witchycabinet - Tumblr blog

[witchycabinet]

blackbearmagic’s Crystal Hunting Guide

Introduction

Scientific Fact: Witches love crystals almost as much as they love jars.  Consumerism Fact: In many metaphysical shops, nice-looking crystals can be had for relatively cheap. Ethical Fact: Many of those crystals are as cheap as they are because they are mined with no consideration for the damage done to the environment or the welfare of the humans collecting them.

So what’s a good, honest, ethically-minded witch to do, especially if he/she/they don’t have the money to afford crystals that were mined sustainably and responsibly, or the time to research which sellers obtain their wares from ethical mines?

Find their own.

I’ve been crystal hunting all my life, but only within the last year have I started doing it seriously. I’ve walked away from a creeking expedition with slabs of smoky quartz the size of my palm or calcite hunks bigger than my fist, and I personally think creek-crystal energy is much more vibrant and easy to work with; by comparison, the crystal points I’ve bought from metaphysical shops feel… inert, lifeless.

So let’s get straight into it!

What You’ll Need

a good-sized creek or stream with lots of gravel spits along its length

offerings to the spirit of the creek, if appropriate to your personal practice

bug spray, sunscreen, snacks, water, and anything else you’d normally bring on a hike

your trusty adventurer’s Bag of Holding

your sweet self

Now let’s talk details.

When I say “gravel spits”, this is what I’m referring to:

These tumbles of stone are going to be where you’ll find your treasures, and the size of the stones themselves actually tells you what size of crystal you might find: When the conditions are right (ie, during a flood), the water flowing through that portion of the creek is capable of lifting and moving rocks of the size you see there now. 

In my experience, the crystal specimens you’ll find are typically half or one-third the size of the average rock on the spit. They’re usually larger than the smallest rocks, but much smaller than the largest rocks. Not always, though–I have found specimens larger. (See the introduction.)

Regarding offerings, if that’s part of your path, you’ll want to make sure it’s nothing that will harm the local wildlife or damage the ecosystem in any way. My personal go-to is water, ideally water from a bottle I haven’t drunk from yet.

In the same vein as offerings, I’ve had great success in making a sort of bargain with the spirit of the place: That in return for treasures, I will pick up and remove any litter I find in the area. It is, of course, always a good idea to remove any litter you see when you’re out in nature, but it doesn’t hurt to point out to the spirit of the place that it’s something you’re doing for it. Bring along a trash bag to help collect it.

Lastly, with regards to your bag, I would advise something with two shoulder straps. Rocks are heavy.

What You’ll Do

Once you’ve hiked to your creek and found a gravel spit with lots of good-sized rocks, it’s time to start looking. There’s two main approaches I’ve found that work well, and I tend to use both. 

The first is a broad sweep. This one works best if you’ve got good lighting on the rocks. All you do is stand in one spot and sway side to side slightly while looking over the gravel, looking for anything that glints, shines, or otherwise catches the light shining on it. If you see something, investigate it. Repeat.

The second is the more detailed search. Get down on the ground–whether that means kneeling, crouching, laying on your belly, I don’t care–and go over each rock one by one. Use your eyes and use your hands. I imagine this method is probably going to be unpleasant for a lot of you, but honestly, it’s like crack to me.

Once you’ve combed over the current gravel spit as thoroughly as you please, pack up and move on to the next. Continue for as long as you like, or until you feel it’s time to go. Just remember that as far out as you go is how far you’ll have to walk back!

Advice and Warnings

Tell someone where you’re going and when you expect to be back. If you godsforbid go missing, they’ll be able to give the police an idea of where to start searching for your poor, lost ass.

Keep a charged cell phone with you at all times. 

If you see something or someone iffy, do your best avoid it. Sometimes there are creepy people in the woods, and sometimes they do creepy things. Don’t get involved.

Make sure you’re not trespassing on private property. All of the creeks I hike on are on public land. If you’re in a state park or other protected environmental area, don’t go off the trail–you could cause damage to a fragile ecosystem.

Following the creek is a good way to get out and back without losing your way.  Don’t stray too far from it if you’re in unfamiliar territory.

The best times of year to go hunting–assuming Northern Hemisphere, a temperate climate and deciduous forests around the creek–are the spring and summer. In the autumn, you’ll have to clear fallen leaves off of the gravel before you can look, and winter is too cold. 

The best time of day is the morning, when the sun angle is lower and is more likely to glint off of shiny rocks.

You’ll have your best luck the day after heavy rain. Rain will swell the stream and shift the stones around, and could uncover new treasures! 

Inspect anything that looks even remotely worthwhile. You’ll find a lot of duds, sure, but that will help train your brain to tune out what you don’t care about finding.

“What Can I Find?”

Exactly what sort of minerals and crystals you’ll find is highly variable. All minerals are not equally distributed across the planet, because many of them require very different conditions to form and the crust composition varies slightly from place to place. However, there are some stones that are pretty common all over the Earth, so no matter where you go hunting, you’re likely to find them.

Of course, for more specific identifications, please consult the internet, a book on mineralogy, or your local rockhounding club. 

Quartz

The chemical formula of quartz is SiO2, or silicon dioxide. Silicon and oxygen are, by mass, the two most abundant elements in Earth’s crust; around 90% of it is composed of silicate minerals like quartz. Ever find a pretty, sparkly, mostly-clear rock on the ground? It was probably quartz. 

Quartz comes in a mind-boggling array of colors, from smoky quartz so dark it’s practically opaque to purple-and-orange ametrine to the brilliant clear of a Herkimer diamond (yup, not actually diamonds) but all of these varieties are still quartz. In my region of North America, clear and smoky quartz seem to be the most plentiful. 

Calcite

Calcite is calcium carbonate, CaCO3. Like quartz, it is made of some of the Earth’s most abundant crustal elements (in this case, calcium and oxygen) and comes in a stunning array of colors. In my creeks, I’ve found calcite in yellow, orange, white, and even blue and red.

The biggest giveaway for rough calcite is its texture. If you pick up a rock and it feels like someone rubbed wax all over it, you’ve probably got yourself a calcite specimen.

Feldspar

Feldspar is one of the most abundant minerals in the crust, alongside quartz. It’s also a silicate, and it frequently finds its way into other minerals, such as granite. 

What sets feldspar apart from the other two minerals I’ve mentioned here is its fracture habit: It naturally fractures along cleavage planes which intersect at 90-degree angles. It doesn’t shatter–it shears. If you find a rock with a smooth face that looks like a polished stone countertop, it’s probably feldspar.

“But Bear, I Want Crystal Points!”

Oh. Yeah.

You can find those too. 

Every one of those pictures is of quartz points that I have found in my area. (In fact, they’re actually all from the same crystal-hunting hike, and represent only about a third of the specimens I found that day!) As you can see, they aren’t all perfect–and I have plenty of others that are, like, three facets and no point–but they’re all beautiful, and some of them really sing, if you know what I mean. 

Conclusion

Finding your own crystals can be pretty simple, when you get down to it. It can be a lot of fun to get down and dirty, and is a great way to get yourself out in nature for a while. And, of course, you can rest assured that your crystals were gathered in a sustainable, respectful, ethical manner–assuming you took care of yourself and the environment while finding them!

Best of luck! –Bear

[witchycabinet]

Knitting Curse

A curse for the crafty witch who needs to stew on their anger a bit

Items Needed:

Red yarn 

Knitting needles 

Skill

1)  Imagine the target while making four cast ons, building negative energy as you work. (I use four because of the association with death in various cultures, but if you have a particular negative association with a different number feel free to use that instead) 

2) As you start knitting stitches imaging tangling up the recipient of the curse in restraints. If you are doing a tighter knit, perhaps the restraints are cutting their spiritual self. Continue knitting these stitches until you have a length large enough to give to the person as a gift (ex. hair tie, bracelet, choker, scarf) or until you have ran out of rage/yarn (whichever comes first)

3) As you cast off say the following:

      As I cast off this hatred, may you be strangled by this red rope.

     As I have binded you, may your endeavors fail.

     As these ties are done may these numbers triumph in bringing you pain

    May these work be done on to you, and may my energy not return to cause me harm.

4) Give the gift to your victim if possible, if not place it in a container with their picture.

[witchycabinet]

if you ask for spiritual help from someone - advice, ritual, divination, what have you - and the answer includes anything fishy along the lines of “your medication is clouding your vision” or “to find an answer we might need a more… intimate ritual” or “I will help you but I need you to focus on me and not your other friends” or anything, anything giving off the vibe of manipulation or grooming, you have the right given by all the old gods and shadows roaming this earth to devour said person, gnaw on their bones, and spit on their entire bloodline.

[witchycabinet]

Hellenic Exorcism

Add your gods/goddesses to the blank spaces

Most powerful of the gods, ________ god/dess of _______ defend us in our battle against evil, against the rulers of this darkness, and against spirits of wickedness.

Come to the assistance of our brothers and sisters. Pray that the gods crush all that wish to harm. We offer out prayers of mercy. Bind and cast away those of malevolence.

In the name of Zeus, our king, strengthened by the intercession of Athena, of strong and beautiful Artemis, of warming Demeter, of divine Hecate, of loving Aphrodite, of caring Persephone, of radiant Apollo, of bright and powerful Ares, of wise Dionysus, of glorious Poseidon, of fierce Hades, and of beautiful Hera

With the help and honor of the gods, we confidently banish any evil entities. The gods arise; their enemies are scattered and those who hate them flee before them. As smoke is driven away, so are they driven; as wax melts before the fire, so the wicked perish at the presence of the gods.

Behold the pentacle of Aphrodite, flee bands of enemies. May thy mercy descend upon us. As great as out hope in thee.

We drive you from us, whoever you may be, unclean spirits, all evil powers, all infernal invaders, all wicked legions and assemblies

In the name and by the power of ______, may you be snatched away and driven from the pantheon and from the souls made by the image and likeness of Prometheus and redeemed by the Golden Fleece

Zeus the powerful commands you. Athena the wise commands you. Artemis the strong commands you. The sacred sign of the pentacle commands you as does the power of Hellenic Faith. The power of Poseidon commands you.

Stoop beneath the all-powerful hands of the gods; tremble and flee when we invoke the divine name of Hera

O gods hear our prayers and let my cry come unto thee.

[witchycabinet]

when you’re in the store looking for things to make devotional stuff with

[witchycabinet]

Something which has concerned me as of late is the rather strenuous expectations the Hellenic community as a whole has about miasma, khernips and katharmos - namely, it seems like the expectation is that lustral water needs to be used EVERY time someone conducts household worship. Could you shed some light on this?

Oh boy, this is a big can of worms you’re handing me - but one I’ll open up with pleasure, because I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately.

Before I begin, I should clarify a couple of things:

as we all know, Ancient Greek religious practise varied from region to region and city to city, and the information we have about many places (especially rural) is limited. For all we’re aware, villagers in Euboea may just have purified themselves by throwing salt at each other. Thracian farmers might’ve done it via an equivalent of the Ice Bucket Challenge. Who knows? I’m exaggerating a bit, but the bottom line is that just because it isn’t attested doesn’t mean it didn’t happen somewhere.

in my opinion, if something works for you and isn’t disrespectful to the Gods, it isn’t a bad thing. I’d rather see happy, genuine, non-historical worship than no worship at all.

I myself am a reconstructionist. Historical continuity matters to me. While I’m aware that we can’t know everything, and that our understanding is constantly evolving alongside academic research, I want my practise to be well-rooted in the past wherever possible. As such, I consider it very important that people with beliefs similar to mine understand Ancient Greek practise as best we can, before we adapt it to suit our modern world.

I’m still learning about this subject. I’m fairly sure the information below is accurate, but if I make any mistakes, please let me know!

That said, let’s move on to the fact that many Hellenic polytheists’ interpretation of pollution and purification is, historically, pretty wrong.

We do know that purification before prayer or ritual is important. Ancient texts are clear on this: the Iliad and Odyssey, among many other works, repeatedly show people washing their hands before approaching the Gods (Il. 9.171-172, 16.227-230). It seems that this was most basic and essential act for any type of ritual. At its bones, it was a way of keeping clean before something important, like washing our hands before dinner - in fact, hand-washing before dinner was done in exactly the same way as for ritual (Od. 1.146). The most common description, χεῖρας νίψειν, simply means ‘to wash one’s hands’.

But something modern Hellenic polytheism seems to have lost is the large variety of religious terms used to describe pollution and purification. Not all kinds of purification were the same. Some were done with simple running water, like the examples above. Others feature what modern Hellenic polytheists call lustral water, or khernips (χέρνιψ) - fire extinguished in pure water. (Yet others include torches, barley groats and other purifying agents, which we’ll leave aside for the purpose of this post.) The point is: all of this is lustral water, but not all of it is khernips, and not all of it was necessary for everyday worship.

Let’s take a side-step through the question of miasma and katharmos. These are two highly specific religious terms which are unfortunately often narrowed down to ‘dirty’ and ‘clean’. Miasma (μίασμα), in fact, refers to a metaphorical stain caused by impious behaviour: that is, murder, incest, adultery, sacrilege, and other severe crimes. Jean Rudhardt describes it as ‘a bloodstain, a defilement attached to the hands of those who did dirty work’ and ‘the fears of a guilty conscience’. Miasma affects its surroundings, which is why criminals were exiled and banned from communal rites. Specific purification rites were required, and in fact, this often included the criminal’s exclusion from lustral water until their crime was expiated.

Miasma is a bad thing. Average people did not and do not have it. Let me say this again: you do not have miasma. If you do have miasma, please turn yourself into your local police station today.

What you probably do have is lyma (λῦμα), literally ‘the thing you wash away’. This is pollution caused by common occurrences like birth, death, and sex. You incur it through your everyday life, sometimes knowingly, sometimes not - like by walking past places where people have recently died, or by coming into contact with people who have recently had sex. Lyma is also caused by rightful death, like the execution of a criminal, or killing people on a battlefield. Lyma is not a bad thing.

This is what you wash away with clean, running water before interacting with the Gods. Βy doing this, and by being hosios (ὅσιος, another specific religious term for following the right order of things, conform to the laws which regulate acceptable behaviour towards other humans and Gods), you become katharos (καθαρός, pure). This is your natural, human purity.

Did you hear that? Religiously, humans are naturally pure. We need cleansing because of what we do and what happens around us, not because we’re inherently ‘dirty’ in the Gods’ eyes.

Back to purification. By now I’ve established that there’s two types - expiatory rites for miasma, which often prevent you from taking part in religious ceremonies, and clean, running lustral water to wash away your everyday lyma. However, there’s a third type, and this type is khernips.

Khernips literally means ‘handwash’. You can still see this meaning in use in the Odyssey, in the often reused lines χέρνιβα δ’ ἀμφίπολος προχόῳ ἐπέχευε φέρουσα / καλῇ χρυσείῃ ὑπὲρ ἀργυρέοιο λέβητος / νίψασθαι: ‘then a handmaid brought khernips in a beautiful golden pitcher and poured it over a basin, so he could wash’ (Od. 1.136-138, 4.52-54, 7.172-174, etc). But its meaning in Classical Greek religion is very specific: it refers to lustral water in which a burning brand is extinguished, sprinkled on the altar and participants before a major communal sacrifice (θυσία, thusia). This water was sacred, and unclean people were not permitted to touch it. According to Jean Rudhardt, this is because khernips was not simply meant to purify you. It was meant to consecrate you - to bring you into that sacred state necessary for important rites.

The bottom line of all this? There are different types of lustral water, just like there are different types of pollution, and not all apply to everyday household worship. While I firmly believe that purification before prayer and ritual is vital, I don’t think we need to do much more than wash our hands. Like I said at the beginning, if the whole extinguishing-fire-in-water thing works well for you, great - and for all we know, maybe it was common in some parts of Ancient Greece! Ancient Greek religion and religious terms are a very complex subject (despite the length of this post, I actually had to gloss over a number of finer points I’m not qualified to discuss) and it’s absolutely possible that we’re missing out on something. But as of now, this is what we know, and as a reconstructionist, it’s what I choose to draw from.

Lastly, if you’re interested in reading more about the subject, I recommend Jean Rudhardt’s Notions fondamentales de la pensée religieuse et actes constitutifs du culte dans la Grèce classique (unfortunately, I’m not sure if you can find it in English?), as well as Robert Parker’s Miasma: Pollution and Purification in early Greek Religion. Lesley Maditinou, a Hellenic reconstructionist, also wrote a thorough and accurate article about the subject here.

I will now close this can of worms, but I hope I was successful in sorting through some of it :)

[witchycabinet]

Could you please reblog this if you are a witch who isn’t Wiccan?

[witchycabinet]

Even Gods start small

It’s been said many times already that the Hellenic Gods, as they are portrayed in the myths, aren’t perfect. Lately, I’ve been struck by one of those imperfections: despite being Gods, hardly any of the Olympians were born into greatness.

Zeus king, father of Gods and men, was raised by a goat and had to kill his own father before rising to power.

Hera, Poseidon, Demeter, Hades and Hestia all started their lives by being eaten.

Apollon had to travel across Greece and kill a monster before founding his Oracle.

Dionysos had to prove his existence to humanity.

Athena only received her sacred city after a hard contest.

Before Persephone was Queen of the Underworld, she was a girl stolen away, young and frightened.

Hephaistos was thrown down from the sky and never fully recovered.

Even Hermes, the most quick-witted of them all, had to go up against Apollon and trade him his lyre before being accepted among the Olympians.

So if even the Gods had to suffer, hide, prove themselves and fight for their position, maybe we should let ourselves go through the same struggles too. Maybe we don’t have to be great right from the beginning. Maybe, like them, we can take the time to forge our own path.

Even the Gods started small. Maybe we can start small too.

[witchycabinet]

“Zeus, king, give us good even if we don’t pray for it, And give us nothing evil even if that is what we pray for”

Pure Pagan: Seven Centuries of Greek Poems and Fragments

[witchycabinet]

Historically Accurate Offerings to the Theoi

Zeus

Oak

Carnations

Olive branches

Styrax incense

Eagle, bull, swan images

Hera

Lilies

Peacock feathers or images

Pomegranate

Incenses

Cuckoo images

Athena

Olive branch/oil/fruit

Weavings

Myrrh incense

Perfume

Owl images

Apollon

Laurel

Red roses, sunflowers

Frankincense (manna) incense

Palm tree

Raven, swan, wolf, mouse, dolphin images

Artemis

Cedar, palm and cypress trees

Tokens of deer

Jasmine

Myrtle, white flowers

Frankincense (manna) incense

Amaranthus

Peanut

Wormwood

Deer, dog, bear, partidge, quail images

Hestia

Incenses

Chaste-tree

Pig images

Poseidon

Sea anemone

Myrrh incense

Pine

Bull, dolphin, horse images

Dionysos

Ivy

Grape vine

Pine

Styrax incense

Leopard, panther, donkey, bull images

Hermes

Tongue-shaped tokens

Rosemary, saffron

Almond tree and pine tree

Frankincense and styrax incense

Mint (for Kthonios epithet)

Cow, ram, hawk, turtle, hare images

Wild strawberry (purslane)

Ares

Bronze weapons

Frankincense (manna) incense

Swan, vulture, dragon/poisonous snake, owl images

Aphrodite

Roses, myrtle, anemone (poppy)

Quince

Apple, pomegranate

Perfumes and fragrances as incense

Dove, goose, sparrow, turtle images

Hephaistos

Daisies

Frankincense (manna) incense

Donkey, dog, crane images

Asklepios

Frankincense (manna) incense

Bread

Serpent, dog, goose, rooster images

Pan

Pine, beech trees

Fern

Wild flowers

Herbs burnt as incense and the smell of perfumes

Reeds

Goat, turtle images

Demeter

Poppy

Tokens of pigs

Styrax incense

Mint (for Kthonia epithet)

Wheat

Dove, bee, pig images

Persephone

Asphodel

Wheat

Hades

Pitchfork

Pomegranate

Daffodil

Styrax incense

Dried laurel leaves

Poplar, cypress trees

Mint

Daffodil

Hekate

Saffron

Rosemary

Garlic

Red Mullet

Amphiphon (candy)

Styrax incense

Dry laurel leaves

Oak

Ferret, dog, bull, lioness images

Source: LABRYS’ Hellenic Polytheism: Household Worship and Theoi.com

[witchycabinet]

WITCHY GERMAN VOCABULARY

Die Hexe - witch

Der Zauberer - wizard

Der Topf - pot

Der Besen - broom

Der Trank - potion

Die Kerze - candle

Der Rauch - smoke

Der Altar - altar

Die Tarotkarten - tarot cards 

Das Orakel - oracle

Der Fluch - curse

Der Kessel - cauldron

Die Kristallkugel - crystal ball

Das Wachs - wax

Die schwarze Katze - black cat

Der Kristall - crystal

Der Zauberspruch - spell

Das Ritual - ritual 

zaubern - (to) perform magic

fliegen - (to) fly

(etw.) vorhersagen - (to) predict (sth.)

schädlich - harmful

harmlos - harmless

paranormal - übernatürlich

[witchycabinet]

A prayer to Dionysus for the trans, enby, and gnc folks

Oh Dionysus, Dimêtôr, beautiful twice -born god,

Who watches over your loved ones with such compassion,

See us now, and feel our sorrows, Androgynos.

We are your children, your sons, and your daughters,

Not by birth, but rather by choice.

We look to you now, Patrôios, for guidance in the coming days.

There are those who wish to strip us of our rights and identities.

While we do all we can, we still humbly request your aid, Eleuthereus;

Help us retain our freedoms. Aid us in these troubling times.

Most of all, please aid us all in remembering our worth.

Χαίρε, Διόνυσος.

Epithets used:

Dimêtôr - Διμητωρ - twice born

Androgynos - Ανδρογυνος - androgynous

Patrôios - Πατρωιος - paternal; ancestral

Eleuthereus - Ελευθερευς - of liberation; freedom

(This is my first prayer I’ve written! If I’ve messed up on anything, please let me know!)

[witchycabinet]

“Remember why you became a polytheist. Perhaps you prayed and Someone unexpected answered. Perhaps a Goddess tapped you on the shoulder and said “you’re mine.” Perhaps you realized that the world is better explained by many Gods of limited power and scope than by one all-powerful God and you decided that following Them was the best way to order your life. It’s hard to be spiritual when your roof is leaking. If your current situation has dampened your enthusiasm for the Gods, Their virtues, and Their work, it’s understandable. And usually, They understand too – They tend to have a longer and wider perspective than we do. But whatever your reason for becoming a polytheist, it was valid then and it’s still valid now.”

—

John Beckett

“Polytheism in Difficult Times“

(via

intaier

)

[witchycabinet]

On the note of hellenism, @thatwitchykidd actually runs a Hellenic pagan discord, too!

Sooooo I’m experimenting with religion!! leaning toward polytheistic Hellenism! if you post that please let me know so I can follow you!! I’ve become so disassociated with Christianity from past stuff that I’m searching for alternatives! This isn’t a hate on Christians or anything though!!

[witchycabinet]

Spiritual Kerosene

This little light of mine...

This spell is designed to empower the flame inside you, so that you may better share its light with the world.

The only components required are a tincture of your choice and a candle. The tincture in mind would have an alcohol base, given that the idea is that of fuel for your fire, but a vinegar base would work fine as well. Furthermore, you can use a specific herbal tincture to further the effect based upon the herb in question, such as ginkgo for longevity of the spell or mint, so that your light may help heal others' pain.

Light the candle and visualize the flame as your flame, the light in your heart that you can share with the world. Taking the tincture, draw the alchemical symbol for fire on your skin (I use the inside of my left forearm, but that's a personal choice, anywhere will do) orient it so that the upper corner points up your veins, toward your heart. Feel the growth within yourself, and snuff the candle. Go forth and do good things!

[witchycabinet]

Designing a spell:

The best way to learn about magic is to write your own spells. Here is how I break down my own spell writing process.

How will it function

For some people spells are circuits; power source, to module, to switch and all connected. For some, its a mini ceremony that mimics what you want to happen in simplistic terms, sympathetic magic with poppets and writing your intention down. For others, it a map of direction to the spirit, deity or force you are appealing towards. You can use a mix of all styles, none or whatever, but knowing beforehand will help you make the spell.

Medium

I’ve done a post already on how the means of a spell can affect the outcome in my opinion, but a good challenge is to think about what materials you have in the cupboard to make it work. A candle spell can yield the same result as a sigil, but if you really care about the outcome, think about the medium behind it. A sigil on paper tends to look more intimidatiing to me, the black ink and mysterious symbols on paper tend to put people off if they are unsure of what it is,so I use it for warding mgic very often. Whereas a candle gives off heat and light, its good for healing and more emotional aspects of magic. But that is just my opinion, take into consideration your own interpretations.

Materials

Everything from how you plan to ‘feed’ the spell to what you ‘store’ it in can be tweaked. I like to think in this department about waste not want not, I listen to my music quite loudly, so I like to stake that extra noises out my phone and do a little sigil on my earphones for banishing, so bad vibes are kept at bay. Need charge something with energy? Why not use body heat or a spritz of a certain perfume to get your point across? Everything yields something different in magic, so be careful.

Timing

Not everyone obeys ‘as above so below’ but you can think about how timing might affect your work; a crossraods spell in rushhour might scatter better than at a slower pace, a purifiction spell when its raining might well add to the energy you are looking for.

More of ____ Less of _____

This helps hone your intention and gives you a chance to double whammy your issue; creepy person at your workplace you can’t get rid of via conventional means? More peace and less creepy guy. Need some more focus for an upcoming exam? Less distraction, more focus. Attack both ends.

Conjure what you need not what you want.

Okay so this might be a matter of opinion, but I find it far more helpful to do a spell for a job interview success than immeadiate cash, or some other example. There are exceptions to this, of course, but keep it in mind.

Engaging your senses

You don’t necessarily need to be smelling, hearing, touching, tasting and seeing all at the same time to have a good spell, but its worth spending time thinking about what senses affect ou and how. For example, a health spell might be worth making in the form of food stuffs. Think also about the elimination of a sense; a spell for silencing an individual done in complete slilence, perhaps?

Write down the perameters

This is a do-as-I-say-and-not-as-I-do one… I am always forgetting the rules for my own spells, so just make a little note. I find myself being more conciousof my magic if a spell is only meant to last so long. If your spell affects a particular individual, think about writing down the terms and conditions, especially if it is a curse.

Begining, middle, end

One of my fave ways of doing spell is just ‘I’m gonna charge you object’ and then I charge it with an action, like I kiss my perfume vials for confidence, or blow on a hoodie to instill it with warmth, or stir comfort into tea, and then I nod or smile or clap. It marks the beggininng and ending of the magicing process so that it seperates the middle as the magical part, it doesn’t need to be fancy, it could b a simple ‘so mote it be’ or ‘in your name’ if you’re working with a deity. It really does help mark out the magic part of the magic, as well as letting it end in your head.

[witchycabinet]

Homeric Hymn to Hera

XII. TO HERA

[1] I sing of golden-throned Hera whom Rhea bare. Queen of the immortals is she, surpassing all in beauty: she is the sister and the wife of loud-thundering Zeus, — the glorious one whom all the blessed throughout high Olympus reverence and honour even as Zeus who delights in thunder.