It’s crazy how spirituality is a “Trend” now.. meanwhile, I’ve secretly wished I never started my journey sooo many times.

It’s lonely because you see people for their spirit & not what they THINK they’re showing you. You don’t feel comfortable around people you’ve known for years. The dating scene dries up substantially.

The process of healing is traumatizing by itself. Sleepless nights, randomly purging emotions you didn’t even know you had, ascension making you feel like you have the flu & facing your shadow.

It’s not just tarot, crystals, & candles. Be careful.

meditation in its simplest form may not seem to work for everyone at the start of their spiritual journey. here are other ways to start exploring the mind and start healing:

Mindfulness - in short this is the ability to be in the present and aware of where we are. it’s taking notice to everything around us, and becoming grateful in the moment. try paying attention to little details when you’re out taking a walk. maybe take notice to how well your coffee is made in the morning. find a way to be grateful for your meal while you’re eating it. slowing this will help you find little small joys in your life, and help you practice gratitude.

Walking or Running - if you’re abled, try taking walks or running to clear your mind. a light jog through the park on on a treadmill can help clear the mind and boost your mood. again do what you are able to do. i understand this isn’t for everyone and don’t feel bad if you are unable to do either. perhaps try sitting outside and breathing can help you clear your thoughts.

Solving a puzzle - this will not only help challenge your brain, but it will also take your mind off of daily stresses. after you solve one make sure to congratulate yourself. this will help with loving unique parts of yourself

Mirror work - this is a practice i discovered through the author/healer Louise Hay. this is the practice of saying affirmations out loud in the mirror. it’s important to breathe while doing them and try to do them for at least 5 mins a day. we spend more time than that on the internet so why not on loving ourselves?

Writing - everyone has probably heard by now that writing is another form of meditation. write anything. write your goals, write stories, write your fears, write your favorite words. allow the pen to move you or keep yourself typing until you feel more relaxed mentally.

Music or Sound healing - there’s many studies about listening to sounds and music on certain a frequency. this isn’t something i am well versed on yet but i hear it’s great. i will be studying it and posting about it in the near future.

these are just some options if meditation doesn’t seem to be helping. i know not all of these are always used in spiritual healing, but i believe in making your path customized to yourself. none of these should cause you more stress. do everything with no judgement on yourself. love yourself even if you mess up. none of these are about being perfect. not even meditation! everyone is on a unique path to spiritual healing. the most important thing is to love yourself.

Some things you can keep track of as a witch:

🌙 Your moon cycle (also known as your period). If you’re into the self-love side of witchcraft and want to focus more on your body and it’s wants and needs, you might want to think about keeping track of your period. You can then create spells, rituals and meditations that correspond with the moon phase and day(s) that you’re menstruating. <— this is obviously for those that are menstruating.

🌻 Your garden. If you have a garden (even if it’s just 3 little baby herb plants in your window, hey a garden is a garden) keep track of how well your plants or herbs are doing. Write down when you water them, how much sunlight (and moonlight, if that’s your thing) they got. You could even write down any emotional vibes you’re getting from your garden. 

🔮 Your spells and rituals. Keeping track of your spells doesn’t just help you remember when you did what spell and what it was for, but it also allows you to go back and write in how well that spell worked out for you. And if it worked out well, because you kept track of it, you’ll know how to use it again in the future.

💰 Witchy buys. This is important if, like me, you tend to do a little bit of overspending on all the witchy supplies. But since I started to keep track of what I’m buying, using and not using, I’ve saved a ton of money on unnecessary things.

🙏 Gratitude. Keep a growing list of all the things you’re grateful for. It’s great to look back on in the future and it helps you keep perspective of your own life and spiritual journey.

🍵 Your tea. Okay, this is just something I do but I love to keep track of all the different teas I try. I think tea is considered a very witchy drink and therefore some of us are a little more serious about our tea drinking lol. But I just love taping in the little packaging, that my tea came in, into my journal and writing a little bit about it and how it made me feel and what it made me think about.

🌦️ The weather. This is important, to me, because I believe the weather can affect us and how we feel, think and behave. I like to have a record of what the weather was like when I casted a spell, did a ritual or did a reading so I can go back later and see if I feel that might have affected the outcomes.

Sweet Talkin’

This spell comes from the idea of “sweet talking” in order to achieve a goal. It works a lot like a honey jar which I have a post about if you’re interested in the history/how to make them. The sugar and honey act to “sweeten” your speech convincing the candle/spirit to work for you.

For this spell you will need:

1) Honey (or any other liquid sweetener ex. agave, syrup, molasses, etc)

2) Sugar

3) Something to mix with

4) A bowl or cup

5) Candle of your choice

What you’re going to do is mix the honey and sugar until it makes a paste. It should be pretty thick and not too runny. Then, using a candle you have already put your intention into your going to smear some of the honey onto it. Be careful not to overcoat it as this can cause fires/uneven burning. With the rest of the honey you’re going to put it on your tongue (DO NOT SWALLOW YET) and “sweet talk” the candle. Tell it what you want it to do, when it will be done and how. After you have said everything you wanted to say light the candle and swallow the honey mixture.

This spell can be used for money, love, or anything else really. I have had amazing results using this for money and have noticed this spell always works fast when I’m in a hurry.

Additional ingredients can be added of course, for example when using this spell for money I usually use cinnamon (powdered) and bank dirt (I have a post on this!) Happy casting!

A Working Bibliography of Books On Rootwork/Conjure/Hoodoo That Are Actually Authored by Black Folk

 “Wherever there are Africans, or people of African descent, there is magic.”- Faith Mitchell

 My calling to rootwork is ancestral. However, I unfortunately I have yet to encounter elders in my life to apprentice under on this plane of existence.  Coming up, I didn’t know other people who identified themselves as rootworkers/hoodoos/conjurers etc. Being a scholar (among other identities), my entry point into hoodoo began with books, archives, and scholarly journals. As a result, I was able to garner a wealth of information as to what hoodoo is and isn’t, which recipes (old school hoodoos don’t cast ‘spells’) to use for what, to be able to engage in an intangible mentorship with the elders that came before me. All of these things have informed how I move through the world and grow stronger in my practice.

    As a result of a White spiritual hijacking of African Traditional Religions and Africana Magico-Spiritual practices (i.e. hoodoo), the vast majority of the information about hoodoo on and offline has been authored by white people, so much so that they have become the face of hoodoo (similar to white women and yoga). 

    For those of us who are looking to grow and learn from other Black practitioners, here is a working list of books. This list consists solely of non-fiction texts, however, there is a lot to learn from novels as well, perhaps I’ll create a part two some other time. 

Please hit me up if I am missing anything or if you have a personal connection with these texts, I’d love to be in conversation. 

Many of these mentioned texts can be found online for Free.99. 

Also, sorry this is a long ass post. 

My Personal Favorites:

   1. Jambalaya: The Natural Woman’s Book of Personal Charms & Practical Rituals - Luisah Teish

 2.  Of Mules & Men- Zora Neale Hurston

3. Working the Roots: Over 400 Years of Traditional African American Healing

4. Mojo Workin: The Old African American Hoodoo System- Katrina Hazzard-Donald

5. Black Magic: Religion and the African American Conjuring Tradition- Yvonne P. Chireau

6. Secret Doctors: Ethnomedicine of African Americans by Wonda L. Fontenot ( I think this one might be out of print but much of it can be found online via Google Books) 

Honorable Mention: Tell My Horse- Zora Neale Hurston

 Ok, so this is one of my absolute favorite texts though it doesnt discuss American hoodoo. It focuses on Haitian Voodoo and Jamaican Obeah. However, there is a lot that can be learned from this text and how African magico-spiritual practices are indeed “scientific” as opposed to mere superstition. 

Additional texts that I haven’t gotten to reading yet or are simply not in my favorites (no shade, no tea):

7. Hoodoo Medicine: Gullah Herbal Remedies - Faith Mitchell

8. 365 Days of Hoodoo: Daily Rootwork, Mojo and Conjuration- Stephanie Rose Bird

9. Sticks, Stones, Roots & Bones: Hoodoo, Mojo and Conjuring with Herbs- Stephanie Rose Bird

10. A Healing Grove: African Tree Remedies and Rituals for Body and Spirit - Stephanie Rose Bird

11. African American Folk Healing- Stephanie Mitchem

12. Faith, Health, and Healing in African American Life (Religion, Health, and Healing) - Stephanie Mitchem ED. 

13.  God, Dr. Buzzard, and the Bolito Man: A Saltwater Geechee Talks About Life on Sapelo Island, Georgia - Cornelia Walker Bailey

14. Rootwork: Using the Folk Magick of Black America for Love, Money and Success- Tayannah Lee McQuillar

15. Voodoo & Hoodoo: The Craft as Revealed by Traditional Practitioners- Jim Haskins

Why Your Spells Don’t Work

You set your intention. You had all the correct correspondences. You even timed your spell with the appropriate moon phase. And yet – no results. What gives? 

Failed spells happen to the best of us, and for a variety of reasons. But a spell gone wrong doesn’t necessarily mean that magic isn’t real or that you’re bad at witchcraft. Magic is complicated, and there are a lot of reasons it might not behave the way you want it to. Here are some of the most common causes of ineffective spells: 

1. Lack of real-world follow through

Magic is meant to be used as a tool to supplement your mundane efforts – not as a substitute for them. How can you expect your job hunting spell to bring in results if you aren’t applying for jobs? 

Magic does not exist in a vacuum, and it can’t make something out of nothing. If a spell doesn’t bring you the desired result, make sure that your non-magical actions are aligned with what you are trying to manifest. 

2. What you’re trying to manifest isn’t a realistic possibility

Wait, what? Isn’t magic supposed to be, well… magic? Shouldn’t you be able to ask for whatever you want and get it? Yes and no.

Magic is simply a way of directing energy. Magic can’t defy the natural laws of the universe. It can’t make something happen unless it was already a potential possibility.

If your intention is unrealistic for where you are right now, try splitting it up into a multi-step process. No spell is going to make you a billionaire overnight, but magic could help you get hired at a better paying job… and then get promoted… and then get offered a profitable side gig… etc. Starting small and working your way up is always going to produce stronger results, because you laid the foundation first.

3. Your intention was either too vague or too specific 

Whether you use written petitions or spoken incantations, clearly stating your intention is an important part (maybe THE most important part) of any spell or ritual. A good intention is specific enough to get you the results you want, but open enough to let those results manifest naturally.

Let’s say you do a money spell, and your intention for the spell is simply, “I have more money.” If you find a penny on the ground the next day and pick it up, technically that is more money than you had before. A better alternative would be to use an intention like, “I have enough money to buy ___,” or “I have enough money for everything I need and want.”

Using an intention that is too specific creates the opposite problem. Let’s say you want to manifest a scholarship to a specific school. You do a candle spell with the intention, “I have been chosen for the John Smith Scholarship at Jane Doe University.” But maybe the John Smith scholarship had already been awarded by the time you did your spell. Maybe there’s another scholarship at the same school that would be a better fit for you, or maybe you’re eligible for a grant that would make tuition more affordable. A better intention for your spell would be “I have enough financial aid to easily and affordably attend Jane Doe University.”

Magic always follows the path of least resistance, so you want to make sure that your intention is specific enough to give your magic a clear direction, but open enough to allow it some flexibility. 

4. Lack of focus/concentration

We all know the struggle. You’ve been planning this ritual forever, and it’s finally the full moon, but you’ve got a really full schedule today. If you hurry, you can probably squeeze it into the thirty minute window between school and work, right? 

If you say a few quick words and burn some incense before you head out the door in the morning, that totally counts as a spell, right? 

Not so much. Rushed, lazy, and/or half-assed spells rarely, if ever, work. Spells revolve around the raising and direction of energy, and that requires two things: a clear intention (see above) and intense focus on that intention. If you don’t have the time/energy/mental capacity to focus, it’s best to take a break, have a self care day, and come back to your spell some other time. 

5. You’re subconsciously blocking your own results OR you did a spell for someone else who isn’t open to it

I decided to lump these two together, because they’re different variations of the same issue. 

Whenever you are doing magic on yourself, it’s important that your mindset is aligned with your intentions. You can do love spells all day long, but if deep down you don’t believe that you’re worthy of love, that belief is going to block your spells from working. This is why mindfulness, psychology, and self care are all such important parts of a successful witchcraft practice. It’s also why I recommend doing the mental work before you sit down to ritual. 

If you did a spell on yourself, or are trying to manifest something for yourself, and it just isn’t working, I highly recommend setting some time aside for journaling and meditation and asking yourself 1.) if this is really what you want, and 2.) if you truly believe that you can have it.

The whole mindset thing gets even more tricky when you’re doing magic on behalf of another person, because their energy is also at work in the situation and could be at odds with yours. For example, if you do a spell to help a friend land a job, but that friend believes that they’re totally underqualified and could never get it, they probably won’t get the job even if you did everything “right” in your spell. 

This should go without saying, but it is extremely unethical to use magic to mess around in someone else’s head. Even if you think you know what’s best for them, they need to be open to it. If someone is blocking the spells you do on their behalf, all you can do is try to be supportive and find other ways to help them out.

Other (Rare) Reasons for Failed Spells

If a spell goes wrong, it will almost always be for one of the above reasons. But maybe you did everything “right” – you did the mental work first, had a strong, realistic intention, put lots of focus into your spell, and followed through in real life – and you still aren’t seeing results. There are a couple of other things that could be blocking your spells, but they’re very uncommon so I’m not going to talk about them in as much detail. These may be things you want to look into if you really, genuinely can’t think of any other cause. 

This hit!

If I ever become ashamed of anything it would never be my blackness.

Y'all!!!!

Look at this baby right here!!!!

Never beg someone to love you. You deserve to be loved, cherished, and valued for the beautiful and radiant soul that you are. Never change who you are for others to recognize that.

I AM ATTRACTING GOOD THINGS INTO MY LIFE

I AM ATTRACTING GOOD THINGS INTO MY LIFE

I AM ATTRACTING GOOD THINGS INTO MY LIFE

I AM ATTRACTING GOOD THINGS INTO MY LIFE

I AM ATTRACTING GOOD THINGS INTO MY LIFE

I AM ATTRACTING GOOD THINGS INTO MY LIFE 

I AM ATTRACTING GOOD THINGS INTO MY LIFE

Pentagram Talisman

Hi guys! Today I wanted to share with you the two pentagram talismans I did during the Pink Moon a few nights ago. I will show you step by step with pictures

I was so happy when I found out that April’s 7th full moon was also a supermoon, because I use the moon phases a lot in my work. I thought it was the perfect timing to create a talisman of protection for my home and a friend’s, that has been telling me about recent problems and negative energy surrounding her.

WHAT YOU’LL NEED

- 10 wood sticks

- Rosemary

- Sea Lavander (or any flower with positive properties that you have)

- string

- cold silicon for crafts (or white glue)

- Salt

- moon water (or regular water)

- 2 white candles

- 2 obsidian crystals

STEPS:

1. Cast a circle

I always cleanse what I’m going to use in my craft. It’s a great way to purify them and fill them with positive energy. Always with the intention in mind, I cast a visible circle around them using the salt, light both candles and place them over some obsidian plates. I put the moon water on top, and while moving my hand deosil twice, I repeat this words “clean above, so as below, cleanse this materials for positive to grow”

2. Overlap the sticks

I like to begin overlapping the sticks to envision how I want my pentagram to look like. Make sure you do it in a flat surface so it’s easier.

3. Glue the tips

Using the cold silicon put a small dot in the points you think needed. When you use the string, the sticks will normally move around, so I find using a little bit of silicon really useful to keep the pentagram together.

4. Herbs

The same way you glued the tips, use a little silicon to put the herbs in the places you think relevant.

5. String

Use the string to secure the sticks, the herbs and flowers. I will normally start by the outer tips of the pentagram.

6. Inner corners

Once you’ve done the outer tips, and move to the inner corners of the pentagram. You want to start using the string vertical first, then horizontal, as for there’s more angles to bind together.

Vertical

Horizontal

7. Repeat the steps

Repeat all the steps for your next talisman. You can also skip using the string in every corner. By the thickness of the sticks you can determine the focal points where you need reinforcement. But I will definitely recommend always doing all the outer tips.

String in focal points

String in every corner

That’s how I did my talismans during the pink moon. I placed mine in my living room and gave my friend the other one. It has giving us protection, peace and love these days.

I hope you liked it, and find it useful

Image source: my camera 📸

Blessed be,

- May xo.

#talisman #pentagram #protection #peace #love #witch #witchyvibes #craftywitch

This is so beautiful!✨