I love when my altar is full of magical stuff. 🌻💛☀

DIY Seashell Candle Tutorial

Sea witches!

The Domestic Garden Witch: I Sea What Ye Did There!

So maybe you’re a college witch with limited space and money, limited to the one window in your dorm. Or, maybe you’re a witch without extensive backyard space who wants to start up a magical garden. Perhaps you’re a kitchen witch who wants the freshest herbs right at her fingertips.

For many witches, having a garden seems to be a bit of a no-brainer. After all, plants and magic go hand-in-hand. Plus, when thinking of a witch, it’s hard not to think of a cottage in the woods with a little vegetable garden out front. Unfortunately for the majority of us, our cottage in the woods is a tiny flat, and our garden out front is a windowsill with limited space.

This is when it comes time to embrace your craftiness and bring your garden indoors! Not only does it place your garden in a convenient location, it also allows you to freshen the air, recycle what would otherwise harm the earth, and embrace your witchy green thumb!

Where The Garden Meets The Sea

This is a little garden idea that might not be accessible for everyone. However, I live very close to the ocean, and as the days begin to get longer and the weather warmer, the beach becomes more and more of a destination (yes, even when you live right there, you still wind up wanting to go down and sunbathe, swim, explore tide pools, and spend the rest of the day cleaning sand out of places you didn’t know you had). It makes sense, then, to look at sea shells as an option for incorporating into garden witchery.

Most often, I’ve seen seashells used as no more than decorative additions to gardens, carefully placed among flower beds and succulent gardens as accents, or incorporated into the container either by having been cemented or glued in. But very rarely do I ever see shells be used as the container for a plant.

Ideally, you may have to use small succulents for this project, as their shallow root systems and limited size allow them to grow with very little trouble, depending upon what shell you’re using. Take a reasonably sized seashell (conches like the one pictured above work, but here on California’s Central Coast, I feel abalone is much more appropriate) and check to see if it has any breathing holes (some species have holes in the shells to facilitate the movement of water into and out of the creature’s gills without having to be exposed to predators - this is particularly noticeable in abalone). If it does not, carefully drill small holes into the bottom of the shell to promote drainage.

Using a fine gravel (aquarium gravel works well), place a drainage layer into the shell before adding your potting mix and plants. Water them and make sure they get plenty of sunlight!

This is an excellent way of bringing a bit of both the sea and the garden into a dorm room, windowsill, or even into a well-lit bathroom!

How Can I Witch This?

Continuing with last week’s theme of focusing on the material of the container rather than the decorations that can be added to it, seashells are an exceptional addition to a practice if you have a bit of a connection with the element of water.

Seashells have long been used for various reasons ranging from divination tools to eating utensils to decorative and fashionable trinkets, and even as currency (as is the case with cowry and abalone).

When working with shells, consider the creature they come from, and how they may play a role in your practice. For instance, abalone (I know I mention it quite a bit, but it’s one of my favorites and is strongly linked to local history) is a form of sea snail that was often caught for food. Not only is it therefore linked with prosperity and health in addition to water, it is also linked to well-being and financial stability - both the meat and the shells were often traded between Native American tribes in the area. The inside of an abalone shell is lined with Mother of Pearl, a beautiful substance that can be linked with money, protection, and feminine beauty. All of these aspects come to play in the way that I use abalone shells in my practice, and this is a great example of how to approach using seashells in your work.

Try to use shells that correspond with the plants that you’re using to enhance those properties, and you could even treat the shells much like you would stones if you make multiple gardens, creating garden grids that further enhance the energies you’re trying to bring into your life!

Using a seashell as a gardening container is a potent symbol for life-giving energies. Though the earth is most often associated with motherhood, so too is water linked with life, and the sea nearly always connected with feminine qualities in some way or another. As such, a shell garden like this could make for a beautiful and potent charm for expectant mothers or couples who are trying to have a child. If you’re a male witch trying to get in touch with your femininity, this is a great form of spellwork for such a purpose, as well.

So next time you walk along the beach and find an abandoned shell, consider whether such a gift is meant for such a beautiful union with the earth!

May all your harvests be bountiful! Blessed Be! )O(

Sea Witch Altar set by Alienscty

there’s just something about the sound of the waves, the smell of the sea, and the vastness of the ocean that’s so calming.

Fallen London Aesthetic - A Zee-Znail’s Zhell

Sea Witchcraft: "Sinking"

What I refer to as “sinking” is another form of grounding and something that I think every sea witch (or any kind of witch) should try.

In the typical grounding practice, one takes time to calm the mind and align your energy with that of the Earth, in sinking you are instead aligning your energy with the ocean. This is good to try before any spell, especially if you want it to pack a bit of a punch.

Now, a few notes that I feel should be taken here;

Alright, now that being said, sinking is very powerful. The first time I tried it I was overwhelmed and had to take a tiny break just because the sensation is a lot stronger than any I’ve ever gotten while grounding. But that’s just me. Anyhow, here we go!

How To Go About Sinking

Things you’ll need:

Make sure that you’re somewhere that you can’t be disturbed. Turn your video on or place your picture in front of you and play the ocean sounds. Light your candle as well. Just listen, take it all in for a few minutes. Imagine that you’re actually there, try to picture the way the sand feels against your skin. Once you begin to truly feel the sand and all of that, grab your shell and hold it in your hand. Take all of this in and until you can feel yourself actually by the shore.

Take a pinch of your sea salt and taste it (Do not drink or even sip your sea water! It’ll make you sick!) Tell yourself that the salt in the sea and the salt you have just eaten are one and that the waves that splash against the shore are also in your blood and that the very sea itself rages in your veins.

When you are ready, take your sea water and drip it on your wrists, feet, wherever you would like and feel the water. What I like to do is imagine myself sinking but not struggling for breath, feeling the water, the energy around me and allowing my body to be a receptor of that energy. It moves through you and strengthens you.

Now as I’ve said, this is simply how I do it and what works for me but yeah, there you have it!

Sea Witchcraft

Anchovies Ruler: sea goddess Powers; attract beauty, subduction, make your self beautiful

Coral Ruler: Venus, Neptune Powers: emotions. Unconscious, white coral opens subconscious/ vivid dreams, pink coral emotional healing, red coral passions, give it as a gift of love.

Crab Ruler: Venus Power: eat crab meat to protect the home, use the shell in real estate magic, stuff the empty shell with lavender and sage to protect your dwelling. When renting fill the shell with cinnamon sticks, bay leaves, and sea salt.

Fish: Ruler: Christ, Neptune, Venus, ocean deities Powers: fish eyes are protective, eat them to invoke magic, cook and eat the whole fish while visualizing protection/ prosperity. Draw fish on parchment or formed out if metal to create talismans. Carry a coin with the image of fish on it for wealth. Use the skin of fish in fertility magic.

Oyster Ruler: Neptune, Venus Powers: aphrodisiac, female genitals, increase orgasm, men eat them to make themselves better lovers, fertility.

Salt Ruler: earth Power: sacred substance of the earth, prosperity, add some to dark leafy greens to increase your income. Cleansing, sprinkle around the four corners of the room and add to baths to protect and dispel evil. Create sacred areas with salt, Sprinkle black salt on doorways to keep away undesirable influences.

Sand Ruler: ocean deities Salt represents the multitude of possibilities. One grain of sand represents Uniqueness, a handful sand represents the great influence wielded by like-minded people. Brace added to the home when you want to attract a group of people to share your same interest. Place it in a dish and burn incense on it. Hold sand in your hands to open possibilities and more options in your life. Build sand castles to make dreams come true. Wet sad helps to ground and realized potential colored sand brings verity to life.

Sardine Ruler: ocean goddess Power: beauty, seduction, eat them smoked with mustard to sharpen your best features.

Sea weed Ruler; Neptune, Venus Power: eat it for prosperity, scrub seaweed on your skin in the ocean to bring good luck. Leads to excellent employment opportunity.

Sea horse Ruler: Venus Power: talisman for luck and love, understanding, acceptance, emotional well being

Sponge Ruler: moon, Venus Power: loofa for beauty/ love spells, cleansing negative emotions, release anger

Water Ruler: Venus, Neptune, moon Powers: dreams, feelings, cleansing, love, healing, protection, prosperity.

Sacred waters: rain, spring, salt water , holy water, Florida water, consecrated water,

Moon Goddess loose incense 6 benzoin 3 onion skins 1 1/2 allspice 1 1/2 camphor ½ poppy 1 1/4 olive oil

Grind together then burn on a charcoal disk.

Moon incense 1 willow ½ reed ¼ cucumber 1 3/4 water ½ water lily ½ jasmine

Grind all ingredients together to form a past then sculpt small cones. Then let it dry for 2 weeks.

Lunar Oil 4 pt sandalwood 2 pt camphor 1 pt lemon

Mix and Add to career oil , use during lunar rites.

Water oil 3 drops palmarosa 2 drops ylang-ylang 1 drop jasmine

Wear to promote love, healing, psychic awareness, purification.

Floor wash: Protection wash

The floor wash includes ingredients meant to help Clean and purify home and promote peaceful happy feelings through open your windows while you wash down the house with this blend and finish up by burning protection incense.

2 pt rosemary 2 pt basil 2 large bay leaves 2 pt ginger 2 pt sea salt 1 pt dried garlic 1 pt black pepper

Pour hot water over the herbs for 10 to 15 minutes drain water into the bucket and add warm tapwater and a cleansing product of your choice.

Use to clean your floors, window seals, door frames

Ritual baths:

Sea witch bath 3 pt lotus bouquet 2 pt lavender 1 pt rosemary Color: dark blue

+ 3 pt Epsom salts 2 pt baking soda 1 pt table salt (or borax)

Add a bit of sea salt to this base. Bathe in the sea witches bath for gentle purification prior to magical works.

Water element bath

2pt palmarose 1 pt sandalwood 1 pt myrrh 1 pt geranium Color dark blue + 3 pt Epsom salts 2 pt baking soda 1 pt table salt (or borax)

Aquariums Thought to prosperity and ward the home from bad luck and accidents, not to mention all the energy they bring in to your life. Watching fish swim can lower blood pressure.

Hag stones A stone with a naturally made hole going through it, also known as adder stones/ witch stones. Hang them above the door way to promote milk from curtailing. Look through the hole to see the unseen, wear as a protection amulet, the more holes the more realities the stone holds. The stone is formed by water and moving currents.

My sources used in this post. [kris Bradley, Scott Cunningham, Steven Smith, Lexa Roséan]

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Witch Tip:

Don’t underestimate water. Running water is a highly versatile tool. Send things downstream to banish them, sink them to bind them, bathe them to cleanse them of unwanted attributes, etc. Water can also be used as a simple offering, can be used to write invisible sigils on objects and is the one of the most important building blocks of life! 

Played around with growing borax crystals on some shells from my collection 🐚. I’m super happy with the outcome. I want to see what else I can crystallize.💎💫

This is perfect for #sea and #mermaidmagick!

bewitched forest 

A thought I had last night: Sea witches and desert witches are actually really similar. I found it neat considering how different they sound.