#mailtalk

The short answer is yes! 

The medium answer is yes, BUT I wouldn’t recommend using a candle multiple times if it has been dressed with oils/herbs, or carved with words/letters/sigils/symbols. 

The long answer is the medium answer plus my reasoning for it. I feel like dressing or carving into a candle gives it a more specific purpose, and to use it for a different reason might…muddle intentions a little. You may feel differently, and that’s totally ok, but I wouldn’t use a candle if it had been dressed or carved for something else. 

Hello, dear! I hope this reply isn’t too late in coming to be useful.

First of all, thank you! I’m glad you find my little corner of the internet interesting and useful :) 

To answer your question, I think I have something that may interest you! One of my sisters suffers from insomnia and night terrors, and I made a charm bag for her out of some things I had around the house.

This is what I used:

A small piece of amethyst - calm, protection, peace, relaxation, the goddess Artemis

Lavender - warding, relaxation, peace

Jasmine - dreaming, relaxation, the moon

Rosemary - I will be honest, I’m not 100% sure why I included rosemary, it just felt right. I tend to trust my gut/intuition/whims when I get a feeling like this.

Then, because I associate the color purple with dreaming, relaxation, and sleep I sewed a little drawstring bag out of some purple velvet (to me, velvet is soothing and cozy, so that’s just more personal associations with sleep–you could really use any fabric!) and used this beautiful thin sapphire-blue ribbon that has little moons and stars embroidered on it for the actual drawstring part of the bag. 

For this charm bag I used things that not only have widely-accepted correspondences, but also things with which I have personal associations. It also was very much tailored to my sister–she loves flowers and the moon/stars so I wanted to include a floral element as well as some lunar/celestial references. 

Though this bag was made with my sister specifically in mind when it comes to those extra details, they still work really well with the base intent of the charm itself and would probably be perfectly fine for just about anyone! When making things like this for people you know well, I definitely recommend weaving in little references to things you associate with them. If you make a similar charm for your friends you could definitely do a variation that includes any things they like that go well with the concept of sleep, nighttime, relaxation, and so forth! 

Hello! Thank you for the trigger warning about death at the top of your message. 

I’m so sorry to hear about your pet. I also recently experienced the death of a beloved pet; it is so difficult to pass through the grief that comes with that, but know that I am standing in solidarity there with you. 

I’m not sure if this is the advice that you are looking for, but if I was in your position I might perform some sort of act of remembrance when I arrived back in the area. Perhaps light a candle, or do a meditation, or if you work with spirits or deities, send a message of thankfulness to your pet for the joy and love that they brought into your life while they were with you. Maybe a combination of all three, or something entirely different, whatever feels like the right way to remember your pet to you. 

If remembrance is not something you wish to do at this place, you could consider doing some work to sharpen your intuition. You mentioned you felt you had a vision for the first time while there–reach out to the part of you that heard/saw/felt that message to try to feel it out and understand it. See if anything clicks into place, or if any more intuitive messages come through. Perhaps carefully observe your surroundings to find out if there was anything in the area that triggered the feeling. 

Hello! Thank you for waiting so long for a response :) 

I don’t believe that smoke cleansing in general is culturally appropriative. 

Where people run into trouble with smoke cleansing is when they call it “smudging.” This can be an issue of cultural appropriation not because you are setting herbs on fire and using the smoke to cleanse something, but because the practice of smudging is a particular ritual that comes from a closed culture. 

From what I understand, calling smoke cleansing “smudging” is where you would cross that line because smudging involves more than just smoke cleansing, and because it specifically belongs to the community that created it and is not meant to be shared with outsiders. 

So as a white person, male or otherwise, it is probably good to steer clear of culturally-specific practices that come from cultures you aren’t a part of, unless that community has said that they are fine sharing practices with outsiders. I would recommend always researching about any culture or practice you’re interested in, and finding out if it is an open or closed culture/practice.