Step 1

CIRCLE CASTING 101

A magickal circle is an energetic construct that you build or envision around yourself before working magick, doing a ritual, some like to cast a circle before meditating or reading tarots. For a solitary practitioner the circle is typically 5-6 ft in diameter, but the size expands based on the size of the group. It can be defined physically, energetically, or both.

Circles provide protection and serves as a container for your personal energy as well as the energy you conjure.

Please remember that this is just what i personally like to do when casting a circle, but that there are many methods.

Preparation for circle casting

1. Determine how much space you will need.

2. Cleanse your area. Vacuum, sweep, throw away any trash in the area.

3.Make sure you have everything you need for your ritual! Theres nothing more frustrating than having your circle casted and realizing you’ve forgotten an herb or any supplies you need for the work you’re about to do.

4. Purify your area. Light purifying incense, sage, sprinkle salt and holy 💧. Most importantly, Visualize the negative energy dispersing. If you don’t focus & visualize, your physical actions will have little effect. Visualization is hands down one of the most important things in any and all magickal workings!

5. Now its time to cast your circle!

Visualize protective energy coming from within you and direct it towards your casting arm. Focus it through a casting tool (Athame, wand, or ✋)  and visualize a beam of energy coming from it and settling on the ground. Trace your circle with this energy, 3 times in a clockwise direction. Once for protection, once for focus, and once for power.

Call the 4 quarters

Face North and say “I call to the North, to the element of Earth. Grant me (us if not practicing alone) your endurance, your strength.”                                  Sprinkle salt onto your altar or crumble soil into a bowl on your altar.

Face East and say “I call to the East, to the element of Air. Grant me your creativity and your intuition.”                                                                             Light incense, wave a fan,or drop feathers onto your altar.

Face south and say “I call to the South, to the element of Fire. Grant me your passion and your energy.”                                                                                 Light candles.

Face west and say “I call to the West, to the element of Water. Grant me your empathy and your emotion.”                                                                              Pour blessed/storm/moon/natural water into a bowl or into your chalice.

Now would be the time to call on any deities you’d wish to work with. You can call any Goddess or Angel by personalizing this to them. I typically do not personally work with deities, but if you were to want to, Call to them similar to how the Elements are called. Ex. “I call to Gaia, Mother Goddess, Spirit of Earth.” and then place an offering symbolizing them, so for Gaia you might place  grain on your altar as an offering.

If not solitary, now would be the time to invite others to the circle. The group leader typically invites others in by a series of phrases, although i know every coven has their own method fine tuned for themselves, This is just the method i’ve seen used and am familiar with.                                                                    Group leader:”Children of the Goddess, I now invite you to enter our circle.” Each member will be asked “How do you enter this circle?” The response should be “In perfect love and perfect trust.”

Now its time to raise energy. This is the most important part of this process. It is so important because when you open your circle at the end of spellwork, You release all of your energy you have filled with intent out into the universe to go manifest whatever it may be you have called to. You want as much energy as possible to be released carrying your intent!

Here are a few ways! There is no wrong way to do this part, and there are SO MANY ways. You can fine tune this all to you. Remember that this is your ritual, and you want your energy fully behind everything you are doing. This is all customizable, most of all the energy raising.

-Witches Rune Chant

“Darksome night and shining Moon,

East, then South, then West, then North,

Hearken to the witches’ rune;

Here i come to call thee forth.

Earth and Water, Air and Fire.

Wand and pentacle and sword,

Work ye unto my desire,

Hearken ye into my word.

Cords and censer, scourge and knife,

Power of the witches blade waken all ye unto life,

Come ye as the charm is made.

Queen of Heaven, Queen of Hell, Lend your power unto my spell,

and work my will by magic rite.

By all the power of Land and Sea, By all the might of Moon and Sun,

As I do will, So mote it be;

Chant the spell, and be it done.

Eko, Eko Azarak

Eko, Eko Zamilak

Eko, Eko Karnayna

Eko, Eko Aradia”

-Meditating to raise energy. Visualize energy building and building by visualizing warm, yellow light fill your body until its expanding out of your body and filling the dome above your circle. visualize it filling with energy until you are content.

-Music or Drumming, Dancing and Chanting.

Once you reach your desired energy level, it is time to get into whatever spellwork or ritual you desire to preform!

After your spellwork, its time for Cakes and Ale. I like to make little spirit cakes and have some red wine after a ritual. Expelling all of that energy from your body is draining, and you should take your time to enjoy this part of the ritual. Set a cake and some wine aside for the entities who have lent you their energy as thanks. Cakes can be anything, from saltine crackers to cupcakes. Ale can be water. Anything that works for you is ok. For my cakes, i bake a shortbread and mix whatever ingredients i want into the dough. This way, I can craft them with the intent for whatever ritual i may be doing.

ONCE YOU FINISH YOUR WORK SAY GOODBYE TO THE ELEMENTS AND THANK THEM FOR THE POWER THEY BROUGHT. ALWAYS SAY GOODBYE AND THANK ANY DEITIES CALLED ON. 

HERE IS HOW I DO IT:

-Farewell to Goddess. ex. “I thank you, Gaia, for gracing me with your glory. Farewell and Merry met.”

-Farewell to Quarters (Counterclockwise). 

“My thanks to the element of Water, Your compassion was a gift. Farewell & Blessed be.” Now cover your dish of water or pour it out, Physically say goodbye as well.

“My thanks to the element of Fire, Your fierceness was a gift. Farewell & Blessed be.” Douse your candle. 

“My thanks to the element of Air, Your wisdom was a gift. Farewell & Blessed be.” Douse incense/flip fan/turn over feather.

“My thanks to the element of Earth, Your protection was a gift. Farewell & Blessed be.” Cover earth with a cloth, or return it to ground.

I like to walk the circle the opposite way of its casting three times, and voila!

Keep in mind that this is just my method! There are many methods and this is just one of them.

I hope this is helpful to you! 

-Love and light, @lapiscat

Things to put in your book of shadows

Of course, only put in your book of shadows/grimoire what you want. If you don't want to put certain subjects in your book then that's fine. It's your book, utilize it how you want. This is just a masterlist of ideas that I've put together. Feel free to add anything else to the list that I may have missed, because there's absolutely no way I included everything.

And for the love of all the gods, if you come across a closed entity or practice, don't try to work with the entity or practice if you're not already part of that group or tradition. You can research it but don't practice it.

+ A blessing and/or protection

+ A table of contents

+ About you:

Your current path

Your personal beliefs

Your spiritual journey

Favorite crystals/herbs/animals

Natal chart

Craft name

How you got into the craft

Astrology signs

Birthday correspondences (birth tarot card, birth stone, etc)

Goals (if you have any)

Anything other relating to your personal practice

+ Safety

Fire safety

What NOT to burn

Plants and oils that can be toxic to your pets

What crystals shouldn't be in water, sunlight, etc

Things that shouldn't be put out in nature (salt, glass, etc)

Potion safety

How to incorporate blood safely

+ Core concepts:

Intention and how it works

Directing energy

Protection

Banishing

Cleansing

Charging

Shielding

Grounding and centering

Visualization

Consencration/Blessing

Warding

Enchanting

Manifestation

+ Correspondence

Personal correspondence

Crystals and rocks

Herbs and spices

Food and drink

Colors

Metals

Number

Tarot card

Elemental (fire, water, air, earth)

Trees and woods

Flowers

Days

Months

Moon phases

Zodiac

Planets

Incense

Teas

Essential oils

Directions (north, south, east, west)

Animals

Local plants, animals, etc

Dream symbology

+ Different practices

Practices that are closed to you (some examples below)

Voodoo and Hoodoo **Closed**

Santeria and Brujeria **Closed**

Shamanism and native american practices **Closed**

Wicca and wiccan paths

Satanism, both theistic and non-theistic paths

+ Different types/practices of magick

Pop culture magick

Technology magick

Chaos magick

Green witchcraft

Lunar magick

Sea witchcraft

Kitchen magick

Ceremonial magick

Hedge witchcraft

Death witchcraft

Grey witchcraft

Eclectic witchcraft

Norse witchcraft

Hellenic witchcraft

Animism

+ Deities

The deity/deities you worship

Different pantheons (the main five are Celtic, Roman, Greek, Egyptian and Norse, all open)

Deities and pantheons that are closed to you

Common offerings

Their epithets

Their mythology

Their family

Deity worship vs deity work

Prayers and how to make your own

Deity communication guide

Devotional acts

Ways to get closer to them

+ Other spiritual entities

Angels

Ancestor work

Spirit guides

The fae

Demons

Familiars

House spirits, animal spirits and plant spirits

Other various folklore entities

Spirit etiquette

Cemetery etiquette

Setting boundaries with the spirits

Communication guide and etiquette

Grounding, banishing, protection and cleansing, aka: "Spirit work safety guide"

How they appear to you

Common offerings

Circle casting

+ Divination

Tarot cards

Oracle cards

Tarot and oracle spreads

Pendulum

Numerology

Scrying

Palmistry/palm reading

Tasseography (Tea leaf reading)

Rune stones

Shufflemancy (Shuffling of a playlist)

Dice divination

Bibliomancy (Randomly picking a phrase from a book)

Carromancy (Melted wax)

Pyromancy (Reading flames)

Psychic abilities

Astrology

Aura reading

Divination via playing cards

Lenormand 

Sacred geometry

Angel numbers

+ Other types of magick

Candle magick

Crystal magick

Herbalism/herbal magick

Glamour magick

Hexing

Jinxing

Cursing

Weather magick

Astral work

Shadow work

Energy work

Sigils

Art magick

Knot magick

Crystal grids

Color grids

Music magick

Charms, talismans and amulets

+ Spellwork

What makes a spell work

Basic spell structure

What NOT to do

Disposing of spell ingredients

Revitalizing long term spells

How to cast spells

What to put in spells (See correspondence)

Spell mediums- Jar spells, spoken spells, candle spells, sigils, etc

Spell timing

Setting up a ritual

Taglocks: What they are and how to use them

+ Holidays and Esbats

Yule

Imbolc

Ostara

Beltane

Litha

Lughnasadh/Lammas

Mabon

Samhain

The 12 full moons (Esbats)

How to celebrate

Deity specific holidays

+ Altars and tools

What they are

The different types and their uses (travel altar, working altar, deity altar, ancestor altar, etc)

What you can put on your altar

What you use your altars for

Common tools in witchcraft

How to use the tools

Food and drink

Common herbs in recipes

Sabbat recipes

Moon water: What it is and how to use it

Potion bases

Tea magick

How to get your herbs

Foraging

+ Mental health and self care

Bath magick

Affirmations

Burnout prevention

Aromatherapy

Stress management

Mental health coping mechanisms

+ History of witchcraft

+ Dream records

+ How to differentiate between the magickal and the mundane

+ Calendar of celestial events (Esbats, retrogrades, etc)

+ How to dry herbs and flowers

+ What chakras actually are and how they work within Hinduism

+ History and traditional uses of reiki

+ The witches' alphabet

+ The runic alphabet

+ Common witchcraft terms

+ Common symbols in witchcraft

+ Your own witch tips

+ Good witchcraft books and authors to avoid

+ Any online resources you utilize often

Real witches Reduce, Re-use, and Recycle

It’s 2019 and the planet is dying, people. Sustainable witchcraft is where it’s at.

Psychic Protection Herb Satchel

🔮Protect yourself while enhancing your psychic abilities🔮

🔮Things needed

1. A purple bag

2. Herbs

    🌿Dried Lavender

   🌿Dried Mugwort

   🌿Dried Anise

   🌿Dried Bay

   🌿Dried Rosemary 

   🌿Dandelion 

   🌿Dried Sage

3. Amethyst 

🔮Instructions

🌙Add a few pinches of the above herbs into the bag (you can add as much or little of a herb as you want. Make sure you enjoy the smell)

🌙Add the amethyst 

🌙Before bed rub the bag on your forehead and inhale the scent

🌙Keep the bag by your bed at night 

i think it’s so wholesome that whenever me or my friends have issues w our plants 🌱 .. i always send my mom a pic and she gives us a diagnosis and what to do

Elemental Correspondences

Grounding techniques

Grounding plays an important part in witchcraft. It’s just a fancy way of saying you’re completely aware of your surroundings. For me, a lot of grounding techniques are too boring and I get distracted easily. So here’s a list of grounding techniques I use!

Grab pretty much anything. Notice how it feels. Notice the textures, the sounds it makes as you touch it and move it around. Notice the colors, the smell, maybe it’s taste. 

On both hands, tap each finger to your thumb. Tap your fore finger to your thumb, then your middle finger, ring finger, pinkie, and go back. Make sure you do this on both hands. Using both hands activates both sides of your brain which in turn helps you become more aware.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Look around the room. Find 5 things of one color, then 4 of a different color, and so on and so forth. For example, you could find 5 things that are red, 4 things that are green, 3 things that are black, 2 things that are blue, and 1 thing that is purple. 

You can do the same thing but with your senses. 5 things you can see, 4 things you can touch, 3 things you can hear, 2 things you can smell, and 1 thing you can taste.

Hold ice in your hands.

Eat something spicy or sour.

All of these were taught to me by my therapist and can be used by anyone. Feel free to change them up as needed whether it be to make it more witchy or just more comfy for you

'Revenge is bad' to YOU. i love when a character destroys everyone who wronged them. i love when they get to bite and maim and tear and rip and scratch and kill. Sorry ur catholic about it but i'm different

A Good Night’s Sleep Mojo Bag and Oil

There are two projects pictured here.

~ * ~ A Good Sleep Mojo Bag ~ * ~

1. Amythest - Relaxation

2. Rosemary - Eliminate bad dreams

3. Lavender - Calm an anxious mind

~ * ~ A Good Sleep Body/Annointing Oil ~ * ~

This oil can be worn and can be used to feed your mojo bag.

1. 9 drops of lavender oil

2. 9 drops of chamomile

3. Fill the rest of the bottle with a carrier oil

4. Add amythest chips

5. Add lavender buds

6. Shake and infuse with your intent. Conduct a ritual to aid sleep.

Clear and clean your space and materials before beginning. I cleaned my space and materials with sage and Florida water. Please let me know if you want a more detailed post!

🌿💚🌞🌧️🌞💚🌿

An emoji spell to keep your plants happy & healthy. Likes charge & reblogs cast