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[reyinthewoods]

🕯Altars🕯

What are altars?- an altar is a place sacred to you, and a center of worship and ritual. It's an area that helps boost your magical workings, and most importantly a place you feel connected with. You can use this place for mediation, worship a higher power, tarro readings and a place to do so much more.

An alter helps set you in a different headspace, it separates a place for the mundane and spiritual work. There is no right or wrong way to set up your alter, yes there are some more traditional ways of setting one up, but it's supposed to be a place catered towards you and your practice.

For example in some traditions the alter should be facing North, or use alter cloth; for me personally I don't use a cloth but a I still put a piece of material underneath.

What can you put on a altar? You could put almost anything on your alter as long as it means something to you, your deity or ansestor. Some examples are-

Crystals

Candles

Greenery

Salt

Bells

Athame

A pentacle

An offering bowl

Traditional tools

Representation of the four elements

Incense

Book of shadows

Deity candle

Personal iteams

Pictures of ancestors

You can change your alter each sabbath if you so desire, but it is not a necessity, I just started changing my alter for the sabbath.

My own alter lacks the representation of wind which I plan to change in the future, but I wanted to show my alter with how I set it up and not with the exceptions of how it "should" be.

As always please let me know if you feel any of my information is incorrect and if you have any feedback :D

[reyinthewoods]

Yule-

Yule is also known as the winter solstice, yule is a holiday that celebrates the shortest day if the year and can be celebrated through December 19th-January 1st. This year it lands on the 21st.

How to celebrate:

Add fake candles to your Christmas tree to represent old Norse traditions of putinf candles on trees

Wear the colours of the season -gold,green and red

Have a dinner: have a nut roast

Bring plants inside; pine, holy, misltoe, oranges

Tie wishes on your Christmas/yule tree

Things to decorate your alter with: red green and gold candles, holy, oak, buring candles with wishes, clear quartz and Sunstone

Burn pine sented candles and incense

Solar work, mediate with yule music, do rituals involving abundance,happiness and work

Write a wish on a bay leaf and light it on fire

Bonfire

Yule log

Listen to Yule music

Whatch the Yuletide sunset

Make and evergreen wreath

Make a tomte

Write intentions for the new year

Make a witches ornament or make a sun ornament

Go for a walk

If you have anymore information what added or something is incorrect don't hesitate to give feedback:D

[reyinthewoods]

Yule-

Yule is also known as the winter solstice, yule is a holiday that celebrates the shortest day if the year and can be celebrated through December 19th-January 1st. This year it lands on the 21st.

How to celebrate:

Add fake candles to your Christmas tree to represent old Norse traditions of putting candles on trees

Wear the colours of the season -gold,green and red

Have a dinner: have a nut roast

Bring plants inside; pine, holy, misltoe, oranges

Tie wishes on your Christmas/yule tree

Things to decorate your alter with: red green and gold candles, holy, oak, buring candles with wishes, clear quartz and Sunstone

Burn pine sented candles and incense

Solar work, mediate with yule music, do rituals involving abundance,happiness and work

Write a wish on a bay leaf and light it on fire

Bonfire

Yule log

Listen to Yule music

Whatch the Yuletide sunset

Make and evergreen wreath

Make a tomte

Write intentions for the new year

Make a witches ornament or make a sun ornament

Go for a walk

If you have anymore information what added or something is incorrect don't hesitate to give feedback:D

[reyinthewoods]

The common blue wood aster

Part two of my herb discoveries

The common blue wood Aster is perennial herbaceous flowering plant in the family Asteraceae native to North America. It's range if bloom is late summer and fall. There is over 180 species of the Aster flower and this is one of them.

The name Aster comes from ancient Greek which means "star". Aster flowers were sacred to Greeks and was often used on alters. In the language of the flowers the meaning is love, loyalty, wisdom, light and power.

The white aster boasts spirituality, innocence, purity, and faith, as many white flowers do in modern culture.

I'm not exact how toxic this pant is, but from what I researched this species of the Aster is only toxic if ingested by dogs.

If you want to learn more about this flower let me know, and if you believe if any of this info is false let me know

[reyinthewoods]

Wards-

What are wards: wards are a type of defensive magic; it's a form of protection, helps protect from anything negative. They are like energetic guards that watch over the intended area. Your intentions are keyed to you and your needs. Your wards should be catered towards you. Especially in creating a guardian wards.

How I set up my wards:

I first start with cleansing with your preferred method of cleansing. I used multiple ways such as using sage incense, using a oil burner with lavender and pine oils with set intentions. I sprayed moon water around my room with intentions, sprinkled salt at my door and used a bell to sound cleanse . Make sure to have a window open so all unwanted energy or entities do not stay in the inteaned area. You don't have to go as extreme as me go as simple or as extreme as you want when cleansing.

Now there are many ways to set your wards but this is my personal way of setting up my wards. If you want to give me any feedback or any tips feel free go comment them.

First I cleanse my jar with incense.

I set layers of basil,Juniper, pine and parsley with different intentions for each set of herbs. This is the part that represents the earth

I then add new moon water, which is great for new beginnings and intention setting. This is really part that represents the water element

I sprinkle in a mix of incense ash and salt.

I then write a note of my intentions and burn the note, this the fire element of my jar

I couldn't think of anything that could represents air so I just put the lid back on my jar. I then write a protection sigil of my creation on the top of the jar.

I then tie twine around the jar, for me this represents the tying together of a my intentions.

I then seal it with white wax and meditate with the jar visualizing a a barrier around my room and then set my jar in a corner of my room.

🌸That is all! Like I said before if you have any feedback, tips or any criticism you have please comment. 🌸

[reyinthewoods]

Herbs 🌿-

Sage: cleasing, wisdom, clarity, wisdom

Pine: material happiness, fertility, renewal, healing

Juniper: cleasing, purification, grounding

Juniper Berries: attracts good people, cleansing, purifying

Rosemary: protection, healing, honesty

Rose: love, beauty, passion

Lavender: purity, serenity, tranquility

Oregano: love, romance, joy

Parsley: death, fertility, protection, purification, spirit communication

Basil: Astral travel, exorcism, love, protection

White Clovers: happiness, promise

Anise seeds: protection, banishing, beauty, divination, cleansing

Yellow dandelion: hope love happiness

This is just a list of all the herbs I have access to at home, I'll make another herbs post as I pick or buy more herbs.