them out loud that they are no longer welcome here and that they need to leave. Don’t be rude about it, but be firm and speak clearly and with confidence.

After you cleanse your space, it’s a good idea to cleanse yourself as well to remove any psychic ties to the spirits you’ve just banished. The easiest way to do this is with a ritual bath. The floor wash recipe mentioned earlier can also be used as a psychic cleansing bath. Other options include a bath with salt, frankincense, and myrrh or a bath with salt, rosemary, sage, and bay laurel. You can use essential oils for your bath, or add the resins and herbs to a cheesecloth bag and drop it into the tub for easy diffusing and cleanup.

If you don’t have a bathtub, you can cleanse yourself in the shower. Place two cups of salt in a bowl. Add lemon juice, rosewater, lavender essential oil, and either bay laurel or rosemary essential oil. If you don’t have essential oils, you can add dried lavender and crushed bay leaves. Add some of your favorite body wash to create a scrub (if you don’t have body wash, use olive oil). While in the shower, use this mixture to scrub your skin — visualize yourself scrubbing away any psychic gunk you might have picked up.

Protection

Once you’ve removed any unwanted spirits from your space, you want to lay down some protection to keep them from coming back. There are as many ways to ward off spirits as there are witches, but here are a few ideas to get you started.

One option is to create a ward. You can do this by anointing the door frames, door knobs, and window frames of your home with a protective oil blend and/or by creating lines of salt across your doorways and just inside your windows. You can use other protective substances if you prefer. As you lay down these protections, visualize a protective shield around your home, and speak aloud your intention to keep harmful spirits out.

Iron is said to repel spirits. Keep a railroad spike or other large piece of iron under your bed to prevent nightmares and to keep spirits from messing with you while you sleep. There’s an old superstition that says that hammering iron nails into the four corners of your home protects it from spirits — this may not be possible if you’re renting, but you can create a similar effect by displaying a piece of iron in each of the four corners of your home. Hematite is a crystal that is high in iron, so it can be used in a similar way to ward off spirits.

Aloe is said to protect from negative spirits, and to bring protection and good luck more generally. It’s also a common house plant that is easy to care for, so this method of protection is especially great for witches who need to keep their practice a secret. Keep several aloe plants in your home to protect those who live there.

For witches with a crafty side, making a witch bottle is another option for protection. There are lots of different recipes for witch bottles, but the basic method is to fill a bottle with sharp objects, add something from your body, and hide it somewhere outside your home (traditionally buried on the property, but leaving it in an outbuilding works just as well). The idea is that any nasty spirit that comes looking for you will be attracted to the bottle (because it contains part of your body), get caught by the sharp objects, and be trapped. To create a simple witch bottle, fill a mason jar about halfway with sewing pins, then add a bit of your hair and some of your fingernail clippings, and finally fill it with liquid (traditionally, this liquid is your own urine, but if that makes you uncomfortable vinegar will also work). If you want, you can also include some of your favorite banishing herbs, resins, or crystals.

Religious symbols can also keep nasty spirits away. If you identify strongly with a religion, display protective symbols from that faith in your living space. For example: a Christian witch might hang up a crucifix or set out a statue of Archangel Michael, a Norse pagan witch might hang up an image of Mjolnir, a Hindu witch might display a statue of Durga, etc. Sometimes the most effective way to keep nasty spirits away is to let them know that you’re under the protection of someone more powerful.

When dealing with unwanted spirits, the most important thing to remember is that you do not need to be afraid. You are a powerful witch, and you are more than capable of getting rid of them. Be confident in your abilities and know that whatever happens, you can handle it.

Resources:

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

A Green Witch’s Cupboard by Deborah J. Martin

Utterly Wicked by Dorothy Morrison

In spirit work, we often connect with the spirits that have crossed over and are present in the physical world. However, there are also ways to cross over into the spirit world and connect with spirits in their home environment.

Pathworking

As I mentioned in a previous post, a pathworking is a specific type of meditation where you go on a psychic journey, but are still anchored to your physical body. It’s sort of like dipping your toes into the spirit world.

There are two important elements to a pathworking: a clear entrance/exit point and a way to retrace your steps. Pathworking journeys are typically cyclical — there is both a journey out and a return where you go back the way you came. This makes it easier to fully return your consciousness to your body, and failing to do so can cause you to feel disoriented upon the return.

Your entry/exit point can be absolutely anything, but common examples include a door, a gateway, a tree (or sometimes The World Tree), a cave/tunnel, or a natural landmark like a beach or mountaintop. What’s important is that it’s recognizable and easy to find your way back to.

If you want to try pathworking, make a rough “road map” of your journey beforehand. This doesn’t have to be super specific, but it should contain the following: a goal for the pathworking (such as to connect with a certain spirit), an entry/exit point, and a general idea for the route you’re going to take. If you’re worried about getting lost, author Thea Sabin recommends using “the Theseus trick.” Like in the myth of Theseus and the Minotaur, you can tie a golden thread or rope to your entry point and the other end to your astral body. If you get lost, you can follow the thread back.

Pathworking is fairly beginner friendly, and I highly, highly, highly recommend starting with pathworking and becoming comfortable with this method before trying astral travel. Even for more advanced witches, pathworking is often a better option than astral travel because it’s less involved and requires a little bit less effort. I personally prefer pathworking for most situations.

Performing a Pathworking

Before you begin, establish a clear goal for your pathworking and write out a rough “road map.” At the very least, you should know what your purpose is, where your entry point is, and how to find your way back.

Begin in a dark, quiet room. Cleanse the room by burning incense, diffusing or spraying essential oils, or using a ritual broom to sweep out old energy.

Find a comfortable place to sit or lie down and begin meditating. You may want to play meditation music, practice breathing techniques, or use some other method to help you reach a meditative state.

Once you reach a meditative state (you should know what this feels like if you have experience with meditation), see yourself standing at your entry point. This is your entrance to the astral realm.

Set out on your pathworking.

When you are ready to leave the astral realm, you will need to find your way back to your entry point. Once you reach your entry point, it should be fairly easy to return to your body.

Once you’re fully present in your physical body, use your favorite method to ground yourself.

Write down everything you experienced during your pathworking in a journal.

Astral Travel

If pathworking is dipping your toes into the spirit world, astral travel is diving in the deep end. Also called spirit flight and hedge riding, astral travel includes actually sending your soul/consciousness out of your body and into the spirit world. As you might guess, this is more complicated and requires more effort than pathworking. For this reason, astral travel is not beginner-friendly. If you are completely new to meditation, witchcraft, and spirit work, it’s best to learn to pathwork before you attempt astral travel.

A word of warning: you may want to avoid astral travel at times when you’re in a very vulnerable or volatile emotional state. Some days you just aren’t up for it, and that’s okay. On those days, a pathworking or another form of spirit work may be a better option.

Triggering Spirit Flight

In astral travel, a trigger of some kind is used to help disconnect the soul from the physical body. Common triggers include drumming, special music, shaking a rattle, chanting, and dancing.

You can find shamanic drumming tracks on YouTube that can help you achieve astral travel. If you find that repetitive motion helps you trance out, you may look into getting a small drum or rattle to play.

Animal Guides

In many cultures, those who travel into the spirit world do so with the guidance and protection of an animal spirit. From the Norse fylgja, to the shamanic power animal, to the witch’s familiar, history is full of examples of these types of guides.

Before you begin astral travel, do a pathworking to meet your animal guide. It’s important to note that you aren’t choosing an animal guide — only meeting one that has always been with you. Your guide may be an animal that you like or identify with, or it may not. When I first began experimenting with astral travel, my guide was a coyote — an animal I had never identified with before, but who I learned was deeply connected to my inner self.

It’s important to always have your animal guide with you when going on astral journeys, as they are an important source of protection and power. They may also literally guide you to the things you need to see and the spirits you need to meet.

Flying Ointments

Historical accounts describe witches using “flying ointment” to help them achieve spirit flight. These traditional flying ointments contained toxic and/or hallucinogenic plants like belladonna, datura, henbane, mandrake, and opium poppies. For obvious reasons, most modern witches do not use these herbs.

Please do not try to create your own flying ointment with poisonous plants. If you’re a true traditionalist and feel like you just have to try a historically accurate flying ointment, Bane Folk Apothecary sells several. Bane Folk is run by Sarah Anne Lawless, a kickass witch who knows her stuff and produces safe, medicinal products inspired by traditional flying ointment formulas. I am usually very pro-DIY, especially when it comes to witchcraft, but this is one case where it really is best to defer to a professional.

To create a modern, non-toxic flying ointment: heat eight ounces (or one cup) of poppy seed oil over low heat on the stove. Once the oil is warm, add 2 ounces (or ¼ cup) of beeswax into the oil. (Use carnauba wax for a vegan alternative.) Take the mixture off the heat, and allow it to cool off a bit. Once it has cooled (but before it’s begun to solidify), add nine drops each of mugwort essential oil, star anise essential oil, and peppermint essential oil. Pour the mixture into a mason jar and seal tightly. To extend your ointment’s shelf life, add a few drops of Vitamin E oil and store in the refrigerator. If you don’t have access to essential oils or prefer a more traditional method, you can buy dry herbs and infuse them into your oil instead — to do this, crush up 2.5 ounces (or 1/3 cup) each of dried mugwort, star anise, and peppermint and add them to a mason jar; add enough oil to the jar to cover the herbs completely, with about an inch of oil above them; seal the jar and place it in a sunny window for 2-3 weeks to infuse; and finally, strain the herbs out of the oil with a mesh sieve or a cheesecloth. You can then add your Vitamin E oil and beeswax to create an ointment.

This modern recipe does not contain hallucinogens, but it does contain plants that are commonly used in magic to increase psychic abilities and aid in astral travel. You can say an incantation over this ointment while making it to add some extra magical potency. Applying the flying ointment can also become a sort of ritual that prepares you for spirit flight by helping you slip into a more spiritual head space.

Performing Astral Travel/Spirit Flight

Before you begin, know why you are journeying to the spirit world. You should always have a clear goal for your astral journeys.

Begin in a dark, quiet room. Cleanse the room by burning incense (mugwort incense aids in astral travel), diffusing or spraying essential oils, or using a ritual broom to sweep out old energy.

Use your favorite method to ground yourself.

If you are choosing to use a flying ointment, rub it on your skin now.

Hold a protective item in one of your hands. I like physical items for protection during spirit flight, because they can ground you and help you find your way back to your body. Examples of protective items include a sprig of rue, a piece of iron, or a protective crystal like black tourmaline. If you ever feel scared or uncomfortable during your journey, you can bring this object into the astral realm to protect you. It will also keep your body safe while your consciousness is occupied.

Start up your trigger, whether this is drumming, rattling, dancing, etc.

Allow yourself to drift into a trance state, and then to disconnect from your body.

Call your animal guide to you.

Set out on your journey in the spirit world.

When you are ready, feel yourself returning to your physical body. Allow yourself to come back slowly — don’t rush it.

Ground yourself. One good way to ground after astral travel is by eating a snack.

Write down your experiences in a journal.

Resources:

Wicca for Beginners by Thea Sabin

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

Hedge Riding by Harmonia Saille