whisperofwitchery - Tumblr blog

[whisperofwitchery]

See I have night terrors and have broken sleep. Therefore these are like gold!! so helps

Peaceful Sleep

Spell Bag for restful, quality sleep. Can be left under your pillow

Chamomile (relaxation and balance)

Lavender (calm and sleep)

Rosemary (protection and sleep)

Grass (psychic powers/dreams)

Salt (cleanse)

Amethyst (peace and protection)

Smokey quartz (removes negative energy)

Intention

Substitute or exclude anything as you need.

[whisperofwitchery]

MORE APPALACHIAN SUPERSTITIONS & OLD WIVES-TALES

As pertaining to Spirits:

To ward off spells, wear a rabbit's foot around your neck.

To make a death charm, shape a little wax figure and put the victim's hair in it, then put the figure in the fire. To break a spell, carry drinking water across a running stream.

A horseshoe hung over the door keeps witches and evil spirits away.

If you want to keep a witch out of your house, lay a broom across the doorstep.

To kill a witch, carve a heart in a tree; drive a nail in the tree, giving a tap every morning. On the ninth morning, drive the nail all the way in.

To keep away ghosts, put salt on the fire or carry the left hind foot of a graveyard rabbit.

A snakeskin bag with a toad's eye inside will ward off ghosts.

Death:

If you rock an empty cradle, the baby will die.

If your ears are ringing, you are hearing the death bell and a friend will pass away.

If you cut your hair in March, you'll die that year.

It's bad luck for a new bride to meet a funeral procession.

A bird flying out of a house of sickness means the patient will die.

If a broken clock suddenly strikes, it's a sure sign of death.

If you see a shooting star, a friend will die.

If a dog howls at night, someone in the household will die soon.

If you suddenly shudder, it means a rabbit has run across your grave.

If somebody dies, stop the clock until the next day, or someone else in the house will die.

It's bad luck to point at a graveyard.

If rain falls into an open grave, that means the deceased is bound for hell.

Love:

If your lover is going out to cheat on you, sprinkle salt in the path, and the lover will turn around and come back.

If two people put spoons in a cup at the same time, they will be married.

If you dream about death, it's a sign that a wedding day is near.

Strike a match and hold it upside down. If it burns to the end, it means your mate loves you truly.

If you look in a mirror held over a spring, you will see the face of the person you will marry

If you swallow a chicken's heart, you will win the hand of the one you love.

Name a fishing hook after the person you love. If you catch a fish with the hook, it means the love is true.

You will marry as many people as the number of seeds that will stick to your forehead.

If you put a four-leaf clover in your shoe, you will marry the first person you meet.

If a girl takes the last piece of bread from a plate, she will be an old maid.

It's bad luck to bathe on your wedding day.

Wednesday is the best day to get married, except in May.

Sunshine on wedding day means a happy marriage.

If your lips itch, it means you want to be kissed.

Luck

Always lend salt; if you give it away, you will have bad luck.

Tell a dream before breakfast and it won't come true.

It's bad luck to sew on Saturday unless you finish the job.

If you dream about muddy water, you will have bad luck.

It's bad luck to look in a mirror at midnight.

If a cricket chirps in your fireplace, you will have good luck.

It's bad luck to pass somebody on the stairs.

The third person to light a cigarette from the same match will have bad luck.

It's bad luck to put shoes back in the box before wearing them.

If you put on a shirt wrong-side-out, it's good luck. But you have to get someone else to turn it inside-out for you, or your luck will change.

It's bad luck to sneeze at the table.

If you wear an opal, it's bad luck, unless it's your birthstone.

If you sweep after the sun goes down, you will never be rich.

It's bad luck to watch a friend leaving if you continue watching until the person is out of sight.

If a black cat crosses your path, it's bad luck, unless the cat crosses from right to left.

It's bad luck to run backwards.

Healing:

If you scratch yourself with a nail, rub it in grease and throw it in the fire.

One cure for hiccups is to tickle the nose with a feather.

Eating parched corn or parched coffee will cure stomach ailments.

To get rid of warts, carve one notch in a stick for every wart you have. Bury or hide the stick, and the warts will go way.

To stop bleeding from a wound, apply chimney soot

Don't let birds gather your hair for nesting material: you will go crazy.

For toothache, rub a splinter around the gum until it draws blood; drive the splinter into a tree, and the toothache will go away.

Putting a handful of salt on your head will cure a headache.

If you eat snow before the third snowfall of the season, it will make you sick.

If you dream about crossing water, there will be an illness in the family.

To get rid of chills, tie a string around a persimmon tree.

If you sweep under the bed of a sick person, that person will die.

If your hand itches, it means someone will give you a present soon.

For snake bite, cut up the snake that bit you and press its flesh to the wound. This will draw out the poison.

Raw wet tobacco will draw the venom from an insect's sting

I post these for our entertainment only! Always seek out professional modern medicine.

Hope you enjoyed reading. Drop a comment. Share some of your own.

Remember, if you say it three times, it comes true! SpOoKy!

~~banjo~~

[whisperofwitchery]

"you should be at the club" i should be in the woods. performing the ritual.

[whisperofwitchery]

Tree lore, tree work & paying respects to the primordial world tree

I’ll try to make this post as short as possible, but let’s be real, there is a lot to unpack. Sources will be linked at the end. Have a good read!

The image of a universal tree, filled with life and supporting our world, is a common theme in a vast number of mythologies and folk beliefs. It was rarely seen as a “deity” in an of itself, but rather a mystical, sacred sort of being. It is a symbol of wisdom, the spirit world, healing, the circle of life, and even sometimes, immortality. It can be found namely in Native American, Siberian and Indo-Europpean spiritualities. It is also mentionned in the Qu’ran and in various Hebraic, Hindu and Buddhist writings. In Europe, this tree is usually seen as an oak (more specifically in Baltic, Slavic and Finnish mythologies). On the other hand, Hellenic lore depicts it as an olive tree, though the ancient Greeks viewed the oak as holy as well due to its tight association with the god Zeus. 

In the norse lore, this tree is an ash called Yggdrasill, “Óðinn’s steed”. This surprising etymology may refer to the Allfather’s unique connection to the tree: according to his myth, he hung himself from the branches of Yggdrasill in order to attain the purest form of self-reflection and to gain ultimate knowledge. One of his lesser known stories depicts him, riding down the tree to reach Helheim and bargain with the Queen of the dead for his son’s life. According to nordic mythology, the nine worlds were scattered along this primordial tree, with Midgard in the Middle, Mimir’s well and the Norns at its root, and Asgard in its heights.

In most stories, the primordial tree is divided into two important spaces: its branches and heights, where holy creatures dwell, and its roots, which represent either the underworld or the lesser supernatural beings (often reptiles or some sort of primordial “monster”). Between them can we find the world of men. Due to the association of this sacred tree with spirituality, trees have become places of worship in many cultures. From this stemmed a very rich tree lore in which figs, pines, oaks, olives, cypresses, yews and sequoias, among others, were seen as sacred because of their immensity and resilience. Faeries and/or forest spirits (varies depending on the culture) were said to live within such trees. For this reason, Irish farmers tended not to cut down trees that stood in the middle of their fields so as to not attract bad luck. Within Slav tradition, the oak was seen as the holiest of trees and violence was thus forbidden when in presence of one.  

Finally, there is another cultural reason behind tree worship: knowledge of their healing properties in traditions worldwide. This or that tree was used to cure this or that condition, which gave woodland an increasingly central role in community health. Respects are thus paid because of admiration or gratefulness, and from there, a complex cult to trees was developped in numerous regions. In the end, we need trees, and our ancestrors knew this. We need them for food, oxygen, shade, shelter, soil, which is why pagans and neo-pagans such as myself want to give back to them.

Honoring the world tree: clear steps

I would say the first step to worshipping/honoring Yggdrasill is to get familiar with the woods in your own area. Someone who lives in a very urbanized area may find this difficult. However, it isn’t necessary to start by exploring actual woods. One can research the type of forest found in their state/province/country. Which trees are common in your parts? What lore surrounds them? What do they look like, and what do they smell like? Tree lore is strongly rooted (pardon the pun) into this idea of a world tree. 

Quick example of tree folklore (british): 

Ash trees are said to have healing properties, especially when it comes to children’s health.

Blackthorn is regarded as magical and as a prefered home for faeries, a belief stemming from Britain’s celtic past. 

Rowan is seen as a powerful protection against evil: its branches were hung above doors to this effect.  

Caring for trees is a logical follow-up to the last step. Every tree in this world can be regarded as one of Yggdrasill’s branches: respect each of them like you would the holy tree itself. Now, how exactly does one tend trees? Well, it doesn’t have to be super complicated. One of the basic ways to respect woodland is to know what threatens it in your area, usually: innapropriate urban development, local pollution, growing local population and unexpectedly, tourism. Tourists have a tendency to either pollute or disregard local rules pertaining to woodland. Hence, when visiting another area, pay special attention to what you can and can’t do in the regional forest. Such rules are often implemented to protect endangered wildlife, and even sometimes, to help the reintroduction of a particular species (animal or plant).

Now, to worship: I would say offerings, meditation and hands-on tree care are the tree keys elements of honoring Yggdrasill. I will now elaborate on the first two briefly.

Tree devotionals

MUSIC!!! Seriously. Sing them a song, even if it’s barely audible. Play them an instrument, if you know how to. Singing to plants to help them grow is a common practice. Plus: it’s rewarding for you, as it, in my personal experience, calms the mind and the body. Music is a deeply personal offering to make, extremely singular and thoughtful.

Harvesting a few of their seeds/nuts and planting them elsewhere, so as to help them prosper! Make sure this practice is accepted in your area before doing so. 

Carrying with you a branch or bark from a tree which has emotional significance to you. Maybe one you’ve had a spiritual experience with, or simply your favorite pine in your local park! Don’t tear the branch off: trees are constantly shedding dead branches and bark, so check the ground instead! You may leave a hair, a rock or a flower that’s native to the area, as well as a word of thanks. It’s very important to leave something in exchange for a tree’s gift, as a gesture of respect.

A hug. I’m serious. That’s it.

If the interest is there, see to working with fae, woodland spirits or deities! I myself have a particular interest in the Green Man, whom I have worshipped almost as long as I have worshipped the norse pantheon. 

Offerings: a pinch of your compost, a rock, water (especially on hot days), a flower that’s native to the area, your own thoughts and wishes!

DO NOT OFFER: coins, candles, milk, non-native fruits, veggies or nuts, meat, cheese, chocolate, honey, ribbons or plastic. Be VERY careful of what you stuff under a tree. Animals can be endangered by foreign objects and substances. There are many cases of trees becoming sickly due to excessive or inappropriate pagan offerings.

Meditation, or building a relationship

The first step is to actually see some forest. It’s inevitable on the path to tree worship. Walk in the woods, touch the trees, run your fingers along their bark, smell them in the wind, observe the life within them. If you have difficult access to forest, you can watch a nature documentary, meditate while envisionning forest or watch a forest walkthrough on YouTube!

Notice the trees. Does one of them stand out? Can you identify it? What do its leaves look like? Notice its flowers, leaves and bark. You can research it when at home, as well! What does it look like in the winter? What are its properties, either medicinal or spiritual? Is it endangered? If so, what can you do to help it?

Introduce yourself: either to the forest or to a tree in particular (if one of them stood out to you most!). 

Sit among these trees for a while and close your eyes. Listen. Meditate if you can. Talk to them, tell them whatever you have on your mind. Even better: tell them why you are grateful to them!

Visit the forest again. Building a relationship means commitment. It isn’t necessary to have a fixed schedule, but at least make sure to come back. You will start to recognize certain species and specific trees. After a time, you may even be able to call them by name!

Prayers to the forest & the world tree

“Bless the gentle day, the softness of clouds, the balmy breeze, the lightest of rains. Bless the gentle day, the softest furs, the lightest feathers, the most gentle of scales the most vulnerable of skins on the gentlest of the earth’s beings. Bless the trees who shelter the gentle ones, the timid mouse, the delicate butterfly and fragile flower. Bless the beauty that inspires humans to be gentle with Mother Nature and all her children.” - Amanda Claire

“Where trees breathe | New life is born | Where each branch reaches out to me | I know myself held in the arms | of purest generosity | Where the leaves fall | I am blessed with a giving back | that nourishes the roots of my soul | For the trees reflect who and how I can be | Standing tall, true, honest and undeniably me | Unafraid to love, to give, to share and to bend | So I bless the forests | As I learn from them” - Clare Dubois 

“From the gods, to the earth, to us. From us, to the earth, to the gods. A gift has been given. May it be well received.” Unkown

(To the horned God of the forest): “God of the green, Lord of the forest, I offer you my sacrifice. I ask you for your blessing. You are the man in the trees, the green man of the woods, who brings life to the dawning spring. You are the deer in rut, mighty Horned One, who roams the autumn woods, the hunter circling round the oak, the antlers of the wild stag, and the lifeblood that spills upon the ground each season. God of the green, Lord of the forest, I offer you my sacrifice. I ask you for your blessing.” - Silverwitch on tumblr

“Evening breeze, spirit song Come to me when day is done Mother Earth awakens me With the heartbeat of the sea.” - The Keeper’s Path

Let’s all work to honor our home and keep it healthy!

Sources:

World Tree, On Tree Lore, The Cult of Trees in Slavic Mythology, British Trees in Folklore, Folklore of Fairy Trees in Ireland, Threats to Woods and Trees, Wildcrafting Basics: Permission and Offerings, Druid Tree Working: Establishing Deep Connection with Trees, 5 Ways Your Offerings Hurt the Environment (and Five Easy, Eco-Friendly Alternatives!), Ritual Offerings - Sacred or Debris?

[whisperofwitchery]

Personal & collected tips regarding the maintenance of a harmonious relationship with the landvættir (land spirits)

“It is laid down in the first clause of the pagan law of Iceland, introduced about AD 930, that no one may approach the country in ships furnished with gaping heads and yawning snouts, i.e. dragon-heads. If they had them they must remove them before they came in sight of land, for otherwise the landvaættir would take fright.” - Myth and Religion of the North: The Religion of Ancient Scandinavia (1964)

Keep reading

[whisperofwitchery]

[whisperofwitchery]

Inktober Day 10: Fortune Psst - I started creating a Tarot deck in 2021 & the kickstarter is NOW live! Come & get a deck! 💖

[whisperofwitchery]

The Woman Behind The World’s Most Famous Tarot Deck Was Nearly Lost In History

For centuries, people of all walks of life have turned to tarot to divine what may lay ahead and reach a higher level of self-understanding.

The cards’ enigmatic symbols have become culturally ingrained in music, art and film, but the woman who inked and painted the illustrations of the most widely used set of cards today – the Rider-Waite deck from 1909, originally published by Rider & Co. – fell into obscurity, overshadowed by the man who commissioned her, Arthur Edward Waite.

Now, over 70 years after her death, the creator Pamela Colman Smith has been included in a new exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York highlighting many underappreciated artists of early 20th-century American modernism in addition to famous names like Georgia O’Keeffe and Louise Nevelson.

CNN

[whisperofwitchery]

this got donated to my op shop.... what do you think of it

This goes hard.

[whisperofwitchery]

Happy May, friends 🍄🌿✨

[whisperofwitchery]

Getting me this would be a very effective way to bully me

[whisperofwitchery]

It’s a hard path we’ve chosen

[whisperofwitchery]

Ok, so you want to practice every day?

You know what, valid. So do I. I'm going to make this as short as I can because we have a lot to get through.

You don't have to practice every day to be a "good," valid, powerful, or whatever-you-want witch.

Generic "ground and center every morning, then enchant your tea" practice routines aren't going to be helpful for 90% of us out here. (yes, I wrote similar in the past!)

"Practice" does not equal repeating exercises and casting spells.

When witches say "in my practice," IMO they are using this word interchangeably with "in my path," or "when I actively engage in my path."

Eschew the idea that your "daily practice" is supposed to be a workout routine that is training you for something better.

Embrace the idea that we're actually talking about "practicing daily," aka "engaging with my path on a daily basis." You aren't training for the next thing - you're at the thing already :)

Your daily practice needs to start with what you want out of your faith and practice.

Not everyone wants to be an energy worker.

Not everyone wants to venerate nature.

Not everyone wants to be a spirit-worker.

Not everyone wants to learn herbalism or kitchen witchery

Brainstorm your idealized path. I mean envision yourself in the cutest little cottagecore village, living your total fantasy witch life. What are you doing?

Do you want to...

Be a diviner?

Learn sorcery?

Be a licensed herbalist?

Talk to spirits and make friends with the forest and the flowers?

Help and heal the villagers?

Be a spiritual warrior who battles with evil spirits and aberrations?

Be a world-walker, who goes to unseen realms?

Learn to slip into new skins?

(The list goes on)

Also ask yourself what you don't want. Gods freak you out? Ok, don't interact with them. You want to do pure energy work with very little ritual ingredients? Beautiful. Stand your ground, flip off people who tell you "but witches worship pagan gods and burn candles to their familiars 🥺"

Find ways to start including what is the most important to you in your daily life.

It might be helpful to make a list of the 1-3 things you really want to focus on right now. If it helps, choose a time frame of weeks to try out these practices and see if you like them.

But before you get too far into that:

[Picture ID: A tweet from @rmccarthyjames which reads, "all of my plans for the future involve me waking up tomorrow with a sudden sense of discipline and adherence to routine that i have never displayed even once in my life"]

This, right here, is what we want to avoid.

Please, for the love of God, do not sit down and say, "okay, I'm going to wake up 30 minutes early and do a 15 minute meditation each morning, then 5-10 minutes of energy exercises. Then, I'm going to ground and center (energy work goals). Then during breakfast I'll enchant my food and read about herbalism while I eat (kitchen witch goals). Then, in the evening ---"

I can pretty much guarantee you that almost any activity you have access to right now will be actively draining.

Magical techniques, exercises, and spellwork take energy - just like working out at the gym.

You can work out at the gym and feel energized for the next couple of hours, but then become fatigued in the evening/next day.

You can work out at the gym every day for 5 days, but then suddenly you feel too weak or sore to even get out of bed the next day.

Meditation, grounding, and centering can restore metaphysical energy to your body, and increase your access to it. But it's like eating a protein bar after a workout - you still have to rest and recover.

So if you've tried to stick to "do X, Y, Z" activities every day and failed, ask yourself if you were actually engaging in a strenuous magical workout routine that wore you into the ground.

Instead of choosing "X activity for Y minutes at Z time every day, consider this:

One of the most available ways you can engage in your path is by dwelling within your magical and spiritual worldviews.

Are you an animist? Look for a plant. Think about how it's got a soul. You just engaged with your path :)

Are you interested in energy work? Look for a conversation between two people. Consider the energy flow between them. You just engaged with your path :)

Are you into Traditional Witchcraft? Watch a TV show. Ask yourself how you'd solve a problem on the screen (not necessarily using magic to solve it, just in general). Then, ask yourself how your hag, fetch-beast, or familiar (hypothetical or otherwise) would solve it. You just engaged with your path :)

Are you into religious magic? Look around you. Feel the vibes, feel your feelings, feel your mood. What would your god(s) have to say about it? You just engaged with your path :)

Do you play a lot of video games? Overlay your beliefs onto the game and use events, interactions, and developments as an opportunity to consider your own beliefs (or, with Minecraft, build your own astral temples).

The more you dwell within your magical and spiritual worldviews, the more you "phase in" to the reality that you're a witch and magic is within you and around you.

Over time, constantly engaging with your path in these small ways - through choosing to see the world through the lens of your practice - makes choosing and employing "techniques," exercises, and spells soooo much more relevant and practical.

With that tangent is out of the way, practical tips for how to interact with your path on a daily basis:

Avoid "daily" activities with a high barrier to entry. If you make all these rules and regulations for your own practice, like you have to make a journal entry for every spell and magical activity, and it has to include the moon phase and planetary hour, you're going to be engaging probably a lot less than you think you will.

Choose activities which directly help and support your day to day life.

Tough work environment? Try picking up energy shielding or amulet-making.

Art commissions down? Try learning prosperity or money magic.

Feeling confused or directionless? Experiment with forms of divination.

Lonely? Learn to talk to spirits.

You do not need to create barriers to these things. You DO NOT need to meditate, ground, or center before you make an energy shield. You can just make one right now, actually.

You don't need to learn protection and warding before you practice talking to the nature spirits around you, or bringing protective presences into your sphere.

You don't need to copy down a two-page spell and then write grimoire entries for each correspondence before you can do effective spells and charms.

One of the easiest ways to perform casual, daily magic is to extend regular daily actions into the spirit world.

(For me, the "spirit world" is where all magic happens. Maybe you might call it the etheric, or the energy-double of the world).

Shower to clean yourself - just expend energy to extend the cleaning to your spiritual bodies.

Eat food to gain energy - just expend energy to also feed your spiritual bodies.

Exhale to send old breath away - and at the same time, send away an unwanted thought, energy, or presence.

("Expend energy" can be done in many ways; most often we say "visualization" but you can also dedicate your power to the task through words of intent ["I apply my power to nourish myself thrice over"], mindfulness [staying present in the moment and maintaining focus on your spiritual goal], physical gestures [stirring food clockwise with the knowledge that you are stirring power into it], etc.)

So you've found some free time. What do you want to do with it?

Maybe you started energy shielding earlier this week, and now you're feeling worn out and just want to take a day off.

Hot take: "Hey, I'm too tired to do this magical thing, I'm going to choose something else instead" is engaging with your path :) You didn't forget or ignore your path. You checked in with your magical self, took stock of the situation, and choose the activity of rest.

Be flexible!

I personally say, give all techniques and methods a chance. I myself am not a person where I start out good at things. I'm one of the people where I start out bad at things and get a little better each time I practice.

But if a technique is not vibing with you, or if new concerns arise in your life, there's no need to dedicate yourself to doing something you don't like and don't need for the sake of reaching an arbitrary goal of completion.

Remember, it's not a daily workout until you're good enough to improve your life.

It's improving your life, right now, and each time you do it you get a lil better at it :)

Your path is not subject to object impermanence*.

(*The following is primarily poetic; take it or leave it as you please)

You are what you are and wherever you stand, there your path is around you. To try and curse your path into a quasi-existence where it only appears when you're making energy balls is a terrible fate for a path to be bound to.

It's your friend. It wants to be with you. It doesn't want to be told it's invisible and un-present unless you're staring it in the eye.

A great deal of my early path was taking huge breaks from magical practice - I mean, for months and months at a time. It's called the Crooked Path, not the Straightforward Linear Path Where Expected Things Occur.

Sure, if you're done with witchcraft for a while (or forever), set it aside. Tell your path it's done, closed down, and you'll be back when you're back.

But while you're in, you're walking it. Is your path one where you accidentally forget witchcraft exists and take breaks for months at a time without meaning to? So that's your path. It matches you step for step, no matter where you go.

It doesn't go hungry - you eat and you sleep, and it eats and rests with you. It doesn't feel rejected - it's right there with you. When you touch the doorknob, your path reaches through and holds your hand. When you write a school exam, it traces the pencil lead from the other side. It doesn't matter if you know it or see it - it's there, patient and waiting, watching you with love. All you need to do is fail to believe that your path is gone when you stop paying attention to it.

[whisperofwitchery]

[whisperofwitchery]

Samhain Ritual Part 1 - Calling the Ancestors

The sigil above represents a cemetery and was created by @qedavathegrey ​. You can see their post about the sigil and it’s ideal uses here.

To complete the first part of this ritual you will need:

a cauldron or cast-iron cooking pot

graveyard dirt (from the cemetery of an ancestor or from the grave of an ancestor if you can)

purified water

candles (mullein is best) and matches

salt

Herbs associated with the dead which are safe to burn (dried apple chips, bay leaves, wormwood, mugwort, myrrh, frankincense)

Any pictures or messages that you would like to send to your ancestors

If you are performing the ritual at the graveside of one of your ancestors, first clear the grave and headstone of any debris. Place candles on the headstone and around the grave (if you are doing the ritual at home, place the candles in a circle).

Sitting in front of your ancestor’s grave (or inside your circle). In a cauldron or cast iron pot, place a layer of salt and then a small mound of graveyard or grave dirt in the pot. Pour a little of the purified water onto the dirt in the pot so that it is damp. Make a small hole in the centre of the mound and place your chosen herbs and incense associated with the dead which are safe to burn (dried apple chips, bay leaves, wormwood, mugwort, myrrh, frankincense etc.)

Light the herbs on fire – they should settle into a light smoulder.

Say Formal Message – “We have come here on this night when the veil between this world and the next is at its thinnest, to honour those who have come before. We offer thanks for the teachings and lessons bestowed upon us and we pray that they have found comfort and rest in the realms of the dead.”

“Open wide, I pray thee, the gates through which all must pass.  Let my dear ones who have gone before, return this night to make merry with me.  And when my time comes as it must to all living things, I ask that Death, the giver of peace and rest, allow me to enter thine realms, for I will come gladly and unafraid; for I know that when rested and refreshed among my loved ones, I will be reborn again.  I ask that once I rise anew, let it be in the same place and at the same time as my beloved ones, and may I know and love them once more.”

Stand and turning anti-clockwise, face west (as the sun sets) “The west is the land of the dead, to which many of my loved ones have gone for rest and renewal.  On this night, I hold communion with them; as I hold the image of these loved ones in my heart and mind, I send welcome to those who have crossed over.”

“Beloved ones, in this time, when the veil is at its thinnest, I welcome you to spend a day with your descendants. I ask that you remain at peace, and grace us with your presence.”

“I call upon thee, name of ancestor you are calling. Relation to your person.  When they died (day/month/year).”  (Repeat as necessary)  “I wish you well and ask that you watch over me. Please do not judge my actions for my time is not yours and our lives are very different.  Do not despair for this is the path I have chosen.”  

Burn offerings for ancestors (photos of family, poems, food and drink) and talk to ancestors (informal). If you’re calling relatives who have passed on that you knew in life, converse with them as you did while they were alive. However if you did not actually meet this ancestor in life then you should introduce yourself. This conversation should be relatively informal (you are related after all however it’s best to be polite and respectful at all times.

~ Marci

         Part 2: Spirit Vessel   -   Part 3: Ancestor Feast   -   Part 4: Farewell

[whisperofwitchery]

Last night before a tarot reading.

Dude: I know some friends of mine say that for every magic thing you do theres a cost. So like they use blood on their runes and things like that. So what's the cost when its tarot cards?

Me: the cost is 5$.

[whisperofwitchery]