#2019 Grimoire Challenge

[2024-grimoire-challenge]

January Week 2

Keep in mind, this challenge is going to more or less piggy back off of my 2019 challenge and go deeper into the subjects presented there, with some alterations and additions of course.

Some grimoires focus on one entire topic for a whole page. Say, an entire page dedicated to a single herb. Some dedicate it to a broader topic and fill in the page with info pertaining to the topic. Say, protection magic and everything that, in that witch's practice, has to do with protection magic.

And you know what? Both are fine. It is a matter of how you want your grimoire to look, work and feel, for you and your practice. So as the challenge goes on and my prompts say "make a page" that doesn't necessarily mean a whole new page just for that topic. It could mean to fill in more of a page you've already started. It is your grimoire. Make it your way.

Monday - Magic

Journal/ Research/ Introspection (New Page) - What is magic? How does it work? Historically, theologically, spiritually, so on and so forth. What is magic and how does one utilize it? What methodology do you perscribe to? Where does magic come from? How do you sense it? Can you sense it? Look deep, not surface level. Look into the hows and the whys. Make a page dedicated to this information, so that you can refer back to it if need be in the future.

Practical (New Page) - Let's perform a protection spell on our book, on our supplies and on our work space. You can find a spell online in a book or make one up yourself to use! Any of these options is fine. I recommend utilizing your lab notebook for this task. Write out the spell, all of its aspects, steps, ingredients, tools and so on. Record the information in your lab notebook, that way you can change and rework the spell as need be in the future. Plus, this will allow you to create a page specifically for this spell!

Tuesday - Witch

Journal/ Research - This is a personal subject for all of us, though the community has a large sway in our opinions on this. Ask five witches what a witch is, and you'll get five different answers. But we're not worried about four of those answers right now. We're worried about one. Our own. What is a witch? What makes one a witch? What does a witch do and not do? Define all of this for yourself, answer those questions.

Divination - Lets perform a divination for ourselves. What does the year ahead hold? No matter what method you use, tarot, runes, etc, perform a small divination for yourself or even for someone else, looking at the year ahead of us.

Wednesday - Personal Practice

Research/ Introspection/ Journal -Again, we're going to do a deep look into ourselves and our beliefs for this prompt. How do you perceive the world? Life, death? The energies in the world around you? How do you connect to and experience these things? What are the elements of life and the world?

Study (New Page) - Pick one of those herbs from the list we made and look into its properties. Where does it come from> How does it grow? Historically, what were its uses? Practical and mundane uses and properties, what are they? Is it used medicinally or are there culinary uses? What are the myths, legends and stories about the herb? Now, once you've looked into all of that, how does that information play into its magical uses and properties? All of this is about they WHY behind the info we find in generalized searches.

Thursday - Personal Information

Journal/ Introspection - Why are you a witch? What drew you to this path and walk of life? What are the aspects fo your practice? Is it the elements? Deities? Other powers? Flesh out your beliefs.

Astrology - Not every witch holds stock in astrology, so if you don't you don't have to add this bit to the challenge. But if you're interested, look up your natal chart. There are plenty of free websites to do so, and it is always interesting to find out. If you feel so inclined, add a page to your Grimoire about your natal chart, as the info can be helpful in later introspection and journaling.

Study (New Page) - Pick a gem from that list and look up its properties. Where does it come from? How is it formed? What are its chemical properties? What are its mundane and practical uses? What are the myths and legends, stories surrounding it? What has it been used for historically? How does all of that information play into its magical properties and uses? Make a page specifically dedicated to that gem!

Friday - Making it yours

Journal/ Introspection - How is your practice your practice? What do YOU bring to your witchcraft? What traditions and beliefs from outside your practice have influenced bits and pieces of your practice? As much as we hate to admit it, syncretism is a thing.

(Side note- if you’re not into crystals and herbs, feel free to replace those study days with whatever subject you feel like! No matter what it is, as long as it’s something going in your grimoire. Some examples would be tarot spreads, runes, languages, a specific “type” of magic!)

I know this is going to be a big project and if it would help everyone, creatively, I'll be more than happy to share a video showing some of my grimoire page design process.

Thank you all

Good luck and happy crafting witches!

-Mod Hazel

[fernthewhimsical]

Original Content Masterpost

A masterpost for all original content (I could find) here on this blog. Some of it is old and doesn't really apply to my path anymore, so please be aware of the dates. In no particular order.

Magic and Spells: Enchanted Spoon rack Burnable Spellboxes Spell Sugars How I made Spellcandles LED Spellcandles I LED Spellcandles II Full Moon Powder See the Truth Poppet Spell Binding and Banishing Jar Pride Witchcraft WarWitch Spellbottle Pendant Imbolc Creativity Spell Litha Spell Samhain Remembrance Sigil Samhain Remembrance Spell Stones for the Cosmic Witch Elemental Bottles Reclaiming Sigil Strength Bindrunes Daily Practice with Sigils

Text Posts: Gender in Witchcraft, pt. 1 Gender in Witchcraft, pt. 2 Write your Witchcraft WYW original questions Travel Altar Challenge MTG cards as oracle deck Birthday Magic Fiction as Shadow work The magic of fabrics

Witch Tips: You’re allowed to have pretty things House Candle Holders Enchant your Keys Snow Globe Home Cleansing Spell Recipe Cards Moonwater Washi Tape Candles Baby Blessing (reply) Save your Apple Seeds

Poetry: Stars Moon phases Nehalennia Find Me, Sister (Baduhenna) Wings

Art Grimoire: Moon phases Moons of the Year Star Stuff Perpetual Wheel of the Year the Festivals Elements Make your Mark Altered Cover My Grimoires

Art: Queer Witch Witchy Self Portrait Botanical BOS cover Travel altar miniature Travel altar miniature 2 Altar Hearth Prayer Beads Sleep Spelljar Magic Mirrors Mini Moonstone Runes Imbolc Greeting Card Autumn and Pronoun Pins Galaxy Drum Labyrinth Travel Altar

Deity: Sources of Dutch deities masterpost Fern’s Introduction to Nehalennia Fern’s Introduction to Cernunnos Fern’s Introduction to Baduhenna Fern’s Introduction to Liyesa Deity Bindrunes Nehalennia Candle Shrine Nehalennia Wood Statue Nehalennia Mood Board Baduhenna: Valkyrie or Dutch Morrigan? Offering Bowl Restoration Baduhenna Mood Board Baduhenna Drawing Cernuna? Liyesa Mood Board Stardew Valley Shrines Cozy Grove Nehalennia Shrine Nemetona and Sacred Space Nemetona Mood Board Elen of the Ways Art Page Arcanua, Dutch deity of magic and the dawn? Journey through the Gods (personal) Dutch Deity Oracle Cards

Personal Practice: (mostly photos) Temple Room (wip) Bedside Altar Spooky Story Time! 2019 Wicker Wolf Shell Collection Litha Altar Self Care Altar Ancestor Altar (reply) Old Altar pic Old Altar tour Leiden Botanical Gardens

[Updated Feb 11th 2023)]

[life-in-the-garden]

double grimoire challenge, week one

the mod(s) of the 2022 Grimoire Challenge are doing something interesting this year. 2019's prompts were aimed at beginners, while 2022's Week One prompts are aimed at intermediate-level witches. I can't lie, as a beginner I feel pretty intimidated by that. (Not in a bad way, mind you, it's just that I wasn't expecting it + lack confidence in myself). Since I'm very much a beginner, I'm going to be following the 2019 prompts this year, but I will also be attempting the 2022 prompts alongside them! (Keyword: "attempting")

This post is for the first week of the 2019 prompts, which I am starting in January of 2022. (Sorry for the confusion!) I'll show my attempt at carrying out the actual 2022 prompts in a separate post.

2019 prompt 1.1 - name your book

A grimoire doesn't have to have a name, but naming them doesn't hurt. Hazel (mod of the 2019 challenge) recommends: "Choose a name that encompass what your craft is, how you will be using your book, and what you will be using it for." Since I'm interested in green and kitchen witchcraft + there's an apple tree in my backyard that was very dear to my childhood self, I chose to title my grimoire "The Book of Apples".

Also, I decided to do some faux calligraphy with gold ink on the book's nameplate page. Spacing the letters, drawing them, and then painting on the gold ink took a solid 2 hours, but I enjoyed the process.

Materials Used:

Dr. Ph. Martin's gold calligraphy ink

dip pen

small watercolor brush

pencil

eraser & kneaded eraser

transparent ruler

2019 prompt 1.2 - bless/protect your book & state your intent

I don't work with any deities, so a blessing won't be necessary for me.

I did decide to cleanse and ward my notebook, however. I found this list of cleansing methods. Because my cat is frequently in my bedroom, I don't feel comfortable using incense or other methods of smoke cleansing. Washing/spritzing/anointing with moon water or herb-infused oils made me worry about damaging the notebook. I decided to do cleansing with candlelight by lighting 2 tealights and placing them on either side of my notebook. I let them burn out (under supervision) after bathing my notebook in light for as long as possible.

Next, I warded my notebook with a sigil (my first time making one!) + tried to come up with a rhyming little curse against anyone who might decide to steal and read my grimoire. I was inspired by this list of curses against book thieves. Ultimately, though, I decided against creating the curse since I have no experience with spellwork and was worried it might backfire onto me. I might add it later if I feel more confident in the future.

Finally, I wrote a bit in my grimoire about how I was excited for this challenge and what I wanted to achieve through carrying it out.

2019 prompt 1.3 - create an index

my journal already comes with an index section, so I didn't need to do anything here.

2019 prompt 1.4 - organize your resources

Since the vast majority of my witchcraft research involves the internet, it doesn't make sense to organize my links into a physical book; I have a google document with that information instead. However, here's a (partial) list of the books I plan to consult:

Baton, Ross - Plant Families: A Guide for Gardeners and Botanists

Bellebuono, Holly - An Herbalist's Guide to Formulary: The Art & Science of Creating Effective Herbal Remedies

Murphy-Hiscock, Arin - The Green Witch: Your Complete Guide to the Natural Magic of Herbs, Flowers, Essential Oils, and More

Murphy Hiscock, Arin - The House Witch: Your Complete Guide to Creating a Magical Space with Rituals and Spells for Hearth and Home

Snow, Cassandra - Queering Your Craft: Witchcraft from the Margins

I have access to the majority of these books through an ebook subscription service called Scribd, and I read them on my phone and laptop where my family can't see them. Because I'm working with plants, not all of the books on the list are "witchy" in nature; some are just plain old botanical nonfiction.

2019 prompt 1.5 - begin researching!

Today's prompt is to learn as much as possible about a particular plant and its magical uses. I chose the apple tree, Malus domestica.

Effects: the fruit of the apple tree (deciduous, grows in temperate woodland) is edible and generally considered appetizing. The seeds contain cyanide, however, and should not be ingested.

Magical Properties: love, immortality, garden magic, healing, fertility, beauty, self-image. Symbolizes the soul. Historically, the word “apple” can (in English) refer to any fruit other than berries/nuts, and as such apples feature in many translated mythologies and in (some translations of) scriptures of the Abrahamic faiths.

Elemental Association: water

Planetary Association: Venus

Misc. Notes: apple wood is good for smoking meat. Apples have been extensively cultivated for many thousands of years, and there are over 7,500 extant cultivars. The wild ancestor of Malus domestica, which is Malus sieversii, still grows in Central Asia but is considered vulnerable to extinction.

Personal Correspondences: because of the apple tree growing in the backyard of my childhood home, I associate apples with childhood joy and safety. Thanks to all of the baking I do, I also associate them with cinnamon, caramel, and pleasant smells.

[tea-rabbits]

@2019grimoirecchallenge​

[thepatchworkcrow]

My Method for Grounding & Centering

Jumping back into the @2019grimoirecchallenge posts! This in answer to both Monday AND Tuesday’s prompt since I usually ground AND center my energy before and after ritual. This particular exercise isn’t particularly new: I think it’s been posted pretty much everywhere as like “The Tree Meditation” or “The World Tree Visualization” and such, but here goes my version of it!

First, you’re going to want to sit, or stand in a comfortable position. I typically plant my feet shoulder-width apart, and if I can help it, like to stand barefoot on the floor or grass.

The first step will be the grounding part of the exercise. How I usually do this, is I start first by relaxing myself by focusing on my breathing. 

Once I’ve gotten in that headspace, I will visualize all the stress, anxiety, and generally disruptive energy flowing down through my body to my feet and down into the ground. Literally, sending that energy into the ground to be neutralized and released.

Next, while I’m still sort of focused on my feet and the earth beneath them, I’ll visualize that my feet have grown roots that push through the soil. I’ll then focus on pulling cool, calming, steadying energy up from the earth, just like a plant would draw up water or nutrients from the soil. I imagine this energy filling me, and making me feel steady, strong, and secure.

Next, I’ll bring my arms up to stretch over my head, and I’ll visualize them growing up further and further into leafy branches.

Like I visualized drawing in energy from the earth, I also visualize drawing in energy from the sun/moon/sky. First through the leaves, then down my branch-like arms and all through out my being. This energy is light, inspiration, clarity, purpose...

Where the two energies meet in the center of my being I focus a moment to allow them to merge and find balance. I feel myself sustained by both the earth below and the warm light of the sun above. I am calm, and focused, and inspired to begin work on my ritual.

I then take a deep breath, visualizing myself returning from tree back into my human shape, and open my eyes to continue my work.

I do this before ritual to put myself into the proper mindset to do the work before me. It helps to release the energy of my day to day that can be disruptive to my intentions.

I also do this after ritual, so that I can release the residual energy raised during the ritual, and re-center myself before returning to the more mundane parts of my life.

[losgunna]

It's only SIX MONTHS LATE (teacher life & mom life keeps me super busy) but here's my page for the 3rd week of January for the #2019grimoirechallenge.

I love how doing these pages really helps me slow down and think and question and research and examine why I do what I do. This challenge is helping me embrace and grow more intimate with my spiritual practices, so thank you @2019grimoirecchallenge for making such thoughtful prompts and encouraging such a supportive community.

P.S. If anyone ever wants to ask questions about my grimoire, my practice, or me, my inbox is always open. ☺️ You can also check out my non-witchy blog @sheisquiteacommonfairy - asks are open there too!

[crystaldruid]

Today’s grimoire pages, inspired by witchblr!

[extramidwestwitch]

Today's grimoire progress! Having my layout and my rough draft to work from makes me so happy and productive. This is gonna be a book I can reference soon! ♡

[ques-book]

#2019grimoirechallenge April wk 1

Happy Sunday! I’m sorry I missed last week but I wasn’t in a great place. It was the 5th anniversary of my mom’s passing and it just brings up a bunch of weird feelings. Couple that with the end of semester stress. Yeah, I’m a mess right now lol. Hopefully the upcoming @2019grimoirecchallenge weeks for this week and next will be just as good as this week, nice and simple.

This week focused on the elements so I wrote them up in my grimoire!

God my writing is bad. Anyway, until next week lovelies!

[aquatixwitch]

Was working on the 2019 @2019grimoirecchallenge first week-I'm a little behind-and in the first week you pick and herb to investigate. Since I love banefuls but felt aconite would be too easy, I chose Mandrake and illustrated a page for it! I'll probably glue this in after I've finished my herbal section. Wutwut.

[2024-grimoire-challenge]

Hello hello!

As I’m working on the grimoire prompts over this weekend I’ve decided that this challenge is going to be an extension and expansion of my previous challenge from 2019.

@2019grimoirecchallenge for those interested in that years prompts.

What I’ll be working toward with this years challenge is to take those prompts and push deeper into them. Deeper into our personal practices and into the why’s and how’s rather than just the surface level witchcraft most common on this site.

There will still be plenty of fun prompts. But this challenge will be more thought provoking and introspective.

I can’t wait till it officially begins on January first and am so excited to be running it again!

M.G.

Mod Hazel

[circus-witch]

How not to read auras

As part of @2019grimoirecchallenge one of the prompts was auras and it left me a little stumped. I don’t work with auras at all and (as it stands) I don’t believe in them. It’s seemed stupid to write a page or post about something I didn’t believe in so instead of writing tips on how to see auras correctly I thought I’d write out some top tips on methods to avoid. Because you don’t need to know how to juggle to know you can’t juggle elephants.

Be aware that auras are a spiritual phenomenon, not a scientific one. There are a lot of sources out there which claim auras are a physical thing which can be measured. The term ‘biomagnetic sheath’ is sometimes used instead of the term aura or in conjunction with it. If the source you are using claims that there is a real scientific backing to auras then please read that source very, very critically.

Aura cameras don’t take photos of your aura. Linked to point one, the cameras that claim to take photos of your aura at psychic fairs and similar are unfortunately bogus. If actual photos could be taken then this would be due to some sort of energy hitting the camera and so scientists would be able to detect this energy too. The difference in aura colours shown by these cameras can be heat related (like a mood ring) or simply set on a particular colour.

Colours - when is an aura not an aura? Colours produce auras of their opposites if you stare at them long enough. An easy way to see what I mean by this is to take a small piece of card in a block of one colour and rest it on a sheet of white paper. Look at it for a minute or so and then yank away the card whilst keeping your gaze where it is and you will see the opposite colour appear on it. A similar thing can happen whilst trying to see auras so be aware of which colours contrast against each other (red/green, yellow/purple, blue/orange) and if the auras you see follow these pairings then see if it is at all possible to double check (a hat to hide the hair that’s dyed bright red perhaps, removing a blue jacket or popping a jacket on over a purple jumper).

Take care of yourselves and don’t look for auras when ill! This is of course a good tip in general but sleep deprivation, lack of food or water and many other things can make it difficult to see what’s really there and perfectly possible to see what isn’t. I’ve seen a lecturer throw imaginary sparkles in the air due to sleep deprivation so this is fairly important if you want to be working on any physical or psychic senses.

Relax and have fun. Not so much a warning on this one as a handful of general tips. Chose a white background to see the aura against. Remind yourself that there is no pressure to see anything right away and allow yourself to relax. If there is a tea or incense blend that helps you to relax or that you use in other psychic endeavours, now would be a great time for it. Go through some basic exercises with your own energy before trying to sense auras of others. A bathroom mirror is a great place to practice seeing your own aura (and bathrooms are generally white and so a great background for this). When you start trying this out on others then begin on friends who don’t mind standing about and won’t judge anything you do or don’t see.

I hope this helps someone, enjoy!

[life-in-the-garden]

2019 grimoire challenge, week 2

Since I'm already late by multiple years to this challenge, I figure doing the weeks at my own pace won't hurt anyone. Here are the prompts for Week Two of the 2019 grimoire challenge.

Monday

Prompt: what is magic? Provide a personal definition of magic that includes your perception of what it is and how it works.

Spellwork: perform a book blessing/protection here.

I hate to say it, but I don’t know what magic is. I genuinely don’t. I know the shape of it, sort of; it’s energy and/or power, and it has the ability to affect the world. I’m a secular witch, so my Craft doesn’t extend to working with deities, but I know deities have their own magic and that kind of magic is of the world-shaking type (when they want it to be). There are spirits who cross the boundaries between the worlds of the living vs. the worlds of the dead, and they have their own magic too, as do the witches who communicate with them. Ultimately, I think magic is something so vast in scope that it’s very hard to define in a way that gives adequate attention to all aspects of it. And I definitely don’t know how magic works; I know there are ways to tap into it and manipulate it to achieve a certain end, but I couldn’t give you a hard-and-fast, end-all-be-all answer about how magic works no matter how hard I try.

I cleansed my grimoire as part of the intro to the 2019 grimoire challenge (read about that here). My book blessing (which I shall print out as soon as the printer is working again) is:

(artwork is by Alphonse Mucha. Quote is from "Songs from Under the River" by Anis Mojgani).

Tuesday

Prompt: what does being a witch mean to you? What type of witch are you? Are there certain things you plan to learn as a witch? Do you have any specific goals in mind?

Astrology: record your natal chart. Do you feel a connection to astrology?

Being a witch means choosing to research and study and come to some level of understanding with at least some aspects of the unseen world of magic, though one must also interact with magic in a way that is more active than simply researching; one must do things with magic, whether it be ritual, spellwork, or something else entirely. (You don’t need to do witchcraft all the time, of course. A consistent practice isn’t necessary for calling yourself a witch).

I know there are lots of different labels for different types of witches. “Sea witches” and “lunar witches” and “green witches” and “hedge witches” etc etc etc. I’ve realized, however, that I don’t really like highly specific labels for myself. I used to say that I would focus on green and kitchen witchcraft, but now I’m rethinking how I want to incorporate magic into my kitchen. So I’d call myself an eclectic witch, but I wouldn’t seek to label myself any further than that.

I’m planning to work with herbs, so that technically makes me a green witch, but otherwise I can’t really say. I have two Tarot decks and I want to learn how to use them, too, but I don’t feel any special hurry. Witchcraft (unlike most other things in my life) is something I want to take at a leisurely pace; if I feel as though time is running out and I have to push myself hard to learn something by a specific deadline, then I’m doing it wrong.

Also...

what the

FUCK

is this nonsense?

No, I don't feel a connection. I don't give a crap about what the stars and planets were thinking about when I was born.

Wednesday

Prompt: what is your concept of life and death? Where do you go when you die?

Divination: perform some sort of divinatory ritual (tarot, runes, etc) and ask the questions: “What do I need to focus on for this project? For this year? What should I pay better attention to?”

I don’t know where my soul will go when I die. If we’re being completely honest, rather than a “Heaven vs. Hell” dichotomy, I would prefer for there not to be an afterlife at all. Life is tiring, and I would prefer for my soul to just be released into the void of the cosmos upon death, to fade into nothingness. I’m not particularly concerned with being remembered, either.

For my tarot reading...

Q: What do I need to focus on for this project?

A: The World (reversed)

The World is the last card of the Major Arcana and typically represents the end of a journey. Reversed, this card probably means that I'm trying to complete a journey, but have lost sight of my original goal and/or am struggling to figure out the next step.

Q: What do I need to focus on this year?

A: The Hermit (upright)

The Hermit is an intermediate card of the Major Arcana, and represents solitary contemplation and a removal from the humdrum affairs of everyday existence. I should focus less on hustling for good grades and money and turn the better part of my attention to more internal matters, probably.

Q: What should I be paying better attention to?

A: Page of Cups (upright)

A member of the Minor Arcana, the page of cups represents creativity and childlike joy. I should remember to remain open-minded, and to keep an eye out for unconventional solutions.

Thursday

Prompt: do you worship/follow any deities? Would you like to? Start a page in your grimoire for the deity or deities that you worship or are interested in worshiping, and do some research. (We’ll be adding more to this page later).

Devotional: light a candle and write a short prayer to a deity you follow or wish to follow.

Spell: if you don’t worship a deity, create a spell that summons, bolsters, and/or builds up your own personal power.

I don’t incorporate the worship of any deities into my Craft; I’m a casual Christian who attends an unprogrammed Quaker meeting once a week and contemplates divine Nothingness through meditation. Do I believe in God, though? It’s hard to say, but I’m leaning towards, “yes, but not the way Scripture describes God.” (To me, God is genderless and formless, and I use they/them pronouns for God). I know that there is such a thing as Catholic witchcraft, and that Tarot was originally Catholic, but I’m Protestant, so that doesn’t work for me. The God who lives in my head doesn’t particularly care if I have a working relationship with other deities, and I’ve been somewhat drawn in Áine (Irish goddess of summer, the sun, and sovereignty) due to my interest in plants, but I’m reluctant to reach out to her and get involved in deity work.

I contemplate God in wordless silence, so I won’t write a prayer for Them. I think I need a firmer footing in my Craft before I reach out to Áine with any prayers, so I won’t write anything for her either. (Lame and boring, I know).

It’s funny… I know I said in an earlier post that I was no longer sure about bringing magic into my kitchen, but my first instinct for making a self-confidence spell was to make a cup of tea—specifically masala chai. I mix my own spices for masala chai, and we have:

Cinnamon: cleansing, protection, strength/courage, prosperity

Cardamom: love, mental clarity

Nutmeg: good luck, good health, love, divination, mental clarity

Black pepper: protection, cursing, commanding, passion

Cloves: protection, cleansing, love & friendship, passion, inner peace

Ginger: strength/courage, love, healing

I also used maple syrup as a sweetener. I made the tea on the stove, and stirred counter-clockwise while thinking about how I needed to be more bold in my Craft. When the tea was ready, I felt inspired to sit back down at my computer and continue working on this week’s prompts.

Friday

Prompt: What are some of the personal parts of your practice? Do you follow a schedule and reserve rites and rituals for specific days/nights? Do you only perform magic now and then, or do you study and focus on it a little every day? Are there specific aspects of Craft that you adhere to and avoid?

Practical: catalog your altar set up. If you don’t have an altar setup, research different types of altars and decide if you’d like to (one day) create one.

I only perform magic now and then, unfortunately. Though this challenge is really helping motivate me, I prefer to practice my Craft in an unhurried way. Knowledge will come with time; it’s not as though I’m racing against the clock or my fellow witches for who can learn the fastest. I do make note of the passage of the moon phases, though for now I’m not doing anything special with that knowledge. I tend to avoid spirit/ancestor work and death magic, since I’d prefer to leave the deceased to their rest.

I don’t really have an altar, since I’m a secular closet witch. I do have a bookshelf with my tools, books, and tarot decks, however, which is shoved into a corner of my bedroom to keep it “out of sight, out of mind” on the infrequent occasions when my parents need to come into my bedroom.

Objects:

a white-handled pruning knife

a box of 100 chime candles in 10 different colors

a clam shell

“Crow Tarot” by MJ Cullinane

Books:

Herbal Medicine for Beginners by Katja Swift and Ryn Midura (not recommended)

The Modern Herbal Dispensatory by Thomas Easley and Steven Horne (recommended)

Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner by Scott Cunningham (not recommended)

Groverdaughter Witchery by Bree NicGarran (HIGHLY recommend)

Cunningham’s Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs by Scott Cunningham (not recommended)

Peterson Field Guide to Medicinal Plants & Herbs of Eastern and Central N. America (3rd edition) by Steven Foster (recommended)

20,000 Secrets of Tea by Victoria Zak (haven’t read it yet)

[tea-rabbits]

@2019grimoirecchallenge

A few bindrunes I made :)

[thepatchworkcrow]

My Reference Guide for the Elements

I’ve made another post about how I don’t really use the elemental system for invoking the quarters, but wanted to take a little time to explore each individual element for this week’s @2019grimoirecchallenge prompts, so without further ado...

Fire:

What does it represent? Fire represents the passionate and volatile emotions: anger, lust, excitement, etc. It is energy, and motivation: the heat of the sun that warms the earth, the promise of summer and the freedom it gives us. It is change, metamorphosis, chemistry: the way a phoenix is reborn, the way one transmutes lead into gold. It’s the craftsman’s forge that makes raw material into something refined and useful. Fire is inspiration: a spark of life, or insight. It is the fire of the hearth: a warmth and a comfort, a gathering place for friends and family, the heat that cooks out food.

Deities or myths associated with it in my practice? I have a couple of deities I work with who are associated with Fire; they feel closest to Brighid and Gofannon the Smith, but I’m still feeling out my relationship with them.

How do I connect with this element? I connect to this element by lighting candles and watching their flames, by sitting beside a campfire with friends, by tracing the patterns of constellations in the night sky, by soaking up the warmth of the sun.

How do I use this element in my practice? I use a lot of candles in my practice. For me, candle magic is the easiest method of spells, because I just carve sigils into colored candles and light them to carry my intent. I keep fire lit on my altar: in a hearth-like piece and in the lantern devoted to my patron goddess.

What kinds of magic can be done with this element? Almost any kind of spellwork can use candles. I also give offerings to the fire to transform them from physical form to energy that is given to my gods. I light fire as guiding light. I offer myself into the metaphorical fires to be reforged and renewed (this would be like visualization work).

Air:

What does it represent? Air represents the realms of the mind: thought, communication, logic. It is clarity, truth, justice. It is the realm of the abstract and our capacity to think in the abstract. It deals with dreams, memories, prophecy.

Deities or myths associated with it in my practice? I can’t think outright of any deities I personally work with whom I associate with this element, though my lantern goddess and The Hunt both make themselves known with birds, clouds, and wind.

How do I connect with this element? My favorite method of connecting with this element is being up somewhere sort of high on a gusty day and letting the wind whip around me. Cloud gazing/scrying, and observing the night sky are also ways that I connect with this element.

How do I use this element in my practice? The element of air seems to be used mostly for omens and messages. I hear birds on the wind, see the riders in the storm clouds rolling in, feel the rush of the Hunt in a blustering. It lets me know that magic is afoot and that something is happening.

What kinds of magic can be done with this element? I like cloud scrying a lot: making note of what I see in the clouds and trying to interpret the images. I sometimes shout my worries to the wind to let them be carried far away from me.

Water:

What does it represent? Water is the realm of emotions, wisdom, peace, healing, depth. Water connects us to the ways between our own world and the other realms. It is the life blood of our planet, and so echoed in our own blood. It is the womb of the universe that gave forth all life. It connects us to the unseen, the mysterious, the realms of those gone before. It activates our intuition. It is ever-changing, ever ebbing and flowing. Where it brings peace, it may also smother the unprepared in its crushing depth and gravity. Water cleanses and heals.

Deities or myths associated with it in my practice? I associate my patron goddess with the water. I also associate water with The Oran Mor, and the primordial seas from which all life began. I also work with now and again with Manannan MacLir, whom is associated with the sea.

How do I connect with this element? My entire life has been spent around water: I grew up in freshwater marshes on the banks of a river, and alongside one of the largest lakes in the world. I’ve held a deep fascination with boats, sailing, and all things associated therewith forever. I connect to this element by standing barefoot in the rain, or wading through the cool muddy puddles that collect in my parents’ yard. I sit beside the river or marsh and write, draw, read tarot.

How do I use this element in my practice? Water for me has most been used for cleansing in my practice. I often stand out in a storm if I’m feeling overwhelmed or will use water to cleanse myself if a storm is not coming anytime soon. I sometimes float in a pool or a lake and let myself release all the tensions, worries, and negativity that I’ve been carrying around- this is also easy enough to do in a shower.

What kinds of magic can be done with this element? Healing, cleansing/purifying rituals can be done with water. I also like to scry with water, and will use water in my visualizations of moving between our own world and the realms where my spirit guides/gods dwell.

Earth:

What does it represent? Earth represents groundedness, stability, prosperity. It’s the realm of all the things we need on a physical and mundane level to survive: money, health, our food, shelter, etc. etc. It’s the foundation block we need to keep us steady and able to reach towards other things.

Deities or myths associated with it in my practice? I heavily associate my patron god/leader of the Hunt with the element of earth.

How do I connect with this element? I like to walk barefoot in the grass, sit beneath and talk to trees, work with clay, and meditate with crystals when it comes to connecting with earth.

How do I use this element in my practice? How don’t I use this element in my practice? I think at this point, my connection with the natural world has become so intuitive and so integral to my practice, that I don’t necessarily think about it often. But: I speak to and make friends with tree spirits, try to clean up local wild spaces, and go somewhere natural and green when I need to ground and find my center again.

What kinds of magic can be done with this element? You can use earth for things like: health, money, the home, care for your pets. Bury things in the dirt. Sculpt poppets or figures for offerings out of clay. Use crystals to focus your intent towards a certain energy. The possibilities are endless.

Spirit:

Truth be told, I don’t really use this element now that I’ve moved away from Wicca. For a long time I understood it as the culmination of the other four elements: where they merged and blended they created life energy. Spirit wove connections between the elements of Fire, Air, Water, and Earth.

In my current vocabulary, “Spirit” would be replaced by Nwyfre. It is vital force that flows through all things. It is the energy latent in every aspect of our universe. It is the humming melody of the Oran Mor, if you’re able to hear it. It’s not something that is outright used and accessed as the other four elements because it is inherent in literally everything. For me, it is more an element that is understood, in the sense that I acknowledge its presence in the world around me, and know that its intricate webs of song and energy weave between myself and all things.

[losgunna]

My page on full moons for the @2019grimoirecchallenge . The tabs to the right help me keep track of what I want to focus on with my magical studies each month. 🌕