I wish that I could dance on a single prayer

I had the immense pleasure of contributing this year to the first ever Digital Altar: A Gender Fucked Grimoire for the Community Witch

The Grimoire is a beautiful collection of art, writing, and practical magic offered up by trans and nonbinary creators– curated with love by LGBT Romani* writers with backgrounds in professional witchcraft and fortunetelling. Being a trans person of Romani descent myself, I was honored and delighted to participate. From the curators:

This digital zine is a collective ritual […] in response to the increased censorship of forcible marginalized artists and witches in the world and on social media. […] Our first attempt is a grimoire of digital witchcraft by trans and gender-expansive witches with a focus on  Community Witchcraft for Liberation, Bodily Autonomy; & Fortification.

You can see my contribution– an illustration which acts as both talisman and altar for the enrichment of your community gardens– here, and you can view a shareable version of this post on instagram with links to all my fellow contributors here.

Please also lend your support to project organizers Aurora Luna, Jezmina von Thiele, Ylva Mara Radziszewski; and Kiki Robinson.

A little while ago, I realized that there is NO info on what bones to use for what. I was clueless and had no idea where to begin. Research was fruitless and asking others came with no results.

So I sat down during preap algebra 2 and made my own list.

These are my own correspondences, based off of what I felt like and remembering bits of spells I’d thought about. They are 100% my own, taken from no one.

Please give me credit if you use it anywhere else :)

I also know I haven’t included every bone out there, if I missed one msg me, I’ll give it some thought and see what happens! :D

▪Teeth- communication, learning other language, news, defense

▪Skull- thoughts, divination, communication, spirit work, astral

▪Spine- support, confidence, level headed

▪Arm- help, blocking (curses, hexes, psychic attacks, etc)

▪Wrist- flexibility, hard work

▪Hand- art, artistic ability, creativity, energy

▪Fingers- fluidity, progress, endurance

▪Nails/ claws- fighting, protection, finding things out, knowledge, struggle, balance

▪Rib- agility, protection

▪Hip- ebdurance, keeping it together

▪leg- endurance, travel, strength

▪Ankle- movement, moving on, catalyst

▪Foot- endurance, moving on, leaving things behind, hard work, independence, luck

▪Toe- balance, help, prosperity, money, changing luck (for the better or worse)

▪Tail- (like actual bones in the animals tail, not the tailbone) agility, secrecy, alarm, cursing

(Edited to include:)

▪Antlers- strength, endurance, masculine energy, Cernunnos, protection, more centered toward nature and earth, deflecting curses, and hope.

▪Horns- wealth, the home, determination, aggressive protection, more centered toward that which is man made, and cursing

Ceroscopy/Carromancy (Wax Scrying)🕯🔮

I'm looking at a different type of divination that I don't see much about here that I use every once in a while. Ceroscopy (or sometimes also known as Carromancy or "wax scrying") is interpreting symbols, images or letters in melted wax that gets dripped and cooled in a bowl of cold water.

I don't use this type of divination often but it is handy to use when you want answers that aren't just yes or no to a few questions of the same subject (e.g: Relationships, Career, etc)

Ceroscopy is a bit more tricky than tarot and pendulum work, as the interpretation of the answers rely on you to make them out. There's no strict guide like with Tarot cards for what shapes the wax make, it's entirely based on your intuition. However, the symbols should make sense to you (e.g: You may ask "Am I going to fall in love this year?", the wax may make the shape of a heart, it may make a figurine of two people, it may make out a figurine of just one person, etc). So how do you go about it?

What you need:

An Unscented Candle (You can use white but colour can matter, I used red in my last reading as that session was about my romantic relationships, past and present. It depends on the subject of the reading. You can also either use a pillar or a candlestick.)

I used Moon Water but any water, so long as it's cold, will work.

A Bowl

Incense (Not necessary but an incense scent that's aligned with the subject of the reading can help relax or enhance the reading. I used rose incense for this session about relationships, you get the idea)

A notebook (To write down your questions and the answers as thoughts can come and go quickly)

What to do:

I recommend cleansing the space and your supplies (Candle, water and bowl) thoroughly before you cast your circle, put up wards, whatever pre-ritual tasks you need to do for protection. Cleansing will make sure nothing impacts the answers.

Depending on the type of candle, with pillar candles, light it and wait for a pool of wax big enough to use. This may take about 10 to 15 minutes with a pillar candle. Use this time to meditate and achieve a clear state of mind before the reading and to wrote down your questions. With candlesticks you don't have to wait for the wax to melt but do meditate beforehand.

When you think you've gotten enough wax, snuff the pillar candle out and pick it up. Ask your question just like you would using tarot or a pendulm and continue to think about the question as you pour the wax into the water. Don't go too fast, especially if you're looking for letters, but don't go too slow either, allow the wax to half drip/half pour. With a candlestick turn it sideways over the water and it will drip on it's own.

Allow the wax to cool and harden before interpreting the symbols in it. Look at the shapes and see what the wax has formed, your intuition will begin to pick out shapes, objects, numbers or letters within the wax drippings. Don't be afraid to pick it up and examine underneath too as there may be more symbols there. Write down your thoughts as they come, review them once they've stopped to see how your answer fits together.

Dispose of the wax or repurpose it (use it for wax seals, add a scent to it for an oil burner, etc), dispose of the water outside in the garden or use it to water plants. Waste not, want not.

End the session and cleanse once more, do what you would usually do at the end of divination sesh or ritual.

An example of some shapes the wax makes/looks like:

In response to the question: "Show me the first letter of the first name of my future wife/partner?"

'e'

In response to "How do I maintain my current relationship as it's going/what can I do to improve it?"

I interpreted this as opening up, as it looks like a person stretching and that's an issue I've been struggling with for a long time but have been slowly getting better at the past year.

The last one I'm showing is "Are there any issues that may affect my relationships I should be worried about in the next year?"

An 'a', the wax here came out darker than the last few answers despite using the same red candle, which I'm not exactly thrilled about as I know what the answer probably is and the implication of it.

Those are just some examples of the answers I got in this session and honestly it's pretty on point, the answers made sense to me.

These are divination spreads with a layout of three spaces. They can be used with many different forms of divination such as tarot, runes, or oracle cards.

Beginning | Middle | End

Mind | Body | Spirit

Your conscious mind | Your sub-conscious mind | Your unconscious mind

Past | Present | Future

Material state | Emotional state | Spiritual state

Yesterday | Today | Tomorrow

You | Your current path | Your potential

Birth | Life | Death

What you want from the relationship | What they want from the relationship | Where the relationship is heading

Card of the day | Unexpected twist | Potential obstacle

Strengths | Weaknesses | Advice

Crisis | Source of crisis | Conclusion

Where You Are Now | Where You Want To Be | How To Get There

Idea | Manifestation | Process

Idea | Process | Aspiration

The nature of your problem | The cause | The solution

Desire | Conflict | Resolution

Lesson from deity 1 | Lesson from deity 2 | Lesson from deity 3

Fear | Current response | Better response

What brings you together | What pulls you apart | What needs your attention

Action | Reaction | Outcome

The solution | An alternative solution | How to choose

Strength | Weakness | Passion

Strengths | Weaknesses | Advice

What’s Bringing You Together | What’s Pulling You Apart | What Needs Attention

Mother | Father | Me

Outcome 1 | Catalyst/Decision | Outcome 2

Opportunities | Challenges | Outcome

Pain | Healing | Advice

Aspiration | Obstacle | How to Overcome

Option 1 | Option 2 | Option 3

Person 1 | Relationship | Person 2

Option 1 | Option 2 | What you need to know to make a decision

Fear | Current Response | Better Response

You | The other person | The relationship

Positive | Reality | Negative

Me | My direction | My unconscious desires

What worked well | What didn’t work well | What to take from this

Want | Need | Action

Morning | Afternoon | Evening

What you can change | What you can’t change | What you may not be aware of

Best Outcome | Action | Worst Outcome

What will help you | What will hinder you | What is your unrealized potential

Situation | Obstacle | Advice

What you aspire to | What is standing in your way | How you can overcome this

Situation | Attitude | Action

Where you stand now | What you aspire to | How to get there

What your head wants |  What your heart wants | What your soul wants

Morning | Afternoon | Evening

What I think about the situation | What I feel | What I do

Blockage | Action | Result

A course of action | Best outcome | Worst outcome

Context of the situation | Where you need to focus | Outcome

Important Situation | Helpful Actions | Outcome

Stop | Start | Continue

Your individuality | Your inner self | You outer personality

Insights about your needs in the relationship | A way to resolve the problem that addresses both of your needs | What you should understand about your partner’s needs in the relationship

What I think | What I feel | What I do

This brings you together | This pulls you apart | focus on this

You want this from the relationship | Your partner wants this | Your relationship is heading towards this

Hidden talent | Obvious Talent | Secret talent

Hidden Strength | Hidden shortcoming | hidden opportunity

Needs | Wants | Fears

Past self | Present self  | Future self

Emotion | Source of emotion | Next action

Blessings of the gods | Blessings of the ancestors | Blessings of the Spirit guides

Card of the day | Gifts I receive | Gifts I give

Family | Friends | Self

Goal | Cons | Pros

Start doing this | Stop doing this | Continue doing this

Outer conflict | Inner conflict | Their relationship

Problem | Do This | Not This

Situation | Lesson | Advice

What You Want | What They Want | Compromise

Yesterday | today | tomorrow

Illusion | disillusionment | new understanding

Problem | first step towards solution | ultimate resolution

Self-deception | deception by others | first step to finding the truth

Who have I been? | Who am I? | Who am I becoming?

What | Where | Why

What’s needed | what’s wanted | what differentiates them

What | Where | How

What’s Practical | What’s Fantastical | What’s Possible

Peace | Love | Understanding

Insights about your perspective of this relationship | What you should know about the relationship problem itself | What you need to understand about your partner’s perspective

Person 1 | Person 2 | the nature of their relationship

Pain | healing action | positive possibility

•Tea leaf reading•

You might be wondering where this unusual form of divination came from, so here’s a short history on tasseography. Shortly after tea was introduced to Europe, tea leaf reading, as it’s now recognized, was born. Similar divination tools had been used with an assortment of other materials. The art of tea leaf reading spread through Europe, and is now practiced throughout the world.

Doing a tea leaf reading involves you indulging in a delicious cup of tea and putting your sharp intuitive skills to work. After you enjoy your warm cup of loose leaf tea, you’ll leave the loose tea leaves at the bottom, where some of these leaves will form symbols, each having their own meaning. That’s where your keen intuitive abilities come in! Anyone can see a triangle at the bottom of a teacup, but your job is to intuit what it means for you or the person you’re reading for.

WHAT YOU NEED FOR A TEA LEAF READING

Tea cup with a wide brim that’s light enough to easily see your tea leaves.

Saucer

Loose leaf green or black tea, preferably organic.

Napkins

Pen and paper

Water

HOW TO PERFORM A TEA LEAF READING

1. BREW YOUR TEA

Gather all of your materials. Boil your water. Place about a teaspoon of loose tea in your cup. Pour your water in and steep tea to your preference.

For the next 3 steps, if you’re doing a reading for someone else, have them do the following steps.

2. SIP & SWIRL

Before you take your first sip, gently swirl tea counter clockwise three times. Sip and enjoy your tea, but don’t drink it all! When there’s about 1 tablespoon of tea left in your cup, swirl it again 3 times counter clockwise and think about or speak your query aloud.

3. CREATE YOUR TEA READING CANVAS

Turn your cup upside down onto your saucer to remove the remaining water, allow it a minute or so to drain, then turn it back up right.

4. LOOK FOR SYMBOLS

Look over your loose leaf tea pieces and see if any symbols or shapes jump out to you immediately. Don’t fret if you don’t see anything immediately, similar to scrying with a crystal ball, it can take some time for imagery to form for you. Try looking at the inside of the cup from different directions to see shapes. Keep in mind the images formed are formed from tea leaves, so you will really need to use your imagination.

5. RECORD & DECIPHER YOUR FINDINGS

If you do start to see some shapes, begin writing them down on your piece of paper so you can decipher them later, note where in the cup they are too. Now you’re ready to decipher your findings! Here’s a guide for the most common symbols found during tea leaf readings:

6. UNDERSTAND THE TIMELINE

Where your tea leaves are situated in your cup relate to when they will happen. This is why some of the tea leaf reading cups you find have circles inside of them. Timing is broken into thirds as follows:

Bottom third: farthest away from happening, think 3-5 years out.

Top third: will be happening in the near future, think within the next few weeks.

Middle third: will happen in about a year from now.

7. FORM YOUR READING

Like most divination tools, a honed intuition is key for success, so be sure to lean on any gut instincts as you form the story for your reading. Once you understand the meaning behind the symbols it’s time to put all of the information into a story that makes sense for you or the person you’re doing a reading for.

As requested by @birdsofthestrangestfeather, here’s my own little pendulums 101!  🌙✨

What is a pendulum?

In short, it can really be anything, as long as something is hanging from a chain or string and is able to swing. It can be a fancy crystal pendulum from Etsy or a local witchy shop, a necklace you already own, a pocket watch, or even something as minimalist as a string and bead/needle! Get creative; it doesn’t have to be fancy, any particular material, or bought, just as long as it works as a pendulum.

What do you do before you use a pendulum?

Cleanse, cleanse and cleanse! Unless you made it yourself (which if you did, you don’t have to keep reading unless you want to!) your pendulum has probably been through a lot! I’d recommend leaving it out in the full moonlight for some hours or overnight, running your pendulum a few times through sage or incense or even visualizing a white, cleansing light around your pendulum! Other options include letting your pendulum cleanse in sunlight, dirt and water. 

Do a little research if you have a crystal pendulum to see what would suit that crystal best and otherwise trust your intuition on what would be the best way to cleanse your new pendulum!

How to program your pendulum?

Just like people, pendulums have different ways of working. My pendulum swings back and forth for yes while yours may circle around! To figure out or establish how your pendulum says yes, no, maybe and unknown/I don’t know, you have to program your pendulum. 

If you want your pendulum to show you, ask it basic, obvious to answer questions. I’ll ask, “Am I six foot tall?” and my pendulum swings no so hard it nearly breaks! But when I ask, “Am I five foot three?” it goes straight to yes. Repeat this sort of thing until you figure out how your pendulum works so you’ll know when asking questions how your pendulum is answering!

If you’re more comfortable telling your pendulum how it’s going to answer, then go right ahead! Tell your pendulum to swing a certain way for maybe and another way for no, etc, etc. Make sure to test out the way you programmed your pendulum afterwards with basic questions!

Also, there’s always the option of using a pendulum board, which is a visual yes/no/maybe/unknown guide for your pendulum, to help program. You can also use these boards later on, if it’s your preference. Even when using one, though, don’t forget to test your pendulum and make sure it’s answering correctly with obvious questions.

How do you use a pendulum?

It’s quite simple and easy to use a pendulum! You simply hold the top of the pendulum between your fingers (I usually hold with my pointer finger and thumb) and keep a very steady hand. You don’t want to be shaky or moving it because this will obviously interfere with the actual answer. Once your hand and the pendulum is steady, keep it suspended above any surfaces and away from anything it would knock into. Then, go ahead and ask your question and wait to see!

How to read a pendulum?

Back to the programming of a pendulum, it depends on how you did that. Just be sure to give your pendulum plenty of time to settle into the answer and make sure it’s truly swinging or circling in the direction you think it is. If you’re not sure, you can always ask again!

Extra tips & uses for your pendulum 

Congrats!! If you’ve reached this point, you know a lot about pendulums! Buuut, I do have a few more points to make…

🌙 Start off with harmless questions. It’ll take some time for the pendulum to really be in sync with your energy, so gradually build up from things like, “should I eat this for breakfast?” or “would purple be a good color to wear today?” to the stuff that actually impacts your life.

🌙 Once you get in tune with your pendulum, you can expand your uses for it. You can ask for advice on things you’re indecisive about, talk to your spirit companions or guides, do readings for people and even talk to your gods. They’re very useful all the way around!

🌙 Again, always make sure to let your pendulum have enough time to answer you!

🌙 Whenever your pendulum is acting up, not answering like it usually would or the like, give it a good cleanse. Just like other witchy tools, pendulums like to be cleansed often, especially if you do readings with it!

Thank you for sticking around and reading this super long post. I hope you enjoyed and found this information useful! 

I absolutely adore my pendulum and use it often, so I definitely recommend that every witch give it a go! 

Kitchen Witchcraft Masterpost

Recipes:

Autumn Pumpkin seeds

Turmeric associations

Sweeten to You Snickerdoodles

Baked Apple offerings

Soothing Shortbread Cookies

Love Thyself Brownies

Cast Iron Blessing Bread

Kore Bites

Kitchen Witch Tips/Techniques:

Autumn Kitchen Witchcraft

Witch Tip: Appliances

Witch Tip: Full Moon Charging

Witch Tip: Feeding others magic

Witch Tip: Sigils in baking

New Moon this Wednesday night (it’s actually at 6am Thursday morning but do yo witchy shit Wednesday night, Kapeesh??)

Make your new affirmations, set your new goals, charge your crystals and moon water, and take care of your happy space! Blessed Be, Bitches XOXO

scrying is the ancient divination art of staring into a smooth or hypnotic surface to receive knowledge from spirits, the universe, the deities, or even your inner self. it’s a very useful tool for anything from discovering past lives, finding a way forward, predicting an outcome or making a big decision. but a lot of folk these days maybe aren’t too sure how to do it. so i’m going to tell you how i was taught.

👁 choose a scrying receptacle. some common ones are: a dark bowl filled with water, a river or stream, a small fountain or pool, fire, smoke (especially from incense or ritual candles), a tamped smoothed surface of dirt, a black/dark crystal, black glass. i myself use a dark bowl filled with water charged by the moon.

👁 make your space your own. get comfy. be alone. decide whether you need strong light or no/low light, whether you need to be outside or inside. personally, i like low light with candles if possible.

👁 prepare yourself. get in the headspace now. use incense if you like (frankincense and cedar are good for this, i love cedar), put on some white noise or low instrumental music that won’t get too loud or fast. now’s the time to make sure your protections are in place, even if you intend to be communicating with your deeper self. wards, a protective gris-gris bag (that’s what i use), a poppet to distract, casting a circle—however you do.

👁 relax. stare. let yourself zone out. now comes the scrying part. stare into your scrying receptacle of choice. don’t stare hard; you know the look of a lazy cat before it’s about to fall asleep? that’s what you want. you’re looking, not searching. the knowledge will find you when it’s time. patience, child.

👁 listen to your thoughts. i’ve never had a different voice in my head come to me with cryptic riddles. every time i receive information through scrying, it’s been an errant thought of my own that seems to stick a little more than the others and hit just right. a sudden ‘oh hey, i should focus on this aspect right now’ or 'oh, you know, i should ask this person for help’, an idea i hadn’t had before. not everything is like in the movies where the clouds part and your great grandma comes to smack you upside the head and get your life straight for you.

👁 thank the beyond and move on. now you’ve got your info, you have to do something with it. so go do it! blink quickly to help break your trance, roll your head around, stand up, stretch—send out a thanks to whomever just helped you, clean up, and go about your day. go put that new gossip to use!

New Moon - renew, cleanse

Waxing Moon - attract, gain

Full Moon - manifest, enlighten

Waning Moon - banish, negate

Dark Moon - reflect, destroy

Blue Moon - wish, dream, achieve

You really don't need all the fancy bullshit every tumblr influencer will ever tell you to use. Here's my countdown ofaxtually useful shit.

A pocket knife, preferably with a wood handle. Use that bitch for everything, enchant it, carve symbols in it. It will absolutely be your best friend.

A good bag or backpack with a couple of plastic or ziploc bags in it. If you ever run off into the woods to find minerals, bones, plants, etc. A set aside bag and some things to store your treasures in becomes a necessity.

Basic divinatory sets. You don't have to buy fancy shit, learn to divine with playing cards and dice, or learn geomancy, lithomancy, or rune casting with homemade sets. A tarot deck is nice, but it isn't necessary when you've got so many other divinatory aids available.

A nice sized chunk of scrap cloth. When you process dried plants or sort new ones, that shit can and will get everywhere. A scrap piece of muslin or linen can help contain all of that mess and make clean up way easier.

A stash of good rocks. Draw sigils or symbols on those babies and leave them in the garden, the windowsill,property boundaries, under the stoop, etc. You can never have too many good rocks.

A pendulum, for fucks sake. The cards are going to be vague as hell when you're trying to figure out yes or no questions, and using a candle to communicate with spirits is really fucking hard outside. If you can't afford one, find a nice chunk of pointy quartz and learn to macrame.

A workspace. Everyone talks about having big fancy altars, but no one mentions that you need a good surface to do all your work on.

Storage, so much storage. I'm not talking about mason jars and pill bottles, I'm talking about where you put all the things you put in those jars. Having a workspace with drawers is immeasurably helpful.

A broom and water source. You're going to be cleaning up after yourself a lot, it's helpful to have a jug of water and a broom that stays by your workspace.

A mode of cleansing. I make a salt concoction to scatter around my workspace on short notice and store it close by.

On that note: SOMETHING TO CANCEL SPELLS WITH. Eventually, something will go wrong. You'll want to end that spell immediately. Have something to do it with.

A strainer. If you don't have a blender, rub dried plants across it to get a powder. If you do have a blender, you can strain that powder with it. Either way, if you intend to powder shit, get a strainer.

Small trays. It makes drying flowers so much easier if you have a small metal surface to contain them with- then just stick those suckers in a southern window and let em go.

Yarn/string scraps. Having a box or drawer of scraps makes trying this up to dry easier and a bit less wasteful.

A stash of offerings for whatever you work with. Honey for fae, coins for graveyard gatekeepers, alcohol for ancestors, etc.

Protective talismans or charms. Once you're into all of this stuff, you'll likely stick your nose in something you shouldn't. Having basic protection with you or in your workspace is incredibly important. A key and hagstone with red string is simple and effective.

A lighter- so many people forget the most basic shit. You're going to want to light shit on fire if you're a witch.

sure!resources:

- this site gives a pretty good overview of bone throwing and even gives some ideas on bone types

- this site is also good for info on how to interact with your bone set

- this video is also a good source of information

- this book was my go to when starting out in bone throwing. it has a lot of information and ideas and can really give you a good idea of where to start

tips:

- this type of divination is very personal and super intuitive. there’s no right or wrong way to read the bones. you assign each bone their meaning and so the interpretations are always solely on you.

-anything can be used in osteomancy, but it’ll still generally be called a “bone.” for example, i used a bullet shell, and a bottle cap and various other oddities. i still call them bones

-this may not be up your alley, but i’ve found that talking to my bones and “feeding” them has only made my intuition with them stronger. don’t worry about looking silly, it’s fairly traditional to do.

Can be used to anoint candles for curses,hexes, etc. or it can be poured around a perimeter to keep pests away

Ingredients:

One jar/vile (should be kept in a dark place to ensure its strength)

¼ cup Vinegar

1/3 cup Lime juice 

3 tsp Sriracha 

1 tsp Cinnamon

A pinch of Powered Eggshells 

1 tbsp Black pepper

“The only difference between a good day and a bad day is your attitude”

~Dennis S. Brown

East

Correspondences:

    -Daybreak/dawn

    -Springtime

    -Air 

-Represents possibility and awareness

-Symbolizes new beginnings

-Face East to summon the power inherent there for strength in communication, mental clarity, and wisdom

South

Correspondences:

    -High Noon

    -Summer

    -Fire

-Represents Fullness and Vitality 

-Face South when seeking fulfillment of desire, when you need passion, inspiration, or courage

West

Correspondences:

    -Sunset

    -Autumn

    -Water

-Face West if seeking to enhance your intuition, uncover mysteries, and balance emotions

North

Correspondences:

    -Midnight

    -Winter

    -Earth

-Face North when you wish to manifest outcomes and reveal truth

A tarot spread inspired by the greatest piece of fanfic literature ever created to help you better yourself.

1) Ebony Dark’ness Dementia Raven Way

What is my best quality?

2) Goffik

What is my worst quality?

3) STOP FLAMIN DA STORY

What is your biggest critique of me?

4) Prep

What can I do to get my life back on track?

5) Fangz Raven

How can I better express gratitude?