Sweet Witchy Things

Then, if you can join me for Phase 2. March 7 2025 thtough March 14 2025? No Amazon. None. 1 week. No orders. Not a single item. Not one ebook. Nothing. 1 week. Just 1.

If you live outside the USA boycott US products on February 28 2025 and stand in solidarity with us and also join us for the week of no Amazon.

Are you with me?

[image description: a two-panel photo of a person dialling a number and then placing the phone to their ear. the contact is saved as ‘Ursula K. Le Guin’ /end ID]

context is this quote by her:

A spirit vessel is a physical object that acts as a home, anchor, or conduit for a spirit, entity, or familiar. It can be used for communication, protection, spellwork, or companionship. Spirit vessels are common in witchcraft, necromancy, and spirit work, often used for housing spirit guides, familiars, servitors, or bound entities.

Types of Spirit Vessels

• Natural Vessels – Stones, crystals, wood, bones, or shells that already contain strong energy.

• Man-Made Vessels – Statues, dolls, jewelry, rings, mirrors, or bottles that are ritually prepared.

• Personal Vessels – Items that belong to the practitioner, such as a pendant, charm, or wand.

Choosing a Spirit Vessel

Consider the following:

• Material: Some materials hold spirit energy better (e.g., quartz for clarity, obsidian for shadow work).

• Symbolism: Choose something connected to the spirit’s nature (e.g., a silver locket for a fae spirit, an animal skull for ancestral work).

• Size: Small items (rings, pendants) for personal carrying; larger items (statues, jars) for home-based spirits.

Creating a Spirit Vessel

Creating spirit vessels can serve as a meaningful way to honor ancestors, connect with spiritual energies, and provide a physical representation of intangible forces. These vessels, often crafted with intention and reverence, can act as conduits for guidance, protection, and healing. They help individuals establish a deeper relationship with the unseen world, fostering personal growth and spiritual awareness. Additionally, the artistic process of making a spirit vessel can be meditative and therapeutic, allowing for self-expression and a greater sense of purpose.

The Process

Cleansing the Vessel-Before inviting a spirit, purify the vessel to remove residual energies. Methods include:

• Smoke Cleansing (Sage, Palo Santo, Mugwort)

• Salt Bath (For non-metal items)

• Moonlight or Sunlight Charging

• Sound Cleansing (Chimes, Bells, Singing Bowls)

Incantation for Cleansing:

"By fire, water, earth, and air,

This vessel now is pure and fair.

No harm within, no ill remain,

Only light shall now sustain."

Charging the Vessel-Hold the vessel and infuse it with your intention using energy work, visualization, or chanting.

Example Intentions:

• "This vessel shall house a guardian spirit for protection."

• "This ring shall serve as a link between me and my familiar."

Optional Enhancements:

• Sigils: Inscribe a protection or binding sigil.

• Anointing: Use oils (e.g., myrrh for spirits, lavender for peace, dragon’s blood for power).

• Blood or Hair (if comfortable): For a personal connection.

Calling the Spirit-There are different methods to invite a spirit:

• Invoking a Known Spirit-If you have a spirit guide, familiar, or deity-aligned entity, invite them into the vessel.

Example Invocation:

"By will and word, I call thee near,

Dwell within this vessel clear.

By pact and bond, remain with me,

Bound in trust, so mote it be!"

• Creating a Custom Spirit (Servitor or Thoughtform)-If you want to create a spirit rather than invite one, visualize the spirit’s form, name, and purpose. Charge the vessel with that energy and command it to awaken.

Example Statement:

"From thought to form, I give thee breath,

Bound to this vessel, life and depth.

In my service, thou shall stay,

By my will, by night and day!"

• Calling an Unknown Spirit-For ancestral work or unknown guides, use a pendulum or divination to confirm a willing presence. Never bind a spirit against its will.

Caution: Always establish rules and boundaries before allowing a spirit to reside in a vessel.

Sealing the Vessel-Once the spirit is inside, seal the connection to prevent interference.

• Wax Dripping: Seal with candle wax (black for protection, red for power, blue for wisdom).

• Thread Wrapping: Bind with string to secure the energy.

• Protective Sigil: Draw a sigil to prevent unwanted energy from entering.

Sealing Spell:

"Bound by word and light so bright,

This vessel holds, sealed tight.

By my will, this pact is spun,

This work is whole, it is done!"

Aftercare & Communication

Once the spirit has entered the vessel there is still much to be done to maintain the connection and keep the spirit comfortable in its new home.

Signs the Spirit Has Settled:

• Dreams or visions of the entity.

• Sudden cold or warmth from the vessel.

• Unexplained feelings of comfort or guidance.

• Divination confirming presence (tarot, pendulum, scrying).

How to Care for the Vessel:

• Offerings: Incense, candles, or small gifts to maintain the bond.

• Cleansing: Occasional gentle cleansing (avoid disrupting the spirit).

• Respect: Do not mistreat or neglect the vessel.

Releasing a Spirit (If Needed)

If you need to release the spirit, do so respectfully:

• Thank the spirit for its time.

• Offer a final gift (incense, a prayer).

• Open the vessel and say:

"With love and light, I set thee free,

Return now where thou choose to be."

• Bury, cleanse, or decommission the vessel afterward.

Spirit vessels are powerful tools when used correctly. They require responsibility, mutual respect, and ongoing care. Always trust your intuition when working with spirits, and never force an entity into a vessel against its will.

UPG Time: All information comes from my personal practice.

Within a locally based practice, one might feel compelled to work with only native plants. After all, it makes sense to want to form relationships with beneficial plants that grow naturally in your area.

But what about that enormous patch of 4 foot-tall Mugwort growing in the corner of the yard? Or the huge Rose of Sharon shrub covered in edible blooms? What do we do when native plants are scarce or too valuable to local wildlife to disturb, and the ever-abundant invasives are right there?

We put them to work. Invasive plants are a useful resource that we can collect and utilize without harming (and often benefiting) the local ecosystem.

Invasive vs Non-Native & Naturalized

Remember that not every non-native plant is invasive. Not even every weedy non-native plant is invasive. Invasive plants grow rapidly, have few predators or pathogens, out-compete natives, and harm the ecosystem. Plants classified as non-native don't support wildlife as well as native plants, but do not pose an ecological threat. Naturalized plants are non-native plants that have successfully integrated themselves into their new environment without causing ecological damage.

Additionally, some species are invasive in certain states or provinces but are fine in others, so look up your local invasive species list!

Invasive Species Correspondences

There are a few general correspondences that come to mind when I think of invasive plants. They are weedy with an aggressive growth rate. They out-compete and smother their native competitors.

If you're looking for fast-acting magic, a quick prosperity working, or magic that gives you an advantage over someone else, these are the plants to use. I could also see them being used in workings related to adapting in an unfamiliar environment.

On the contrary, they can be great for curses and hexes, with the ability to choke, smother, overwhelm, and destroy.

Ethical Harvest

All living things deserve dignity and respect. If you are an animist, regularly work with plants and animals, or have a set of "Ethical" or "Honorable" harvest rules in your practice, you probably agree.

Invasive plants aren't trying to destroy our ecosystem. They were introduced by humans and unfortunately do far too well in their new environment. In my practice, if you harvest these plants with contempt or hatred, your magic will fall short.

In terms of safe harvesting practices, it's important to wear protective gear and be aware of potential toxicity. Additionally, one should be aware of how to properly collect different species. Certain harvest or culling methods can actually cause some plants to reproduce faster. Mugwort, which is invasive in some parts of the US, spreads by rhizome and pulling it from the ground will only make it grow faster.

Narrowing Correspondences

While the general correspondences listed above can be very useful, they aren't unique to any individual plant. All invasive plants are native to somewhere, meaning that there is some place where they have their own ecological benefits and rich cultural meaning.

As practitioners, we want to actually get to know these plants on an individual level. A good starting point is through learning about their ecological benefits within their native range, and their symbolism/folkore. The intent here isn't to absorb this symbolism into our paths and divorce it from its original context. The goal should be to learn about these plants so they can be approached from a place of appreciation and respect, and perceived as more than just "invasive".

Once you've learned about an individual plant, you can begin to write your own correspondences. Some things to pay attention to are time of year fruiting, sun/shade tolerance, leaf shape, seed dispersal, growth pattern, and wildlife value (if applicable in your area, otherwise, look into wildlife value within the plant's native range).

Invasive Plant Offerings

If you want to venerate an invasive plant, or are performing a working that requires leaving offerings, it should be done in a way that doesn't encourage outdoor growth. This means no watering or offering things like compost. Here are some ideas for invasive plant offerings:

Bowls of water, compost, or fruit, left for a specific period of time and then removed

Incense

Devotional art and jewelry

Stones and other natural items

Compostable trinkets and art made from materials sourced from the plant (nothing that could encourage reproduction, like seeds)

Utilizing Invasive Plant Materials

Invasive plants can be harvested with virtually no damage to the ecosystem. More often than not, they will just keep growing back, providing a near-endless source of materials and ingredients. This differs from native plants, where harvesting requires great care and should be done sparingly.

Some ideas for utilizing invasive plant materials:

Wands and stangs

Ingredients for workings that require specific plant parts (roots to represent death, flowers for love workings, etc.)

Incense blends and smoke bundles

Wreaths for warding or altar decor

Edible plants: kitchen magic, teas, tinctures, infusions, recipes

Flower petals for strewing

Offerings for associated spirits or Deities

Bath Teas for ritual baths and glamours

Botanical salts for specific workings

As we step into February 2025, the celestial landscape is alive with powerful astrological transits, moon phases, and spiritual shifts that influence our energy and intentions. This month, the zodiac’s unique rhythms and planetary movements guide us toward introspection, transformation, and fresh beginnings. Let’s explore what the cosmos has in store.

Astrological Highlights

Mercury in Aquarius (Feb 5 - Feb 23)

This transit encourages innovation, intellectual pursuits, and forward-thinking ideas. Expect a surge in creativity, open-minded discussions, and breakthroughs in personal and collective consciousness.

Perfect for: Manifesting new projects, group rituals, and connecting with like-minded souls.

Venus in Capricorn (Feb 4 - Feb 28)

Venus in Capricorn fosters stability in love, finances, and partnerships. It’s a time for serious commitments, long-term planning, and grounding relationships.

Ideal for: Strengthening bonds, financial planning, and making responsible love-related decisions.

Mars in Sagittarius (Feb 5 - Mar 23)

The fiery energy of Mars in Sagittarius pushes us toward adventure, exploration, and freedom. It fuels motivation and encourages stepping beyond comfort zones.

Best for: Traveling, spiritual quests, and expanding knowledge through study or mentorship.

Saturn Aligns with Neptune (Feb 20)

This rare aspect blends structure with spirituality, realism with dreams. It’s an excellent time for bridging the mystical with the practical—think grounding spiritual practices in daily life.

Focus on: Strengthening spiritual discipline, meditation, and deepening intuition.

Moon Phases & Their Energies

New Moon in Aquarius (Feb 9, 2025)

The New Moon in Aquarius invites new beginnings centered on community, progress, and humanitarian efforts. It’s a time to set visionary goals and align with collective energy.

Ritual Suggestions: Candle magic for innovation, group intention-setting circles, and technology-based spellwork.

Full Moon in Virgo (Feb 24, 2025)

Virgo’s full moon shines a light on organization, healing, and practical magic. It’s a time to refine routines, cleanse spaces, and focus on health and well-being.

Ritual Suggestions: Herbal magic, purification baths, and grounding meditations.

Imbolc: A Festival of Light (Feb 1 - 2)

One of the most significant pagan celebrations in February is Imbolc, a festival marking the midpoint between winter and spring. Dedicated to Brigid, the goddess of fertility, poetry, and healing, Imbolc is a time for purification, renewal, and setting intentions for the coming months.

Ways to Celebrate:

Candle rituals to welcome back the light.

Fire scrying for insights into the months ahead.

Cleansing rituals for home and sacred spaces.

Offerings to Brigid, such as milk, honey, and poetry.

Spiritual Themes of February

This month carries a balance between intellect and emotion, encouraging us to dream big but also lay practical foundations for our goals. The influence of Aquarius and Virgo, combined with Saturn-Neptune’s mystical alignment, asks us to merge logic with intuition, structure with imagination.

As we navigate these cosmic currents, February 2025 is a time of awakening, discipline, and renewal. Whether you’re setting intentions, refining your craft, or simply tuning into the universe’s rhythm, this month offers profound opportunities for transformation.

the last time I reblogged this post right before I got a great job, in a permanent work-from-home position, with benefits, retirement, and a salary literally 3x what I was making before, doing something I really like. 

So you know. 

So if anybody's got any spellwork they want to do related to fresh beginnings, hope for the future, protection for the months ahead, or Casting Unwanted Shit Into The Ever-Hungry And All-Devouring Void From Whence Nothing Returns....tonight's a good night for it.

And if you think your voice or your spell is too small to make an impact, I'll remind you that many raindrops make a river, many sparks a conflagration. None of us walks alone.

Then the wise woman said, “Wipe away thy tears, Two-eyes, and I will tell thee something to stop thee ever suffering from hunger again. Just say to thy goat “Bleat, my little goat, bleat. Cover the table with something to eat!” and then a clean well-spread little table will stand before thee, with the most delicious food upon it of which thou mayst eat as much as thou art inclined for. And when thou hast had enough, and hast no more need of the little table, just say “Bleat, bleat, my little goat, I pray, And take the table quite away. Then it will vanish again from thy sight.” Hereupon the wise woman departed.

- One-Eye, Two-Eyes, and Three-Eyes

Intent: To obtain needed money or provisions.

Materials:

Paper and a writing utensil

A pinch or two of rice

A white candle (a taper or chime candle is best)

Ideal Timing: Waxing or Full Moon

This spell is not meant to bring great wealth or fancy possessions to the caster. It is to be used only to bring yourself or another something that is badly needed, particularly if unfortunate financial circumstances are making paying the bills or buying necessities difficult. It is meant to tide you over until your situation improves, and can be combined with or cast in addition to other money-drawing or prosperity spells where needed. As such, the materials are as simple as possible.

Write what you need on the paper. The list can be as long or as short as you need it to be, but the more specific you are, the better the spell will work. Be sure that you only ask for what you really need. A little excess is fine, in case of something unexpected, but don’t go overboard.

Fold the paper into a small packet with the rice inside and place it in a fire-safe dish. Light the white candle and carefully drip wax onto the packet, turning it until it is completely covered on all sides. (I suggest using tweezers or a pencil to turn the packet so you don’t burn your fingers.)

As you drip the wax onto the packet, chant seven times:

Blesséd rice and words of power, Aid me in my needful hour. Hear my cry, I pray you heed, The help I ask comes not from greed.

Hide the packet away somewhere it won’t be disturbed. If you have a few coins to hide with it in a jar or crock, so much the better.

Once your circumstances have improved and you are once more back on your feet, retrieve the packet and burn it in a fire-safe dish. Recite over the flames:

You gave me help when I had none; You have my thanks, your work is done.

The spell may be repeated as often as you have need.

- From The Sisters Grimmoire: Spells and Charms for Your Happily Ever After, © 2017 Bree NicGarran

(Thought everyone could use a little extra magical help these days. Hope it helps!)

You can find more spells from The Sisters Grimmoire, Vol. I and potion and powder recipes from Pestlework by checking out the mid-month minisodes of Hex Positive, available on your favorite podcast platform.

All of my titles can be found on Amazon or ordered from the Willow Wings Witch Shop. (If you’d like to see them in your local witch shop, feel free to give the proprietor my contact information!)

So what I'm about to write down here was 1. inspired by ye olde angelic grimoire, the Arbatel, in which the author declared that angels are named after their functions, and therefore, you can call an angel by addressing it by function (EG, "Angel of Mathematics"), and 2. my own chaos magic/psychological model kind of approach to things. If you're the kind of person who's into that, or maybe into the idea of archetypes or whatever, this might work for you.

Step 1: Pick a title and function

Consider the sort of entity you want to work with, and pick an appropriate title and function; EG, "lady of healing," "queen of justice," "demon of meeting deadlines," or whatever works for you.

I recommend considering your emotional reactions to any given option; for example, if the word "demon" makes you feel empowered and brave, then it should work fine for you; but if it makes you feel anxious or brings up any religious trauma, you should probably avoid it.

Step 2: Pick some associations and stuff

Choose a few colors to associate with your figure; for example, maybe blue and green if it relates to healing, or pink and yellow if it relates to love and friendship. If it's a hearth figure, maybe make one of its symbols a wooden spoon. If it's related to protection, maybe give it a shield. Use all of this to form an image of this figure. Add any features to it you think are relevant; for example, if it relates to watchfulness, perhaps give it many eyes, or very large eyes.

You can also give it a symbol by whatever means you feel appropriate, and use this symbol anywhere you think a symbol would be appropriate.

Step 3: Work with your entity however feels appropriate

Have got a few people in the tags saying they vibe with this other post about my animistic views, so here's a tie-in with Witchcraft:

You know how in that other post I say that the spirit of Lavender isn't already present in the physical lavender, and that's why I have to call him? Well three things!

One, what you are doing when you lay a compass opening metaphysical roads and gateways that make it easier and less burdensome for spirits to travel to you!

Imagine you live in a hut in the middle of the woods with no roads leading to it. You could call a spirit to visit you and they could, but it would be a laborious journey for them because they have to hike across the rugged terrain.

But as a witch, you have the power to weave gossamer fairy roads that float upon the air like spider silk, scintillating in the moonlight, floating high above the clawing trees, dense underbrush, and slippery rocks.

Spirits can walk back and forth across these magical roads, making it easier for them to arrive much more fully to you by exerting the same amount of effort. Also, it's nicer for them!

The point of opening roads is to facilitate the movement of the spirits, so that they are not wasting energy just traveling, but may have more left over to help you with, or appear to you.

Two, one way to get Lavender fully present inside of the physical lavender is to carefully harvest the lavender under auspicious times, and using charms and techniques meant to preserve the spiritual power of the plant.

This is wild foraging magic - and it's a very powerful way of gathering and storing power so that it lives with you in the hut, and you don't have to call for the attention of faraway entities.

One way to think about going out and gathering magic in this manner is mushrooming. You know how those mushroom people are like, "wait until the weather gets warm and it rains, then a few days later look under fallen hardwood logs"?

It's the same thing when witches say "wait until midnight on a Saturday and go to the churchyard fence and sing this charm while you harvest a flower stalk."

It's the same in the sense that it's not arbitrary steps you have to do to prove you're more traditional. It's a map to instruct you how to find power that is only present sometimes!

The nature of magic is such that the datura growing on the graveyard fence may always be physically there, but its spiritual power may wax and wane. If you harvest the datura while it's spiritually hibernating (or if you harvest it in such a way that the spirit retracts itself and leaves your harvest inert), you are not necessarily harvesting something of power just because it's not commercially grown.

Three, if I have a really wonderful relationship with Lavender or I really like this spirit and would love to have it be a big part of my practice, I can go through the steps to request that Lavender enter my home and my life as a familiar spirit, a tutelary spirit, or a helper spirit.

You know how we live in a hut in the woods with no roads leading to it? Well I can build Lavender a room in my house so he can always just stay there with me - that room is a spirit house, spirit vessel, or shrine that you build which is dedicated to Lavender and is sort of like a permanent, hardwired road for Lavender to travel down.

In this way, every single time I want to call on Lavender, I do not necessarily have to lay a compass and open a road to call to him. That is because he has permanent access to my house, until such a time as I sever the relationship or remove the shrine.