Blessed Be!

When I say "connect with nature" I don't just mean the aesthetic forests with deer and beautiful flowers.

I mean the weeds growing through concrete, the fungus that grows on the rotten shed, the nettles that always seem to return and the scary, spindly cellar spider in the corner of the bathroom.

Nature is not always pretty or magical - the pigeons and seagulls you swat at are nature too, the wasps and flies that hover by your meals are animals too, store-bought strawberries and the leaves that fall from your neighbour's tree are not all that different from the Giant Sequoias and it's seeds.

If you want to connect and understand nature, I mean *really* connect to it, in it's entirety, you have to seek out and learn about the ugly, scary and mundane things as well. You don't have to like it, just don't forget that it's there.

Offerings for the Goddess: Hekate

These offering ideas can of course be changed depending on what you have available to you, what you can make and what you connect with but these are just a few of the items I find work best for me when I give offerings to the goddess of crossroads, witchcraft and so much more!

items labeled with * are things I find are extremely well received

Edibles

Breads 

Cakes - lit with candles especially 

Pomegranates *

Wines

Honey

Cinnamon

Garlic 

Onion

Milk - I prefer warmed milk but I’m not aware if She has a preference 

Chocolates - I usually offer dark chocolates 

Non-Edibles

Roses

Lavender 

Poppy seeds

Dandelions 

Blood - I’m only listening this because it’s worked wildly well for me but DO NOT ATTEMPT if you do/have struggled with self harm of any kind or are easily made ill due to the sight of blood. Hekate understand you cannot give Her your essence and she values your mental health and well being more than anything you could ever give her!!! she will love and protect you reguardless!!

Incense

Frankincense *

Lavender *

Jasmine *

Citrus - especially orange 

Dragons Blood

Others

keys *

Candles 

Tea Lights 

Bones 

Fires - i.e. bonfires *

Oil lamps 

Lavender *

Crow/Raven/Owl Feathers - only feathers naturally fallen off 

Statues of Her and Her sacred animals *

Poetry, literature, and music you heavily associate with Her **

Super easy and cheap devotional acts for beginners.

A nice cup and some clean, fresh, water on the altar can often be all you need for daily offerings

Grow a plant on your altar, use your weekly watering as a devotional act. Hermes is currently helping my peace lily grow :)

Draw their sigil on your nails and then paint over them with nail polish that matches their color correspondences.

If you can’t acquire alcohol for your deities (wine, vodka etc) because you’re too young, white vinegar also works. The quality we’re looking for is the purification aspect. White vinegar is natural, antibacterial and never goes bad. You can leave it on your altar until it evaporates if you want.

If you work with a deity involved with self love like Aphrodite, investing a little more time into your skin care and scent can be very rewarding. Nothing super boujie, it can be as simple as getting some nice smelling lotion at the dollar store.

Food and water offerings don’t have to be external, especially if you’re in the broom closet and don’t have an altar. Reserve the first bite of your meal for your deity. Savour its taste while you think about them. Pour yourself a crisp glass of cold water and guzzle it as a devotional act.

Use a washable or dry erase marker to draw sigils on your shower wall for bath rituals. It’ll come right off when you’re done.

Tea bags are just bags of dried herbs. You can use these as offerings or draw sigils on them and burn them for witchcraft. No one is ever suspicious about a little tea. Adding a tea bag to your water offerings also gives them an extra kick.

A couple dollars at the thrift store will take you a long way. I love thrifting items because they’re usually well loved. I especially like thrifting spirituality books that past practitioners have written in. Sometimes my deities communicate with me through the books that are available on any given day. If I was just talking to Leviathan about the power of water and I see a book about Hydromancy, I know that he’s sending me a sign. Like, 90% of the books Lucifer has sent me popped up at the thrift store. Most expensive one was $7.99. (and I tag swapped it for 2.99 😊 thanks, Hermes-

and on this note, literally steal. Not from small local thrift stores, but I mean this with my whole chest, steal from Value Village. If you can sneakily swap a tag and get something for cheaper literally do it. Value Village gets all their inventory for free I literally do not care. Corporate thrift stores don’t deserve rights. I steal from Value Village as a devotional act to Hermes 😊 lmao )

If you don’t have money to spend on really nice paintings and posters of your deities for your altar, start buying books about them. It’s a double win. A book about Greek religion will certainly have multiple beautiful sculptures and paintings of Aphrodite that I can cut out and put on my wall. A book about angels might have a cool painting of Lucifer. Books about Goddesses, ancient religions, anthropology, astrology etc. You get the opportunity to learn, and if it’s a book you don’t particularly care too much for, you can take it apart for imagery. People ask me all the time where I got all of my paintings and pictures from. BOOKS.

Does your deity have a kind of complicated sigil that you love but you also kinda hate redrawing every other day? Sorry Cerberus (Naberius) I love you but that sigil is so complicated babe.

Learn how to block print! It’s very simple. You get a block of linoleum (usually pretty cheap, I think mine were like $5) , some ink (~$10), and a carving tool (varies depending), and make a sigil stamp! All you gotta do is draw your sigil and carve it out nicely one time. You can still bless it and imbue it with your energy, and you can easily put it on prayers, talismans etc.

Chalk is your best friend. Use it to draw sigils on the floor or wall that can easily be wiped away. You can imbue special chalk and use it for casting circles if you don’t like the mess of salt.

(painting: ”The Shower of Gold”, by Edward Francis Wells, 1910)

Ultimate Protection Magic Masterpost, Part 2

PROTECTION FOR OTHERS

Family/Loved Ones Protection Jar

Quick Protection Spell

Full Moon Protection Spell

“I Send You Safety” Spell

Knitting Spell (For Protection)

Ayano’s Theory of Happiness Spell

Ritual To Protect Loved Ones

“This Person Is Under My Protection” Sigil

“This Person Is Safe & Happy” Sigil

“My Significant Other Is Happy & Safe From Harm” Sigil

“My Child Is Safe From All Harm” Sigil

PROTECTION FOR PETS

Pet Protection Spell Jar

Pet Protection Spell Bottle

Pet Protection Spell

Pet Protection Spell

Protective Chant For Dogs

Protective Chant For Cats

Cat Protection Bag

Cat Blessing/Protection Spell

Animal Blessing Spells

Animal Protection Spell

Animal Candle Protection Spell

“Watch Over Me” Pet Protection Guardian

“Always Come Back To Me” Spell

“My Dogs Will Be Safe and Happy” Sigil

Pet Protection Powder

MISCELLANEOUS PROTECTION SPELLS

Protection Against Nightmares

Protection During Sleep

Nightmare Warding Stuffed Animal Spell

Ghost Nebula Protection In Sleep Spell

Protection While Travelling

Jar Spell for Safe Travels

Protection For Travellers Spell

Roadtrip Protection Charm

Empath/Emotional Protection

Calcified Heart Spell

Empath Protection Jar

Other

New Job Protection Pouch

Corvid Safety Spell

Emoji Spell for Protection Against Extreme Weather

Cleansing & Protection from Mind-Altering Spells

POWDERS, SALTS, OILS & WATERS

Dragon’s Bite Powder

Sweeping Powder for Protection & Energy

Dark As Night Protection Powder

Anti-Curse Powder

Archer’s Protection Powder

Protection Powder Recipes

Fire Salts

Black Salt

Empath Protection Oil

Demonwitch’s Hellcat Oil

Flying Devil Oil

Moon-Infused Protection Water

Storm Witch’s Ward Water

War Water

INFORMATION

Circles, Shields & Wards

Casting a Circle for Beginners

Methods of Casting Circles

Personal Shielding

Basic Protection

Keeping Yourself Protected

The Basics of Wards & Warding

A Crash Course In Warding

Top Ward Mistakes I

Top Ward Mistakes II

Threshold Magic 101

Charms

Charms, Amulets & Talismans

The Rowan Cross

Grass Charm

Hag Stones

Moon Snails

Protection Wreaths

Protection Chimes

Elemental Protection Charms

Folklore Charms for Home Protection

Tech Magic

Turning Your Wifi Into Wards

How to Anti-Taglock Pictures of Yourself

Simple Email Protection Spell

Technomagic Ward

Cyber/Tech Protection Ideas

Servitors

A Basic Guide to Servitors

An Introduction to Servitors

How to Create a Protective Servitor

Meditations

Spell and Meditation for Calming, Serenity and Peace Within Self

“Warrior of Light” Guided Meditation (YouTube)

Correspondences

Protection Correspondences

Protection Correspondences

Quick Protection Magic Reference Guide

[part 1]

CIRCLE TIP:

I know books from the seventies would have you believe otherwise, but you don't have to mentally hold circle for the whole ritual, and you don't have to physically mark the whole circle boundary, nor do you need a coven member to hold space. You can put regular old rocks at each of the cardinal directions along the walls of your room or along the outer perimeter of the sacred space and use those as anchor points for the energy you lay.

Start by gathering, cleansing, and sanctifying/consecrating/blessing/charging/whatever four stones of any shape and size that suits your needs. Larger stones are good if you want them to be a visible reminder of the boundaries of circle, but smaller ones are good for discretion. Anoint them with a protection oil if you'd like (I only recommend doing this if you are using them indoors with no animals around), and/or pencil protection sigils on them. Cast circle but make sure your energy hits each stone and runs through it. If you call in the quarters, invite them to reside in their respective directional stones. Boom, done, now you have an easily marked sacred space that doesn't need constant maintain.

And, fun fact, circle doesn't HAVE to be round. Round is easiest when you're using mental energy to hold the space, but if you use physical barriers like existing walls then your cast energy resides in that physical block and is held automatically. I especially love doing this as a quasi-permanent marker to sanctify an entire room because any doorways become defacto entrances/exits that spiritually open and close when physically opened and closed.

Okay but isn't this being lazy? NO you rude hypothetical, it's not. It's being resourceful. Using these physical anchors allows a solitary practitioner to put their focus towards other things. I use this method when I'm studying magic texts, or so I can hang out with my ancestors and spirit friends casually for extended periods of time, or if I am going to be attempting astral projection. And by "I use this method," I mean it is one of the permanent protections I have in place in my home.

Has anyone else tried this? Please share any experiences or circle hacks you might have!

herbal preparation types

TEA – To consume. Steep herbs, flowers, or roots in hot water. Vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants found in herbal teas provide many short and long-term health benefits. Used for colds, immune system, digestive system, inflammation, anti-aging, stress, anxiety, or skin health, among other treatments.

TINCTURE  – To consume. Herbs that have been stepped in alcohol or vinegar in process of extraction, creating a concentrated liquid form of a herb. Preserve and concentrate the properties of the herb, making them more effective and longer lasting. Fill glass jar with dried herbs. Filling half full will make a stronger (don’t pack down.) Pour boiling water to just dampen all of the herbs. Fill the rest of the jar with vodka and stir. Store the jar in a cool/dry place, shaking daily, for at least three weeks and up to six months. Strain and store in blue or amber dropper bottles (or clean glass jars.) Take 2-3 drops daily.

POULTICE – Topical application. Moistened herbs formed and patted down over area where needed (like herbal band-aid). Place whole or powdered herbs in a bowl and add hot water to stick together. Apply topically and use medical gauze to hold in place. Good for: stings, bites, wounds, broken bones, infection, boils, in-grown issues, acne, or anything that needs to be drawn from the skin.

FOMENTATION – Topical application. Strong steep infusion of herbs (typically stronger than what you would drink). Infuse, strain, and soak cloth in infusion, applying to area where needed. Useful for wrapping a body part or treating large area.

TOPICAL WASH – Topical application. Similar to fomentations, but instead infuse herbs and strain then soak affected body part in the infusion. Direct contact allows herbs to penetrate in unique way. 

HERBAL OIL – Topical application. Herbs are “baked” in base oil such as: olive, sweet almond, apricot, jojoba, avocado, grape seed, or hemp. Can use fresh or dried plant material and sun or Oven as heat source. Heat extracts the oil soluble healing components of the herbs to create the healing oil. Herbal oil often used to make other products such as salves, lotions, or creams but can be used on their own.

SALVE – Topical application. Treatment with the consistency of a balm or ointment. Made by adding beeswax to a herbal oil until desired consistency. Used to sooth skin after a burn, bite, sting, abrasion, or other surface problems. 

Once we start loving ourselves, people no longer seem good to us unless they are actually good for us.

A spread based on how your being is doing, how to learn more self-love, and what your heart wants you to know! I would suggest using this spread when you really need your heart’s advice.

Keep reading

Witches & Words: Deities

Language is more than a powerful tool; it is power itself. Every word has meaning and intent, and is spoken by willpower and action. Witches understand the power involved in communicating. This is a series about how to properly communicate with different entities.

Introductions:

Stay calm. Deities do not want to work with people who are not respectful of their Divity and power.

Be truthful and stick to your values. Do not lie about your name, experience, or values to a Deity. Unlike some entities where it is useful to never offer your true name, Deities demand a certain level of respect and honesty. You don’t want to anger Them.

Don’t make promises upon meeting. You can invoke, make offerings to, pray to, worship, and/or involve in a ritual a Deity without being devoted to that Deity. Devoting yourself to a Deity is a big decision that has a serious level of commitment, and you should never make a promise to a Deity that you can’t keep.

Ask what name you may call Them by! This is key because They may offer you a symbol or name to call Them by and invoke Them with.

Conversation:

Ask questions! Prepare a list of questions to ask. Nothing life-altering at first, just simple things. Ask Them how long they have been in your life, if They would appreciate an offering (and if so, what), or even if They could tell you a story.

Be respectful and receptive of answers. If a Deity doesn’t give you the answer you wanted, or even refuses to answer, respect that. Don’t try to push them to give you a different answer.

Be clear about your expectations. Be sure to clearly communicate what you need and want out of a possible relationship with the Deity.

Be respectful of the Deity’s time. If the Deity needs or wants to leave, let them.

Goodbye:

Thank the Deity for their time, knowledge, answers, etc.. Deities thrive with praise!

Say a clear goodbye! This is very important! Communicate that you are ending the conversation, and suggest a time or way that you may contact each other again.

After:

Make a small offering to the Deity. Don’t offer anything big; burning a few herbs or even the light of a candle would work fine. Just offer something to show your appreciation for the Deity.

Cleanse! Cleanse your altar, tarot, crystals, or whatever you used to contact the Deity. You don’t want the energy of that visit to interfere with future rituals or spells.

Watch for signs. A Deity may send signs after communication that they are there, so be alert!