Witchcraft 101: Let's Talk About Cleansing, Because No, It's Not Just Sage

by Jason Parker

Devils Spring System, Florida

some nice things

keeping clutter-free

[ID: an animated gif of grandma Sophie from the movie Howl’s Moving castle sweeping a broom around a dirty and dusty room, with dust clouds filling the air]

some tips from a neatfreak autistic for anyone who might find this helpful :o)

🧹 first things first, if you find cleaning or decluttering overwhelming, try to break it up into small steps for yourself, like cleaning a single surface or drawer a day - and if you find yourself struggling beyond that with issues such as executive dysfunction, don’t be scared to seek help or search for more specific tips

🧺 i like to designate a specific place for everything, without it neccessarily being a filing cabinet or something really strict - a simple system like socks in the bottom drawer, shirts in the top, fictional books on the left side of a shelf, etc, can make a big difference in helping you find stuff and feel more organised

🧹 keep a bin in most rooms, even if it’s just a waste paper basket, it’s easier to be motivated to throw things away if the trash is closer

🧺 you might have a lot of things you don’t use, but don’t want to get rid of in case you need them someday in the future - try stowing these away in a ‘backup’ drawer or suitcase, or hidden on a top shelf somewhere; so they won’t get in the way of things you frequently use, but they’re there if you need them

🧹 when you do get rid of something, be sure to donate or pass it on it if you can, unless it’s completely unsalvageable, chances are someone could make use of it

🧺 personally i like to declutter once a year, but you could spread this out over a few months, or longer - just be sure to do it somewhat regularly, it can help you find missing things, or clear out space

🧹 i ask a few questions with each item as i go through my clutter -

do i ever use this?

do i need it?

will i need it in the future?

does it make me happy to have around?

do i want to keep it for sentimental value?

if i answer ‘no’ to all of these, away to the donation box it goes!

🧺 and i think my most important tip is to not let yourself feel pressured into getting rid of things that you have a lot of or don’t use, especially if they make you happy - minimalist interiors can be nice, but it’s lovely to fill your space with things you love, even if they don’t have a use! if it makes you happy, it stays

portal to a better place II

🧹 Home Cleansing 🧹

This is one of the most important skill to learn for beginner witches. Practicing magic and witchcraft tends to attract a lot of positive and negative energies, so it is important for you to regularly cleanse your home to reset the space. There are many different ways of cleansing your home using the 4 elements. 

– 

Air cleanse

🌪️ Start by opening your windows and letting some fresh air in.  🌪️ Burn palo santo wood to clear the air and reset energies.  🌪️ In a small cauldron, burn cleansing herbs like rosemary or lavender and walk from room to room to disperse the smoke. 

– 

Water cleanse

💧 Clean your floor using a herbal floor wash (rosemary, sage, bay leaves).  💧 Make a cleansing spray with salt water, rosemary or lavender.  💧 Leave a small dish of Florida water in rooms that need cleansing. 

– 

Fire cleanse

🔥 If possible, let the sunlight in as much as possible.  🔥 Inscribe the word ‘peace’ on a candle and let it burn out.  🔥 Place burnt-looking crystals like smoky quartz and black tourmaline in your entrance as they collect negative energies.

– 

Earth cleanse

🌱 To cleanse your witch tools, place them on the dirt near your houseplants.  🌱 Use your besom (aka broom) to sweep dust and dirt from your home.  🌱 Finish your cleansing at your entrance door by releasing negative energies back to the earth. 

Perfect Bread:

I absolutely love this recipe! The bread is soft, and is perfect for sandwiches, French toast, and pretty much everything you can think of. I don’t want to buy bread from the store ever again!

6 Cups all-purpose flour

2 ½ Cups very warm water

2 Tbsp. Active dry yeast

2 Tbsp. Sugar

1 tsp. Salt

1 Tbsp. Butter

Combine warm water, yeast, and sugar and let sit until the surface is foamy (If it’s doesn’t foam, the yeast doesn’t work).

When yeast is activated, add 3 cups of the flour, the salt, and the butter. Mix until thoroughly combined, about 2 minutes.

Once mixture is smooth, add the remaining 3 cups of flour. I recommend folding the flour in until fairly combined before kneading.

Once combined, knead dough for 6-8 minutes in a stand mixer, or 8-10 minutes by hand.

Form dough into a ball, cover with plastic wrap or a cloth, and let rise for 45 minutes.

Cut dough into 2-3 equal pieces and place into a buttered bread pan, and brush melted butter (or olive oil). Allow to rise in the loaf pans for an additional 10-15 minutes. (🍞 Tip: Use a small knife to make a slit longways across the bread to prevent splitting along the side of the bread.)

Bake bread in a 375°F oven for 30 minutes uncovered, and and additional 10 minutes covered in foil to prevent excess browning.

Makes 2-3 loaves of bread.

Grimoire - Advice for New Witches

Getting Started and Going: “So, you want to be a witch?” Masterpost witchcraft masterpost Beginner Steps for Studying Witchcraft Basic research for beginner Witches “What Is My Path and How Do I Find It?” Tumblr as a resource When learning about witchcraft on Tumblr You're not going to find your spirituality on the internet Library Services for Witchcraft Research Setting Up An Altar Space Altar Building 101 A Beginners Guide to Spellwork 7 Ways to Strengthen Your Powers How to connect with your Spirit Guides Craft Names Magical Names Actually useful shit to have as a witch What to do when you first decide to start practicing witchcraft How you can subtly incorporate witchcraft into your daily life Misconceptions for beginner witches Witchy activities to strengthen your craft & relationship with yourself What Does It MEAN? Please read this if you practice witchcraft Witchy Things You Probably Did Before Learning/Realizing You Were A Witch Are you a natural witch? Ways to get closer to your craft Buying Your First Tarot Deck A beginner's guide to shadow work 20 ways to enhance your magic Focus - How to develop your Craft Things You Do Not Have to Be In Order to Be a Witch simple exercises for baby witches Grimoire Resources Use what you have at home Beginner Caution About Wicca Common Witch Misconceptions Pt. 1 Common Witch Misconceptions Pt. 2

Things to Beware of: The Dangers of the Perception of Witchcraft Why the “Law of Attraction” is actually a toxic mindset The Law of Attraction, Prosperity Gospel, and Other Ways of Controlling How People Think You Don't Need to do Shadow Work Witchy Mistakes to Avoid SPIRITUAL TRAPS Why Witchcraft Might Not Be Working For You practicing safe witchcraft Safety 101 in witchcraft Covens vs Cults: How to tell if its a harmful cult or a helpful coven! Cults? In my life? It’s more likely than you think. “Hey. Don’t join cults.” Example red flags.

Advice from Seasoned Witches: Practicing witchcraft when your religion tells you you’ll go to hell 101 Your Witchcraft Isn’t Ancient (and why that’s ok). What to do with your witchy motivation What to Do if Witchcraft Drains You When to take a break from witchcraft Why skepticism is important in witchcraft Fighting consumerism in magic How to be a functional witch Witchcraft, and all of its subcategories, is individualistic at heart Advice for the Beginner: You don't have to become a full-time witch Advice for the beginner: Start with the herbs you know Advice for the beginner: Don't get it until you need it Advice for the Beginner: Look for the Mundane before you assume it's Magical Advice for the Beginner: Know what you're going to do with your spell remains Advice for the Beginner: Be cautious, but don't live in fear How Correspondences Work The problem with correspondences Developing Your Own Correspondences Discipline in Witchcraft Covens How Find Safe Groups, Teachers, and Authors in the Pagan and Witch Community Tips for Discernment How to Become a More Confident Witch Doing Your Own Research

Just a Bunch of Tips: Big Compilation of Useful Witchy Tips Tips for baby witches, lazy witches, tired witches, or any witch really Witch Tips Basic Witch Tips & Advice 11 witchy tips for a healthy life "Ten witch tips I wish someone had given me before I started practicing magic" basic ass witch tips

Advice From Me: Books and websites to jumpstart your witchcraft journey We never have to be on our own Let me put your minds at ease You don't have to do it all Let's talk about fear Witchcraft "Rules" Not being a hereditary witch Anyone can be a witch Simple advice: start simple What I would tell my younger self So what do witches "look" like? Witchcraft is messy business.

Everyday Magic for the Green Witch

Grow herbs on your balcony or in your backyard 

If you live in an apartment, find good indoor plants

You can never go wrong with more succulents 

Water your plants from your water cup to bond with them

Write sigils on the pots of your plants to help them grow 

Bury a coin in the forest to welcome money into your life

Carry a book around to press flowers in

Illustrate or take photos of interesting plants you see 

If you cannot have real plants, get fake plants from a craft store and decorate your room

Wear clothing or accessories with plants and flowers on them 

Tuck flowers into your hair 

Bring leaves and flowers home as offerings for your deity

Help caterpillars cross the sidewalk 

Pathworking and Astral Travel

In spirit work, we often connect with the spirits that have crossed over and are present in the physical world. However, there are also ways to cross over into the spirit world and connect with spirits in their home environment.

Pathworking

As I mentioned in a previous post, a pathworking is a specific type of meditation where you go on a psychic journey, but are still anchored to your physical body. It’s sort of like dipping your toes into the spirit world.

There are two important elements to a pathworking: a clear entrance/exit point and a way to retrace your steps. Pathworking journeys are typically cyclical — there is both a journey out and a return where you go back the way you came. This makes it easier to fully return your consciousness to your body, and failing to do so can cause you to feel disoriented upon the return.

Your entry/exit point can be absolutely anything, but common examples include a door, a gateway, a tree (or sometimes The World Tree), a cave/tunnel, or a natural landmark like a beach or mountaintop. What’s important is that it’s recognizable and easy to find your way back to.

If you want to try pathworking, make a rough “road map” of your journey beforehand. This doesn’t have to be super specific, but it should contain the following: a goal for the pathworking (such as to connect with a certain spirit), an entry/exit point, and a general idea for the route you’re going to take. If you’re worried about getting lost, author Thea Sabin recommends using “the Theseus trick.” Like in the myth of Theseus and the Minotaur, you can tie a golden thread or rope to your entry point and the other end to your astral body. If you get lost, you can follow the thread back.

Pathworking is fairly beginner friendly, and I highly, highly, highly recommend starting with pathworking and becoming comfortable with this method before trying astral travel. Even for more advanced witches, pathworking is often a better option than astral travel because it’s less involved and requires a little bit less effort. I personally prefer pathworking for most situations.

Performing a Pathworking

Before you begin, establish a clear goal for your pathworking and write out a rough “road map.” At the very least, you should know what your purpose is, where your entry point is, and how to find your way back.

Begin in a dark, quiet room. Cleanse the room by burning incense, diffusing or spraying essential oils, or using a ritual broom to sweep out old energy.

Find a comfortable place to sit or lie down and begin meditating. You may want to play meditation music, practice breathing techniques, or use some other method to help you reach a meditative state.

Once you reach a meditative state (you should know what this feels like if you have experience with meditation), see yourself standing at your entry point. This is your entrance to the astral realm.

Set out on your pathworking.

When you are ready to leave the astral realm, you will need to find your way back to your entry point. Once you reach your entry point, it should be fairly easy to return to your body.

Once you’re fully present in your physical body, use your favorite method to ground yourself.

Write down everything you experienced during your pathworking in a journal.

Astral Travel

If pathworking is dipping your toes into the spirit world, astral travel is diving in the deep end. Also called spirit flight and hedge riding, astral travel includes actually sending your soul/consciousness out of your body and into the spirit world. As you might guess, this is more complicated and requires more effort than pathworking. For this reason, astral travel is not beginner-friendly. If you are completely new to meditation, witchcraft, and spirit work, it’s best to learn to pathwork before you attempt astral travel.

A word of warning: you may want to avoid astral travel at times when you’re in a very vulnerable or volatile emotional state. Some days you just aren’t up for it, and that’s okay. On those days, a pathworking or another form of spirit work may be a better option.

Triggering Spirit Flight

In astral travel, a trigger of some kind is used to help disconnect the soul from the physical body. Common triggers include drumming, special music, shaking a rattle, chanting, and dancing.

You can find shamanic drumming tracks on YouTube that can help you achieve astral travel. If you find that repetitive motion helps you trance out, you may look into getting a small drum or rattle to play.

Animal Guides

In many cultures, those who travel into the spirit world do so with the guidance and protection of an animal spirit. From the Norse fylgja, to the shamanic power animal, to the witch’s familiar, history is full of examples of these types of guides.

Before you begin astral travel, do a pathworking to meet your animal guide. It’s important to note that you aren’t choosing an animal guide — only meeting one that has always been with you. Your guide may be an animal that you like or identify with, or it may not. When I first began experimenting with astral travel, my guide was a coyote — an animal I had never identified with before, but who I learned was deeply connected to my inner self.

It’s important to always have your animal guide with you when going on astral journeys, as they are an important source of protection and power. They may also literally guide you to the things you need to see and the spirits you need to meet.

Flying Ointments

Historical accounts describe witches using “flying ointment” to help them achieve spirit flight. These traditional flying ointments contained toxic and/or hallucinogenic plants like belladonna, datura, henbane, mandrake, and opium poppies. For obvious reasons, most modern witches do not use these herbs.

Please do not try to create your own flying ointment with poisonous plants. If you’re a true traditionalist and feel like you just have to try a historically accurate flying ointment, Bane Folk Apothecary sells several. Bane Folk is run by Sarah Anne Lawless, a kickass witch who knows her stuff and produces safe, medicinal products inspired by traditional flying ointment formulas. I am usually very pro-DIY, especially when it comes to witchcraft, but this is one case where it really is best to defer to a professional.

To create a modern, non-toxic flying ointment: heat eight ounces (or one cup) of poppy seed oil over low heat on the stove. Once the oil is warm, add 2 ounces (or ¼ cup) of beeswax into the oil. (Use carnauba wax for a vegan alternative.) Take the mixture off the heat, and allow it to cool off a bit. Once it has cooled (but before it’s begun to solidify), add nine drops each of mugwort essential oil, star anise essential oil, and peppermint essential oil. Pour the mixture into a mason jar and seal tightly. To extend your ointment’s shelf life, add a few drops of Vitamin E oil and store in the refrigerator. If you don’t have access to essential oils or prefer a more traditional method, you can buy dry herbs and infuse them into your oil instead — to do this, crush up 2.5 ounces (or 1/3 cup) each of dried mugwort, star anise, and peppermint and add them to a mason jar; add enough oil to the jar to cover the herbs completely, with about an inch of oil above them; seal the jar and place it in a sunny window for 2-3 weeks to infuse; and finally, strain the herbs out of the oil with a mesh sieve or a cheesecloth. You can then add your Vitamin E oil and beeswax to create an ointment.

This modern recipe does not contain hallucinogens, but it does contain plants that are commonly used in magic to increase psychic abilities and aid in astral travel. You can say an incantation over this ointment while making it to add some extra magical potency. Applying the flying ointment can also become a sort of ritual that prepares you for spirit flight by helping you slip into a more spiritual head space.

Performing Astral Travel/Spirit Flight

Before you begin, know why you are journeying to the spirit world. You should always have a clear goal for your astral journeys.

Begin in a dark, quiet room. Cleanse the room by burning incense (mugwort incense aids in astral travel), diffusing or spraying essential oils, or using a ritual broom to sweep out old energy.

Use your favorite method to ground yourself.

If you are choosing to use a flying ointment, rub it on your skin now.

Hold a protective item in one of your hands. I like physical items for protection during spirit flight, because they can ground you and help you find your way back to your body. Examples of protective items include a sprig of rue, a piece of iron, or a protective crystal like black tourmaline. If you ever feel scared or uncomfortable during your journey, you can bring this object into the astral realm to protect you. It will also keep your body safe while your consciousness is occupied.

Start up your trigger, whether this is drumming, rattling, dancing, etc.

Allow yourself to drift into a trance state, and then to disconnect from your body.

Call your animal guide to you.

Set out on your journey in the spirit world.

When you are ready, feel yourself returning to your physical body. Allow yourself to come back slowly — don’t rush it.

Ground yourself. One good way to ground after astral travel is by eating a snack.

Write down your experiences in a journal.

Resources:

Wicca for Beginners by Thea Sabin

Southern Cunning: Folkloric Witchcraft in the American South by Aaron Oberon

Hedge Riding by Harmonia Saille

“How to Make Herb-Infused Oils for Culinary & Body Care Use” and “How to Make Herbal Salves” from the Mountain Rose Herbs blog