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“When you start to notice the mystical, the mystical will start to notice you.”

— Dacha Avelin 

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Source: Sugarxndspice

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I don’t think I’ll ever forgive the world for how it treats black women

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The “I’m Stuck” tarot spread

What’s keeping you from moving forward? What are you hung up on? And how do you get moving again?

The surface issue: You’re feeling blocked or stuck. What’s really going on here? What seems to be the problem?

What won’t change: Stagnation is a lack of change. What won’t budge? What’s caught you in a rut, what keeps repeating?

Why it’s stuck: What’s causing this stagnation, where is it coming from? What is this blockage trying to tell you? Why does it want to keep the status quo?

How to get unstuck: What steps can you take to move forward? How can you make progress?

How to continue moving forward: What can you do to maintain your momentum? How do you prevent yourself from, or manage, getting stuck in the future?

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Love letter

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Happy Día de Muertos!! I just moved, do today was the deadline for getting my worst set back up! The primary purpose of this altar is to spend time with my ancestors and you invite them into my home and my life.

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🌼SOME FLOWERS IN WITCHCRAFT🌼

Abundance: Arnica

Balance: Heather

Banishing negative energy: Lilac, Snapdragon

Beauty: Amaryllis, Pentas, Wolf’s Bane

Clairvoyance: Poppy, Queen Anne’s Lace

Communication: Datura (with Deities), Foxglove (with Fae), Pansy

Courage: Geranium, King Protea

Creativity: King Protea

Divination: Chicory, Damiana, Datura, Hibiscus, Pansy, Poppy, Rose

Dreams: Calendula (psychic dreams), Dandelion, Datura, Poppy

Energy: Carnation, Sunflower (sun energy)

Exorcism: Angelica, Dandelion, Datura, Henbane, Lilac

Fertility: Daffodil, Damiana, Foxglove, Geranium, Heather, Myrtile, Poppy, Queen Anne’s Lace, Sunflower

Friendship: Hydrangea, Passion Flower

Happiness: Calendula, Hyacinth, Lily of the Valley, Pansy, Scarlet Pimpernel, Sunflower, Tulip

Harmony: Gardenia, Iris, Jasmine, Lavender, Poppy, Rose, Violet

Healing: Arnica, Angelica, Calendula, Carnation, Chicory, Gardenia, Geranium, Heather, Lavender, Rose, Scarlet Pimpernel, Vervain

Hope: Daisy, Violet

Innocence: Daisy, Freesia

Invisibility: Poppy, Wolf’s Bane

Joyfulness: Birds of Paradise

Love: Buttercup, Daffodil, Daisy, Damiana, Datura, Foxglove, Gardenia, Geranium, Heather, Hibiscus, Hyachint, Iris, Jasmine, Lavender, Lilac, Orchid, Pansy, Pentas, Poppy, Queen Anne’s Lace, Tulip, Vervain, Violet, Yarrow Flower

Luck: Carnation, Chicory, Daffodil, Dandalion, Honeysuckle, Poppy, Violet

Lust: Damiana, Heather, Hibiscus, Queen Anne’s Lace

Marriage: Buttercup, Yarrow Flower

Money: Bergamot, Chamomile, Honeysuckle

Passion: Chamomile, Passion Flower, Rose

Patience: Aster

Peace: Gardenia, Iris, Lavender, Passion Flower, Poppy, Violet

Pleasure: Sweet Pea

Prosperity: Jasmine, Poppy

Protection:  Angelica, Arnica, Carnation, Datura, Dogwood, Foxglove, Geranium, Heather, Holly, Hyacinth, Lilac, Lily, Marigold, Rose, Scarlet Pimpernel, Snapdragon, Tulip, Vervain, Violet, Wolf’s Bane

Psychic Ability: Arnica, Calendula, Damiana, Orchid, Rose, Moonflower

Purification: Chicory, Dandelion, Lavender

Relaxation: Chamomile, Jasmine, Lavender, Poppy, Vervain

Removal of Curses/Breaking Hexes: Chicory, Datura, Hydrangea, Lily

Second sight: Henbane, Queen Anne’s Lace, Scarlet Pimpernel

Sensuality: Heather

Sexuality: Damiana, Foxglove

Sleep: Chamomile, Elderflower, Linden, Poppy, Violet

Spirit: Arnica (keeps unwanted spirits at bay), Bergamot (lifts spirit), Dandelion (summoning spirits), Heather (conjuring spirits), Honeysuckle

Spirituality: Jasmine, Queen Anne’s Lace, Rose

Strength: Carnation, Chicory

Success: Bergamot, Chicory, Sunflower

Tranquility: Lavender, Poppy, Rose, Violet

Transformation: Datura, King Protea, Moonflower, Scarlet Pimpernel

Vision: Angelica, Damiana, Datura

Vitality: Carnation

Wealth: Elderflower, Honeysuckle, Jasmine

Wisdom: Henbane

🌈Flower Colours and Magical Correspondences🌈

BLACK AND DARK BURGUNDY: The Crone,  banishing, breaking hexes, and removing negativity

BLUE: Element of water,  healing, sleep, and peace

BROWN AND  BEIGE:  Home,  stability,  and pets

GREEN: The God, element of earth,   faeries, healing, money, luck and fertility

PINK:  Friendship, children, affection and love

PURPLE: Power, psychic abilities and passion

RED: The Mother, element of fire, lust, love, sex, healing and protection

WHITE: The Maiden,  all  purpose, purification, protection,  and moon magick

YELLOW: Element of air, wisdom, mental powers,and divination 

ORANGE: Energy, vitality, and success

🌻🍂Flowers of the Month🍃❄️

January: carnation (bestows energy, healing), snowdrop (symbolizes new beginnings)

February: violet (love, protection), primrose (protection, love)

March: daffodil (fertility, love)

April: sweet pea (friendship, strength), daisy (love), lily (keeps negative influences away  [White: symbol for the archangel Gabriel])

May: lily of the valley (perks you up, lifts your spirits [all part of the flower are mildly toxic, should not be ingested]), hawthorn (fertility, happiness, good luck in fishing)

June: rose (love), honeysuckle (prosperity)

July: larkspur (health, protection), water lily (healing, emotions, psychic powers [use it in water spells, rituals])

August: gladiola (ending relationships, ending situations,), poppy (luck, prosperity)

September: morning glory (can be used in binding spells, peace, happiness), aster (can be used in love spells)

October: calendula (strength, healing, justice)

November: chrysanthemum (protection, protects you from negativity)

December: holly (protection, male plant), ivy (fidelity, love, female plant)

🔱Goddesses and Associated Plants🔱

APHRODITE: Violet, Morning glory, Rose, Linden, Heather, Queen Anne’s Lace, Daisy and all true blue flowers      

APOLLO: Arnica, Henbane

ARADIA: Rue, Vervain, Verbena

ARIANRHOD: Linden

ARTEMIS: Artemesia, Daisy, Damiana    

ASTRAEA: Aster, Michaelmas daisy

BAST: Catnip

BIL: Henbane

BRIGHID OR BRIDE: Dandelion,  Crocus, Helebores          

CERNUNNOS: Chamomile

CERRIDWEN: Vervain/verbena

CHRONOS: Henbane

CYBELE: Chrysanthemum

DEMETER OR CERES: Red Poppy

DIANA: Rue, Henbane, Rose

DRYADS: Daisy

FAE: Daisy

FREYA:  Maidenhair fern, Daisy, Rose, Primrose and Arnica

GANESHA: Damiana

HADES: Datura

HATHOR: Rose

HECATE: Cyclamen, Lavender, Willow, Hensbane, Datura, Wolf’s Bane and Monkshood (aconite)

HEL: Chrysanthemum

HERA:   Iris, Willow

HESTIA: Passion Flower

HOLDA: Rose in full bloom

HYPNOS: Passion Flower

IRIS: Iris, Rose

ISIS: Rose, Heather and purple  Iris

JUNO: Iris

JUPITER: Carnation

KALO: Hibiscus

LADY OF GUADALUPE:  Red and pink roses, Poinsettias

LILITH:  Lily; Deep-Red, Thorny, Garden-Style Roses

LUNA: Queen Anne’s Lace

MAE LABRAID: Heather

MAIA: Scarlet Pimpernel

MARS: Daffodil

MEDEA: Lavender

MERCURY: Chamomile

MINERVA: Thistle, Olive, and Mulberries              

NATURAJA: Datura

NECHTAN: Heather

NEPHTHYS: Lily

OESTRE: Daisy

OSHUN: Chamomile, Yarrow Flower

PERSEPHONE:   Parsley, Pomegranate, Henbane

RA: Arnica, Chamomile

SATURN: Datura, Lavender

SELENE: Rose, Bluebell, Nicotiana, Queen Anne’s Lace   and all white and night-blooming flowers

SHANGO: Hibiscus

SHAVA: Linden

SHIVA: Datura

ST. ANNE: Chamomile

VENUS: Violet, Morning glory,  Rose, Hibiscus, Queen Anne’s Lace, Heather and all true blue flowers    

YEMAYA: Passion Flower, Yarrow Flower

ZEUS: Damiana

Source: Garden Witchery - Magic from the ground up by Ellen Dugan 

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Stop Learning Tarot Cards Like Flash Cards (You’re Better Than That)

One thing I’ve noticed as I’ve started teaching tarot cards to other people is that they have a tendency to think that every card has an individual meaning and it is their duty to memorize 78 complex sets of meanings before they can begin reading for others. 

That’s simply not true. 

It’s also incredibly inefficient and totally kneecaps you when you move on to learn another deck (and try memorizing ANOTHER 78 complex sets of meanings). Cards exist in relation to one another. Understanding those relationships lets you remember meanings quicker, better understand how cards in a spread might be connected, and give much smoother readings. 

If you’re learning Tarot for the first time or looking to bush up, here’s my advice after reading cards for 10 years. Please, learn from my mistakes.  Tarot is a language

In the same way you learn letters and string them into words and then string words into sentences to communicate, tarot is a language you learn so your intuition can communicate more fully with you and others. And like a language, it’s often best to start with the phrases that you’ll use the most. 

Practice: Go through your deck and pick out no more than 12 cards that are really calling to you and look up those meanings. Write them down if you’re up for it. Go through your deck and pick out no more than 12 cards that give you a feeling of unease and do the same. Notice any reoccurring symbols?

  Tarot is a story

How you understand that story may vary on your tradition, your experience level, your aims. Most standard Tarot decks follow the Fool’s Journey through the Major Arcana as he becomes more skilled and then more enlightened. A similar pattern can be seen in each of the suits. The Court Cards are less narrative in my opinion but a similar progression can be seen. 

Practice: Take out each of the suits one at a time and lay them out in a row. Read the meanings of each card and see how the story progresses. Write down a summary. Do the same with each of other suits’ courts and the major arcana.

Tarot is a system

You aren’t fluent until you know the language well enough to speak smoothly and in most situations. Similarly, it takes understanding Tarot at a high level to give the best quality readings and read without a book. No card exists in isolation and just like when they show up in a reading, you must read them in relation to the rest of the spread - it helps a lot to know them in relation to the rest of the deck. 

Practice: Lay every card in your deck out like this (pardon my bad MSPaint job). Major Arcana up top and Court Cards off to the right and all the numbers lined up with the Fool and World left hanging. Pick one of the cards that resonated with you in the first exercise and look at how it relates to all the other cards in the deck. If it’s the 8 of Pentacles, what do the other 8′s look like and speak to? What do 8 (Strength) and 18 (the Moon) in the Major Arcana connect to it (if at all)? How does it relate to the rest of the story of the Pentacles?  Hope this helps! If you have any questions, feel free to ask! 

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A woman is drying incense sticks, a process in making incense. Vietnamese believe that incense is a tool to connect the living with the spirits. When people burn incense, they can talk to spirits and pray.

© Khanh Phan-Thi

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What is an Altar?

Altars are a hub of your magickal energy. A lot of witches perform spells there, seeing it as a source of valuable energy. It is also a place of worship if you have patron deities. For worshippers, this is where you would communicate and give offerings to said deities. This is also a wonderful space to charge and store your magickal tools. Altars are not a witchcraft-specific object, either- most christian churches have Altars dedicated to Jesus Christ as well!

What can be considered an Altar?

Anything that you use for any of the above can be considered an Altar. I use a bookcase as an altar but it can be anything from a table to an entire room to something as small as a suitcase or even an altoid can- something used commonly among closeted witches as it is not easily found or recognized by loved ones who might be so pleased with the concept of Witchcraft.

How do I decorate my Altar?

You can decorate it in any way you like! An altar, like the Craft in itself, is an extremely personal concept. However, here are various common ways I have seen some being decorated:

To honor their ancestors

To celebrate the seasons

To celebrate holidays such as Ostara or Yule

To honor their deities

Minimalist, having only their supplies and tools with it

Here are some ideas for each one one of these examples on the above list:

To Honor Your Ancestors 

Give Offerings of their favorite foods 

Decorate it in their favorite colors

 Have pictures of them on it 

Leave letters addressed to them on the Altar, sending your love and appreciation to them wherever they may be in the afterlife.

To Celebrate the Seasons 

Spring- decorate in bright colors such as yellow and pinks; regularly have flowers (real or fake) on or near it; dedicate your Altar to your patron fertility/life/nature deity 

Summer- decorate in bold colors such as reds and greens; leave plants such as cacti or produce plants like tomato plants on or near it; leave offerings of fresh (preferably local and in-season) plants on it; dedicate your Altar to your patron god of passion/sun/hard-work 

Fall- decorate in muted and comforting colors such as browns and oranges; leave offerings of wheat/cinnamon/squash; leave a small letter addressed to your late loved ones in this time of thinned veil; dedicated your Altar to your patron god of harvest. 

Winter- decorate in colors such as whites or blues or even black; leave sprigs of evergreen tree needles or cones near or on it; dedicate it to your patron god of death or life cycles

To Celebrate the Holidays 

Samhain- In this time of the thinnest veil, you would want to decorate your altar in a way similar to the way you would in honor of your ancestors. See above for ideas regarding that. 

Yule- Leave an (artificial) burning yule log on it, have sun imagery to celebrate the return of the sun 

Imbolc- Leave a burning candle (or an artificial candle on) on your altar all day; decorate with a bundle of wheat, a pomegranate, or other symbolism of fertility 

Ostara- Decorate with jasper or incense for jasmine or any other floral scent; leave offerings of food; if possible, move it in front of the sun

Beltane- Decorate with phallic decorations; leave items on it that bring great joy to your life, leave a candle of an earthy smell burning 

Litha- Decorate with imagery of the moon to welcome the growing darkness; leave it in dark colors for the same reason; similar to Imbolc, display symbols of fertility 

Lammas- Decorate in Fall-themed colors; Leave an offering of (preferably home-made) bread 

Mabon- Decorate your Altar in items and symbols of things that you are grateful for; leave a letter of thanks to your deity; cover in colors of transition such as orange-red, grays, blue-green, etc.

To Honor your Deities 

Cover your altar in their patron colors

 Display symbolism of their domain (for ex. A bowl of salt-water if they are over the Sea)

If their worship permits, display a portrait or artistic rendition of them! Feel free to do this yourself, no matter how you gauge your artistic abilities. I’ve even seen people represent gods with dressed-up dolls or barbies 

Light an incense in a smell that reminds you of them

The Minimalist Approach 

Typically these kinds of altars hold simply the tools of the trade and representations of the elements (none of this is mandatory ever and you should follow your gut with what is necessary for you): 

Incense to represent air 

Candles or light to represent fire 

A bowl of water to represent… well… water 

A bowl of salt to represent Earth 

Athame 

Candles 

Crystals

Wand

Hey Guys! I made some more printable reference sheets for y’all! You can download them along with my other reference sheets and printables here. Feel free to request printables and reference sheets as I am always looking for ideas to create more!! Also! Feel free to share Altar tips and decorating ideas on this post ^_^

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No wonder o instantly vibed with this 😍😍

Black witch aesthetic: Leo witch (I do not claim ownership of any of the above photos.)

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“What is important is that, unlike organized religion, the Mysteries teach that Light does not reveal; it conceals by its very brilliance.”

-The QABALISTIC TAROT by Robert Wang