How To Do Magic

When I started practicing magic I thought there was a missing link. Something I didn’t understand. Sure, I could look up spells, but surely that wasn’t enough. There must be something else, something I didn’t understand. After all, simply repeating words and tying a red ribbon around an egg couldn’t be enough to affect reality, could it? What was the secret that would turn words in to real effects?

It would take me years before I was able to put together a model of magic that fit what I observed. As a spirit worker and an animist, my model of magic revolves around the spirit world. As I began to understand my model more and more, magic made more and more sense to me and my skills increased. I would like to share with you my model for understanding magic and how it helped me understand the world in a new way.

Everything has a spirit. Well, almost everything. Everything organic and living has a spirit, as do many man-made things like cities, houses, and objects. These spirits do not follow physical laws, because they are nonphysical. They exist in a highly symbolic world, where snipping a string is symbolic of breaking a relationship apart, or tying a string together can represent a binding.

Humans are able to interact with spirits because, well, the veil is thinner than we all like to think. Spirits are not off in some far-away “spirit world” that we have to travel to. Spirits exist alongside us, around us, and in some cases within us. The spirit of your house is not locked away in some ivory tower in a remote spirit world; it is around you always, slumbering, watching, and waiting for human contact.

When you take an egg, or a ribbon, or some string, the physical objects are nothing but representations and symbols. The true magic lies with the spirits, and energies (which are nothing but spirits without a mind; or it could be said that spirits are nothing but energy with a mind), which you are going to manipulate. And we can manipulate it because the veil is so thin, and humans are so excellent, that it is hard not to manipulate it.

So you are going to cast a spell to end a friendship. You take some ribbon, which is black, the color of bindings. Again, this is symbolic – most metaphysical bindings are not black at all. And then, the real magic is about to begin.

When you use your words (and all words are magical, and everything you say and do is a force of magic), and your actions, and focus intently on the metaphysical reality around you, it is just like tapping in to the Matrix. And yes, everything you say and do and think is a force of magic, which is why it’s pretty vital to be in control of yourself if you do magic. This can be an anxiety-inducing thought for some, who want to say and think and do whatever they want, and then still lead the special life they want to live. Well, it doesn’t work that way. If you want to be a good person, it starts with good actions and good thoughts. If you want to be a prosperous person, it means focusing on prosperity and not worries of debt. A spell is just a hyperfocused laser of intent, but intent is always radiating out of you like gentle waves in an ocean. But I digress.

When you focus on the metaphysical reality around you, and truly believe you are interacting with the metaphysical using your physical symbols, then true magic really begins. And when you, with your iron will and laser focus, turn that ribbon in your hands in to the bond of friendship, the magic really starts. And when you snip it with silver scissors, the metaphysical bond is also snipped in half.

This essay is called “how to do magic.” So here is how to do magic:

The missing link I never found was linking the metaphysical to the physical, and causing my physical objects to become the metaphysical spirit or energy. Once I discovered that, everything fell in to place and I became a much better sorceress for it.

This little spell jar is my own personal recipe for protection! You can light a candle while you make it and make sure to repeat your intent as you layer the ingredients. This simple but effective little jar contains:

Sea Salt

Ground Sage

Rosemary

Bay Leaves

Lavender Essential Oil (you don’t have to use an essential oil, i use it because I don’t have real lavender)

May this jar bring you protection and cleansing.

Whether you use a physical book, a binder, or a digital documents folder, sometimes it can be hard to think of what to put into your Grimoire or Book of Shadows.

If you’re just starting your book, there’s lots of ideas you can include as the foundations of your work! What are they?

Contents Page

For the most organised individuals, it may be handy to keep a contents page going. Leave about three or four pages spare at the beginning to write in where to find certain content. After these four, number your pages!

About You

This could be one page or a few pages. You can include your favourite crystals or herbs, tarot cards you relate to, or why you came to witchcraft! You could also write about what it is you wish to gain or learn in your studies.

Correspondence Pages

These you can add more of any time in your book, but it’s a good idea to stay on top of this content. I tend to keep mine in digital format as opposed to my actual grimoire now because I ran out of time to record all my resources. This can be herbs you commonly use, crystals you own, etc. Write down what correspondences they have! Note if they’re water or sun safe for crystals, and if they’re edible for herbs.

Research

Whether it’s on what you use or who you work with, note down some interesting things you learn on the way, or why you’re drawn to them! Here you can even begin to record things you have learnt through divination, perhaps.

With those basics done, then what can you learn and put into your book? There’s honestly so many areas to study I won’t be able to go through all of them, but here’s some ideas!

You can also use your book as a planner for when to do spells or a way of keeping notes on what happened after a spell. I would personally buy a diary planner for this work as well as astrological planning.

Now, whilst all these ideas are commonly known, I have some less thought of ideas also for you all.

Cultural Appropriation

This one is great for digital grimoires like blogs where you can also pass on this knowledge. Writing about what is closed practices and what is appropriative and why is an easy way to encourage yourself to stay in your lane, research what isn’t open, and understand others crafts without perpetuating them.

Music You Resonate With

What songs inspire you to feel a certain way? Write about them! You can use them to invoke certain intents in the future, or look out for them as meanings to certain signs.

Manifestation Pages

These can be painted with herbs or colours corresponding to what you want to manifest and then be written on with chants, poetry or letters or the universe! It’ll be just like an extra creative diary.

A Moon Phase Emotion Diary

This will be better in a planner, but write down the moon phase and sign and then track how you felt that day. This can help you work out when to plan future spells or magical activities, or best prepare for days you don’t always feel of sorts.

Dream Plans and Goals

Design your dreams! This is a form of manifestation! Plot out how you’d have your garden, or what herbs you’d plant on your dream allotment. Commit to these goals by lovingly writing about them in your book and maybe one day they’ll happen.

Original Character Creation

Do you write about witchy or occult figures? Maybe you design fae? Include them in your book! Write about what colours and plants they relate to and how that affects their personality, or what beings they best get along with.

When it comes to your Grimoire or Book of Shadows, it’s all about you and the path you’re coming to know. You don’t need to write about what others label themselves as or do, or what herbs you’ll never use mean, unless you feel that research helps your perspective, obviously. What really matters is that this book is about your own orbit and how you can use that in a knowledgeable and respectful way, whilst also having fun with your craft!

Being More Mindful:

Recipe for a warm or cold rose tea latte! 🌹

Feel free to add sugar, honey or your sweetener of choice as well.

☕ Uses for this tea ☕

You can also combine any of those uses together to create any spell you’d like or combine with a larger spell or ritual ❤️

i have been fucked up ever since i took a mythology class in college and learned that the greek mythology we know today is not only deliberately patriarchal (i mean duh) but was put in place specifically to abolish the matriarchal religion that came before it, nearly all traces of which were systematically erased. AND, the reason the modern west is so obsessed with greek mythology specifically is that it aligns so closely with our own patriarchal values. like we are literally taught greek mythology IN SCHOOL, that’s how hugely important it is in our culture. (i mean think about it… there is no real benefit to placing that much emphasis on greek mythology specifically over any other part of history)

learning this literally ruined greek mythology for me lmao

artemis and aphrodite are the classic madonna (virgin) and the whore

athena is deliberately stripped of her femininity in order to be goddess of wisdom, springing fully formed from zeus’ head instead of being born from a woman

hera is the jealous, vindictive ball and chain, etc etc.

and the kicker? pandora was a revamped character from an older myth, in which she created every single thing in the universe, good and bad. she didn’t just open a box and ruin everything by not being able to follow orders. pandora literally means “all-giving”. and in the greek mythology we know today, she’s the first woman on earth and manages to fuck things up for everyone. sound familiar? like eve, maybe?

i don’t have sources because i learned this in a college class like 3 years ago but if anyone has access to their college’s academic database and wants to source this for me that’d be awesome. i haven’t tried but i’m guessing you’d be hard pressed to find info about it on google.

here’s a book i’m reading abt it that i picked up at a half-price bookstore. it’s a bittersweet read. there’s references inside the front cover, too, for further reading.

Witch Tips 15

Hello! Please enjoy my latest 10 tips of my #10tips witch tip series. Follow for more witchy content!

1. Bond with your plants

This might be a plant heavy post because it’s officially winter and while that’s my favorite time of year, I’m beginning to get planting fever with the idea of all the plants I’m going to get to see this spring. Anyways, bonding with your plants is essential. Play them some music, spritz them with some water, and have a nice little chat. Plants love conversation. They’re alive and they’re ready for some social interaction.

2. While the long, skinny candles are a classic, you can use any type for magick

You don’t have to buy your candles from a meta shop or only get the finger sized candles for spells. If you want to use a thicc 3 wick candle that smells like cranberry sauce and oranges then YOU DO IT. Bonus tip: After the holidays is the perfect time to stockpile yummy candles for half off!

3. Set up your altar with purpose

I see a lot of people just using altars as a means to display all of their pretty things. And that’s totally fine on its own, but an altar should have a higher purpose. There’s a magickal science to where you place the elements and how you set it up. By all means, take as much creative liberty as you can and make it special and beautiful to you. Just make sure it’s serving its purpose as best as it can.

4. Get some page tabs for your grimoire.

I can’t believe how long it took me to do this. Page tabs are these delightful little colored pieces of plastic that you stick to either side of a piece of paper. You can then slide other pieces of paper inside them that have labels, such as “spells” or “sabbats.” These help with organizing your grimoire and making it easier to find what you’re looking for in it. I got a pack of 16 for $1 at dollar tree. 10/10 highly recommend.

5. Pull one tarot card at the beginning of every week.

Tarot can be used for more than just tarot spreads. Here is one of many other things you can do with a tarot deck. At the beginning of each week, shuffle the cards and focus on the week ahead. What are you doing this week? Any plans? Work schedule? Think about the week as a whole and all of your plans as you shuffle. Then, pull one card. This card will represent the energy of the week. It may be a warning or some motivation. Write it down in your grimoire. You can even dedicate a whole page to your weekly draws and then compare them each month and look for patterns.

6. Check to see if your crystals are safe in the sun

I’ve mentioned the importance of checking if a crystal is water-safe before, but sun-safe is also a thing! Not quite as dangerous as accidentally poisoning yourself but still sad if it happens, some crystals can get faded by sunlight. This is important to take note of if you live somewhere sunny and plan on leaving your crystals on the windowsill overnight (they may be damaged by sunlight if you wake up later in the day) or if you plan on putting crystals in the windowsill all year around, regardless of where you live. Double check and make sure your little crystal friends will be happy.

7. Change your black salt often

Black salt absorbs negative energy. If you’re planning on leaving some out in a dish to absorb the energy, remember to change it out every once in awhile. Maybe if someone unpleasant was in your home for awhile, you’ll need to change the salt as soon as they leave. Or if your home is fairly peaceful, change it about once a week. I’d suggest changing it each time you do ritualistic cleansing, but if that’s a more infrequent thing for you, change it whenever you feel so inspired to.

8. Some uses for garlic

Garlic is not only delicious, but it’s also quite useful in a magickal sense as well! Place some around your house to banish evil spirits. Eat some to cleanse your own spirit. Use it in a banishing spell. Cook with it and invite me to dinner. (Sorry, I shouldn’t write these when I’m hungry)

9. It’s okay if people are uncomfortable with witchcraft

Not everyone is going to be accepting when they find out you’re a witch. This can be super shitty, but it’s not the end of the world. You most likely won’t get anything but judgemental eyes and misinformed comments. That being said, it’s up to you who you tell. I prefer to get to know people first before I’m more open about it. And even then, I keep it casual. It’s okay if you tell people and it’s okay if you keep it entirely to yourself. You shouldn’t feel pressured to tell everyone. It’s alright either way.

10. Rock shops are not the same as metaphysical shops but they could be even better.

There’s a lot of misconceptions about buying witchy supplies. Some people think that the only place to buy crystals is at a proper metaphysical or new age shop where they’re all labeled based on different properties and uses and all that. But actually, rock shops can be just as good, if not better! Rock shops are far less likely to lie to you about a crystals authenticity and value. The people in there may not be able to tell you the uses a rock has in witchcraft, but if you bring a phone with you, they’re not going to stop you from googling it. So give it a try, I’ve actually gotten free crystals at rock shops before because I bought a bunch and the guy wanted to give me a little bonus. They’re good people, good rock loving humans.

Thank you so much for reading my latest #10tips and be sure to send me an ask if you ever want to chat or have questions or anything else. Have a magical day!

Basic Numerology of 0-9

In this post I will be going over the basic numerology for the numbers between 0, and 9. Understanding these numbers in a metaphysical manner can allow you to bring the energies of these numbers into your practice to strengthen your magickal working. This can be done by understanding the meanings, and associations that these numbers have, so that you can bring them together to form other numbers, or to act out your intention with their metaphysical properties by casting out their meanings, and energies into the universe. This will be a very quick overview that will not go to in depth, but will provide just some basic knowledge about the numbers and the energies that they possess. 0 ) Zero is a number that is greatly associated with the act of being. It also corresponds to cycles, unification, oneness, and source itself. It is a very powerful number that is associated with spiritual energy, and empowerment. Zero is also connected to the unlimited potential, and power inside all things. When zero is combined with other numbers it empowers the numbers that it is attached to. 1 ) One is the number that brings the energies of new beginnings, positivity, and the strength to face those beginnings. It has to do a lot with fulfillment, love, intuition, power of will, and other strong raw emotions. It is also associated with more negative emotions, and aspects such as aggression, arrogance, selfishness, weakness, and narrow-mindedness. The number one is also greatly Associated to the god and the masculine aspects of energy. The number one is a very powerful, and passionate number, and will bring these energies to whatever it is connected to. 2 ) Two is connected to the energies of communication, relationships, and interactions. It represents the charms, balance, and harmony in connections between constructs. It also corresponds to the exact opposite such as indifference, dependency, and a lack of balance. Two is also greatly connected to the goddess, and the feminine aspect of energy. This number is greatly associated with connection, balance, and harmony, and will bring these energies to whatever it interacts with. 3 ) Three is a very powerful number that is associated with joy, creativity, inspiration, and intelligence. This number is also associated at times with the goddess, and the ascended masters. It is the number of magick, understanding, and luck. The negative aspects that it possesses are such things as disharmony, indifference,  impatience, Intolerance, and unfocusedness. 3 is also known to be the number of witches, and the unknown. 4 ) The number 4 is connected to such concepts as loyalty, devotion, mastery, hard work, high morals, stability in the inner wisdom. It is a number that is associated with the angelic realms usually being connected to the angels. The negative aspects of the number 4 are such things as laziness, and dullness. In Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, and Japanese it is a homonym for “death” and also carries those energies. 5 ) 5 has to do alot with powerful ideas, individuality, life, lessons, vision, change, and momentum 5 is greatly associated with the five elements, and the powers that they hold. The negative aspects of the number 5 are thoughtlessness, restlessness, and discourse. 5 is a very fast-moving energy, because of this it is even more greatly associated with the element of fire, and can become very chaotic at times. 6 ) 6 is greatly connected to unconditional love, families, parenthood, idealism, healing an emotional balance. 6 vibrates at a very loving frequency that is great for emotions, and relationships. 6 also resonates with spiritual attributes and awareness. This number is also very grounded in the physical, and is nurturing, and faithful. The negative aspects of 6 are impracticality, shallowness, and selfishness. 7 ) 7 has to do with knowledge, truth, and spirituality. It is also said to be a very lucky number and is greatly associated with the divine, and higher truth. 7 is also connected to mysticism, esotericism, religion, occultism, and many other spiritual practices. It is greatly connected to the energies of collective consciousness, and the higher planes of existences. The negative qualities of number 7 have to do with cowardice, betrayal, and negative social interaction. 8 ) 8 has to do with career, business, success, wealth, prosperity, management, and self-confidence. This is a very powerful, and dominant number that does what it can to get things done. It is a number of law & order, and the universal principle of karma. The negative energies that the number 8 is connected to are energies that are condescending, demanding, snarky, and greedy. 9 ) 9 has to do with  the energies of wisdom, helpfulness, creativity, and completeness. the nines energy is all about helping, and working with others to better everyone’s experience. It is a very selfless number that goes out of its way to do what it can to help. This number also has to do with life purpose, and spiritual enlightenment. The negative qualities of  9 have to do with egotism, arrogance, self-pitying and a condescending nature.

dreamy seer.

materials:

notes:

Keep reading

10 Folk Beliefs About Samhain/Halloween

By Tess Whitehurst - October 31st is not just Halloween. It’s also Samhain: an ancient sabbat and powerful point on the wheel of the year.

Divinatory and protective practices connected with this time abound, as does lore about the realm of the dead and the realm of the Fae.

Here are 10 such beliefs:

For more fun traditions and beliefs, check out Samhain: Rituals Recipes, & Lore for Halloween. 

[Tess Whitehurst]

@the-little-kitchen-witch

#WednesdayWisdom

5 Signs The Universe Is Trying To Tell You Something

1. Synchronicity - being at the right place at the right time. Meeting a stranger who tells us something that relates directly to our situation is an example of synchronicity and this is the universe’s way of sending us the message we need to hear.

2. Reflections - seeing ourselves in others. Crossing paths with those who have similar beliefs to our own allows us to observe ourselves from an outsider’s perspective. This is a great way for us to reflect on where we’re at and assess the changes we need to make in order to get to where we want to be.

3. Emotions - our inner GPS. Being led by our feelings is a clear sign that we’re being guided by the universe because our emotions are our inner GPS, they guide us to where we need to be and sometimes we must let go of our desire for control and let the universe take the wheel.

4. Hard times - wake-up calls. Many of our most valuable lessons are embedded in difficult experiences and this is when we must adopt the concept of pronoia and realise that the universe has put these challenges in our paths to help us grow.

5. Resistance - everything feels a lot harder. Indeed, it’s important for us to push forward, but there will be times when we come into resistance in many areas of our lives and this is a clear sign that we must take a step back to look at the big picture which prevents us from moving against our true purpose.

Pronoia means things are happening for us, not to us.

Peace & positive vibes.

Follow me on Instagram for daily positive affirmations <3

AAAAAND I have black pages (can be painted, mines are glued black paper) of my grimoire covered in contact paper (to make them shiny) and BOOM portable scrying mirror in your grimoire. I also plan on making a star map? To star scry in my mermaid grimoire too.

Be crafty folks, be crafty ❤👌

BAM! RESOURCEFULNESS, MOFOS!

Just water in a dark bowl, guys.

Or paint one side of a picture frame glass black, then when you turn it over the unpainted side is a black mirror.

Use a candle flame.

Or tea leaves in your cup. Can’t afford fancy loose tea? Cut open your cheap Lipton tea bag you swiped from a diner and just use that.

Scrying is one of the easiest forms of magic to DIY!

You definitely don’t need fancy, expensive scrying mirrors or crystals in order to scry! If you want them, that’s cool and you should spend your discretionary budget however you choose, but it’s not remotely necessary!  I’ve got a $60 obsidian sphere these days because it’s beautiful and I love it to bits, but my first dedicated scrying tool was a $0.99 picture frame from walmart with black paint on the back of the glass. Before I had THAT I used a candle flame. All the suggestions above work, plus you can use the reflection of your own pupils in your bathroom mirror, a shard of a broken beer bottle you found on the side of the road, a stone in a ring, nail polish on your thumb. You literally just need a point to focus your vision on while you drop into trance. Reflective surfaces seem to work best in general with a few exceptions like fire-scrying, and people frequently find that dark reflective surfaces are preferable to light ones, but the only actual requirements for scrying is “a point upon which to focus your physical vision” and “the ability to drop into a trance state”. Heck, stare at a spot on your ceiling if you want, it can work. 

Honestly, my personal absolute favorite is… water in a dark bowl.

I got a black bowl at Family Dollar for a couple bucks. It is far and away my favorite scrying method.

I have a DIY black mirror that looks fancy (I inherited a nice turn-of-the-last-century frame). I have a little glass orb. But nah. I like water in my discount store black bowl.

It doesn’t have to be dark.

People scry by staring at walls and ceilings. By staring at trees.

Stare into a natural body of water under a New Moon if you wanna really get rekt.

Or gaze into your own eyes in the mirror for like 10+ minutes and tell me you don’t learn something about yourself.

This is shocking…. scrying is the least expensive form of divination I know!

You can scry in a bowl of water (free), smoke (free, potentially), fire (candle cost money, but can be super cheap), leaves (free and yes, leaf scrying is a thing), stars (free), and more. It’s literally just staring at patterns or reflective surfaces (ideally natural ones) and then going into a trance from that where you get the visions. Nature is free! Scrying is free!!

I personally use an obsidian sphere, but it only cost me $10… that’s not super expensive fam.

“What is a witch without crystals?” Historically? A witch.

An essential part of magic is the act of changing. Change is, I think, what conveys meaning and intention to actualize as magic. Which is why many ordinary acts can be used as vehicles, such as brewing coffee, making tea, cleaning, a candle burning, writing, potting plants, picking up leaves and flowers, cooking, baking, and a lot of other things can be used to make magic. What really matters is to focus on the actual change that is happening, and believe in its meaning, so that the transformation we use as vehicle can lead to the change our magic is calling for. Intention needs energy, and in my experience magic can be rather draining if everything comes from within. Also I think that having part of the process of invoking energy and intention be outside of me helps me be more direct and precise.