Skogshäxa

What you need to know right off the bat is that you're layering powers on each other, and if you draw on more powers, you generally get better results. Now, there is some level of balance to this, as doing too much can muddle the intent of your spell, but the "too much" threshold is going to be something you learn to use intuition to find for yourself.

So, let's begin! Here are components of your spells to layer on top of each other

The most basic, your ingredients: what are the correspondences of your oils, waters, herbs, candles, and stones?

The time you do it: what day are you doing it? What phase is the moon in? Where are the planets? What day of the week are you doing it?

Location: Are you doing it in the woods? Near a river? Can the light of the moon touch you? What cardinal direction are you facing?

Visualization: While I don't believe intent alone is the driving force behind all magical works, that doesn't mean mental pursuits during your spell work are worthless. Visualization can be an incredibly powerful layer in your spells. What does the magic you're controlling look like? What is it doing?

Who you call on: Will you petition deities, spirits, ancestors, or fae for power? How will you do this?

Symbols: What shapes are your stones? Did you use runes or alchemical symbols? Did you make a sigil? How are your symbols incorporated into the spell?

Energy: Where are you getting the power for the spell? Yourself? The earth? A charged crystal? The spirits you petitioned?

Repetition: How many times has this spell or ritual been done before? An old spell has a lot of power behind it due to the sheer amount of times it has been used. Additionally, how many times do you perform an action or speak an incantation in the spell?

Incantation: what are you saying? Are you speaking to an entity or the earth itself? What language is the incantation in? Is the language related to who or what you're petitioning or is it just the language it was first written in?

Numbers: How many ingredients are you using? How many times will you perform an action? How many crystals/flowers/spoonfuls/candles/etc will you use? Numbers have correspondences.

Colors: Colors have correspondences too. What color is your candle? Your ink?

Tools: What tools are you using? How have those tools been powered or charmed? What have you used them for previously? How old are they? What energies power them?

Traditions: What traditions are you using? Where did the correspondences you use come from? If you're mixing traditions, do those traditions mix well? I do some amount of brauchery, and it doesn't play well with other traditions.

Order: What order do you do things in your spell? Which way do you stir? Do you petition spirits before the spell or during it?

And finally: intent and will. Yes, I'm not a fan of this stuff because tumblr sees it as the end all, be all. However, your intent will guide the way the spell goes, and your willpower is going to get you through anything tricky. YOU have to have the power and knowledge to make the spell work. If you're in a place that is specifically yours (like your house) you have sovereignty and your willpower will decide whether or not entities in the area respect that sovereignty. I could talk for a long time on this but I won't because this passage isn't the whole point of the post

To conclude:

Hopefully this illustrates why a cup of tea isn't the greatest spell when it only includes ingredients and maybe some intent. I know I probably didn't get every component you can add to a spell, but hopefully I got most of it.

These are great questions and steps to ask yourself as you go through the process of creating OR casting a spell! The basics are SO important. Like @system-witches says above, we are LAYERING the powers and correspondences. Our intention needs to be strong, and focus on the goal clear.

Not rosemary, not clear quartz, nothing. This is such a harmful mindset and I’m going to explain why.

Why do we use ingredients at all?

A spell, at its most basic and general sense, is combining intent with mundane action in order to affect something bigger than the sum of its parts. On a sliding scale between mundane action, where everything is a really measurable cause and affect (like working for a paycheck) and a wish where no other action is taken, witchcraft and spellwork falls kind of in the middle. When we do a spell for money, we’re doing something with the intent to cause real change, but it’s not something we can directly observe working. Having the action here be very measured and deliberate is a big part of what distinguishes it from an elaborate wish, or just putting stuff in a jar because it’s pretty.

So we have our recipe! And in these recipes, every ingredient has a specific purpose and role to play. A spell is made by the precise aligning of our energy with the energy of what we’re doing.

So, do spell ingredients matter?

Yes. They didn’t just get their associations from nowhere, they’ve been supported by various cultures and traditions for generations, and I like to have faith that our Ancestors stuck with it because something about it worked. Our personal associations can also play an influential factor, but we could argue that’s because our personal energy from it is overpowering any conflicting energies/contributing more than the ingredient itself. It still plays an important role in the spell, but the way it might be working is notably different.

Magic is like cooking.

Every ingredient plays a specific role in forming the spell, just like every ingredient has a reason for being in a recipe. Just like in a kitchen, different ingredients can be used for different things, depending on what you’re making. I might use half a lemon to bring out the flavor of my sauce, squeeze a few teaspoons into my meringue cookie recipe to make it more acidic so that the texture is right, then use the rest to make lemonade. All of those have entirely different functions in the recipe, and would each require a different type of substitution. It’s the classic cartoon gag of getting your salt and your sugar mixed up because they’re both white powder or putting tomatoes in a fruit salad.

Can you swap out salt for any seasoning in the kitchen? Swap out strawberries for any fruit and pie crust for any dough? Of course you can’t, at least not for everything you’ll ever make. Because every ingredient has a specific function and if the ingredient you’re swapping can’t fill the hole you’re making, then it’s just putting tomatoes in a fruit salad. 

In the same vein, rosemary can’t fill the role of every herb in every spell, nor can clear quartz with any crystal, rose with any flower, etc. They may work for many things, but…

It’s a harmful mindset for magic. 

Whenever we say something is a universal substitute, it means we never have to think about the role any ingredient plays in anything ever again. Instead of our ingredients being “something to create healing energy” and “something to augment and focus that energy” we stagnate with “crystal” and “herb,” and the original intent of those ingredients was never “crystal + herb = results.” The materials were picked for a reason. There’s no reason to look into why or how things work, which means there’s no way for us to look critically at our spells for ways to improve. If the ingredients and the ways we use them don’t matter, then there’s no way for them to work against us, and any failure must be because we didn’t “believe” hard enough or “couldn’t raise enough energy.” That sounds like a great way to feel horrible about yourself for no reason. 

There’s also probably something to say about how all of the “universal” ingredients are things that are already everywhere and easily accessible in the white upper middle class new age scene. Nobody ever talks about the magical potency of “ethnic” foods, even their staple ingredients. Certainly not in a way where they’re supposedly universal for everyone. 

What if I can’t find a substitute, then?

Oorlog is the relationship of cause and effect in Norse belief. Causes and effects weave in and out of each other to create the Web of Wyrd, or the web of destiny.

Oorlog is the yarn, the Wyrd is the total knitted project.

Loki is a trickster who operates as an element of random chance in Norse stories, inciting change and movement.

Old Norse has many more words related to fate which I have never seen heathens discuss with regard to nuanced meaning in an overarching theory of fate: skǫp, forlǫg, aldrlag, auðna, mjǫtuðr. With some of these it can be difficult to determine how they relate to each other or if they’re simply synonyms (though surely not all of them are), but I think that if we’re trying to parse out Norse ideas about fate they have to be included in the discussion.

@thorraborinn may correct me on this (as he is the linguist) but my understanding is that Loki is derived from the Old Norse verb “loka” which means “lock”, “bind” or “shut”, not exactly “knot”.

After seeing numerous masterposts about herbs, I noticed there wasn’t any mention of the correspondences when it comes to rotted or decaying herbs.  Here’s my take on this.

Anise- Use to cause a person to have nightmares, misfortune and/or relationship issues.

Apples- Use to cause turmoil between romantic partners.

Barley- Use to direct negativity and misfortune towards a person.

Basil- Use to cause fights, arguments, etc. between two lovers, two friends, two family members. Used to deter love from developing between 2 people. Use to deter customers from shopping at a business.  Use to attract negativity (place in rooms of a house for protection from negativity).

Bay- Use to cause a person to experience nightmares. Use to direct negativity and misfortune towards a person.

Birch- Use weaken protection of a person.

Blackberry- Use leaves in spells to cause for wealth to be drained or mismanaged.

Blueberry- Use to cause for a person to experience negativity and unwanted guests at their home.

Cabbage- Use to cause for fighting and arguing between a married couple.

Cactus- Use to weaken the protection of the home or other properties.

Camellia- Use to cause a person financial difficulties.

Carnation- Use to weaken a person’s leadership skills, commemoration and self-esteem.

Carrot- Use to cause for a person to lose sexual desire.

Catnip- Use to direct misfortune and unwanted spirits towards a person.  Use to cause for a person to feel confused or unwanted.

Celery- Use to cause a person to have difficulty concentrating during tasks.  Use to cause a person to have difficulty falling asleep.  Use to cause for sexual desire of a person to decrease.

Chamomile- Use to cause for financial difficulties. Use to heighten curse effects.

Cherry- Use to cause a person to feel undesired or loved.

Chicory- Use to heighten and strengthen obstacles in a person’s life.

Cinnamon- Use to cause for setbacks in business or a person’s goals in career.  Use to decrease a person’s protection.

Clove- Use cause for financial hardships.

Cucumber- Use to hinder fertility.

Cumin- Use to cause a person to argue with their significant other and to cause for a person who’s been unfaithful to feel overwhelming guilt.

Cypress- Use to slow down emotional healing process.

Daffodil- Use to cause a person misfortune and to have difficulties in love.  Use to cause a person to feel isolated.

Daisy- Use to deflect unwanted attention from potential romantic partners.

Dandelion- Burn to block unwanted thoughts about a person.

Dill- Use to weaken protection of a person.  Use to cause a person to be unnoticeable and avoidable.

Elder-Use to direct negativity and misfortune.  Use to cause a person to experience a restless night’s sleep.

Fern- Use to weaken a person or location’s protective energy.

Fig- Use to cause a person to experience decreasing sexual desire and decrease protective energy of a home.

Flax- Use to cause a person to experience financial difficulties.

Foxglove- Use to cause for a person’s garden to rot.

Frankincense- Use to weaken protection and stunt spiritual growth of a person.

Gardenia- Use to cause a person’s illness to be slow and difficult.  Use to cause for a person to to feel unwanted.

Garlic- Use to weaken a person’s protective energy and to cause for a restless night’s sleep. Use to cause a person to experience a stroke of bad luck.

Geranium- Use to cause a person to experience weakened protection, romantic desire, and confusion.

Ginger- Use to cause a person financial and love life difficulties.  Use to undermine another person’s magickal workings.

Ginseng- Use to repel love and cause for a person to feel unwanted. Use to cause financial difficulties.  Use to weaken a person’s glamour magick and promote back luck.

Grape- Use to decrease fertility and to weaken mental powers. Use to cause a person to experience financial hardships.

Hazel- Use to cause a person confusion and forgetfulness.

Holly- Use to cause for a person to experience bad luck.

Honeysuckle- Bury near a home to cause for the residents to experience financial difficulties and a stroke of bad luck.

Iris- Use to weaken protection around a person or location. Use to cause a person confusion.

Ivy- Bury near home to cause for it to experience chaos and disarray.

Jasmine- Use to cause a person to experience financial difficulties. Use to cause a person nightmares and a restless night’s sleep.attract money.

Juniper- Use to weaken protective energy around a person or location.

Lavender- Use to cause a person to experience difficulties with love. Use to cause a person to experience nightmares and a restless night’s sleep.  Bury near a person’s home to cause the home to become restless and chaotic. 

Lemon- Use to cause a person to question their romantic partner’s faithfulness. Use to cause a strain between friends.

Lemon Grass- Use to cause a person’s psychic powers to weaken.

Lettuce- Use to cause a person to experience a restless night’s sleep.

Lilac- Use to cause a person to experience bad luck.

Lily- Use to cause for a person to have unwanted visitors to the home.

Liverwort- Use to drive an emotional wedge between romantic partners.  use to cause a romantic partner to doubt their lover’s dedication.

Magnolia- Use to expose a unfaithful romantic partner.

Maple- Use to repel unwanted romantic partners.  Use to cause a person financial difficulty.

Marigold- Use to weaken a person’s protective energy and to cause for a restless night’s sleep and/or nightmares.  use to cause a person to become less influential and respected and respected by peers, colleagues,etc.  Use to cause a person to experience difficulty in handling legal matters.

Mint- Use to repel unwanted sexual urges.  Use to cause a person to experience financial difficulty.

Mistletoe-Use to cause a person to experience misfortune, nightmares while sleeping and weakened protection. Use to cause for couples to fight.

Mulberry- Use to cause for a person’s magickal work to backfire or be negated.

Oak- Use an acorn from an oak tree to cause for a person to experience a deduction in sexual desire.  Use to cause for a person to physically and mentally “feel their age”.

Orange- Use to cause for a person to come across as being bland and dull.

Orchid- Use to cause a person financial and social/interpersonal difficulties.

Pansy- Use to repel unwanted feelings associated with love.

Parsley- Use to repel unwanted sexual desire.  Use to cause a person to experience a decrease in lustful thinking.

Peach- Use to cause a person confusion and forgetfulness.  Use to prevent emotional attachment.

Peppermint- (See Mint).

Pine- Use to weaken defenses against negativity.

Raspberry- Use to decrease protective energies around a home or person.

Rice- Use to cause for a married couple to argue.

Rose- Use to repel an unwanted lover or romantic partner.  Use to cause a couple to argue and fight.

Rosemary- Use to cause a person to experience a restless night’s sleep and nightmares. Use to cause a person to experience difficulty in learning new information and become confused.

Rowan- Use to cause a person’s divination skills to become weak and confusing.  Use to cause for a person to become weak, unlucky, and experience misfortune. Use to increase spirit communication.

Rue- Use to cause a person to become love-struck and confused. Aids in curses.

Saffron- Use to repel lustful feelings.

Sage- Use to cause a person confusion and misfortune.

St. John’s Wort- Use to cause a person to feel unwanted.  Use to repel unwanted romantic partners.

Sassafras- Use to cause a person to experience financial difficulties.

Spearmint- Use to deter lust.

Strawberries- Use to cause a person to feel unwanted or unloved.

Sugar Cane- Use to deter unwanted love and attention.

Sunflower- Use to hide the truth from a person or within a situation.  Use to cause a person misfortune.

Thyme- Use to cause a person to experience nightmares. Use to cause a person to be avoidable and unnoticeable or to cause a person to receive overwhelming amounts of unwanted attention.  Use to decrease energy level and cause for a person to become fearful and afraid.

Vanilla- Use to decrease lust. Carry a vanilla bean to cause a person difficulty in maintaining energy and memory.

Vervain- Use to cause a person to experience chaos and instability.  Use to cause for wishes made to be unheard.  Use to cause friends to become enemies.  Use to repel unwanted lovers.

Violet- Mix with lavender to repel unwanted lovers and sexual partners. Use to cause a person to have difficulty sleeping and have an increase in their anger.

Willow- Use to repel love. Use to cause healing of a person to be slow.

Wintergreen- Use to cause healing of a person to be slow.

Wormwood- Use to cause a person to experience mechanical difficulties. Use to repel an unwanted romantic partner.

“Eye of Artemis”

Moss, antlers, and flowers🌿

Done by me

As Courageous as Tyr

As Strong as Thor

As Wise as Odin

As Fierce as Freya

As Healthy as Idun

As Beautiful as Frigg

As Compassionate as Sjofn

As Enduring as Skadi

As Accepting as Lofn

As Hearty as Freyr

As Regal as Hel

As Cunning as Loki

As Bright as Baldr

As Observant as Heimdal

As Dedicated as Vidar

As Loving as Nanna

As Just as Forseti

As Peaceful as Nott

As Grounded as Sif

As Glorious as Ullr

As Creative as Bragi

As Warm as Sol

As Wealthy as Njord

Roman Bronze Figure of  Priapus, 1st Century AD

This beautifully expressive figure has a rich patina with fine anatomical details, including his characteristically over life-sized phallus. The deity exhibits an elegant counterpoised twist, his right arm folded beneath the robe from above, the left grasping it below, holding his fruits. It has a freedom of movement that is accentuated by the flowing drapery, suggesting an early Imperial date for the god.