acornintheroad

[acornintheroad]

I feel like this depends on how you approach the condiments in question. Mustard and Hot Sauce both tend to have a degree of pungency that could definitely be used in a protective spell, something to keep stuff away. But Mayonnaise does a nifty thing in baking where you can replace the eggs and oil with it and still get the lift and structure, likewise, if you apply it to the outsides of the bread for a grilled cheese or an egg sandwich it helps the bread crisp up and provides structure and a seal against moisture. So it feels like it would allow for magic to allow you protection through weathering whatever the bad thing is.

[acornintheroad]

Brief notes on permanency in Witchcraft and the treatment mindset

A broad opinion my friends, take or leave it as you prefer:

Most witches, especially beginners, should not expect to be able to cast a single spell on anything and have the effects be permanent, forever.

Many witches, and beginner witches, work with perfectly good and fine magic, call power unto themselves, employ technique with skill, and achieve results. This is good!

Then, after a few weeks or months the effects will wear off, and that same person doing good work will just sort of say, ahhhh well. I tried, didn't I. That's too bad I can't really do magic that good, then.

Unless you are either remarkably talented at what you're doing, or unless you are neck-deep in techniques of permanency, most magic - especially stuff you find for free online - is best regarded as a treatment, not a cure.

Spell vessels run out of energy and must be recharged

Oils, incenses, and pertinent substances once applied lose potency and must be refreshed

One-shot spells, like a ringing bell, reverberate out into the world and then eventually fade away

The living world, both physical, magical, and beyond, continues to grow - and trees chopped down send up new saplings, old root balls start lapping up water, and termites wriggle their way into fresh wood piles

Therefore:

If something worked great for a while and now you need to do it again, then you should do it again.

If you worked hard at a spell and it got you some of the way there, but not all the way, you should rest up and do it again to get more of the way there.

If a frenzy of casting solved some of your problems, but not all of your problems, wait until you are rested and begin casting again.

If an old spell used to work, but upon recasting doesn't work, consider that the exact environment around you in your living world may have changed, and consider adjusting your spell before trying again.

[acornintheroad]

That just seems logical though. If you're doing witchcraft then you're building relationships with your tools, the materials you use, the spirits you work with, maybe even other magic workers.

If there's something wrong with or interfering in any of those relationships, it could cause your spell to fizzle out or just not work in the first place.

Not enough witchblr discourse. I will throw the first stone.

All witchcraft is relationship magic.

[acornintheroad]

Choose your spell ingredients intentionally

It's all well and good to Google "spiritual protective herbs" and pick a couple random ones off the list, but do you understand why that herb is protective? Does it align with your intention?

I've always liked to use baking as an analogy for spellwork:

Let's say you want to bake a cake - yummy! You'll need flour for the basic structure, sugar to sweeten, eggs to bind the ingredients, a fat for texture and a leavening agent to make it rise.

So you pop to the shops and you grab bread flour, icing sugar, eggs, shortening and yeast.

Technically, these are all correct: bread flour is a flour, icing sugar is a sugar, yeast is a leavening agent etc. And they all work great for other baked goods! Yeast is great at making bread rise and icing sugar is super sweet on top of a cupcake.

But if you mix all of these together, the final result probably isn't going to be what you wanted. Why? Well because you haven't understood why each ingredient is needed or how a cake works!!

When crafting a spell it's important to understand what your intention is and how the spell is going to work - it can also help to think about how certain ingredients might interact within the spell.

The best way to start doing this is to experiment. Have a go at crafting your own spells and working with different ingredients. What does their folklore say? What does their energy feel like? How do they interact with the other ingredients! Keep a journal or notebook full of your notes as you build up your knowledge!

[acornintheroad]

The Witch's Home: Practical Magic for Every Room Review

Trying to rebuild my path has meant trying to figure out how to make the most of the limited space I have available, so I turned to Pattie Wigington’s The Witch’s Home: Practical Magic for Every Room. The book promises to help readers find the magical potential of every room in their house as well as their garden and the garage, with ideas for using nonstandard items within your magic practice.

There is a ton to like with this book from Wigington’s comfortable conversational tone to the separate tables of contents for both chapters as a whole and the magic workings on their own. There are foot notes sourcing studies or other books she references in the text proper, or providing a quick translation in at least one case. There are ideas that I want to use immediately, like the journal ritual for when you do not have space or privacy for more physical rituals, and ideas I want to chew on, like the home grimoire.

The Witch’s Home also has some really good practical mundane advice to help support the magic advice. Things like making sure you do a patch check before using essential oils in a magical bath or making sure that the herbs you use in a tea blend will not cancel out a medication you are on, both of which often seem left out in other texts. I like the suggestion that you want to make sure to have your kitchen set up for the best flow and economy of movement, as well as the suggestions for how you might make the most of your kitchen’s storage space. It leaves the book feeling nicely grounded.

If I have any sort of issue with The Witch’s Home it comes largely from the sections on magical decorating that go with each included room, there is a definite sense of diminishing returns as the decorating tips wind up feeling fairly repetitive. This is, admittedly, pretty fair to have happen since general decorating advice based on a theme is going to tend to wind up repeating a lot of details, but it did bog the reading down more than a bit. There were also a handful of sections that felt like they either did not quite fit or like they wanted to be expanded upon, the board games and playing cards section especially felt like something that wanted expansion. That feels like something that could go a lot of really interesting places.

Ultimately, I find that I want to see more of Wigington’s work. The Witch’s Home is a solid book with a lot of ideas that I can use now and even more that I will be able to use once I have access to a little more space. I really liked the separate tables of contents for chapters and ritual work, that feels like such a simple thing but it winds up feeling really useful. The Witch’s House gets four acorns out of five from me, I have already started a journaling ritual journal and plan to try more as I get the chance.

As a last note, I want to thank Llewellyn for providing me a copy of The Witch’s Home: Practical Magic for Every Room for review here.

[acornintheroad]

The Witch's Home: Practical Magic for Every Room Review

Trying to rebuild my path has meant trying to figure out how to make the most of the limited space I have available, so I turned to Pattie Wigington’s The Witch’s Home: Practical Magic for Every Room. The book promises to help readers find the magical potential of every room in their house as well as their garden and the garage, with ideas for using nonstandard items within your magic practice.

There is a ton to like with this book from Wigington’s comfortable conversational tone to the separate tables of contents for both chapters as a whole and the magic workings on their own. There are foot notes sourcing studies or other books she references in the text proper, or providing a quick translation in at least one case. There are ideas that I want to use immediately, like the journal ritual for when you do not have space or privacy for more physical rituals, and ideas I want to chew on, like the home grimoire.

The Witch’s Home also has some really good practical mundane advice to help support the magic advice. Things like making sure you do a patch check before using essential oils in a magical bath or making sure that the herbs you use in a tea blend will not cancel out a medication you are on, both of which often seem left out in other texts. I like the suggestion that you want to make sure to have your kitchen set up for the best flow and economy of movement, as well as the suggestions for how you might make the most of your kitchen’s storage space. It leaves the book feeling nicely grounded.

If I have any sort of issue with The Witch’s Home it comes largely from the sections on magical decorating that go with each included room, there is a definite sense of diminishing returns as the decorating tips wind up feeling fairly repetitive. This is, admittedly, pretty fair to have happen since general decorating advice based on a theme is going to tend to wind up repeating a lot of details, but it did bog the reading down more than a bit. There were also a handful of sections that felt like they either did not quite fit or like they wanted to be expanded upon, the board games and playing cards section especially felt like something that wanted expansion. That feels like something that could go a lot of really interesting places.

Ultimately, I find that I want to see more of Wigington’s work. The Witch’s Home is a solid book with a lot of ideas that I can use now and even more that I will be able to use once I have access to a little more space. I really liked the separate tables of contents for chapters and ritual work, that feels like such a simple thing but it winds up feeling really useful. The Witch’s House gets four acorns out of five from me, I have already started a journaling ritual journal and plan to try more as I get the chance.

As a last note, I want to thank Llewellyn for providing me a copy of The Witch’s Home: Practical Magic for Every Room for review here.

[acornintheroad]

If things haven't changed significantly since I worked at a bookstore, there is a reason for this. Big box bookstores like Barnes and Noble and Books-A-Million don't fill out an order form for specific titles and buy them, they essentially rent a selection of titles from their warehouse and are sent books based on what the provider expects to sell. It's why a series that's getting a movie or tv show is likely to be fully represented, often with multiple copies, but a lesser known series may only have the most recent book available.

With books on witchcraft, and especially HooDoo, the things that are most expected to sell are going to be the things that have flashy colors or well known names.

If you have a local witchy shop, that's likely to be your best bet for finding something that is a bit of a deeper cut or of getting suggestions on what to look for.

A Disheartening Visit to the Bookstore.

I recently wandered into Barnes & Noble, hoping to pick up a few new books on witchcraft and Hoodoo to deepen my practice. But what I found was… disappointing, to say the least. The spirituality section felt like it had been curated by a TikTok algorithm rather than by anyone with genuine knowledge or reverence for the craft.

The shelves were filled with flashy covers, beginner books lacking depth, and trendy titles that seemed more focused on aesthetics than substance. It was a stark reminder of how much the commercialization of witchcraft has diluted its roots and richness.

Here’s to continuing the search for real, rooted resources maybe even creating more of them ourselves.

[acornintheroad]

I am tired y'all, body, mind, spirit, the whole shebang. Job is giving me a pittance of hours and jerking me around with those. I can barely hear myself think when I'm at the house, and when I can there's so much I need to get done that none of it gets done.

It's like I can feel myself trying to vibrate out of my bones.

I want to be doing more with the wand studies, but it feels like there's no time or space for it. I want to be digging into the books I found second hand not too long ago.

I'm going to find space for it where I can, but it may mean I'm working in fits and starts. I'm going to keep going though.

[acornintheroad]

Absolutely, yes

I kinda want to write up a post about what locals refer to as the "Salem Sickness" here in witch city. Where people move to Salem wanting to become big name witches, but become known for their awful behavior and lack of spiritual power rather than being known as a the witch they dream of being. I've seen 5 or 6 different witch store owners in and around Salem fall victim to this, among other big name authors who tried coming to Salem.

This city has a weird dislike of people coming from the outside to capitalize off the land's trauma. Would yall be interested in hearing my thoughts on this?

[acornintheroad]

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 - How to Write Your Own Spells

Witchcraft Exercise - Shakespearean Witchcraft

Witchcraft Exercise - Music To Witch By

Related Prompt - Music to Witch By

Witchcraft Exercise - Annual Review

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

Happy Witching!

(If you’re enjoying my content, please feel free to drop a little something in the tip jar, tune in to my monthly show Hex Positive on your favorite podcast app, or check out my published works on Amazon or in the Willow Wings Witch Shop. 😊)

[acornintheroad]

I've been reflecting on the way that my spell felt more distant when using a wand than when just using my hands. Trying to figure out how I could make use of that distance and what I would want to use it on.

My first thought was banishing and warding, using the distance with magic to send things away or keep them out. But I already tend to use a rod or staff for warding, so that just feels like a mild alternative rather than figuring anything out.

So the next thought was for spell work that wasn't for me or those close to me, like charging dolls that I've made to sell or give away but that don't have any specific future owner in mind, make it a way of setting the enchantment while also leaving it a few steps removed from me. Which feels like an avenue that could let me work a bit on setting the dolls up with a semi-controlled path should they start to become enspirited, sort of sorting what should and shouldn't be trying to take up residence, specifying traits it should have and keep. That definitely feels like something I want to pursue, especially because of the way it wraps up in a couple of other branches of magic use.

The problem I run into is that after that it just sort of trails off into if I wanted to use the distance, similarly to charging the dolls, on spell work for others which isn't something I'm really interested in doing just now. Or, alternatively, if I wanted to make use of the distance for baneful magic to try and keep the backwash of it away from me or to further push it at the target, which would be hard to test since I don't have a ton of go to baneful spells.

It's something I feel like I need to keep picking at bit by bit.

[acornintheroad]

On magic as being a chore, and why I think that's fine and probably a helpful way to frame it for a lot of people who want to do practical sorcery

On the topic of wards, have you ever had to dig a drainage ditch so water won't accumulate around your house?

Or, put one of those little gates in a doorway so a new puppy can only stay in one area? Or, have you ever put out ant bait?

Hung up a "no solicitors" sign? Built a fence so the chickens can stay over there, and out of the garden? Built a shade cloth over the garden?

Because when you're building a shade cloth over the garden, you're casting a ward against the sun, right. You're binding the puppy and the chickens so they are constrained to certain areas. You're crafting a spirit trap to redirect the water so it won't harm your foundations. Casting a hex most vile upon the ants.

Etc.

But I really do think that in some conversations, wards and protections get framed in a weird Bonnie and Clyde way, where they're assumed to be only for witches living in the Wild West, having witch wars and doing Risky Magic.

I do enjoy the sinister mysticism that can sometimes surround witchcraft. But sorcerous strategy is a big interest of mine, and I think that a very useful way to arrive at useful strategy is to de-mystify the whole operation.

It's just that we've got these weird labels, like hex, bind, banish, ward, protect, conjure; but when you get down to it, you can just be doing the most mundane stuff with your magic.

I can use a shade cloth to ward the garden against the sun. Then, I can string garlic on a red thread to ward against illness.

I can put up a fence to keep the chickens on that side of the back yard, then hang up a magical no solicitors sign because I'm tired of getting knocks at my door.

This is what gets my goat, sometimes, about people saying magic has to feel all wonderful and beautiful and everything. Yes, I love the experience of being productive with a hammer on an early spring morning, but building a fence is tedious. When it comes down to it, it's still just building a fence. Even if I build it with wax and bits of paper instead of wood and nails.

I feel like there is so much magical housekeeping people could be doing, or would greatly benefit from, that people just don't do because it's wrapped up in these sinister-adjacent terms.

I don't think magic is actually hex/bind/banish/ward/protect/conjure. I really do think magic is a lot more like hammer and nails. Needle and thread. Oven and dough. Etc.

Is it a fast cash spell, or are you just going out to search for the eggs your prosperity hens have already laid?

You can have it either way you like; you can frame going out to get physical eggs from mundane hens as a rapid-manifest prosperity spell. Behold, after I cast a spell of going outside for two minutes, I have manifested five eggs, better than any store could provide.

But taking all the mystical stuff and letting it just be mending holes and baking bread and digging drainage ditches I think is helpful.

All in all, I think demystifying the language we couch practical sorcery in can have two helpful results, which are:

It's easier to let yourself do things you want to do, because while it's normal to say "There's no good reason for me to cast protections because there's no reason to think anything will come after me," it's also normal to say, "you know what would be a good investment for this property? A nice privacy fence, it would make entertaining feel more cozy and then we could start fostering puppies."

It's easier to compel yourself to do the things you need to do, because it stops being, "I really want to cast a prosperity spell but I just haven't been in a magical mood," and starts being, "it is my job to water the plants and if I don't they will wither and die. So I'll make myself a nice tea to bolster my resolve and get to it before work."

[acornintheroad]

I mentioned talking about my wands a little while ago. Right now there's these three, and the assortment of crafting tools that get used as wands, though I suspect that I'll wind up with a couple more by the time I'm done with my current study.

Each of these has a very different feel to them, size, weight, texture and just the general vibes they carry.

The first from the top is Hark, the one that I've had the longest and the only one of the three that I made myself. It's made of a magnolia branch that I found and harvested with assistance from the spirit of a forest I spent years running around in as a child, though initially with the plan that it would be as much a prop for an event as a functional tool. This means that Hark tends to be incredibly, theatrically dramatic. It also usually wants to be used for more lighthearted bits of magic.

The wand in the middle I bought at a market a couple years ago from a semi-local wand maker. It was the simplest of the wands she had on offer, made from the roots of a cherry tree with the intention that it be a road opener and a tool of new beginnings. I usually use it for when I'm starting my garden each year, to clear away the metaphysical dust from the past year and get everything set for the growth to come, though I admit that I haven't used it enough to know if it wants to be used for that. Though, if it does, it would likely be quite good for job spells and charging newly made items.

And the last, down at the bottom is the one I've acquired most recently, an oak wand that was made on a lathe by a different semi-local crafter, the material for this one was used for more than a hundred years as part of the flooring in a local warehouse before being purchased and reshaped. It is heavier than it looks, but it feels good in hand, and the brass filler from where the board it was made from had a nail hole is a bit fascinating. Interestingly, while it definitely wants to be handled, it does not seem to have any sort of preference for what sort of magic it is used for or if it gets used at all. I assume that part of that is because I just got it and part might be because being a wand is a radical change from being part of a floor.

I'm going to have to work with each of these more as the year goes on, to get a better feel for them and to work on which works best for what sort of magic. But it's been nice to talk about them a little.

[acornintheroad]

I mentioned talking about my wands a little while ago. Right now there's these three, and the assortment of crafting tools that get used as wands, though I suspect that I'll wind up with a couple more by the time I'm done with my current study.

Each of these has a very different feel to them, size, weight, texture and just the general vibes they carry.

The first from the top is Hark, the one that I've had the longest and the only one of the three that I made myself. It's made of a magnolia branch that I found and harvested with assistance from the spirit of a forest I spent years running around in as a child, though initially with the plan that it would be as much a prop for an event as a functional tool. This means that Hark tends to be incredibly, theatrically dramatic. It also usually wants to be used for more lighthearted bits of magic.

The wand in the middle I bought at a market a couple years ago from a semi-local wand maker. It was the simplest of the wands she had on offer, made from the roots of a cherry tree with the intention that it be a road opener and a tool of new beginnings. I usually use it for when I'm starting my garden each year, to clear away the metaphysical dust from the past year and get everything set for the growth to come, though I admit that I haven't used it enough to know if it wants to be used for that. Though, if it does, it would likely be quite good for job spells and charging newly made items.

And the last, down at the bottom is the one I've acquired most recently, an oak wand that was made on a lathe by a different semi-local crafter, the material for this one was used for more than a hundred years as part of the flooring in a local warehouse before being purchased and reshaped. It is heavier than it looks, but it feels good in hand, and the brass filler from where the board it was made from had a nail hole is a bit fascinating. Interestingly, while it definitely wants to be handled, it does not seem to have any sort of preference for what sort of magic it is used for or if it gets used at all. I assume that part of that is because I just got it and part might be because being a wand is a radical change from being part of a floor.

I'm going to have to work with each of these more as the year goes on, to get a better feel for them and to work on which works best for what sort of magic. But it's been nice to talk about them a little.

[acornintheroad]

So, one of the issues I've had with trying to dig into wands and how they fit or don't fit with my practice is that I don't have a ton of written out spells that I use on the regular, most everything is quick little charms that get done on the fly or are physically worked into the making of something. I've mentioned this before, it's a pain. But I took one of the standard bits of work I try to do every time I finish a doll and worked it into something a little more standardized for the sake of seeing how different it feels between doing my usual hands and words way or the words with a wand.

I worked with two separate dolls, no pictures of them since both have since been sent on to their respective new homes, and did the spell on each.

Holding the doll while doing the spell felt more like I was giving it a pep talk for something it already wanted to do, like it already wanted to be kind and bring comfort and safety to its person. Having the doll sitting down and using a wand while doing the spell felt more distant, like I was assigning it the job of being a protection charm and source of comfort to its holder, less personable and more professional despite the words and intentions being the same.

It makes me wonder what I can do with that distance.

[acornintheroad]

Been busy the past couple weeks, got a surprise commission right before Easter hit that I needed to take care of, work has been chaotic and strange, and job hunting has been a whole thing and a half.

But I'm still here alive and mostly functional and I've got a new wand I want to try out and see how it feels compared to the other two. Going to see if I can't get a good picture of the three of them side by side and talk about them a little, their vibes and the materials they're made from and whatnot.

It should be a fun little exorcise.

[acornintheroad]

NAZI PAGANS FUCK OFF

So because I damn near went over the table at somebody this past weekend, I'd like to remind everyone to WATCH FOR NAZI DOGWHISTLE SYMBOLS IN WITCHY SPACES.

Look them up (because there are a LOT), educate yourself, and keep your eyes open at gatherings and on the socials. If something seems skeevy, it probably is.

Remember - the first Nazi that walks through the door of your community space needs to be told to get the fuck out immediately and in no uncertain terms. Doesn't matter if they're being friendly or patronizing a business or "just there to check out the vibes." They do not belong there, they are not welcome, and they endanger the safety of the entire group. Because if you let one in, their goosestepping buddies will follow.

Don't wait for them to cause trouble. Throw them out. The first one is always there to test the waters.

No place in the circle for fascists.