bundleofherbsandhope

[bundleofherbsandhope]

I'd like to follow more spoonie witches, having a hard time relating to wanting to do all these elaborate rituals on my dash. Please interact with this post if you are a spoonie who practices witchcraft so I can find my people!

[bundleofherbsandhope]

On Mental Illness & Witchcraft

In light of a couple of posts about witches who are suffering from mental illness(es), I’ve decided to add on the this conversation which really needed to happen. 

Here is a list of witchcraft practices you can do on low spoons, and a little discussion on how you can use your illness to fuel your craft. 

What can you do with low spoons?

Infuse intentions into food

Wear stones already charged with energy

Meditate

Use a pendulum

Infuse intention into water and drink it

Wear charms that are already charged and ready to be worn

Draw on magickal energy from other sources

Ground and center

Anything else that requires little to no spoons. 

How can you use your illness to fuel your craft? A lot of it has to do with your illness, but here are a few:

Use your inner turmoil to fuel a spell.

Use the deep sadness inside for an “opposite effect” spell.

(I don’t do curses personally, but) Use the all the negative emotions in you to power your curses.

Use those same emotions in warding spells. 

Use them in hexes. 

Use them in binding spells. 

I could be really specific about other uses, but those would have to be tailored to a specific illness and that would make this list way too long. Be creative with it, or send me an ask about it. 

Your craft is still valid whether you don’t have enough spoons for even the littlest things or not. 

Above all else, make sure you are safe. 

[bundleofherbsandhope]

How to Predict Timing with Tarot

When performing the Celtic Cross, there are three positions that can reveal when the event will happen: The Advice, The Ultimate Outcome, and The Underworld. Acknowledge all these possibilities. But your intuition will tell you which is most likely.

THE MAJOR ARCANA

The Fool – Whenever you are ready

The Magician – It has already begun

The High Priestess – You know exactly when

The Empress – During harvest season

The Emperor – It is almost done

The Hierophant – It is finished

The Lovers – As soon as you make the choice

The Chariot – In just a few moments

Strength – The minute you accept it

The Hermit – Only after you meditate on it

The Wheel of Fortune – During your first or next Saturn Return

Justice – When you least expect it

The Hanged Man – When the circumstances change

Death – Whenever it is ready

Temperance – After the storm

The Devil – It is happening right now

The Tower – Soon, unexpectedly and suddenly

The Star – The more you believe, the sooner it will happen

The Moon – It cannot be determined at the moment

The Sun – In the summer or by sunrise

Judgement – Soon and inevitably

The World – In divine timing

THE MINOR ARCANA

THE SUIT OF WANDS

Ace of Wands – One day

Two of Wands – Two days

Three of Wands – Three days

Four of Wands – Four days

Five of Wands – Five days

Six of Wands – Six days

Seven of Wands – Seven days

Eight of Wands – Eight days

Nine of Wands – Nine days

Ten of Wands – Ten days

Page of Wands – As we speak

Knight of Wands – End of November to most of December

Queen of Wands – End of March to most of April

King of Wands – End of July to most of August

THE SUIT OF CUPS

Ace of Cups – One month

Two of Cups – Two months

Three of Cups – Three months

Four of Cups – Four months

Five of Cups – Five months

Six of Cups – Six months

Seven of Cups – Seven months

Eight of Cups – Eight months

Nine of Cups – Nine months

Ten of Cups – Ten months

Page of Cups – Very soon

Knight of Cups – End of February to most of March

Queen of Cups – End of June to most of July

King of Cups – End of October to most of November

THE SUIT OF SWORDS

Ace of Swords – One week

Two of Swords – Two weeks

Three of Swords – Three weeks

Four of Swords – Four weeks

Five of Swords – Five weeks

Six of Swords – Six weeks

Seven of Swords – Seven weeks

Eight of Swords – Eight weeks

Nine of Swords – Nine weeks

Ten of Swords – Ten weeks

Page of Swords – Now, behind the scenes

Knight of Swords – End of May to most of June

Queen of Swords – End of September to most of October

King of Swords – End of January to most of February

THE SUIT OF PENTACLES

Ace of Pentacles – One year or one season (3 months)

Two of Pentacles – Two years or two seasons (6 months)

Three of Pentacles – Three years or three seasons (9 months)

Four of Pentacles – Four years or four seasons (one year)

Five of Pentacles – Five years or five seasons (15 months)

Six of Pentacles – Six years or six seasons (18 months)

Seven of Pentacles – Seven years or seven seasons (21 months)

Eight of Pentacles – Eight years or eight seasons (2 years)

Nine of Pentacles – Nine years or nine seasons (2 years and 3 months)

Ten of Pentacles – Ten years or ten seasons (2 years and 6 months)

Page of Pentacles – It will take quite a while

Knight of Pentacles – End of August to most of September

Queen of Pentacles – End of December to most of January

King of Pentacles – End of April to most of May

To Help You Remember:

Wands are days, because they are fire, and fire moves fast.

Swords are weeks, because while a sword is quick to cut, it first requires some thinking on the warrior’s part.

Cups are months, because they are water, and water flows with the moon, which completes a cycle in roughly a month.

Pentacles are seasons to years, because they are seeds, and some seeds only require a season to grow while others need a year.

The timings for the Major Arcana and the Pages are related to the cards’ meanings. Once you know the meanings, you know the timings.

The Kings, Queens and Knights are the Zodiac signs’ birthdays:

King of Wands – Leo (Fixed Fire)

Queen of Wands – Aries (Cardinal Fire)

Knight of Wands – Sagittarius (Mutable Fire)

King of Cups – Scorpio (Fixed Water)

Queen of Cups – Cancer (Cardinal Water)

Knight of Cups – Pisces (Mutable Water)

King of Swords – Aquarius (Fixed Air)

Queen of Swords – Libra (Cardinal Air)

Knight of Swords – Gemini (Mutable Air)

King of Pentacles – Taurus (Fixed Earth)

Queen of Pentacles – Capricorn (Cardinal Earth)

Knight of Pentacles – Virgo (Mutable Earth)

[bundleofherbsandhope]

Sneaky Witchcraft!

Using songs as spells. (Singing it for extra charge)

Intention behind simple tasks (chapstick blessing to keep the lips soft and the words persuasive, lotion to keep the skin smooth and repel buggies etc)

Booping a child's nose and using that intention to dispel fear and/or bless the child in question. (Now a favorite past time for my itty bitty nephew.)

Blasting music to break up icky vibes throughout the house

Diffuser or incense certain scents work as offerings, cleansing, or just good way to bring luck into the home.

[bundleofherbsandhope]

These are not mine, nor am I claiming them to be. The information here is good & I needed a place to save it for when I can incorporate it into my home.

[bundleofherbsandhope]

Oh I want this so bad

[bundleofherbsandhope]

Intro

I'm Cara, a newbie witch.

I am interested in:

tarot

other forms of divination

astrology

herbalism

household/kitchen magic

I am chronically ill and am approaching my craft from the perspective of a disabled person: looking for things to ease pain and mental/physical strain.

I also love making things (knitting, crochet, embroidery), and would love to learn some ways to incorporate my craft into my crafts!

I don't identify as religious but am interested in exploring spirituality. I would love some recommendations for non-Wiccan/religious texts and practices.

I'm always down to chat, and am very eager to learn as much as possible about all of the above, so pop me a message if you have any tips :)

[bundleofherbsandhope]

Basic witch herbs

This one goes out to the PSL lovers, and autumn lovers in general.

Cinnamon (Cinnamomum zeylanicum, C. verum) Folk names: sweet wood, ceylon cinnamon Energy: Masculine Planet: Sun Element: Fire Deities: Venus, Aphrodite Powers: Spirituality, success, healing, power, psychic powers, lust, protection, love

Clove (Eugenia caophyllus, Syzygium aromaticum or Caryophyllus aromaticus) Folk names: Mykhe, Carenfil Energy: Masculine Planet: Jupiter Element: Fire Powers: Protection, exorcism, love, money

Ginger (Zingiber officinale) Folk name: African Ginger Energy: masculine Planet: Mars Element: Fire Powers: love, money, success, power Nutmeg (Myristica Fragrans) Folk names: Qoust, Sadhika, Wohpala, Bicuiba Acu Energy: Masculine Planet: Jupiter Element: Fire Powers: Luck, money, health fidelity

[bundleofherbsandhope]

Considering a lot of magic work involves energy, one of the first things any aspiring witch should learn to do is to ground, center (and, eventually, to shield) themselves.

The purpose of grounding and centering is to stabilize your energy, connect with the energy from the Earth, and to bring yourself to a positive state of being. This can be done before and after ritual, or anytime you are feeling like you could use a boost.

For Grounding: To start, sit or stand with yourself firmly planted on the ground. Make sure you are breathing deeply and evenly. Imagine you are connected to the Earth, by strings, roots, whatever you want to picture connecting you. Visualize any negative energy flowing down through the connection into the Earth, where the energy becomes neutralized. Now, visualize clean, healing energy coming up through the connection and into your body. Some people picture the energy filling their whole body, others picture a glowing sphere centered in their chest, but you'll have to work out what feels right for you. Once you feel your energy is stable and you are in a positive state of being, you can stop. If you're performing a ritual, you can do this again during the ritual to draw up more energy to put into whatever your purpose for it is. After your ritual is complete, you will want to ground and center yourself again to release any excess energy that you raised. Visualize the excess energy flowing down through your connection and back into the Earth. Be careful not to put all of your energy back into the Earth, otherwise you might feel tired and drained.

For Centering: Everything in the universe is made up of energy, including you and me. As we walk through life, we give away pieces of our energy and collect bits of others’. If we don’t keep an eye on this exchange of energy, we can find ourselves carrying the weight of others’ negativity while missing important pieces of ourselves. Centering is the practice of bringing the energy that you’ve given away back to your body, while shedding the energy you’ve accumulated from everyone else. In doing so, you restore balance to your soul and are able to more effectively move through life.

With your eyes closed, take a few deep breaths. As you breathe in, you are going to imagine all of the energy that you have left behind in the world coming back to you. Picture this energy filling you up and creating a sense of fullness. On the exhale, you want to imagine that you are releasing the excess clutter of everyone else. All of the negative energy that has accumulated within you is being neutralized and sent away, leaving you feeling light and free.

For Shielding: Shielding is the act of protecting yourself from energetic attacks or drainage. By constructing an energetic shield around you, you are effectively preventing any energy that is not for your greatest or highest good from reaching you.

I find it easiest to shield after centering, but it isn’t necessary, however, I would recommend taking a few deep breaths to relax yourself and clear your mind at the very least. Start by closing your eyes and taking a moment to build up some energy using the grounding and centering techniques you've already learned. As you breathe in, imagine that the air is filling you with positive energy. You want to repeat this until you feel completely full of positive energy.

Next you need to focus this energy. Continue taking deep breaths, but now on the exhale you want to visualize the energy you’ve built up expanding out around you, spreading into a protective shield around your body.

The first few times you shield, take the time to get to know the energy. Identify as many characteristics as you can: • What color is it? • Is it warm? Cool? • Does it move like a gas? Like a solid? • Does it feel like energy, like a powder, like a liquid? The stronger the visualization, the more effective your shield will be.

Practice shielding often, until it becomes second nature. Don't just see how quickly you can shield yourself, but also how long you can hold and maintain it. Make sure that you can lower it as well.

When you’re finished, you have to close off the connection, otherwise your energy will continue to flow through the connection. Again, the visual you use for this will vary by personal preference. You may picture a door shutting, the roots being severed, or a switch being flipped.

If you practice all three techniques daily, you can learn through trial and error what visualizations work best for you, and have the added benefit of becoming familiar with your own energy and how to manipulate it, which will make working with energy in general a little bit easier down the line.

For those reading this that are already experienced with these techniques, what do you find yourself visualizing? I'm always interested to hear from others, especially if it is a more effective method.

[bundleofherbsandhope]

🍯ALL ABOUT HONEY🍯

Blessed springtime friends! now that we have entered the light half of the year, i thought id share my thoughts and feelings about the wonderful uses of honey! 🍯🦡

Since the ancient times, people have known about the practical and spiritual uses of honey! It has strong ties with the underworld as it has its roots as being both a sweet treat to give offerings with or to preserve dead bodies. The Greek are hypothesized to have given milk mixed with honey, and it was said to be especially sacred to Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty.

Honey has strong associations with the sun, and can be used for solar witchcraft. Honey can attract health and happiness into your life, and since humans have been cultivating bees since the dawn of civilization, can be used to help connect with your ancestors if you so choose.

The Fair folk are said to be drawn towards honey, and is often used to appease them if they have been causing mischief around the home.

You can use it for spell jars, as well as kitchen witchery in foods and baked goods. Put into tea, it can aid manifestation and personal growth!

[bundleofherbsandhope]

Cleansing with the 4 elements is one of the first things I learned in Witchcraft and a really simple way to cleans tools, ritual items and even yourself. The process is really simple and involves passing each item through an elemental representation. The best part is that you can find things outside or use items you already have to represent each element in your cleansing. I still use this cleanse on the reg, especially with new items, tarot and just really anything that I feel like needs a good energy clearing. 

The first thing you need to do is find or acquire an item that represents each of the 4 elements, Earth, Air, Fire and Water. Use 4 separate items. I’ve listed below my suggestions but feel free to use whatever representation makes sense and speaks to you. 

Element Representation

For Earth you can use small potted plants, dried herbs, leaves, small sticks, crystals or even smooth rocks. 

Air representations can include bird feathers (that have fallen off naturally), incense or dandelions. 

For fire you can use candles of any kind, incense or metal objects that have been welded like old keys and small trinkets like rings or pendants. 

Water is the easiest, use a small glass or bowl of water. (Bonus if it’s moon water.) You can also use sea shells, tea cups, or even brewed hot tea.

Don’t feel stuck to these items only. If something speaks to you and you feel like it represents an element for you, use that item instead. The best representations to elements are ones that have a personal connection to you. 

Cleansing 

After collecting your items, place them on your alter or on a flat surface where you will be doing your cleanse. Space out each elemental representation in a square starting with Earth. Light any incense or candles if you have them for your element representations. 

Now, take the object you are going to cleanse and ‘pass them through’ each element starting with Earth. For instance if you are cleansing a new ritual tool and are using crystals for your Earth representation simply pass the item over AND under the crystal to cleanse of the energy. When you’re done move onto the next element. Repeat until all 4 elements are used and your items is cleansed. 

Safe Keeping

Keep your element ritual items in a small box or drawstring bag until next time and leave them in a space where they won’t be disturbed. If you have items you can’t keep such as leaves from outside or water in a cup, you can bury the contents outside or use the water to water plants. 

* The graphic for this post was created by Obsidian Oddessy. Please check out her amazing painting for magical beings!  

[bundleofherbsandhope]

Hello fellow witches, here are some magical water properties for your reference. More info on manifestmoons

[bundleofherbsandhope]

Starting your Grimoire/Book of Shadows/Book of Mirrors  *ੈ✩‧₊˚

Whatever you call it, Grimoire, Book of Shadows, Book of Mirrors, or just even your witchy journal, it can be a bit hard to start! A little P.S. I call it a grimoire, so that is what I will be calling it throughout this post. If you don’t that’s fine, just replace the words with whatever your preferred term is in your head! Its easier than typing Grimoire/Book of Shadows/Book of Mirrors every time I want to type something out.

So, our first couple of questions are: what is a Grimoire? What is a Book of Shadows? And what is the difference? I will be answering all of these questions and more in this blog today. 

Now, everyone does their grimoire differently. Just because I may do something one way in no means does this mean you have to do your grimoire the same way. 

Keep reading

[bundleofherbsandhope]

Welcome to manifestmoons :)

I'm sharing some basic symbols and meanings associated with the practice of witchcraft. There are 12 of them. One step at a time, baby witches!

More info on manifestmoons

[bundleofherbsandhope]

Cleansing, Charging, Warding & Banishing

Cleansing

How to Cleanse

Find the target of your cleansing

Pick and appropriate method of cleansing

Hold your intention while cleansing. Stay focused and grounded

Follow up by filling the cleansed space with positive energy to avoid negative energies from coming back in

When to Cleanse

When you get a new tool

When a tool/room feels stale or off

When your tools or space come into contact with negative energy

Whenever your intuition tells you its time

Common Methods

Use the Elements Cleanse a room with water, fire, earth, or air. Soak or sprinkle with water, pass through flame or smoke, sprinkle or bury in dirt

Smoke Cleansing Use the smoke of herbs and plants to cleanse a space, item, or person. Pick herbs that correspond to your needs, light a bundle, and lead the smoke

Salt Salt will soak up all negative energies

Sun & Moonlight Let your item cleanse in the sunlight or moonlight, or open your windows to cleanse a space

Crystals Use corresponding crystals to cleanse a space or item. Carry them around to cleanse your spirit

Charging

How to Charge

Pick your target. Anything you want to fill with energy

Choose a method of charging that is appropriate for your item

Hold your intention while charging. Stay focused on transferring energy to the target item

Listen to your intuition. You’ll know when an item has been charged

When to Charge

After you cleanse a tool/item

When an item/tool doesn’t feel as potent or feels weak

When energy becomes stagnant

When you want an item to hold a certain intention/purpose

Charging Methods

Sun & Moonlight Set an object in the sun or moonlight to let it soak up that energy

Crystals Crystals that have been charged and cleansed can be used to charge other items

Elements Use the power of the elements to charge items metaphorically or literally

Visualization Picture your energy and intention flowing into your item and filling it with power

Herbs Charge an item with corresponding herbs by passing them through herb smoke, anointing with herbal oils, etc

Sound Use singing bowls, bells, or corresponding music to fill an item or space with energy

Banishing & Warding

What’s the Difference?

Warding is… a gentler form of defensive magic. It’s used in a general sense. Warding is used to protect and guard from negative energies. It is used to redirect energy away from you or your space.

Banishing is… far more specific and direct. It’s used to get rid of a particular energy, spirit, or person. Banishing is a very strong form of defensive magic.

Warding Methods

Guardians Create a guardian to guard your home or space from negative energies. Use a small object, enchant it with your intention, and keep it in a safe, permanent place.

Crystals Corresponding crystals can be worn as jewelry to protect against negative energy. Placing crystals in a room or around your house will create a protective barrier.

Salt Sprinkle salt around your doors and windows or make protection jars.

Herbs Burn protective herbs and pass the smoke through your space or tools or sprinkle herbal oils and tinctures on yourself and your space for protective barriers.

Visualization Use your intention and energy to visualize a powerful barrier of protecting light around yourself or your space.

Banishing Methods

Use the Elements Burn a slip of paper with your target's name on it. Throw a leaf with your target’s name on it into a running river. Burn corresponding herbs and pass the smoke through your space.

Candles Anoint your candles with corresponding herbs and oils, then burn it. When the candle has burned out, the banishing is complete

Sigils Make your own banishing sigil or find one that resonates with you. Place it in the space or on the item you are banishing energy from.

Herbs & Tinctures Use herbal smoke to force energy out of a space or object. Make a spray or herbal tincture to sprinkle around your home.