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#winter – @ofcloudsandstars on Tumblr
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of Clouds and Stars

@ofcloudsandstars / ofcloudsandstars.tumblr.com

Welcome everyone of the magical, the undefined, the chaotic and ethereal kind. This is a blog for my witch path and personal magical ramblings. I'm 28, a bioregional animist witch who is a bit nomadic but currently residing in London (air element, Libra). Originally from Montclair NJ and NYC. My preferred climate is four seasonal temperate deciduous. Coping with this gray oceanic highland climate in the UK that's like bi-seasonal. Femme-aligned agender, she/they, mixed black, pansexual, I follow the seasonal witch holidays but "secularly". I think my witch strengths are astrology (which most people follow me for) and spamming aesthetics/ideas for the sabbats.
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The garden center was covered in snow today so not much could be done physically but we did so much planning for the year to come!! It’s also nice cause it’s moments like there where gardening and my spiritual path/celebrations overlap cause it felt like a pre-Imbolc/winter’s peak festivity.

We drank hot chocolate as we wrote down plans for what we wanted to grow and set intentions for things to learn, goals to make and workshops to host. We are aiming to do even more seed saving and food growing and I asked about learning how to make salves and remedies which they’ll aim to do (since my instructor already teaches workshops on it.) I feel so good about this new cycle and that I’ll learn a lot!

Also coincidentally an order for new baby tree whips and bushes arrived!! The ground was still cold so we had to set them up in a greenhouse. Then we did some wassailling for the Apple trees and sang songs as we splashed cider on their soil 😭💕

I am so grateful for this gardening community in my life like I wish everyone had this. I feel like this year I’ll learn even more and have the resources, confidence, experience and tools to be able to pass on the knowledge and help out the community more. I feel like working with the earth really grounded my spiritual path but also brought a sense of peace and control to my mental well being. I don’t know how to explain it but plants and soil are so healing.

Also though my instructor is really technical and sciencey she loves how some woowoo stuff overlaps like biodynamic gardening (gardening with astrology) and often without realizing it some planting and harvesting had overlapped with major astrological events or seasonal shifts and everytime I bring it up she’s LIVING for it so as a side hobby we are going to investigate further into biodynamic gardening lol

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reblogged

✨🎵🐑Winter Xquarter🐑🎵  🎶🕯️Music Post🕯️🎶✨

Every Sabbat I have a collection of music to play (mostly ambient) to get your space into the spirit. Here is my playlist for the winter crossquarter! It’s bright and airy and cleansing!

When I play ambient music I like to play two tracks together, a white noise sound track and a musical sound track together to create an atmosphere. For the winter crossquarter the white soundtracks tend to be wind chimes like sparkling icicles or rippling streams like melting snow.

I like the sound of chimes and light bell-like for the winter crossquarter as it symbolizes a spirit of cleansing and also a bright and icy winter. A lot of these tracks have a rejuvinating sensation to them

🕯️White Noise Tracks 🕯️

🕯️ Crisp and Light Ambient Music 🕯️

🕯️ Gentle Orchestral Music 🕯️

🕯️ Pop Music 🕯️

Some of these songs either make me feel light, ethereal and dreamy or make me think about my aspirations or make me think of late winter. (Also putting these together, a lot were created when the singers were pregnant or just had children). I’ve added explanations for some of them lol

the song is such a sweet motherly love reminding you of your power and to not give up on your dreams
this song reflects the time when Elizabeth had her first child in a time of uncertainty. However her child brought her joy and ‘mended her’. It reminds me of when random opportunities can come or new beginnings that seem uncertain but which are blessings in disguise 
incredibly Angelic. This is also a song she wrote when she first heard she was pregnant. The lyrics can have layers of meaning esp towards her pregnancy but there is a sense of holding on to hope that the next chapter of life will be fulfilling though the current one is a mess. 
This song is a lot of feelings, but sometimes we are not all in a place to move forward with plans. Sometimes our candle spell fails to burn. We may find ourselves stuck. It may be a bit melancholic but the repetition of “You can’t heal what you can’t feel” is a good reminder that sometimes going back to the shadows is the way through. 

I also like a lot of Enya’s music for this time as it sounds light and angelic. 

It’s about failed dreams (lol) but the part in the lyrics where she talks about going for it anyway with a sense of adventure sticks with me. Also feels very dreamy and angelic
lyrics are also great for aligning yourself towards your destiny
Mostly because of the lyrics. The tone is pretty fast paced but I like listening to this time of winter. 
Do you remember the place your soul was before you were born?? The feelings of aspirations and uncertainties before arriving to Earth? Even if you don’t recall this soundtrack helps. 

PS 🐑 Not related to my playlist but once I was looking for music for winter crossquarter and discovered Candlemass and if you are bored you should give it a shot hahaha

Big update! I’ve also added the pop music section, which goddamn I am showing my age lmao, but I felt necessary to add lil’ descriptions as to why I chose certain songs cause I am sure we’ve all been in that place where we are looking at each others Sabbat pop playlists and are like: why in the hell?

Anyway I wish you guys a blessed winter crossquarter and happy spell casting/house cleansing!

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reblogged

Imbolc/Winter CrossQuarter Personal Correspondences

I celebrate the sabbats from a perspective that honors nature and personal transitions in relation to where you live. My winter crossquarter is more of a midwinter celebration. I’m from NJ and end of January, February 1st is the middle of winter. Imbolc represents the marking point of the middle of winter, the days getting longer and on that note the transition into spring. It’s the beginning of the cleansing cycle which I explain here (my transition focuses in between the sabbats). It’s also one of the last chances of me eating good fatty wintery foods before I start my personal cleansing cycle for Spring (The body cleanse begins in early rainy March).

One the eve of this Sabbat I light white candles and clean the hell out of my space. I dedust everything and let like fifteen minutes of wintery air in to cycle through the stale house air. On the day a personal tradition is to take care of my body through a scrub and a milky bath, eating a hearty meal (usually since its just me and my parents I make something small like shepards pie) and burning bay leaves for wishes to come true in the spring and habits to break.

Imbolc

January 31st - February 1st

Colors: Primary:

  • White For cleansing, also midwinter
  • Pale Green for potential and freshness. Also the color of lambs ear.
  • secondary:
  • Cream, silver

Crystals:

  • Smokey Quartz
  • Clear Quartz
  • White Opal
  • Any others that aid in cleansing or new beginnings

Herbs and Plants:

  • Snowdrops For goodluck and guidance. The first flower to sprout for spring.
  • Bay Leaves To make wishes. They are also cleansing for the body.
  • Eucalyptus Cleansing. Very wintery looking too.
  • Sage Cleansing too but avoid white sage.
  • Lamb’s Ear Soft and healing
  • Silvery Wormwood (Satin Mound) Its very wintery looking and is beautiful in garlands
  • Mugwort  cleanses the air and the womb
  • Juniper Cleansing and healing. Used to be used in healing medicine (how Gin was founded)

Animals:

  • Lamb, Ewe, Ram, Sheep The etymology of Imbolc is said to mean ‘in the belly’ from old Irish and refers to the pregnancy of Ewes. It’s a time they are lactating because they will give birth in the spring. 
  • Groundhogs (and other burrowing animals) They symbolize the thawing of winter to come and the burrowing animals emerging from their slumber. Groundhogs are essential to some habitats because they make burrows that other animals find shelter in for the winter.
  • Moths: In an endearing yet pesky way. Imbolc is a time for to clean the home and chase out the critters like moths that try to hide from winter’s deathly chill in the house. Also because moths love light and are attracted to all of the illuminated candle decorations. (Like how with halloween there are decorations with creepy crawler bugs because they are spooky, not necessarily because they are positive. Moths remind me that I need to clean).

Decorations:

  • Candles and white lanterns to honor the lengthening of the days and the return of the sun.
  • Ice lanterns The same reason as above and also it is midwinter and cold enough to make cool icy decorations.
  • wool In the form of doilies, throw rugs, blankets, sweaters, for warmth and for sheep. For alternatives there is cotton.
  • besoms to symbolize cleaning the home and sweeping away negativity and bad habits. You can make smaller herbal besoms of mugwort, eucalyptus, lambs ear and wormwood to help with banishing. 
  • Felt Sheep something cute for the altar. 
  • Chimes they cleanse the air 

Instruments/Music: Chimes, like metal wind chimes, glockenspiels, things that sound like cleansing the air and sparkling icicles dripping to a melt.

Fragrances/Incense:

  • Juniper
  • Mugwort
  • Rosemary
  • Sage
  • Eucalyptus
  • Tea Tree
  • Spearmint
  • Bay Leaves
  • Milk and Honey
  • Vanilla
  • Earl Grey
  • Dairy Before modern inventions and supermarkets it was difficult to store food in the winter, so when livestock began to lactate it provided a source. Not everyone is fond of dairy for multiple reasons so this can easily be substituted with oat dairy products which I find suitable to celebrate winter and native to the land, and of which you can make a lot of delicious dishes with! Dishes I make every year usually involve cream and cheese of some kind. (Usually a cheese cake).
  • Cayenne Pepper Since life is stirring in this midpoint, the saying for Imbolc often goes that there is ‘fire in the womb’ of nature. I appreciate the kind of spiciness that is cayenne because its a warming spiciness instead of pins and needles and makes your body feel warm which is perfect for cold weather.
  • Winter Vegetables like parsnips and winter cabbage because they are in season. Potatoes of course because potatoes are always in season. 
  • Cleansing Herbs like: Rosemary, sage, juniper and cloves. Earl Grey is not necessarily cleansing but it reminds me of winter and is a wake-up kind of flowery tea. It also tastes lovely with milk and honey which is within theme. 
  • creamy mashed potatoes or shepards pie to represent the snow and thawing snow over the stirring earth. I tend to make the meat portion in shepards pie kind of spicy to symbolize the fire in the womb again.

I updated this post since I wrote it years ago and also from the perspective of someone living someplace with a little bit of influence from everywhere but not too connected to local herbs. Where I am now I aim to work with plants more native to older european practices. There is sage (not white sage but just sage) available where I was in the US but living here in the UK we have juniper which is wintery and has a long history of cleansing, Rosemary, lamb’s ear, wormwood, mugwort all beautiful cleansing herbs that we should work with instead of focusing on foreign ones (such as eucalyptus and sage though I grew up around those products). Also before I wrote on dairy alternatives like almonds and coconut and fuck almond products lol and coconut is ok but it’s not the best native product (though compassion for those whos people of their heritage are close to coconuts), but if you are celebrating northern hemisphere’s midwinter western european celebrations then I’d recommend oat products which are wonderfully creamy and satisfying and make a lovely alternative that’s not creating drought nor is it too foreign to the land. Coconut can make excellent cheeses though (the best non dairy cheeses in my experience) in case if you are allergic to nuts but don’t eat dairy cheese. 

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🎵❄️🎄Carolmancy!🎄❄️🎶

I wanted to spread some holiday cheer and offer something fun for you guys! ⛄ ✨

I made a master playlist of winter, holiday, christmas and yule music (kind of roughly corresponded them to the order of the major arcana depending on how well they fit in the order of the cards- for example What’s This? from The Nightmare Before Christmas is #1 cause it’s the Fool lol.) and made a playlist for Carolmancy! 

Carolmancy is basically like shufflemancy and you guys may send me asks about your love, school, work or general lives for a little song and insight!  Like Caroling I will appreciate donations, yet this is for free! Have a Wonderful Winter Solstice, Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!!  🎵 ✨⛄❄️ 🎶

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✧ *.🎄Yule Solitary Rituals🎄*✧

As the days grow darker to the shortest day of the year and the frost creeps on the skeletons of dead leaves and flurries seep into the streams of howling winds, we know we are reaching Winter Solstice. Though this is the darkest point of the year filled with frost and shadows, it is the time to fill the night with thousands of lights and celebrate unity, blessings and rebirth since the days will extend slowly as we enter the new year. To celebrate life and longevity in a moment of darkness we decorate the home with plants that keep its prosperous green and red colors. Pine, cedar, holy, mistletoe, rose hips, cinnamon, chestnuts, pine cones and winter fruits. (Interestingly enough plants like pine and rose hips are packed with vitamin C and can be used in healing teas!) This is also a time to gather together with loved ones and share what you have in a time of rest and stagnancy. Though it would be ideal to gather with a circle of intimate people this post shall focus on solitary practices of course!  

A lot of us witches practice alone and have our own solitary rituals for each sabbat that we observe (or the ones we’ve created just for ourselves that we observe alone!) Like any solitary eclectic witch I do things my own different way but some of these things might line up with others practices. I do refer to some of the equinoxes/solstices/crossquarters by their celtic sabbat names but I celebrate them in a secular animist way and I treat the wheel of the year as a an argrarian cycle celebrating nature. I use sabbat names as a point of reference and also people that do celebrate these witches sabbats more traditionally might find value in my personal practice!  Here is my personal correspondences post and my personal Yule tag!

When I am alone and casting spells a lot of it is visualization/intent so my solitary rituals are more like activities I like to do then specifically casting a spell. If I am doing a spell with an activity based on it a lot would be listening to music to get in the mood and focusing on a candle while visualizing for a period of time! Eves are also important to my celebration as I like to stay up until midnight and cast a spell then!

Winter Solstice's Eve

Wednesday December 20th 2017

  • Make a Pot Pourri ESPECIALLY if you have a cauldron, fill it up with all kinds of winter magic! Pot Pourris could make a great base for a spell! You can add all sorts of ingredients and maybe slip a paper with written wishes to be manifested inside. If you are very sneaky and a closeted witch it would be a great activity to do in the home! Add orange zest and rose petals for vitality and energy in winter! Put Rosemary and Rose hips for health. Add Pine or Cedar for prosperity! Put in mint and cloves for purity and keeping the space cleansed. Maybe don't add all the pairings I've mentioned in this bullet point, yet consider that each ingredient has it's own magical correspondence! There are great pot pourri recipes online. I like this article for some simple ideas!
  • Decorate your Altar This is a great activity especially if you live in a house hold where you can't express your spirituality throughout the home and have to confine it to your space. Decorate your altar with the plants of the season! It will smell incredible if you add cedar, pine or cinnamon and look beautiful with holy, rose hips, mistletoe and pine cones. Add peppermint for joy and luck and buy a little string of LED lights to wrap around it or make yule tea lights if you want something non electric. Burn peppermint, cedar, cinnamon or sandalwood incense and make your space jolly and merry!
  • Grow (borax) Crystals Borax is super fun and non toxic and you can grow crystals overnight! What you will need is a box of borax, a pot you can use for crafts and some white pipe cleaners. You can make a pipe cleaner 'skeleton' for a tea light holder or make snowflake pipe cleaners for the borax solution. Here is a great tutorial on borax crystals. If you add food coloring you can change the color (it will nearly always come out as light pastel unless you add a lot but I like the white color for this sabbat anyway).
  • Make Sigil Snowflakes Design spell snowflakes by drawing a thin sigil, then folding a paper up into triangles and drawing your sigil on the final triangle. You will have beautiful snowflake designs with amplified energy to hang in your windowsill! (I like this quick tutorial for ideas).
  • Bake! Winter is the ultimate baking season and it makes the home smell great and you can indulge for the winter! Create delicious treats like ginger bread cookies, cinnamon rolls, red velvet cupcakes or even a mini yule log! You can also make poppets in the form of cookies or spell cookies in shapes of Yule trees (prosperity), ginger bread men or animals (if animals to maybe acquire some kind of quality that animal has to help you in your journey), or stars for joy!
  • Offerings to Nature In this dark part of the year when you give back it can make an impact. Make pinecone bird feeders (of pine cones you've collected in nature please don't use the craft store scented ones), Orange bird feeder, or treats for the fae. You can make beautiful sun catcher ice sculptures to decorate your balcony or garden with (1 , 2 ). Leave meringue mushrooms or holiday sweets for the spirits!
  • Spell Baubles Make some spell baubles! Like the way there are spell jars, you can fill these baubles with certain desires and decorate your altar with them.  Also as a tip, if you buy the large baubles, keep the ingredients dry so you can add an electric tea light inside and make them spell bauble lanterns! It will be a wonderful decoration in your space when the night is so long.
  • Smoke Bundles for Cleansing Many of the seasonal fir plants can help cleanse the air! I'd suggest cedar, cinnamon, rosemary, sage and pine. Yew is toxic though I have absolutely NO IDEA who would even decorate their home with yew?? Why? But I could see the confusion occuring only if someone was harvesting pine in the wild and confused it with Yew. It's good to be able to tell apart the difference between Yew and other pines and make sure to avoid it!
  • Make Scented Candles I made this post years ago and I believe some links are broken (but also my instructions are sketchy cause this was when I was just learning how to make candles so don’t pay attention to my instructions anyway haha the ingredients are what matters), but you can be creative with scented candles! Winter solstice is a great time to make the home smell jolly and be creative plus you can add spells in it! Here are some of my favorite candles that you can find inspiration from! 1- spell pillar with things ontop  2- frosty pillars  3-Pillar with things around it  (also my own when they are lit).
  • Make blessed crafts for friends! If you have witchy friends or friends that respect your practice you can make them cute charms for gifts in the winter! This can be a combination of things above like a scented votive candle, a smoke bundle or a crystal tea light or:
  • Make a Magical Ugly Winter Witch Sweater: We all need sweaters this time of year but also simple stitching, beading and embroidery is much easier than I thought and I ended up having an idea to embroider some cute tacky witch things on sweaters and make some enchanted sweaters! Michaels and other bead shops in the city sell crystal beads and you can sow stitch magic into it! I am making some for some witchy friends with flourite, amethyst and rose quartz beads as a gift for the winter solstice. If you have some sweaters you'd like to magic-afy but not ruin with kitschy-ness, you can still sew some crystal beads on the inside or in a place that it will not scratch you.
  • Fill the home with Music! This is definitely the time of year we need cheer within the home! Some music I love for the winter solstice is the Nut Cracker. I also love ambient winter sound tracks like this one that’s very meditative or more mysterious like this one. There’s a lot of winter fairy music on youtube. Look up any Gothic Winter instrumental music and you will find a lot of tracks. There is also Katrina Skye who is super cheesy but she is so cheesy it's charming. Her music tends to be very wiccan though.

Midnight Spell: Winter Solstice is wonderful to do a spell focusing on reviving something for the new year. If there is something you want to bring to life again, an old hobby, an old connection, an old project or goal or dream, you can focus your spell on that!

  • An activity could be lighting a sparkler envisioning it to ignite the spirit of life and revive you. Pass it around your head, around your body and between each leg (like how you would cleanse yourself with sage or palo santo). Pass it over your magical items and crystals to charge (make sure it's not near anything that's very flammable though). Sparklers can give off a lot of smoke so I would not recommend this if you live in a smoke free environment. 
  • Put to rest As we descend into the slower restful part of the year it would be wise to use this time to focus on goals we want to accomplish for the next year and slow down or halt other issues we want to put to rest in order to focus on ourselves, whether it be bad habits, people that won’t allow us to grow, or locations we keep finding ourselves that are unhealthy. Write down these obstacles on a piece of paper or cardboard, put it in a container full of water and place it in the freezer in order to 'freeze' these things.

Yule Day

Thursday, December 21st 2017

  • Ice skating Even if you are alone, ice skating on the first day of winter is pretty magical! Set up your favorite magical winter playlist on your ipod or invite a friend and glide away on the ice! The best is if it's an outdoor rink!
  • Setting up lights It is the shortest day of the year therefore being the darkest. To elevate your space, set up many colorful lights for a magical experience! If you have a space you can have open flame then:
  • Burn Scented Candles Either the magical ones you've made on the eve or some that you've bought! Winter scented candles really add charm to the space!
  • Sing! Song worship is a wonderful form of magic. You can sing spells or devote a song to your guides. Even if you don't have a song to sing then intoning is a great way to elevate the space. Intoning would be wonderful to warm up your vocal chords and energy with then you could pick a devotional song or even a carol to sing!
  • Offerings Your guides have been with you all year and the year (or sun) is going through it's period of rebirth. You can set aside offerings in gratitude for them. If you want to make it in theme with the holidays you can set aside something like milk and cookies! If your guides like something specific then of course offer that to them.
  • Winter Grounding Do some energy work on the first day of winter to center yourself and go within. Stand in the snow or on the cold hard ground and feel the cold electrify your senses as you ground with the earth. If cold is very much not your thing you can do energy work in your room with a sound bath using white noise tracks or meditative winter music. Put tumbled crystals like quartz, blue lace agate or angel aura quartz in the freezer until they're cold and make a grid on your body by placing one on your third eye, throat, chest, navel etc and meditate. Focus on taking in as much energy to reserve for the season.
  • Make a Merry Potion! As it's the darkest time of the year the mood can plummet. A personal potion of mine is a wonderful potpourri-like tea that can help boost your mood. It has dried rose hips , hibiscus petals and anise and Rhodiola rosea or rhodiola tincture. I would suggest getting a rhodiola tincture (you can purchase from wholefoods or online) and putting it in there. I swear by this plant and tincture, rhodiola has been a great plant ally to me especially to help cope with depression (it helps increase serotonin) but since I don’t know all the medical specifics you should consult it with your doctor if you are on something like antidepressants. It’s a semi known thing so your doctor would probably have good advice whether its safe for you to take it or not. Otherwise I have literally been spreading this tincture at work and have been seeing changes with my coworkers and my own mental health like it has helped me survive this far so I will be using it to survive winter. 
  • TREAT YOSELF Winter is the season of resting.  Make a potpourri-like hot bath with clementine slices, rose petals, epsom salt and anise stars. Be careful to not add something like cinnamon cause the oil can burn the nether regions. Also be careful with peppermint oil cause that can leave icy burns in the nether regions. If diluted properly the two could work but if you are not familiar with working with those oils I'd suggest leaving them out!

Evening

  • Celebratory Feast If you are alone you can make yourself a delicious winter stew! It will be fun to slow cook something meaty or rich and make the whole home smell great and bring anticipation for dinner! If you are looking for more elaborate dishes I love to use seasonal ingredients for every sabbat. Pine is an excellent flavor that pairs well with fish like salmon. Chestnut is divine either sweet or savory. Roots like potatoes, turnips and ginger are a must!
  • Blessings Since Yule to me is about generosity and unity I like to use the day to do helpful spells and send blessings to loved ones. Tip when you do a spell for someone: make sure it's something they ask for and truly need. For example if you know your friend has been struggling to find a job or money you can do a money spell for them. If your friend has wished in front of you to be able to move out into a safer place, you can put energy out towards that. However a bad example would be if you think your friend is miserable cause they are single and you do a love spell. That can end up in a disaster! Only do a spell on something you know they need. Otherwise just send a blessing of good energy towards your loved ones!
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Yule/Winter Solstice Personal Correspondences

As the year reaches it’s end and towards it’s final day of darkness, the sun’s cycle is renewed and we experience a moment of rebirth as we return towards the light! As we edge closer to the end of the year, frost blooms on dead leaves, light flurries fill the icy air and many lights are lit to bring joy where it’s dark and cold. The solstice is a time to welcome this heavy season approaching with honoring life, togetherness, friendship and love through generosity. As the harvest season is gone and we are left with what we have reaped, we share our goods with our very close loved ones in the spirit of togetherness and to express our love and unity through giving. Plants like holly, mistletoe, rose hips, evergreen and other pines are cherished for their abilities to heal and to resist cold and prosper through winter. Songs are sang to promote unity and bonding with loved ones. It’s a time of sharing and there are many traditions across the northern hemisphere that share these similar practices with Winter Solstice and often have a feast with the family.

Yule - Winter Solstice

December 21st (2016)

Colors:

  • Crimson red  for life, vitality, bonding
  • Evergreen for life as well, but nature wise and prosperity through winter
  • Pearly White for winter
  • Gold I use gold in every sabbat though so I’m unsure if this even counts but here it can represent the sun’s rebirth

Crystals:

  • Clear Quartz to help amplify the good energy
  • Angel Aura Quartz to help lift everyone’s spirits
  • Red Tourmaline harmony, love, balance
  • Flourite balancing, grounding and harmonizing
  • Chrysocolla New Beginnings, Rebirth, Love, Healing 

Herbs and Plants:

  • Ginger
  • Currants
  • Holly
  • Mistletoe
  • Cinnamon
  • Pine
  • Peppermint
  • Spearmint
  • Cranberries
  • Pomegranate
  • Cedar
  • Nutmeg
  • Chestnut
  • Rosehips

Animals:

  • Reindeer (primarily)
  • Snowy Owls
  • Mice (Especially White ones)

Decorations:

  • Pine Garland
  • Pine cones
  • frost
  • silvery or golden leaves especially if misted with frost
  • holly
  • mistletoe

Instruments & Music:

  • Bells I mean any holiday music with jingling bells becomes very seasonally cheerful.

Fragrance & Incense:

  • Peppermint
  • Cedar and Cinnamon (together smells like a Yule tree!)
  • Pine
  • Cinnamon
  • Baked Sugar
  • Pomegranate

Food:

  • For Vegetables I like to use Kale and Potatoes as that dominates my seasonal winter cuisine anyway. Mashed Potatoes always has it’s place in the Yule feast. I like to use winter squashes like butternut squash especially when making stews butternut really comes through. Chestnut makes amazing stuffing as a side or a puree similar to mashed potatoes. You would prepare it the same way as mashed potatoes as well (boil the nuts to make them easy to peel, boil the flesh until soft, blend with water and spices, mix with heavy cream then you are done!) 
  • For fruits I heavily associate cranberry and pomegranate with Yule. Maybe because pomegranate is what’s in stores seasonally by me and every year my mom brings a massive pack from costco. (Also there is lore with this seed and having to do with the darker parts of the year) It’s beautifully red and makes great decorations as well and it’s seeds can be used to decorate cheese and other desserts or be put in salads. Same with cranberry, and the combination of cranberry and ginger (which ginger helps elevate colds and warms the body) can make very festive tasting sparkling drinks or hot toddies. I like to use pear too for poached pears in red wine. I just discovered recently that roses produce fruit at the end of the year which are known as rose hips which are excellent for vitamin C. They are beautiful and make for great decorations as well. 
  • For the main dish traditionally my family always stuck to a roast like roast beef so roast beef has always been connected to this holiday for me.
  • I sometimes feel like fighting people when they ask me what a Yule Log is. Like How dare you??? (I am just kidding I know not everyone has had the same childhood christmases as me but the Yule Log was my favorite part of the dinner and I would fight my siblings over the meringue mushrooms on there). Anyway ALL Yule feasts deserve the most EXTRAVAGANT and BEEAUTIFUL Yule logs with all the gorgeous softly powdered meringue mushrooms and green chocolate holly leaves and over the top wintery naturesque decorations as possible on the most naturey cake ever. Yule logs are so important to the Yule Feast it needs its own bullet. 
  • Also for dessert there is the classic puddings, rum cakes and red velvet is a very American dessert that has stuck with me but red velvet cakes or cookies is a must. I mentioned poached pears before but like the candied apples of the fall celebrations, the poached pears is the treat for the Winter Solstice. Also hot cinnamon rolls with nice creamy icing get me in the spirit.
  • For sweets there are sugar cookies especially the ones decorated with icing. Other great cookie flavors would be gingerbread and red velvet and cinnamon sugar ones like the snickerdoodles. Candy canes are very wintery to me even though they are said to have a christian origin. If you don’t want anything too christian in your Yule celebration for the fact that you are not christian, then maybe make peppermint wands instead of candy canes or just avoid the candy all together. There are other peppermint red and white candies anyway you can slip into gifts or use as dessert toppers. Chocolate, caramel and toffee are classic sweets but what I associate with this sabbat are peppermint toads that I make every year for friends. Probably because Christmas was such a big deal in Harry Potter, but also since I bought the frog chocolate molds you can be creative with your chocolate creations and make different chocolate frogs (like white chocolate oreo, milk chocolate peanut butter, white chocolate peppermint etc etc) and drop them into warm steamed glasses of milk to make hot chocolate creations. It makes for sweet creative little gifts.
  • For Drinks there is Eggnog of course. Mulled wine is a great option to have but what I really would love to try to do is the German classic Feuerzangenbowle where you have a flaming chunk of sugar over a cauldron of wine that makes it look like you are serving spiced liquor from a goblet of fire to your heathen guests. There is also always hot toddies and for non alcoholic options there is cranberry juice and ginger cider.
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❄️✧・゚✨Winter witchy things to do✨*・°❄️

Winter is now approaching and its such a powerful time for weather magic, focusing on magic within the home and self reflection. Here’s some witchy winter things to do!

Collecting ❄️ Collect pine cones for protection and to make the house smell good! You can use pine cone ‘thorns’ for protection or use them to leave offerings to nature as bird feeders! All you need is peanut butter and seeds for birds to eat. 

❄️Winter water for winter magic! Snow water can correspond with patience, growth and purity. Blizzard water can be used for curses, banishing and concealing(since blizzards can bury things in snow). Icicle water for protection and defensive magic. Ice rain for petty hexes (think of uncomfortable falling debris constantly hitting you from the sky), or in a positive/neutral light- the accumulation of something. 

Snow and Ice Magic

❄️Snow Sentinels to protect the home! You can mold them to look like ordinary snowmen or shape a monster from the snow! I dunno I would much prefer having a dramatic snow troll emerging from the icy depths of my front lawn then a jolly looking fellow but if your neighbors will start asking questions I guess just go for the usual unsuspecting looking snow man. Use them to ward unwanted energy and guests! Build a snowman around a witch jar if you really want to add extra magic and power to your snow sentinel! 

❄️Make Ice lanterns especially if you celebrate Imbolc, Candlemas, Candle Day the Winter Crossquarter or (as Upthewitchypunx celebrates) Candlemark! It’s a beautiful and naturesque way to make your yard a glow in the dark times of winter. There are several ways to make it! (1, 2- preferred, 3, 4). Also it’s my Winter Crossquarter personal tradition to welcome the light back by putting out a new lantern every day after Yule and lighting it so that there is a new light. (often this accumulates up to 40 but it makes for a beautiful show). (Since I can only fit so many lanterns in my freezer and I don’t always have time to make more I usually end up making 10-15 and the rest are interior electric candles- just to give you some realistic obstacles to expect if you want to part take in that). 

❄️ You can also make Ice Capsules the similar way to making ice lanterns in a balloon or in a cup and sealing your spells in there to be disposed of in nature. Sometimes witches like to bury spells in jars but that might not be the best thing for nature especially if you want to do that for most of your spells. There are great alternatives to burying your spell like in a wrapped leaf or in light paper that can break down easily, but you can be extra creative and seal them in an ice ball to be tucked away under snow. 

❄️Cut out snowflakes for papercraft magic! You can write spells in them, or cut out symbols when they are folded up to make a kaleidoscopic piece. Envision something ideally something you’d want to last or stick around for. Cast this spell by dissolving it in snow water, freezing it in snow water and sticking it in the freezer or burying it in the snow outside.

❄️Charge your water safe crystals and tools in the snow! Gather some snow in a bowl and bring it to your altar to place your water-proof items within!

❄️If you work with the winter spirits make sweet ice offerings. Mix sugar water (heat it up first to get it well infused) and with an ice tray pour some in and maybe add some natural coloring or even small sliced fruit or berries to freeze! Pop the cubes out (bonus if you have cute ice trays like star shapes) and leave them out as offerings! You can also make stormsorceress’s snow fairy icecream to offer to nature outside as well!

❄️If you use Thawing Salt to for the ice on your property, you can bless it and also do magic to ward away negativity from around your home (since you usually have to spread it around your walkways) it makes for great wards to protect from icy roads and unpleasant energy!

❄️Frost Scrying can be done by divining the frost on icy windows! 

Self Care

❄️Winter is a time of self reflection, rest and hibernation. Don’t feel down if most of what you do this season is stay under the covers and sleep, it’s the season to slow down and relax. Do some self reflection, take time to meditate if you are trapped in doors. There are some really relaxing winter meditation sound tracks I love to listen to. 

❄️Winter is also the season of physical self care or else it will get the best of your skin and hair. I see winter as Spa season cause it’s the best time to go to a sauna house and also a season I focus the most on moisturization. Make body butters with coconut oil or shea butter (depending on how dry your skin gets), add warming massage oil in your magical mixtures to give your skin a nice sense of warmth as you apply your body butters to begin your day! I love to use sweet warm scents in my body lotions such as cinnamon (which is also warming), and nutmeg and fragrance oils such as sugar cookie, caramel and brown sugar. 

 ❄️ I like to use refreshing winter scents like peppermint and cedar oil in balms to apply on my chest when my nose is stuffy. Peppermint helps to clear up nasal passages. Make sure to mix only a little in cocobutter because it can be icy and uncomfortable if there is too much in the ratio. 

❄️Enchant your Chapstick with protection! If you want to have a lip-pain free season, then you will be making the most with your chapstick! Add glamour magic to it if you want to use your chapstick to be more heard while speaking, have more appealing lips, whatever you like. 

❄️Bless your clothing with protection. You can coat the dryer balls with cinnamon oil and also cedar for warmth (also cinnamon and cedar smells like a Christmas tree). You can use any oil that won’t stain clothing (most good essential oils won’t if it’s not directly on it) that you associate with warmth and protection to put on the dryer balls and it will help fluff out your sweaters, make them smell great and be an easy discreet way for glamour magic!

Cooking

❄️Witches love to make spells with infused waters but you can do spells for teas since it’s basically hot infused water! Bless your thermos. Every morning make yourself a magical tea blend for your day before you leave for work or school. Peppermint for clarity, cleanliness; cinnamon spice for fiery energy, warmth, passion; black tea for alert energy, power; orange spice for zesty creativity; pomegranate for love and sensuality; nutmeg for attractiveness; ginger for protection and grounding etc. there’s many correspondences for these listed but also the majority of these help fight colds and lift the spirit so it’s good to drink. You can also use fresh fruit to add in the hot water and vitamin C packets if you need an extra boost!

❄️The Crockpot was basically made for this season! It’s so practical and is like a modern slowcooking cauldron. I will post again the list of fantastic crock pot recipes for fall and winter

❄️If you love lattes and making latte art I would highly suggest getting a Milk Wand! It’s a milk frother wand that can froth milk at a high speed (like a super highspeed whisk) and if you have the skill you can make latte sigils into your morning drink to give boost to your day. A fantastic idea queercraft​ posted is to steam Kava (and other herbs can work) into your milk to make morning latte. Its a great way to begin the day on a relaxed note. 

❄️ Herbal Remedies can be helpful if you catch a scratchy throat or stuffy nose and want to help alleviate the common cold. You can check out this short and sweet list by Recreational Witchcraft of common herbal remedies that are practical to use in this season!

Home Decorations

❄️Tree Decorations can be a great source of magic! If you celebrate Yule, Winter Solstice or Christmas and will get a tree make salt dough ornaments! You can make them very magical and add sigils for joy on them. You can also make spell bobbles for joy and peace! This video will show you how to craft a witch’s ball out of an empty tree ornament bobble for protection! 

❄️Make a pine besom for protection. Most will think it’s Christmas decoration. Add holy for longevity, mistletoe for love, and currants for prosperity!

❄️Make Potpourri to help freshen the home! The air in the home can get stale due to lack of circulation since it’s too cold to open windows. Also day to day cleansing with refreshing peppermint, eucalyptus or pine helps refresh the air!  

❄️ Oil candles can be a great way to create a spell but also help freshen the home without crafting a potpourri every time. They also make great gifts!

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Make this recipe into a calming spell with a few ingredients and your added energy!

  • Kava 2 tea spoons Make sure that you react well to Kava though cause some people really don't like it or have a nice reaction
  • A dash of nutmeg blends the kava flavor together better
  • Optional: some eggnog for flavor and creaminess caramel syrup

At Step 2 When you finally dissolve the instant coffee you should add the kava and nutmeg in now. Stir clockwise and focus your energy on things that are calming and positive intention. 

After Step 3 add some eggnog if you wish that will help cool it down a little. 

After step 4 drizzle the caramel syrup in a symbol that will promote calm and peace. Even a heart or peace sign will be great it does not have to be complicated. 

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Crock Pot Recipes for Fall and Winter

I love cooking hearty dishes, and warm treats in the Fall and Winter, which is why I also love slow cooker recipes. So here is massive list of recipes that are great for this time of year!

Soups, Stews, and Entrées

Desserts and Sweet Treats

Beverages

Breakfasts

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I guess this might be a trend for the new year since I am done with the fantasy feasts lol. You guys can tell I really like aesthetics. This is the fall one

Witches of Winter

Some Powerful Witches feeling fierce in the height of the blizzard season. They each have their own story, and their own preferences to enjoying winter, some liking to cozy up and make magnificently warming dishes, while others prefer the sting of ice to chant their incantations in the whirling sparkling air. However despite their differences, they come together in the middle of season to enjoy a festive celebration full of magic and love or else they would not see each other otherwise due to hibernation or storms (which one of them is probably to blame). 

Click read more for picture credits

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