#diy pocket altar

[jazmatazzzzzz]

🔮🧪💟🧙🏼‍♂️My wizard pocket altar 🧙🏼‍♂️💟🧪🔮

[somnambulant-seraphim]

I’ve been looking for the perfect tin to keep a pocket altar in, and I finally found one at a thrift store! :) The tin originally had a candle in it, so I melted it out with hot water and kept the wax for later, since it smelled so nice. 

I also covered up the picture that was on the tin. I embroidered a simple fern onto a scrap of fabric, cut it to size and used some super glue to attach it to the lid (I also roughed up the top of the lid a bit to make sure it sticks). 

These are all the items I have inside so far: black tourmaline, a penny, tiger’s eye, labradourite, an ammonite fossil, obsidian and an old key. I also cut out a piece of black lacey fabric as an altar cloth (also for a bit of padding). 

There’s definitely some other stuff I’d like to add, like some sort of candle with some matches, maybe some salt too. 

But if anyone has suggestions on what else I should add, feel free to say so, I’d love some ideas and feedback! <|:^] <3

[loveofself-witchcraft]

A Self Love Altar

picture found here

What is a Self Love Altar?

A self love altar is a place that represents your devotion to yourself. It is a physical representation of the love you have for yourself through items that symbolize you. It is a place you can practice self care or create magical workings regarding self love. It is a place to build a better relationship with yourself.

Where Do I Set Up My Altar?

The most important thing is to have a sacred place. This can be in your home, outside, a portable travel container, etc.

If you want to use a space in your home: Choose an area that is able to be free of distractions that would bother you. This can be in a favorite room of your house. It can also be as big of a space as you want. Some good options include a small shelf, the top of a dresser, the countertop in your bathroom, etc.

If you want to use an outdoor space: You can use a small space in your backyard. You can decorate this space to make it special to you: fairy lights, planting a garden with corresponding herbs like rose or lavender, sigils carved into a fence or nearby tree. A porch or patio can also work. You can get potted plants and paint sigils on the bottoms of them. If you plan to travel a bit farther, like to a nearby lake or a favorite spot in a forest, read about the travel altar below.

If you want to use a travel altar: You can use any container to pack your items. A basket or a tote bag with pockets for optimal organization are good options to carry a lot at once. A smaller and more discrete option would be a mint container. You could easily throw this into a bag or pocket to take with you on your travels. Bonus: because it is so discrete, it's a great option for those in the broom closet.

What Do I Include On My Altar?

Note that all of the items listed below are optional. Pick and choose what you want to include and what works for you and your practice. Some of these items can be found at your local dollar tree, 99¢ store, 5 below, etc. Others can be found on amazon, at your local metaphysical shop, or an etsy store. Find or diy what you can and want.

A mirror. You can use this to reflect where you are on your journey to self love in this current moment.

A picture of yourself during a happy moment. This serves as a reminder to yourself that good times have happened and are bound to come again.

A personal journal. You can use this journal for shadow work, writing down spells, writing diary entries, keeping a gratitude log, etc. I personally use mine to write letters to my past and future selves. I practice forgiveness and understanding when writing to my past self. I also use it to vent when writing to my future self. It's nice to go back and look at these letters and see how things worked out or unfolded and to remind myself that the universe has my back.

Magical workings. If you have a current spell that you are working on that centers around self love, keep it on your altar. I have a couple of spell jars on my blog, such as this self love one.

Divination items. You can use these to help you cue yourself into what you need most in life.

Candles or incense in a scent that corresponds to a specific intention that you have (i.e., rose for self love). You may wish to light this before beginning any working or journaling.

Crystals that correspond to your intention (i.e., citrine for increased happiness). These can be good to meditate with, use as worry stones, or charge the altar space.

Makeup and/or perfume. This can be good for glamour magic.

Self care items, such as things for facials or mani pedis. These items are good to take care of yourself. You can pamper yourself as a reminder that you deserve to have time to yourself.

An Important Note: Before Setting Up Your Altar

Be sure to cleanse the area of any negative energies. Wipe down any surfaces with a cleansing spray or charged oil. You can also use incense smoke. Charge the space with crystals, rose water, infused moon water, etc.

How Do I Use My Altar?

Feel free to use your altar the way you want to. Below are just some helpful tips that I typically do. Feel free to change anything or to follow them as you please.

Light your candles or incense. If you cannot use fire, opt to use digital candles on apps or youtube.

Write in your journal with whichever purpose you chose to use it for (shadow work, gratitude, letters, diary entries, etc.).

Think about what you wrote. How does it impact your daily life? If it is something negative, how do you want to grow from it? If it is something positive, how do you want to continue to manifest it?

Meditate on these thoughts. Imagine the good in your life and the goals you have manifesting. Imagine the negativity in your life being banished and leaving you for good.

If you practice divination, use any divination items you would like.

Decide on an affirmation or mantra for your day or week, depending on how often you want to change it. I like to use my altar once a week or more if I can. Each time I feel drawn to my altar, I like to manifest self love for the next couple of days with a newly chosen mantra.

Additional Resources

All About Shadow Work: a beginner's guide / a small list of prompts

All About Glamour Magic: a brief explanation / a couple example spells

[san-sews-seams]

DIY Handkerchiefs

Since I’ve been doing a lot of these recently (and I keep forgetting what dimensions I’m cutting) I figured I’d do a quick write-up of how I’m making my linen handkerchiefs.

I’m dIYing them because I specifically want linen fibers. If you just want cotton, you can honestly get them pretty cheaply wherever. I just have yet to find linen for less than like, $10 per hanky, and even that’s more like pocket square size. Without including the cost of my labor and equipment (because IDK how to estimate that) these come out to between $2-$8 each, depending on the size.

I started off doing the hems by hand, and have now switched to a rolled hem foot on a domestic sewing machine just because it’s WILDLY faster.

I use the lightweight linen (3.7 oz/yd2) from Fabrics-Store, and I usually buy 2 yards at a time for hankies. Dimensions are VERY approximate because it depends on your seam allowances etc.

For Medium: 14"x18", 16 per 2 yards

Divide width (58″) by 4 across

Divide length ( 2 yards /72") by 4

A great all-purpose largeish pocket size! My go-to, since it's a good compromise in terms of fitting easily in a pocket, while still being useful for drying hands or holding a sandwich or whatever.

For Large: 19"x24", 9 per 2 yards

Divide width (58″) by 3 across

Divide length ( 2 yards /72") by 3

Honestly an awkward size, as it's not quiiite a standard bandana. But if you want something large for a hanky,  or a smallish tarot/altar cloth, this is a good size.

For Extra Large: 26"x28", 4 per 2 yards

Divide width (58″) by 2 across

 Divide length ( 2 yards /72") by 2

This size is really a small tablecloth. I really only use this size for a tarot/altar cloth. It would be good for a little picnic cloth too, I think.

To cut: Skip the pre-washing on this one! I always do for garments and sometimes for quilts, but I’ve found that the sizing in the fabric as it arrives from the warehouse helps, and you have less ironing to do overall.

If you don’t have a huge cutting table and rotary cutter set-up, the easiest way to do this would be to fold your yardage to the desired shape and cut along the folds, cutting several layers at once. Honestly I don’t know how to describe this better, and since I doubt anybody but me will use this, I’m not going to try.

To hand sew: I used the Purl Soho rolled hem tutorial. Honestly, this goes very quickly and easily! The only caveat is that this goes much better if you draw threads to cut exactly on-grain, which is a huge pain in the ass. Aside form a needle and thread, the only extras I would recommend is some kind of thread gloss or conditioner (the end of a beeswax candle is fine). If you’re doing the large or extra-large, I might recommend a sewing bird, OR just pinning one end of the side you’re working on to your couch or a pillow to keep some tension going.

To machine sew: You want a rolled hem foot. I think the one I use is 6mm? It was in a large mixed set of inexpensive snap-on feet I ordered on ebay, and it works just fine. The only thing you might want help on is starting and ending the corners, which you should just look up on youtube.

[fernthewhimsical]

Travel altar challenge

I love making small altars to take with me, I have quite a few, but lately I've been feeling the itch to make a new one. @breelandwalker posted an article that really jumpstarted the creative process again. So I present to you: the travel altar challenge! I broke up the steps to creating a pocket altar into 19 weeks (or days if you have the spoons) and I'm planning on making a new travel/pocket altar for myself.

Will you join me in the challenge?

The list below is my basic list with some ideas added to hopefully inspire you. Feel free to leave out what doesn't work for you, add what you're missing and do things out of order if needed. Every number is a day/week, depending on if you want to go fast or slow.

pick a theme and/or purpose: This can either be for a specific power or deity, or can be for a specific kind of magic, such as sea witchery or kitchen witchery. You can also choose for a specific purpose instead, such as when you’re staying in a hotel/family home, or one that fits into your planner. Or if you want to make it more challenging, your theme can be the Starry Night by van Gogh, or an altar completely made of paper or clay.

make a list of what must be on/in an altar What are the necessities you need when practising magic? What would you like the altar to have?

choose a container Now that you have your list of necessities, you can guess a bit how big of an altar you need. You can choose a box, altoid tin, jewellery case, cosmetics case, crocheted bag, whatever you can think of.

decorate the outside if needed/wanted

decorate the inside if needed/wanted

representation of deity/spirit/animal/mythological creature/yourself a small focal icon for your altar. This can be an artwork glued into the lid or on a scrabble tile, a carved bead, a small statue made from clay, or simply a picture of yourself. Get creative!

divination method a tiny divination method that fits the altar. Think tiny tarot cards, a pendulum from a shell or ring, tiny runestones.

cleansing method this can be a herb blend that you sprinkle around, a cleansing spray, incense

offering blend either for your deities/spirits, or for the world around you as a thank you for using the space.

charging/anointing oil or water for when you need to make something you found – or yourself – more sacred or powerful

representation of the elements painted rocks or wooden disks, a feather, a leaf, a candle, and a shell, or instead of the elements something for the seasons, or the phases of the moon.

a SAFE candle holder and candle Fire safety is important, especially when you wish to use it outside or in someone else’s space.

incense something fragrant to set the tone. And again, fire safety is important!

altar cloth a thrifted scarf, a doily, a scrap of fabric, something to create a working surface with.

add a text/prayer/poem this can be on the inside of the lid, rolled up as part of the offering blend on a tiny piece of paper, or simply folded up as a reminder and to read aloud.

representations for your altar/sacred space boundaries painted stones or wooden disks, shells, specific crystals, anything to make a ring of protection for you and your work

add some beads prayer/focus beads, power jewellery, or strands of beads for charging, or perhaps a witch’s ladder.

Put it all together is there something you’re missing? Did you have everything on your list? Or are some things too big and do they need to be switched out?

Cleanse and charge your new altar!

Please join me in being creative this spring. Tag me if you make something, I would love to see it and share it with the rest of witchblr.

[lifeofawitch2020]

Pocket Altars

Pocket/Travel Altars

Okay imagine this scenario... You are leaving your home for the day and not thinking about doing any witchcraft until after you get your mundane tasks completed. You go shopping, pay bills, go to work/school etc...but you get a Desire to do something “witchy” right then but don’t have anything with you.

Yes I feel it is true that one doesn’t “need” any supplies to do magickal work -and yes I BELIEVE this. However what if you do if you want a little something with you? You make a travel/pocket Altar to keep with you. They are very easy and I personally love them!

Supply Ideas

🌟 A container that fits in one hand (easy to pack & take everywhere)

🌟 A candle or multiple ones (tea light & or birthday candles) think of multi purpose colors white and black

🌟 a small mini flameless tea light candle (dollar stores carry these)

🌟 Container of salt (use the free single use packages that companies have for To Go foods)

🌟 A small charm or drawing of a pentacle

🌟 Package of single use matches

🌟 Small container of plain water (be sure it doesn’t leak) I keep florida water in mine

🌟 A toothpick or small twig (little wand)

🌟 Incense cone or a piece of the stick type

🌟 Piece of fabric/felt (for your altar cloth)

🌟 mini pencil (use the free lottery ones from a gas station)

🌟 a sheet of paper or very small notepad

🌟 feather, shell, bone

🌟 few bay leaves

🌟 some twine or embroidery floss

🌟 Small crystal chips or stones

🌟 Eggshell powder (cascarilla powder)

🌟 pendulum

Okay I know what you may be thinking.... What container do I use? I love metal mint tins, metal card containers, kitchen match boxes (the larger matches), a small wooden box (craft stores sell these for $1.00-$2.00), metal gum containers, small plastic food containers ( the mini square or round ones).

🧙🏻‍♀️🧐

But what about the containers to put water, salt, etc... in? Many craft stores carry mini glass and plastic jars in their jewelry sections. Some of the jars & bottles have screw lids while others have cork lids.

🧙🏻‍♀️👍🏼

My advice to setting this up: use some paint, or magazine pictures to jazz it up on the exterior and or interior of your container. Gather up your supplies and think on the small scale- lay them out in front of your container. Remember about How You Practice your magick; if you don’t want to include items relating to the Elements don’t put them in there. This is for you to actually use when the mood or desire happens.

❤️🧙🏻‍♀️

#Altar

#pocket

Here are some examples and some ideas where to purchase a few things and two pics of my first one that I still use:

Candy Tin Ouija Mystifying Mints 1.5 oz https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005VG89QU/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_vA.uEbDVH9MAG

https://www.specialtybottle.com/metal-tin-containers/hinged/thn2

https://images.app.goo.gl/1quGiHkdsMwffah27

https://www.michaels.com/elemints-mini-glass-bottles-by-bead-landing/10473706.html

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/4c/e5/ab/4ce5ab55a880541df343892ad6284e1b.jpg

[vvickedvvitchcraft]

How to make your own travel-sized Tarot Cards in 10 minutes!

Hey everyone! I’m in the midst of fully designing my own tarot set, but I thought I’d make some to use in the meantime!

What you’ll need

Card stock, either patterned or plain (I used galaxy print but you can do your own design)

Copy paper and glue (optional)

Pencil

Ruler

Scissors

Pen

Okay let’s get down to it! I don’t have pictures but the instructions are so easy you won’t need them.

Use a ruler to divide your card stock so that you’ll have enough pieces for each card (22 for Major Arcana counting 0, 56 for Minor Arcana).

If you’re using a pen that might leak through the card stock later then do this on a piece of copy paper of the same size and glue it to the card stock.

Cut out each card and shuffle them (so that the pattern on the back is randomised)

Take your pen label each card.

If your cards are small like mine, then number them instead! ( don’t forget 0!). Place some marker underneath each number so that you can recognise reversed cards (like on 6 & 9 or 4 & 6 if you’re using Roman numerals).

If you’re not well versed with the cards then write out the number and meanings of each card and keep them with your deck.

Shuffle the cards and you’re ready to go!

There you have it! I love how my cards turned out, they fit into a matchbox so I can take them anywhere and I love how they look even though I was lazy cutting them out. Next time I think I’ll use tea stained paper on my card stock instead of copy paper to give them a more whimsical look.

Enjoy your new cards and please tag me if you followed my advice.

[indigobookofshadows]

I painted another tin! Thank you witch fam for all the support/kind words 😊 Apparently I’m into pastels lol

[theresa-gambit]

Inspired by @zhegypsy, today's altar fits inside a matchbox:

- Matches

- Halved yellow birthday candle

- Penny

- Dried four-leaf clover

- Amethyst shard

- Grey thread for knot magic

I have these matchboxes that look like banned books and I plan on filling them with tiny altars when the matches run out

[transmascwitch]

I made a pocket altar for a friend who's recently decided to become a witch! It's in a smaller container than an Altoids tin (It isn't as wide or as deep) but I managed to fit in the very basics!

contents:

Tealight candle (fire)

Seashell (water)

Pebble (earth)

Robin feather (air) (this was collected without harming the bird- I found laying on the ground while I was on a walk)

A penny

A small jar of Himalayan pink salt

A bag of bay leaves

A piece of quartz

Lighter

Pentacle charm made with wire and hemp cord

[a-magpie-witchling]

WOOT BROKE W(b)ITCH HAUL

HEY YOU

YES YOU

ARE YOU BROKE BUT STILL WANNA PULL THE THREADS OF THE ETHER AND DEFY THE ESTABLISHED LAWS OF MAN INVOKING THE ANCIENT MAGICK?

GOOD.

You and I are gonna go S H O P P I N G

But, Semiramis! I just told you I’m broke! I can’t get nice things!

*smack*

WRONG.

The world is full of wonders, one of them being

DOLLAR STORES

Remember sweeties, a witch’s best friend is scavenging.

Open your eyes. Look around. Scout your neighborhood.

But what about the things that I can’t get out on the streets!?

That’s what we’re shopping for!

Now before we move on, close your eyes… then open them again because you need to read the rest of the message… and repeat the following mantra:

THE CRAFT REQUIRES NOTHING. THE CRAFT REQUIRES NOTHING. THE CRAFT REQUIRES NOTHING BUT MYSELF.

No fancy ingredients, no pretty crystals, no expensive incenses will work better than your RAW HEART AND SOUL.

Mkay?

Now let’s go get some of that good shit.

How good?

Diz gud.

Now, it’s no mystery that a broke ass witch needs to pay a visit to the local dollar stores to get her materials every once in a while, but if you’re like me and live in a place where there are no dollar stores (and there are no dollars either) WHERE TO GO?

The answer is here:

CHINESE IMPORT STORES ARE YOUR NEW SANCTUARY.

These places are AWESOME for a witch on a budget, because they carry EVERYTHING. From toys to art supplies to kitchenware…

AND SPIRITUALITY SUPPLIES.

(That’s where we come in)

Speaking of budget, by the way. Let’s set one.

Say… $15?

FIFTEEN AMERICAN DOLLARS. I will take you home with some nice and rare goodies that will spice up your spells.

Let’s go in.

Oooh what a promising start. This here, my friends, are 25 grams of the purest coke Palo Santo wood. Don’t like it in its natural state?

They have it in incense too!

But we ain’t getting that shit. I’m allergic so I can’t burn anything scented or else I… die.

But know they’re there, as well as essential oils, and they’re quite accessi-

WHAT!?

28 BUCKS FOR A BOTTLE OF ESSENTIAL OIL!?

AIN’T NOBODY GOT CASH FO DAT

Nah I’m just kidding. This is the price in pesos, meaning that these oils are *math happens* $1.55 each!

What a D E A L

BUT THAT’S NOT WHAT WE’RE HERE FOR BECAUSE I’M SOON TEACHING YOU HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN OILS.

Also, holy shit…

You HAVE to see the candles aisle in this place.

They have them twirly

Large

Larger

The photo is not blury, you’re drunk

Scented

Scentless

Birthdayful

Oh hellooo thereee~

Twelve candles for $1.94 you say?

Meaning SIXTEEN CENTS A CANDLE?

Adopted.

Don’t let anyone tell you cheap candles don’t get the job done, people!

Plus they burn just as good.

NOW at this point the store was 10 minutes away from closing time, so I had to stop taking pictures to get my ass outta there, BUT

Here’s a look at what we got:

That doesn’t look too good, let’s add a F I L T E R

Those little crochet doilies that will serve as my new altar tablecloths? They were $0.55

But Amis! Those don’t look too witchy, more like what my grandma puts under her vases!

First of all, how dare you.

Second of all, how dare you.

Granmotherly stuff is witchy by D E F I N I T I O N. Embrace the grandma aesthetic, y’all!

Also:

If you’re poor you have to be CRAFTY. Look at that! It has a pentacle now. How long did it take? Literally 30 seconds! Imagine what we could do with a whole afternoon!

Ok, I admit it, that was a fiasco, BUT WE’RE ONTO SOMETHING THERE.

Let’s take a closer look at what else we brought, shall we?

This tiny chest is 7.5 cm wide x 5.5 cm tall x 5.5 cm deep (3 in x 2.1 in x 2.1 in) and will hold my pocket altar. It was *drum roll* $1.70!

I was getting tired of using my mom’s big ass scissors to cut my tiny delicate herbs, so I got myself this pair of snips! Price: $0.55 and they’re sharper than Tom Hiddleston’s style. Plus they serve a multitude of purposes, like shanking a bitch.

A quick stop by the crystal shop that was also closing (pfft crystal shop. Sounds like out of a fantasy novel, love it) yields the following goodies:

-Onyx ($0.55)

-Fluorite ($0.27)

-Snowflake obsidian (hard to get where I live. It’s kinda pricey at $2.20. I recommend other kinds of obsidian or maybe just black glass as I’ve been using until today, it still works awesomely. I got the obsidian because I wanted to experiment with it and my Mentor recommended me to get it, same as the fluorite).

-And the CUTEST little quartz formation. This one kinda defeats the purpose because it was a bit pricey. You don’t need it; any clear quartz will work the same.  It was $4.50 and it was my guilty pleasure of the month. It also came with a free satchel that’s most certainly going to be used with magickal results in the foreseeable future.

More of it because it’s so gorgeous ♥

Back to the fluorite! That shit is large and cheap! Well, you see, it’s kinda ugly because I was part of a larger stone and broke down the middle when they were trying to perforate it to make it into a pendant.

But check this hot babe out

W O R K I T

Coming back from the imports store, I paid a visit to my pot dealer erh I mean my herbs supplier. Got myself some ginger for $0.27

AND THEN

I SAW IT

Maybe they don’t package it like this in your country, but here this little shitty capsule is worth its weight in GOLD.

Y’all know what this is?

This is SAFFRON.

Now normally I steer fucking clear of things this expensive, but when I asked my dealer I mean the vendor she said it was on sale.

This stuff LITERALLY sold by FRACTIONS OF GRAMS. In this case that’s 0.2 grams of saffron, that’s 0.007 ounces. YES. ZERO POINT ZERO ZERO SEVEN. Insert here Bond reference

Retail price? Normally around $8 per capsule (EIGHT AMERICAN DOLLARS!)

How much on sale?

TWO DOLLARS.

A tip for the broke witch: hunt down for sales. Even if you don’t use the ingredients in your spells, you can still trade them with other witches or with anyone, really.

After this I went home and decided to try out my new candles.

And as I said, if you’re poor, you gotta get crafty!

I cut one of the candles in half. A part went to my pocket altar, and the other half…

I used one of those ceramic saucers with the little erh… lower level circle in the middle?

USE CERAMIC. THIS IS IMPORTANT. IT RESISTS TEMPERATURE WELL AND YOU’RE GONNA NEED IT.

Melt the wax in the microwave or on the flame and then make sure it stays in the center of the saucer. Then take it out and wait until it cools down (or put it in the freezer if you are an impatient little shit). DO NOT LET IT SOLIDIFY COMPLETELY.

Then you take it out and use a round cookie cutter (or if you’re a cheap ass like me, find something else)

I just used the styling nozzle of my hair drying because F U K D A P O L I C E

Put it again in the freezer and once it’s completely solidified use a spatula because you, my dear witch

Just made yourself a moon wax amulet!

Engrave it with your sigils, place it on your altar, carefully soften the bottom with heat and use it as a seal, the possibilities are endless!

BUT WAIT, WHAT ABOUT THE REMNANTS!?

EVIL EYE WARD!

The rest? Melt it again or use it as a poppet in case you wanna cast a spell over an onion ring…

By the end of the day, our haul is:

-Altar cloth $0.55

-Herbs snips $0.55

-Mini-altar wooden box $1.70

-Dozen of blue candles $1.94

-Ginger root $0.27

-Satchel $0

-Snowflake obsidian $2.20

-Fluorite$ 0.27

-Onix $0.55

-Quartz crystal formation $4.50

-Saffron Capsule $2

A grand total of $14.53!

Of our budget of $15 we still have $0.47 that where I live is enough for the bus ride back home!

If we take away the unnecessarily pricey stuff (the quartz and the saffron) we got everything for $8.03!

Now if THAT’S not magick, I don’t know what is!

 SOME FINAL TIPS!

1)      REUSE as many things as you can.

2)      MOVE THOSE FEET. I know it doesn’t sound appealing, but CHECK SEVERAL PLACES. Find the best prices by checking different stores and comparing.

3)      BE CREATIVE. If you find yourself in need of something you can’t afford, think and find a way to replace it or get it through other routes. As I said, witch trading is a thing!

4)      BARGAIN. There’s no shame in it, people! If you’re dealing with independent merchants and buy regularly/are buying a lot, try to get better prices! Don’t disrespect their business, though!

5)      REMEMBER YOUR MANTRA. Witchcraft requires NOTHING. Except you.

 Now go out there and work your Magick!

-Semiramis, the Magpie Witchling

[upthewitchypunx]

A Dabbler’s week of DIY Witchery

All us witches are steamed about the nonsense article where the person tried to become a witch in a week and concluded that we were anti-vax science deniers. We can all be annoyed at the article, but @asksecularwitch​ had a better idea to suggest what we would have someone do to explore witchcraft for a week or to dabble in witchcraft. There’s no shame in dabbling! How are you ever going to know if you like something if you don’t dabble?

So, here’s mine. I preface it with saying that I am an agnostic secular witch and I call my practice DIY Witchery. So, here’s how to explore that if it’s a think you might like doing.

Day 1: Clean your fucking room!

I’m not going to say what day of the week you should start. My weekend is Wednesday/Thursday so start whenever you want. You know what, you don’t even have to do this one day after another day if something comes up, just the idea that you intend to do all of it is a good start.

What you need: Tea light, safety pin, a match or lighter, a notebook, a pen, and a lot of work.

The first day of any project is almost always the most exciting one and the one that you are more inclined to put effort into. So, we are going to go big!

Clean your room! I mean it. Wash and put away your clothes, change your sheets, sweep or vacuum your floor, wash your windows, dust, change that burnt out lightbulb, take all the dishes out of your room,  take your trash out and I mean the trash literally and figuratively. While you are cleaning your room think about what you want to gain from a week of exploring witchcraft. What are your interests in witchcraft? Do you want to do spells? Do you want to feel more safe? Are you interested in self-care? Do you like plants/cooking/animals and think there is something more you can do with these interests in an esoteric or occult way? Do you just want to see what all this new age woo fuss is about? All of these are valid reasons so keep them in mind when we go on to the next step and also keep your mind open because all of these things could change and that’s okay too. Then, take a bath or shower and get all that cleaning grime off you. There’s a reason “shower thoughts” hit us the way they do. Our body is relaxed and processing things differently so keep thinking about those thoughts you’ve had all day and what you are going to do with them.

Do you have an altar? I’ll bet you do! It doesn’t have to be all candles, cauldrons, and goblets and shit. It could be a flat surface where you have trinket boxes you received as gifts or an area where you have photos of friends and loved ones, or maybe a desk with your computer which is like a link to the world. We all create these spaces because they are pleasing and they remind us of who we are. Sometimes these get cluttered with empty ice cream tubs, keys, receipts, random paper but that’s why you cleaned your room so you can keep this space clear for the week. For this week, we’ll call this space “your space”

It may have been a long day and you are probably tired but you are almost done. Look around your room and admire your work. Seriously, a deep clean is so much work but so fulfilling when it is done. Get yourself a snack (or order some food if your budget allows) and get something to drink and find a cozy place to sit with your notebook.

Okay, get your snack and your drink and get that tealight candle and with a safety pin or a knife or something and carve something into the candle like “witchcraft” or “witch week” or “let’s dabble”, basically something that states that this is something you want work on. Place that in your space and light it while you write in your notebook. Think about all that stuff you were thinking about while you were cleaning. What interests you in witchcraft? If there are any aspects of witchcraft that interest you, write that down. State that you are starting this DIY project in earnest and are actually interested in taking it on. Part of taking up this project is too look at the world in a new way. The world is full of tools that might be useful if you learned to look at them in a different way. This week if you feel the urge to pick up weird objects off the ground to be used later or things that catch you eye like an acorn cap, bottle cap, or a literal fork you find it the road, or even if you see an object you can afford to buy that you think might be useful, do it. These collected things will be used for a divination project at the end of the week. Collect them and place them in your space throughout the week and document where you find them. Keep in mind your commitment to this DIY project all week when you are making choices. Remember if you decide to change your goals that’s cool.

Day 2 - Energy, Grounding & Centering

Yesterday was a lot of work so today we are going to do a quick exercise called Gounding and Centering. A simple exercise that a lot of witchcraft books I started on always mentioned that seems to be out of fashion or just skipped these days. I find it is a good trick to keep in my pocket for when I’m am upset of scared or anxious and not just for casting spells or whatever.

The general idea is to feel energy moving or to at least visualize it or maybe understand it in a strange intellectual way. It’s good to keep you in the moment, for me at least. First, let’s talk about the body and energy and how weird it is that we are alive and how our body has all these electrical impulses shooting through our nerves and telling my fingers to type this right now, ya? Being alive is pretty neat. What does a process that happens without thought feel like? Put your hands/palms together less than an inch apart without touching and think about the feeling. is it warm? Is it prickly? Does it feel like magnets repelling each other? Move your hands back and forth with the same short distance between them. Do you feel anything? It’s okay if you don’t, just try it.  Write down your thoughts in your notebook.

This is what is called a visualization and sometimes people aren’t really into it or are unable to do it and that’s okay but at least give it a try  The traditional grounding and centering is to sit comfortably on the floor, in a chair, or on your bed in your beautifully clean room. Sit comfortably, relax your shoulders, unclench your jaw,  and notice your breathing, count to whatever numbers in and out that makes sense to you,  I like 3s but maybe 5s or 7s are more you jam? 

Traditionally your are supposed to visualize yourself as a tree with a tap root from the base of your spine going deep into the earth and drawing energy up and into your body as you focus on your breathing. This would be a way to draw energy for spell work but we aren’t going to do that so just send that energy right back where it came from. I actually like to physically touch my hands to the ground to shed excess energy. Maybe that visualization doesn’t work for you. It’s not really my thing. I imagine a specific location that is a watershed and all the water that falls for many square miles heads to the river, trickles through rocks to a specific place. I gather that and hold what I need and let what I don’t need pass though like the spillway of a damn. It’s more of a receptacle kind of thing for me. Maybe you like the idea of fire filling a room with warmth or the air down a canyon or some sort of science thing like water cycles, heat transference, or osmosis. Write down your thoughts about this experiement, try it a few times in one way and maybe a few times throughout this week.

Day 3- Perception and Animism

What you need: a bus pass and the ability to go outside, and your notebook

Part of this whole witch exercise is look at the world differently so go outside, talk to a tree, watch patterns in nature including humans doing human things like riding the bus or grocery shopping. Don’t wear headphones. Interact with strangers that approach you. Pretend they are NPCs in a video game. Take your notebook with you. Write down any thoughts that come to you about the things you see or feel. Write something on a piece of paper you want to get rid of like a bad date, a habit you would like to quit, an intrusive thought, and throw it away in the garbage in a public place and don’t look back. That’s a small kind of spell.  If you see some change on the ground pick it up. If you see anything of interest fallen on the ground and you feel comfortable picking it up take in home and put it in your space for later, do it. Maybe go to a thrift store and see if anything catches your eye. Does your space need a tealight candle holder? I like to say I go to thrift stores to see if anything ones to come home with me.

Animism is the idea that everything (plants, animals, houses, cars, pencils, etc) has a soul, maybe you don’t believe in souls, I’m a bit iffy on the topic myself. But I do believe things and places have unique essences that make them what they are. I like to call myself a “soft-animist”. Things are created with purpose like a spoon. How do you interact with the spoon doing a spoon thing? Why does a certain smell lift your spirit? Why do you even have a favorite color? This day what about interacting with the essences of things. Things move us without our thinking about it, how do you move things? How do you interact with the world? Write about it in your notebook.

Day 4 - Correspondences and Critical Thinking

What you need: the internet, critical thinking skills, and your notebook

This one might take some time and I kind of apologize but you do have a clean room and the internet so you don’t have to go find some shitty new age book in the bookstore. A lot of witchcraft and spellcraft is based on the use of correspondences for spell ingredients. You will see a lot of these lists that are like “rose quarts is for love” and “rosemary is for everything” or “the color blue is for tranquility and green is for prosperity but also fertility” You will just see lists of these things with no explanation and you are just supposed to memorize them I guess? If you get really detailed some will mention what astrological sign or planet they are associated with even the classical elements of Earth, Air, Fire, and Water. These elements show up in modern witchcraft a lot, they aren’t really my thing, but worth exploring even as a metaphor if you have the time. You’ll also see correspondences for days of the week and hours of the day or season of the year. These ingredients get put in jars, or sachets, or burned in spells. A Correspondence list is just stuff that is associated with a desired outcome of a of spell.

Some of these are based in astrological concepts or the movement of planets as observed through western mystery traditions. Some concepts of correspondences are filtered  through folk magic and the idea that like attracts like, this is called Sympathetic magic. It’s like what you did if you wrote a bad date on paper and tossed it in the trash the other day. See, you did a spell! There is also the Doctrine of Signatures stating that plants that look like things like a plant that looks like a heart is good for your heart or a plant that grows aggressively is good for making a spell to make something move faster.

This is why there are endless lists of correspondences. You can go look up some endless lists of correspondences to see what I mean. Does this sort of historical context mean anything to you? Does timing mean anything to you? What if you made your own correspondences? What would that look like? What if you hate the color orange because it was your ex-husband’s favorite color? Then chuck it out of the rainbow mix! Plants and other things are often gendered, why? 

Pick 3 herbs in your spice cabinet or a plant you found outside and look up the magical correspondence for it. Does it make sense to you? If not, what do you think would better represent a desired outcome? What colors, plants, flowers, sounds make you happy or sad, write that down.

Day 5 - Sigils

What you need: Pen and paper

I love sigils but the idea of what they are and how they work has been changing lately. I’m kind of old school with sigils. The idea is that you have a statement of something you want to achieve, but you write it in the present. Maybe you have decided you want to be a witch so you write “I AM A WITCH” now, drop the vowels, “M W T C H” now take those letters and turn them into a symbol, overlap the letters, make it look pleasing to you. There! You have a sigil. I like to keep these around for a few days until you forget what it was supposed to be. The idea is that you take in the idea of the symbol and it becomes part of you, then you burn it and the sigil is gone but still resides in you. There’s are lots of ways for sigils to operate these day it seems, some are charged through self pleasuring before being destroyed, some act like a sticker that you place on something and it stays there and is not destroyed, I just like to hang out with them subtly reminding myself of whatever the reason I crafted it. I highly suggest reading this article on Run Soup about sigils and images in general and how they affect humans.

Day 6 - Knot Spell

What you need: a length of swing or rope

This is a fairly simple folk charm. There’s a lot you can do with fiber art and magic but we’ll start here. Get a length of string, or dental floss or an old shoelace, whatever can be tied 9 times. If you wanna feel witchy, light the candle in your space in your clean room.  Think of something you would like to manifest like waking up on time to get to work early or remembering to water your houseplants, do that grounding and centering thing from day 2, then tie the length of thread in order as outlined in this image while saying each line of the spell. Now you would let go of that energy and eat some food. Leave the knotted string in your space. Write down your thoughts on the experience.

Day 7 - Divination

What you need: A book, some way to listen to music digital and all the stuff you picked up off the ground

When people think of divination they think of tarot cards or reading tea leaves but there’s lots of different kinds of divination and there’s no reason to fork over money for a tarot deck when it just might not be your thing. I don’t know how it works or why it works but I’m more inclined to say that our brain is paying attention to everything and we fixate on symbols and archetypes because they remind of what our unconscious has been sorting out while we’ve been sleeping. 

I’m going to suggest three forms of divination: Biliomancy, Shufflemancy, and Cleromancy. Pick one or pick all three if you feel like it. If you guessed bibliomancy was about books, you would be correct! Originally it was to use the bible but any big book will do, especially if the books means something to you. I have this lovely edition of Lord of the Rings that’s fantastic for this. Close your eyes, you can do the grounding and centering thing if you would like, think of a question, open the book to a random page, point your finger and read the line. Did you get some sort of answer?

Shufflemancy would be putting your music on shuffle and asking a questions for and for the next track to give you some insight. 

Cleromancy is divination through small objects. It often has to do with tossing the objects and observing where they land in relation to each other but we are just going to simplify it. Remember all that stuff you picked up off the street? You didn’t do it? That’s okay. Get a small bag or maybe a stock or something and gather some small object, the ones you found or some other objects that will fit in the bag. Ask a question, toss the bag around a bit and let one object fall out. What does that object mean to you? Was it something you found? Where did you find it and under what circumstances? Was it a gift from a friend or something that has special meaning? Write it down in your notebook.

And thus concludes your week of dabbling in DIY Witchery. Maybe you hated it, but at least you have a clean room.

[queercultleader]

Dollar Tree Witch Ideas

On a fairly recent trip to Dollar Tree, I found some more items that could be useful. If you’re interested in more budget friendly witchery, I have several posts about Dollar Tree tips and DIYs.

If you go to party stuff and look at baby shower items, you’ll find these little drawstring bags. They had different colors: white, a pale yellow, green, and pink. You can use these to create charm bags and even put tiny runes in. I recently used some navy beans to make mini runes for a pocket altar. For your charm bag, if you want to keep it pretty cheap, you can find herbs/spices at Dollar Tree as well. If you don’t own any crystals, I’ve mentioned before in the toy aisles you can find growing crystal kits. At Dollar General, I have found gemstone digging kits in toys. On a random note, also in the baby shower aisle, you’ll find little baby bassinets and things that might be symbolic and helpful for fertility spells.

Next, you can find mini travel spray bottles and lotion type bottles. I used a spray bottle to create an aura cleansing spray. I tied a ribbon from twine around it (also from DT), used a gold paint marker on it for decorating, and found an earring to put under the twine. It just made it look nicer.

I also found this blank wooden sign in the arts and crafts aisle. If you wanted you could remove the twine to hang it-- and create a pendulum board. I wanted to make a simple sign that says, “Welcome to my sacred space”. If you wanted, you could paint moon phases, something tarot inspired, something to pay respect to a deity, or whatever you like. I used watercolor, a sharpie marker, and a gold paint pen.

Lastly, in the seasonal fall and Halloween items, I saw this little decoration to hang from a doorknob. It reminded me of the Witches Bells protection charms. I have actually posted a DIY of how to make one and included an incantation in the post. If you don’t really want to craft, you could buy this from Dollar Tree instead.

[strangespacedebris]

how I practice semi-openly while still being a secret witch

As of right now, I currently live with others, and I prefer to keep the fact that I'm a witch on the downlow. However, this is less about hiding what I do and more about modifying and finding different ways to refer to it.

If you live in a household that isn't openly hostile to alternative spiritual practices, and your privacy is generally respected, but you're still not quite ready to openly admit you're a witch, here's a few ways I go about explaining my practice when asked wtf I'm doing.

If you have or want a permanent altar in your room, you can refer to this as your meditation/prayer space. I keep anything too obviously witchy off mine, so no pentacles or other symbols or items that might raise questions, but candles and incense slide under the radar with this approach for me. 

If you have deities or ancestors that you'd like to represent or dedicate space to, you can use abstract representations such as images/figures of animals, flowers and plants or simply a candle, crystal, or other inconspicuous item that correspond to them. Whatever your family or household’s religion is, you can also use associated imagery or symbolism in your craft as well, where appropriate. For example, to honor my great-grandmother, I keep a few of her old rosaries and a pocket bible on my altar.

Tying in with the meditation space idea, if you have that set up and want to practice but people are home and you're worried about being barged in on, just explain to them that you're going to take your meditation/prayer time and would prefer not to be disturbed. Since my family knows I’m in therapy and receiving mental health treatment, I’ve explained to them that regular meditation is a part of that recovery process and something I need the time and space to do uninterrupted and now I don’t have to wait to have the place to myself to perform work or worry about someone coming home unexpectedly early.

Generally just refer to your practice as meditation or prayer and most people won't bat an eye, since these terms are usually easier to hear than witchcraft. In my personal experience, being more open about the fact I am doing spiritual work, without going into details, I’ve raised less suspicion than when I was creeping around, clearly hiding something.

With spellwork and prayer, you do not have to say chants or incantations out loud if you are worried about being overheard. You can mouth the words, or simply think them with intent. Anyone that tells you that you must be verbal or need elaborate aesthetic rituals that are very obviously witchy to perform magick is on their high horse.

Arts and crafts can also be a form of spellwork, but to anyone looking from the outside it just looks like you're really crafty or into DIY. This is also a great way to personalize your altar/meditation space.

If your divination method of choice is tarot, there is loads of information out there about the psychological approach to tarot which can make it seem less like mystical fortune-telling and more like therapeutic introspection through pictorial prompts. I definitely practice reading with those I live with using this approach, and at the very least it doesn't raise any alarm bells to have my decks out in plain view anymore. Prior to this though, I practiced reading with standard playing cards, which just looks like a game of solitaire.

Most witchy interests can be passed off as non-magickal hobbies. Honoring and working with nature can be environmentalism or gardening, working with crystals can just be a rock collection. Kitchen witchcraft is just an interest in cooking. An interest in space, the ocean, mythology, etc. doesn’t necessarily mean you’re a witch and most people won’t assume it does unless you give them a reason to tie it to witchcraft.

Of course, your living situation might be different than mine. If you live in a stricter household or if your boundaries and privacy are often violated, some of these methods might still not fly with those you live with. If you need more secrecy to keep yourself safe, then that's 110% okay and doesn't make you any less of a witch! Use your best judgement about what works best for you and your circumstances. Do not put yourself in danger or at risk for the sake of what you think your craft is supposed to look like. I just see a lot of posts geared towards those either working in deep secret or those working completely openly, and I wanted to throw out some tips for anyone else living between those two extremes.

And of course, feel free to add on to this if you have any other tips for those of us in the middle.

[iant0jones]

so im pretty sure that you're a witch so,,,, do you have any tips on how i could start that while trying to keep it secret from my parents? im fairly certain that they would get mad at me if they found out since theyre really christian and i am Not. please dont feel pressured to answer this it's not a big deal

I’m by no means an expert on witchcraft (not even fucking close) but I’m definitely not out to my parents about it, so I’ll help as much as I can. I’m pretty lucky because I’m at college and therefore not home for most of the year. I have a single dorm so I can read witchy books, do tarot readings, have an altar, etc. in the privacy of my own room and never have that disturbed. I don’t know what your circumstances are, but

If you’re afraid of buying books and having to hide them, there are a lot of pdfs of books, youtube series, and podcasts on witchcraft online that are very easily accessible and free!

witchcraft is an excellent practice if you’re into DIY and don’t have the money to splurge on fancier things because a lot of it has to do with the energy you put into the work, so making crafts personalized for you with certain colors, symbols, and materials that are discreet or can be hidden from view easily is a good idea

things you can fit in your pocket are fucking great. Like I’ve got a shit ton of tiny crystals that I can carry around with me and no one's the wiser because they’re hidden away in my pocket. And collecting crystals isn’t that suspicious because frankly who doesn’t love a cool looking rock

if you’re interested in keeping a book of shadows, they don’t have to be fancy by any means. Any old notebook will do

plants? herbs? good shit

honestly it’s really about your intention. There’s so much you can just do inside of your head in the quiet of your room at night, or even in the bathroom if that’s more private. I’ve been dipping my toes into Hellenic polytheism recently, trying to see if it’s right for me. It being close to the end of the semester, I don’t have a lot of time to do lengthy rituals or research, so sometimes the best thing I can do is put in my coffin earrings or buy some pomegranate juice and let Hades and Persephone know that I’m doing those simple acts for them. If you’re not interested in deities, similar symbolic stuff like that can work for witchcraft in general

I’m not really sure if this helped at all but there’s a lot you can find on the internet if you’ve got more specific questions. I can help you with some things, especially if anything I said needs more clarity, but I’m honestly so new to everything and there are so many people with books, youtube channels, and podcasts who can explain this stuff so much better than I can, especially if you’ve got questions that are more specific

[doomedandstoned]

Oakland Doomy Bluesers Phantom Hound Roar ‘Cross The ‘Mountain Pass’

~Doomed & Stoned Debuts~

By Billy Goate

Album Art by Molly Stetson & Heather Hughes

I live not far from the railroad and there's something very comforting about hearing a train roll in. It's appropriate that the might and roar of that metallic convoy be responsible for opening the new record from PHANTOM HOUND.

We met them some years back, when the Oakland doom and power blues trio dropped, 'Phantom Hound' (2016), their debut EP. Now Jake Navarra (guitar, vox), Stephen Rogers (bass guitar), and Jack Stiles (drums) are back with a full-length: 'Mountain Pass' (2020). The new spin showcases a sound that's genuinely enticing, much like Guns 'n' Roses' Appetite For Destruction was when I first heard it at age 12 (the first cassette I had to buy clandestinely from my parents).

The riffmaking, from leads to solos, is strong with Mountain Pass, driving each track forward like a mighty engine, from the rush of an opener "The Northern Face" to the grinding blueser "Thunder I Am," the chugging pistons of "Irons In The Fire," and the Matt Pike-like filigrees of "The Southern Face."

Jake's powerful pipes fall somewhere in between Chris Cornell's soaring medium range, the raspy grit of Finnish vocalist Olli Suurmunne (Kaiser, Altar of Betelgeuze), and the commanding force of Australia's Chris Fisher (Field, Lamassu).

You ain't gonna bring me down You ain't gonna bleed me out You ain't gonna kill me now You ain't gonna snuff me out

In fact, if you liked Kaiser's '1st Sound' (2018), this would make a very nice companion.

A pleasant acoustic interlude, "Grace of an Angel" gives us a rest stop from the treacherous uphill journey, leading to the album's expansive namesake track and a very overcast second-half. "Devil Blues" is quite effective in conjuring the rough terrain of the California mountains and the sense of aloneness one feels when traveling deep into the wild.

Steady return into the dark Dealing again my hand the card A whisper, a spark, and a flame Has bitten me again Killing me again the same

We've now travelled from "The Northern Face" to meet "The Southern Face," the Mountain Pass closer. It's a doomy one for sure, though the intrepid tempo gives the sense of determination that this journey will be finished.

"Overall this record is about survival and living for every moment," the band told Doomed & Stoned. "A gritty reflection on what is required to actually live your life rather than be a slave to it."

And now, Doomed & Stoned is pleased to bring you the premiere of Mountain Pass by Phantom Hound, ahead of its wide release on Saturday, March 28th (pre-order here).

Give ear...

Mountain Pass by Phantom Hound

Track By Track: A Listener's Guide to Mountain Pass

We asked the guys to give us a walk-through of each number on Phantom Hound's new album. We got more than we expected and are delighted to share this in-depth breakdown with you from frontman Jake Navarra.

The Northern Face

This song started off early writing sessions for the record as a new riff when I bought a new Jazzmaster not long after that Rob Zombie show. The riff was written hours before my first audition in two years as something aggressive and impressive to take to them. The guys I jammed with didn't get the vision and we didn't click in general so I put it in my back pocket. I brought it home and kept working on it though. My love of all things Alice in Chains carved this track out to serve as our "Them Bones" This main riff would later serve me again on a second song "The Southern Face" I used the main riff from "The Northern Face" as a bridge riff after the second chorus outro in "The Southern Face" but since the song is in B-Standard on the Baritone guitar its nearly unnoticeable. The songs became the beginning and the end of the record pretty early on. Lyrically the song serves as a cry of raw life. The idea being that, we are born into this world and its a fight to stay here. Climbing the northern face is a metaphor for the listener to be the train that has set off to see its railroad completed. (Drop D)

Thunder I Am

I grew up watching old westerns with my grandpa and my old man. There's nobody that doesn't relate to Clint Eastwood's characters and this songs a direct tip of the hat to the attitude portrayed in nearly all of his films. Thunder I Am is essentially that sense of justice that will always rain down. The song wrote itself when I first plugged this guitar into my Orange. Heavily inspired by Down and Soudgarden. (B Standard)

Irons in the Fire

This song directly reflects a love for Down & Pantera. Lyrically a direct reflection on how hard our members work on a daily basis and what it takes to make a band happen these days with all the different DIY elements band members have to juggle. We can never loose faith in ourselves or let the idea of a dream die out. We simply have to stoke the fire and keep it burning at all times. We put some southern style groove at the end of this song to pay homage to some dime style breakdown riffing. (B Standard)

You Don't Know Death

This song was written during The Ether era. How it survived is beyond me. It's tough, fast, and sharp as a dagger so maybe that helped. Lyrically a reflection on the overwhelming amount of death worship. I don't feel like a lot of bands really know what they're talking about sometimes but I was also much younger when I wrote it and far more angsty. I was craving diversity from metal at the time. I simply want life to be valued at its core. Perhaps the opposite of how it sounds I guess. (Drop C Standard)

Grace of an Angel

Throughout 2018 my step mother battled liver cirrhosis. She turned 67 on Dec 11th and passed away two days after Christmas on Dec 27th. She was in my life for 20 of my 30 years and was nothing short of an angel. She brought children into this world for over 30 years in the medical industry working as an RN for Kaiser Permanente. She never drank, smoked, or swore. She retired around the age of 64 and almost instantly got sick. She did her part for a transplant but was denied a liver through the waiting list. It was the single most painful experience of my life as I was there through the end holding her hand and looking after my old man as we all watched helplessly on the wayside. During her pain and suffering she never lost her integrity and showed more strength in her final hours than I think anybody could truly understand. People leave this world in many different ways but she did it as gracefully as only an angel could. I wrote this only weeks before the end. Steve is playing a Fender Rhodes and Jack added some light drums on it. I did more takes of this than any other track on the record. (Drop C)

Mountain Pass

This song started off during the years I walked away from music as the only thing I would play on my only instrument which was the acoustic that I kept. Occasionally I thought of a record that could capture the sound I always wanted to make combining heavy influences and trying to really make a grand opus. Something long and stoneresque calling on some Matt Pike meets Jerry Cantrell riffage. As the years went by and the idea for this record started to form it really honestly felt like we were struggling at every turn to see this record through. Life changes, career changes, the economy, the price of living, the music industry. Its been a struggle for many. This song is an anthem to all of the blue collar workers and dream of the builders putting one foot in front of the other to see their journey through. We have to set examples sometimes or nothing will change. (Drop C)

Devil Blues

This song is tip of the hat to The Blues. When I started playing guitar again I decided to play with a fire and make sure above all else that we were having fun in this band and having fun at our shows. Life is incredibly short and that's all there is to it. This song is about giving into The Blues and letting that feeling live inside you and remind you to stay out late, spend the extra money, go look at the stars, and jump into the ocean. (B Standard)

The Southern Face

The journey ends here. We've fought, we've struggled, we've survived the perilous journey of life and you're all the stronger and wiser for it. a reminder that you did it with your own two hands, your wit, and that not everybody made it. It's not a perfect story and it didn't work out well for everybody. We took losses and we made gains. And when you're done its time to reflect and count your blessings. This song is a steep descent into a smooth arrival back at the destination you set out to reach. This song wraps up the story entirely and leaves a sneak peak for what's to come. You can hear Steve's wizardry as his psychedelia morphs into a trance-like sense of closure and clarity until the train drops you off and carries on. (B Standard)

Wrong Turns & Second Chances: Interview with Phantom Hound

Every band has an origin story. Sometimes if you dig a little beyond the surface and get to know the musicians behind the music, their stories become surprisingly relatable. As Doomed & Stoned is all about both the music and the stories of the heavy underground, we were curious to know more about a lesser known band with a huge sound and grand ideas called Phantom Hound. We got the scoop from frontman Jake Navarra.

The Beginning

We formed in 2013 under the name Hound. Keith Hernandez (bass and engineer) and Dominic Torres (drums) did The Ether EP with me but not long after we recorded and started mixing I got into a motorcycle accident at the end of 2014 and decided to walk away from music altogether. I had been playing music for 10 years at this point and in part of the collapse of my previous band Cast Iron Crow and the continued struggle to keep a band going in general felt that my time as a musician was done. I fucked up my right shoulder and tore my ACL in the crash, had to get reconstructive surgery on my knee, and learn how to use my left leg all over again during recovery.

Because of this and the inability to play any instrument at all I sold off all of my gear except for my acoustic guitar in order to help pay my bills and for nearly two years never looked back. It was in summer of 2016 that I found myself with some free tickets for Rob Zombie. I took my older brother out to see him as we grew up listening to White Zombie and Rob Zombie from all the old Twisted Metal video games growing up. There was a brief moment when John 5 came out on stage at the beginning of House of 1000 Corpses.

The stage went dark and a spotlight came down upon him and he had this glow in the dark Telecaster with the TV screen in between the pickups while an old horror movie was playing on it and had the whole arena at his attention with that ominous riff. My brother elbowed me and said "You're telling me you don't wanna do that anymore? That doesn't look fun to you?" a light bulb went off that night and I called Kieth Hernandez a few days later to dust off The Ether mixes and we spent the fall dialing it in and finishing what we started. I ended up getting introduced to Oz Fritz who's worked with Les Claypool in the past and has some ties in the East Bay Area. I released it digitally that Christmas as a present to close friends and family.

The Rebirth

At the start of 2017, I wanted to really get back into playing again and struggled for some time to secure a lineup. I had two line ups of close friends help me get the ball rolling and things were off to a slow start for a while as we only had the EP material which was written on a Fender Jazzmaster. In the early months of 2017 I acquired a guitar that changed everything. The Hagstrom Viking Baritone. As soon as I plugged this guitar into my amp "Thunder I Am" was the first thing that came back out of it. "Devil Blues" was second and "The Southern Face" was the third. These three songs became the basis for what would become Mountain Pass and for a year-and-a-half my renewed interest in guitar and the blues pumped new life into the band. We played two shows this year and survived only by a slow pulse.

Paths Converge

It wasn't until I met Jack Stiles (drums) in March of 2018 through craigslist and that things got serious. He was the first person in 5 years that was as motivated as myself about the project and we set out to overhaul the band immediately. Jack (44) is a business owner of 10+ years, married, and a father of two little ones with more energy than most people my age (30). Jack has been a drummer for less than 5 years and a bass player of 20+. From sheer motivation he's answered the call and taken every challenge I've thrown his way. Jack strictly plays Ludwig classics and has shaped his playing around the hooks and rhythms these songs call for. A general love for all things music he's been one of the single most important musicians to ever share the stage with.

Through Jack we met Steve Rogers (bass) a few months later in June of 2018. Steve is a guy as casual as they come. (43) 100% Irish. Here's a guy who backpacked the John Muir trail in 8 days and shrugs his shoulders over his accomplishment when you bring it up. An established sound engineer with Dolby in San Francisco he's one of the friendliest people I've ever met. At the time he was pretty upset with his previous audition with some other band because they told him he didn't have the right image. Their loss, our gain. Steve's unwavering dedication to his bass tone filled a huge gap in our sound and with his Ampeg SVT and Music Man offers a brutal low end I didn't realize these songs couldn't benefit so much from. During the recording sessions Jack and I marveled at his ability to convey how these songs should expand with our engineer Chris Hughes. His sense of temp and atmosphere is responsible for all of the psychedelia and the keys hidden in 'Mountain Pass" and "Grace of an Angel."

Phantom Hound, Jake Navarra, and Mountain Pass

In late summer of 2018, the three of us went straight to work. At this time the name "Hound" had become convoluted and our music simply couldn't be found. After much deliberation and research we expanded the name to Phantom Hound. Symbolically this further represented the folklore surrounding the concept of why I chose "Hound" in the first place. Everything from Hell Hounds of the south capturing elements of The Blues, Black Shuck 's and Phantom Hounds of the UK and America to the mighty Cerberus going all the way back to Greek mythology. The Phantom Hound is essentially a guide/gatekeeper between worlds of the living and the spiritual underworld. We felt this helped us fully mature into our sound as were a bit of a mutt ourselves in the sense that we don't particularly fit in anywhere but get by everywhere so far.

As the main guitar player, vocalist, and songwriter it is my primary goal to try and compose records with expansive styles highlighting what the guitar can offer a listener. My own personal inspiration comes a lot from the classic rock I grew up on as a kid like so many, Seattle grunge, Mississippi and Chicago Blues, NOLA sludge, Italian and East Coast Jazz, Californian desert and stoner rock, and even the eclectic resurgence of all things metal in the local Oakland scene.

After rebuilding throughout the summer of 2018 on what had now become the 4th lineup of the band and the 1st lineup of Phantom Hound we came back up for air renewed and rebranded. We spent the winter of 2018/2019 performing, writing, shaping, and designing our brand. Our love for westerns, camping, backpacking, and history brought us to the Theme of "Mountain Pass," which is a loose concept record comparing one's personal journey through adulthood and all of the challenges one faces during those years to construction of the Transcontinental Railroad. In its essence: A perilous journey inward and mission for oneself to see through to its completion.

Producing Mountain Pass

2019 was the biggest year for us by far. We went into the studio with my friend Chris Hughes in May. About 10 years earlier I met him through an old friend back in college down in southern California. During that moment in time I was discovering Sleep's Jerusalem and was so stoked on Sleep I gave it to this transplant from Denver who wanted to get his hands on anything heavy and stoner metal related. Life went on and I didn't see him again for 10 years. During that time he continued to date and eventually marry an old friend of mine from High School and pursue audio engineering up here in the Bay Area at Expressions.

Somewhere along his journey, Chris got connected with the boys in the South Bay in KOOK and they hired him to produce their first album "Kook" and again their follow up "Kook II". This time however and the reason I mention this part of the story is that KOOK is well acquainted with Billy Anderson who came down from Oregon as the executive producer on the follow up record. Chris was able to shadow Billy in these sessions and learn and assist with much of the engineering on this record.

So after not seeing Chris or my old friend Heather we bumped into each other at Bevmo here downtown in Oakland to buy some beer. We instantly caught up having one hell of a laugh that after all these years the chance encounter we had over Sleep led him to working alongside Billy Anderson himself. With Chris fresh off the sessions of Kook II and Phantom Hound locked and loaded with Mountain Pass, everything lined up right and we went into the studio together at Airship Laboratories in Richmond, California and recorded nearly everything but the vocals in the same room Metallica recorded S&M and had a blast combining all our knowledge together and reconnecting as friends.

Chris Hughes took our record to extraordinary levels and our songs gave him a solid platform to apply his newly acquired skill sets on. We continued to perform all throughout the year with as many bands around town as possible as we built our relationships and earned a place here in town. In September of 2019 through Chris Hughes we were introduced to Jeff Wilson from Kook, Heavy San Jose, and Glory or Death Records and got on the bill for his annual Beers in Hell event. This was single handedly the most important gig of the year for us last year as we got to play with tons of killer bands and open for Hippie Death Cult, Kook, Disastroid, Holy Grove, and High Tone Son of a Bitch (which included Billy Anderson on Bass that night). We then played again with Hippie Death Cult in Pacifica a few weeks later and hit it off as friends.

Mastering Mountain Pass

After mixing was completed and our shows for September were wrapped up, we took off into Nevada City to reconnect with Oz Fritz at Ancient Wave Studios. This place is located down a long dirt road deep in the woods of Gold Country. A perfect relaxing place to kick back and watch the record come to life. Oz Fritz worked with me on The Ether EP. He's worked on Primus's Antipop, several Tom Waits records, and Miles Davis to name a few. Oz is straight to the point and gets down to business quick. He was stoked on the variety of the songs he was working with and added a great layer of warmth that comes through the best on vinyl as we've heard with our test pressings. There is a photo attached of us at Ancient Wave with him working his magic. He was once asked by Tom Waits "This mix sounds great but...it needs more brown" and so he figured it out.

The Northern Face Music Video Shoot

In October, we took off to Soda Springs and rented a cabin during filming for the music video. As I mentioned above we filmed in a historical landmark. You can see us at the entrance of Tunnel #6. If you look Closely you can see the scars on the granite as if the black powder and dynamite just blew it up yesterday. The town behind me on the cliff is Truckee and the lake below is Donner Lake. It is my goal to bring our listeners into the outdoors and feel the dirt in their hands and the smell of the woods.

Tragedy nearly took place though as after we finished filming all day on Saturday and celebrating all night Saturday night. What we thought were minor electrical issues with the house itself turned out to be a near fatal one when an electrical short in the gas fireplace sparked around 3AM. The fireplace caught fire thus lighting the outside of the house and chimney on fire proceeding to fill the house with smoke while 9 of us were fast asleep.

At 3:30 AM the smoke alarms went off like a symphony and we scrambled to find the source only to quickly determine that the fireplace was the problem. Black smoke poured out everywhere from behind the fireplace and we used two fire extinguishers in an attempt to put out the flames. What we didn't know and couldn't see was that the fire crept up all the way through the chimney in between the interior and exterior of the chimney. And just like that, within 10 minutes we started evacuating the house and helping each other clear the place out of our belongings, instruments, film equipment, and vehicles. The Truckee Fire Department came out and went to work and kicked ass on the fire while we assisted with information on how the fire and extending the hoses until reinforcement arrived.

In the end we all got out ok and luckily nobody had to go to the hospital. We all got smoked out pretty bad and were pretty shaken up. It was the real deal 100%. That house was on its way to burning down the house. That's the story behind the home footage at the end. If you look closely the entire house is billowing with smoke. We were all fast asleep about 40 minutes before that was filmed.

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