happyhearthy

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Witchy Self Care & Mindfulness🌻🌿

Artwork by @CraftingWitch on Instagram

[happyhearthy]

Tapping Into Your Psychic Senses

Every single person on the planet has psychic abilities, but most people never realize that they’re using them. As Tess Whitehurst says in her book You Are Magical, “There is almost certainly something you assume that everyone can perceive that is actually a perception that is relatively unique to you.”

For example: you may be a gifted artist. Drawing and painting come naturally to you, and you have an intuitive sense of form and color. You probably know people who claim that they “don’t have an artistic bone in their body” or “can’t even draw a stick figure,” but you can’t bring yourself to believe it. Surely, those people are just psyching themselves out, because if art comes so easily to you, everyone must be able to do it to some extent, right?

Psychic abilities are similar. You’ve probably been tapping into at least one psychic sense all your life, but it feels so normal to you that you assume everyone experiences the world this way.

Once you become aware of your innate psychic abilities, you can start to harness them. For this reason, I think it’s a good idea to become familiar with (and comfortable using!) your natural psychic gifts before you try to learn any kind of divination.

Read over the following list of common psychic senses. Does one or more of them sound familiar? Once you recognize which of these you resonate with, focus on strengthening that gift over the next couple of weeks. You’ll be amazed by how easily you’re able to tap into it once you know how!

Clairvoyance: Clear Seeing

Contrary to popular opinion, the word “clairvoyance” does not describe any and all psychic abilities. Someone with clairvoyance receives psychic messages through their sense of sight. They may see these messages with their physical eyes, or see images in their mind’s eye. Seeing auras is an example of clairvoyance in action.

You may be clairvoyant if…

You often see flashes of light, blurred figures, or other visual phenomena that others do not see. [Note: This is NOT the same as visual hallucinations. Clairvoyants typically see things with their mind’s eye, not their physical eyes, and can differentiate between their visions and what is physically in front of them.]

You often experience random mental images that seem to have nothing to do with what’s going on around you.

Your meditations are primarily visual — for example, if you meditate on the element of water, you may see a bubbling fountain in your mind’s eye.

You are a visual learner.

Ways to Strengthen Clairvoyance

Keep a journal of the mental images you receive “out of nowhere.” Do these images mean anything to you? Do individual visions fit into a larger pattern?

Meditate on your chakras, and visualize each chakra in your mind’s eye, starting from the root and working up to the crown. What do your chakras look like? Are the colors bright and clear, or more faded and muddy? Are some spinning faster or slower than others? How does their appearance correspond to your life? For example, a muddy or faded sacral chakra may indicate issues around sexuality.

Do research into auras and what the different aura colors mean. Do you always seem to see or think of a certain color when you’re around a certain person? How does that color represent that person’s energy and personality? Write down your findings.

Clairaudience: Clear Hearing

Someone with clairaudience receives psychic messages through their sense of hearing. They may hear messages with their physical ears or “hear” them in their mind. A medium who hears spirits is an example of someone using clairaudience.

You may be clairaudient if…

You sometimes “hear” things in your mind, as if someone else was talking to you from inside your head. [Note: This is NOT the same as “hearing voices” or auditory hallucinations. Clairaudients usually “hear” messages with their mind, not their physical ears, and they can distinguish between psychic messages and physical, “real world” sounds.]

Sometimes, when you listen to music or watch a movie, a specific lyric or line of dialogue seems to jump out at you, as if it were a special message.

Your meditations are primarily auditory — for example, if you meditate on the element of water, you may hear a babbling brook.

You are an auditory learner.

Ways to Strengthen Clairaudience

Keep a journal of the messages you “hear” out of nowhere. Are they consistent, forming a larger pattern? Do they all seem to be “in the same voice,” or coming from the same source? (If so, this could be a deity or spirit guide reaching out to you.)

Do a meditation with the intention of holding a conversation with a helpful spirit guide. (If you are not comfortable working with spirits, you can set the intention of speaking to your inner self.) What does their voice sound like? Is it different from or similar to your own? Do they speak with an accent or have a unique inflection? Write down your thoughts.

Experiment with shufflemancy. This is a modern form of divination where you put a playlist on shuffle and receive a psychic message from the song that plays first. (You can find playlists specifically made for shufflemancy online, or make your own.) How does the song make you feel? Are there certain lyrics that jump out to you? Write down your thoughts.

Clairsentience: Clear Feeling

Someone with clairsentience feels psychic messages, either through their body or through their emotions. They may feel physical sensations, like an upset stomach, or may be very sensitive to emotional energies. Intuitively picking up on someone’s emotions without needing to ask is an example of clairsentience.

You may be clairsentient if…

You often feel physical sensations, like a hot flash or a cold chill, out of nowhere.

You are able to feel other people’s emotions — you can always tell when someone has had a bad day, even if they’re trying to hide it.

You can sense the “vibe” of a room as soon as you walk in. Do certain buildings feel “angry” or “sad” to you? Can you always tell the energy of a party even if you just arrived?

Your meditations primarily focus on tactile sensations — for example, if you meditate on the element of water, you may feel waves lapping at your feet.

Ways to Strengthen Clairsentience

Pay attention to your “gut feelings.” Do you feel a sinking sensation when thinking about something, only for it to go badly later? Do you feel a warm, fuzzy sensation thinking about something, only for it to go really well? Write down your experiences — and be honest. It’s okay if your gut feeling doesn’t always match the outcome.

Do a pathworking meditation (this is just a type of meditation that focuses on taking a mental journey) to a forest, or a beach, or some other location that appeals to you. Try to feel as many tactile sensations as possible, as if you were really there. Feel the grass or sand under your feet, feel the wind in your hair, feel the sun on your skin. Write down your experience.

Practice feeling the energy of a plant or crystal. Reach out and touch the plant/crystal, and try to feel it out. Does it have a calm, stable energy, or is it more bright and zingy? Try feeling a different plant/crystal and see how it feels different. Write down your experience.

Note: Some (but not all) clairsentients are also empaths, people who take on the emotions of others as if they were their own. All empaths are clairsentient, but not all clairsentient people are empaths. You may be an empath if you often find yourself matching the emotions of the people you’re around — you cry when they cry, laugh when they laugh, etc.

Claircognizance: Clear Knowing

Claircognizence is the gift of psychic knowing — people with this ability often “just know” things, even if they should have no way of knowing. They may know what someone is about to say before they say it, or know personal information about someone they just met.

You may be claircognizant if…

You “just know” what’s going on with your friends and family, even if they haven’t told you. For example, you may suddenly feel like you need to call your sister, only to find out after you call that she just broke up with her boyfriend.

You always know who a text is from as soon as your phone dings, or always know what song is going to play next on shuffle.

You often know things about new people as soon as you meet them, only for them to confirm it later. Did you know your friend was a vegetarian before he told you, even though you’d never shared a meal with him?

Your meditations often include “downloads” of information, where you feel like the answer to your question or some other revelation has just been dropped into your brain.

Ways to Strengthen Claircognizance

Every time your phone goes off, try to guess who the message is from. Keep a tally of how often you’re right vs. wrong.

Do a meditation with the intention of receiving the answer to a specific question. Retreat to a place of stillness and focus on your breath until the answer to the question “just comes to you.” Write down your experience.

This is a game I used to play with my sister before I knew what claircognizance was: have a friend show you a picture of someone they know, but whom you have never met before. Focus on the picture, and see if you get any info about the person — are they a jock? Do they like rock music? What’s their personality like? Get your friend to confirm or deny the info you got from the picture, and keep a tally of how often you’re right vs. wrong.

The Other Clairs

There are two other “clair” senses that are less common, so I’m not going to talk about them at length here. Clairalience, or “clear smelling,” refers to receiving psychic messages through smell. (If you smell roses out of nowhere, with no roses in sight, you may be using clairalience.) Clairgustance, or “clear tasting,” refers to receiving psychic messages through taste. (If you taste chocolate out of nowhere, you may be using claigustance.)

In my experience, these psychic senses are less common than the ones listed above. Most people I know who have clairalience or clairgustance seem to use it as a secondary sense, in addition to a primary sense like clairvoyance or clairsentience.

Conclusion

You are probably using at least one of these psychic senses every day, without even knowing it. Most people have two to three “main” psychic senses, but some may regularly and easily use all of them. For example, my primary psychic senses are clairsentience and claircognizance, but I also find myself receiving messages through clairaudience fairly often. It’s rare for me to receive clairvoyant messages, but it has happened.

Once you’ve identified the psychic senses that you naturally lean towards, you can begin to develop and strengthen them.

Resources:

You Are Magical by Tess Whitehurst [Specifically the chapter, “Reading the Signs.”]

The Fat Feminist Witch Podcast, Episode 68: “Clear Knowing”

The Angel Code by Chantel Lysette [Specifically the section on the psychic senses.]

[happyhearthy]

The Navajo have a unique tradition. When a baby is born, it is regarded as the ultimate, precious gift and must never be abused. From the moment of birth, the child is watched over continuously by family and friends, who patiently wait for the child’s first…laugh.

“Has your baby laughed?” is common question posed to parents who have infants around the age of three months. The first laugh of a Navajo child is a very significant event. It marks the child’s final passing from the spirit world to the physical world, meaning he or she is now fully human. This milestone warrants a party, and what a party it is!

Whichever brother, sister, parent, cousin, aunt, uncle, or passing acquaintance is present at the first laugh is deemed to have caused it.  The laughter instigator then receives the honored privilege of preparing a special ceremony to welcome the child into society.

Once a baby has laughed, training in generosity begins immediately—a value held in high regard among the Navajo people. At the party, where the baby is considered the host, the parents or person responsible for the first laugh help hold the baby’s hand as he or she ceremonially gives the rock salt, food, and gifts to each guest. There are also bags of candy, money, and other presents that the child “gives” along with the food. [x]

Fact Sources/more info: [1] [2] For more facts, follow Ultrafacts

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Stawberry Glamour ~*

This is a simple glamour that can enhance your attractiveness in many ways, to many people! The purpose of this spell is to give you a boost of confidence in your physical appearance, your communication skills, your creative abilities and other qualities you possess that people find attractive. Think your nose is pretty cute? Think you’re funny? Smart? Do you have a creative talent? Like your thighs and your tummy? People will be drawn to these qualities and take more notice of them, as will you when assessing yourself! This is a self love glamour as much as it can affect others.  Ingredients - 1 ripe strawberry - 1 small bowl or saucer - 1 fork Time of Day Perform during a waxing moon, preferably on a Thursday or Friday if the calendar allows. Super effective every Thursday or Friday when the moon is in Libra. Make sure you cleanse your tools and cast your circle to protect yourself. Do a cleansing bath and cleanse yourself of negative energies beforehand if you’ve been feeling especially down on yourself.  Hold the strawberry as you visualize people looking twice at you, complimenting your appearance, approaching you to chat. They laugh at your jokes and are enchanted by your thoughts and opinions. They think you are alluring and intriguing and they want to know more. People are utterly charmed by you and if they don’t want your romantic love, they aspire to be in your close circle and be touched by your aura. Think of specific people if that is part of your goal with this glamour.

Put the stawberry in your bowl or on your saucer and plate and gently mash it with your fork. Anoint your lips with the stawberry juice, kiss the juice off your fingers. This should be a sensual act. Eat the mashed bits of stawberry, enjoying the sweetness of the juice rolling down your tounge as you suck on the pulp, seeds gently bursting between your teeth.  As you do this, say aloud: “The words I speak, The smiles I smile, Be made sweet, As bee to flower, As honey to fly, I draw you nigh.”

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“cup your hands under the well of wisdom; taste the water of Brigid, sweetest spring rain, and feel inspiration as it warms your veins. learn to walk in winter with courage; with inspiration may you forge yourself anew. you have always been a flame: dear sibling, dawn sleeps within your bones.”

— a blessing for the questioning

[happyhearthy]

Sunflower Confidence - a quick charm spell for self-confidence.

Needed: - Yellow Candle - Citrine - Amber - sunflower or sunflower seeds - Lemon or Jasmine Incense - Something you can charm - something you can put everything in over night

Steps: - Set out your yellow candle and light it. - If you have incense or diffused oils, get those set up - Take your container, and set the object your gonna charm into it. -  Sprinkle your sunflower seeds over your item or set your sunflower inside on top of your charm. - set your amber and citrine inside with everything else. - Blow out your candle and incense - seal the container and let it sit over night. - take it out in the morning and wear it when ever you need self-confidence.

- Aesa<3  this is my original spell, please do not repost on any platform without my explicit permission. Reblogging is okay, reposting is not. 

[happyhearthy]

6 Phrases You Need to Know  for Shadow Work

I’ve realized recently how key knowing what to say to yourself is to shadow work. I hadn’t really thought about the phrases I’d collected before as being to key to how I do shadow work but a recent conversation made me realize they might be so I wanted to share them here.

“This is where I’m at”

The number one thing I’ve seen people do that will sabotage their efforts from the start is not being able to take inventory of what’s in their shadows. Shame is painful and your brain will do anything to protect you from that – justify your actions, ignore red flags, forget information that contradicts our narrative – and it’ll do it’s darnedest to keep you from looking at things frankly. You need a phrase like to begin to catalog what’s going on, before you can even begin to work on them. It needs to be neutral, clinical even. It’s very important you don’t justify things to yourself or reduce them to a single thing or catastrophize them to the point of no return. The longer I do this work, the more convinced I am that the best skill you can cultivate is to have a steady emotional hand.

“I want to do the work”

Another common mistake I see is being too focused on the result. And the result can be a lot of things; feeling better or happier, being the sort of person they want to be, more efficient magical flow. Being focused on it will absolutely trip you up in shadow work because it sets up a paradigm and unpleasant information that doesn’t mesh with that paradigm will be missed or justified and information that agrees with it will jump out first, often without helpful context. For instance if you see shadow work as a way to get through depression and your goal is to be happier, you’re at a high risk for screening out the ways in which you further your depression or ways your depression has influenced harmful actions toward others. Try to focus on your desire to do the work. The work is more important than the result will ever be. I promise you.

“This is my responsibility”

If you go into shadow work and find yourself point the finger at other people constantly, you’re probably not doing shadow work. It’s important to be aware of the influence of others but a foundation of how I do shadow work at least is that I am responsible for my actions. If others make it more difficult and I don’t like that – my actions are still on me and it’s up to me to evaluate how and why I spend time with the people who make it difficult to act the way I’d like to act. Taking responsibility for your actions, thoughts, and feelings is vitally important to shadow work.

“This isn’t my responsibility”

The flip side is that if you’re constantly pointing the finger at yourself, you might be codependent. Fear might be driving you to believe in the illusion of control but you cannot be responsible for everything. You cannot control how other people act, think, and feel. Your influence may have unintended effects and it’s up to you to figure out how much of that is on you and how much of it isn’t. I order for “This is my responsibility” to mean anything of weight and value, you have to know where it ends. So this phrase is vital to drawing the line.

“Just because I feel bad doesn’t mean I am bad”

Two parts of shadow work that get overlooked are being able to name your emotions and not believing the lies they tell us. Emotions tell us truths and lies. Feeling bad may tell us the truth of “this is painful” but it may tell us the lie “I am this feeling” or “I am a bad person”. So always always name your feelings and take the time to realize that doesn’t make you one in the same. Being afraid doesn’t make you a fearful person. Being angry doesn’t make you an angry person.

“Everyone has their shit they’ve gotta work on, this is mine.”

Something that will make your shadow work infinitely harder is judging others harshly.  Time after time when I’ve been working through stuck points or really getting nowhere with some problem, at the root of it I find some way I’ve judged others and I am trying to make sure I apply the same judgement to myself so I won’t be hypocritical or struggling to define why my circumstance is different. It’s much easier to release those judgements and find firmer ground. People are where they are and they make the best choices they know how to make.

I also include this phrase because shadow work can make us feel isolated and honestly can turn into navel gazing if you’re not careful. Reminding yourself that everyone has shadows is important in this way because it’s a buffer against thinking our pain is special or unique. It’s a trap to get too precious about the ways in which you’ve been hurt and hurt others. Defining yourself by your pain gives you no incentive to work through it and release it.

I hope these phrases helped someone out today. They’ve really been helping me get back on track. I’m obviously not a mental health expert and I don’t play one on the internet. These are just takeaways from my own spiritual work and the work I’ve seen in others.

If you enjoyed this, consider tipping me here. 

[happyhearthy]

🕊️🌿🕊️🌿🕊️🌿🕊️🌿🕊️🌿🕊️🌿🕊️🌿🕊️

Affirmations: I am projecting my most supportive and positive self outwards. I am being the person I want to see in this world.

🕊️🌿🕊️🌿🕊️🌿🕊️🌿🕊️🌿🕊️🌿🕊️🌿🕊️

[happyhearthy]

🌷🌿 spring witchcraft 🌿🌷

a list of things to do through the spring months, as a witch 🌷

🌿 studying flower and herb correspondences for spellwork

🌿 going outside and letting the wind and sun hit you to recharge

🌿 putting your bare feet in grass or soil and imagining being rooted to the earth to help with grounding

🌿 planting wildflowers around your house to save those bees baby

🌿 working with fae and other nature spirits and guardians

🌿 starting an herb or vegetable garden

🌿 spring cleaning to get rid of any old energy and welcome new, clean energy

🌿 opening your windows and letting spring breeze into your home to invigorate you

🌿 harvesting flowers to use for spells (ask nature spirits for permission first and maybe leave a lil somethin in its place as an offering)

🌿 making sunwater/flower teas

🌿 making wishes on dandelions

🌿 spells involving new ideas, growth, and refreshing your mind and body

[happyhearthy]

Brooklyn Life, New York, April 10, 1920

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Kitchen witch aesthetic~ 🌾

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love in bloom 🌸🌷🌺

[happyhearthy]

A comforting thought

Five thousand years ago, the Sumerians called the night ngi, the stars mul, and the moon Nanna.

Four thousand years ago, the Akkadians called the night mūšu, the stars kakkabū, and the moon Sîn.

Three thousand years ago, the Hittites called the night išpanza, the stars haštereš, and the moon Arma.

Two and a half thousand years ago, the Greeks called the night nux, the stars astra, and the moon Selênê.

Two thousand years ago, the Romans called the night nox, the stars stellae, and the moon Luna.

Kings and queens and heroes looked up at them. So did travelers coming home, and little children who sneaked out of bed. So did slaves, and mothers and soldiers and old shepherds, and Sappho and Muršili and Enheduanna and Socrates and Hatshepsut and Cyrus and Cicero. In this darkness it didn’t matter who they were, or where they stood. Only that they were human.

Think of that tonight, when you close your window. You are not alone. You share this night sky with centuries of dreamers and stargazers, and people who longed for quiet. Are you anxious? The Hittites were too: they called it pittuliyaš. Does your heart ache? The Greeks felt it too: they called it akhos. Those who look up to the stars for comfort are a family, and you belong to them. Your ancestors have stood under Nanna, Sîn, Arma, Selênê and Luna for five thousand years. Now its light is yours.

May it soothe you well.

[happyhearthy]

Protected by the shield of pure golden light.

[happyhearthy]

🔥Spell Jar for

Energy & Motivation🔥

Timing ⏰

Day of the Week: 🗓🌈

Tuesday— victory strength courage facing challenges🏆

Sunday— success wealth fame personal achievement ambition power improving health and prosperity confidence overcoming bad luck🥇🏅

Moon Phase: 🌙

Waxing crescent 🌒

First quarter 🌓

Waxing gibbous 🌔

Ingredients 🐝

Cleanse First! 🌬

Solids/Other: ☀️

Jar—I used a Starbucks mocha bottle, clever right??? 🏺

Wax 🕯: Red ❤️, Orange 🧡, Yellow 💛, Green 💚 can all work to represent energy. And white 👻 of course is all purpose. I alternated between layering yellow and green wax and did an orange birthday candle on top so it looks like citrus.

Coffee beans for energy! ☕️

Sunflower seeds for energy! 🌻

Red glitter for....pizzazz? Lol ✨

Crystals! For energy I used citrine, tigers eye, goldstone, carnelian, some orange calcite I believe, a pretty yellow/gold man-made glass crystal, and a piece of rainbow fluorite for mental clarity and focus. Any orange crystal (or clear quartz) would work for energy. 💎

Herbs: 🌵🌿🍀🎍

To Light a Fire Under my Ass: 💫

Cinnamon 💥

Red pepper🌶

Black pepper🔥

Cayenne pepper⚡️

Dragons blood🐉

Bay leaves—on one I wrote “I complete my project” (present tense not future tense! Don’t write “I Will”) on the second I wrote “focus, energy, motivation, self discipline”🍃

Liquids: 💧

Lemon 🍋

Orange 🍊

Charging: 🎆

Seal with wax 💡

Prayer 🙏🏻

Shook it 👋🏼

Kissed it💋

Happened to be bleeding, smeared my blood on it 💉

Set it on top of my orange and yellow crystal case 🌅

[happyhearthy]

CraftingWitch

[happyhearthy]

Lady Winter, created for the Taproot 2015 calendar. 

Watercolor, collage, colored pencil.

Phoebe Wahl 2014