an-tarbh - Tumblr blog

[an-tarbh]

Witch Tip Wednesday 3.28.18

Cast Iron Care

I grew up in what I call a cast iron family. All the pans were cast iron, we had a few enamel pots for pasta, and one beat up copper bottomed pan for boxed mac and cheese. My mom cooked most days and when she didn’t, it was mac and cheese or pasta because we weren’t allowed to cook with her pans unless she was there.

Cast iron has some mixed reviews, some (me), swear by it and some, think it’s difficult and impossible to cook with…and they’re right to a degree (get it, degree, cooking, farenheit, celcius…sorry), if you don’t know how to care for cast iron, it’s a hassle and a mess. That’s what this post is for though!

Seasoning

Seasoning is the term used to treat and clean cast iron. Even when you buy a new “pre-seasoned” pan, you’re going to want to season it yourself. A major benefit of cooking with cast iron is that it retains flavor, and makes its own seasoning for your food…like magic!

Step 1: Clean your pan with HOT water and a scouring brush, rough side of a sponge, or steel wool. Nothing else…just water and something rough.

Step 2: Dry it completely with paper towels, and then place it on a lit stovetop burner for a minute or so to make sure it’s completely dry.

Step 3: While the pan is warm, probably 10-20 minutes after you remove from stove, (because it retains heat like no one’s business, and I don’t want you to burn yourself) pour some oil* into the pan and spread it around, completely coating the inside. Wipe off excess.

Step 4: Place in the oven set to 200º F, Upside Down for 2 hours

BOOM! Your pan is seasoned and ready to cook with.

*But Barber, what kind of oil? That’s mostly up to you, but canola is the classic standard (vegetable oil) but I use olive oil or canola, depending on what I used last. You can use any vegetable oil you want, whether that’s grapeseed, sunflower or flax seed, but there’s no reason to go crazy and buy a “Cast Iron Care Oil” because that’s literally just a marked up bottle of canola…No Lies.

NEVER USE SOAP WHEN CLEANING YOUR CAST IRON,and here’s why…**

Soap is great for clothes, and your body, and even your car, but not for Cast Iron. Cast iron is a porous metal, so when you put something in, it absorbs. When you cook with it regularly, and oil it regularly, it creates its own nonstick surface! It’ll absorb the taste of herbs and spices you cook with regularly, and everything gets a mild flavor boost from whatever you cooked in it previously. When you use soap, it removes that surface and flavor; soap can absorb and flavor your food, and no one wants soapy fritatas.

Now, the seasoning steps above are used when you get a new pan, or need to re-season a rusted pan. It’ll restore it like new. But what about cleaning after cooking something tastey?

Cleaning and Upkeep

Step 1: While the pan is still warm, take rock salt and/or a non-metal brush (like the one above that I use) and go crazy scrubbing it.***

Step 2: Rinse with warm water, and dry with a paper towel (I say paper towel, because it’ll actually raise up some iron, and turn your towel black…better use a disposable towel, or risk staining your nice linens) after that, feel free to put on the stove top for a minute to make sure it’s all dry

Step 3: Coat with a little oil, wipe up excess, and store in your oven or broiler.

Special notes: The heat, salt you use to scrub, and iron itself all equal one great big anti-bacterial surface, so no worries about not using soap and feeling like you’ll get salmonella. Because it’s a porous surface, air drying is a no-no. It’ll lead to rust, and then you’ll have to scrub it off and completely re-season it (refer to first seasoning process).

**The soap thing. You can use soap. I never do. Most soaps these days aren’t as damaging and stripping as the old ones. Again, you can use soap, but I never will because like I said, that’s how i grew up, my tradition, this is a part of my witchcraft practice, and it works for me. Updated 10/27/18 p.s. idk about y’all, but I use dish soap to get rid of oil, so while tons of people message me about using soap on it, I still am not going to break tradition of not using soap on a pan older than me. 11/27/18

***When you scrub with salt, it starts picking up iron particles and oil. It’ll start turning black and you can keep it in a jar until you’ve got a good amount, bake it on a sheet to dry it, and there you have classic Black Salt! For more banishing oomph, I scald pepper in a fry pan, and add incense ash to the mix.

[an-tarbh]

My favorite spread of late–🔮pulling from the power of the pentagram⭐ and the elementals🔮…

(also doubles as a pretty powerful relationship spread–showing you partner qualities most compatible with your personality type).

Enjoy, wxtches

[an-tarbh]

What to do when you fell out with your practice

Because I sure as hell needed this post when I did.

1. Realize that it‘s okay. Accept that it happened. Forgive yourself for it.

Maybe life got in the way and you just didn‘t have the time or energy or possibility. Maybe something happened on your path that got you scared, frightened, panicked, or even disgusted so that you had to take a step back and retreat. Maybe your focus simply shifted. Maybe you got bored. Maybe everything just got overwhelming and you weren‘t able to juggle magick and the mundane at the same time. Maybe mental illness got in the way. No matter what the reason for your fall out was, accept that it happened, forgive yourself for it. Because it‘s okay, life happens in phases, and no matter the reason, how big or how small, it‘s part of your journey and totally fine. These things happen to the best of us, so don‘t blame yourself for it. It really is okay. Pinky promise.

2. Reconnect with your god(s) and/or non-physical friends, if needed.

If you‘re a spirit companion/have spirit friends like me or are devoted to a god or certain deity/ies, your time with them/devotion to them probably fell under the brick as well. If it did, reconnect. I promise chances are they‘ll understand. As I said, life happens, and they know that too. They probably saw what you were going through. Explain what happened to them, apologize, and move on, if they allow it. Just spend more time with them again, greet them good morning and wish them good night again, invite them to join you throughout your day again. I promise, any good relationship will hold, just show that you really are sorry and put in effort to show that you care again. I’m sure they missed you as well so it’s time to make up for the time you lost!

3. Don’t overwhelm and overestimate yourself.

Chances are the longer your fall-out was, the more your “psychic muscles” lost in strength. Your intuition may be a bit more out-of-tune, you may have more trouble hearing/seeing/feeling/sensing spirits and energies. Maybe you have more trouble programing things or adding energy to objects than before. That’s okay! It’s totally fine and normal, just don’t be surprised if it happens and know that with practice you’ll be back to old strength in no time! Until then, start small and work with what you have.

4. Start small, don’t rush it, one step at a time.

Start drawing a daily or weekly card again. Start carrying crystals with you again. Start laying them out under the moon to charge again. Do small rituals like maybe doing some bath magic before you rush head-first into a huge complicated thing again! Again, you don’t want to overwhelm yourself. Also, you want to build a routine again to not risk falling out again. Some ideas on what to do when building your practice up again:

lay crystals, items, water, anything out under the moon/sun to charge 

talk to plants

draw a daily/weekly card

pick a crystal to carry with you throughout the day in the morning

say mantras in the morning

infuse your tea/coffee with intent

send out your energetic sensers when comfortable and at home. slowly but surely

meditate. 5 minutes in the evening, 5 minutes in the morning. at least.

go for a daily walk at a certain time 

look through your grimoire/bos if you have one. write in it again

doodle little sigils in your free time

and many, many more

5. If needed, make a schedule.

As I said, you may want to build a routine. If those work for you, make a daily or weekly plan. Look up transits and check when you have time, then create your own magical schedule. If need be, set some reminders on your phone. Just try to be disciplined about it for a while so that you get back into your practice smoothly!

6. Reinvent your craft.

You probably changed since you last practiced, or maybe there was a reason IN your practice that caused the fall-out. If so, identify what it was. Reflect on yourself, your practice, your life. How can you make everything run together more smoothly? Maybe you want to focus more on the mundane than the spiritual, and if so that’s totally fine. Adapt your practice in a way that fits and feels good, it’s all yours so feel free to do whatever you want! Maybe you want to shift the focus IN your practice, or maybe you want to stop doing something, maybe start doing something else (instead). 

(Optional) 7. Talk to others. 

Sometimes it is so, so hard to not feel incredibly bad and like you fucked yourself or your life or your relationships up when this happens (and not just in relation to magic but other things as well). Please know that you’re not alone on this and if your own up-lifting thoughts and words are not enough, seek validation outside. I promise that’s not a selfish or vain thing to do, it’s natural and human and you deserve to be told that you’re doing just fine. Go to a trusted friend, family member, maybe blogger, anyone. If you want, you can always come to me. Talk to someone about how things are going now, talk to them about the things you just did to make yourself feel good about doing this. 

💗 No matter what, it’s all good. I promise. These things just happen and there is no reason to blame yourself - please take good care of yourself and know that you come first - magic and everything else second.  I hope this was useful to some, I know it helped me as I’m just getting out of a fall-out, too. I hope you all have a magical day~! 💗

[an-tarbh]

Divination

[an-tarbh]

[an-tarbh]

The Morrigan: Someone will die.

The Dagda: Of fun!

[an-tarbh]

Ya know when that whole debacle with sephora and their witch kit and the resurgence of talking about cultural appropriation vs appreciation hit it was cool to see people talking about it and taking a moment to analyze their own crafts for possible appropriated concepts!!

but like a month later and I see small witch shops selling smudge sticks and talking about smudging like nothing ever happened. There really needs to be an ongoing awareness to be respectful of other cultures and looking inward to see what we can do

[an-tarbh]

[an-tarbh]

Latin phrases to use as incantations.

This is gonna be a long list.

ab intra - from within

ab origine - from the source

absit iniuria - “let insult be absent”

absit invidia - “let envy be absent”

absit omen - “let omens be absent”

ab uno disce omnes - from one, learn all.

abyssus abyssum invocat - deep calleth unto deep

a capite ad calcem - from head to heel

acta non verba - actions not words

ad altiora tendo - “I strive to higher things”

ad astra - to the stars

ad fontes - to the sources

ad meliora - towards better things

ad oculos - to the eyes

ad undas - to the waves

ad victoriam - to victory

adsum - I am here

a fortiori - from the stronger/from strength

a mari usque ad mare - from sea to sea

audeamus - let us dare

audentes fortuna iuvat - fortune favors the bold

audi, vide, tace - hear, see, be silent

beatae memoriae - of blessed memory

bona fide - in good faith

bono malum superate - overcome evil with good

capax infiniti - holding the infinite

carpe diem - seize the day

carpe noctem - seize the night

cave - beware

ceteris paribus - all other things being equal

circa - around

citius, altius, fortius - faster, higher, stronger

clavis aurea - golden key

cogito ergo sum - I think, therefor I am

compos mentis - in control of the mind

concilio et labore - by wisdom and effort

concordia cum veritate - in harmony with truth

concordia salus - well-being through harmony

coniunctis viribus - with connected strength

consummatum est - it is complete

corruptus in extremis - corrupt to the extreme

crescit eundo - it grows as it goes

de novo - from the new

de profundis - from the depths

dies irae - day of wrath

dona nobis pacem - give us peace

ego te provoco - I challenge you

esse est percipi - to be is to be perceived  

esse quam videri - to be, rather than to seem

esto quod es - be what you are

ex animo - from the soul

ex luna scientia - from the moon, knowledge

ex scientia tridens - from knowledge, sea power

ex silentio - from silence

ex undis - from the waves of the sea

experientia docet - experience teaches

fac et spera - do and hope

fac fortia et patere - do brave deed and endure

faciam quodlibet quod necesse est - I’ll do whatever it takes

faciam ut mei memineris - I’ll make you remember me

facta, non verba - deeds, not words

fortis et liber - strong and free

fortis in arduis - strong in difficulties

gloriosus et liber - glorious and free

hic abundant leones - here lions abound

hic et nunc - here and now

hic sunt dracones - here there are dragons

hinc illae lacrimae - hence those tears

hinc itur ad astra - from here the way leads to the stars

igni ferroque - with fire and iron

in memoriam - into the memory

in nocte consilium - advice comes over night

libra - balance

littera scripta manet - the written words endure

locus standi - a right to stand

luceo non uro - I shine, not burn

luctor et emergo - I struggle and emerge

mare liberum - free sea

memento vivere - remember to live

more ferarum - like beasts

natura non contristatur - nature is not saddened

nec spe, nec metu - without hope, without fear

noli me tangere - do not touch me

ophidia in herba - a snake in the grass

pro se - for oneself

propria manu - by one’s own hand

quaere - to seek

quod abundat non obstat - what is abundant does not hinder

resurgam - I shall arise

semper ad meliora - always towards better things

semper anticus - always forward

semper apertus - always open

semper fortis - always brave

semper liber - always free

stet - let it stand

tuebor - I will protect

vera causa - true cause

[an-tarbh]

[an-tarbh]

[an-tarbh]

by Johanna Parker

[an-tarbh]

The Hierophant V: Spiritual authority and power. Leadership. Loyalty to a tradition.

Elk antler and Frankincense.

Frankincense represents spiritual growth, strength, and development. . . . Only a few cards left to illustrate from the Major Arcana! I am excited to look back on these as a whole and move onto the rest of the of the deck.

[an-tarbh]

Has this been done yet

[an-tarbh]

Quartz boulders at Crystal Bridges Museum in Bentonville, AR.

[an-tarbh]

Here’s to the Christian witches, who get shit on by fellow Christians and elitist witches

[an-tarbh]