2024-grimoire-challenge - Tumblr blog

[2024-grimoire-challenge]

April Week 4 - More Star Stuff

There's so much going on in space. And we've really only scratched the surface. So let's dig deeper into the cosmic witchy woo. Here's a few topics for this week!

Monday

New Page/ Research - Moon Phases - You can make one page for each phase, or one page to encompass them all. Do the moon phases influence your craft? Do they influence you? What do they represent to you, in your craft? What do they represent in others' crafts? What energies do the different phases control, or influence or change? Why are the phases called what they are? Historically, what have the moon phases represented? How can you connect to the moon in all of its phases? Find out as much as you can!

New Page/ Research - Herbal research - pick another herb from your list and research everything about it! Mundane, medicinal, culinary and magical uses and associations!

Tuesday

New Page/ Research -Solar Flares - What are solar flares, scientifically speaking? What do they effect? What magical energies and associations do they have? How do they or can they influence your magical practice?

New Page/ Research - Gemstone research - Pick another gemstone! Research all about it! If not a gemstone, then a tarot card, or rune, or other type of magic!

Wednesday

New Page/ Research - Auroras - What are auroras? How do they form? Why and where do they form? What circumstances cause them? How can they and do they influence your practice? What associations and myths/ legends are there surrounding them?

Practical - Moon Meditation - Take a little time to think about the moon in its current phase. What do you feel? What do you think? What does it mean to you? How do you connect to it? Sit beneath it and look at it, study it. Then journal about it!

Thursday

Catch up Day - Take time today to catch up on the many many heavy prompts we've had this month! There's so much info on the topic of cosmic/ space witchcraft and the way all these planets and things influence and effect our crafts.

Friday

New Page/ Research - This is an independant research. Think about all the prompts we've had for all the celestial bodies/ events/ objects and so on. Are there any you know of that we haven't been prompted to research? If so, look it up using the same lens we have for all the others. What is it physically? How does it form? What does it represent? Are there any magical associations? Any myths, legends or stories about it?

Gosh that's another big load of prompts! But we've made it! There's one more week of prompts in this month and it'll be another loaded week, so rest up, and prepare!

Good Luck and Happy Casting Witches!

-Mod Hazel

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April Week 3 - Other Celestial Stuff

This week we continue our study of the cosmic side of witchcraft by studying more about the planets, the zodiac signs, other celestial bodies and their movements/ placements. It’s a lot, so let’s dig in!!

Monday - Asteroid, Comets, meteors oh my!

Research/ New page(s) - look up the physical aspects of asteroids, comets and meteors. How are they similar? How are they different? What kinds of things do you associate with them? How can you utilize these energies and ideas and celestial bodies in your craft? What kind of energies do they have? Learn as much about them as possible and think hard on how they influence your craft, if they do at all!

Research/ New Page - pick another herb and get at it! Learn everything you can about it! Magic, mundane, myth, history, how to grow and so on!

Tuesday - Black holes, supernovas, star types

Research/ New Pages - make a new page for each of these and research. What are the physical aspects of black holes and supernovas? Make a list of the different star types and what their aspects are. What makes them different? How can these be utilized in your craft, if at all. How can the simple idea of them, or using them as a metaphorical influence for your magic work? Are there any myths of legends related to these?

Research/ new page - pick a gemstone or tarot card or type of magic or whatever else you’d like to research and make a page for it! Learn everything you can about it!

Wednesday - Damned Retrograde?

Research/ new page - what does it mean when a planet is in retrograde? Is there an opposite to being in retrograde? Other movements or positions? Learn as much about this topic as you can and fill out a page for it!

Thursday - Astrological Aspects

Research/ New Page - Look into the aspects of the various astrological signs. Conjunction, Sextile, Square, Trine and Opposition. The aspects are the way your energies will play out within the signs, and the connections between two or more planets. Add the information you find out about these to each planet’s page. The more you understand about these, the more some of the world around you might make sense during the time of those signs.

Friday - Rest, catch up

Yep you heard it! It’s a rest day or a catch up day! Utilize this day however you see fit!

Good luck and happy crafting witches!!

-Mod Hazel

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Bonus Prompt: Eclipse Magic

Hello hello! I know today was also a regular prompt day and I truly meant to post this prompt last week, but did not get the chance!

So this week’s bonus prompt will go along with today’s natural event, the eclipse!

Look up all the information you can about the solar eclipse, and solar eclipses in general. Then look up lunar eclipses. When are they? What are they? How do they tend to affect people and places and nature? What kinds of celebrations, magic and rituals have been performed historically during eclipses? Then look up magic you can do or rituals you can perform during both kinds of eclipses!

Make new pages or just one, and find out as much info as you can! And if you find something fun you can do during the eclipse, do it!

-Mod Hazel

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April Week 2 - Planetary Magic

This week will be another week with a lot of research and a lot prompts! It will be a long haul as we continue to tear through the cosmic witchcraft part of the challenge!

For each of these planetary prompts we will be looking up scientific information about the planets, physical properties, relative distances from earth, how many moons, and general makeup of the planets, as well as myths and legends about the planets.

Monday - Mercury, Venus

Research/ New Pages - Make a new page for each planet. Start by looking up the scientific information about each planet. What is the planet's physical and chemical makeup, physical properties, colors, orbit and rotation times, how many moons they have, their size and distance from earth and the sun. Then look at each planet in a metaphysical sense, are they related to any myths or deities? What magic if any is related to this planet? What does this planet represent in your practice and beliefs? What are the positive and negative aspects of this planet? What does this planet represent in the natal chart?

Research/ New Page - Herbal research - Pick another herb off of your list and make a new page looking at all of its aspects. Magical, mundane and medicinal.

Tuesday - Earth, Mars

Research/ New Pages - Make a new page for each planet. Start by looking up the scientific information about each planet. What is the planet's physical and chemical makeup, physical properties, colors, orbit and rotation times, how many moons they have, their size and distance from earth and the sun. Then look at each planet in a metaphysical sense, are they related to any myths or deities? What magic if any is related to this planet? What does this planet represent in your practice and beliefs? What are the positive and negative aspects of this planet? What does this planet represent in the natal chart?

Research/ New Page - Gemstone/ other research - Whatever else it is you've chosen to study for this prompt, do it! Research a gemstone and all of its properties, magical, medicinal and mundane, or a type of magic or tarot card or rune, whatever it is! Research everything you can about it!

Wednesday - Jupiter, Saturn

Research/ New Pages - Make a new page for each planet. Start by looking up the scientific information about each planet. What is the planet's physical and chemical makeup, physical properties, colors, orbit and rotation times, how many moons they have, their size and distance from earth and the sun. Then look at each planet in a metaphysical sense, are they related to any myths or deities? What magic if any is related to this planet? What does this planet represent in your practice and beliefs? What are the positive and negative aspects of this planet? What does this planet represent in the natal chart?

Practical/ New Page - If you haven't done so already, look up and record your natal chart and all of your planetary placements and what they mean in your life, and if you agree with them or not! It can be a fun exercise in introspection to look up and look into your natal chart!

Thursday -Uranus, Neptune, Pluto

Research/ New Pages - Make a new page for each planet. Start by looking up the scientific information about each planet. What is the planet's physical and chemical makeup, physical properties, colors, orbit and rotation times, how many moons they have, their size and distance from earth and the sun. Then look at each planet in a metaphysical sense, are they related to any myths or deities? What magic if any is related to this planet? What does this planet represent in your practice and beliefs? What are the positive and negative aspects of this planet? What does this planet represent in the natal chart?

Friday - Wrap Up

Practical- there are a plethora of apps and websites to help you locate the planets in the night sky. Find one and spend a little time outside locating and thinking about each planet and what it means to you.

That was an awful lot this week, I know but we made it!

I hope you're all continuing to enjoy the challenge and looking forward to more prompts and more learning about ourselves and our practices!

-Mod Hazel

[2024-grimoire-challenge]

April Week 1 - Astrology

Not every one of us is into astrology or even follows it at all. Not every witch follows the cycles of the moon and sun and stars. But some do. And you may even without realizing it. This entire month is going to be focused on cosmic witchcraft, or our crafts as they relate to astrological movements and the greater cosmos as well. Let’s dive in!

Monday -earth signs

Let’s make a page specifically for the earth signs, or if you’re feeling froggy, a page for each individual earth sign (as can be done with all the other signs as well.

Research - Virgo - what are the associations for this sign? What is this sign’s symbol? Its timeframe? What does it depict? What do you associate with it?

Research - Capricorn - what are the associations for this sign? What is this sign’s symbol? Its timeframe? What does it depict? What do you associate with it?

Research - Taurus what are the associations for this sign? What is this sign’s symbol? Its timeframe? What does it depict? What do you associate with it?

Journal/ introspection - how do you relate to these signs? Where do they fall in your natal chart? What does that mean, if anything, to you? Do you feel these are accurate descriptions?

Tuesday - fire signs

Research - Aries - what are the associations for this sign? What is this sign’s symbol? Its timeframe? What does it depict? What do you associate with it?

Research - Leo - what are the associations for this sign? What is this sign’s symbol? Its timeframe? What does it depict? What do you associate with it?

Research - Sagittarius - what are the associations for this sign? What is this sign’s symbol? Its timeframe? What does it depict? What do you associate with it?

Journal/ introspection - how do you relate to these signs? Where do they fall in your natal chart? What does that mean, if anything, to you? Do you feel these are accurate descriptions?

Wedneaday - air signs

Research - Aquarius - what are the associations for this sign? What is this sign’s symbol? Its timeframe? What does it depict? What do you associate with it?

Research - Gemini - what are the associations for this sign? What is this sign’s symbol? Its timeframe? What does it depict? What do you associate with it?

Research - Libra -what are the associations for this sign? What is this sign’s symbol? Its timeframe? What does it depict? What do you associate with it?

Journal/ introspection - how do you relate to these signs? Where do they fall in your natal chart? What does that mean, if anything, to you? Do you feel these are accurate descriptions?

Thursday - water signs

Research - Cancer - what are the associations for this sign? What is this sign’s symbol? Its timeframe? What does it depict? What do you associate with it?

Research - Pisces - what are the associations for this sign? What is this sign’s symbol? Its timeframe? What does it depict? What do you associate with it?

Research - Scorpio - what are the associations for this sign? What is this sign’s symbol? Its timeframe? What does it depict? What do you associate with it?

Journal/ introspection - how do you relate to these signs? Where do they fall in your natal chart? What does that mean, if anything, to you? Do you feel these are accurate descriptions?

Friday

Research/ new page - pick and her from your list and research everything about it! Magical mundane and practical uses. Where it’s from and how it grows. What is it used for outside of magic. Does it have any myths or legends surrounding it. Everything.

Research - pick a gemstone, type of magic, tarot card or whatever else you want to research and make a new page for it.

Practical- go outside and admire the moon and the stars! Sit in the sun and appreciate its warmth. Connect to it. Feel it. What does it make you think if and feel?

Okay that’s a hefty start to the month but we will make our way through! Keep up the great work everyone!

-mod Hazel

[2024-grimoire-challenge]

General Advice for Beginner Witches

A brief masterpost of some of my advice posts for beginner witches and the episodes of my podcast dealing with the same. (There is UPG here, particularly where marked, as I base a good deal of my advice on my own experience and observations of other witches.)

Hex Positive Podcast Episodes

Hex Positive, Ep. 04 - Advice for Beginner Witches (July 2020)

Hex Positive, Eps. 6-7 - Come In For A Spell 1 & 2 (Sept 2020)

Hex Positive, Ep. 12 - Witching From The Broom Closet (Jan 2021)

Hex Positive, Ep. 24 - Warding A Witchy Home (Dec 2021)

Hex Positive, Ep. 27 - When Inspo Takes A Holiday (March 2022)

General Tips & Advice

I Feel Like I Might Be A Witch...But I Don't Know

I Have Mental Health Issues - Can I Still Be A Witch?

Can I Still Be A Witch And Use Magic If I Take Medication?

How Do I Teach Myself To Believe In Magic?

How Does Magic Work? (upg ahoy)

Will I Be Possessed Or Haunted If I Try Witchcraft?

What Are Some Things I Can Do To Get Started?

How Can I Start My Practice If I Don't Have Tools Or Books?

How Do I Organize My Study Materials?

How Do I Contact A Deity?

How Do I Worship My Deity If I Can't Have An Altar?

Tips On Working With Deities And Spirits (here be upg)

My Intuitive Spark Feels Low - How Do I Get It Back?

I'm In A Slump - How Do I Get Out Of It?

I've Reached A Stopping Point - What Do I Do Next?

My Candle Is Flickering - Does It Mean Something Bad?

How Do I Make A Magic Circle For Spellcasting?

What Happens If I Get Interrupted While Casting A Spell?

Do I Need To Maintain Positive Vibes For My Spells To Work?

What Should I Do If I REALLY Want To Hex Someone?

How Do I Know / What Do I Do If I've Been Hexed?

How Do I Become More Skilled And More Powerful?

How Do I Know When I'm Ready For The Next Step In My Practice?

Additional Tips For Developing Your Practice

Witchcraft Exercise - Quantifying Your Craft

Witchcraft Exercise - Dig Through The Ditches

Witchcraft Exercise - The Book of Lessons

Witchcraft Exercise - Home Brews

Tips on How to Visualize and Construct Basic Wards

Practicing Your Warding Technique

Cleansing Before Warding / Warding A Shared Space

Refreshing / Patching Existing Wards

Non-Appropriative Herbs for Smoke-Cleansing

Smokeless Cleansing / Other Methods

Recommended Reading & Book Suggestions

[2024-grimoire-challenge]

Oh my gosh! That is some amazing work! Thank you so much for sharing!!

@2024-grimoire-challenge

I was quite bored with the day so Did an systematic memory of the pieces. Most of it is far from finished, but it’s an systematic memory of a few pieces of the laziric and a few other things that are there for a pastirical reference to many of the other pieces and daeseric system. The only part of which is sertoric and saeteric and mostly full of old books and other means of reading among the various terinical pieces of the daeric and serpentine system and the whole of the saerin and saelic system in which the whole system is composed of a whole lot of symbols and ancient words among the few other elements of the entire structure. Most of them are very hard to make out in a simple words or a few pages. There’s a complete set of terorical structures which are very much a daerin and then there’s a paeric structure and Daevic and Faeric pieces that in which it provides a generic of a language that is very much of the origin of Dain and Erorlic and a few older ones of a very specific set of words and then a Elic and Divic and Sarlic among others that are similar to those of the Old Ways and Ferinical and among other Waeric languages among others is a Weseric and a smaller set of choice paenic words and waenic ways of which are more common in the context of the Waezeric and other ancient oric and other forms of languages in which are difficult to write and often a few webisaric and complex languages that which are Waenarizer and Vampire among others include the Zaneic languages which have a similar style and the following three types. The Witch, the Taeric, and a smaller group of people in which are known as a Faezic. Among them is the Saerlivinical and the Holy Ghost and a few other things of which is the Naerivical and the Holy Salonica and the other old gods of which are the Zaeri and the Holy Xaevic. The latter group of which is the Holy Daemon and the Holy merzeric, which are the Kaeric gods and the Holy Zenith. The other three groups of which are The jesterinical gods and the other three gods are the kerinic gods among which they have a smaller group of Dragons and the Holy Caerinic and the Holy Gaestin. The two are all of the other three and the rest are the Savic and the laenic, the triorical.

[2024-grimoire-challenge]

March Week 4 - Deeper Ancestry

We touched the surface of ancestry a couple times. But now it’s time to really dig. It goes beyond just the family you know of already, grandparents and great grandparents. It goes back further and further, to the very point you can no longer trace your origins. If you don't know your ancestry, the easiest way is to ask. Ask your parents, your grandparents and your great grandparents about where your family is from. Beyond that, you could always do a geneology test. Ancestry.com or something similar, to get a generalized idea of where your bloodline stems from.

Here are some basic steps to genealogical research.

Start with yourself

Look for names, dates, places and relationships - this comes from asking family members about their lives before you were around.

Begin at home - does your family keep personal records of any kind? Journals or diaries passed down? Heirlooms of any kind? My aunt sent me some books a few years ago with historical records of my family in Texas. It contained some journal and diary entires, pictures, and a few personal effects.

Use relatives as sources - ask. My grandmother and I spent one summer doing nothing but family research and literally making a family tree.

County, State, and Federal records (births, marriages, deaths) - These are literal records you can look into to discover more about your family For example, when researching with my grandmother, we discovered that our last name used to be different, and there was a misunderstanding of the spelling when our ancestors arrived in America, and so the first letter changed when they arrived.

Libraries and other archives - Once you're aware of some of the dates and names in your lineage, look up their records of events that correspond and coincide with those names and dates.

Monday - Explore your Culture/ Cultural Practices

Research/ New Page - If you feel so inclined, make a page for your cultural practices, and how they influence and are a part of your witchcraft practice. If not, just do some research. It can be good to know these kinds of things to understand oneself.

Practical -If there are nay practices that your culture has, that you have never taken part of, or that you take part of regularly, do it! Anything from foraging, to writing, to cooking, to singing... whatever it is, do it!

Tuesday - Connecting/ Disconnecting

Research - How does one connect or disconnect, depending on the individual ancestor and situation, from one ancestor or group of ancestors? Why do we connect with them? When do we connect with them? Same goes for disconnecting. Not all of our ancestors, or their actions, are worthy of holding in high regard, or acknowledging at all.

Journal/ Introspection - Looking into one's family history can be... heavy. Discovering things about the people we already know, and those that we don't know, is not always a pleasant experience. Holding people in a certain light because of how we feel about them can change dramatically when we discover truths we didn't already know. Journal about your feelings on the things you've discovered about your culture and ancestors. Be honest about how you feel about them, their lives, and their actions.

Wednesday - Honoring/ Disavowing/ Ignoring

Research - What are some ways to honor your ancestors, those worth honoring? How do you disavow, or separate yourself from those ancestors not worthy of connection or veneration? How does one ignore culture and ancestry when the need arises?

Research - Herbal Study - Pick another herb from your list and go to town learning all you can about, magical, mundane and practical uses, associations, and so on!

Thursday - Family Tree/ History

Practical/ Lab Notebook -make a page or get your lab notebook out and make yourself a little family tree or log of the family history you’ve learned. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy, thought it certainly can. It can be as simple as names connected by lines. Or it can be a more literal family tree, with branches and leaves. Either way, make it!

Research - Gemstone/ magic/ tarot/ other - make a new page dedicated to whatever topic you’ve chosen to research here. Be it a gemstone and where it comes from, how it is formed and its uses or a specific tarot suit or card.

Friday - Ancestral Work

New Page/ Definition - What is ancestral work? Look up what it is, how it is done, how you already do it, how you can do it in the future, when, where and why to do. Do you already work with ancestors, knowingly or unknowingly?

Here are some links from a quick search to help you.

Intro to Ancestral Work

Ancestral Work

Ancestor Worship

Ancestor Work

Well this was a heavy and full week! Take time at the end of it to rest!

Good luck and happy casting witches!

-Mod Hazel

[2024-grimoire-challenge]

Spring Equinox / Ostara

Let me preface by saying, even if you don't follow the wheel of the year, utilize the prompt here for whatever holiday you do celebrate, if you do! If you only recognize the equinoxes and solstices as days, use this prompt outline for those!

Next is Ostara, Circa March 20. Different cultures and spiritualities and different witches will celebrate or not celebrate this day. For those of us Pagans who do, here’s a bunch of posts. (None of these are mine, these are simply pages I’ve gathered from Tumblr at large to share here.All credit goes to the individuals who made the posts!)

Ostara Posts on Tumblr

Ostara Sounds/ Music

Ways to Celebrate

About Ostara/ Spring Equinox

Ostara

Spring Equinox/ Ostara

Celebrate

Outside Tumblr Sources

Wikipedia - Ostara & Spring Equinox

Celtic Connection

ThoguhtCo

History

Wild Hunt

These are just from a quick search. Take time to read, not only current writings and musings on the holiday and time of year, but look at historical texts and documentation of the holiday. That is where the truth of the season is.

The Prompt!

Okay! Make a new page, solely for Ostara/ Spring Equinox! 

Write out a description of the holiday. What is it? When is it? How is it traditionally celebrated? Why were things celebrated the way they were? What are the things that this holiday represents and stands for? This is the meat and potatoes of the holiday. Any and all bits of info aside from this are just the seasoning. Mine is a few small paragraphs about the holiday itself. 

Now make some lists. What are the colors used to decorate for this holiday? What are some incense/ oils/ candle scents that are commonly associated with this day? Gemstones? Herbs? Is there a moon phase or particular god/goddess associated with this holiday? What about animals? Flowers? Were there any traditional offerings left out on this holiday? And what foods were made on this day?

What are some of the activities you can do to celebrate this holiday? And what about magic and rituals. Are there any specific kinds of magic to perform on or around this day? Are there any poems or blessings associated with this holiday?

That’s a lot of info, I know. But now for the second part of the holiday prompt!

Make it your own!

Now, given all the information you’ve gathered, make your own small ritual to be performed on Ostara/ the Spring Equinox. To do this, I suggest a scrap paper to brainstorm on. Here’s some things to keep in mind and help write out your ritual. 

What is the theme/ purpose of the ritual? (Healing ritual? Cleansing? Renewal of intentions? Welcoming the light?)

What are the tools you’ll use and what is the purpose/ association it has? (candles, athame/ sacred blade, incense, gemstones etc)

What power(s) are you calling upon for the ritual and why? (elements, deities, sun/ moon, personal power, etc)

How do you set it up? Is there specific placement of the tools? Direction to face when calling the above powers? Do you cast a circle? Or do you simply light a candle and bow your head in a moment of silent prayer/ meditation?

Good Luck and Happy Crafting!

-Mod Hazel

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Accidentally queued this for my main blog!

Bonus Prompt - Other Perspectives

For this week's bonus prompt we're going to take a look at our own perspective on things and the perspectives of others.

Think and look back on you pages, about how magic works in your perspective, about how different things work. Then look at other people's ideas, thoughts, and beliefs on the same subjects.

No two witches practice exactly the same, or have the same beliefs. And one way to grow in our own beliefs, is to challenge them. To discuss with others who don't believe the same things those differences. It helps to broaden our perspectives, our minds, and if done correctly, our hearts.

So take a look at different perspectives and beliefs on magic and witchcraft. Compare it to your own. And if you know someone who believes differently than you, perhaps take the time to discuss those differences. You could both learn something.

[2024-grimoire-challenge]

A cool idea to use in our grimoires!

[2024-grimoire-challenge]

March Week 3 - Traditions, Associations, Tools and Symbols

This week we will have several new pages. One for a personal look at your practice given the above prompts, one for a family/ ancestral look at the prompts, and one for your community, no matter how big that community is. Whether that is just you and your immediate friends, or something wider like a coven or group you regularly talk to your about your practice.

This will be another week with a lot of stuff in the prompts!

Monday - Traditions

First lets define tradition.

noun: tradition

the transmission of customs or beliefs from generation to generation, or the fact of being passed on in this way.

a long-established custom or belief that has been passed on from one generation to another.

an artistic or literary method or style established by an artist, writer, or movement, and subsequently followed by others.

a doctrine believed to have divine authority though not in the scriptures.

Personal page - Take a look inward at yourself and your traditions, inside and outside of your witchcraft practice. What things do you do regularly, to keep your life and your habits on track? Your practice? How do you celebrate things both large and small? What are the traditions you hold personally in your life?

Family/ Ancestor page - Ask your family about these, beyond the ones you know. What are some of your family traditions? How does your family celebrate certain things, large and small? What meals are traditional to your family? Are there any prayers or actions of any kind that are passed down? Look deep and ask about your family further back than just the ones you've met.

Community page - Look at your community at large. Friend groups, a coven or other people who practice like you or with you, and the community you live in. What are some traditions that are held and passed down through generations within that larger community? Everything from celebrations to regularly held events and so on! How does it all relate to your practice or how has it become a part of it?

Tuesday -Associations/ Symbols

Personal page - What are some things you personally associate with yourself and your craft? Everything from foods, to plants, gems, animals, everything you associate with any part of your identity.

Family/ Ancestor page - What are some things from the list above that you associate with your family and your ancestors?

Community page - Same goes for your community. What associations do you hold for your community? We all feel a certain kind of way, and think about certain things when we think about our hometowns or the area in which we live. An example, I live in Ohio, so not so jokingly, there's a lot of corn here, a lot of farmland. That's something I associate with my community.

Wednesday - Tools

Personal page - What are some of the tools you personally use in your craft? It can be anything at all. An example from my practice is a small tin i keep on my altar, decorated with paint and symbols that I use as a sort of money offering tin. I put money in it regularly when I practice at my altar and use it to buy new things for my altar. Another is a round cylindrical tin I use to hold the small pages I've written my devotional poetry on. Anything that is specific to you and your practice.

Family/ Ancestor page - Same kind of deal as above, but on a broader scale, focused on your family and ancestry. What are some of the tools your family uses (both in and out of the traditions you've learned about). An example is my grandmother's piano. We use it as a focal point for a great many things. We come together at it to sing songs that remind us of our family.

Community page - Again, like the above, but focused on your community. A local fountain, or park, or place, a thing people in your community use for some sort of reason. There is a local park with a fountain that holds an important place in our community.

Thursday - A Little Treat

So for today, we're gonna have a bit of an offshoot. We're gonna get in the kitchen and cook! You don't have to do this one, but there's been a lot of stuff for the prompts this week, so let's treat ourselves while adding to our grimoires! Find some recipes!

Personal page - What's a recipe that you came up with on your own, pertaining to or not pertaining to your practice? If there is a certain food you like to cook before/ after spells or rituals, record it on your personal page. Then, go cook it! And enjoy!

Family/ Ancestor page - Ask your family if you want, and discover the recipe for something that has been passed down in your family. I will forever swear by my grandmother's potato soup recipe. Record it on this page, then make it!

Community page - Is there a local favorite spot? Is there a restaurant or place locally that you could visit and eat at? Or is there some sort of cuisine that is made locally and not really anywhere else? Record it if its something you can cook, and make it! If it is a place to visit, go there! And enjoy!

Friday - Back to the norm

Let's finish off the week with our regular research prompts!

New Page/ Research - Herbal research- Pick another herb from your list and learn all you can about it! Record it on a new page!

New Page/ Research - Gemstone/ other - Pick another gemstone or type of magic or tool, make a page or add the info to an existing page!

Whew! That was a lot! Feel free to share your recipes or pictures of what you cook, either by submissions on this page or by tagging me either here or at @thehazeldruid and I'll share what you've made!

Good luck and happy crafting witches!!

-Mod Hazel

[2024-grimoire-challenge]

Witchcraft Exercises

Just a quick compilation of the posts I've made about exercises to help improve your craft. These can be used as journaling prompts, inspiration for activities, or as methods for pulling yourself out of a slump and recharging your witchy inspiration.

Witchcraft Exercise - Quantifying Your Craft

Witchcraft Exercise - Dig Through The Ditches

Witchcraft Exercise - The Book of Lessons

Witchcraft Exercise - Home Brews

Witchcraft Exercise - Witchy Inspo Journal

Witchcraft Exercise - Spring Cleaning

Witchcraft Exercise - Creating Correspondences

Witchcraft Exercise - Creating Your Own Runes

Witchcraft Exercise - Shakespearean Witchcraft

Witchcraft Exercise - Music To Witch By

Related Prompt - Music to Witch By

Most of these are also available in the May 2021 bonus episode of Hex Positive (check your favorite podcatcher).

Happy Witching!

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[2024-grimoire-challenge]

March Week 2 - Spell and Ritual Outline

So this week's prompts sort of all ride alongside one another and go toward one common theme. How to outline and create spells and rituals. It will all focus on the who, what, when, where and how, more or less, which is a pretty good model for anything.

Monday- Basic Outline

New Page/ Lab Notebook - So for this whole ordeal this week, we're going to work mostly in our lab notebook and do some internal thinking, and research. It will be mostly one page each for spell making and ritual making for the entire week, or pages depending on how detailed you want to go. So to start out, make one page for each or add them to the pages you used to define what a spell and a ritual are.

So what are the who, what, when, where, and why of spells and rituals, to you? Make a list of these on a sheet of paper and fill them in with what you feel these things are. You can even do these on the pages you've already made. We'll expand on them as the week goes on.

Research/ new page - herbal research. Pick another herb from you list and go to town on the research! Magical and mundane uses, associations and so on!

Tuesday - purpose, method, ingredients

Research - this is about the “who” “what” and “why” what purposes can you perform a spell or ritual for? Who is the spell for? Who are you performing it on? It can be practically anything or anyone. What are you doing the spell for, what do you want it to accomplish? Looking for love? Need confidence? Want to manifest something? Want to bring more money into your life? Solidify a friendship? Protect yourself or someone else? This is followed directly by why. Why are you looking for love? Why are you protecting yourself or someone else? What you are doing and why you are doing it are intimately connected. Sometimes it can take a great deal of introspection to figure out how these are connected, other times, it is obvious.

Methodology -this is the “how” in the spell. What methods are there to casting spells and performing rituals? Look back at your types of magic pages and think hard on the ways you can cast spells for those different types of magic. Is there a certain way to prepare for spells and rituals? What steps do you take to prepare for the spell and what steps do you take after the spell or ritual? What steps are a part of the ritual? How do you actually perform the spell? Method of spellwork has everything to do with the “how” in the spell, where the purpose beforehand is the “why”.

Ingredients/ tools - this is the “what” within the spell. What ingredients if any does it require? What tools does it require? What kinds of things are a part of the spell? Incense, statues, gems and so on. What do you need to bring to the spell or ritual for it to be what it is?

Wednesday - location, direction, timing

Location and timing - this is the “where”and “when” within the spell or ritual. Is there a specific location you need to perform the spell or ritual? A specific direction you have to face? Do you have to wait for a certain day, week, month? A certain astrological sign or event, like a phase of the moon? Does the spell require you to face north or south? East or west? Or to go through all the directions? How does this information fit into your outline?

New page/ research - gemstone/ other- pick another gem or what have you from your list and research it! Everything from mundane to magical uses! How is it formed? Where is it from? So on and so forth.

Thursday - other parts of spells/ rituals

What other things are part of your spells or rituals? How do you make them yours? What personal touches and flares do you bring to your magic?

Friday - putting it to practice

Practical- if you’ve outlined the general idea of a spell and ritual, or even if you’ve made a specific one, let’s make one, and then do it! Perform the spell or ritual! And journal about it afterwards!

This has been a long and heavy week, but we made it!

Good Luck and Happy Crafting witches!

-Mod Hazel

[2024-grimoire-challenge]

Bonus Prompt - Seasonal Magic

Okay everyone, with the changing of the seasons and an eclipse on the way, let’s take a look at the different seasons and how they influence our practices. If you feel so inclined, make a page for each individual season, or if you can fit all you’re going to put on the page on a single page, just do one.

What does each individual season mean to you on a personal level? What does each one represent?

Do the seasons influence the kind of magic you can/ do perform?

Do you have certain rituals that only happen in each season?

What associations does each season have? Animals, tools, plants, feelings, everything!

What months/ days encompass these seasons?

How do the transitional periods between the seasons influence you and your practice? When are the transitional periods? What marks the transitions between them?

What kinds of activities do you do, both magical and mundane, that pertain to each season and how do these influence your perception of each season?

Are there myths, legends or deities that you associate with each season?

Any information you can find about the seasons, anything you feel or know about the seasons, add it to your grimoire, your repository of knowledge!

Good luck and happy crafting!

-Mod Hazel

[2024-grimoire-challenge]

March Week 1 - Symbolism and Traditions

Okay, now that we've got all the generalized types of magic out of the way, let's take a look at some other topics that will help us fill in the gaps in things. We'll be looking at symbols, traditions both personal and ancestral, spell and ritual design and much more! Let's buckle up and get to it!

Monday - Alphabets and Runes

Research - Look up different alphabets that have been used in magical traditions. Anything from the Elder Futhark Rune language, to the Ogham Script, to any other form of writing that has been used in any tradition. Do you know another language? Have you ever made your own alphabet or cipher? There are some grimoires that are written in an entire code that only the person who wrote it understood! If you feel like doing so, you can do the same! Look up an alphabet of any kind and write out a translation of those into the alphabet you know. For fun, write out at least one page in that other alphabet!

Research/ New Page - Runes - Is there a rune set you already know? Elder Futhark? Ogham? Another rune set? Have you ever made your own runes? Define rune. What is a rune? What makes something a rune? In both the magical and mundane sense, what are they? If you find a type of runes that you wish to learn, do so! Make a list of the runes themselves, then write out the meaning and symbology of each one!

Practical - Make a set of the runes you research or are already familiar with! Use what you have on hand! It could be as simple as strips of cardstock with the runes on them, notecards with the rune on one side and description on the other, or feel free to find a set online or in a store! You can even go outside and just find some stones and use a sharpie to write the runes on them!

Divination/ Journal - if you perform divinations, use your new runes to do so! And journal about the experience!

Tuesday - Languages

Research/ New Page - Is there a language that you don't speak or that no one really speaks, like Latin, and look into the basis of that language. Where does it come from? What is the language's base? Are there different dialects? Find an accurate translator and look up the words for some of your magical terminology. Make a list of those words to use in spells, incantations and prayers later on. Now, take it a step further. What is your ancestry? What languages has your family spoken in the past? Ask your parents, grandparents and other relatives if they still speak it at all. Get a little family history lesson. Having this connection to your lineage and ancestry can help you better understand a lot about yourself, your family, and traditions you may not realize you are practicing or performing regularly!

New Page - along with the list of words and languages, keep a page with the basic info you discover about your ancestry and family history! It could come in handy for a multitude of things, both pertaining to this challenge and life in general! This page could include traditions, recipes, where you come from, splits in the family, and general family history.

New Page - Pick another herb from your list and research it! Magical, mundane, medicinal, associations, myths and legends, how to grow and propagate it, where it comes from and its history!

Wednesday - Other Symbols

Research - What are some other common symbols that are commonplace within witchcraft circles? What are they, what do they represent? What are they used for? Do you use any of them without meaning to? What is their history? Where do they come from? Think about things commonly associated with withcraft. Cauldrons, brooms, pointy hats, black cats... why are these things associated with witchcraft? Don't just go with the first thing you find when you look this up, dig deep, do research. Are there multiple sources that confirm these things?

Personal/ Introspection - What things do you associate with witchcraft and why? It can be anything from tools you're using, to symbols, to specific herbs and gems or grander things/ ideas like the moon or certain practices.

Research/ New Page - Pick another gemstone or other item you want to research the witchy/ magical uses of and get at it!

Thursday - Traditions

Research/ New Page - Think about the conversations and research you did into your family lineage and language. Carry on with that research and look into the traditions your family has. Everything from when they gather together for things and why, to the recipes they make, to the way they pray or worship, to how they do things in general. Are there any beliefs your family has that have been passed down to you about things like luck? Or love? What wisdom has been passed down to you by your family?

Journal/ Introspection - Do you have any traditions that you practice on your own? Think about the things you celebrate and why, as well as when you celebrate them. Are there certain ways you do things? Everything from cooking to cleaning, to more spiritual practices! Feel free to make a page dedicated to your personal traditions. Recording them can help you to change and grow them over time, or even just to pass them along to your own family!

Friday - Catch Up Day

Today is a catch up day. We've had a lot of information and research prompts thrown at us the last three months, so take today to look back at any of the prompts you have missed or one you want to continue working on!

Alright! There's March week 1 everyone! Good luck and happy crafting witches!

-Mod Hazel