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Feeling Like Myself

Have you ever been in a haze for so long you feel like that’s your new personality? But then you do something totally random and your old self wakes up and stretches a little, telling you what you thought was dead was only sleeping?

I did this random “Paint and Sip” thing tonight because a customer at my work told me I should… The haze lifted for a moment, my long-sleeping artistic side stretched and yawned, and I felt the tingle of magic course through me for the first time in months. I started to doubt myself because my favorite plant started to die and I’ve had no want to make so much as a cup of tea in my kitchen (a big thing for a kitchen witch). Could I really call myself a witch if I couldn’t practice? Could I even answer to the same name if I couldn’t tell you exactly who I was?

Now I finally feel confident in the fact that, practicing or not, I’m a witch. And my name will always be my name because my identity is allowed to fluctuate and grow to something new. Even if I feel like my life is in a haze, I’m still myself, and I’ll be myself even if I don’t feel like me for the moment.

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Ilton Temple, Masham, Yorkshire, 14.8.17.

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i miss the era where rapist and pedophile men were rounded up and slaughtered at a festival in honor of the goddess artemis, protector of girls

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A Folk Witch Library

Hidden like Viking gold under the landscape there is a rich body of nearly lost folkwitch tradition hiding in plain sight on the internet. Particularly in the 18th and 19th century antiquarians, folklorists and ethnologists documented the rural and occasionally urban folk beliefs of practically all of the UK and much of Europe. Organizations like the Folklore Society, founded in 1878, were created to help catalog and publish this body of collected ethnological data. A vast repository of a spectrum of witch and cunning craft practices.

Below are a list of links to various sources on the internet. The non Abramhamic roots of British folk traditions date from an era of Celtic settlers, and thus much of the spirit tradition concerns beings we now collectively call “fairies”, though their origins and nature differ greatly.

Books Available Online for free:

Folklore Society/Folk-Lore Journal:

Over 100 publications made by the Folk-Lore Society can be found on Archive.org. Unfortunately these are mostly unsorted, although they represent a massive amount of folkwitch information. Particularly in the realm of curses, hexes, salves, second sight, and boundary magic.

I will be launching a separate blog dedicated to delving into the contents of the Folklore Society’s publications in the next few weeks. In the meantime - Happy digging: Link to archive of FOLKLORE JOURNAL

Books whose content focuses on first-hand accounts of folk traditions, alpha by author. (* denotes particularly important titles)

Richard Blakeborough - Wit, Character, Folklore and Customs of the North Riding of Yorkshire (1898)

J G Campbell - Witchcraft & Second Sight in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland (1902) - Superstitions of the Highlands & Islands of Scotland, Collected entirely from Oral Sources (1900)*

Edward Clodd - Tom Tit Tot - an essay on savage philosophy in folk-tale (1898)

Oswald Cockayne - Leechdoms, Wortcunning, and Starcraft of Early England (1864)

Thomas Crofton Croker - Fairies Tales and Legends of the South of Ireland (1834)*

John Graham Dalyell - The Darker Superstitions of Scotland (1834)*

Walter Evans-Wentz - The Fairy-Faith in Celtic Countries (1911)

Richard Folkard - Plant Lore, Legends and Lyrics (1892)

W. Gregor - Notes on the Folklore of the North East of Scotland (1881)

Lady Gregory - Visions and Beliefs in the West of Ireland (1920)*

William Henderson - Notes on the Folk-Lore of the Northern Counties of England and the Borders (1866)*

Thomas Keightley - The Fairy Mythology (1828)

Robert Kirk - The Secret Commonwealth (1893, written 1691)*

Fiona Macleod (William Sharp) - Where the Forest Murmurs (Nature Essays) 1906

James Napier - Folk Lore - Superstitious Beliefs in the West of Scotland within this Century (1879)*

Sir Walter Scot - Letters on Witchcraft and Demonology (1884) - The Existence of Evil Spirits Proved (1843)

Charles Kirkpatrick Sharpe - A Historical Account of the belief in Witchcraft in Scotland (1884)

Wirt Sikes - British Goblins Welsh Folklore fairy mythology legends and traditions (1880)

Eve Simpson - Folklore in Lowland Scotland (1908)

Benjamin Thorpe -Northern Mythology, Comprising the Principal Popular Traditions and Superstitions of Scandinavia, North Germany, and the Netherlands Volume 1 Volume 2 Volume 3

Lady Wilde - Ancient Legends, Mystic Charms, and Superstitions of Ireland * Volume 1 Volume 2 Volume 3

Thomas Wilkie - Old Rites, Ceremonies, and Customs of the Inhabitants of the Southern Counties of Scotland (1916) (History Of The Berwickshire Naturalists’ Club Vol 23 1916-18, pages 50-145)

Suggested books that are unfortunately in copyright or otherwise not currently available online:

(Links to goodreads and worldcat.org)

Katharine Briggs - The Anatomy of Puck (1959)* - Pale Hecate’s Team (1962)* - Fairies in English Tradition and Literature (1967)

Thomas Davidson - Rowan Tree and Red Thread (1949)

George Ewart Evans - The Pattern Under the Plow (1971)* - Ask the Fellow Who Cuts the Hay (1965) - The Crooked Scythe

Harold Hansen - The Witch’s Garden (1978)

DA Mac Manus -The Middle Kingdom (1959)*

Emma Wilby - Cunning Folk and Familiar Spirits: Shamanistic Visionary Traditions in Early Modern British Witchcraft and Magic (2005)* - The Visions of Isobel Gowdie: Magic, Witchcraft and Dark Shamanism in Seventeenth-Century Scotland (2010)

C. L. Zalewski - Herbs in Magic and Alchemy: Techniques From Ancient Herbal Lore (1990)

Misc Short articles:

Frederika Bain - The Binding of the Fairies: Four Spells (2012)

Thomas Forbes - Witch’s Milk and Witches’ Marks (link to pdf)* (Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine, XXII 1950)

Fae Honeybell - Cunning Folk and Wizards In Early Modern England (2010) (link to pdf)

Canon J. A. Macculloch - The Mingling of Fairy and Witch Beliefs in Sixteenth and Seventeenth Century Scotland (Folk-Lore/Volume 32/1921)

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Hey, how do i get over the fear of working with spirits? Whenever i lay a compass and call in my ancestors, the genis locii etc i always feel a twinge of fear and it tends to distract me from what im doing. Btw, youre an extremely talented musician!

With regard to fear, it’s totally normal. If gore not at least a little afraid, you’re not doing it right, so congrats, you’re doing it right! The important thing is not to try and ignore it, but to acknowledge it. Once you acknowledge the fear for what it is, it won’t make it go away but you’ll find it’s a touch easier to keep doing what you’re doing. When it distracts you, that’s when you acknowledge it. If I get really freaked out, I’ll just sit with it for a minute. You get to a place where you want to panic and run, and that’s when the fear breaks, and it’s like a high where everything comes alive, and you suddenly realize that everything is actually real. It’s a hard moment, but one that is important for a practitioner who struggles with fear.

And thank you for your kind words 😅

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Modern Male Witch Project: Masterpost

A personal project that has become very important to me: male witches in their private dens, with their belongings surrounding them that show what kind of person they are and what kind of magic they practice. I try to make every single peace emit peace and comfort, but with a magical twist!

Separate pieces

Bedroom witch | Bathroom witch | Kitchen witch | Home Office witch | Attic witch

Buy prints on Redbubble and Society6

Buy me a Coffee!

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Month Of Halloween: October 10th

Previous posts: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

I always think October is an amazing month to reflect on enacting positive change in your life not just for yourself, but for others. So here is a spread for that!

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How to color eggs with onion shells.

This must be the most beautiful DIY tutorial I have ever seen. And it so happens to be in style of this weekend. Found on Ulicam, a very nice blog by Ulrika Kestere, photographer and illustrator. For the whole tutorial and lot’s of inspiration, click here.

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A faerie introduces himself. Then, holding out a hand, asks, “And your name, please?”

And, like a fool, you give it to him.

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What we found in the woods pt 1, 2, & 3 #inktober

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The Lodge, Greys Court, Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, England

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Egg Shell Powder tutorial: how to make it and use it

Egg shell powder is useful in witchcraft because it protects and purifies. 

It helps block non-corporal beings from a physical space so pressing it into chalk form, or sprinkling it can work as a barrier to keep unwanted nasties at bay.  

Some say it even blocks out the benign energies at work as well, so it’s great for those times when you need to just sit and be a muggle for a little while. 

Sprinkle it across thresholds such as windows and doors or even use it to draw sigils. 

It can also be used to enhance psychic ability in a way because it protects you from that which seeks to take advantage of you when your engaged in psychic activity. 

Simply rubbing a little of the powder on you or dabbing a dot onto your third eye energy point is said achieve this. 

Another use is purification and is especially useful in the bath. 

It dissolves easily in water so adding it to a bath intended for purification can amp up the cleansing effect.  

 How to make it:

Boil water in a pot

Place empty eggs shells in boiling water carefully (don’t burn yourself)

Boil for 10 minutes

Drain water from shells and place on paper towel to dry overnight

When shells are completely dried, place them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment

Bake egg shells for about 10 minutes or until they are completely dried at 200 degrees (F)

When cool enough to handle, place egg shells a few at time into an electric coffee grinder and pulse until finely ground

Store in airtight container away from heat or moisture. 

To protect from Salmonella (a harmful bacteria that can make you sick) store your used egg shells in the egg carton and refrigerate until you are ready to boil your shells, making sure never to leave them sitting out for long. 

Added bonus: Egg shells make great plant food so you can share with your plants. I use this in my homemade pet food as a calcium supplement. 

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“I Can See It All”

Draw this sigil on yourself to grant yourself enhanced perception of things. If you sleep with this in or under your pillow you may have prophetic dreams.

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To Bring Snow

Gather three chunks of ice and a cup which has never been drank from. Place the ice within the cup, adding a tear from your eye.  Begin swirling the cup clockwise. Then spin yourself clockwise as you swirl the cup. Whisper into it.  “By my eye and skill I’ve learned,  Freeze the sky and snow in turn.   Warmth and Sun hence be spurned  To make the land feel icy burn.”  Continue to swirl the cup, spin, and incant until all of the ice is melted.  Pour the water upon the ground you stand at the moment that it all melts.